--
Responsibility's something Maxine Steele's grown to accept – a fact that continually surprises her, even now.
Because the old Max shirked responsibility. There were days when Max would hole up in a hotel room and do nothing but sniff lines of coke off of some hooker's belly. Weeks where Max would drink like a fish and engage in drunken threesomes, or even foursomes in an attempt to try and fill the horrible emptiness inside of her with drugs, booze, and meaningless sex.
This was, of course, before Max got into that car crash. Before she was forced to look at her destroyed, mangled body in the mirror, before she came to the realization that the fate that had befallen her was entirely self-inflicted.
Max was a pretty shitty person before… Well. Before. And most days there are moments where she still thinks she's a pretty shitty person. But at least Max's sober, now. Max likes to think sobriety's a step in the right direction to not being so shit.
"And that's my proposal," Dorian Black finishes. The smug holographic image of Max's least favorite member of the Corporate Council nods, finishing his little speech. His voice is about as irritating as his face is. It's all whiny, and grating, and Max almost wishes she turned off her cochlear implants so she didn't have to listen to the absolute drivel this imbecile was peddling.
… She had to listen, though. Somebody's got to be the adult in this room. Somebody's got to stay accountable and put the brakes on the crazy-train to lunaticsville. And apparently that someone's Max.
Sometimes Max wishes she didn't give up drinking. Today? Today's one of those days, fucking hell...
"Alright, so, you want the Council to authorize Mendesdyn Security forces to storm into Eastview District. So they can evict the residents of that district at gunpoint. So you can have the district torn down. So you can build… A mega-amusement park on the land there?"
"And a mega-coaster. Don't forget the mega-coaster," Dorian Black, heir to the CEO of Ravenscar Shipping, smirks.
Some things really don't change, not through the Resource Wars, not through the rise of megacorporations, not through the advent of Magical Girls. The ability for fucking morons to attain positions of power through nepotism's one of those things.
"A mega-coaster," Max says flatly, folding her arms underneath her chest. "Right. That thing. Ten kilometers of track, the highest point's a kilometer up, with a maximum g-force of… Eight g's, you said?"
"Nine. Entirely survivable with the right cyber-augmentations, of course. And naturally the clientele this project would attract would-"
"And you want me, specifically, to sign off on this project. Keeping in mind that Eastview is where some of the poorest residents of Terminus City live, and that by demolishing their homes we would be effectively forcing them onto the streets. Without offering them recourse, or compensation. And that I already had an infrastructure upgrade program in mind for that district, the funds for which you want to repurpose for your… Mega-coaster," Max continues in that dull, flat tone of voice.
"Dorian-coaster!"
Max closes her eyes, praying briefly for her own sanity. God the shit she has to deal with being responsible… "And you support this… Proposal, Yumeko?" Max asks, turning to the other holographic projection in her meeting room.
Yumeko Norashi's an elegant lady. The quintessential definition of a traditional beauty. She regards Max through her lidded red eyes, holding a smoking pipe as she casually lounges on her sofa in her silk kimono. Smoke billows from her mouth as she exhales slowly.
Just looking at her you wouldn't think she's the CEO of Mendesdyn Security, one of the other sitting members of the Corporate Council in Terminus City. And yet she is. Her advocates and lobbyists paint her as an elegant lady who hides her steel fist behind an iron glove.
Max knows her more as an absolute snake in the grass. As evidenced by this fucking stunt.
"I considered it important enough to bring to the floor, Maxine," Yumeko drawls out in her throaty, sultry voice. A decidedly sexy voice that makes Max shiver despite herself. That stupid, sexy voice...
"… You considered it important enough to bring to the floor," Max repeats, desperately wishing she had some painkillers on hand. But, no, Max promised she'd go sober, no drugs, no alcohol, no falling into shitty habits and backsliding...
Well. There's only one response Max can give to whatever the fuck this is. A response she's actually gleeful to give. Dorian actually looks excited as Max inhales to give her reply. The prick, does he seriously think Max intends to endorse his proposal?
"Yeah, no. I don't think any of this is happening," Max declares. A vindictive, sadistic part of her heart delights in the way Dorian's face falls.
Dream on, fucko.
"What? But it's – I – You – Yumeko you said she'd support this proposal, why did you-" Dorian sputters, looking to his erstwhile supporter.
For her own part, Yumeko only raises one of her elegant eyebrows. She takes another pull from her pipe, then blows out a thick ring of smoke. "Did I really, Dorian?"
"But it's the Dorian-coaster! The Dorian-coaster! Yumeko, you can't-"
Dorian's image flickers out then, as Max rolls her eyes and cuts his feed. The entitled, idiotic prick. Max swivels, turning to face Yumeko. The head of Mendesdyn Security, the head honcho of Terminus City's bully-boys and corporate samurai...
"Thirty-seven minutes," Max says flatly. "Thirty-seven minutes and fifty-eight seconds. I counted. That's how long it took for Dorian to shut up about the bug-brain you implanted in his brain so he would schedule a call with me where you were on the line as well. Because you know damn well I don't take calls from you anymore, Yumeko."
"Maxine, I'm disappointed," Yumeko sighs, languidly lounging against her seat, studying Max intently. "Do you really think so little of m-"
"Yeah, I do. You wanted my attention, you got it. Spill, what do you want?" Max asks, feeling all of the stress and fatigue building up in her system spill over now.
"… I only wanted to talk, Max. Really, that's all I wanted," Yumeko replies after an interminable moment. Something approaching guilt flashes in her eyes. She dips her head in a shallow bow. "… How have you been?"
...
"Are you fucking serious right now?" Max demands. "You had Dorian waste over half an hour of my time so you could ask how I was?!"
God, all of the pain-pills in the world. That's what Max wants right now.
"… You don't call. You don't write. You don't text. Y-" Yumeko lists off, her voice growing sullen and mullish.
"Yumeko, we broke up," Max enunciates. "I told you I was leaving you, and I did. When I said I didn't want to talk to you again, I meant it."
Yumeko sighs, rolling her eyes. "Oh please, Max, there's no need to be so adversarial. We had fun together, didn't we? There's no need for this hostility. I still remember how cute you looked in that leash. Don't you remember the time when we-"
"What we had was toxic as fuck, Yumeko," Max says, driving right to the heart of her point. "I know that now. I told you that when I broke things off. You pushed me to do things I shouldn't have done. To build things for your corporation I shouldn't have built. And I, well, I actively encouraged you to be a shitty person by enabling you."
"All you did was design weapons for my security agents to field-test-"
"And after they scorched some poor 'test subjects' we both got shitfaced and did shots off of each other's bellybuttons. Yeah, I remember. That's just not who I want to be anymore, though," Max snaps. "I changed. I became a Magical Girl and grew the fuck up. Please just accept that and move on."
Someone had to take care of these silly, silly girls Max calls her friends, after all.
"Is that why you're not talking to me? Is it really all because you became a Magical Girl? Max, that wasn't very long ago at all!" Yumeko protests.
"It's been years!"
"Oh please, just years? That's not that long. We're young, we're rich. With rejuvenation treatments we'll live centuries, we'll be young when the plebs around us have their bodies give out. What do we care about time? Time's something only the poor worry about," Yumeko dismisses, holding up her nose in the air like the snooty aristocrat she really is.
Ha. Haha. Yep, classic Yumeko. How the hell did Max fall in lust with this raging sociopath in the first place, anyways? Right, it's because she's hot, she's got a sexy voice, and she knows how to tie great knots. Max still has memories buried in her cortex of Yumeko whispering in her ear and calling her a 'good girl'-
God, Max was shallow as fuck back in her hedonistic days.
"Max, darling. Come back to me, please. Work with me again. I'll let you tinker on those silly little projects you like so much. I'll even let you improve the lives of the plebs if you want. Just, please, talk to me again," Yumeko… Begs? Is she begging right now? Max squints at the hologram, studies her ex's face.
Huh. That's new…
A flash of gold reflected off of the window catches Max's eye. Blonde hair. A familiar shade of blonde…
Yeah, no. No, no. Max is galvanized right now. Max knows exactly what she wants to do, and it sure as shit isn't sitting in this sealed meeting room listening to whatever this is. A desperate attempt to get back together? Thinly veiled threats? An absolute waste of time when Max doesn't have the time to spare?
Max doesn't care.
"Nope, I'm done. You want to talk, you contact my secretary to set up a meeting. And it'd better be work-related. Otherwise? Don't bother."
"Max!" Yumeko shrieks. "Max don't you dare hang up-"
"Buh-bye," Max drones out as she terminates the holocall and sighs, raking a hand through her hair. "… Boring conversation anyway," Max mumbles to herself as she gets up to go find her friend.
God, there are days when Max really hates that she's accountable for a lot of things in this wretched hive of a city. It's a good thing Max has gotten better at itemizing the list of shit she needs to do. She'll have to task SILEA with monitoring Dorian, so he doesn't try to implement his… Dorian-coaster. Max'll also have to make time to meet with the other members of the Corporate Council to get her own infrastructure upgrade plan squeezed through before the year's end. God knows the people in Eastview need better utilities.
… And Max'll have to task someone to monitor Yumeko so the CEO of Mendesdyn Security doesn't try to contact Max again, because Max really doesn't want to have to deal with her crazy ex if she doesn't have to. In hindsight, that relationship was just… Radioactive. Yeesh.
Of course there are the requisite board meetings, and MGA meetings, and security briefings. It seems like most of Max's time is sucked away into meetings these days, she hasn't been in her workshop for a full week. But before Max does any of that there's something vital she has to do. Something that's more important than any of the boring responsibilities Max's taken on.
"Hey, Kaina!" Max slams the meeting room door open and waves to her friend.
That's right. Before anything else, Max has to say hello to her friend. Her best friend. (Crush.)
Kaina turns to face Max, and Max feels her heart skip a little beat at the sight of her best friend's face. God, the sight of the little, content smile etched across her face makes Max's stomach do flip-flops. Kaina's smile makes Max feel better just looking at it.
… Max really does like (love) Kaina, huh? Just the sight of Kaina's enough to put Max in a better mood-
Wait, what's that smell?
Max sniffs at the air, and nearly trips over her own feet as recognition hits her, almost as hard as her father used to.
Max's no stranger to the smell of sex, and sex is exactly what Kaina reeks of. A little sweaty, a little sweet... Kaina smells like she rolled around in a brothel. That's one of the scents Max's picking up.
The other scent is more overwhelming. A fragrant, floral perfume that clings to Kaina, flooding her surroundings with an aphrodisiac aroma. Kaina's practically bathed in the scent of roses, mixed with other exotic spices. Max picks up notes of sandalwood, vanilla, jasmine…
God, the mouthwatering smell coming from Kaina's making Max's head spin. Max feels something in her ache as she inhales Kaina's scent, breathing it in. She swallows, her mouth suddenly going dry as all the pieces click together, as she realizes exactly what Kaina did last night.
Rather, who she was doing.
… And upon realizing that, well, Max feels the bottom of her stomach drop out. Her heels click against the tiled floor as she takes an involuntary step back to try and – And -
"Steele?" Kaina peers at Max, her green eyes flashing with concern. "Is something wrong?"
"N – No. Just… Just surprised to see you. That's all. You dropped off the radar for a while…" Max stutters, cursing herself for her own weakness.
"… Ah," Kaina nods. "I did. I apologize for that. I was preoccupied last night."
"Yeah, I bet you were," Max bites back the words before they can escape her tongue. Because this is Infinity Princess she's talking to. Kaina Shikinami. Max's friend. The girl Max's resolved to support by putting on her big girl panties and handing out sage relationship advice.
So it – It doesn't matter that Kaina disappeared for an entire day only to come back smelling of sex and her girlfriend's perfume. A part of Max honestly wonders just how long they did it, because it seriously smells like Kaina's girlfriend rubbed herself all over Kaina…
Max squashes that part of her, shoving the errant thoughts into the back of her mind with practiced ease. Because it's not…
Kaina's relationship isn't actually Max's business, and Max shouldn't be making it her business. Kaina's obviously happy enough as it is. God, Kaina's happier than Max's ever seen her in a long, long time. And that should make Max happy too. Goodness knows Kaina's had a hard enough time of it. And considering the satisfied smile on Kaina's face, well, it's pretty obvious whatever happened last night made her super happy.
So really, Max should be proud of Kaina. Intimacy's a huge step in any relationship; Max knows that, so the fact that Kaina feels comfortable enough with her girlfriend to go that far? It should be heartwarming. Max should be resisting the urge to poke and pry, because it's not her business and because it'd be pretty fucked up if she ruined one of the few good things in Kaina's life out of hand. Max's a fuck-up but even she doesn't want to do that. Max should just be happy for Kaina and leave well enough alone.
… So why. Why, why, why. Why isn't Max happy about this-
"Did you need something, Steele?" Kaina asks, and Max feels herself taking another tottering step back.
Questions form and die on Max's lips. A hundred million conversational tangents churn and bubble in her mind. For one, crazed moment, Max feels the urge to – To interrogate Kaina about her everything. Who is her girlfriend, really? What's she like? How far did things with her go last night? Why. Why, why did you pick her, and not-
"Nah, just checking in. You look like you had a nice night," Max ends up saying. Her tone's just a bit too casual and smooth. The smile Max eases onto her face is a bit too forced, Max can feel her cheeks straining to maintain it.
"… I did, yes," Kaina murmurs. "If that's all-"
"Your girlfriend – Her name's Alice. Alice Takanashi, right?" Max asks abruptly.
"Yes?" Kaina blinks owlishly.
"She runs Kintsugi Biotech?"
"… Yes, that is what Alice does. Why are you asking me this, Steele?" Kaina asks.
"I kind of want to invite her over to do some tinkering with me some time. You know her company's trying to produce a cyberpsychosis cure, right? That's some pretty nifty bioengineering right there. You mind shooting her an invite from me? Might be quicker if you're the one who's asking," Max blathers on.
Kaina blinks again, then nods once. Silently, she takes out her phone and starts texting her girlfriend. "Alice says that's okay."
"… Seriously, just like that?" Max asks, a bit of amusement leaking into her voice.
"Yes?"
"And you're okay with this too?"
"… Yes?" Kaina shrugs, arching one of her eyebrows. "… Steele, are you well? You've been acting strange since you saw me. Is… Is everything…"
Oh. Shit. Of course Kaina'd pick up on how weird Max's feeling. Kaina's pretty perceptive, there's not much that gets past her. Max feels her cheeks strain as she tries to maintain her easy smile. Nope, nothing's wrong over here. Max's laid-back Max. Mama Steele, who's got everything under control.
"Ah, I'll be fine, I'm just not looking forward to the rest of my schedule today, y'know?" Max chatters away, telling the truth. Mostly.
"… I see. Would – Would you like to talk about it?" Kaina asks, and Max finds herself staring at Kaina now. It's a simple question, and yet...
… Kaina really has changed, hasn't she?
This simple realization shakes Max to her core. Of course it's a given that Kaina would change after getting a girlfriend and easing up on her workaholic tendencies, but to change this much over such a short period of time…
"Nah, not right now. Thanks for asking, though. Talk to you later, yeah?" Max replies.
"… Okay," Kaina nods again and strides off. Max watches her go, still smelling of sex and her girlfriend's perfume.
… And Max feels her heart break, just a little bit. She ducks back into her secured meeting room, slams and locks the door behind her, and finds herself sinking to the floor. For some reason, her cyberlegs have given out from underneath her. Unbidden tears begin to well up in the corner of Max's eyes, forcing her to furiously blink them back. The sudden sense of loss and dejection that hit Max is just… Beyond gutwrenching. Max remembers getting mangled, when she lost her limbs in that car accident.
Funny, that hurt but it didn't hurt nearly as much as Max hurts right now. Maxine Steele, Terminus City's luminary inventor, sniffles in that dark room, then wipes the tears from her eyes with her artificial fingers.
"It's okay. It'll be okay. It's okay. It'll be okay..."
That's the mantra Max begins repeating to herself as she curls up, wrapping her hugging her knees to her chest. It's – It's better this way. Max's just a fuck-up, anyways. Kaina's obviously happier in her current relationship, and isn't that all that matters? There's no point in obsessing over something that obviously wasn't meant to be. Max's other relationships were toxic, and that toxicity would've rubbed off on Kaina if Max tried anything. Max would've been poison to Kaina, and Kaina deserves so much better than Max.
This is just the end result. Kaina's found a girl who makes her smile. And that girl couldn't have been Max, wouldn't have been Max, and never would have been Max.
So. This is fine. Max is fine with this. Genuinely, sincerely. As long as Kaina's happy, well, Max's happy watching her smile. Max can content herself with – with watching over Kaina from afar like the good friend she is. That has to be enough.
Max chuckles, mirthful burbles welling up from within her chest. "Yeah. Yeah, this is fine. Don't – Don't act like a turbo-bitch to Kaina's girlfriend, Max. Jesus, you're better than that. You've got to be better than that," Max murmurs to herself.
Even Max's curiosity, the impromptu invitation she asked Kaina to send? That's professional, really. Just business. A cure for Theseus Syndrome, cyberpsychosis? The malignancy that sends upwards of anywhere from 20 to 50% of all cyberaugmentees into severe mental decline? That's something that's beyond gamechanging, especially in Terminus City.
Max wants to be better. Healthier. And she also wants to make the city she lives in healthier. And that can't happen as long as there are raging cybered-up nutjobs running around in the city wired to the brim with military-grade implants.
There are other things Max wants to do, too. A hundred million ideas swirling around in her head on how to try and fix this shitty, crap-sack world she's forced to live in. Because someone has to. Because at the end of the day, someone's got to be accountable for all of these problems that keep popping up. The buck's got to stop somewhere.
And if Max is going to have to fix all of these problems, by god, she's going to enlist the most competent people she knows to fix those problems.
… Also, Max won't lie, she's a little curious to meet the girl who's utterly captured Kaina's heart. Just… For closure's sake. For her own peace of mind. So she knows, for certain, that the relationship Kaina's in is a legitimate one and not a toxic one. It's a little clingy and overbearing of Max. She knows that.
But she can't help herself. Mama Steele isn't just a nickname Max gave herself, after all. Someone's got to be the team mom on this team. Someone's got to make sure her friend's girlfriend isn't a raging lunatic out to blow up the moon. Kaina's changed so much because of this Alice girl, it's a little scary.
And if Alice checks out? Her story, her credentials, her capabilities? Well, of course Max'll welcome her into the family. She's the one who made Kaina happy, after all.
And for that, well, Max can't help but feel grateful.
Max sighs, unwrapping her hands from around her legs. She leans back, resting the back of her head against the door. Right, that's enough sitting around and feeling like a sad sack of shit. Max can't get anything done if she's too busy feeling sorry for herself, after all.
It's time to stop being so shit, and time to start being mama Steele again.
--
Preparations for Steele-date (Raid's kicking off next.) (19/180 essence, 60 regen)