NOVEL NEXT Chapter 97: Never Meet Your Idols
Lucius didn't understand half of what Luna was saying.
She was spouting words like dual channel regulators and rerouting the overflow into a secondary… Whatever.
He stood beside her, pretending to follow, but honestly, her sentences sounded like noise.
In his past life he couldn't even be bothered with assembling a drone, how was he supposed to understand it now that it was more complex?
He could tell one thing, though: she was excited.
Whenever Luna got that spark in her eyes, it meant trouble for him.
But still…
'Another geek?' He thought. 'Why do they multiply like rabbits?'
"I touched it first. You should go find another." Luna's voice was firm.
Her hand gripped a strange piece of hardware like it was a sacred relic.
Across from her stood a stranger.
She wore a hood pulled low over her face, and dark glasses covered her eyes.
It wasn't the kind of look someone wore for style.
It was the kind that screamed don't recognize me.
Lucius had seen that kind of disguise before.
Streamers who didn't want to be mobbed.
There were so many of them in literal films, including the movie that he had watched today with Esme.
"There are no others," the hooded woman said at last. "This is the only Hyperdelegation Quantum Motherboard in this shop. And if you want to argue about who touched it first—"
She lifted her hand slightly "… it was me."
Lucius raised an eyebrow.
To him it was just a flat board with some chips soldered to it.
He couldn't imagine fighting over something like that.
But Luna's shoulders stiffened.
Her lips pressed into a thin line.
For a heartbeat, he thought she was going to fight.
Maybe even bite. She could probably do it.
Then Luna let out a long breath.
She dropped her hand and forced herself to smile. "Fine."
Her voice was quiet, disappointed.
There was no point arguing.
They could always go to another shop and get another one.
'Although I built the schematics for the new drone around this board,' she thought, 'I can redesign it. It'll take more time, but I can make it work before the next stream.'
She was already rearranging ideas in her head when the hooded woman suddenly reached out and caught her hand.
Luna froze.
"According to what you said, you wanted to make a drone, didn't you?" the woman asked.
Her grip was strong.
"I heard you talking about one."
"Yes," Luna said carefully.
She averted her eyes, staring at the shop floor. "But I can't share that with someone I don't know."
The woman smiled.
It wasn't wide, but it was confident. "You can share it with me."
She reached up and pulled her hood back.
The glasses came off too.
Lucius finally saw her face.
She was beautiful.
Her hair was pale blond, catching the shop's blue light like strands of silver.
Her blue eyes were sharp and looked like they could see through you.
Her cheekbones were high, her jawline elegant.
Everything about her face looked expensive.
She looked like she belonged to old blood, maybe northern nobility.
Russian was the closest Lucius could guess, she looked like the Russian woman from back on Earth though she didn't have the accent.
Lucius blinked.
He didn't recognize her at all.
But Luna did.
The change was instant.
Her whole face lit up, like someone had switched on a lamp inside her.
Her jaw dropped.
Her eyes went wide.
Her lips trembled like she was about to scream with joy.
"Domini—" she gasped.
But the blond woman pressed her palm over Luna's mouth before the name could escape.
"Shh."
Her gaze flicked to the counter.
The message was clear.
She didn't want anyone to know.
Luna nodded quickly.
Even with the hand covering her mouth, her smile kept growing.
The two women hurried toward a quieter corner of the shop.
Lucius sighed.
He shoved his hands in his pockets and followed.
It smelled like a scam.
He wasn't about to let Luna get kidnapped by some random celebrity with sunglasses.
When they stopped near the back, far from the counter, he asked, "So who is this again?"
The blond woman gave him a look.
It wasn't hostile, but it was like she was sizing him up.
Before she could say anything, Luna nearly burst with excitement.
She elbowed him playfully, grinning like she couldn't breathe. She looked at the woman and she nodded.
"I don't think there are any cameras on this side of the shop."
"You wouldn't know, since you only woke up a few months ago," she said quickly. "But this — this is Dominica Wyrmsworth. My idol… She's the first person to build an advanced drone that even top Guilds use! Even streamers rely on her models for broadcasting battles!"
Her voice rose as she went on, her words tumbling too fast.
"She built the first combat drone in the world! In a cave! With nothing but scraps! Do you know what that means, Lucius? She changed everything! She's… she's the Dominica Wyrmsworth!"
Lucius's eyes widened.
Not for the reason they thought.
'Tony Stark?' he thought blankly. 'Did the author seriously plagiarize that whole thing?'
He stared at Dominica, unimpressed.
'And where exactly is she dragging us?'
"But what's someone like her doing here?" Lucius asked finally.
Dominic smiled faintly.
It was a calm smile. "I work here undercover."
She turned and opened a door at the back of the shop.
A pale blue glow spilled out. Behind it stretched a laboratory.
Lucius's eyes swept across it.
Silver tables gleamed under overhead lights.
Walls of tools lined one side, neatly arranged in racks.
There were different parts of a drone on her work table, it seemed like she was in the middle of a project.
It was the kind of place Luna would never want to leave.
Dominic stepped inside.
"And I always appreciate meeting a fan," she said warmly.
She turned to Luna, grasping both her hands.
"So… shall we work on your drone together?"
Her smile was dazzling.
Luna's heart nearly leapt out of her chest.
This was her dream.
To not only meet Dominic Wyrmsworth, but to work with her.
Lucius watched the scene unfold.
He sighed.
'I can see why they say never meet your role models,' he thought bitterly. 'She's obviously trying to steal Luna's work. And Luna's too starstruck to notice.'
This was going to be trouble.