After a while, the gunfire ceased, replaced by voices murmuring just outside the door.
"Xiong, do you think these cultists are completely insane? Our mission was just to drive them off, but they'd rather die than run!"
"Maybe they're protecting something. Let's go inside and find out."
"Good point. Hey, Xiao Wei, come over—it's safe now!"
Xiong? Xiao Wei? So the intruders won, huh? And those robed figures were actually cultists?
Crouched inside the cabinet, Cipher listened carefully to the man and woman outside, lost in thought.
After a moment, she caught something that stood out from the conversation.
They said the cultists were guarding something... but there's nothing in this room!
Wait a second… Could it be that they were guarding her?
But she just arrived in this world!
Cipher's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Hey, Xiao Wei, come check this out! There's an altar here! Maybe this is what those cultists were protecting—see if it's worth anything!"
"Coming."
Another unfamiliar voice.
The cat ears atop Cipher's head twitched slightly, snapping her out of her thoughts.
"This altar… doesn't look like anything special. I just scanned it with my terminal—the material's just ordinary stone. Totally worthless."
"Damn, seriously? We went above and beyond on the mission, but aside from the base pay and a few homemade pistols, we've got nothing else to show for it? I thought cults like this were supposed to be rolling in cash!"
"Captain, it's already dark outside—quit daydreaming. If we'd actually run into one of those big-time, headline-making cults, we'd be dead already."
"Fine, fine… Let me just check if there's anything else around here…"
As soon as Cipher heard those words, she clearly sensed footsteps approaching her cabinet.
She didn't move. Instead, she sat quietly inside, waiting patiently for the door to open.
With a creak, the cabinet door swung open. Cipher immediately recognized the girl standing before her—the same one who'd been hiding behind that towering, two-meter-tall brute earlier.
Cipher looked up, locking eyes with the girl, who froze in utter shock, staring back as if she'd seen a ghost.
For a few long seconds, they just stared at each other—until the girl finally blinked, her expression clearing as if snapping out of a daze.
Cipher braced herself, expecting the girl to either shout for her teammates—"There's someone in the cabinet!"—or raise her weapon in alarm.
But instead, the girl did something completely unexpected.
Muttering to herself, "I must be seeing things… There's no way someone's in here—let alone such a stunning girl," she abruptly… slammed the cabinet door shut.
Yes—she closed it!
"What the…?"
Now it was Cipher's turn to be utterly bewildered. Who in their right mind finds a stranger hiding in an enemy stronghold's cabinet and reacts by assuming they're hallucinating, then just shuts the door again?!
Staring at the closed cabinet door, Cipher sank into deep contemplation.
Should she come out… or stay put?
★ ★ ★
"Captain, what's going on?"
Hearing the commotion, Lin Wei turned around, puzzled. Her captain was standing in front of a cabinet, looking utterly lost.
"Uh… Xiao Wei, I think I just saw someone inside that cabinet…"
"What? Another enemy hiding here?"
Lin Wei was surprised. She'd assumed all the cultists were fanatics ready to die on the spot—she never expected one to be hiding.
"Enemy?!" At the word, Xiong Lei's expression darkened instantly, and he began scanning the room warily.
"Hold on, hold on!" Luo Lin quickly realized her teammates had misunderstood. "It's not a cultist—it's a really, really pretty girl!"
"A girl? What's a girl doing here? Was she kidnapped by the cultists?"
Lin Wei frowned, puzzled by Luo Lin's description.
"It's true! She's right in there!" Luo Lin insisted, swinging the cabinet door open again.
This time, everyone saw her clearly.
Curled up with her arms wrapped around her knees, the girl wore a sleek black-and-gold bodysuit and golden high-heeled thigh-high boots. But what truly caught their attention were the unmistakably non-human cat ears perched on her head—and the tail swaying gently beside her.
★ ★ ★
After a brief exchange, Cipher learned their names and discovered they were a mercenary squad called Ember. Their mission had been simple: clear out the cultists occupying this area.
In return, she gave them her name, but when asked how she'd ended up here or what she'd done before, she claimed she remembered nothing. After all, she had just arrived in this world—how could she possibly know anything?
To make her story more convincing, she subtly used her abilities to nudge their perception, and soon enough, the Ember Squad bought her amnesia explanation and began filling in the blanks themselves.
Now, Cipher sat quietly inside the room while the Ember Squad stepped outside to discuss a pressing matter:
Should they take her in?
"But she's got amnesia!" Luo Lin argued passionately. "Look at her—she's gorgeous, vulnerable, and has no memory! If we leave her alone in Pit Bottom, she won't last a day. You all know how chaotic it is down here!"
"But… Captain…" Lin Wei hesitated before voicing their real concern. "We're already stretched thin financially. Barely covering basic operational costs as it is. Adding another mouth to feed might push us over the edge."
Luo Lin fell silent for a moment—Lin Wei was right. Money was tight.
But then her resolve hardened. "So what? We'll just take on more jobs! Besides, most of our expenses go to weapons and maintenance. Cipher won't be fighting—she'll just need a couple extra nutrient bars a day. That's barely any credits!"
"Captain…" Lin Wei sighed. "Alright, fine."
Seeing her captain's determined look, she didn't argue further.
The two then turned in unison toward Xiong Lei, who'd been standing nearby.
"Don't look at me! I don't have an opinion—whatever you two decide!" he said hastily, waving his hands as if warding off their stares.
★ ★ ★
T/N: The setting is in Cyberpunk, but I can't tell yet if these are original characters or existing ones from the series. I may have to revisit them once I get enough context.