Nemesis

II - Oh So Nosy

Nemesis

Chapter II - Oh So Nosy

[Manchester Orchestra Ft. Phoebe Bridgers - The Gold]

[22 October 2023]
[Ares Tech Headquarters]
[09:47]

"Miranda, did you hear? Ashton Burke was found dead in his penthouse!" The news caught Miranda's attention when she had begun to doze off. She had not slept a wink since her encounter with Kane. All she could think about was how much he intrigued her. After a failed attempt at getting some rest, Miranda stayed up and chose to work on designing brand new weaponry.

"Huh? Ashton's dead?" Miranda asked, shocked as she stood to her feet, trying to process this information. She checked her colleague's phone for the news. Her eyes widened further the more she read the article. The man had really died. "How'd he even die?" Miranda asked, and her colleague scrolled through the article in search of an answer. "It doesn't say..." He said not long after and Miranda rubbed her temples. "Fucking hell... you don't think someone killed him, do you?" She asked soon enough and Jasper raised an eyebrow. "Why would you think that?" He asked and Miranda sighed. "It seems weird that when we're about to move our biggest haul of weapons yet, a middle-aged man of relatively perfect health suddenly falls to a heart attack. I feel like something's off." Miranda explained, earning a sigh from Jasper.

"And if they did kill him, it'd only be the Russians who'd want him." Miranda added, her hatred almost blatant in her words. She had quite a few eventful experiences with Russia in a series of actions that had led to the war, and her life was one of the many that were ruined. That was why she dedicated her life to creating weapons, she wanted to hurt their people as much as they had hurt her.

"Dammit, Miranda, you can't go around saying shit like that!" He warned, and Miranda rolled her eyes before she removed his hand. "Or what, Jasper? Who else would want the guy who approves our weapons operations? They might be doing this to slow down production and weaken our defenses." She said. "Like what, another nuke vaporizing New York?" Jasper joked, but the joke took Miranda on an unwanted trip down memory lane. And it was only filled with charred corpses scattered across a wasteland.

She grabbed Jasper by the shoulders violently, an almost terrified look in her eyes. "Don't joke about that, people in Florida died because of that, and the reality that they might attack again is very real, and it scares me..." Miranda soon realized what she was doing before she removed her hands, stepping away. "I'm sorry, but we can't halt production until we get a new supervisor." She added, and Jasper nodded slowly. He was a bit concerned. "Miranda, are you okay?" He asked, and she nodded quickly.

"Yeah, I'm just a little on edge, not enough sleep. You can get back to work, Jasper. I need to see Dain."

With that, Miranda left the room and headed towards the elevator. She did not understand, why was it so hard to keep herself calm at the thought or mention of nukes? Did they scare her that much more than she thought? Had the wounds not healed yet? "Fuck, why won't this war just end?" Miranda asked herself as the elevator carried her to the eighth floor. The doors soon opened and she wasted little time making her way towards Dain's office.

The doors detected Miranda and allowed her through, where she caught sight of Dain sitting in his chair at his desk. He seemed to be staring at his computer intently as if he had come across a huge problem. "Dain, is something the matter?" Miranda asked and Dain finally lifted his head at the sound of her voice. "Miranda, we've got problems. With Ash dead, we need to stop design and production until they elect someone else for the position, and who's to say he's gonna be as lenient as him? On top of that, I've also got bigger fish to fry, but they had to throw this shit in my way."

Miranda had not seen Dain this stressed in quite a bit, and it was shocking. This situation seemed to be more dire than even she had anticipated. He knew that it was more than the business side of things that had placed him in such a state. The man who had died was his best friend and Miranda could tell that he was putting in the bravest face he could muster.