Red Queen's hologram stabilized with that soft, mechanical hum.Her eyes swept the office like a scanner evaluating a messy room.
"Assessment complete."Her tone was as cold as a laboratory report."This facility is insufficient for my operation."
Vicky scratched his head. "Okay… how insufficient?"
"Ninety-three percent."She gestured at the walls. "Your cooling is inadequate. Your wiring is inconsistent. Your power supply is unreliable."
"Hey— it's not that bad—"
The lights flickered.
He shut up.
Red Queen walked — or rather glided — across the floor, examining the space.Every time she moved, Vicky noticed something odd: she never drifted more than a couple of meters away from him.Not clingy — just… calibrated to stay close.
She didn't comment on it.She didn't seem aware.
"First mission:"A projection of the office layout appeared mid-air."Convert Room 203 into a controlled core environment. It is the closest to the building's main trunk line."
"How the hell do you know where that is?"
She didn't even pause."Wall density, paint variations, structural hum frequency."A beat."And the electrician who installed your lights did a sloppy job."
"…okay."
Step 1 — Power Backbone
She projected a list:
• 2× APC Smart UPS units• Dedicated circuit breaker• Voltage stabilizer
"Purchase these immediately. They will prevent operational collapse during electrical failure— which is statistically probable in this district."
The lights flickered again.
Vicky winced."Chennai is not that bad…"
"Evidence suggests otherwise."
Step 2 — Network Spine
"Acquire a 10-gigabit switch. And a reliable fiber uplink. Minimum acceptable speed: 10 Gbps."
Vicky widened his eyes."Do you know how expensive that is??"
Red Queen simply stared.
"You requested preparation for an unknown threat. Preparation requires bandwidth."
He sighed, defeated."…Fine. Next?"
Step 3 — Security Layer
Her hologram floated near the window.
"This building has three unauthorized entry points. One on the balcony, one near the fire stairs, and one where someone attempted to break in two months ago."
"WHAT? Who—"
"The tool marks indicate amateur theft. Irrelevant. Install locks."
She walked back toward him — again stopping just a little closer than needed.
"Um… Red?"
She didn't respond to the name, but her head turned slightly, waiting.
"You're making some… odd decisions about distance."
"Clarify."
"You're kinda… sticking close."
She said nothing.Expression unchanged.Cold.Unreadable.
"Your heart rate is rising."
"What? No— just asking—"
"Focus. Next instruction."
She dismissed the topic entirely.
Step 4 — Operational Directive
She folded her hands behind her back.
"When the room is ready, you will brief me on the threat you mentioned. I require all available data, even if incomplete."
Vicky nodded."Yeah. I'll tell you everything."
"Good. Then proceed with the mission."
Before withdrawing, she projected a final message:
BUILD THE BASE.SECURE THE CORE.PREPARE FOR DEPLOYMENT.
And as she turned to dematerialize, her hologram drifted closer again — close enough for him to see every red pixel in her eyes — before she recalibrated and snapped back to a "proper" distance.
Not a glitch.Not emotion.Something else.Something she didn't mention.
Something she didn't want to mention.
But she followed him anyway.