"Did… he tell you what he wants from me?"
Hera was asking for excitement, and now probably the most exciting individual in the entire universe was literally at her doorstep—no, he was already inside her building.
"He… is saying he wants a job?"
"...A job?" Hera could not help but squint as she looked at the phone, "...Here?"
"Yes? Should I turn him away? I can call securit—"
"f.u.c.k!" Hera quickly rushed to her desk to pick up the phone, "Don't do that! Bring him to my office!"
"But—"
"Just bring him up!"
Hera slammed the phone back on the desk, completely shattering it to pieces. Well, perhaps not as shattered as her thoughts right now.
The last he heard of Riley Ross, he completely disappeared with Megawoman after killing the entire race of the one responsible for the genocide of her people, as well as the one they call the Grand Elder.
Diana has been searching for him for the last 5 years—could it be that she finally found him? But why wasn't she alerted by Empress?
…But most importantly, why is he here? And why was he seeking a job!?
Should she call for backup and tell Empress that he was here? But then again, her body wasn't really reacting. That means that Riley doesn't really mean her any harm whatsoever… and calling Empress might change that.
"...f.u.c.k!" Hera clasped her head in frustration. She just built up her agency from the ground up; poaching all the colleagues she has had the pleasure of working with from the other agencies…
…if ever this encounter goes wrong, then all her hard work would surely disappear into nothing.
"Miss Hera."
"What the h.e.l.l!?"
And as Hera was lost in thought, she almost jumped in shock as she heard a voice whispering directly behind her. She very quickly turned around… only for her eyes to quickly land on someone's long, black, silky hair.
"...Who?" Hera could not help but whisper to herself as she expected to be blinded by Riley's incredibly white silhouette, only to be surprised as she saw him sporting brown hair. It… almost made him look like Alice, in a way.
"It's me, Miss Hera," Riley then very quietly whispered as he sneakily approached Hera, "It's… Riley."
"Yeah, I… I know who you are," Hera stuttered with her words as she looked around her office, "...Where's my a.s.sistant? You… didn't kill her, did you?"
"No," Riley's eyebrows furrowed, "Why would I do that, Miss Hera?"
"Because you—no, never mind. When did you even get back to Earth?"
"Just an hour ago or so, Miss Hera," Riley shrugged as he started walking around Hera's office, before just taking a seat on the sofa near her desk, "Are you aware of what is happening to me?"
"What do you mean…?" Hera slightly hesitated, but after a few breaths, she took a seat on a chair next to Riley.
"It turns out that I might have the same illness as biological mother—I am slowly turning crazy, Miss Hera," Riley then let out a small but very deep sigh, "For around 5 years, It would seem I was living in a fantasy that I created in my mind. I… disrespected Aerith by dragging her to my nonsense."
"If… you're here to ask me advice about all that, then I'm afraid I can't help you," Hera slowly started to relax as she shook her head and also let out a sigh of her own,
"I'm as f.u.c.ked as you are, Riley Ross. You should have gone to your cute little orange-haired girlfriend."
"..." Riley tilted his head to the side.
"...Paige Pearson? s.h.i.t, don't tell me you've forgotten about her?"
"No," Riley quickly shook his head, "Paige would just tell me to accept myself—I do not want that, Miss Hera. I came to you because you are one of the people that have seen through my disguises."
"...What?"
"You told me before how I have been pretending my entire life," Riley then looked Hera straight in the eyes, "I require your expertise to help me pretend more…
…to pretend that my mind is not slowly being eaten away, Miss Hera."
"You… want me to help you pretend that you're not sick in the head?"
"Exactly, Miss Hera."
"...But you've always been sick in the head," Hera could not help but let out another sigh as she once again remembered their little s.p.a.ce adventure.
"Not like this, Miss Hera," Riley shook his head, "I can feel it, my mind slowly losing its ability to discern what is real or not. I know you're real, but not him."
"Him…?" Hera then very slowly looked at her desk, only to see no one there. Hera felt the hairs on her body stand up as a chilling feeling crawled on her skin—she wasn't in danger, no—she just felt scared,
"I…What are you seeing?"
"Him."
"!!!" Hera quickly stood up as a red-skinned man suddenly appeared sitting at her desk. No, the man's skin wasn't red—he was just wrapped in blood that very slowly dripped to the floor. And if she looked closer, the man looked like Riley; she wouldn't mistake that creepy smile for someone else.
"That's… your clone, Riley," Hera slightly lifted her feet up as the blood seemingly started to fill the entire floor.
"He's not," Riley shook his head, "He has been staring at me since I got here."
"Jesus, Riley…" Hera took in a small gulp as another chill went down her spine, "...I don't like scary stuff like that. What do you mean it's not your clone? It's right there!"
"I am using Paige's abilities so you can see him too," Riley sighed as he snapped his fingers. And as he did so, the man sitting at the desk and all the blood in the room disappeared,
"I am also going to find Paige soon—my abilities and her ability mix too well that it feels like I am already creating life out of nothing."
"...Right. Look, I don't really know how I can help you," Hera once again sighed, "It's not like—wait. Don't… tell me you want me to kill you so you can get my ability to adapt to your illness?"
"No, ew. I don't want to turn into a tree, Miss Hera."
"f.u.c.k you. What do you want from me, Riley?"
"I already mentioned it to your a.s.sistant, Miss Hera."
"...What?"
"I am applying for a job."