It had almost seemed like an ordinary day in the robotics lab. Metis had been running an important analysis on her computer. It was something Simon had requested of her concerning his job, and while it was finished, she was going back over to review some things. Meanwhile, Minerva worked on Athena's new headphones, though she was constantly getting distracted by thoughts of Simon. It had only been about a week since their date, and neither had the time for a second one. Their plan to see the rocket launch together had been canceled due to the current circumstances. As soon as Minerva finished up, she’d hoped to ask him to join her later for dinner, and perhaps a movie or one of those rakugo shows the man’s always raving about, just to make up for their ruined plans. But none of that would come to pass.

There had been a bomb threat just the previous day. Apparently, someone had been tipped off about a planned sabotage of the upcoming launch of the HAT-1. The space center had upped security with help from the police, but everyone was still on edge. The lab’s had multiple patrols since the police arrived, as did every other major area of the space center. The door to the lab opened for possibly the fifth time that day. Minerva sighed, not even looking up from her work.

“I know all these security measures are necessary, but it is rather annoying,” Minerva said aloud to Metis despite her being mere feet away, purposefully trying to chase away their visitors disturbing them. “My surveillance bots would've picked up any suspicious activity.”

Metis chuckled, finally pausing in her work to glance at her niece. Upon hearing the faint footsteps in the fairly quiet room, she turned her head to see the visitor. To her surprise, it was a lone officer going over to the far wall where her Japanese ornamentations sat on display.

“Excuse me, do you need something?” she asked, causing Minerva to finally spin her chair around to see for herself.

The man remained silent. He suddenly snatched up the beautiful katana on display, then turned toward the women. His cap was low enough that they could barely see his eyes, giving him an ominous look. Metis and Minerva jumped to their feet, alarmed. Metis moved defensively in front of her niece.

“What is the meaning of this?! Who are you?!”

Without a word, the stranger rushed them, blade at the ready. In the blink of an eye, the katana was plunged straight through Metis’s chest. Blood splattered from where the blade stuck through her back, snapping Minerva out of her daze when it splashed onto her. Only once the weapon retracted and her aunt’s body fell to the floor did she shriek. In a panic, Minerva darted toward the door in hopes of escaping the attacker and getting help. But the rapid footsteps behind her caught up, and she froze when a searing pain plunged into her lower back. She fell face down onto the floor almost immediately, an unbearable burning coursing through her while she felt like her legs went completely numb. She was terrified. Metis had just been killed, and now she was about to die too. With the amount of blood loss and the agony she was in, her head grew dizzy and she lost consciousness.

~~~~~

Simon made his way toward the robotics lab, a little concerned that he didn't find Athena in the psychology lab next door where she usually liked to play. So, the next place to look would be the robotics lab where Minerva and Metis were likely working. In a way, he was hoping for another chance to speak with Minerva, as work had kept them apart lately. When he approached the door, he heard crying from inside - Athena's crying. While it wasn't his place to intervene, he hoped Metis wasn't running some kind of test on Athena again. He hated seeing the child afraid or in pain. Upon opening the door, he was in shock by what he found instead.

On the floor near the door, very close to where he was, lay Minerva, a messy wound on her lower back and a puddle of blood under her. And on the robot operating table lay Metis, a similarly messy wound on her chest. Athena stood beside her mother, covered in blood. Ponco the robot was also present, and the bloody katana was on the floor. Simon was flooded with so many emotions all at once. Shock and horror, deep sorrow, confusion. That's when Athena looked over at him, a sweet smile on her face and a far-out look in her eyes.

“Something’s wrong with Mom and Minnie, so I'm taking them apart to fix them.”

That's all Simon needed to hear to draw some kind of conclusion. She was a naive child who saw no difference between humans and robots. He didn't want to believe that she was capable of murder, but he knew there would be no way to convince the police of that, given the scene before him. Misty-eyed, he looked down at Minerva's body, kneeling beside her. He couldn't believe she was dead. It just…couldn't be. He started to reach a hand toward her head, almost hoping that if he touched her, she would move or speak. He stopped himself from doing so, knowing there was no point. It would only confirm the grim reality that she was gone. Before he completely broke down, he got up and went to pick up the katana. Emotions going haywire, his mind was already formulating a plan on the fly. He could grieve later. For now, he needed to move Ponco and get Athena out of there. And also…Metis's work. He couldn't let it all be for naught.

~~~~~

With his wrists bound by shackles and the incessant murmurs of the people in the gallery, Simon stood before the judge, prepared for his guilty verdict. All the evidence pointed to him, he knew that. Not a single person thought otherwise. To keep Athena safe, and to safeguard the results of Metis’s work, he would accept his sentence.

It was then that a detective entered, going over to the prosecutor to quietly relay something, to which the prosecutor wasted no time in announcing to the court. “Your Honor, we've just received word from the hospital. Ms. Cyber has undergone treatment and has stabilized. Doctors say she'll pull through, but she'll have permanent damage.”

Simon lifted his head, looking over at the man in disbelief. He wanted to cry. He hadn't initially known of Minerva's survival. She was found on the floor, covered in blood, looking lifeless. Her heartbeat was so faint that even Ponco didn't pick up on it. But now, she was going to make it. If only he'd known, he could've gotten her help sooner. It would've been her he'd carried out of there…if only he'd known. Despite everything, there was a small wave of relief washing over him. At the same time, he felt sick to his stomach to know she may never fully recover, and that he may never get to see her again to apologize for leaving her there to die.

“That's good to hear,” the judge replied. “So Mr. Blackquill’s charges must be changed accordingly, though it probably doesn't matter at this point.”

“Wait!” Someone moved up to the witness stand. It was Athena. “He didn't do it! His heart is screaming that he didn't kill her! And he'd never hurt Minnie! Never ever!”

Whispers and murmurs rose in volume throughout the courtroom.

“What is she talking about?”

“Poor girl. She's too trusting of that man.

“Can't even see that it was clearly him.”

“She's just a kid. She's probably in denial.”

Athena started crying. No one was listening to her. And Simon - he remained turned away with his head down, saying nothing to help prove the child's words.

The judge shook his head. “I'm sorry, Ms. Cykes. This all must be hard for you to understand.” He slammed his gavel a few times to silence the gallery. “Order! Order! Now, for the murder of Metis Cykes and the attempted murder of Minerva Cyber, the court finds the defendant guilty.”

And just like that, Simon found his new home behind bars. His cell was dark and depressing, and situated between two other inmates. There was a single, uncomfortable bed against the wall. A small window let in just enough light and fresh air to keep it from being musty. Since he was finally alone, Simon sat and finally let his tears fall. They slid down his face, one after another, like cascading waterfalls. His mentor was gone. Athena was traumatized and more alone than ever. And Minerva…she was alive, yes, but would she ever be able to move on from this? He wished he could see her, even just to say “get well” and “goodbye”. But with the grief was a new resolve. The true culprit - the phantom who did this - Simon will hunt him down. He will pay.

A screech made the man jump up, looking to see his hawk perched on the window, his head poking through the bars. “Taka!” In his talons was a stack of papers clipped together. “Good job.”

Simon took the papers from him and rubbed the bird’s chin. Each page had either a chart of some kind or a lot of writing. It was the phantom’s psych profile Metis had created. The only clue the elusive spy had ever left was a poor quality voice recording. But that's where Metis's specialty in analytical psychology came in, though it had cost her her life.

Through his tears, Simon managed to smirk. “I’ll never stop hunting you. Just try to retrieve your identity, you bloody butcher!”

Taka took off, leaving the prison behind. He soared through the sky, eventually arriving at the local hospital. He landed on a windowsill, peering through the glass at the patient inside. The blonde woman was barely conscious. She laid in bed, an IV in her arm and bandages covering much of her torso. A heart monitor steadily beeped next to her. Through Simon, she had met Taka a couple of times, and to the man’s surprise, the hawk had taken a shine to her. It was no wonder he was checking on her, though it seemed she wouldn't be in the mood for his company. With a sorrowful tilt of his head, Taka flew away. It was then that another visitor arrived.

“Minerva?” The blonde turned her head slightly to see Aura coming in. Her vision was blurry, both from sleeping and from the tears in her eyes. “How are you feeling?”

“Awful,” she replied, her voice quiet and weak. “Aunt Metis…she's…”

Aura sadly nodded, a few tears escaping her. “She's gone…” Taking a deep breath to try and calm herself, she asked, “Do you know what happened? Who attacked you?”

“No…” Minerva dug through her memories, yet she couldn't quite get a clear picture. “I can't seem to remember. Someone attacked us, that's all I know. Most of it's a blur to me. It happened so suddenly…so quickly…”

Aura's fists clenched with anger. “Simon’s been convicted. They incarcerated him this morning.”

A quiet gasp passed Minerva's lips. “S-Simon? No…he didn't… He wouldn't…”

“So it wasn't him? You're certain?”

“Yes. There's no way…he'd ever do this. I don't know who, but I know it wasn't him.” She started crying. “And they jailed him? Just like that? I should've been there as a witness… Maybe there's still time.”

She started to prop up on her elbows only for pain to shoot through her, halting her. The strangest part was that it didn't reach past the waist. When Minerva tried to shift around, she found that her legs didn't respond. A realization hit her, and her breathing picked up, as did her heart rate.

“I can't…I can't feel my legs. I can't move…”

Aura went to her side, placing a hand on her shoulder and lightly forcing her to lay back. “They haven't been able to give you the news yet, but…your spinal cord sustained damage when you were attacked. It's left you paralyzed from the waist down.”

With shaky breaths, Minerva stared down at her legs under the blanket. “This can't be happening… This can't be happening… This has to be a nightmare…”

“I'm sorry…” Aura said, her head down as more silent tears escaped her.

“Minnie…?”

The light, quiet voice made both women turn their heads toward the door. Minerva tried to dry her tears in front of Athena. “What is it, princess? You holding up?”

Athena started sobbing and ran to her cousin's side, earning a small glare from Aura. “Mom is gone… They took Simon away… And they said that…that you were hurt bad and you won't…be able to walk anymore…”

Minerva reached as far as she could to give Athena a hug, bursting into tears as well. “I know…”

“Little murderer,” Aura mumbled under her breath, a harsh and cold glare on Athena.

Minerva heard her though, and she snapped, “Miss Aura! Now isn't the time to point fingers. This is difficult…for all of us.”

Aura stubbornly turned her head away. Minerva held Athena tight. She couldn't even muster the courage to say that everything would be okay because she knew it wasn't true. Her thoughts raced, ideas coming and going on what to do now. Looking past the child, she saw her personal belongings on the bedside table, her pendant from Simon among them. Feelings mixed together and plans began to form in her mind. Managing to stop her flow of tears, she pushed Athena back enough to meet her gaze.

“Thena, I'm going to call my mom and dad and tell them what's going on. Then I'll get you a plane ticket and send you to Europe to stay with them, okay?” The girl opened her mouth to argue, but Minerva shushed her with a finger to her lips. “Truth is, I won't be able to care for you in the state I'm in. But I hope that, once you're older, you'll come back to help me find a way to save Simon.”

Athena stared at her, reading the emotions in her voice. There was deep sorrow and anger, but also a steadfast resolve. And there was an assurance that they could and would get through this. With a nod, the child stepped back.

“Okay, Minnie. I'll do my best. I promise.”

“And Miss Aura, I have a few favors to ask.”

Aura crossed her arms, still eyeing Athena. “What is it?”

“If it wouldn't be too much trouble, there are some things I'd like you to get for me. And I’d like your help with some…blueprints.”

Aura raised a brow with interest. While it was true that Minerva needed time to recover, that wasn't going to stop her. She wanted answers - she wanted to know who did all this, and why. Simon was innocent, as was Athena, of that she was certain. But then who attacked them? What motive did they have? No matter how difficult it was or how long it took, Minerva was determined to find the truth.