Chapter 14.
– I –

I almost shot him.

My right arm moved, and the Punisher scythed through the air as my body reacted – as I reacted – to Arnval’s announcement in the blink of an eye.

But at the last moment before my index finger depressed the trigger, I held myself back.

The urge to fire the linear rifle was tremendous.

The rifle trembled in my grasp as I was caught between opposing tidal forces raging within me.

The need to vent crashed with the need for prudence.

Haste makes waste, and I was in an unknown situation where every bullet counted.

But I couldn’t bring my arm back down – I just couldn’t – even though I knew there was no point shooting at Arnval…because he wasn’t there.

That’s what the Argus System and Mirai’s senses told me.

Through the Argus, I was aware that Arnval was a holo-projection manifested by a dozen emitters spread throughout the rooftop terrace. The ballooning sensation I experienced before after emerging from the Sarcophagus was absent. Instead, the system made me ‘aware’ of the presence of the holographic emitters. If I concentrated on any one of them, the Argus focused on the device and supplied me with tactile sensory data. Shape, size, estimated weight, even texture was all fed into me as though I’d reached out with an invisible hand and touched the emitter.

However, when I reached out for Arnval using the Argus System, it was akin to waving my hand through a mist, disturbing it gently, and his projection flickered ever so faintly as though subjected to the observer effect.

In contrast, Mirai was aware that Arnval wasn’t real because she couldn’t sense his presence.

During my conflict – I mean training exercise – with the maids, Mirai had sensed when she was being watched, or rather, she had sensed the emotions and intentions of the observer. When a maid had closed in on Mirai with strong feelings, Mirai had picked up on those intense emotions as if they’d been radiated out to her. It wasn’t an infallible system – I’d been sniped from afar before I knew what was happening – but it had saved her on a couple of occasions. Yet in this situation, Mirai hadn’t sensed Arnval watching her from the opposite rooftop terrace.

There was one more reason why I knew that the Arnval facing me wasn’t real.

Arnval may have been part machine, but there was enough of his organic body to emanate a lifeforce that Mirai could see.

The young man wearing a faintly remorseful smile had no golden aura surrounding him.

“You’re not going to shoot?” he asked me with a hint of regret.

I shook my head subtly.

There’s no point.

And yet I couldn’t bring myself to lower the rifle down to my side.

It was like a compromise between the two opposing currents of desire racing within me.

I wouldn’t shoot, but I wouldn’t completely abandon the intention to do so.

Arnval nodded weakly and glanced down at the gun in his right hand. “Aren’t you going to ask me why?”

The Punisher continued to tremble as I swallowed and cleared my throat. “Why…?”

His gaze met mine. “Because your sister betrayed House Novis and the Sanreal Family.”

I felt myself frown slightly as his words triggered an uneasy tide of emotions inside my chest, one that washed over the warring desires of shoot and don’t shoot.

Arnval’s eyes had narrowed. Whether voluntary or not, it was a clear sign that he was watching me intently.

The question of ‘where are you?’ briefly crossed my mind before my thoughts turned to a realization that was surprisingly painful.

Rather than a realization, it was more a confirmation of what I’d already suspected.

“She told the Empress about Mirai…didn’t she?”

Arnval inhaled deeply, then reply with a single nod.

The Punisher trembled violently in my hand before I lowered it down to my side. “Why…?”

“She negotiated an agreement with the Empress. She would take her research to House Aventisse if they would guarantee her complete control over how the research was conducted. And that included you.”

I shook my head slowly. “No, I mean why approach Kateopia?”

“Because once Clarisol was imprinted into Mirai, she would assume the identity of Isabel Allegrando and disappear to the far reaches of colonized space.”

Disappear….

Hearing it from Arnval triggered another tide of uncomfortable feelings.

Despite everything I’d been told about the plan to give Clarisol, or at least a copy of her, a way out of the virtual space imprisoning her consciousness, it bothered me because it felt too contrived. It clashed with the notion that surely there was a better way to secure her freedom. But then I considered how long Clarisol had been imprisoned within that virtual space, and I wondered if the Sanreal Family had simply exhausted all options to reason with Kateopia.

The more I considered the various sides to the situation, the more confused and uncertain it grew.

Yet I couldn’t shake off the impression that it was a lie.

Isabel Allegrando. Clarisol’s freedom. They both seemed like a lie that begged the question of why lie to me.

Why not tell me the truth? What are they afraid of telling me? Do they believe I won’t be able to handle the truth?

Arnval pressed on. “Your sister couldn’t afford to let Mirai slip away. It took her countless attempts to create a Simulacrum that could host the Angel Fibers. She couldn’t tolerate spending months or another year trying to create another copy of Mirai.” He paused for a long moment and assumed a troubled frown. “If it was up to her, Mirai would never have left the maturation tank. Keeping her contained for the sole purpose of cultivating the Angel Fibers was her purpose after all. Having her prized project walking about put her research at great risk.”

“So she tried to strike a deal with the Empress,” I said. “But what went wrong?”

“The Empress didn’t agree to Erina’s terms and conditions.” Arnval shook his head and snorted. “No deal. To make matters worse, Kateopia demanded Erina and House Novis hand Mirai and all the research over to her. Your sister dug in her heels and preferred to go down in flames rather than hand Mirai over. Kateopia retaliated, and Ronin Kassius paid the price. Adding insult to injury, for House Novis to avoid being expelled from the Imperial Court, they had to commit Mirai into the Gun Princess Royale. Erina’s attempts to keep her research subject safe had backfired on her completely. Mirai had now been tossed out of the frying pan and into the fire…along with you.”

This I could believe.

Erina was single minded in her passions so I found it plausible that she would undertake an extreme venture if it ensured she would keep Mirai under her control.

The question of stealing Mirai from House Novis and the Sanreal Family on her own was inconceivable. She would never be able to flee safely with Mirai. But if she could garner the support of someone important – of someone who wielded great authority and power – then it might be possible to keep Mirai under her control.

Unfortunately, Erina’s plans had fallen into disarray, and that brought us – namely me – to a rooftop courtyard in a city habit constructed within an immense Citadel.

“I don’t get it.” I shook my head slowly. “Why do this at all?”

“Because your sister caused all this to happen. This is her punishment.”

“So you’re going to shoot her in the head?” I gave Arnval a confused shrug. “What the Hell does that solve? You need her—Sanreal needs her—to continue her research into the Angel Fibers, and into me. What good does it do having her killed?” Again, I shook my head slowly at him. “There’s no point to this.”

Arnval cocked his head slightly. “You paid a visit to Clarisol in her virtual prison, didn’t you?”

I felt a flicker of annoyance at the question. “You know that I did, so don’t ask.”

“Visiting hours were strictly regulated. Your little incursion gave the Empress more ammunition to use against House Novis. She really tightened the screws on Sanreal.”

Did she now? Tough luck.

I shrugged dismissively. “So what?”

“That virtual environment is more than a just a simulation. It’s more than a prison for Clarisol’s neural map. It’s a place where her mind can develop, grow, mature. Otherwise, how could the consciousness of a ten-year old girl grow into that of a twenty-year old woman if the environment didn’t allow for it.”

My innards clenched weakly as I began joining the proverbial dots together. But I chose not to get ahead of myself, and instead waited for Arnval to say his piece.

He continued smoothly. “Erina Kassius robbed Clarisol val Sanreal of an opportunity at freedom. Now she’ll face the same fate.”

“…meaning…?”

“Her mind has already been mapped down to the finest detail.”

I was certainly seeing where this was headed, and my gut clenched tighter.

Arnval glanced down at the large gun in his right hand. “A bullet to the head?” His shoulders rose and fell. “No. A bullet through the heart. Her body dies, but her mind lives on in a virtual environment.”

My throat abruptly felt like an icy fist was squeezing it.

I found it very hard swallow.

But Arnval wasn’t finished. “Erina Kassius will continue to serve House Novis, and the Sanreal Family. But she’ll be doing it from inside a box for her mind. She won’t have any more opportunities to betray House Novis. Her hold on you will be tempered. You’ll be free to live as Isabel val Sanreal and compete as Mirai with minimal interaction with her outside of what’s necessary for her to continue conducting her research.”

I succeeded in clearing my throat, but it still felt constricted.

My chest and heart also felt squeezed by conflicted emotions, the latter pounding audibly.

And in my mind, a multitude of thoughts swirled about in turmoil.

I had read once that the human brain holds parallel trains of thought. After all, it’s a common saying. However, we are only consciously aware of one train of thought. As I stood on the rooftop terrace, I found myself wondering what those other thoughts entailed. What were Mirai’s parallel consciousnesses thinking? Were they all in agreement or were they floundering about?

Arnval had fallen silent but he was watching me carefully.

I had no doubt he wasn’t the only one.

With that in mind, I stepped closer to the rooftop’s parapet. “Who decided this?”

“Phelan Sanreal.”

Yes, of course he did.

However, it was a question that needed be asked though it was more a confirmation of what I suspected, but it led me to the next question.

“If it’s already been decided…then why am I here?”

“Because you get an opportunity to decide her fate.”

My chest twinged in trepidation. “Me? Why me?”

“Because she wronged the Sanreal Family, and she wronged you. This is her punishment. However, you can save her.”

I was silent for a long moment, the wheels turning furiously in my head of a sudden as various emotions surged through me, and again multiple trains of thought steamed headlong through my mind. Eventually, after considering various points of view and inwardly debating a handful of arguments, I arrived at a single question.

“Why the Hell would I do that?”

Arnval’s eyebrows rose as his eyes widened before he burst into laughter.

I narrowed my eyes at him and glowered. “What’s so damn funny?”

Arnval took measured breaths and recovered his composure.

“Well?” I pressed him. “What’s so damn funny?”

“Your sister said the same thing.”

I stiffened and lost a grip on my glower. “What…?”

Arnval continued after another breath. “It’s exactly what your sister said—well, not exactly. But her response was pretty much the same.”

My feelings mushed together into a dark sludge, and my thoughts crashed to a halt…all but one. “She’s not expecting me to save her.”

Arnval nodded. “That’s right. She knows that you won’t. When we told her that her fate was in your hands, she laughed. She told us to finish her off and forget about this farce.”

“…is that so….”

“She’s pretty much resigned to her fate.”

“…ah huh….”

“Yes, she even requested a last meal before her execution.”

“…did she now….”

Arnval grinned sadly at me. “Would you like to see her?”

Before I could reply, the mimetic sky-field changed into a giant screen segmented into dozens upon dozens of rectangular panels, all neatly joined up border to border, top to bottom. Each of them displayed a different view of a young woman with shoulder length auburn hair, sitting at a restaurant table, dining on a meal with several bottles of wine standing open in a wine cart beside the table. She was dressed in a white outfit consisting of a sleeveless, off-the-shoulder blouse, slender slacks, and stylish kitten sling backs.

Erina gesticulated drunkenly between stabbing the food on her plate and shoveling it into her mouth. She appeared to be in conversation either with herself or with someone out of sight, and though I couldn’t hear her, I had little doubt she was vociferously complaining about her fate.
As she was waving a hand about, she knocked over a tall glass of white wine on the table. For a long while she stopped moving and simply stared at the wine soiling the table cloth. Then she reached out with her left hand and righted the glass. At that moment she froze again, this time her attention was focused on her hand.

It took me a second or more to understand why: the engagement ring once prominently displayed on her wedding finger wasn’t there anymore.
Erina sat rigidly at the table for a considerable length of time, her gaze locked on her ring finger, before resuming to eat her meal. However, she no longer waved her hands about, and she ate in subdued silence.

I pressed my lips together into a very thin and bloodless line as I regarded Erina’s forlorn visage. After a while, they began to hurt so I released them.

Taking a deep breath, I dropped my weight onto a hip. I continued staring up at Erina as I asked Arnval, “What if I decided to save her sorry ass…hypothetically?”

Arnval too had been looking up at Erina.

In my peripheral vision, I watched him focus on me. “Hypothetically?”

“That’s right. Hypothetically.” I refrained from glaring at Erina’s face plastered across the sky. “What would I need to do?”

Arnval grew noticeably pensive, and I could imagine the thoughts running through his head, such as wondering why I was broaching the problem under the guise of a hypothetical question. He was probably thinking I should be more honest with myself, but this was the best I could manage since I hadn’t decided to save Erina’s bacon.

Arnval shook his head. “That’s not a hypothetical question. Don’t you know what hypothetical means?”

I shrugged a shoulder. “Humor me.”

I heard him sigh, and in the corner of my eye, I watched his shoulders rise and fall.

“You’ll need to find me within a thirty-minute time limit,” Arnval replied. “Arrive at my location before the deadline, and Erina Kassius gets to keep her body. Fall short and she’ll be a disembodied mind for the rest of her life.”

Again, I wet my lips and began sorting through my thoughts and feelings, needing to take both into context and consideration as I pondered my next question. “Where do I find you?”

“Look up at the center of the sky. Do you see the structure there?”

I glanced at the turtle shell with dark panels. “I see it….”

“It’s called the Promenade. It’s a floating observation deck that sails above the habitat’s skyline. That’s where you’ll find me and your sister.”

I gave it another glance. “It sails above the habitat? But it’s not moving—”

At that moment, the Promenade descended noticeably and began to gently drift below the artificial sky.

Arnval shrugged a shoulder. “It is now.”

I scowled faintly at the Promenade as I mulled the obvious. “And how the Hell am I supposed to get up there?”

“It’s an observation deck, therefore there has to be means of climbing aboard.”

I turned my scowl upon Arnval. “Just tell me.”

He sighed in exaggerated disappointment. “Come on, ma chérie. Not everything in life is free.”

I clenched my jaw, then quickly turned in a full circle.

Overclocking for a few seconds gave me the extra time I needed to study the buildings and the interior of the habitat.

I found myself paying closer attention to the skyline than ever before.

The Promenade had to dock somewhere. The question was where.

On impulse, I searched for the tall tower that resembled a thin, leafless tree.

Sighting it in the distance, I pointed at it as I faced Arnval. “Is that it?”

“You see? You can figure it out if you try. Now that wasn’t too hard, was it?”

Restraining the urge to scowl anew, I turned my body toward Arnval. “So all I have to do is get aboard the Promenade, and Erina is spared?”

Arnval smiled sadly. “Well…there’s a little more too it.”

For the first time since arriving at the Habitat, the Argus System sensed movement within a twenty-meter radius – directly behind me.

Overclocking in a heartbeat, I spun round in the direction of the glass enclosed lounge.

Arnval’s warning drawl out in my ears as time around me slowed to a crawl.

“You have to get there in one piece.”

In the corner of the lounge – the same corner where I’d seen the spiral stairs – stood the tall slender silhouette of a woman…with a weapon in hand.

Despite Mirai’s physical speed and my accelerated consciousness, I aimed the Punisher too late.

The reinforced glass between her and I was perforated in the instant she fired, and a burst of bullets streamed through the inch-wide holes.

The Punisher’s double-shot of ten-millimeter rounds fired at hypersonic speed hurtled past the bullets and struck the woman’s silhouette, knocking her into the glass behind her.

But her aim was also true, and I felt her gunfire slam into my sternum.

The Princess Regalia that I’d maligned minutes ago hardened where the bullets struck it.

Then the material relaxed before quickly rippling over my torso to distribute the kinetic energy away from the points of impact.

Incredibly, none of the bullets broke through the Regalia, but an agonized scream was trapped in my chest as my lungs refused to function.

The blows I received from the dozen odd bullets sent my chest muscles and diaphragm into a seizure.

Unable to breathe and unable to scream, I struggled to maintain my balance and footing.

If not for the Argus System feeding me with sensory data, I would have lost track of the woman inside the glass enclosure.

Overclocked, my vision swam for a dangerous second before righting itself.

The Punisher in my right hand was aimed in the general direction of the woman’s silhouette so I needed only a half second to correct my aim.

Her bullets had addled me, but the two rounds I sent into her had staggered her as well.

This time I succeeded in firing a fraction of a second before she did.

It might not seem like much, but that was all the time I needed for the Punisher’s armor-piercing rounds to rip into her firearm, knocking it aside while tearing through its innards.

That’s right. I wasn’t aiming at her.

I was aiming at the weapon in her right hand.

If I disarmed her, I could pick her apart at leisure.

Unfortunately for me, I didn’t notice the second firearm in her left hand.

I could blame the Argus System for not warning me, but I was also reeling from being shot in the sternum. Adding to the distraction was the fact that my chest was still experiencing a seizure, and Mirai had yet to draw another breath since being shot. So even if the Argus System had told me about the weapon in her left hand, my mind may not have listened to it.

Had I remained standing, the bullets she fired would have torn into the Punisher and wrecked it. The only reason the bullets missed the Punisher and struck my shoulder instead was because I’d subconsciously reacted to the sight of the second rifle by breaking into a mad sprint along the edge of the terrace courtyard. Thus, I was already in motion, firing back at the woman in the glass enclosed lounge, when multiple bullets struck my shoulder.

The impact this time felt heavier.
It also felt like a handful of slugs punched headlong into the Regalia’s puffy bag protecting my right shoulder.

Once again, the Princess Regalia that I’d criticized spared me from injury, but the shots numbed my arm from the shoulder to the elbow, and half my chest felt like it was on fire.

A cry that sounded more like an agonized gasp escaped past my lips.

Then kinetic energy absorbed by my body sent me into a bodily spin.

Overclocked, I watched the fake sky and terrace spin crazily for a distended second, before I rolled over the top of the parapet and then down the side of the building.

---

Dear Readers,

Firstly, I'd like to apologise for disappearing for so long.

2019 was a piss-poor year for me, and 2020 hasn't been any better with an ongoing health issue that's plagued me since the beginning of the year.

Secondly, why am I posting this now?
Well, this turned out to be a web version of Book Three.
The eBook version was completed about 3 months ago, and my editor friend gave it a 90% mark.
So I've been working on cleaning it up and preparing it for its release.
The only problem has been that my health concern has made writing rather difficult and that's slowed down progress on the book.
Also, it took me a year to rewrite book three into what will be known as the eBook version.
I just had a lot of work to do on it.

That said, I hope you have enjoyed the web version, and I hope you can look forward to the eBook version which is longer, and I strongly believe now to be a far superior version of the story.
However, a lot of what is in the web version is in the eBook version.

For now, I am hoping to get the eBook out by July.
It's a long, long book that needs to be carefully polished and that's what's taking time.

If you are new to the series, and are interested in reading of purchasing Books 1 and 2 of the Gun Princess Royale, the links are provided below:

Book One - Awakening the Princess

Book Two - The Measure of a Princess

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

I wish you all well.

Please, stay safe.