Xerxes stormed into his quarters, his body shaking in barely leashed fury. He'd half expected what he found today, but having his worst fears confirmed just added to all his problems. How that little shit had gotten his hands on the latest net his company produced, he didn't know. It wasn't even out yet, and only a few select people had been given a beta version of the powerful net.
As soon as he was behind closed doors, he went straight to his bedroom. It had been turned into his own, private office, with a multitude of large screens set up on one wall. He quickly uploaded what he could remember of Daniel's Mental Map structure, laying out the outlying layer before trying to fill in the maze-like intricacies that made up his security. Although he hated to admit it, Daniel had been smart enough to create a bunch of dead ends in his net that drained the power of any intruders while they looked for an opening. But Xerxes was not only was the very creator of the net, he had his powerful brother at his fingertips.
However, there was only so much that he could do with his limited access. Throughout the whole session, he had been monitored by Daniel's goons. The key, literally, was in Tibby. While quickly exploring Daniel's net, he'd found that the maze had an underlying pattern and had quickly figured out a system to figure out where the dead ends were. Though the pattern stayed the same, the walls would constantly move making it seem as if it were a constantly changing maze. It was a brilliant plan, and only a handful of men he knew were capable of making truly moving and changing walls; his brother Eli was one of them and Xerxes had been the man who'd invented that kind of wall. Daniel's was more primitive, it was as though he's gotten the bare skeletons of his program's blueprints and tried to knock off Xerxes' sophisticated design. All he needed now was a structure key, and Tibby would be the perfect mold to make it from.
While he'd been kissing her, he'd gently probed inside her mind. Her maps were a mirror of Daniels. He'd timed the changing walls and they changed at the exact time Daniel's did. He just needed access to her walls, which couldn't be too difficult getting from the malleable and impressionable girl. He snorted in disgust; the girl had been like a bitch in heat.
Right, like that was a turn off for you.
Eli's mocking voice filled his head, but Xerxes choose to ignore him.
I won't need you to baby sit me tonight. The girl seems comfortable enough with me. And since she can sense both of us, there's no need to expend your energy.
Xerxes hoped that his brusque tone would get his brother to shut up about things he didn't understand.
Bull-fucking-shit!
Eli snorted.
Don't curse.
It was almost automatic, his reprimand. Ever since his brother had gotten out of seclusion and been handed over to Xerxes' custody, Eli had tried pushing the boundaries of all his rules. One of his more colorful stunts had been to have a bunch of strippers brought to the penthouse during one of Xerxes' corporate parties.
Eli's powers were unstable at best; hence his imprisonment in a Counsel controlled facility. Their parents had committed Eli when he'd barely been five years old and he'd only been allowed limited visits from his siblings. Xerxes had bonded with his youngest brother, being the other outsider in the family. He'd worked hard to build a program to help Eli control his powers, since he hadn't yet found a human to channel his excess strength to. About a year ago, Xerxes had finally made a breakthrough and connected Eli to him, seeing as how his powers were already on the low spectrum of the of scale. He might as well be a weak human, for all the mental capacities he had.
~
Okay, you need to get yourself out of your pity party. I'm gonna act like your little fan boy and point out you single handedly built up Xerxes Corp. and made huge innovations in Mental Maps and their shields. ~
Xerxes cracked a smile at Eli's tirade. ~
You're the best fan boy I've had, Eli.~
~Ha! That's because I'm your brother. Anyway, stop pretending you don't want me there with you tonight because I'm exerting myself. You just wanna bone her, and before you say it bone is not a curse word.~
Xerxes cracked a smile as he shook his head. The Palace was having a costume ball tonight, and it was going to give him the perfect opportunity to romance the Cross girl. And if it entailed some "boning", he'd be more than happy to break his three month dry spell.
~
Seriously, man, call her by her name. That's what you're gonna be calling out when you fuck her.~
Just to appease his brother, Xerxes said her name out loud.
Tibby, there happy? ~
~Nope, but I know you will be tonight. Just...go easy on her yeah? She seems nice.~
Xerxes frowned. ~
She's the sister of the man holding our sister imprisoned.~
~That doesn't automatically make her the villain.~
Xerxes snorted, clearly disagreeing and heard Eli's long, drawn out sigh flow through his head. Lacking the patience to deal with his brother, Xerxes set up the block that would only allow Eli to see into his mind but wouldn't allow him to interfere.
A beep sounded on his PACT, indicating an incoming message. The face of one of his closest and trusted personal guards appeared, and he nodded for her to continue.
"You certainly moved fast," Cassidy, better known as Cass, smirked at him. "She was all blushes and dreamy sighs when we went to dress her."
When Xerxes had decided to go after his sister alone, his eldest brother had refused to let him go into another territory without a few guards. He'd picked Cass and two other men to follow him, positioning them at advantageous places within the Palace workforce for his convenience. So far, Cass's position as Tibby's personal designer was paying off well.
Xerxes nodded. "Did you learn anything new about her?"
"Not much. She did ask Mina a few veiled questions about sex. If ever there was a girl ready to be ravished, it's her."
Xerxes savagely grinned, showing his sharp canines. "Good."
"Oh, by the way, the dress she's wearing has a touch zip going down her front, it's a green vine that ends in a pink and yellow flower at her waist," Cass said with a suggestive wiggle of her eyebrows. "She's going as Mother Nature, so I suggest you go as something to compliment her."
"Thanks for the tip," Xerxes said absentmindedly as he walked to his closet in search of a suit. There was no goddamn way he was dressing up like a silly kid for a costume ball.
"Oh, I know you well enough by now but please don't be one of those guys that are too cool for costumed balls," Cass frowned up at him from the transparent screen.
Xerxes sat the screen up on a small table beside the closet doors, and then pulled out a plain black suit made of organic fabric.
"What's a better compliment to Mother Nature than man?" He said as he shrugged out of his current suit.
Cass just rolled her eyes. "Man also destroyed Mother Nature. Don't you think that's a little too on the nose?"
"I think it's prophetic," Xerxes defended.
Cass shook her head. "You would. Just make it good for her; I think she might be a virgin." With that, her image shuttered off to be replaced by the PACT's blank screen.
Great.
Now both his brother and his employee were on Tibby's side. They didn't understand the gravity of the situation, the utter hell his sister had been going through for the past few months. She'd sent out low frequency signals undetectable to more powerful Psychs, that only he'd been able to discern. He'd only felt a fraction of her pain and her humiliation and that was more than enough of what he himself could take. Tibby was just in the way, and as in all wars, there were always a few innocent casualties.
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Although it was a costume ball, which should imply some sort of a costume, Tibby saw more than a few men and women completely nude. One couple in particular caught her attention, and she'd been hard pressed not to laugh. A tall, skinny man and a woman that could have been his more feminine twin stood arm in arm, both with a small fig leaf on their privates. It hadn't been a particularly big leaf, but it hid all the pertinent appendages. Daniel had later told her that the man had had himself cloned, except he had it made with two x chromosomes. Tibby didn't know much about cloning other than that it was illegal but enough money could make the authorities turn a blind eye.
The ball itself was magnificent and yet simple. Gilded mirrors went on uninterrupted throughout the room, with mirrors on the floor as well the ceilings. Floating faux candles provided the only light, sometimes dimming and sometimes illuminating particular areas of the ball room. Classical music intercepted with the more modern techno and metallic music blasted from unseen speakers. From the silver and swirling ceilings, drops of what looked like glistening tears fell from the mirrors only to completely disappear just a few inches from the partygoer's heads. At first, she'd been afraid to step onto the swirling silver lake that was the floor, which looked like it was liquid mercury, fearing she'd fall through and drown. But it was as sturdy as wood, and Tibby had delighted in causing small ripples with the tips of her shoes.
The real decorations were the people themselves and the costumes they adorned. Tibby had seen a beautiful woman dressed as Icarus, with moving feathered wings in a flowing white feathered gown with gold accents. Another man had dressed as the devil, with a moving tail and a demonic face that could only come from hell. Daniel had dressed simply, as the beloved Prince Carter, who'd died fifty years ago in the Central Axinion War. Tibby was dressed as Mother Nature, at Cass's insistence. The fabric was little more than gauze and she'd at first adamantly refused to wear something so revealing and formfitting. Mina had added some faux flowers and vines to cover all her private areas, tastefully revealing only a teasing glimpse of skin here and there. The flowers would alternately bloom, then wither away and leave hologram petals at her feet only to blossom once again.
Daniel had certainly been pleased with her appearance but she couldn't care less. There was only one man she wanted to see but there had been no hint of the mysterious Ryan Ezekiel. Daniel had escorted her through the huge ballroom, even taken her out into the middle for a few dances but no matter how many times she craned and twisted her neck in vain attempts to catch sight of him, she saw nothing. While they'd danced, she saw a few couples openly copulating right next to them, some turning the dance moves into a sensual love play while others butchered the timeless waltz into a vulgar display of carnality.
Tibby had implored Daniel to let her rest her tired feet, and he'd grudgingly left her with two body guards. Wanting to get away from the raucous voices, she'd escaped into a balcony, closely followed by the guards. Thankfully, they stopped at the doors, and let her go out onto the balcony. Perversely, she'd hoped her second foray onto a balcony would again meet her up with Ryan Ezekiel. Gingerly, she stepped onto the stone railing, and leaned her upper body on the top of the balustrade and tipped her head up the artificial night sky.
