“It’s not easy pretending to work in the solar industry, you know,” Maphira said, chowing down on a sweet piece of Hawaiian pizza. She knew many people didn’t like pineapple on pizza, but she thought it was totally rad and definitely belonged on a pizza.
“Oh?” Rylee eyed Maphira curiously, eating her own pizza all the while. “Going door to door asking people if they want things like residential battery storage doesn’t seem that hard. I bet I could do it.”
“You could not!” Maphira said. After Rylee had brought the pizza into the room, Maphira had decided to keep the conversation light for a little bit. Best not to bombard her sister. Now it was time to get back to the serious stuff. “It’s just a bit odd, don’t you think? Cole is missing for years, and then all of a sudden just turns up when you’re about to take a stand against the Mechanists. Isn’t it possible that you’re being played?”
Rylee finished her pizza slice and wiped her hand on her jeans. “I can see why you’d think that, and I understand the reality of the situation. They reunited me and Cole so that I wouldn’t fight back against them. So what? Don’t I deserve to be happy? It’s not my responsibility to stop the Conclave. You should follow my example and just worry about pretending to sell residential solar systems in the Melbourne area.”
Maphira was treading on unstable ground here. She had to be careful, otherwise, Rylee would never see reason. “That’s fair enough. I can’t hold that against you. How did the conversation with Vai go? Did she want anything in return?”
Standing, Rylee headed out of the room but spoke as she did so. “She did want a couple of things from me, but they were more personal favours than anything.”
While her sister was gone, Maphira tucked into another slice. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain through her neck, and she lost control of her body as it felt like lightning raced through her.
Rylee stood over her. “I’m sorry, sister. This was the only way.”