Nestled in her ergonomic office chair, Stella activates the holographic screen. A dozen VR feeds spring to life in mid-air, each of which diplays a different world within the vast universe of AfterLife. They flash from one scene to the next until she finds her target.

When Stella spots the Viper, her veins burn with rage. Soon she will strike, coiling her body around her victim to squeeze the very life from her lungs.

But not yet. Not before the Viper finishes her final task.

She adjusts the zoom to home in on her enemy, struck once more by her natural beauty. Ebony waves frame her oval face and cascade down her back. That cute little black dress hugs her delicious curves in a way those designer business suits never have. And her eyes! They're the color of crisp autumn leaves.

Quite the femme fatale.

The Viper's small but full lips curl around the edge of a crystalline goblet as she takes the tiniest sip of wine and sets it back down. Delicate fingers stroke the stem of the glass. Up and down. Up and down. Out of frustration? Nerves? Desire?

It's hard to tell.

To cure her temporary insanity, Stella plunges her mind into a bucket of ice water. It isn't difficult. All she must do is replay those horrific videos of her brother's demise.

Unlike the other prisoners, Rainer never screamed. He clenched his square jaw so tight that a muscle jumped. When they jabbed the IV into his arm, he fought to stay awake. Groaning through clenched teeth, he never cried. Even though the pain would have been excruciating.

Rainer defied the Viper until the last.

But he could not change his fate. At the end, his eyelids fluttered shut for the last time as the coffin lid closed with a final slam.

That memory vanquishes all desire for the Viper, leaving only a cold hatred that burns like liquid nitrogen. "When I kill you, I'll do it slowly."

Stella licks her lips and tastes the salt.

In that cute little half-timbered tavern, Rainer approaches the Viper dressed in his military best. Although he should be primed to kill, they shake hands like two business partners. 

Her muscles tighten as though she's ready to pounce. They're standing so close. It's wrong. If she could find a way to hack Darkwebs, she'd tear the Viper away from him.

If you knew who she really was, you would kill her where she stands.

But you can't. Not yet. 

I still need her to set you free.

"You came back," says Rainer, eyes wide with astonishment. "I thought..."

"I found it." The Viper activates her holojector and shows him a miniature view of the recording she's taken at the warehouse. "Everything you said was true."

"Not here!"

Rainer sweeps his new cloak around the Viper to shield her from curious gazes. She draws away from him but obeys. He sits in the booth across from hers and orders a Cola-Weizen.

While they sit in awkward silence, the Viper once again strokes the stem of her wine glass. Her lips slightly part as she steals nervous glances at him. He breaks the tension with questions about her favorite books and movies. She asks him about his life before AfterLife. 

They speak about the past like two old school friends. 

"My mother?" Rainer chuckles. "She was a tax lawyer from Andalucía. My father? He was a top scientist from Westphalia. A real powerhouse before the Globotics Revolution."

"Do you remember them well?"

Rainer shakes his head. "Like blurred images from a dream. Paul helps. He got some information about them...and about my sister."

Stella's heart clenches. He remembers me...

"What were they like?"

"I don't remember much. Only holograms. Videos." Her brother narrows his brow in concentration. "Estella has my mother's grace, her dark eyes and...wavy black hair."

"Her name was Estella?" 

"Mm, yes. The twists of fate."

"She sounds like my Stella."

Stella's heart thuds against her ribs. Careful, brother. Don't reveal too much.

His expression takes on the dreamy gaze of a deep reverie. "I am very different from my sister. You wouldn't think we were related. I have my father's eyes. His angles. None of my mother's or my sister's softness, but I do have her waves...and her tan."

The Viper smiles and caresses the stem of her wineglass.

"They were kind, but stubborn." Rainer gives a tight-lipped smile. "All of them. And very smart." 

"Gosh, you could be describing my Stella." She bites her lower lip. "It's weird."

Stella curls her lip. Not as foolish as I thought.

He takes a sip of beer. "Perhaps that's why I want to help you find your loved one. I couldn't help my Stella, but I can help yours."

Tears well in Stella's eyes...hot and fierce. They burn like acid before they fall. 

If only you knew...

"I feel..." They pause. "A kinship to you that I can't quite explain."

The Viper smiles. "What did you do before this? Perhaps we knew each other in real life."

"Father wanted me to get into science with him although I wished to volunteer and help the poor with Paul, so he says." He pauses. "I remember nothing, but the articles say that I..."

Rainer falls silent.

"What?"

He shakes his head in resignation. "I deserve this fate, Tara."

"How can you say that?" The Viper's indignance surprises Stella. "No one deserves to be a slave."

"You don't know who I am..." Most people would think Rainer's icy glare indicated fury or violence, but Stella knows it's pain and sadness. "You don't know what I've done."

"If you destroyed the whole planet, you wouldn't deserve this. It's horrible." The Viper reaches out to his side of the table. "You're kind and always put others first. Even me."

"What do you mean?"

"The cloak."

He chuckles sadly, placing his hand over hers. "You would not sit here if you knew my crimes."

Stella clenches her jaw. And you would not sit there if you knew hers.

"Try me."

To Stella's relief, he retreats from the Viper's grasp. "One does not speak of such things over beer and wine."

"Well, let's get some whiskey."

A sad smile tugs at Rainer's lips after the Viper orders them a different kind of poison. "You are as stubborn as Estella, you wicked woman."

Don't compare me with her.

The Viper gives him a pointed look, raises her shotglass, and touches hers to his. "To the truth."

"To the truth."

They both drink it in one gulp.

"All right..." Rainer heaves a heavy sigh. "I did not stand my ground against my father. Together we created..." He gestures around himself. "This."

"What? The tavern?"

"All of this."

The Viper leans forward and whispers, "You mean...AfterLife?"

He nods. "My father...he discovered all the principles. And I...designed the environment. My sister helped design the code. To punish the terrorists who bombed the South Bay Mall."

"What?"

"We wanted revenge, you see."

"Revenge?"

His eyes turn steely cold. "They killed my mother."

The boa constrictor tightens its grip around Stella's heart until she can barely breathe.

Painted the color of blood, the Viper's lips part, allowing a soft gasp to escape. "I'm so--"

"Don't say sorry. I don't deserve your pity."

Another awkward silence. Rainer drinks another whiskey for liquid courage.

"Later we discovered they never intended to punish those terrorists with it at all." Rainer's gaze could freeze fire. "No retroactive judgment, they said. They used my rage, and it was all a lie."

Rainer gulps another shot and slams the glass so hard it shatters.

"The serum was poison." He sighs. "It traps AfterLifers in a coma. We didn't know until it was too late."

The Viper gasps. The other patrons fall silent until Rainer mutters an apology. He pays the waiter for the damaged glass with a swipe of his wristband.

"It's not your fault," says the Viper. 

As though she could understand his pain. 

She can never know. Rainer was always innocent--pure of heart--he created AfterLife to avenge their mother because he was young and hot-blooded. The Viper created the poison for profit. For a higher rating. Pure opportunism.

"To hell it's not." Rainer runs his hand over his face. "The worst part is: That's not all."

The Viper lies in wait, silent and trembling.

"My sister and I hacked a corner of AfterLife. We tried to free the souls my system had trapped. We copied our minds to the system. So that we could attack them from the inside."

"What? You mean mind uploading?" The Viper stares in shock. "Wirelessly? Is that even a thing?"

"It wasn't until my sister and I did the experiments."

"And?"

Rainer orders and drains three more whiskeys before he has the courage to speak. "And..."

Silence.

"And...I killed her."

"Who?"

The name falls like broken glass. "Estella."

Shocked, the Viper stares at him wide-eyed. "No, that's not possible, Zephyr. You would never..."

"Her body was alive. But her mind..." Rainer's eyes turn glassy, and his next word falls in a pained whisper. "Gone. Trapped. In some dark corner of this world I've yet to find."

"Sweet sun!"

"I couldn't redownload her." He drinks another shot. "I trapped her in this place, which is worse than killing her. She's all alone here. I put her at risk because I couldn't live with what I'd done."

No, brother! That's not what happened.

The serum is messing with your mind!

"What I didn't know was: Estella hacked AG so many times to help the poor and oppressed." Rainer sighs. "When they came for her, I confessed to her crimes. Everything."

The Viper sits speechless.

"So that they would lock me here," he replies with another shot. "I thought I'd find Estella in Darkwebs, the only place you cannot hack from the real world. But nothing. Nothing!"

Rainer slams the table, shocking the patrons once more. Stella reaches out to comfort her brother, but his holographic image distorts when her fingers touch his shoulder. 

This is all the Viper's doing! 

If not for her serum, none of this would have happened.

He rests his forehead against his palms. Biting her lower lip, the Viper rises and scoots next to Rainer, placing a hand on his forearm and wrapping her arm around his broad shoulders. 

"You didn't do it on purpose," whispers the Viper. "It's not your fault."

"All this suffering...I created it. Now I must pay."

"Zephyr, you've suffered here for thirty years." The Viper strokes his back as a loving sister might do. It eats Stella alive. "You've helped these people so much. What more can you do?"

"I will stay here until it ends," he replies in a firm tone. "It's the least I can do."

"What if we could end it?" asks the Viper. "What if we could wake up the people? What if we could work together to make it right? Would you return to real life?"

Stella whips her attention to her mortal enemy, stunned by her offer. The Viper wants to help him! Of her own free will. Without torture or convincing. Without bribes or threats. 

That's never happened before. Even with the threats.

"What you say is impossible."

"I can't explain it..." The Viper shakes her head. "I don't know why...but...deep in my heart, I know I have the power to help."

For the first time in decades, Stella's heart swells with hope.

It's working.

___

Word count: 1,867
Total word count: 15,027/20,000

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