Chapter 21

Angel

Her birthdays did not go by unmarked. In fact, Jack seemed determined to over-compensate for the prison he had put Angel in on her birthdays — lavish gifts she could show off to no one at all, beautifully-cooked food from all corners of the galaxy without anyone to share it with. It never seemed to occur to the man that she would much rather have nothing at all and share the day with family. Angel still hadn't been introduced to her father's new wife, and were it not for the Hyperion network, she might never even have known what she looked like.

Still, her eighteenth birthday had been a milestone Angel was excited to reach. When she turned eighteen, her father had promised her she could join Hyperion, become an official employee of the company. Some shred of nativity remained in her heart that this would mean she could extend her life's little bubble out to at least cover Helios. That she would be able to meet people, even if only for a little while.

Of course, Jack had no intention of allowing what he called a "needless risk". Though he referred to her as a Hyperion employee now, Angel was suspicious as to whether anyone other than Jack knew about her helping the company.

It was unlikely that the work she was doing was even a benefit to Hyperion at all. Nothing escaped her digital omnispective above planets, darting through Hyperion satellites. Angel knew Hyperion had little interest in Pandora — a frustration that boiled her father's blood on a regular basis.

Yet all her tasks where Pandora-bound.

"Okay, any candidates today, Angel?" Jack's voice crackled over the monitors around the Control Core. There was a ribbon of raw nerves in his tone, and Angel found herself already fed up of being on the receiving end of her father's bad day at work before they had even started on his side project.

Angel sighed, her eyes opening in a thousand places across Pandora's wasteland.

"There are…four treasure hunters who arrived on a shuttle several hours ago. They are currently on a bus to Fyrestone," Angel reported to her father. This was not the first time he had sent her to scout for potential Vault Hunters. Though their presence had annoyed him for years, Jack had eventually done what he did best — he turned the irritant into something he could use. Given the vast majority of Hyperion employees irritated her father, Angel could only imagine how much progress he had made in turning the company towards his favour.

For a man whose short fuse would easily ruin his day because someone looked at him funny, Jack was a frighteningly patient man when it came to achieving his goals. After all, despite the years, Jack hadn't given up on his belief that Pandora had chosen him to save it.

So long as he was in control and could see the goal, Jack would bide his time with unnerving ease.

"Great! Say this to 'em: Don't be alarmed. I need you to stay calm and don't let on that anyone is talking to you. Start making your way off the bus."

"The bus is still moving, sir," Angel couldn't help but respond, smiling sweetly as though she were making a helpful observation. Besides, the Vault Hunters had no Hyperion technology on them. Being locked into the Hyperion network felt like chains upon her power sometimes, though Angel supposed that was exactly what Jack had intended.

Restraining her from killing anyone else, he convinced them both.

Jack was having none of it, but she didn't mind when he snapped back at her:

"Shut up! Tell them —"

Over the speakers a door banged open, making Angel recoil and lose her focus. The image of the bus and its four Vault Hunter targets blurred, and a voice sounded from the monitors:

"John? Why have you dispatched one of our satellites to Pandora? What are you doing?"

Tassiter, Angel thought to herself. She shifted from Pandora to Helios, quickly locating her father to watch the awkward confrontation. The small, ever-growing part of her that hated her father for locking her away enjoyed seeing him stuck in a corner too. But a larger part of her, the part that still loved her father and believed he would save her…or indeed, that she could yet save him…wanted to make sure he was alright.

She found Jack in the satellite control room. He was ripping out cables from his personal ECHO-device and the computer in front of him, his back turned to his boss to try and hide what he was doing.

"Uh…sir, uh, the energy readings my uh…instruments, uh, at home are getting from Pandora are —" Jack stammered. To his left, one of the monitors flicked from white to blue as Angel phased into it. Jack's sideward glance let her know he had seen her.

He smiled. Angel felt a tiny blossom of happiness in her heart at the idea that, in that moment, quieted the darker voice that loathed her father. She shifted to the computer Jack had been working on and followed its signal to the satellite he had activated. Here, Angel discovered exactly what her father had been doing — the Hyperion satellite was a mess of Jack's own coding. The machine was beaming down to the Vault Hunters' Dahl-issued ECHO-devices. Of course, her father had once worked for Dahl, so he knew their software almost as well as he knew Hyperion coding — he had used the satellite to hack the devices and planted Hyperion software on them.

A doorway for Angel to hop to and talk to her new friends through.

"Get out of there at once, you hideous little code monkey!" Tassiter spat, his voice echoing in the distance as Angel travelled away from the office through the invisible network and got comfortable in the satellite. "And shut off that satellite!"

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry, Mister Tassiter, it won't happen again, sir," her father stammered. With a few clicks, Jack had turned the satellite off.

Angel's world went dark in a heartbeat. Then, with a mere thought, Angel brought the satellite back online. No one at Hyperion would be any the wiser, save for her father.

You're welcome, she thought to herself, before using the satellite's newly-hacked pathway to beam down to the Vault Hunters. The rumbling bus burst into view, and each ECHO-device flickered to life in the Hunters' pockets.

"Don't be alarmed," Angel recited, flickering into view before the four Vault Hunters. An introduction, and yet, her skin already crinkled with the discomfort of betrayal. "I need you to stay calm and don't let on that anyone is talking to you. Start making your way off the bus."

Jack was in a sparkling good mood that evening, a broad smile lighting up his face in a way Angel hadn't seen for years. Her hopes of a turn-around were quickly dashed when he spoke, though. As always.

"One of them is a freaking Siren?! I mean, what are the chances?!" Jack laughed, hunched over the ECHO-device as he flicked through the data Angel had managed to cobble together of the four targeted Vault Hunters. "Six in the entire universe, and two of 'em just happen to end up on Pandora? That's too much of a coincidence, right sweetheart?"

"I guess…" Angel shrugged. She hated the idea of dropping a fellow Siren into this madness. Sure, she had only known the woman a few hours, but it was the closest thing Angel had experienced to kinship.

"Right right, so what, Pandora's like a-a-a beacon or something? Or maybe it's the Vault that's a beacon?" Jack theorised aloud, eyes drifting up in thought. "Oh man, if it is?! I can totally use this er…" he checked the ECHO-device again, "…Lilith chick to track it down! I can finally find the Vault, Angel! High-five, kiddo!"

He slapped his hand up against the purple force-field. Angel pursed her lips, unimpressed by the display. Jack raised an eyebrow.

"C'moooon, don't leave me hanging, Angel. We did this together! Teamwork yadda yadda dreamwork?" Jack grinned. Angel rolled her eyes and limply pressed her hand against the force-field where her father's palm was pressed.

It hadn't even occurred to him, Angel realised with a bitter thought. He had noticed her mood, but it had not even crossed his mind to connect the dots.

"About that," Angel wrapped her arms around her torso, looking away from Jack. It was easier to speak with confidence when she acted like she was talking to a metal plate on the floor. "I was…I was wondering if I could…maybe…ask Lilith something. F-for myself?"

Jack's eyes narrowed, suspicion stealing the smile from his face. Angel hated that — his paranoia had grown over the years, and with each passing day it consumed another smiling echo of the man she had once called her father.

"Go on…?" Jack prompted, though Angel's courage was shrinking under the spotlight.

"I-I was…wondering if I could ask her…about her Siren powers. She seems to have a really good grip on them, and—well, maybe she could help? Help me. With mine."

Her father's face twisted, a look somewhere between disappointment and betrayal settling over his face. He stepped away from the force-field, hand sliding off the shimmering light and flopping down to his side.

"Okay, first of all? Her powers don't look anywhere near your level. She can teleport. You can control machines. If she loses her cool, maybe she teleports a city to Promethea. You lose your cool—" Jack pointed at Angel, causing her to flinch as though accused under trial, "—maybe you kill a whole city with a split-second robot-army. See the difference?"

"But—"

"Angel," Jack's tone was laced with a growl of warning. "The only one who gets it is me. I'm the only one who knows enough about all this, who knows enough about your powers to figure it out. Okay, it's taken a little longer than we'd hoped, can't say I haven't been pretty busy doing everything for this company and the morons running it. But I'm gonna figure it out. After everything I've done for you, is it too much to ask that you trust me?!"

As he ranted, Jack's voice grew taut with frustration, and Angel watched as he wound himself up to simmering anger, a betrayal that had not yet occurred that only he could see.

"I trust you," she quickly lied, watching as the sparks of anger disappeared from his mismatched eyes. "I trust you, Dad. I-I just…thought she might be useful."

"She is, Angel. You're right about that," Jack conceded, though the smile didn't quite return to his face, his whole stance relaxed a little. He glanced down at the DigiPad again. "She's gonna find me the Vault. And then? I'm finally gonna save Pandora."

I'm finally gonna save Pandora.

Angel frowned, jerking her head to the side as if that would cast away the thought that had been plaguing her mind since Jack's visit that day.

What about me? She thought, as she sat herself down on the cold floor of the Control Core. She didn't want to sit in the chair, if only to spite her father. In the dark gloom of the metal prison she called home, Angel dared to let a whisper of her Siren ability light up the markings on her arm. The silvery-blue light crawled up her limb, growing brighter as it reached her shoulder. Then, in a beautiful burst of light, two ethereal wings shimmered out from her back.

Angel folded her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her shins and hugging her legs. She rested her cheek against her knees, looking solemnly out across the room. Ten long years she had spent in this place, and for what?

Is it too much to ask that you trust me?!

Tears began to prickle in Angel's eyes. With the guilt of her mother's death surrounding her every move, Angel felt she owed her father everything. Watching him grow bitter, colder, angrier…wasn't it all her fault? Wasn't it all she could do to be good and stay put, to do as she was told? To help him attain his dream when she had shattered their family?

His dream to open the Vault…the find Pandora's paradise. Angel wondered if there was something darker festering in her father's mind, something colder. She had once seen her father punch a guy for looking at her mother, though that had caused one of the rare, massive arguments that Angel could remember between her parents.

Yet, after her death, Jack had not lost himself to anger. He had cried, yes, Angel had heard him wail in the dark. He had punched walls until blood smeared the cracked plaster, shouted and yelled about filthy bandits. Angel remembered she used to take some tiny solace from that, that maybe her father didn't blame her for her mother's death, but the bandits that had kidnapped Angel and sparked that awful series of events.

But he hadn't lashed out at them. As far as Angel knew, other than his vocal distaste, Jack had been remarkably indifferent to the growing number of bandits on Pandora. He was content in his unwavering belief that opening the Vault would bring paradise to Pandora, and that bandits simply weren't going to be a part of that.

Maybe it's one in the same, Angel thought to herself. Opening the Vault will be his dream…and his revenge…

…and that's more important than me.

Angel was so caught up in her sullen thoughts that she didn't hear the doors unlocking, pistons hissing as the steel discs slid aside. A sharp gasp made Angel start. Her head snapped to the source of the sound, eyes wide in shock. She scrambled to her feet, letting her wings lift her from the ground.

"D-dad? Is that you?"

But the face that peered around the doorway wasn't her father at all. A petite woman met Angel's stunned gaze with equally-wide eyes, hazel hued and alight with curiosity. She twitched out from where she had scurried to hide at the side of the door, a nervous wave offered in greeting.

"H-hi! Erm…n-not Dad, no," the woman laughed nervously, tucking a fiery red strand that had escaped her messy bun back behind her ear. She was wearing a white lab coat, but Angel could see a black shirt with Hyperion's stark red logo flashing across it. The woman brought a hand to her chest, then introduced herself: "I'm Amanda. Amanda Harren."

Angel cocked her head to the side. Her father had once told her he hated people who introduced themselves and included their surnames. According to him, the only reason people did that was if "their surnames have done more than they have.".

Harren…Harren…where have I heard that before?

Angel looked to the side in thought. Amanda appeared to notice, giving a small "oh!" and lifting a finger up as though asking permission to explain.

"Y-yes, as in Alma Harren," Amanda chuckled, bobbing her head this way and that. "Hyperion co-founder, etcetera etcetera. Don't worry, Granny Harren doesn't watch my every move. Or…any of them, for that matter…"

Amanda's attention drifted to the side and she scowled at a memory Angel was not privy to. Angel floated a little to the side to try and fall into her line of sight again.

"Errm…M-Miss Harren?"

"Oh! S-sorry! Oh, erm, not Miss either," Amanda stammered, a blush creeping over her face. She held a hand up then, wiggling an impressive diamond on her left ring finger. "Missus. Just didn't wanna change my surname. Don't tell the husband but er…Bryant doesn't get me into as many places as Harren does, right?"

Angel couldn't inhale. She just started at Amanda, unable to blink or move.

"Y-you're…you're…married to D—to Jack?!" Angel stuttered. Amanda nodded, the blush on her cheeks having spread across her whole face.

"Right? The cutest guy in the whole company, I didn't believe it either," she gushed. Angel tried not to let her face crinkle up with embarrassment at hearing this woman fawn over her father. The woman jumped a little suddenly, giving a barely audible squeal. "Oh! But what am I going on about?! Look at you! A whole person inside the Control Core! You know, I always wondered what was in here, but Jack said the software is so delicate that only he can deal with it. But I just had to know and…"

Amanda's face fell. The colour drained from her face, and Angel could almost see the pieces sliding into place behind her eyes.

She gave her a sheepish grin.

"…Yyyyeah…" Angel answered the unspoken question, voice creaking.

"Y-you said…Dad. You…the only person who comes in here is…"

"Yeah…" Angel repeated.

"Jack is…your…?"

"Ah-huh…um, do you wanna sit down?" Angel asked, noting the glossy film that had appeared over Amanda's unfocussed eyes. Angel's eyes glowed, and she directed her power towards one of the defence systems Jack had installed within the Control Core — a digistruct for spawning out defence bots. With a few requests from her Siren ability, the digistruct device agreed to spit out an armless bot. It rolled over to Amanda, then dutifully face-planted onto the ground.

"PLEASE. MAKE YOURSELF. COMFORTABLE. MADAM."

The woman pawed out at the fallen bot, one arm finding its surface before she lowered herself onto the seat tentatively. Clearly, her shock had robbed her of the realisation that Angel hadn't touched any control pad to summon the bot into place. Angel couldn't help but feel a little guilty at whipping the rug out from under this woman's life within a few minutes of meeting her.

"I…I'm so sorry," Amanda whispered, taking Angel by surprise. She was shaking her head, and her whole frame slumped forward. "I never…never thought…I didn't even consider. He…he mentioned he had a daughter. Th-there's a photograph on his desk. But I just…whenever I ask, he clams up. I thought, maybe…you were…"

"Missus Harren, it's okay," Angel assured her, one hand reaching out behind the force-field towards the woman. How long had it been since she had spoken to another living soul face-to-face, and here she was…miserable for it. "My father…is er…protective? Of me."

Amanda lifted her head. She looked around the room, and the longer she took, the more her expression shifted from shock to disgust.

"But to lock his own daughter away. I can't believe Jack would do that to anyone, let alone his own daughter."

"He…has good reason," Angel said, though that little voice in her head hissed that that reason died years ago. "I'm not…I can't go outside yet. He's looking for a way to make it safe."

"From what? Honey, the world's a risk to all of us. This is…madness. I get being worried about your kids, but…but you can't lock them away from the world in case they get hurt," Amanda said, her eyes sparkling with pity Angel didn't particularly want.

Wow. Dad really hasn't told her anything, Angel realised, and in the same thought, understood why he hadn't bothered to introduce her to his new wife. Why he barely spoke about her. Why, after all the time, Angel had only learnt her name today.

He doesn't love you. He loves your surname.

Now, it was Angel's turn to look at Amanda with pity, and she could see the confusion it caused. Perhaps she mistook Angel's silent sadness for one of pleading, because Amanda swiftly got to her feet, at the ready like a suited soldier. Back straight and eyes steeled, Amanda gave Angel a sharp nod.

"I'm going to speak to him. Jack is a good man. I'm sure if we just sat down and talked about it, he would see that we can protect you from the worst of Pandora together."

Angel's heart swelled with a feeling she thought she had but a cinder left to keep hold of — hope.

"Y-you will?" She beamed, even as that same little whisper assured her Jack wouldn't listen. He doesn't love her, he's using her, it hissed to remind her. He won't listen.

Amanda put a hand up against the force-field, a forlorn gaze taking in Angel's tiny abode.

"I promise. The next time you see me, I'll be dragging your father in here by his ear and getting him to apologise for all this! God…I love him, but he doesn't half go overboard…" She sighed, shaking her head again.

With one last smile of assurance, Amanda left the room. She hesitated at the door, her hand over the control panel.

"D-do you…want me to leave it open?" she asked.

Angel frowned. It was a strange question…especially from someone so determined only a moment before.

Just like that, her hope was snuffed out like a candle before a sharp breath.

She knows he won't listen. She knows she won't be coming back here.

Angel wilted, her wings drooping, toes grazing the floor.

"No point," she said, trying to contain her disappointment. "I can't get out whether it's open or closed."