Fifteen minutes later, Rui and Bella had navigated through district twenty-three, and found themselves in front of commercial building.
“Is this it?” Rui asked. They’d finally reached the local transport company that Bella had spoken about. Bella apparently trusted the director enough to seek help from him despite her vulnerable situation. Rui was quite hopeful about this, if this man was actually reliable as Bella alluded, then Bella had a pretty good chance of achieving her objective.
Bella nodded. “Let’s go.”
She had not only covered her hair, but also obscured her face under a cap-like garment to ensure no one could possibly identify her features enough to recognize them if inquired by the Lowminers.
The interior of the reception was hospitable enough, there were seating arrangements on one side of the room, with an array of receptionists engaging with each visitor one-by-one. A little behind them was a several corridors that led to the interior of the building.
“How do you plan to meet the director?” Rui asked. “You’ll need to reveal your identity in order to get an immediate appointment with him, that’s risky.”
“I just need him to see me once.” Bella replied confidently. “He’ll understand once he sees me. Help me force my way to his office.”
Rui nodded.
They walked towards one particular corridor that Bella was aiming for, hoping they would be able to naturally pass.
“Excuse me, please take your seat in the visitor’s bay, I’m afraid we cannot allow you enter the building without permission and authorization.” A receptionist noticed and insisted.
Bella began running, as Rui followed her example.
“Hey!” A guard blocked their path, attempting to grab Bella.
Thwack
A simple jab to the nose from Rui crumpled the man to his knees, leaving him in tears. Rui didn’t even bother using his full raw physical strength, let alone using Vital Pressure, that would be overkill and Rui might accidentally kill him.
Bella hopped over him as she headed straight to the director’s office.
“Uncle Wern!” Bella cried as she opened the door to the doctor’s office.
The man inside squinted his small eyes through his rimmed spectacles as he tilted his head, before recognizing her as his eyes adjusted. “Bella?”
“Uncle Wern.” Bella repeated, elated. “It’s been so long.”
“Sir! I’m sorry for the interruption.” the receptionist apologized. “We tried to stop them bu-“
“Enough, good job.” Wern interrupted her. “These people are my guests, please leave us.”
The receptionist was visibly confused, but she nodded before closing the door and returning to her job.
“Bella.” Wern was visibly overwhelmed. “Where have you been?? You weren’t even present at your father’s funeral!”
Hearing that, Rui realized Wern was probably not aware of the truth behind her father’s death. If anything, in hindsight, Bella took a well-educated guess more than she made a deduction. However, she was paranoid enough to act on it, which was the reason she was alive at the moment.
Bella sighed. “I have a lot to tell you, this will take a while.”
Wern raised his hand. “Then let me clear my schedule and finish a quick errand, so that I can listen to your story uninterrupted.”
Bella nodded, as he walked out of the room. She sighed as she sunk into the comfortable sofas, feeling a sense of safety she hadn’t experienced in the past few days. Rui observed her demeanor, she seemed like she really trusted this person.
Seeing her relief reminded him that she was just a seventeen-year-old girl, even if quite remarkable. Rui though back to the teenage girls from back on Earth. Which one of them would have survived if they were in her shoes?
(‘Pretty much none of them.’) Rui shook his head. (‘The kids from back on Earth in the twenty-first century lead relatively simple teenage lives without too much responsibility and expectations.’)
Bella had been groomed for inheriting the company from a young age, her acumen was remarkably well ahead of most of her peers.
Still, she was pretty much just a kid mentally from his perspective. He would even console her and comfort her a bit if not for the fact that it would be extremely patronizing for a fourteen-year-old to do that to a seventeen-year-old. Especially when teenage girls tended to mature faster than teenage boys initially.
Just then, Wern returned, interrupting his thoughts.
“Alright, now you can tell me everything that happened without interruption.” Wern said, eyeing her with concern. “What happened? Why did you leave your home and disappear without a word?”
Bella sighed. “I left because my life is in danger.”
Wern frowned. “What do you mean?”
“The Lowminers killed my father, uncle Wern.” Bella solemnly stated.
His eyes flew wide open. “What?!”
“Initially, it was just a strong suspicion. The Lowminers wouldn’t be able to take over the company unless they coerced father into selling them the remaining shares or rescinding them. However, father would rather die than do that, and they know this. At that rate, the conflict would take decades to end and the Lowminers would probably never get complete dominance and monopoly.”
Wern’s eyes sharpened, catching onto her drift. “Unless… Karl were to die.” He said, referring to her father by his name.
“The laws of ownership are formulated as such, they would gain complete control of Hier Industries.” She said.
Wern nodded “But since that didn’t happen and you are the owner of the dominant majority of shares, that must have been what Karl’s will was about.”
Bella nodded. “Father must have prepared it as a contingency after the Lowminers acquired a portion of Hier Industries, to not allow them to win even if they managed to kill him.”
“I see…” Wern’s eyes wandered across the floor as he processed her words. “But this isn’t proof, Bella.”
“No, but my personal estate being raided by known affiliate gangs of the Lowminer Industries is.” She formly asserted. “They have tried to kill me twice in my journey here. I wouldn’t have survived if it wasn’t for the Martial Apprentice bodyguard I hired.” She said, gesturing to Rui.
“He saved my life.”