Mercedes's Breakfast

Walking through the hallway heading to the staircase, Mercedes wore an oversized t-shirt with bluish shorts from her younger days. Fortunately, some of her clothing in the wardrobe still fit her. However, she understood the need for more clothes that she could wear.

'That was a good bath.' Mercedes thought while her wet brunette hair kept dripping water droplets on her shoulders. She was planning to go down to the kitchen to have breakfast with her family.

It has been a while for Mercedes, and she desired to spend time with her mother and little sister.

As she arrived at the staircase, Mercedes was about to head down until she heard a familiar monotone voice that hadn't talked to her for dozens of days.

[𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐖𝐚𝐫.]

It was none other than Spade, the adviser of AEGIS.

Mercedes raised an eyebrow as a complicated smile emerged on her face. She couldn't help but sigh to herself and calmly questioned Spade. After all, she wasn't too happy to lose contact with Spade during her coffin-bringer training.

"Spade, it's been a while."

"Was your vacation satisfying? I thought that you had forgotten about me."

There was sarcasm etched within Mercedes's words. But the aloof Spade couldn't care less about it and responded to Mercedes's questioning with a monotone voice.

[𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐒 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭'𝐬 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲. 𝐈 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐀𝐬 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐮𝐛-𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐒.]

Mercedes furrowed her eyebrows after hearing the words of Spade. She wasn't happy or satisfied with the answer. Instead, it pushed her to the flames of rare anger. Spade reminded her of someone. That someone was her former self.

A self-deprecating existence.

"I don't want to hear anything regarding that, Spade. I'll remind you that I get angry when you speak in such a way." Mercedes uttered with a cold tone while glaring.

[𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭-]

"No buts! I don't want to hear any of that sh*t." Mercedes expressed with silent anger. She resisted from loudly screaming at Spade for trying to piss her off. Anyhow, her mood was now complicated.

'This Spade is as dense as a rock.' Such a thought materialized in her head after talking to Spade for the first time after dozens of days. She was supposed to be happy to finally converse with her partner.

But all it did was set her off.

Mercedes navigated through the staircase and arrived in the living room. She noticed her mom preparing for their breakfast in the kitchen while Kiara was sitting on the couch watching television.

She took a glance at the calendar and saw that a day had passed since she left for the virtual world. It appears that she slept in the bedroom during the entire time, which was good.

Mercedes wouldn't want to lose consciousness out of nowhere and worry her family.

"Mom..." Mercedes called out to the kitchen while taking out an apron to help her mother. Regine, hearing her daughter's voice, glances at Mercedes.

Regine froze and squinted her eyes while staring at Mercedes. The appearance of her eldest daughter didn't change much, but there was a feeling inside her that instinctually told her that something had changed within her daughter.

So without wasting any more time, Regine spoke.

"Mercedes, is there something wrong?" She wondered if her daughter had a problem that needed her help. Support was the only thing she could do, and she wouldn't hesitate to do it for her daughters.

"It's nothing, Mom. I'll help you prepare for breakfast." Mercedes revealed a soothing smile, which also made Regine smile. The two of them then prepared their meals together, and Mercedes couldn't help but feel warmth in her heart.

It had been a while since she had cooked breakfast along with her mother. In the virtual world, she was always alone in a particular room deep within the inn. Each of her meals was bought from the inn, and it might have skewed her taste buds.

A couple of minutes later, Mercedes and her mother had prepared their meals for breakfast. While Mercedes was placing plates on the table, Regine called for Kiara who was watching the television.

"Kiara, it's time for breakfast."

Kiara, who was calmly listening to the news, was distracted by the voice of her mother and realized that it was time for breakfast. She stood up from the couch, revealing her summer clothing, and closed the television with a remote.

Arriving at the kitchen where the plates had been set above the table, Kiara sat on her chair and took notice of her older sister. Kiara could feel that her older sister was a bit different than before.

Somewhat more mature than the last day.

It made her wonder what had happened to Mercedes during the night. But she also knew to not pry into other people's lives. After all, many have secrets they wish for other people to not hear. Kiara was sure that her mother had a secret, so why not her sister?

"Mercedes, when are you planning to go back to school?" As they ate their breakfast, Regine brought up a topic that should be forbidden for Mercedes to hear. Though, Regine relented to herself that her daughter had grown as a person.

If she was wrong with her thoughts, Regine wouldn't hesitate to apologize.

Mercedes stopped eating through her meal which instigated a tense atmosphere in the table. Kiara was carefully taking short glances at her sister, wanting to see how the circumstances would unfold. A smile then emerged on Mercedes's face as she confidently answered.

"Why school doesn't interest me. I'm willing to take the prospect, Mom."

"I'm planning to skip some grades and enter my year."

The answer of Mercedes should have been expected since she had changed a lot from her former self. It was like comparing the heavens and the earth. The differences between the current and the former were too great.

So as one would expect, Kiara and Regine were deeply shocked in their core. Regine should have been happy to hear the words of Mercedes, but she found herself baffled. Kiara, on the other hand, also felt like the sun was rising from the west this morning.

"Why are the two of you staring at me like that? Is there something wrong with my face?" Mercedes revealed a teasing smile as she wondered why her little sister and mother were gazing at her as if they had seen the messiah.

"No, no, there's nothing wrong. I'm just happy, Mercedes."

After the initial reaction, Regine was delighted to hear the news. Her oldest daughter was finally going back to school. However, it does make her a bit nervous about the bullying that might happen to her eldest.

Seeing her joyful mother becoming worried, Mercedes comforted her mother with a determined voice. "There's no need to worry, Mom. I can handle anything that comes my way."

"You should be worrying about the Cafe instead. Changes are surging in the neighborhood."

Mercedes decided to change the subject by bringing up the Cafe. There was still the problem of the district development plan that attracted both opportunities and dangers to the neighborhood. Thugs would probably increase until authorities suppress them, which takes time.

"That's right, Mom. Terrorist attacks are also becoming common throughout the borderlands of the federation. I heard that a recent bombing hit a district near to ours." Kiara interjected with the information she had gotten from the news.

Both Mercedes and Regine looked at her with serious expressions prompting her to explain more about the news.

"This morning... A bomb exploded in a hospital near our district. I heard that a state of emergency is being announced throughout our local region and will be initiated later this morning."

It looks like the situation of the terrorist along with the emergence of gangs were becoming a prominent problem. It also made Mercedes remember the main quest, which had a duration of a year.

A cold glint appeared in her sapphire-like irises as she clenched her fist under the table. She was powerful compared to others, but there were limits to how much she could do alone. Her scope of activity would be limited to this district.

And even then, Mercedes would have to go through overtime.

'Creating an organization is something I have been curious about ever since dealing with local gangs of the fortress city. It would be interesting to have dogs that would do everything I command them. But that's impossible.'

Mercedes knew how much humans loved freedom. The only way to counter-act that love was through purpose which could be brainwashed deep into the mind. They would also need a great cause under their banner that supports their purpose.

In simpler terms, it was a complicated process that would take time.

She was also unfamiliar in terms of management. Mercedes didn't know how to lead an organization or even how to carry out their logistics. So in the end, she threw such ideas at the back of her head.

Not wanting to waste any more time thinking about it, Mercedes continued to devour her meal.

Their breakfast soon ended as Kiara walked back to the living room while Regine decided to clean the kitchen and the table of their empty plates. Mercedes slowly walked towards the door before turning her gaze towards her mother.

"Mom, I'll go shopping for clothes and check out the library. It would take time for me to catch up with my peers."

"Okay, dear. Be careful okay? And stay safe!" Regine didn't stop her since she knew that her eldest daughter was a cautious girl. Even with the incoming state of emergency, Regine felt a bit of trust in her daughter's capabilities for some reason.

Mercedes then left their home and walked through the sidewalk, noticing people staring at her while passing by.

"It looks like I'll have to buy a mask and a hoodie," Mercedes muttered and ignored the various gazes and reactions people were giving her.