Miko's Fall from Luthien's Heights
Miko finally stops with the coffee fiasco and brings out a fresh cup, sitting all prim and proper.
"Still wanna lick my tail?"
"...Um. To be precise, it wasn't the tail. I just wanted to feel Lady Soo's magic a little more closely."
She was supposed to be this haughty, cool character in the game. How'd she end up so broken? Maybe she had to fake that aloof vibe to hide this pathetic side. With her sharp looks, it's not impossible.
"You always like this?"
"A lot's happened."
"Does 'a lot' include discovering magic?"
Miko pauses, lets out a short sigh, and nods.
"I... was actually Luthien's chief researcher."
My tail buzzes like it's been zapped. I've never heard Miko's backstory before. And it starts with chief researcher at Luthien? Her weird side was shocking enough, but this hidden tale hits even harder—pure thrill.
"So why're you here? The department? It was always in the wasteland?"
"Yeah... that's right. I was the corp's dog... Wait, Lady Soo. I'm telling you, I was Luthien's chief researcher. No fear? No suspicion?"
"Miko's a scrub."
"...Ah."
Miko clears her throat, wets her tongue with bitter coffee, and starts over from the top.
"I was actually Luthien's chief researcher."
"Whoa."
"...You don't have to react. Anyway, to the point—the department was for ruins exploration. A brand-new one. Just like the name, it investigated ruins that popped up out of nowhere in the wasteland."
One year ago. Luthien announced a massive public recruitment. For a new department scouting outside the wasteland, with pay and benefits better than anywhere else.
Two fields: researcher or field investigator. Applications poured in. Work just three years, and you could buy a small house in Northrica—where Eden's rich all flock.
And that was just the start. Performance bonuses, hazard pay, advance contract money, stock options, top-tier wasteland lunches, grade-3 private quarters, grade-3 transport, VIP medical for you and one family member, mental health support, Zailek Tech combat gear rentals, social status reset rights, grade-3 citizenship... and on and on.
They crammed in every perk imaginable, so Eden's 20-to-50 crowd all spammed applications on reflex.
Miko was one of the horde. No real hopes of getting in. The world was too backward to recognize her genius, she figured.
But nope.
"Landed it right off the bat, huh?"
"What'd you do before?"
"This."
Miko points at her bedroom-slash-workshop and grins sheepishly.
"I panicked and wrote the truth when they asked about my experience. Running a broker gig and illegal clinic in the wasteland. Didn't wanna get caught in a lie."
And she still got in. Weird, sure, but not suspicious. Luthien Bio-Tech, after all. Cleanest of Eden's big three corps. Feeds the masses. Farthest from war. Least exploitative of Eden's citizens. A "good" corp. No room for doubt.
Especially for Miko, scraping by as a wasteland broker. She was too busy basking: The world finally sees my genius!
"Hah, you idiot..."
"I had no choice but to fall for it."
"You wouldn't have. If some corp-linked street rat offered you free magic, you'd follow 'em in a heartbeat, Lady Soo?"
My eyes roll hard. Corp guy handing out magic?
"Yeah."
No way I'd pass.
"...You'd get in deep shit. I know you're strong, Lady Soo, but corps are off-limits."
"Says the one with the corp ring in her nose. Hilarious."
"Mock me all you want—just smile while you do."
My blank face and deadpan tone sting worse than any curse... Miko clutches her chest, groans, then pushes on slowly.
"The interview went okay, I think. I didn't screw up my words. Solved their test fastest, too."
Self-proclaimed genius before the interview. Luthien-certified after.
She got the acceptance on the spot—no need to return to her wasteland hole. Started in Luthien's lab the next day.
Everything brand-new, no hazing. No work for researchers till field teams brought back ruins data.
"Oh, signed a contract after acceptance. Thick as hell."
"Didn't read it?"
"...Like reading it'd help. Even if I knew, I'd have signed. It was Luthien."
Fair. Even I, knowing Luthien's secrets, get it. Back then, they were the "good corp." A once-in-a-lifetime shot for a genius like Miko. Passing it up? Dumb.
"Started research, and I discovered it! Humanity's future! A better world—"
"Whoa."
Entropy this, transcending machines and AI that, finite resources blah blah, humanity leaps to a brighter era yadda yadda... Miko spills it all in fervent, desperate tones. But the gist?
Researching sudden wasteland ruins. Unlocking whatever slumbers there.
Luthien called it magic and mana. Straight out of movies or games. But real. And maybe usable by humanity.
Miko dove in headfirst. Forgot to sleep, cracked the ruins' secrets, racked up huge results—became chief researcher.
Didn't matter to her. No craving for history books or fame. Just magic and mana. She'd make humanity's great discovery herself, she swore.
Then, on the one-year mark...
"...A massive purge hit."
"All fired?"
"Heads rolled."
"Ooh."
Miko mimes slicing her throat, face complicated.
"'Cause I made that."
"Impressive."
"...At least react after hearing."
"Yeah."
"To use magic, you needed Yesod. Even a handful of mana required massive gear. My theory and blueprints flipped that."
Miko unwraps a chocolate on the table.
"Completed a theory to handle mana with an implant this size."
The one who taught magic thieves how to steal it—right here. My face sours briefly, then smooths. Blame the corps, ultimately.
"Impressive."
"Well... Anyway, the day I finished the theory and submitted blueprints, the purge started."
Luthien didn't slink around. Boldly lopped off researchers' heads.
No outside help. Field investigators who could fight? Already ash in incinerators.
"You survived somehow."
"Chief researcher."
"Scrub."
"...Chief researcher."
Miko's stubborn. Note to self.
"As chief, I had wide access. Reading privileges, obviously. Couldn't browse openly, though."
So she peeked during work hours. Prepped escape tools for worst-case.
"Wait."
My eyes sparkle. Tail curls into a question mark, quivers.
"Magic?"
"Yes. Invisibility spell."
"Whoa."
"Perfect invisibility—even optical camouflage and scan sensors couldn't detect it."
"Whoa!"
My lazy eyes snap wide. Invisibility magic? That's dangerous and cool as hell.
"Where's the original?"
"Gone, sadly."
My tail droops.
"One-use implant."
"That implant? Still got it?"
Miko pulls a jagged metal tooth from her inner pocket. Total scrap. No traces I can sense.
Tail slumps more.
"Magic has unique circuits."
"As expected... You knew, Lady Soo."
"Remember the circuit shape?"
Miko closes her eyes, recalls. The chaotic pattern floats up. But that's it. Can't draw it. Not even sure she remembers perfectly. Human eyes can't grasp billions of metaphysical glyphs intertwined.
"...Even a genius like me can't."
Tail and lips droop.
"Ahem... Anyway, escaping, I overheard a Luthien agent mention chimeras—the original was drag—"
"Boring and pretentious. Just sell me an ID chip."
"...You might regret not hearing the end."
My gloom lasts ten seconds. Back to lazy default, I tilt my head at her.
"Miss me here, and you'll regret it more, Miko."
Her arms uncross. Legs untwine politely. Not enough—she climbs on the table, kneels.
"This lowly broker was insolent to Dragon Lady. Forgive me."
"Yeah."
"I've got info you'll love, Lady Soo."
"What?"
She almost tacks on instead, but bites her tongue. She's right. Lose me now, regret forever. Can't waste this chance.
What if I betray her later? Not thinking that far. No time. Luthien's hounds could come anytime—no room for second thoughts.
Miko swallows hard, hands over a data shard.
"Please, overlook it."
"Can't read that."
"Oops."
She hops down, opens a hidden desk safe.
"Read this."
Yellowed, tattered documents. Handled like her own life depends on it.
Nearby ruins untouched by corps.
List of sites unexcavated for magic.
My eyes go wide as saucers.