A COUPLE WEEKS passed before Olivia finally allowed herself out of her office. She didn’t know how to focus her new powers, but after some isolation she found it eerily soothing. While she should have been cursing it, she had found it to be quite beneficial in her work. She was intrigued at how many of her old machines she was able to fix and maintain now that she was interested. Everything she created from her secretaries’ drawn-out blue prints had been an easy build as her hands did all the work.

She had finally been able to make a robotic Great Dane that could eat all of her empty root beer bottles once she was finished drinking them too. The Dane was like a living animal; where it needed to eat for fuel and energy, so she incorporated the robotic Great Dane to eat any recyclables. Unfortunately she hadn’t come up with a name for it just yet. She figured it would hit her like all of the other machinery she named, it was just a matter of time.

Belle, relieved to see that her lady was out and about the estate, greeted her with a formidable smile while patting the Great Dane on the head. “Lady Olivia, I had heard you were sick and wanted to be left alone. I see you are feeling better now, especially with this cutie here. No name yet?”

Cheric could only nod. “No name yet, still debating on what it should be.” It was true the first couple of days she had been feeling nauseous but when everything settled down, she felt she had become one with the stone. It was a peculiar feeling, but that didn’t change the fact that it felt like there was another human soul inside her. That feeling still gave her goose bumps as she reached over to take the clipboard from Belle’s hands.

“Also I’m doing well, better than before that is for sure. It looks like you still need to prepare a schematic search for The Phoenix.” Belle nodded before pointing at the clipboard. At the top was a handwritten letter from her brother’s estate. What could he want with her?

“I am glad to hear it all the same. I was delivering this to you.” Olivia thanked Belle before taking the letter.

“Thanks. I’ll be in my office if you need anything.” She turned on her heel before heading back to where she had been holed up. Normally she wouldn’t have cared about opening the letter in front of Belle, but her intuition urged her to do it privately.

She ripped the side of the envelope off so she could slide out the small parchment into her hand. It was a short letter, and definitely not in the writing of her brother’s hand. It was a familiar thing, having seen the scrawling letters in beautiful cursive. The way the i’s and e’s had continued to the next letter as if it were nothing but water.

“Son of a bitch.” She murmured before storming out of her room. She was heading to her old warehouse where her discarded inventions were at. She sharply turned a corner down a hallway, completely ignoring the stares of those around her as she stomped down the hall. Normally she didn’t stomp, so it did lead to some mystified and alarmed individuals.

Olivia arrived at the door where a key code popped out from the wall. She put in the secret code and retinal scans that it asked for before the door opened with a click. As she passed the threshold, she found dust covering everything on the floor, drapery, sheets that covered old machines, and the air was musk. Cheric had to cover her nose to prevent the dust particles from entering into her nostrils.

She pressed forward to the back of the room where she passed a couple cobwebs and broken tool boxes from years past until she was face to face with a very old display case. It had been years since she created this thing; even finishing it was a chore in itself. Removing a handkerchief from her lab coat, she wiped down the glass to reveal the face of a fourteen year old Charlotte Rothschild sleeping peacefully.

“Charie, I need a favor.” She replied while opening the locked case for it. The girl was unresponsive as Olivia plugged in certain extensions and finally flipped a switch. The hazel eyes that she grew accustomed to in the past opened before her, and while the smile still plastered upon her innocent face, it was still a robot. It could never be the real thing.

“Master Olivia, how may I assist you today?” She replied while crushing the forgotten letter in her hand. The protocol from years back still was installed. “Shall I play with Master Skylar while Master Charlotte is in class?” Olivia shook her head before turning around.

“Follow me,” She pulled off her lab coat to cover the robot and instructed it to move. “We have some individuals we need to greet.”

The robot smiled before doing as told. “As you say Master Olivia.”

Olivia walked over to the estate’s intercom before calling out The Division’s select crew members to the Cafeteria. “Xavier and Damien Drummond, Aden Summerfeld, and Tyler Marklin; you all have twenty minutes to meet me in the Cafeteria.”