SEQUENTIAL ━ Connor // RK800 ✔️

twenty-one ━ in too deep

Victory tasted bitter in the silence that dawned on her in that car, and though she knew the radio wouldn't help, she flicked it on anyway, returning her full attention to the road and even remembering to lower the cracked window to her left down so it wouldn't look odd through the usual city traffic.

"And for today's breaking news," the radio channel she has been listening on blasted through while she still adjusted the volume, thus making Mia readjust her hand to want to change channels instead. She needed music, not to hear how she's being thought a criminal. "The creator of androids, Elijah Kamski, stepped down from his position as CEO of the company he has built from the ground up." Her hand froze and, instantly, returned to the volume to turn it up. "Hear what he had to say in the public statement made early this morning."

"I have achieved all I had wanted." Hearing Elijah's voice, even through the usual interference of the radio ran a cold chill down Mia's spine, forcing her teeth to grit together and her jaw to lock. Her hands too, held a little tighter onto the wheel, but still, curiosity held her back from switching channels, even though she knew she should. "There's nothing left at CyberLife for me to innovate or to nurture into being, as it has now grown into something of its own, outside of my control and even my very vision."

"Does this decision have anything to do with the court meetings you've been brought before?" A question from the public, she assumed, interjected. "Can you tell us more about the reason behind those court meetings?"

The recording of the conference got incredibly loud after that point, but Mia could still make out Elijah's brief 'no comment' response. The radio news presenter took over from there, "There are still no news regarding a successor for Mr. Kamski to the helm of his company, which leaves room to believe, in the light of recent controversies surrounding CyberLife, that his decision had been forced by circumstances, rather than planned. Now, for the weather. Our first proper snow looks well overdo for next week, but to round up this weekend, expect heavy precipitation..."

With an exasperated sigh, Mia changed channels, settling on the first one that could give her some actual music, as she should have done as soon as she heard Elijah's name.

The music didn't do much, but at least it did not add more fire to the already fuming thoughts in her mind. It kept her contained, so to say, until she stopped the car in the same spot in that underground floor of the parking lot. With the engine off, the radio went out and the ringing in her ears returned. She could already sense the achievements of that day slipping through her fingers and there was nothing she could do but accept it all with her eyes closed and her head leant back, letting even her hands finally fall into her lap.

"I have a lead," she announced, voice quiet but hardly a whisper into the silence of the car. These past few days have been wretched in reminding Mia how far she's climbed out of the darkness when she'd go entire days without a single word spoken, days in which she forgot she had a voice and that her thoughts mattered enough to become sound and spread outside of her mind. Connor had given back her voice when they started working together. Him and his effortless charm, returned her the thirdt to speak and by God, she didn't want to go back to never hearing herself again. So if pretending he was there when her eyes closed was the cost to her voice, then she was fine with going a little mad.

"You were right about starting at Lucien's place," Mia continued, in no rush whatsoever. "I found there paintings Rory marked up. They seem to be leading to the Silver Spoon nightclub in the area. It would make sense of him to know about that place from Lucien. He introduced me to it when I was studying university here, but he partied there way more than I ever had." Mia sighed, her shoulders dropping, "This may be nothing, really, but it's all I've got right now."