PROJECT: Incarnation

Confrontation | 25

Once Fiora finished narrating the events of that night and how she had been able to survive and escape the company's grip, she desperately tried to meet the gazes of her companions. However, everyone wore unreadable expressions and avoided her gaze. All but Ashe who stared at her intently. Fiora couldn't lie, she was more intimidating than ever before. She wondered what she thought and what she would say next. But the silence was wrecking her nerves already. 

"Is that all?" Ashe asked eventually. 

Fiora looked at her in confusion. "Yes, that is all that happened."

"Really?" Ashe took a step closer to her. Despite Fiora being taller, the height difference didn't do much to make her feel better. "Because I feel like you're hiding something."

Fiora was now completely baffled. She had absolutely no idea what Ashe was referring to and she was afraid to ask. "I'm not sure what you're talking about...?"

Ashe huffed sarcastically. "Aren't you now?"

Fiora shook her head. 

"Perhaps I should enlighten you then." Ashe spun around to face the rest of the PROJECT traces. "Our friend Fiora from here has been secretly working with Shauna Vayne. Isn't that lovely?"

"Just because she saved my life doesn't mean we are working together." Fiora defended. 

"Then how do you explain her knowing you would be there in the first place?" Ashe inquired. "Plus, there's something else which, I'm afraid, you cannot deny."

Fiora started panicking now. Was it possible that Ashe knew about the incident at the mansion of Norman Rose? But how? 

Ashe received Fiora's silence as her cue to continue her little speech. "Apparently, she had been present at the confiscation of the USB that caused us so much trouble, a task that Vi had bestowed upon Vayne, as we all know.  Fiora has been lying and working with Vayne behind our backs. I wonder what else she's hiding," she wondered out loud.

"I'm not a traitor!" Fiora hissed, losing her patience. "I think you keep forgetting that Vayne is not our enemy."

"What I do know, Fiora, is that you lied to all of us and risked your life over someone who would let you die in a heartbeat. You could have at least gotten the USB then and save Yi from all this trouble!"

"And what would Vi give to the Pulsefire agents, then? How can you even blame me for what happened to him? In fact, if we are going to start pointing fingers here, if it's anyone's fault, then it's yours, Ashe."

Ashe glared at her, clearly infuriated. "Pardon me?"

Fiora had regained her confidence back and the anger was taking over her. "You heard me right. You specifically ordered him to go out there on his own. I don't know what exactly you expected to happen, Ashe, but you can't just put the blame on me because you have zero self awareness!"

"Watch your tongue!"

"What are you going to do? Huh?" Fiora stepped closer to me. "Disable me, perhaps? Restart me? Delete my memories?"

Everyone held their breaths as the tension became almost suffocating. 

"We are claiming that we are free of our bonds," Fiora said louder, addressing the rest. "But are we really? Because from the moment we escaped PROJECT Inc, we've been under Ashe's command, our leader," she emphasized the last word to mock the archer. "So much for freedom and free will. So what's the point of running away when nothing has actually changed?"

»And now we are here and she's accusing me of treason just because of her grudge with Vayne. Because as we all know, she's our real enemy and not the corporation that manipulated us," she added sarcastically. "Sometimes I wonder, maybe Vayne is right. Maybe you actually have no idea what you're doing and you're dragging us towards our doom."