"Hello, Eros. I'm sorry I couldn't call you earlier," I told him over the phone that Thursday evening, when I was already in my room, down in Amanita's basement. "I had to work, and I assumed you'd be busy too at the lab."

"Indeed, I was." He sounded as tired as I was. "Apollo's been checking my progress up close. He doesn't let me breathe."

I kept talking to him while getting a change of clothes. Agape had commanded us all to wear black uniforms for that night's mission. I had him on the line with the hands-free option of my smartphone.

"How tiresome. I don't think I would be able to stand it," I commented with dread.

"Listen, Daphne," he said then, hesitating for a moment. "I'm so sorry for your loss. I wish I could be there for you in person."

"Don't worry about it," I replied with warmth. He was such a nice guy! "It would probably piss Apollo off. He doesn't let me breathe either."

"How come?"

"He keeps sending me gifts, and today he's even showed up at Oyster. It feels like I've got a stalker because he thinks he knows everything about me. It's been an awful day at work between him showing up with unwanted gifts and Mirela's mischievous doings."

"What?! Has she done anything to harm you?!" he asked as if he was losing it.

"No, it was just her messing with the company's IT system," I explained. "I've been told she does it regularly. She fakes invoicing data to earn more money, and she's also changed some passwords without authorisation... and held the passwords' spreadsheet file hostage or something."

"Does my mother know about this?" He sounded cold and threatening, to be honest.

"I've got no idea," I answered in a sad whisper. "Too busy with customers and trying to find a workaround to get things done. Layla's eventually lent us her tablet to print the price tags and to use it as a cash register. Can you imagine a team of over a dozen shop assistants using only one tablet to do a day's work?"

An ominous silence filled our phone call.

"Eros?"

"I swear I'm gonna get her fired." His stern voice sounded terrifying.

Changing the subject suddenly felt as necessary as oxygen for me. However, it was my turn to sound dubious:

"Listen, Eros. About my boyfriend. I didn't mean to hide him from you. I just... I just never found the right time to tell you. Besides, we've... sort of... been together for a short amount of time. It's pretty recent, you see."

"I would like to meet him. Would you introduce us?" he asked in a much jovial tone. Thank God for that!

"You might already know him. He's Siegfried Thor, one of Amanita's former bouncers."

"And Dawn's hockey star. Wow." He was thunderstruck, and next, he fell silent for a couple of seconds until he explained why he knew that: "I listen to the traditional humans' radio station sometimes."

Eros was one of the nicest guys I had ever met. He didn't deserve a broken heart. I was awkwardly silent for some seconds because I didn't know what to tell him.

"It's alright, Daphne. I'm not mad or jealous or anything," he added sweetly. "Let's do something. I think I can manage to do some extra work tomorrow morning and afternoon so that I might be free in the evening. Shall we go to the hockey match? Then, you could introduce us."

I didn't think that was a good idea. I tried to dodge the subject, but he insisted. I eventually agreed to the plan with some reservations.

All of a sudden, I heard yelling coming from Agape's office. It was so loud that I got startled despite it was taking place in a different room in that same basement.

"Sorry, Eros. Gotta go."

I hurried to put on my brand-new black boots and entered Agape's office after we said our goodbyes.

"This is insane!" Momo yelled hysterically as I came into the room. "Keep defending her like that after this! I dare you."

She raised her right hand in the air, holding a black velvet choker with a golden eternity symbol right in the middle. Her anger burned vividly deep within her. Agape and K8 were right in front of her, with disapproving faces. Taro, Sven, and Sigi were also present, all of them were clad in black from head to toe, just like me, as Agape had instructed.

"What's going on?" I dared to ask.

"What's going on?! You, treacherous whore!" Momo insulted me.

"Momo, it's not her fault if Apollo sends her gifts here," Agape defended me. I took a glimpse at Sigi, who was staring at me and the choker with a frown. I assumed that was the gift they were arguing about. "Apollo knows nothing, so stop panicking. It doesn't mean she's betrayed us."

"It doesn't mean she hasn't," Momo added with a condescending attitude.

"Stop bitching about this issue, Momo!" Agape yelled back at her. "I'm tired of listening to you. You're a fucking broken record!"

"Agape, may I request Daphne not to come to Silver Island tonight?" Taro asked politely.

"Why?" she asked, a bit more at ease but she still looked pissed off.

"Because if there is a chance we find something useful down there, she might find a way to ruin it, like the last time with the palaeoviruses," Taro replied seriously. "She could stay and take care of Nemesis instead."

"Denied," Agape answered sternly. "Because Nemesis is conscious now and doesn't wish to be taken care of like a baby. She's told me so herself. And Daphne here shall behave, won't she?" she asked me with her intense, steel-hard gaze over the rim of her mirror glasses.

Behave?

One thing I knew for sure: defying Agape scared me as much as defying Apollo, and it seemed to be equally futile.

I wanted my head in the close vicinity of my shoulders, so I replied nothing at all.

"Daphne doesn't need such close-up scrutiny from any of you," K8 suddenly said with anger.

It was an emotion I had never seen in her so far. She kept on marvelling me. Taro and Sven chuckled with disapproval.

"Rejecting her like that for who she is is illogical," she went on with determination, "especially bearing in mind she has suffered under clone rule as much as any of you. She also wishes to make the world different, to end the clones' tyranny. Those gifts mean nothing to her. You're accusing her without proof – again."

"You think you're so smart, don't you?! Shut up, fucking tin doll!" Momo yelled back at her. I saw how K8 even took a step back with a forlorn look on her face.

"Shut up yourself, Momo!" Sigi yelled at her, shielding K8 behind him.

"Aren't you mad on account of these, Sigi?!" Momo showed him the choker with a hand and a few gold bangles. I assumed they were part of a jewellery set that Apollo must've sent me to Amanita – and they must've opened the package without my consent. "There's an engraving on these bangles. It reads 'For My Pet'. Why aren't you throwing a fit?"

I freaked out when I heard what the engraving said. My eyes nearly fell out of their sockets. Sigi's reaction was to clench every fibre of his body, but he managed to open his mouth and speak:

"Apollo is the god of machos. He's disgusting! Besides, it's not Daphne's fault. He believes she's someone she's not."

"I am never wearing those," I said, interrupting their argument. "Agape, you may sell them if you like. Apollo doesn't allow me to return any gifts anyway. I'm so disgusted by them right now that I'm not even going to complain about you opening up these gifts without my consent."

"We only did it because we thought Apollo might've put something in it – be it some tracking tech or malevolent drugs," Agape told me with a sweeter voice than before, "like the neurotoxins on the technowolves' claws. Turns out, there's nothing to worry about."

"Good thinking," I whispered. At least, the lamp and the roses from that same morning had had no effect on me. Or maybe they hadn't had enough time, since I had discarded them into the trash bin shortly after he had left Oyster that morning.

I sighed. I wanted Apollo out of the way, as soon as possible. His insane wooing made my stomach churn.

At that point, I was even wishing to find something other-worldly powerful inside the secret lab on Silver Island to take the power away from Apollo for good.

But would I accept to drown my ethics under Agape's shady, ethically twisted waters? That was an expensive price to pay.

"It's time," Gabi said with a serious tone of voice that didn't quite suit him.

He looked impressive when he got serious. Despite being out of character, I knew there was something the matter, something vital. Otherwise, he wouldn't react like that.

It was quite late that Thursday night already. Our mission was due to start soon. The sun had long gone set, the curfew was already on once more, and Agape and the rest of the rebels were still making some preparations to go to Silver Island after our short argument. Nemesis would stay at home and rest all alone.

In the meantime, Sigi, Gabi, and I were in the guys' bedroom. Gabi had requested our presence there.

"What are you talking about, Gabi?" Sigi asked him seriously. "It's time for what?"

Then, Gabi extended an arm toward Sigi and me. A small gift box with a small bow was on his palm.

"I'm so happy. The pupil is about to emulate the teacher," he replied ceremoniously.

He tried to suppress a fake sniff sound as if he was being emotional. He patted Sigi's shoulder with his other hand twice with pride, and he looked like he was about to cry two cartoonish rivers of tears down his cheeks.

Now, that was more like him. I knew he couldn't keep that formal façade up for long.

"I wanted to give this to you yesterday, but... you know. Shit happened," he added quite nonchalantly.

"What is this?" Sigi asked while raising an eyebrow and taking the gift box from Gabi's hand.

"Open it. You're ready to use this now," Gabi said with a creaky voice as if he was about to burst into tears, but he was smiling with naughtiness by the time he was done saying: "Oh God, I'm so proud of you!"

"Dafuk?! Gabi!" Sigi exclaimed when he opened it and examined the content of the box. "Bloody idiot!"

I took a sneak peek inside the box. I blushed when I saw it was full of condoms.

"What?! You might need them soon, virgin wonder boy." Gabi winked at him then.

Sigi's cheeks were putting tomatoes to shame. And mine were putting his to shame, to be honest. Sigi closed the gift box in a hurry and slammed it against Gabi's chest.

"Take them back, you arsehole!" Sigi exclaimed defiantly.

"Oh, no. You keep them," Gabi replied while pushing Sigi's hand and the box back to him. "Do you know how to use them, though, country boy? Do you need the help from the man?" he asked feeling cheerfully proud of himself.

"Yes, you can help me by staying still while I strangle you!" Sigi yelled back at his best friend with both embarrassment and ire.

"Oh, come on, Sigi!" A broad smile decorated Gabi's lips. "I suppose you don't want to spend the rest of your life wearing this invisible chastity belt, and getting horny staring at the cover of the latest issue of Glämour, do you?" He winked an eye at me, and then he told me: "He's bought it today and keeps it under the mattress, just so you know."

Sigi had bought a girl's magazine only because I was on the cover? And he had hidden it like a coveted treasure? For real?! Oh my!

I could tell Sigi wanted to die of embarrassment by the way the tendons in his neck got tenser and by the fact that he didn't dare to look at me. Besides, his cheeks were two raging, lava-spitting volcanoes.

"Guys," Gabi added with gentleness then, "we could die any moment. We're about to go on a mission right now. Anything can happen. Look at what happened yesterday night. Did we see the technowolves coming? Nope.

"We're lucky to have you, Daphne. You found a way to kill them and keep our identities secret from the GSNS and the clones. The rest of us might've actually killed those wolves, and K8's super strength came in handy as well –that was cool–, but it was you who saved us all, Daphne.

"What do I mean by this? That I am not saving anything for later. You shouldn't either. Enjoy life while you can. You just never know what catastrophe might happen next."

He wasn't joking. His tone had been sweet and cheerful the entire time. I welcomed this piece of advice despite feeling embarrassed. It reminded me of Diya's words the other day.

Luckily, K8 yelled our names from the bottom of the stairs then.

"Guys! It's time to go!"

"Agape, promise me you will give this fishing boat back to its rightful owner first thing tonight when we're back," I whispered angrily to her while she was driving it at full speed towards Silver Island that night.

It was a rather old fishing boat, with rusty railings, squeaking hinges, and green and white paint falling off here and there. Its medium size allowed the ten of us to sail on it. Agape and I were alone in the boat cockpit.

"Fine, I promise," she replied wearily. But then, she looked at me and chuckled. "Relax, baby girl! Everything's gonna be fine."

Since I just rolled my eyes, fell silent in her presence again, and kept a larger distance than usual between us, she stared at me with inquisitive eyes and said:

"You're not pissed off at me, right? Or afraid? Silence doesn't fit you. Is it because of what I've said before? Is it because of the argument?"

I had the impression that until that moment I had spoken my mind like the exhaust of a bike: I had probably been too loud and outspoken about my ethos. And, yes, rather naïve too. I needed to become a lot stealthier and reserved, like a muffler. My survival might depend on it.

My ethos might be damned, though. Thus, my reservations. My silence. My doubts.

"Let's just go," I whispered and left the boat cockpit in a hurry before she had time to say anything.

"Wow. Old Sue's codes still work. I thought she was playing us for fools," Sven said right after the main metal doors of the lab opened before us. He took the chance to glare at me.

The doors had creaked loudly, but nobody could hear us. Silver Island had never been inhabited. It was a steep and large rocky formation that Mother Nature had claimed for herself.

We entered the premises in complete silence. Agape and Cian went in first.

"Let's try whether the electricity works," Agape said aiming her torch at the walls, checking for a switch. As soon as she had taken a couple more steps, all lights went on.

"Cool. Motion sensors," Taro said with sarcasm. I hated his constant defiance. "Maybe Apollo's been notified about our presence here."

"I don't think so, Taro," Agape replied nonchalantly while hacking into a control panel on the wall with her smartphone.

It looked like an old tablet and had a small but long crack on the screen, but it still worked. She went on to read data on it while talking to us.

"Old Sue didn't lie to us. This secret lab has been abandoned for years. When the war ended, they left it to rot. The activity log hasn't registered anything in decades. And it's not connected to the GSNS system or any other remote-control device off-site. It's got a standalone power generator. We're alone, down here."

"Perfect," Cian replied. "Let's proceed with the mission. Remember: we're looking for anything that Apollo and his second-in-command clones might have left behind, anything that might help us defeat them. Data, tech, anything."

"Let's split into groups to cover more ground. The island might be small, but these underground facilities are bigger than I expected," Agape added with a slight frown while checking on a recently-seized digital map on her smartphone. "I'm sending you this 3D map to your phones. Momo, Vera, Cian, take the right wing, inspect all three floors. Sigi, Daphne, go check the left one, all three floors too. Gabi, Sven, Taro, you will check the first three floors of the central wing, which is the largest. K8 and I are going to check on the lowest two floors in this wing. No arguing. Focus on the mission. Meet me back here in two hours. Report anything unusual through a call or a text message. Got it?"

Everybody nodded.

"Good, let's go."

"I hope you're not mad at Gabi, Sigi," I told him while investigating the first floor of the left wing. "I think he's right... and cheerful even in the darkest of moments. I admire him for that."

"You've got to be kidding," he whispered back. I spied on him over my shoulder while inspecting the room. He was blushing.

There wasn't anything interesting there. The first floor included a small kitchen and dining room. There was a little food, and it was decades past its best before date.

On the right of the dining room, there was a lounge. The furniture was dusty and old, the TV was broken. I checked a small collection of blue-ray disks. Most of them were gory horror films. I also found the credentials for a video streaming platform. I copied those credentials into my phone, even though I highly doubted they would be useful.

"This looks like the place they came to eat and chill out," I concluded.

"Let's go and check the other two floors down below," he replied.

We went down the stairs hoping to find much more interesting rooms on the second underground floor. The motion sensors detected us and the lights turned on automatically.

"It's a gym. A cool one," Sigi said staring at all the equipment.

We started rummaging in shelves, boxes, wardrobes, and the like. Going through all that stuff would take us hours, a time we hadn't got, and it would probably be futile because all the material down there was classic gym equipment. Nothing more.

"I'm not familiar with gym gadgets, but... what's this?" I asked feeling intrigued by an object I had just found inside a tall closet. "Is this really a thing you use in a gym? It looks... different."

Sigi's face turned to me. His eyes went wide.

"What... What is that?" he asked, freezing on the spot and turning his whole body to me with a thunderstruck expression on his face.

Sigi came closer to me and that mysterious equipment.

It was a dark blue full-body female suit made of an unknown artificial fabric. It was hanging from a hook and a hanger inside the closet. It had an intricate pattern of small triangles, and it was seamlessly embedded into a black-metal, armoured skeleton of sorts.

I wanted to take it out of the closet and put it under the lights of the gym to inspect it better, but the moment I touched it, I shrieked.

Those delicate, small triangles started to glow beneath my fingers as if they had reacted to my biological source of energy. The touch of a single digit of mine on the fabric of the suit's chest had created circling waves of blue light.

Then, to our amazement, the armoured parts of that external skeleton made some automatic click sounds, so much so that they opened up to us as if it was ready to be boarded by a host.

We stared at that mechanical wonder in complete silence. The waves of blue light died a few seconds later at a few inches' distance from the place my finger had touched.

"Wow. What did you just do?" Sigi whispered in awe.

"Nothing. I just touched it, that's all."

"We need to tell Agape."

While he was busy calling Agape, I took a picture of it with my smartphone. Then, I took my parrot out and scanned the suit from top to bottom, hoping to find something – and I did. I heard a notification sound from my phone the second the parrot had found something. I checked what it was.

"Sigi," I called his attention with my heart threatening to leap out of my mouth, "this suit is able to recognise people."

"What?!"

"It's just sent me a text message," I said with astonishment, showing him my texting app. "It calls itself 'exosuit'. It offers me to become its host... again. It's calling me Valentina, though."

Hello, my dear sugar cubes!

Well, well, well, what do you think of this new gadget?

XOXO

MS

*The cover of Glämour, in case you're interested!