Excitement increased as Tori prepared for her trip to planet Iredescent. Detailed plans were drawn for a large glass building that Tori intended for her secret lab, creating rooms where she could dream and scheme to her heart's content.

The floorplans included a bedroom with its own walk-in closet and master bathroom. Though it wasn't as grand as her bedroom, it was sufficient for Tori. There was also a study room, a basement, a personal office, and a kitchen.

There was the transformation room where Tori would turn herself and others into Iredescents, and a room she labeled 'the wing chamber', which was housing for the people she intended to turn into Iredescents.

As it turned out, Tori wouldn't be the only human to become an Iredescent.

During the entire construction, Tori never revealed her motives, playing the role of a jetsetter. None of the workers knew why a socialite wanted a private building in the forest; they incorrectly assumed it was some sort of luxury house.

The glass building was built on a private part of government property that Tori had purchased for personal reasons. Because Iredescent was discovered by the German government, giving her a newfound love for everything German, Tori chose to build the glass building in a German forest on a piece of government property, now privately hers. The forest was called Wachstyen Forest and it was located near the suburban city of Mondlicht, Germany.

As Tori's ambition grew, so did her drive to keep everything secret and exclusive. The construction workers who built the glass building mysteriously died in sporadic pattern so that suspicion wouldn't be drawn. Tori orchestrated each death to make it seem natural, to make unaware that it was her own doing. Tori didn't want anyone to discover what she wanted to do, fearing it would be the end of her dreams if people knew that she constructed a secret lab.

Midway through construction, Tori bought a new mansion in a remote part of Germany near Liechtenstein, a country surrounded by Austria and Switzerland. Tori's new mansion was in a quiet, hidden mountain valley with a stream of water flowing in part of the land she owned. Her new mansion was about an hour away from the glass building, located in between Munich and Liechtenstein. Tori planned to move there sometime after her return trip from Iredescent. Tori's mansion would be the perfect place to hide a stolen spaceship and work on her research.

Before the glass building was completely built, Tori took over satellite in order to cut off certain areas of Wachstyen Forest and the areas surrounding her German mansion. Nobody even knew there was a hacker that sectioned off certain areas from satellite view. That part of government property wasn't even monitored; there was no need for monitoring since it was just a quiet forest and a scenic drive from the city. And Liechtenstein was a small, beautiful country that posed no harm.

But Tori took every meticulous precaution to ensure the complete success of her plans.

A plan was carefully devised for her secret mission to travel to the sparkly alien planet alone. It wasn't something the government would allow, since they saw no point in going to a planet that clearly wanted to be left alone. But persistence was one of Tori's greatest strengths....

And assets.

Of course, Tori thought, lifting her head as she looked up from the piles of notes on her desk. I need a spaceship.

A spaceship was extremely vital in her lone secret mission. In order to obtain it, however, Tori had to steal it. The government wouldn't let her use one, even though she had clearance and her CES status. Theft was the only way Tori could ever get her hands on such an expensive spacecraft.

The spaceships at Aerospace Station Nieznane operated very much like cars and commercial aircraft. There was a steering wheel, making the pilot feel like he or she was turning the wheel on an old-fashioned sailing ship, though most of the newer ships had autopilot options and digitalized screens with guidance, just like on modern airplanes.

The Earth spaceships looked nothing like the space shuttles of the past where people had to wear bulky spacesuits and take certain safety precautions. The modern Earth ships were made of a meteorite rock material called glaridorite that could withstand most planet atmospheres, protecting the astronauts while keeping the air inside the spaceship.

Tori couldn't wait to pilot a spaceship herself; it was a fantasy she had always dreamed about, soon to become real.

The spaceships were kept on the roof area of the Aerospace Station Nieznane in Początki, Poland, where Tori worked. There was a silver latticed cubed ladder area with a new ship in the containment area. The ladder area beside it led to the roof area, while the area underneath was where they kept the ships being worked on. There were eight ships: seven on the rooftop and one in the repair zone.

Tori asked multiple questions about the ships, keeping a casual tone as she inquired. Most people didn't want to talk about it, obviously uncomfortable with the topic, but Tori pressed on, determined to learn things. Still they kept their mouths shut, either afraid or unable to speak of the matter, as if bound by some oath. Tori bet the apples in her office that it was fear that overruled all else. Nobody dared speak of the failed missions to planet Iredescent; it was a forbidden secret nobody wanted to uncover.

Rufus Kaminorsz, a government official who knew about the secret file, was the main person Tori questioned regarding Iredescent. When Tori asked how come the aerospace station wasn't sending out further shuttles to distant planets, Rufus responded, "Anyone trying to access the portal to that alien planet's dimension gets sucked into a massive phenomenon that floats stationary in outer space, the Bermuda Triangle of the galaxy, before they can even reach the portal. More than a dozen spaceships have been lost to it, so the government stopped pursuing the planet and gave up."

"Why don't they simply come up with a new mission, with updated equipment and a way to destroy the phenomenon, perhaps with nuclear weapons?" Tori asked.

"It's an abandoned government mission, Tori. They're not going to send more people out to die." Rufus opened the door to leave his office, ready to go on his lunch break, but Tori followed close behind, saying, "I mapped out all thirteen of the satellite routes. I retraced their paths and found the exact location of the alien planet; it's in another dimension."

Rufus turned to Tori, his face peeved and annoyed, while hers was fresh and inquiring. "You don't know what you're getting yourself into," he told her, his voice stern. "Stop inquiring and focus on something that's actually relevant, like your job."

Tori kept her unwavering gaze on him, refusing to back down. "Contrary to your statement, Rufus, I am focusing on something actually relevant."

She put a hand on the door, standing directly in his way. Her apple-scented breath filled the space between, adding heat to the air. Her fierce eyes burned into him, leaving an unforgettable impression, while her voice executed the accusation. "You, all of you, are afraid to go out there. That explains why the government sharply cut down on space exploration costs, not just in Germany and Poland, but in the entire world. I understand that many casualties happened, but – "

"Tori, it's – "

"Dangerous? Yes, it is very dangerous." Her eyes burned with intensity. "And I am not afraid."

If no one else will go, I will, Tori thought in resolution.

Rufus pushed her aside. "Don't tell me I didn't warn you," he said to her before he finally went on his lunch break.

Tori took that as a challenge and leveled her eyes, secretly committing to her covert mission. Nothing would stop her now; she was fully set on what she wanted to accomplish.

A week later, on the day she decided to leave planet Earth, Tori left work early and took a shower. She dressed carefully, being intentional with every detail of her physical appearance.

Tori started with sexy black lingerie, including a black garter, stockings, a corset, a little black dress, and expensive black heels with red on the bottom soles. Her makeup was seductive and elegant, with shimmer lipstick and pink blush. She draped a red shawl across her shoulders and arms, the drape a flourish of her unpredictable actions. She did her hair up in a bun and put on her favorite Victoria's Secret perfume, Love eau Parfum.

Derek drove up to her mansion, in answer to her phone call. Tori stood on the grand staircase outside her mansion, looking like the rich socialite she was. They went out to a fancy restaurant for a date and got some drinks. Tori pretended she wanted to go to a nice bar afterwards, so they went.

Shots after shots of rich, expensive liquor made Derek drunk. Tori had been secretly pouring hers into someone else's shot glass, pretending to drink and laugh along with Derek, who got drunk really fast. A few hours rolled by before Tori and Derek stumbled out of the bar, laughing and giggling about a funny conversation Tori had engaged Derek in. Tori seduced Derek, trying to get him to drive her home so they could have fun in private. He drunkenly and stupidly agreed, due to Tori's peer pressuring him.

Soon they were driving in Derek's car, a gleaming silver Porsche, going down a multi-lane highway. Derek had the music turned up to a raunchy pop-dance song that belted out suggestive lyrics as the beat kept going thump, thump, thump, thump. Tori acted like she was drunk, pretending not to pay much attention while laughing hard.

Then she suddenly made her killer move.

Tori pressed her foot hard on the gas pedal, increasing the speed. Even though he was intoxicated, Tori having convinced him to drink a lot, Derek knew something was wrong and was surprised when Tori's foot persisted in staying on top of his on top of the gas pedal, her sharp heel digging into his dress shoe as hard as it could.

"Tori, what are you doing?" Derek asked, trying to get her foot off. He started to panic in alarm when he saw the speedometer shoot high at a dangerous speed.

Derek glanced at Tori and realized she had already unbuckled her seatbelt. Tori gave Derek a silent, cold look before she jumped out of the car, right before it swerved dangerously onto the left lane, having been suddenly released from the hard pressure on the gas pedal.

Before Derek could fully register that Tori had been sober the whole time, the car rammed into a blaring semi-truck that was on the left lane, killing Derek on impact.

Tori tumbled onto the shoulder lane, rolling and hitting her body hard. She bit her lip to keep from crying out in pain, hurrying to get away from the road. She sat in the grass a few meters away as she watched the traffic stop, a few other cars crashing into the destroyed Porsche and wrecked semi. Her body felt cold even though it was a warm summer night.

It wasn't the first time Tori directly killed someone. The construction workers were her first victims, yet each death stunned her like a relentlessly cold winter wind. She knew that if she ever got caught, she would be charged with premediated murder. She didn't want to risk anyone knowing about her secret plans to go to the alien planet herself, so she eliminated anyone that posed as a potential risk.

She killed Derek to make sure nobody knew she found the file. He was with her in the filing room when she first discovered the file, and she didn't want to risk the chance of Derek telling anyone that Tori looked at the file and inquired about it. So she silenced him, becoming a willful murderer to obtain what she started to become obsessed with.

Rufus had also been silenced, though not directly. Wanting to take Rufus out of the picture before he could tell anyone about her persistent interest in a secret government file, thus linking it to her, Tori committed murder by locking Rufus in his garage and forcing him to die through carbon monoxide poisoning.

Tori had snuck into his house and left his expensive Mercedes-Benz car running in the garage shortly after quietly knocking Rufus out, making it look as if he had accidentally tripped and knocked himself out on a nearby shelf. The car was left running in the closed garage for several hours. Rufus was right beside the car, just a few meters away from the driver's seat, Tori purposely making it look as if he had forgotten something right after starting the car up and was returning to the house before he hit his head and passed out. The swelling increase of carbon monoxide kept Rufus unconscious, silently killing him.

When the police arrived, Tori had tears running down her face as she told them how Derek was drunk and speeding on the highway. "He kept going faster and faster, and I got scared and jumped out of the car before he crashed. It was terrifying," Tori stammered, blaming Derek for the crash.

When the paramedic revealed that Derek had indeed been intoxicated, the police had his body covered and taken away, and Tori was questioned further. She admitted to having a few drinks, but not enough to get drunk. She lied, saying that Derek forced her into the car and drove before she could get out, and only when they were about to crash did she dare to jump out.

"You've got cuts and bruises all over. You're a little scraped up, but you'll be fine," a paramedic told Tori as he examined her. "You don't require hospitalization."

Tori was allowed to be released upon request. She made it sound like she was going to stay home and get some rest. But soon as she got home, Tori washed her cuts and scrapes, put aloe vera on them, and got ready for her secret mission.

________________

Music:

"Kämpfe Um Dich"
by Glasperlenspiel

(means Fight for you in German)

________________