Chapter 54
It's date night. You're prepared. Or, as much as you can be, given the circumstances. You really don't want to do this. You take one more look at yourself in the mirror. Your dress, baby blue, hangs straight and low around your ankles, the little white lace border around the edge gracing the tops of your toes. Speaking of which, you still aren't sure whether these are good enough. You sigh, turning in place to look at your own backside. You frown. Some of the excessively long white pony tail falls onto your rump. A quick flick of the neck sees it back around your shoulder.
You hate your hair.
It is much too long for your liking. But Father insisted. You scoff. Why should he have any control over you? You're twenty-five, for gods' sake. No one should tell you what to do. Your scroll lights up on the dresser. You look down at it, idly. It's your father. It makes you want to growl and throw your scroll through the window. But you don't. It was a gift from your best friend. The memory comes back. Ren's a nice boy. He gave this to you for your birthday. It's only a prototype. You elect not to break it.
"Are you coming, my little Snowflake?"
You turn your attention towards the door. It's Klein, knocking softly on the other side of it. Your mouth turns up at the corners. Your butler is sweet. He brings you coffee in the mornings, and makes sure your pillow is properly fluffed before bed. You step away from the full-length mirror, picking up your scroll from the dresser.
"Yes, one moment" you say, moving towards the door. You stop at your makeup cabinet for a second, having one last look at your over-saturated face. You grimace at yourself. There is too much foundation. Your pale white skin is far too even. Oh well, not enough enough time to fix it now. You look down at the counter top. Your smile spikes up again. You see that you have left your stuffed doll there. You pick the little toy or your favourite cartoon character, Valerie the Redeemer up. Her blonde velour hair is soft against your hand, and her little black felt jacket has a small splotch of dust on it. You smile, placing her back down on the table. You sigh, your chest falling.
Your hand meets the door handle. Another sigh. You turn the handle, and step out into the hallway. Klein is there, his moustache turned upwards, evident of his smile underneath. His eyes are sapphire this morning. You smile at him. You like Klein the most out of all the staff in the house. He basically raised you. More so than your actual father. He extends his elbow for you to take. You loop your hand into the crook of his arm, allowing him to lead you down to the grand staircase.
"Watch your step, my lady. I wouldn't want you to slip down the stairs."
Klein is a good butler. And an even better friend. He guides you down the stairs, to the main entrance of your house. You affirm this in your head. The manor belongs to you. This is your house. You own it. Your substantial wealth is what has allowed you to purchase this grand mansion. You see your father standing at the base of the stairs. His arms are behind his back, and his white suit is almost plastic-looking, it is so smooth. His face is twisted into a frown, you notice. Klein's arm slips from your grasp as you reach the bottom of the stairs. Your father turns his frown towards you.
"Why must you always take so long, daughter mine. Don't you know that we are on a tight schedule?"
Your curtsy is almost automatic to you. It would be, after twenty-five years, after all. Your gaze is down at his feet, not wanting to make eye contact with your own father. But he really isn't your father, now is he. He's just the previous owner of your company. You feel his hand under your chin as he forces your face up to look at him. His frown beneath his moustache increases, you notice.
"Damnit, girl. Your face is atrocious." He says, turning your face from side to side, examining it. "It looks like you didn't even try. Are you actively trying to ruin my reputation?"
Your shoulders droop. You had been in that damn chair for nearly three hours, with the most abusive makeup artist that ever lived. You realize that your eyelids still hurt from the eyeliner application. You decide to call the tears in your eyes a result of this, and not how you feel about your father.
"My apologies, sir. Next time I will do better." you say, knowing that he will be disappointed anyways. You hate having to call him sir around the staff. Even though the house and the company belong to you, and not him. He still asserts his dominance over you at public gatherings. You feel relieved as he releases your face. He points to the door.
"Go. Now hurry up."
You feel his hand push against your back, directing you to the door. You stumble for a second, your tall, glass-like heels a bit too tall for your liking. Your ankles briefly try to collapse, but you remain upright. You check yourself, and you see that you have not stepped on the hem of your dress. This is a good thing, as the dress was the near side of a hundred thousand lien, and it was custom-tailored. You are escorted out the front door. There is a large black limousine waiting for you in the laneway. The rear door is open for you, and one of your nameless, faceless butlers is holding the door open. You dislike that it isn't Klein as you get in the car and put on your seat belt.
"Parents, am I right?"
You jump, not expecting there to be a second person in the car with you. A glance to your left reveals the source of the voice. A young man in a well-fitting suit sits beside you, an honest look on his face. He's certainly not unattractive, you think, looking over his face. His chin scruff is well trimmed, his cheekbones are quite sharp as well. You might even consider him cute. You smile at him, nodding.
"Yeah, I guess..." you say, making eye contact. Your cheeks darken as you look into the golden orbs that seem to be miles deep. His soft blue hair is slicked back against his head. You even begin to think that for once, your father has made a good choice for you. You turn your attention away from this boy for a moment, looking out your window. The shops of the high street whip past. The car begins to slow, coming to a crawl in front of a very fancy looking establishment. You frown, as the name seems to stand out to you. You're not sure why, but it seems familiar...
Ruby's.
You don't notice the door opening in front of you. A hand is held out for you to take. You're flustered, but you take the hand, letting yourself get pulled from the car. Your heels sink into the red velour carpet that has been laid out on the sidewalk. The glow from the restaurant's lights shine down on your face, and you instinctively shield your eyes with the back of your hand. Except your hand is stayed half way up as the boy takes your hand in his arm. Your heart flutters as you are lead inside. Everything is moving so quickly. A chair is pulled out. You sit down. A leather-bound menu is placed before you. You open it. A haze fills your eyes.
"The name's Henry. Henry Marigold. I like your dress."
His words are sweet, and they flow off his tongue like honey. You don't even bother reading the menu. Something seems off about this Henry character, but you can't quite place it.
"So I think we can structure it like this..."
Your head cocks up from the menu. A good change, since the only words on the pages is love, over and over, in big red letters. Structure what? Like what? Your eyes go wide as you begin to realize. You see that his food has already been delivered. He picks up an apple, taking a large bite from it.
"Sho..." he starts, swallowing his apple "I'll move the production investment in northern Vacuo to West Atlas. Boost the lower margins, you know?"
You are shocked. Your menu falls from your hand.
"Are you...making financial decisions for my company?"
He nods, his smile fading and his apple dropping to the table.
"You're mistaken. I'm making choices for mine. And I'm thinking of a name change, too. Marigold Energy Corporation. SDC just doesn't have a nice ring to it, don't you think?"
You shudder, completely taken aback. He's smirking at you, his expression commanding and assured. You feel almost scared. The company still belongs to you! How dare he make such a callous suggestion.
"The SDC remains in my control, Mr. Marigold." you say, trying to assert yourself. But your voice wavers, and you are unable to finish the statement. His look becomes commanding.
"No."
It's the only thing he says as he stares you down. He picks up his napkin and wipes his mouth off, tossing the dirtied cloth to one side.
"No, Weiss, you will be at home, taking care of our children. A woman like you, while thin in the hips, I'm certain that you'll make a good homemaker."
You slam your hand to the table. You are angry.
"This was all for the money, wasn't it? You sick bastard, you will never get my company, and you will certainly never get me."
He scoffs, looking away at a waitress in the background.
"You don't get it, do you? Do you know why you never found anyone on your own?"
His voice is suddenly different. There are words, but his mouth is not moving. They are coming from inside.
"Did you really think anyone loves you because you're a good person? Because you aren't. You will never be loved. You will only be a by-way to the company. My company, now, anyways."
You want to scream, but you can't. Your throat is tightly shut.
"It's always about the money."
"Weiss, wake up."
The world she was trapped it warped away with a jolt. Weiss looked around her surroundings. There was no restaurant, there was no red carpet, there was no Henry fucking Marigold. There was only a large garage workshop, a big red truck with the hood up, and the single most beautiful woman she had ever seen in her life. It made her smile.
"Hello, Ruby."
The girl in question stepped down off the front bumper of her truck, striding slowly over to the work bench at the side of the shop. She was wearing a black SDC branded shop apron over her hoodie. Weiss could see that Ruby was still not wearing a bra underneath. Inner Weiss briefly told her to look away. She obliged, looking down at her knees. Her copy of Knight's Brigade sat pages-down on her leg.
"Bad dream?"
Weiss flinched. She didn't want to talk about it just yet. She sat up a little straighter in her chair.
"No, no. Just vivid."
She didn't want to lie to Ruby. Her own insecurities were stronger than her own internal morals, however. As if she could see right through her, Ruby frowned in her direction. It made her feel like shit, lying to her like this. Even after the incident involving him, and the scar as well, Ruby had immediately opened up about her problems, even if they plagued her like an infection. But Weiss could not bring herself to talk about this problem.
"So what's wrong with the truck?"
Her companion's knowing frown broke and she hoisted a small black part above her head, a big smile on her face. She bounced her way over from the work bench, holding the part out before her. Weiss took it in her hand, and it was heavier than she had anticipated.
"That's the vacuum pump. Looks like it blew a seal and wore out."
She turned the little pump over in her hand. There was pieces of gasket all over the middle of the part, and she could see two of the studs were sheared off in the housing. She handed it back to her friend, who tossed it at the work bench. It landed short, clattering against the polished concrete floor.
"What does it do?"
The mechanic huffed, shrugging her shoulders.
"It creates vacuum pressure to operate the radiator cooling baffles. They open when the engine gets hot, and close when it cools off, in order to make the front of the truck more aerodynamic."
Ruby could barely keep a straight face saying that last part, she noticed. No wonder, as there was no way that a few little steel squares would make such a large brick of a truck more aerodynamic. Her tone seemed chipper nonetheless.
"Looks like the pump wore out this morning, making the cooling fins lock shut. Three hours with no airflow over the rad, and boom. Overheated. I grabbed a new one, and it bolted right in place. Should have no problems now!"
Weiss nodded, concerned.
"Two questions; one, will the truck be fine, and two, where did you get a replacement for such an ancient motor?"
The girl seemed to smile even brighter. Gosh, maybe this was her happy place. Screw the radio station, she should be working in a hot-rod shop.
"She'll be fine, Weiss-Cream. Nothing a little tune-up won't fix. And actually one of your technicians here gave me this pump. Apparently the same pump is used in the DXR-series tractors."
Weiss smiled herself. The workshop they were in wasn't just a mechanic's shop, it was the overhaul and repairs shop that sat on the grounds of the manufacturing plant for the SDC DXR tractor. Years back, Weiss had realized there was a market for Atlas-built farm and commercial equipment, so she had invested in the creation of her own line of tractors and heavy-duty trucks better suited to the harsh Atlesian climate than the green and yellow James Doe tractors made in Vale.
"Yeah, one of your techs alerted me to the fact that the DXR uses the same four-fifty cubic-inch big block as my truck, so he grabbed me a new pump. Said it was your idea to use them or something like that?"
Weiss smiled and stood up from her chair, tucking her book under her arm and walking over to where Ruby stood, next to the comparatively small red truck they had arrived in that afternoon. She scratched the back of her head, trying to remember.
"Yeah, I think it was my idea. I remember there being a bidding war between VHI and Chevron for the contract. It was either this motor or the Chevron big block."
Ruby looked at her accusingly.
"Why not use a diesel engine? More torque, and more running time between tune-ups."
She shook her head, guiding Ruby over to one of the large silvery-white combine harvesters that sat with it's access panel open to the world. She pointed at the motor that sat inside. It was connected to a large green cylinder with a bunch of cables coming off one end.
"Because for one, the VHI diesel wouldn't fit, it's too long, and two, the motor isn't actually turning the wheels. The DXR combine harvester is actually a hybrid, the motor turns an electric generator, which needs to spin at fourty-five-hundred RPM for maximum electrical efficiency. Plus, I remember you once telling me that the most reliable part of any old VHI was always the engine."
Her companion nodded, tilting her head to one side.
"That's true, these motors should run forever. But instead of using a gearbox to increase the engine speed on a low-revving diesel you went with a carbureted v-eight?"
"They're not carbureted, they do have fuel injection. You know, like on top of the intake injection? What's that called?"
Ruby pulled off her safety glasses and tucked them into the collar of her apron.
"Throttle-body injection."
She snapped her fingers, making Ruby jump a little.
"That's it. All the tractors we make are global emissions compliant, so until they start demanding we use hydrogen fuel cells, old-school big block power it is. Hey, it works, so you can't fault me. Wait, where are you going?"
Ruby had already disappeared around the front of the large combine harvester. Weiss followed her around. She was stood there, staring up at the place where the cab should have been, a very confused look on her face.
"I knew something seemed off about these things Where does the driver sit? Why is there no cab?"
Weiss smiled at her.
"Simple. They're autonomous. No driver, no operator, just a big computer. See all the sensors along the front? It uses those to map the ground and the surroundings, and it will always cut a perfectly straight swath thanks to a super-precise GPS."
Ruby still looked confused as she placed her hand on the front of the large machine.
"Yeah, but... what about like a Farmer's Union, or something? doesn't this take away jobs? Aren't people upset about this?"
Weiss waved her hand dismissively.
"These tractors are not for sale to the general public. Most of the food you buy at the market or get in a restaurant is fresh from a farm somewhere nearby. But things like, say canned beans, those come from factory farms. Farms that are literally too big to be done by a farmer in a regular tractor. Robot tractors can run all day and all night long, and can be refueled by robot trucks. Robots don't need to take breaks, and that kind of constant production means that food prices can be kept low."
Her companion nodded, seeming to be content with that explanation. The SDC also made regular tractors that were not autonomous, but they were made in a different factory on the other side of the country. It was actually quite convenient that they had been brought to this specific workshop, as the smaller tractors didn't use the same VHI engines as the autonomous ones. She had only told the tow truck driver to take them to the closes SDC workshop, and this one had been conveniently the closes. She looked over at Ruby, who was looking up at the large robot in awe. Weiss smiled, and poked her in the tummy.
"It'll follow you around like a puppy if you want it to. That's how they are moved around the warehouse here."
Ruby's unfathomably beautiful eyes lit up.
"Really?! Weiss, can we get one?!"
She chuckled.
"Only if you feed it and walk it everyday, and pick up it's swath."
Her companion whined comically. It made her smile.
"Aww. I can't afford to feed it, and I might be strong, but I don't think I'd be able to lift the swath of one of these machines myself."
Weiss laughed. Even after having to fix her broken truck, and knowing that the destination was close by, she still kept a cheery attitude. It made Weiss smile as well. She really was perfect.
Nice tits, too.
Weiss closed her eyes. Business as usual, then.
Chapter 55
Two hours left. That's when they would arrive at the 'party'.
Not that there was going to be any celebrating.
Focus on the road. All will be well.
She shivered, gripping the wheel a little tighter. Weiss had elected not to drive for the last stint on account of the truck's possibly damaged motor. So it was up to her to drive them to their destination. Every fibre of her being was telling her she didn't want to go. That she needed to turn around and go back to the bungalow. Ruby hated what was at the destination.
"I don't think I'm prepared for this, Weiss."
Her passenger lifted her head off the door panel. There was a small creak as the weight of her head came off the wood. She made a little humming noise.
"I don't think anyone's prepared for this, Ruby. Not even her."
Ruby tried not to think about it. For the past two months leading up to this day, she had been quantifying the road trip as them going to a party for Pyrrha. A celebration, of sorts. A party. But that's not what it was. Pyrrha was going to be the centre of attention, for sure. The only reason she had been excited about going on this trip at all was that she would be spending time with the once person who she actually loved. Weiss made her happy. She had distracted her from the feeling of sorrow that the destination promised. But the closer they got, the worse she felt. And it was eating her insides.
They both loved Pyrrha. She was their friend, their ally, and now she was the source of their sorrow. Today, Pyrrha was hosting a party. That's how she had kept herself from crying herself to sleep every night.
Pyrrha was sick.
She could certainly recover. She was strong. Invincible, even. That's what she had been called. Her nickname, Ruby remembered. 'The Invincible Girl', who was the school's champion fighter, and one of the brightest students. She was encumbered by a silent disease, however. Something they all didn't want to talk about.
"Don't worry, Ruby! It's now about how strong you are on the outside, or how much you can bench press, or how many battles you win. It's all about how strong you can be on the inside. Can you be strong for me, Ruby?"
The words reverberated through her head like bowling balls in a paint shaker. It was what she had said to her during the attack on Beacon. Her hand gripped tighter against the steering wheel, remembering the way the much taller warrior had gently embraced her shoulder before dashing away into battle. The way she had acted in that fight had been so inspiring that it made her get up from the hole she had been hiding in and take charge in the counter-attack. She had been so scared, and so incredibly frozen in place. But Pyrrha had been there. She had helped her to not feel scared anymore. Her overwhelming ambition had made her stronger than any other huntsman or huntress ever. And it had given Ruby new life in her bones. She had been given strength enough to pick up her scythe and cleave her way right to the front lines.
This was the partner of the monster.
And she was invincible.
Ruby always thought that Pyrrha would be able to overcome her sickness. She had to. There was no way that a person who could beat Yang in a spar daily would be beaten by a simple illness. That would just be unfair. She knew she needed to admit it now. As long as she had fooled herself in thinking it was a party they were going to, there was no avoiding it. They were on there way to Sterbendorf to visit Pyrrha in the hospital.
She had been there for the last month and a half.
Ruby felt trapped. For years she had looked up to the Invincible Girl. She had kept her rookie card in her wallet from when Pyrrha had been an active Huntress in Mistral. Long nights had been spent thinking about Pyrrha, and the hopeful dream that she would be okay. She had to be! She was Pyrrha freaking Nikos!
She looked over at Weiss, who was sitting idle with her head against the window. Her eyes were closed, and there was no sign of her usual smile on her face. Maybe she was thinking about their friend as well. She distinctly remembered Weiss having a rather obtuse crush on Pyrrha during their Beacon days. A hint of a smile dared surface on her face. She remembered the dance, and the usually-outspoken Weiss being completely useless in asking the much taller woman to dance. The way she had stumbled over every single word in the relatively simple phrase of 'would you like to dance with me' had been like watching someone pour a bucket of ping-pong balls down a staircase. It had been quite amusing, she had remembered.
Weiss had eventually scored herself a dance with the demigoddess, and after complaining about Neptune stepping all over her feet, managed to ruin Pyrrha's favourite heels. The redheaded fighter had simply laughed it off, though, saying that Weiss's ability, or rather lack thereof, to dance had been repayment enough. The good thing she could glean from this was that Weiss was always into girls. She had good taste.
She sniffed a tear back. Once again, the simple thoughts about Weiss had lifted her sour mood, if only a little. Maybe she liked how she felt.
Maybe.
But Pyrrha's illness was all-consuming. The happy feeling was gone again. It sucked, like a hole in her heart, seeing her friend stuck in the hospital because of something she had no control over. Pyrrha hadn't asked to be sick. She hadn't asked to be the most coveted girl in the whole school. And she certainly hadn't asked to wind up as the centre of attention in such a negative light. Ruby let out a dejected sigh. It was almost over.
Another glance over at Weiss. She was staring out the window, her head resting against her balled-up jacket. She hummed at her, making the girl turn in her seat. Their eyes met for a second, and Ruby briefly forgot what she was going to ask.
"Uh, how much further now?"
Her passenger glanced away, taking the scorching baby blue gaze with it as she looked down at her scroll on the seat. She frowned.
"Next exit."
It was said with such solidarity and closure. Like it was the end.
But she had already decided that it wasn't the end. Pyrrha was stronger than she was, and she could certainly beat any illness. She knew she had to be strong. That's what Pyrrha wanted from her. The exit approached. Ruby hit the turn signal and manoeuvred the large vehicle into the rightmost lane. She slowed up the ramp, coming to a slow stop at the end of the ramp. This was it. The end of the road trip. They had arrived in Sterbendorf, as dictated by the sign at the top of the hill.
The city of Sterbendorf was the west-most city on the continent of Solitas, right along the coastline. It was home to nearly two million people, and had been there for something close to three hundred years. A historic city, with cobblestone streets and tight market squares. It looked like it had been ripped right from the pages of Weiss's favourite Medieval novel series. Driving through the city streets made her feel like she was horribly out of place. She shouldn't be here. The heavy truck shuddered over the cobblestones.
"Next right, Ru."
She tried not to jump. All of her attention had been on her friend, and she had briefly forgotten where she was. Weiss was now sat up on the seat next to her, scroll in hand. She directed them through the city, past a considerably long line of shops, each one of them closed and locked down. She glanced at the clock. Seven-forty-five. It was late, and the sun was almost down past the horizon. The snow had stopped a while ago, now, and everything was coated with grey. A large building loomed into view at the end of the road they were driving down. She saw Weiss pointing at it in the corner of her eye.
"There it is..."
And there it was. The facility. The hospital that was imprisoning Pyrrha. She brought the truck to a crawl, pulling into the parking lot. Her hands were shaking as she pushed the gearlever up into park. Her hand fumbled around on the column for the key. She missed a few timed, before finally twisting the chromed mechanism and silencing the leviathan motor. And now, they had arrived. She slumped back against her seat, not wanting to move. There was a clicking sound of the adjacent seatbelt being undone. She looked over to her right side. Her heart nearly exploded. Weiss had her hair down. She only ever did that when she was upset. She was rubbing her eye.
Kiss her.
Ruby mashed her thumb into the clasp of her seatbelt. Her body was moving without her control as she moved her arm over to her passenger's shoulder. She turned the girl to face her, and the piercing blue eyes looked surprised.
The warmth on her lips made her eyes drift shut. Her hand brushed against Weiss's cheek, pulling her closer. Her girlfriend retracted momentarily, but was quick to reciprocate. Ruby's body was moving against her command as she shuffled closer, brushing her hips against the other girl's on the middle of the wide bench seat. She wanted more. She broke the kiss for all of half of a second, swinging her left leg over Weiss's lap, sitting down upon it.
The passionate lip-love only increased from here as her hands slipped into the silky white locks upon her seat's head, drawing the girl's jaw up into her own. She briefly tasted salt on her upper lip. They separated for a moment. Weiss stared up into her eyes, a look of both confusion and lust permeating her gaze. She could see the single solitary tear trail that tracked down Weiss's right cheek. That's right, Weiss didn't cry from her left eye since her own run in with a Grimm. A smile broke on the girl's face, and in the light of the evening glow, Ruby thought she was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen.
"Well that was certainly unexpected... I think I appreciate extra-kissy Ruby, Rose-Petal."
She was poked on the nose, and the reference to her favourite nickname made her blush a little. How was it that Weiss was able to make her feel better every freaking time she was feeling bad? She smiled down at her. Maybe Weiss would make a good mother, much like Ruby's own. Her heart panged as it made the connection to her late mom. Weiss opened her mouth to speak again, but she wouldn't let her. She needed to feel good again.
"So are you ready to go ins-mmf!"
She caught her lips again in her own, screwing her eyes shut. She was trying as hard as humanly possible to not cry all over the rich girl's expensive jacket lapels. Her whole body shivered as she felt Weiss' fingers trailed up and around her neck, rubbing against that sensitive spot she had just behind her ears. A tongue brushed gently against her lip, and she subconsciously opened her mouth a little and accepted its entrance. Pleasure washed over her. Her left hand dropped from Weiss' head to her shoulder, before sliding around her back, drawing the shorter woman's torso closer and hooking her elbow behind the neck. Two eager hands slid up her back under her hoodie, but didn't travel any further around. Ruby pulled her lips off of the still rather inviting ones of the lovely Weiss.
No words were exchanged at this moment in time. Just the serenity of the cab of the truck, isolated from the world. In here, there was only kissing, there was only love. She smiled down into the right cheek of Weiss, feeling her own tears dropping slowly along her face. It was time. They had to go inside, now. She slipped off of her girlfriend's lap back onto her side of the bench, reaching over and opening her driver's door. They stepped out into the parking lot of the facility.
The air was crisp, but still, and the snow had long since ceased falling. The ground still had a light dusting from the afternoon, and the other cars in the lot sat lightly buried. The large building loomed at the other side of the lot, intimidating her down to her bones. She stopped moving forward, and Weiss stopped along side her, looping her skinny arm into the crook of her own.
"I'm not ready yet."
Weiss nodded, leaning her cheek on her left shoulder.
"Take your time, Ruby."
She shivered. Weiss rarely called her 'Ruby' anymore, reserving it for emergencies. She needed a distraction. Looking around the lot, she could identify some of the other guests' cars.
VHI Stormer Detective Special, belonging to Blake. Five and a half litre eight cylinder, it's got cop tires, cop suspensions, cop shocks.
The large black police car sat closest to them. She wondered if she had driven with Sun, or if one of the other cars in the lot was his. She couldn't remember what he owned for himself. Not that it was important. Another car stood out to her in the lot.
Late nineties Hunter Terminal GT-S. Two and a half litre six-cylinder dual sequential turbos, three hundred fifty horsepower, four-wheel-drive and four-wheel-steering. I don't recognize that car. I wonder who owns it."
The car had a little 'U MAD, BRO' sticker on the rear trunk lid, below the car's obnoxiously large rear spoiler. Probably some punk kid with good taste in sports cars. The next car in the lineup she did recognize, was a little silver coupe with it's flip-up headlights extended.
That's Ren's Hunter XR Coupe. Late eighties, two litre triple-rotor pistonless engine, two hundred thirty horsepower. I like this car. He let me drive it once. Why does he always leave his headlights up?
The little silver coupe sat almost shadowed by the larger white Hunter coupe. It still looked good, even after all these years and all these miles. Her heart thundered. She needed to stop avoiding the inevitable. Looking at cars was doing nothing to calm her mood.
The door approached. Or rather, they had approached the door. The sign bolted on the front of the building loomed above. It was written in Atlesian, but she didn't need to ask Weiss what it said as she gripped the long chrome door handle. She knew. It was time to go inside.
Western Atlas Cancer Treatment Facility.