Chapter 2: Kira

Kira woke. She was looking up at the high, decorated ceiling of her own private chateau.
Almost immediately Kira threw off her crimson silk sheets and began to prepare for the day. She went to her personal bathroom and took a shower, then immediately grabbed a hairbrush and efficiently groomed every last inch of her pure white fur from the tips of her ears to her long feet. Afterwards Kira opened a drawer and took out an elaborate cape and pinned it around her neck. The entire process, from washing to dressing, only took a few minutes. Kira hated this whole process, but she had learned long ago what people wanted from her; Steward of the White City was a serious title, but she had to look pretty for the bureaucrats.
Just as she was finishing her daily routine, an attendant entered. She was a scrawny golden-brown mouse dressed in a simple white dress and shoes; standard servant's garb among Kira's staff. She seemed quite surprised that Kira was already awake.
"M-milady, you're up. You should have called-"
Kira had little patience for stuttering and mumbling. She interrupted her servant as she was going out the door. "You must be new here, so I won't have you discharged, but in the future you will do something more productive with your mornings than pampering me." The door slammed a bit harder than Kira would have liked and her serving mouse was left flustered and confused.
As Kira strode through the halls of her chateau, her butler, a black rat in pompous clothing, spotted her and made a beeline. "Miss, you have a pending video conference in room one from the emperor's agent. When shall I say you will attend?"
Kira expertly held back her frustration. Now was not a time she wanted to spend be kissing her superior's feet, but it was best not to keep them waiting. "I'll take it now." she said. "I'll also be taking my breakfast in the carriage afterwards. arrange it, will you?" it wasn't a question.
"Yes milady." The black rat said resignedly.
Kira, never breaking stride during the entire exchange, took a turn into a small black room dominated on the far side by a video screen and otherwise adorned only by a small black desk and a chair. The desk's smooth electronic surface displayed a small, teal, pulsating circle, which Kira swiped towards the video screen, causing it to disappear off the edge of the desk before the image of a well-dressed figure appeared on the wall.
"Greetings." Kira said, maintaining an expression she had developed over years to be almost completely neutral. "To what do I owe the honor of your call?"
"Greetings." said the creature on the other side of the screen. "I am disturbed to hear that your management has misplaced a portion of your allotted power cores."
Ah. that was the reason one of the emperor's agents was calling. Earier in the month Kira had sent a report to central command detailing the theft of several-hundred power cores, a rare commodity that was illegal to manufacture anywhere but in the capital city, due to it's military, and potentially terrorist, applications.
"I have ensured that this sort of breach in security will never happen again." Kira apologized. "All guards who were on duty on the night in question have been discharged and I have doubled our security measures. The remaining power cores are safe, I assure you."
"See that they are." said the agent, not needing to detail his threat further. "As for your request for replacements, We can only spare half the number of cores that were stolen. If you require more, the emperor suggests that you find the criminals responsible for the theft."
Kira highly doubted that the Capital city was running low on power cores in any stretch of the imagination, but this was more likely the emperor's way of slapping her on the wrist for allowing the theft to happen in the first place.
"I shall endeavor to do so, esteemed one. Enforcement is scouring the city as we speak."
At this, the figure on the screen seemed only mildly satisfied. He straightened somewhat and fixed Kira with hardened stare. "Duchess; has it occurred to you that this act may be indicative of a larger movement than the actions of a few individuals?"
Kira was slightly taken aback by the agent's question and crafted her next words very carefully. "Are you saying that the White City is home to seditionists, esteemed one?"
"That is precisely what the emperor fears, young one. See that you double your search efforts as well as your security. We would hate to have the need to involve the Imperial Guard in matters that are beneath them."
The image on the screen put forth his paw, swiping to the side in a movement that ended the call. Kira maintained her expression for just a few moments longer before striding out of the room with a sour look on her face.
"Is the carriage ready?" Kira demanded when she found her butler again.
"Yes, mi'lady." He responded, straightening. "I assume you wish to be driven to the company building?"
"Yes, Simon." She responded annoyedly. "In the meantime you may tell our new servants what they may do with their time that does not involve getting on my nerves."
As Kira climbed into the hover carriage and the door shut behind her, she took a deep breath and let it out. Politics were exhausting. She'd much rather spend all of her time on what really mattered: Science; Invention; Tinkering. Of course the pain was necessary; It was Kira's job to protect the people of the White City and she was going to do it. That part of the day, however, was gone, and only her work stood ahead of her now.
The hover carriage took Kira into the city's industrial district and to the front a large glass and steel building labeled Simply 'KiCorp'. As Kira entered, she was greeted by a graying bunny wearing an industrial lab coat.
"Good morning, Kira." He said, walking with her.
"Has the archaeology expedition returned, professor?" Kira asked impatiently.
"Yes, miss." He responded. "And with a rather interesting piece. It's currently being examined in lab four, if you'd like to observe."
"Thank you, professor. I would."
The two walked in silence for a few moments before the professor ventured toward another subject. "Duchess, the objects you gave me a week ago... are you certain you wish to have me study them? It would start us down a very dangerous path."
Kira thought very carefully about her answer. The professor didn't seem to be completely against what she had asked him, only cautious of some ramifications of their actions. Kira kept her voice low so only the professor could hear. "If I wasn't sure, I wouldn't have asked. I do appreciate your concern, but I will need those results as soon as you can get them."
The professor gravely nodded and gestured toward the door that led to lab four. Kira opened it and stepped inside.
Lab four was a high-ceilinged room with bare reinforced metal walls. A few lab-coated archaeologists were circled around a large cylindrical object that was made from a very dark green metal. Standing on end as it was now, it was half again as tall as Kira.
The other lab coats parted as Kira approached. "Well what have we here?" she mused to herself as she inspected the device. Near each end there was a row of round, glowing... buttons? Indicator lights? Kira wasn't sure. That's what Kira loved about this job; you never quite knew what you had in front of you. The fun was in discovering it.
"I'll need my interface." Kira said. The head professor was already holding a contraption out to her. Kira looped a band over her ears and around her head. as she did, she felt a tingling sensation in the back of her brain as the diodes activated. Connected to the headband by a cord was a small loop that Kira slipped her paw into snugly. A block of electronics on top of her paw began working, the noise of a small cooling fan attesting to it's operation. Kira closed her eyes, reached out her paw, and concentrated.
With her mind, Kira searched the inside of the container. She was looking for a... bump? blip? It was difficult to describe how Kira would feel it, but what it was in reality was an interface designed only to be activated by creatures with psionic abilities. At length she found the presence she was looking for and gently... nudged it.
A deafening roar suddenly filled the room as air began to rush into the top of the container. Kira opened her eyes just in time to see the flow stop and the reverse, blowing the top off of the container and sending shrapnel bouncing off the ceiling and flying everywhere in the room. Kira and the scientists tried to take cover, some of them making it to the door before another round of shrapnel, this time made from the container walls, flew outward. Kira managed to go unscathed by taking cover behind a upturned table, but the professor she had come in with took a large tomahawk-like piece of metal to the knee.
a pure black object jetted straight upward from the container's former location, and the last thing Kira heard before it disappeared through a blasted hole in the roof was; "HEHEHEEEEEEE! Look at me! I'm FREEEEEEEEE!"