The Obsession of ARES

Early the next morning, Amara returned to the studio. She didn't bother greeting her uncle or his family, who were gathered around the breakfast table pretending she didn't exist. She'd learned to return the favor - silence was easier than pretense.

The soft morning sun spilled through the studio's glass windows as she stepped inside. The familiar scene was oddly comforting. Sora and Selene were already there, sitting side by side in front of a laptop, their expressions unusually serious.

"Hey, guys. What's up?" Amara asked casually, tossing her bag onto the couch and bouncing onto it with a carefree grin.

Selene didn't smile. "Come take a look at this," she said, her tone low but firm.

Curious, Amara stood and walked over. Her eyes fixed on the screen - and within seconds, her playful expression vanished.

She stared in silence, as she turned to look at them. Selene gave a small nod. "We might need your help with this, Amara," she said seriously.

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The atmosphere inside the studio had shifted - from serious to deceptively light.

Empty snack wrappers lay scattered across the table as the three women lounged around, munching without a care in the world.

"So, what's our next move?" Sora asked between bites, cheeks puffed as she chewed noisily.

Selene leaned back on the couch, her expression unreadable. "According to the information I managed to gather, the mayor is hosting a private gala at his residence tomorrow night," she began calmly, her voice cutting through the sound of crunching chips. "He'll be welcoming a big shot - someone important enough to have the entire security detail on edge."

Amara raised a brow. "A big shot, huh? And what's so special about this event?"

Selene's eyes flickered toward her laptop screen. "It's rumored there'll be an exchange that night - something classified. A prototype... a high-tech microdrive capable of wiping or rewriting digital records in seconds."

The room fell silent for a moment. Even Sora stopped chewing.

"Our mission," Selene continued, "is to obtain that microdrive and deliver it to the contact waiting near Raven's Bridge before sunrise."

"Sounds simple enough." Sora finally spoke again, swallowing. "Except for the part where we have zero intel. You're saying they didn't even leave you a trace?"

Amara crossed her legs, grabbing another snack. "Yeah, Selene, what's going on? You always have details, blueprints, routes, security layouts... something."

Selene's gaze darkened. "That's exactly the problem. The post went up on the dark web under a high-tier bounty tag, but every attempt to trace the source hit a dead end. It's almost like whoever posted it doesn't want anyone finding out who's behind it."

"That's not normal," Sora said, her tone losing its usual playfulness. "If even you can't dig anything up, this isn't just risky, it's suicidal. People don't back out of high-paying jobs unless there's a damn good reason."

Selene nodded slowly, her fingers drumming against the table. "It's been on the board for days now, but one by one, teams are withdrawing. Some vanished completely. No trace. No message. Just-gone."

The three of them exchanged looks, unease filling the air.

"The object?" Sora asked hesitantly.

"No," Amara said quietly, shaking her head. "It's not the object. It's the person. The big shot they're all afraid of."

Selene's eyes met hers, her gaze calm, calculating, and yet faintly troubled. "Exactly," she said softly. "And whoever he is... he's the reason this mission feels like walking straight into a trap."

"Sora", Selene called, "I need you to pull every security feed and activity log for the mayor's residence - everything from the past week, and anything within a one-hour radius of the place. Find us patterns".

"On it," Sora said, already sliding over to her customized laptop. She hooked into the software at the side and her fingers flew over the keys, the screen filling with grids of timestamps, camera IDs and movement trails.

Amara and Selene kept talking while Sora worked, voices low and serious.

"So how do we even get into the gala?" Amara asked.

Selene glanced up, eyes narrowed with a plan forming. "The gala's a masked event. Everyone will be in disguise - which makes things both harder and easier. Harder because of the crowd, easier because masks give us anonymity." She tapped the laptop as if it punctuated her point. "We need to know who we're facing before we move."

"First," she added, turning to Amara, "we go shopping. You need to look the part."

Amara blinked. "Me?"

Selene's mouth tilted. "Yes. You're going in. I can get us through - with the studio's connections and my aunt's influence. But we need to steal an identity for you. A believable one. Someone who can get past guest lists and security without a second glance."

Sora didn't look up, eyes flicking across feeds. "I've found three blind spots in the south perimeter cameras. If we time it right, we can sneak in through the service entrance." She smirked. "Also-there's a delivery route that's rarely checked. Good for a discrete exit."

Amara swallowed, feeling the pulse of adrenaline push at her ribs. "So we dress like guests, slip in through a service entrance, grab the microdrive, and disappear?"

Selene nodded once, calmly. "Exactly. We get the object and we move it to Raven's Bridge before dawn."

"Sora," Selene said, her tone sharp and focused, "other than the mayor's residence, can you track any big shots who've entered the country within the past week?"

Sora tilted her head, still tapping away at the keyboard. "Hmm... there are a bunch of them swooping in. Guess it's a major event after all." She began reading off names from the screen - a list of prominent families and business figures. "The Lin family, the Harts, the Veyrans... and-" she paused, eyes narrowing, "Blackwood Enterprise."

"Wait." Selene straightened in her seat. "Hold on right there."

Sora froze mid-scroll. "What, the Blackwoods?"

Selene's voice dropped, serious and sharp. "I have a feeling the person we're looking for might be tied to them."

Amara frowned, confusion flickering across her face. "The Blackwood Enterprise? What do they have to do with this?"

Selene leaned back, eyes darkening in thought. "That's what I want to find out."

Amara's voice trembled slightly. "My uncle... he's planning to sign a contract with one of their subsidiaries. Maybe that's why they're here."

Selene arched a brow, her tone laced with disdain. "You really think the Blackwood family would send someone personally to deal with your uncle's small-time business?"

Sora glanced up from the screen, curiosity lighting her expression. "Hold on, who exactly are the Blackwood family? You're talking like they're royalty."

Selene gave a humorless laugh. "Royalty? They might as well be. The Blackwoods run one of the most powerful conglomerates across Veyra and beyond - tech, arms, pharmaceuticals, even politics. They've got influence everywhere. If someone from their bloodline's involved..." she trailed off, her voice lowering, "...then this mission just became a lot more dangerous."

The air in the studio thickened, tension buzzing like static. Sora's fingers hovered uncertainly over the keyboard. "You're saying the big shot the mayor's welcoming could be a Blackwood?"

Selene's gaze was sharp, and calculating. "I'm saying-if it's them, we're walking straight into a lion's den."