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“It’s so good of you to come even after all of that nastiness.” Amber Sweet greets the slight girl as she enters the office formerly occupied by the late Rotti Largo, former CEO of GeneCo, the world’s foremost biotech company. She extends the o’s out as far as they will go, as her nails clack against the hardwood of the desk she’s reclined behind. Shilo takes the seat across from her, in an astonishingly uncomfortable chair.
“I didn’t exactly have a choice.” Shilo snaps back, voice exhausted. “I just want all of this to be over with.” She crosses her leg over her lap and stares at the newly reconstructed face of the youngest Largo child. Amber’s eyes are blue now, it seems, and Shilo can’t remember if they were that color before today.
“Well it’s still nice of you to show up instead of making us hunt you down, right?” Amber gives a smile with no substance behind it. “I know neither of our dear departed fathers would have wanted that.” Shilo feels that sentence in her chest. Weaning herself off the poison so routed in her body has been less than comfortable to cope with, so the thought of her father only makes the corner of her mouth twitch with barely concealed rage.
“He’s dead. I don’t know why you’re still pretending you even care.” She scoffs. “It’s not like he can hear you.”
“Shut up.” Amber snaps, slamming a hand onto the desk. “You don’t know me and you didn’t know my daddy either, so keep us out of your stupid little mouth. I’m doing this so you can have your freedom and I can have my rightful inheritance.” She slaps a clipboard to the table and slides it across, nearly knocking it off the desk, obviously irate. Shilo picks it up and examines it silently, frown painted on her own mouth. It’s the truth after all, Amber could easily have sicced her brothers to do her dirty work and grabbed Shilo off the street. Instead she sent her Gentern lackeys, unarmed. While the men were very insistent, they were also kind and courteous on her route to the offices of GeneCo, allowing for her own pace.
“Do you swear to sign away your rights to the GeneCo Corporation and all its holdings?” Amber asks, eyeing Shilo but not making eye contact. “You know this place would be nothing but a burden to you and to us. Plus it means I won’t have to get this office all gross and dirty after I have my boys kill you. It’s a win-win for both of us!”
“You swear you’re gonna leave me alone for good?”
“Pinky promise. Your life is yours to lead and mine is mine to lead.” Amber holds her delicately manicured hand out, pinky extended. Shilo stares at her hand, completely unaware of this girlish ritual, and just shakes her hand instead.
“Fine. Whatever it takes. I just wanted my cure, and I guess all things considered I got it.” Shilo says flatly, picking the pen up and signing her name in thin capital letters. She shoves the board across the desk and exhales a long sigh, clenching the fabric at her skirt. “There. I hope that’s it.”
“Perfect! Finally everything is settled and I can get started on restructuring. I’m so grateful for this Shilo, really, I can’t tell you how much help this is for me and for the rest of GeneCo.” Amber says, holding the clipboard up and inspecting the signature with obvious glee in her eyes.
“Yeah, great. Great.” Shilo mutters, staring at the wall lined with awards and accolades featuring Rotti’s prominent face. “Listen, can I ask you something?”
“Um, I guess you can stay a little longer.” Amber says, clearly put out by the idea but also somewhat interested in what this kid has to say. “What?”
“How do you just… move on?”
“Like… from what?” Amber feels her own mouth twitch.
“All this… death. My dad was a fucking prison warden but he was all I had. I only got to know Mag for one night… You just lost your dad too, how are you still going like this?” Amber feels her stomach ache at the idea. “They’re all just gone and they all just fucking ruined each others lives and ours too, how is it fucking fair?
“You get used to it. To the people you trust ripping happy things right out of your hands. Sometimes you have to be a big girl and ignore how fucking awful you feel. Zydrate is really nice for that. Did you ever end up playing with that Graverobber?” Amber smirks a little bit, changing the topic as soon as she could. Thinking about those rotten men made her sick, there’s plenty more fun things to talk about. “He sure seemed to like you.”
“P-Playing?” Shilo’s face turns a bright red, eyes darting around the room, deep in thought of what Amber could be alluding to with the word ‘play’. “No, I’ve never had surgery. I don’t think I want any.” She can’t deny the tinge of curiosity in her heart, pounding at the idea of that gun pressed against her skin.
“Shame. You seem just the type to get what’s so fun about it.” Amber’s eyes seem surprisingly lively at the thought of it. “Maybe sometime… Hm. Maybe you can come back some time. I haven’t gotten to talk to somebody new in a long time. It’s usually just the chucklefuck twins and the ‘Support Group’ junkies.”
“Um, I guess I could do that.” Shilo felt her stomach flip a little at the idea. It isn’t as if she’s had any friends either, only the lackluster company of her dead bugs and her worthless father, but Amber isn’t exactly who she would picture as her first real friend. “You still have to keep good on that promise, I’m a free person now. You swore it, and I gave you all Rotti’s stuff.” Shilo keeps her face serious and straight at Amber, who is still smiling that surprisingly sincere looking smile back at her. Amber checks her nails to diffuse the tension and grins.
“I promise.” Her eyes twinkle.