The Spider Queen

(Alpha Star System- Planet Gaia)

(Peterlor Estate- Mechanical City)

[Hey… I'm sorry that I haven't been in touch over the last few days… I…]

"No that's so stupid," Sophie groaned as her finger hovered over the delete key.

She pressed the icon and the message draft instantly disappeared.

The hybrid girl played with the communicator in her right palm as numerous thoughts ran across her mind.

She was currently sitting down on a bench enjoying the artificial sunlight that shone down on the mechanical city.

Her father had insisted that she not spend too much time indoors.

It was a good decision because every time Sophie returned to her bedroom, she would get flashbacks to the nightmarish dream where all of friends and family were dead.

A gentle breeze brushed against Sophie's body and made several loose strands of her long black hair fall across her face.

At the current moment, it should be around four o' clock the afternoon, but Sophie did not bother to double check.

She had lost track of time and was simply relaxing outside.

Lily had gone home yesterday, and the psychologist was supposed to come tomorrow for their first session.

What was his name again?

Doctor Reynolds or something like that…

A frown flashed across Sophie's face as she pictured an elderly man dressed in a buttoned-down vest and holding a clipboard.

In Sui Meng's memories there were scenes of psychologists shown on television who would constantly ask silly questions like…

'But how do you really feel?' and 'How does that make you feel?'

Hopefully her upcoming session would be nothing like that otherwise Sophie planned on walking out immediately.

"I'll make sure that Lily isn't around when… oh…" Sophie muttered quietly before remembering that Lily had already left.

The mansion just felt a lot emptier without the cheerful little girl constantly shadowing her every move.

Sophie missed her already.

There was a hollow feeling in her chest since she had basically spent the last few months with the little girl constantly by her side.

This feeling of loneliness was the driving force behind her decision to finally confess to her friends about her current situation.

But… things were not going exactly as planned.

Sophie rubbed her temples slowly and tried to compose yet another message. She thought for a moment and then began to type out.

[Hey… I would like to apologise for not reaching out properly since returning home but… it's because I have been dealing with some…]

"Fuck! Why is this so difficult?!" Sophie yelled in frustration. She deleted the message once again before it had even been sent.

This was the tenth time.

THE TENTH TIME!

Sophie sighed heavily as she glanced at the contact list on her communicator. Astrid, Qiana and Cleo were the three profiles on the top of her list.

She needed to tell them.

Come on… she wasn't a coward! It was just a message explaining why she had not reached out.

It did not have to be an essay. It did not have to be perfect. Just talk to them.

This wasn't even a hard task!

Sophie's fingers trembled slightly as she tapped the screen to open up the draft function. This time she hurriedly wrote down several lines of text before her burst of courage disappeared.

[Hey… I'm sorry for not reaching out before. Truthfully, I do want to talk to you all desperately but I… I just can't… not yet]

[Right now, I'm not in the right mental state. It isn't anything serious and I am going to get help, but I may need a few weeks to recover.]

[I'm sorry.]

Sophie's heart began to race as she finished typing the last word.

She quickly sent the messages out to her three friends and then closed her communicator before seeing if anyone responded.

Breathe in… breathe out… come on… don't lose control…

Sophie hummed softly as she took in a few deep breaths and then gently exhaled. Her palms felt weak and clammy as she awkwardly hung them to the side of her body.

There were tiny beads of sweat forming on her forehead. Sophie grabbed a tissue from her storage ring and wiped her face.

Where was this fear coming from?

Just picturing her friends reading the messages made Sophie feel sick.

She even felt a slight urge to throw up. Sophie leaned forward on the bench and wrapped her arms around her body.

Breathe in… breathe out… breathe in… breathe out…

The minutes passed slowly as Sophie gradually got her mood to calm down. She placed her communicator back into her storage ring and got up from the bench.

Maybe a walk would help to clear her mind. It certainly seemed better than just sitting down and letting her wandering thoughts lead her to dark places.

Sophie closed her eyes and stretched her index finger outward. She waved her finger back and forth before slowly opening her eyes.

Her finger was pointed towards a north-eastern direction, so Sophie decided to stretch her legs for a bit.

The hybrid girl slowly walked towards a large needle-like tower that was in the center of the metalloid city.

Drones and robots could be seen all throughout the city maintaining the buildings, performing menial tasks and transporting raw materials as well as other functions.

Sophie moved to the left as a tiny ball-shaped robot zipped past her body and headed towards what looked like a garage.

Duke Peterlor used his home on planet Gaia as a secondary base so there were secrets hidden in the mechanical city that Sophie had yet to uncover.

Not that she was in any rush to learn all the secrets. Sophie did not want to take over as the future duchess of House Peterlor until at least a few centuries passed.

But as the heiress she would probably start to get involved in the territory management after university.

Sophie was not looking forward to handling all of those responsibilities. Administrative work was a battle that could not usually be solved by brute force or violence.

A smirk flashed across her face as Sophie imagined punching her way through endless stacks of files and paperwork.

Certainly not the heroic life of a warrior but definitely much safer and frankly Sophie felt as though she had encountered enough danger for a lifetime.

Although she didn't have much hope of spending the rest of her days peacefully.

She had an instinctive feeling that her status of being the vessel of the hunter goddess would drag her into more perilous situations in the distant future.

As Sophie neared the core of the mechanical city, an additional type of drone could be seen patrolling both sides of the road.

Massive bulky security bots with vaguely humanoid features and numerous weapon systems roamed the area.

Sophie walked quietly as several beams of green light scanned her body before confirming her identity.

However, these security bots were just the tip of the iceberg.

Sophie's golden eyes shone eerily as the hybrid girl used her enhanced vision to get a better look at her surroundings.

Suddenly multiple invisible drones could be seen clearly in her view with weapons trained directly at her body.

Sophie waved her palm and the guns on the drones could be seen following her motions closely.

A bit of an overkill but Sophie knew that her father had made many enemies over the years. It was always better to be safe than sorry.

The needle-like building was a mere five hundred meters away from her current location. Sophie crammed her neck upwards to look at the gigantic structure that stretched towards the heavens.

The tip of the building was incredibly slender, and overall architect was a sleek design that seemed vaguely off putting in a way that Sophie could not describe.

There was a single glass door at the base of the structure. Sophie slowly walked towards the door but was stopped by two security bots that stood silently by the entrance.

A green light was emitted from the security bot on the left that swept up and down Sophie's body.

There was a speaker in the middle of the bot's face and soon a smooth mechanical voice could be heard.

[Scanning individual… identity confirmed… Sophie Peterlor…]

[Access Denied.]

[Please leave this area immediately]

"Hmm…" Sophie thoughtfully muttered as she stared at the building.

It was getting pretty late anyway so the hybrid girl decided to just ask her father about the tower when she returned to the mansion.

Tomorrow was going to be her first session with the psychologist, so Sophie hoped to get a good night's rest before the appointment.