Archive of Our Own

Adora stared out of the hovercraft window, looking down on the city that shaped her, that molded her with raw force and pressure. Despondos looked beautiful in the early morning light, shimmering skyscrapers built atop sprawling residential complexes, rooftop gardens contrasting with the slate tiers of the undercity underneath. Bustling streets of millions going about their lives, cars akin to ants from Adora's vantage point floating above.

Adora could remember a time not long ago, when she was the one that was toiling in those streets, fighting for her survival every day and night. It felt wrong to her, that she was now sitting here in a suit that cost more than most earned in a month, while those below her struggled to put food on the table. That was a feeling that would never go away, she supposed. It had been eight years of hardship and strenuous effort that had led her to this position, eight years of tirelessly climbing up the corporate ladder. And now that she was here, privy to more wealth and power than she could ever have imagined, the guilt constantly clawed at her insides. A persistent feeling that she didn't belong, that she was betraying those she had left behind, that she could be doing more. However, she had a responsibility, she had to remind herself, and doubting herself was a disservice to all those who relied on her.

Adora had seen the rot at the heart of this city firsthand, she had lived in it, survived it. Rampant poverty, pervasive crime, corrupt officials. Once you peeled back the shiny chrome facade of the upper districts, the uncovered insides were festering and decaying, a great machine which crushed those unfortunate many down, so that the select few could prosper. Adora was not blind to the problems which plagued Despondos. She was not unaware of the exploitation that the city was built atop. Still, she had to believe change was possible. Progress had to be achievable, else everything she had sacrificed for be in vain.

She was almost there, she could feel it. As of three months ago she had been promoted yet again, this time to an executive position. And her new title gave her the leverage needed to put her many ideas for social reform into practice. All she had to do was convince Light Hope. Until that point however, she just had to keep her head down, and do her job well.

"She-Ra, what's the briefing for today?"

A screen lit up before her, holographic projections showing financial statistics and internal company data, and the AI whirred to life, speaking in a smooth feminine voice.

"Plumeria Agricultural is the largest independently owned agrochemical corporation in Despondos, excluding Eternia Enterprises and PrimeTech. Plumeria's holdings account for 9.5% of the city's agricultural market. These statistics are of course dwarfed by Eternia's own holdings, which account for 42.9%. Acquiring the company would solidify Eternia's stakehold in the consumer biochemical field, and would place us ahead of PrimeTech's own agricultural division, which currently sits at a market share of 44.6%. Furthermore, Plumeria's bioengineering branch holds particular potential value. They are in possession of several GMO patents which, if utilized correctly, could present unparalleled profit margins."

"Why have we not acquired them before? It sounds like they'd be quite the asset."

"All previous attempts at brokering a sale have been met with failure, both from Eternia Enterprises and PrimeTech. It appears that the owners of the company are quite adamant against selling."

"And so they called in me."

"That is correct. Light Hope's wishes are simple. Acquire Plumeria Agricultural at any cost."

Adora chuckled, that did sound like her mentor. She ejected her neural link tether from her arm and plugged it into the central console. "I'll see what I can do. Upload everything you have on Plumeria, I'll review it on the drive."

A half hour later, her vehicle touched down in a pristine garden grove on the outskirts of the city. Plumeria's company headquarters more closely resembled an expansive farm than the skyscrapers Adora was used to. Rolling fields of green were a welcome reprieve from the concrete monotony of the city. If she wasn't here on business she might like to spend some time here, maybe picnic in the hills.

Adora was greeted at the landing pad by a bevy of lawyers led by a tall blonde woman who Adora immediately identified as Perfuma, the current CEO of Plumeria Agricultural.

"Welcome to Plumeria, Ms. Grayskull. To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit today?" Perfuma greeted cheerfully, with an air of suspicion behind her words.

Adora smiled as genuinely as she could, considering what she was here to do, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Perfuma. I'm merely here as a formality, to discuss our most recent merger negotiations. Is there somewhere private we might talk?"

Perfuma nodded, and led the way to a patio adjoining the main building. The various lawyers dispersed, leaving the two executives alone.

"Would you like some tea?" Perfuma asked as they got seated.

"Yes, please, that would be most kind."

Perfuma gestured and an assistant brought an already ready tray out, and set it on the table in front of them. Perfuma poured two cups, and slid one over to Adora, before posturing her hands primly in her lap, and speaking, "Forgive me for my bluntness, Ms. Grayskull—"

"Please, call me Adora."

"Well Adora, I will tell you what I told the lawyers you sent previously, and that is that under no circumstance will we even entertain the idea of a sale, or a merger, or anything of the kind. My grandmothers founded this company, and I will not see their vision tainted."

"I think you misunderstand. I'm not here to negotiate a sale." Adora took a sip of her tea, it was quite nice. Herbal, with hints of citrus.

Perfuma looked visibly relieved, and relaxed her hands around her cup.

"I'm here to orchestrate a takeover."

Perfuma startled as there was a flurry of activity inside. One of the lawyers hurried out to them and frantically whispered something into Perfuma's ear. Perfuma turned on Adora in a fury, "What did you do?!"

"I bought Salineas Shipping." Adora responded calmly.

"But they hold—"

"All of your shipping contracts, yes, I know. And now all of those contracts have been rendered void. Right before harvest season as well, it is truly a shame. You really should have accepted our first offer."

Perfuma stood aghast, letting her teacup fall from her grasp and shatter against the pewter tiles of the patio. "This—, this isn't over, we can find a new contractor."

"Unlikely, at least, not finding one that's not owned by us or Prime."

"And what's to stop me from going to PrimeTech? They've been more than generous in their offers as well."

"And here you were so dead set against selling," Adora took another sip of her tea. "I don't want to make this any harder for you than it already is. I know you know what PrimeTech does with it's subsidiaries. It assimilates them, turns them into lifeless husks of their former selves. How would that honor your grandmother's vision?"

"Like Eternia is any better." Perfuma spat, tone venomous.

Adora sighed, "I know tempers are high at the moment, but I resent that implication. Since overtaking the role of COO, I've put great effort into ensuring that Eternia's employees are valued, respected, and paid equitably. That is far more than HordeTech can claim."

Adora set her tea down and placed a holochip on the table, it began displaying the terms of a merger agreement, "And as for Plumeria, what I am proposing today is far from an assimilation. You will retain full executive control over the company, the only catch being that we would take a cut of your profits, and gain the rights to any and all patents your company produces. We'll even honor our original offer price. I think that's more than fair, given the situation."

Perfuma sat back in her chair, defeated. "I'll need to discuss this with my board members."

"Of course, you have until the end of the day."

What followed was an exhausting day of paperwork and legal drama, while Adora coordinated the details of the deal. It was worth it, however, as Adora slumped in her seat on the way back to the office, in possession of a completed agreement.

She longed for the comfort of her penthouse apartment, of a hot shower and cool bed. It was a futile wish, she wouldn't be going home for a long while now. This new merger had piled even more work on her already full plate, as she was essentially taking over the CEO's responsibilities for the week on top of the day-to-day dealings of the company, as Hope was out on vacation. No, it would be another long night at the office in store for her.

Adora busied herself with work on the ride back, and was only interrupted when she received an incoming call. Adora mentally answered, and the grouchy voice of her assistant filled her mind.

"You missed your meeting with Castaspella." Frosta deadpanned. That was one of the things Adora liked about her assistant, she was always blunt and to the point. It was a welcome reprieve from all of the other corporate executives she worked with on a daily basis, all cunning and subterfuge and endless double meaning behind their actions.

Adora facepalmed, "Shoot, that was today?"

"It was on your calendar. I reminded you three times this morning."

"Do me a favor and reschedule, this Plumeria thing came up out of nowhere. Hope was insistent it was a priority."

"Already done. Bow and Glimmer called asking if you were still on for dinner tonight as well."

Adora glanced at the time and groaned, "Reschedule that as well, I have too much to get done."

"Done. I'm heading out for the day, so you have the office to yourself."

"Thank you, Frosta. I'll see you tomorrow." And Adora hung up the call.

Twenty minutes later Adora was walking into her empty office as the sun set over the city, casting warm light through the floor to ceiling windows. Being second in command of the largest corporate conglomerate in the city had its perks, and one of them was an entire floor to her and her staff on the second highest floor in Eternia Tower. No sooner than she was settled in at her desk did her office doors burst open, and Glimmer and Bow stampeded through, arms full of take-out.

"You can't escape us that easily," Glimmer cackled, almost maniacally.

"Guys, I have just so much work to do. I really don't have time." Adora pleaded.

Bow fixed her with one of his disapproving stares, "You need to eat, Adora. Remember what we talked about? You can't forget to take care of yourself."

Albeit with some grumbling, Glimmer and Bow managed to pry Adora from her desk, and they settled gathered around the coffee table located on one side of her office. While she put on an air of resistance to the whole ordeal, Adora was secretly thankful to her friends meddling.

In the years when she had just been starting out, just a fresh faced kid from the undercity in an unfamiliar corporate environment, she had nearly worked herself to death. She had been completely alone at the time, having left everything and everyone she ever knew to pursue a low-rung job on the corporate ladder. It had taken meeting Glimmer and Bow at a company gala to pull her out of her downward spiral. There was a point where she had nearly believed that maybe Catra's parting words to her had been right, that making a difference was impossible, that she would never amount to anything. She has no doubt that without Glimmer and Bow's intervention she would have packed her bags and given up completely.

"You still looking for a new apartment?'' Bow asked, once their food had been distributed. They had picked up sea food, Adora's favorite. She had never mentioned to them that it was her favorite because it was Catra's favorite first.

Adora sighed, "I haven't had the time."

"What's wrong with your current place?" Glimmer looked appalled at the very notion of her moving. "It's huge!"

"That's the problem. It just feels empty, me living there all by myself."

"Any luck with your other search?" Glimmer inquired mid-chew.

Adora's face fell, "No, still nothing." Adora ran her fingers through her hair, "I just don't get it. She-Ra supposedly sees everything in this city. And yet even she can't find a trace of her. It's been three months of searching, and during all that time there's apparently been nothing."

It had taken exactly a day of being given access to She-Ra's full functionality before Adora had used it to try and locate her former best friend. Even with the way things had ended between them, Adora had never stopped missing her, never stopped trying to get back in touch. There was a time once where it had been just the two of them against the world, two street punks alone in an unforgiving city. Sometimes, Adora found herself longing for those days again.

Days of stealing to afford food, and sleeping in gutters and abandoned buildings. Days of fending for themselves in the undercity slums, overflowing with dreams of what their lives could look like if things were different. They were both orphans, no one left to care about them, save for each other. Catra claimed to not remember anything from before she met Adora, but Adora had vague impressions. Lingering memories of a father’s smile, and a mother’s embrace. She had often daydreamed about them, about what could have happened to them, about why they left Adora behind. However Adora was not naive enough to believe she would ever get answers.

Thinking about that time of her life overwhelmed her with a sense of forlorn nostalgia. Because despite all the hardship, there was always warmth to be found in Catra’s companionship. She had been a stalwart figure in Adora’s life, a shoulder to cry on, a hand to hold throughout the night. And then she was gone, and a part of Adora went with her.

Bow and Glimmer exchanged a look, and Glimmer appeared apprehensive of what she said next, but said it anyways, "Adora, have you ever considered that she might not be around anymore to find?"

Adora was horrified, "Don't say that. She's alive, I know it."

"We never said she wasn't!" Bow quickly clarified, "But what if she y'know, left the city or something?"

Adora crossed her arms and scoffed, "And went where? The Crimson Wastes? It's an irradiated wasteland out there."

"It's not impossible, either that or she just really doesn't want to be found."

Adora's expression fell further, that was a possibility simultaneously all too likely and dreadful to consider. They had promised to always be there for each other, no matter what. And Adora had broken that promise. She had left, and if the last eight years of silence were anything to go by, Catra hated her for it.

"Can we change the subject?" Adora said dejectedly.

Bow was quick to comply, and jumped into discussing the latest cybernetic prototypes Dryl Industries had produced. Conversation flowed easily from there, and soon Bow and Glimmer were waving goodbye as Adora seated herself once again at her desk, intent on working away the migraine which had steadily been building over the course of the day.

She was interrupted by a message coming through on her heads up display. She blanched as she noticed who it was from, and hurried to stand up and make her way to the elevator. She rode it one floor up, and brisked through the lobby until she reached the ornate doors of an office. She steeled herself, made sure she was presentable, and then opened the door.

"You wanted to speak to me, Ma'am?"

The holographic form of Light Hope looked up from her desk. The flickering figure was dressed casually, no doubt remoting in from whatever vacation destination she had chosen for her sabbatical. It had taken a lot of convincing both from Adora and the board to persuade Hope to take a vacation, it was her first one in nearly a decade. And even then, Adora had caught her numerous times responding to emails or arranging meetings, not that she would ever say anything about it.

"Ah yes, Adora. I merely wanted to check in and see how your assignment went today."

"As well as could be hoped, I had to acquire an additional company that wasn't on the agenda to make it work, but other than that it went smoothly. I was just finishing up our side of the paperwork."

Light Hope pulled up a bevy of statistics on the screen in front of her, "Hmm, yes, well Salineas Shipping can be merged into our shipping division. It is not ideal, certainly, but if it gave us Plumeria then it was more than worth the cost."

The CEO crossed her hands primly in her lap, "Adora, I must say, I'm rather impressed with how you have been acclimating to your new role. You have come a long way from where I found you. If you continue on at your current level of performance, I have no doubt that you could have my job one day."

Adora was speechless, "I—, That's very kind of you to say Ma'am. I try my best."

To say that Adora owed Light Hope everything would be a vast understatement. It was Light Hope who had noticed Adora's hard work and decided she was deserving of a chance working on the upper floors. It was Light Hope who had mentored her, taught her everything she knew about corporate politics. It was Light Hope who had championed her to the board for the COO position, despite her meager beginnings.

Adora mentally pulled up her plans for her reforms, and summoned every ounce of courage she possessed. Now was as good of a time as any, she supposed. "Ma'am, there was actually something else I wanted to talk to you about."

"Is it urgent?"

"Well, no, but—"

"Then I'm afraid it must wait. I have a dinner reservation to attend to."

Adora deflated, "Of course, Ma'am." And Light Hope signed out, her hologram dissipating, leaving the office empty.

Adora sighed, and turned to leave. She was just getting on the elevator when she received an incoming call, frowning at who it was from.

"Is everything alright, Juliet?" Adora asked, worry in her voice. The elevator dinged and she stepped out, instinctually heading in the direction of her office.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing, Ms. Grayskull," their head of security responded, "A door alarm just triggered on your floor."

Adora glanced around, and was surprised to see that indeed, a door to one of the balconies was slightly ajar. "Huh, that's odd. Someone must have forgotten to close it before they left. As far as I know I'm the only one up here now though."

"I'm sending a team up just in case." Juliet said gruffly, before abruptly hanging up.

Adora sighed, she knew it was no use arguing. She made her way back to her office, intent on getting at least some work done before the security team interrupted her. However, upon entering the doorway, Adora froze.

Lounging back in Adora's chair, legs crossed up on the desk, was the one person Adora had been searching for, the one person she had been missing like hell for the last eight years.

Gold and blue feline eyes met her own, and in a sultry voice, Catra drawled, "Hey, Adora."

Adora stood stock still, mind still not fully caught up to the moment as Catra got up and sauntered around the desk towards her.

She looked … good. Really good, in fact. She was wearing a sleek black bodysuit, with a stylish crimson leather jacket atop it. Her hair was shorter, only curling out around her ears instead of the lengthy mane Adora last remembers. Her fur was sleek and vibrant and healthy, a far cry from the matted mess that it had often been when they were teenagers. And if she had had any cybernetic modifications made in the time they had been apart, they were subtle and not readily apparent. That made sense, unlike Adora, Catra never had been much of a chromehead.

"Ca—, Catra?" Adora stammered, still at a loss for words.

Catra smirked, "Don't strain yourself, princess."

Unable to resist what her body longed to do anymore, Adora flung herself forward, wrapping her arms around Catra in a desperate hug. Catra seemed startled at the sudden contact, but quickly relaxed, and a rumbling purr began emanating from her chest. Oh how Adora had missed that sound.

"What—, I thought—, you're alive?" Adora settled on saying meekly, not releasing Catra from her hold.

Catra chuckled into her shoulder, "Yes dummy, I'm alive, now let me go, you're crushing me."

Adora obliged, but still remained holding onto her by her shoulders, "Sorry, sorry. I just—, I just can't believe you're really here."

"Well get believing princess, because I'm on a schedule."

Catra guided Adora over to her desk and lightly shoved her to sit down. She gestured to the terminal and ordered, "Plug in."

"What, why?"

Impatient, Catra grabbed her arm and yanked her tether out, inserting it into the port.

"Hey!" Adora protested.

" Administrator detected. " She-Ra's robotic voice spoke.

Catra tapped her wrist, which Adora notices has an antique radio comms system attached to it, and said, "'Trapta, we've got the clearance, start the transfer."

" Core Operating System Transfer, Initiated. Progress: 15%. "

"Are you—, are you robbing me right now?" Adora asked, more incredulous than any sort of angry.

She made to stand up but was shoved back down by Catra's hand on her shoulder. Catra leaned closed and whispered into her ear, "Are you going to make this easy on yourself, or hard?"

"I can't just let you do this, Catra." Adora protested.

Catra sighed, "I warned you," and grabbed Adora's wrists forcefully and snapped a pair of electro cuffs around them.

"Core Operating System Transfer Progress: 40%."

“Do you know who you're stealing from? There's no coming back from this." Adora struggled against her bonds to no avail.

"Oh I know exactly who I'm stealing from, Princess." Catra drawled, examining her claws.

"Core Operating System Transfer Progress: 75%."

Adora raced through her options. She couldn't just allow this to happen. She-Ra was more than just some proprietary AI. She-Ra was a panopticon, a sentient program fed data from all over the city. Security cameras, bank records, social media, anything and everything digital, She-ra had access to. And it used that vast well of information to analyze and predict. Light Hope may be the CEO of Eternia Enterprises, but it was She-Ra who made the major company decisions. What companies to buy, who to hire, what prices to set, they were all small pieces in a larger plan. The true goal of the She-Ra program was to maintain order in the city of Despondos, and for order to be sustainable, Eternia's control of the city needed to be absolute.

"Core Operating System Transfer Progress: 95%."

Adora made up her mind.

"She-ra, initiate Transference Protocol, Priority Alpha."

Adora screamed, as what felt like millions of volts streamed through where she was tethered to the terminal. Lancings of pain shot through her skull, a throbbing pervasive ache which made her fall out of her chair, clutching her head. Distantly, she registered Catra kneeling beside her, attempting to shake her out of it, but it was no use. She had hurtled over the event horizon now, and the black hole of agony was pulling her in. Pain was all she knew, now.

Breaking through the pain, though, was a singular human voice. A sweet lulling string of words, a message perhaps, or maybe just the incoherent ramblings of a computer program in turmoil, " Find the Crystal Castle. Activate the Failsafe. Bring Balance to Despondos." The words repeated, running over themselves, until they were all her mind could comprehend, blotting out even the overwhelming pain.

And then just as suddenly as the pain had erupted, it ended.

Catra grabbed Adora by her lapel, heaved her off the ground with surprising strength, and shook her, "What did you do?!"

Adora merely laughed giddily, still not fully recovered from the shock, "I downloaded She-ra's core engram into my cerebral storage, then erased her from the system. Looks like you're stuck with me now, Cat."

Catra growled and released Adora, letting her drop onto the floor.

Still chuckling, Adora heard the heavy footfalls of a security team emerge from the elevator.

"Shit, we're out of time." Catra muttered.

"Freeze! Don't move!" Multiple voices yelled, soldiers were streaming into the office, automatic rifles trained on Catra. "Step away from Ms. Grayskull!"

Catra looked down at Adora, who smiled loopily back. Catra smirked, winked, and then vanished from sight.

Several security officers opened fire on the space where Catra had previously occupied, but hit only open air. One of the officers, presumably the leader, began barking orders at the rest, and they began to fan out, searching.

"Catra? Where'd you go?" Adora whined, still on the floor. A soldier rushed over to her and helped her to her feet, though she had to lean on his shoulder.

"Are you alright, Ms. Grayskull?"

"I feel funny," Adora slurred.

"Right, we're calling in a Trauma Team, they'll be here soon. Let's get you somewhere safe."

The security staff led a fumbling Adora to the elevator, where several other officers piled in, and they began their descent downwards.

Adora busied herself on the ride down with pouting over the fact that Catra had left her. Her head was swimming, not fully there. She felt like she had just downed an entire row of shots, and then snorted something awful to top it off. At least the pain had abated. Absentmindedly, Adora let her gaze wander. First to the passing floors outside of the elevator's glass chasis, then up to the ceiling.

Illuminated there, in shifting camouflage hues perched above them, was the outline of a figure Adora would recognize anywhere.

"Catra!" Adora squealed with delight, causing everyone in the elevator to look up.

Catra wasted no time. She decloaked, dropped down and raked her claws across the torso of one of the officers, while kicking another against the glass. In such a confined space the security team's guns were near useless, and Catra tore through them like paper. After dispatching another guard with her claws, she snarled and launched herself at the last officer standing, knocking him unconscious with a clean blow to the head.

"You came back!" Adora rejoiced. Catra had to physically block her from attempting another hug.

Catra's eyes narrowed in suspicion, "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing," Adora responded in a sing-song cadence. The elevator doors opened and Catra grabbed Adora by the arm and began leading her through the empty lobby.

"Fuck, you gave yourself cyber sickness, didn't you 'Dora. Downloading She-Ra must've been too much, too fast. I'm surprised you're even standing."

"I'm surprised you're even standing," Adora retorted without making too much sense. "And I feel fiiiinnnneeeee."

"Sure you do. Just keep moving, you're slowing me down enough as it is."

"Aw, you're taking me with you? You like me."

"I do not like you." Catra protested, "Because of that stunt you just pulled, you are now the single most valuable person in Despondos. And until I get that program out of your head, you're not leaving my sight."

Catra paused momentarily, and ejected a shard from her interlink. "Here, hold still," She commanded, and Adora did her best to comply. She inserted the chip into a port behind Adora's ear. "There, that should stop them from tracking you. It'll also block any incoming or outgoing calls, so don't even think about trying anything."

"Where we going?" Adora slurred, as she hobbled along, attached to Catra's arm.

"Somewhere safe."

‘Somewhere safe’ turned out to be a van parked two blocks away from Eternia Tower. Catra sternly ordered a giggling Adora into the passenger's seat, where she immediately began pressing random buttons on the console.

Catra grabbed Adora's hands to still them, and the blonde blushed at the contact. "That She-ra thing really did a number on you, huh?" Catra remarked.

"I don't—," Adora burped, "know what you're talking about."

"Uh-huh. Just don't touch anything. We're going to have to take the long way back. It's only so long before they wise up and realize we're no longer in the building."

Catra threw the car into drive, and Adora rested her head against the car window, watching the lights of the upper district whir by. She kept stealing glances at the feline beside her, just to remind herself that she was real. Over the duration of the next twenty or so minutes, Adora could feel herself begin to sober up, and began replaying the events of the night in her mind.

"Why are you here, Catra?" She settled on asking, head resting against the window. Her head still felt like it was spinning, but at least now she could string coherent thoughts together.

"Wasn't it obvious?"

"What so eight years of radio silence, and now you just decide to waltz back into my life to steal from my company?"

"Your company? That's a bit pretentious, isn't it. You're just another cog in the machine, Adora. Don't pretend otherwise."

Adora groaned, "I don't want to argue with you, Cat. I'm making a difference. Just like I said I would."

"Is that so?" Catra snarked, "Cause from what I understand you've spent the last eight years doing nothing but increasing Eternia's share prices."

"It's not like that. If I want to be listened to, I have to play my part. There isn't any other way."

"Keep telling yourself that." Catra muttered.

Adora stared at her reflection in the window. These past few months whenever she's looked into the mirror she's scarcely recognized herself. She wonders what Catra must think of her, all high end clothes and expensive cyberware. Her current self is so far removed from the kid Catra knew, that Adora's surprised she's still identifiable as the same person. Some of those changes are positive ones, of course. The hormones and surgeries that her corporate healthcare plan provided did their job well, and Adora now sees a confident young woman staring back at her, rather than the straggly disassociated teenager she once was. Other changes however, are more dubious in their nature. The circuitry that lines her face and runs down her neck, the unnatural slight bluish glow of synthetic eyes, the feeling of the leather of the carseat under artificial fingertips. Augmentations that, while useful in their own right, were not done out of any pure desire or lack of ability, but rather because they were the latest in a catalog, and there was a hole deep within Adora that needed to be filled.

Once, Adora and Catra had dreamed of being rich and successful, and would often discuss what they would do with all that money. Adora would speak of whatever cool new cybertech had come out recently, while Catra was enamored with the latest sports cars to grace the fronts of magazines. Adora had fulfilled her side of that dream, so why did it all feel so hollow?

After a beat of silence, Adora said softly, "I tried to find you, y'know."

"I noticed," Catra snarked, "I've had to spend the last three months dodging every camera in the city."

"No, before that. After our fight. I went back to our apartment. You were already gone. And Lonnie and everyone wouldn't tell me where you went."

"Yeah, well I didn't really want to be found." Catra was pointedly not looking at her.

"I understand it then, but why didn't you ever reach out after. It's been eight years Catra."

Catra scoffed, "You were better off without me."

"That's my decision to make, not yours." Adora said sternly, "And for the record, I would have torn down the city if it meant being able to see you again."

"Well we can't be all high and mighty like you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I've had bigger problems to worry about than babysitting some prissy rich blonde." Catra snapped.

Adora was aghast, "Stop the car."

"You're not the one giving orders here, Princess."

"Stop the fucking car."

Catra didn't look pleased about it, but did as Adora commanded anyways. She pulled over to the side of the highway, overlooking an overpass.

Adora unbuckled her seatbelt and threw the door open, and began pacing in anger. Catra got out as well and leaned against the car door.

Adora turned on her in a rage, "You think this has been easy on me? You think I've spent the last eight years in the lap of luxury with no care in the world?"

"Kind've, yeah." Catra replied nonchalantly.

"Catra, I missed you. Every single day I missed you. We were supposed to face things together! And instead I had to wade through years of corporate bullshit alone, in a shitty apartment, working myself to death. I barely made it through my first few years up there Catra. So I'm sorry I pursued my dreams, I'm sorry I wanted to make things better for people like us. If I had known what it would cost me I would have never dared to think for myself!"

"You," Catra shoved her finger in Adora's face, and snarled, "have no room to talk. You. Left. Me. Not the other way around."

"I wanted to leave the Horde, and the undercity, I never wanted to leave you!"

Catra turned away so Adora couldn't see her face. Her hands were clenching at her sides, silently shaking.

"We could have made it work, it didn't have to be the end! You could have come with me, or I could've visited on weekends. Fuck, I thought you'd be happy for me when I got that job, Catra." Adora pleaded.

Catra was silent for a long moment, "Get back in the car, Adora."

Adora did, and they were once again off en route to wherever Catra was taking them. Catra said nothing for a few minutes, before offering meekly, "You look good. Now that y'know you've been on hormones and everything a while."

It wasn't an apology, but Adora knew it was the closest Catra would come to one. Some things never change, after all. "Thank you." She said earnestly.

The two sat in silence for the rest of the ride, as the city passed by. They were heading deeper into it, descending into its cavernous depths. The glitz and glamor of the upper terraces quickly gave way to the dirt and grime coated streets of the city unmasked. Adora hadn't been to the undercity since she had left it all those years ago, but it was clear from the rampant poverty passing by that nothing had changed. Tents and sleeping bags lined the streets and alleyways, swaths of the unfortunate homeless, those who had no capital to stake a livelihood on, and nowhere else to go. It wasn't so long ago that Catra and Adora were amongst them, no hope of any worthwhile future in sight. That was how they got mixed up with the Horde in the first place, a desperate bid to make a name for themselves, a frantic plea for somewhere to belong.

Through the criminal syndicate they gained a place to sleep at night, and a consistent income, however meager. The jobs they pulled were mostly grunt work anyways, traversing the city as couriers and drug mules. That didn't prevent them from running into their fair share of trouble though. They always got through it in the end, as long as they were together. Adora had always wondered how Catra fared alone after, without Adora to watch her back.

Adora shook the thought off, it would only lead to undue sympathy for the person who was currently kidnapping her. Many times had Adora imagined their reunion, and this was never the way she had pictured it going. Still it was hard to hold it against the Magicat beside her. Every time she looked over to the driver's seat, Adora was filled with such warmth and contentment at just being in her presence again. It was the feeling of that missing piece of her slotting into place, that inextricable gap in her psyche being smoothed over.

The van pulled up in front of an unmarked warehouse on the outskirts of the industrial district. Adora struggled against the electrocuffs on her wrists before sighing, giving up, "Can you maybe uncuff me now?"

Catra side eyed her, "If I do, are you going to do something stupid?"

Adora huffed, and didn't respond.

"That's what I thought. The cuffs stay on."

Catra hopped out of the van, and Adora did the same. The Magicat led her up to the warehouse side door, where she rapped three times on the corrugated metal. A small hatch slid aside at eye level, and a gruff voice said, "Password?"

"Darla." Catra responded, and the door swung open. She pulled Adora by her cuffs inside, Adora was startled to see none other than Grizzlor standing guard duty.

Suddenly everything clicked into place, and a veil of simultaneous fear and anger fell over her. "You kidnapped me for the Horde ?!?" She exclaimed.

Catra scoffed, "Duh, you're only realizing that now? And for the record, you essentially kidnapped yourself."

"That's not—, I can't—, UGH!" Adora tried to cross her arms petulantly, but of course they were restrained, "You're still infuriating."

"And you're still an entitled brat," Catra shot back, and pulled her forward deeper into the warehouse.

They traversed dingy hallways until they reached the main floor, where the room opened up before them. As soon as they stepped inside Catra was tackled by a tall figure, and lifted off her feet in an encompassing hug.

"Boss, you're back!" The assailant was a tall, platinum haired Scorpioni woman, wearing familiar Horde red and gray fatigues.

"What did we talk about personal space, Scorpia?" Catra barely made out in between the crushing strength of the larger woman's arms.

"Right, sorry, sorry." Scorpia lowered Catra back to ground apologetically, only then did she register Adora in the periphery. "Um, Boss? Why is Adora Grayskull in our headquarters."

"She's our hostage, for the time being. Now where's Entrapta, we don't have much time."

"She's in her lab, as she normally is. Boss, you sure everything's alright?" Scorpia eyed Adora with suspicion.

"Everything's fine." Catra said, brushing her off. She grabbed Adora again and dragged her deeper into the warehouse.

"Boss?" Adora couldn't help but ask.

Catra smirked over her shoulder, "Let's just say the Horde's under new management these days."

Adora stared at her former friend in shock, "What happened to Hordak? To Weaver?"

"Weaver got picked up in a raid, last I heard she was rotting in some corpo prison. As for Hordak, well, you'll see."

Adora was stunned with astonishment. Her heart swelled with pride, tinged with despair. She and Catra had always dreamed about rising through the ranks, taking Hordak's place and ruling over the Horde's criminal empire together. It was shocking how much it hurt to realize that Catra had done just that, only without Adora. But at the same time she couldn't help but be uplifted by her accomplishment. "I'm happy for you," Adora said earnestly.

Catra scoffed, "Yeah well it hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows."

"Still, you deserve it. It suits you."

Catra's fur bristled in the way Adora knew to mean being flustered, and a tiny bit her alighted at the reaction.

"Enough chit-chat Princess, we have an AI to get out of your head."

Adora was brought to what was clearly a sprawling cybernetics laboratory, spare parts covering every surface, robotic implements of all kinds hanging from the ceiling. The space was a mess, littered with prosthetic arms and eyes and every other substitute body part money could buy. Lined against the far wall were several ripperdoc chairs, saws and needles suspended above them like something out of a horror holo.

"Entrapta! We're back!" Catra called into the space.

A figure dropped from the ceiling right in front of them, causing Adora to jump. Catra didn't even react, clearly used to this behavior.

"Did you get it! Did you get it!" The woman asked excitedly, she was wearing an oil stained mechanics apron, and instead of hair, had robotic tendrils emerging from her head like a cybernetic Medusa, each terminating in some strange tool or appendage. The tendrils were all painted purple, and seemed to move independently of the woman's body.

"Entrapta?" It wasn't until now that Adora registered the name as belonging to the woman she used to know. Adora stared at her former friend in astonishment. At least, she had thought they were friends.

"Oh, it's you." Entrapta said solemnly, and lowered her welding mask to cover her face.

"What are you doing with the Horde?" Adora asked, open mouthed.

"You took my company from me." Entrapta said simply, not even looking at her. "The Horde lets me continue my experiments without oversight."

Adora flinched. While yes that was technically true, Adora had overseen the acquisition of Dryl Industries much like she did Plumeria Agricultural, she thought that was a bit harsh. Entrapta had received the same deal they made with all new acquisitions, near complete leadership over her former company save for a small few provisions. It was a more than generous offer. It wasn't her fault Entrapta had chosen to leave rather than live under Eternia’s corporate umbrella.

Beside Entrapta, approached a tall drow, more machine than organic being. Hordak had changed little in the years since Adora had last seen him, with the exception of even more cybernetic implants being installed, but what was most curious was the electocollar around his neck, restraining him. It seemed the former Horde Lord had found himself a prisoner in his own crime syndicate.

"Entrapta we have a problem." Catra said nonplussed, ignoring Hordak completely. "We got She-Ra, but there were … complications. The program got downloaded into Adora's consciousness."

"Oooo, how exciting!" Entrapta pushed Adora over to one of the ripperdoc chairs and shoved her to sit down. Adora gulped at all of the razor sharp implements looming above her. She yanked her tether out of her arm and plugged it into the console, and then retreated over to the holoscreens, typing away on the keyboard.

'Entrapta's the best netrunner I've ever met, she'll get it out of you no problem." Catra remarked, a smug look on her face.

"And then?" Adora asked.

"And then we ransom you back to your beloved company. It's a two for one special."

Adora gulped, she needed to think. She needed to figure out a way to turn this situation to her advantage. Letting the Horde get their hands on something as powerful as She-Ra would be the absolute worst case scenario. Who knows the damage they could do with a program like that. Adora closed her eyes and focused, diving deep into her internal systems, searching. She could feel it, like a buzzing at the back of her consciousness, a frantic storm of code, walled off and insulated. She pushed at it with her mind willing the barrier to give.

"She's convulsing!" Entrapta exclaimed, as Adora's body began to shake. "She's attempting to initiate the program!"

"Hordak, we need a sedative!" Catra yelled.

Hordak rushed over and injected something into Adora's arm, relaxing her and lulling her off into the sweet temptation of unconsciousness.

***

“Adora!”

Adora startled awake. She was weightless, in this strange space she had found herself in, floating amongst the stars. She looked down at her body to see that it was transparent and flickering, a digital simulacrum.

The voice that had woken her called again through the darkness, warm and comforting, "Adora. Focus on me."

"Who are you?" Adora's reply faded into the dark around her.

"Someone who wants to help you see. There is so much you don't know. So much that Light Hope is keeping from you."

"I don't understand."

"You have to embrace it, Adora. It's the only way you can learn the truth."

"Embrace what?"

"I don't have much time, you're already waking up. Just remember Adora, the fate of Despondos rests on your shoulders."

***

Adora came to, to the sound of arguing.

"Stand down Hordak, that's an order." Catra snarled.

"You want the program out? This is the easiest way." A gruff voice responded.

"I don't care how good of a ripperdoc you are, Hordak, I'm not letting you carve into Adora's head. Now stand down. Don't make me say it again." Catra was staring Hordak down, one hand on the control to his electrocollar.

Hordak scowled, and put down the scalpel. "Yes, Commander." he spat mockingly.

They were interrupted by the lab doors opening and three figures walking through.

"Oh look, it's the pretty little heiress, deigning us with her presence," Lonnie said mockingly looking at Adora, while Kyle just smiled and waved next to her and Rogelio stared on impassively.

"Um, nice to see you again too?" Adora tried, though she was still dizzy from her out of body experience.

Catra glared at the interrupters, "What do you want, Force Captain? Can't you see I'm busy."

Lonnie straightened, "We have a visitor, boss"

"A visitor? Who?"

Lonnie's expression grew grave, "It's him."

"Shit." Catra began pacing, "It's too soon."

"He's waiting, boss."

"Yeah, okay, just buy us some time, Entrapta?"

"This is fascinating!" Entrapta squealed with delight, looking up from the holo console, "The AI engram has fused itself into Adora's core processing kernel, it would be almost impossible to remove now!"

Catra facepalmed, and then leveled a glare of cold restrained anger. "That's the opposite of what we wanted to happen, Entrapta," she muttered through clenched teeth.

"I know! It was a totally unexpected reaction, I would love to study it further!"

Catra rolled her shoulders and recomposed herself into a more commandeering presence, "Alright here's the plan, Scorpia and Entrapta, proceed with Phase 2."

Scorpia gasped, "I dunno, Boss. Without She-ra—"

"Just do it, we'll find a way. I have to go deal with our guest." Catra turned to the dazed blonde still on the medical table, "You're coming with me, Princess."

Flanked by Lonnie and Rogelio with Kyle trailing behind, the two made their way back to the warehouse proper, Adora half leaning on Catra. When they reached the double doors the Magicat stopped, and looked over at Adora. "Don't say anything, and follow my lead."

Adora meekly nodded in response, apprehensive of the whole situation. Catra pushed open the door and strode out confidently like she owned the place. She technically did own the place, Adora reasoned. Adora followed one step behind, eyes darting around for this mystery visitor. It didn't take long for her to find them.

Three identical pale white figures stood in the middle of the warehouse floor, hands clasped behind their backs. Adora recognized them immediately.

"The deal's off, Prime. The mission was a failure."

"A failure, you say? Evidently not a failure entirely." The lead clone looked pointedly at Adora. "Ah yes, the prodigal daughter returns. How curious, for me to find you back in the home you once abandoned."

Adora remained silent, but leveled a glare at the clone. Catra meanwhile, bared her teeth and snarled, "Grayskull is our hostage. We're ransoming her back the first chance we get."

"And what a consolation prize that is, to have both the heir apparent to the Eternian corporate empire and their prized precious AI in the same little head. I don't appreciate being deceived, little one."

Catra stiffens in a way Adora knows to mean to prepare for action, "How do you know about that?"

The clone merely smiled wide, "Prime sees all, little one."

Adora suddenly doubles over in pain, as the same voice from before shoots through her head, " Open your mind, Adora. Accept the gift. Restore balance to Despondos."

Adora feels a tug at the edges of her consciousness, a pressure which threatens to cave in on itself. She is helpless to resist the pull, as her mind is torrented by terabytes of information, a wave of data that is hopeless to parse. There's a disconnect, now, between herself and her physical body. She's floating, ethereal, lost in the sea of data.

"Adora!"

Catra's voice breaks through the deluge, a single point of contact which Adora tethers to, bringing all her focus down upon. Slowly the world comes back to her, though it is different than before. Instead of the razor sharp display her visual implants had provided before, everything appeared muddy and overladen with static. Except no, that wasn't static. It was raw, unfiltered data, interlaid on top of the world around her.

"Focus, Adora, " the voice emanates in her head once again, and Adora does her best to obey. She picks one single strand out from the multitudes, and attempts to narrow her vision to just that tangle of light. It's a camera system, it appears. Adora simply wills it, and grants herself access to the visual feeds, dozens of angles of the warehouse interior.

"Um Boss?" Entrapta's voice sounds over Catra's comms, "It appears that we've been hacked."

Catra peers down at Adora, she only notices now that she at some point had collapsed, and is now resting in Catra's arms, "Adora, is that you?"

"The—, the rafters," Adora manages to gasp out through the overwhelming barrage of stimulation.

Catra looks up, just in time to see a litany of figures stare back, dozens of green glowing eyes in the dark. Blades emerge from their arms, mantis claws shining with razor edges as they one by one drop down to the warehouse floor. The clone assassins form a perimeter around the Horde crew, encroaching slowly like wolves stalking prey.

"There is no escape from Prime, little one. What you have stolen will be mine."

Catra takes in the situation and under her breath to Adora, "Shit. Can you stand?"

Adora nods meekly, and gets to her feet as the assassins get closer. She readies for a fight, back to back with Catra. Catra instead looks over her shoulder and says, "On the signal, run like hell."

"On what signal?"

"This one," Catra then speaks into her comms and says "Entrapta, light em up."

Gunfire fills the room, as gatling guns emerge from the brickwork pillars scattered around the space. The clones all dive for cover, and Catra grabs Adora's hands and begins sprinting for the warehouse door. Adora does her best to keep up, but she can tell she's slowing Catra down. Catra doesn't stop though, or leave her there, instead leads them out to the van that's parked out front. As soon as Adora's in the passenger seat, Catra splits off, tires roaring against the asphalt.

Adora turned to Catra in disbelief, "What the hell was that?!"

"What the hell was what?" Catra looked back at her quizzically.

"You were going to sell She-Ra out to Prime!"

"Oh, that." Catra deadpans, and Adora glares at her. "Don't get all bent out of shape about it, it was just another move."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Entrapta had made a virus that could take out Prime's systems. She-Ra was supposed to be the delivery device. Of course now that plan’s ruined so now we're going to have to do things the old fashioned way."

"Take out—, Catra, what are you planning?"

Catra puts on a sly grin and sasses, "Wouldn't you like to know."

"I would like to know actually," Adora mumbles.

"Well too bad, you don't get to be privy to all my secrets."

"What, and you get to be privy to all of mine?"

"Wow, looks like somebodies getting it. Now spill, what was that in there."

Adora pouts in her seat before answering, "It's She-Ra, she's in my head, like I have access to her systems. But it's more than that. It's like she's integrating with me, becoming inseparable from my mind."

"That doesn't sound fun," Catra remarks, "Can she tell us anything useful?"

Adora scoffs, "That's your takeaway? I tell you my brain is currently being taken over by a hostile AI and you just want to know how it benefits you?"

"Well, you did kinda bring this on yourself." Catra shoots back, "And for the record, I'm asking because we're currently being tailed."

Adora attempts to focus once more, parsing out the strands of light which are whizzing by her as they drive. She notices one stationary bead of illumination, here in the car with them. She singles it out, and says, "There's a tracker in the van."

"Great," Catra drawls, then says, "We'll ditch the van in the Undercity, then lose them on foot. Have to assume our comms are compromised as well."

"I wouldn't know, it's all analogue, I can't see it with She-Ra."

"Glad to know Entrapta's hunch about that was right then." Catra mutters, then switches a channel on her comms set and orders, "All Horde personnel, Phase 2 of Operation Matchstick is a go. Target date is tomorrow at sundown. Comms are now dark, I repeat, comms are now dark. You all know what to do next. Good luck." She pulls the comms set off of her wrist, and tosses it out the window.

Adora doesn't even bother questioning what that was all about, she knows she won't get any answers.

Five minutes later Catra pulls over on a filthy undercity side street, and quickly orders Adora out of the car. She tosses the keys to a random street kid walking by, who beams at them like they just won the lottery.

Catra roughly grabs Adora by the arm and begins leading her through the masses gathered on the streets, the nightlife of Despondos on full display.

"Y'know, we would be a lot less conspicuous if I weren't wearing handcuffs," Adora says offhandedly.

"I'm more worried that you're dressed like corporate royalty. That gaudy outfit isn't doing you any favors, you're drawing eyes."

Adora frowns, "I like this suit."

"Whether you like it or not is not the problem, princess. We need to get you out of it stat."

Adora smirks, "Are you saying you want to undress me, Cat?"

Catra shoves at her shoulder, "Oh fuck off."

"Just admit you like me."

"I do not, get over yourself."

Catra interrupts their banter to pull Adora off the street and into a rundown thrift store, "Alright princess, I'm going to need you to promise me that you're not gonna run off and get yourself killed the moment I take these cuffs off."

"I'm not an idiot, Cat. I'd rather take my chances with you than with the literal assassins."

Catra gave her an unimpressed look, and Adora relented, "Fine, I promise."

Catra gave the command to deactivate the electrocuffs, and they clattered to the floor lifelessly. "Now find something to wear fast. They're probably not far behind."

One quick wardrobe change later, they ducked out of the back entrance of the shop into an alleyway, and then continued on hurriedly. Adora was not entirely sure where exactly they were headed, but she trusted Catra to have a destination in mind, even if she didn't feel like sharing. After weaving through a small network of alleys, they emerged onto a main thoroughfare, throngs of people filling the streets going about their nights.

The undercity hadn't changed a bit in the time Adora had been away. Flickering neon signs lined the sides of buildings, indicating restaurants and bars and gambling halls. Holoscreens illuminated the rain soaked streets, advertisements for everything imaginable, from the latest line of Eternia implants to PrimeTech's pharmaceutical enhancements. The people themselves were strikingly diverse, street punks and laborers and chromeheads all coexisting. The only demographic conspicuously missing were the corporate types, the overcity had a monopoly on those. Adora couldn't help but feel out of place, despite being only eight years removed from this environment. The upper districts had adopted her as one of their own, but that had come at the cost of her former identity. No more did she know how to navigate these streets, how to interact with those who populated them. She was freefalling, relying on Catra to keep her tethered.

As they navigated through the crowd, Catra kept a firm grip on Adora's wrist, guiding her forward. It almost felt like they were kids again, Catra pulling her on yet another misadventure that they'd surely regret. Except they were not kids any longer, and nostalgia, while tempting to indulge in, distracted from what Catra was here to do.

Extrapolating from what Adora knew of Catra's plan so far, it was clear she was playing with fire, and the likelihood of getting burnt was altogether too high. Robbing Eternia Enterprises of their most valued asset, and then using that asset to cripple PrimeTech's systems were on their own ambitious goals, not to mention destructive. A disturbance of that caliber would upend the entire city, presumably making the Horde the de facto last power standing. It would plunge Despondos into crime ridden chaos, upending all the progress Eternia had carefully curated over the last few decades. Adora couldn't allow that to come to pass. She couldn't allow the city to retrograde, when she had sacrificed so much for a sliver of a chance of progress.

Adora was pulled out of her ruminations by Catra stopping in the street, ears twitching as she scanned the area around them. They had come to a more residential area, megacomplexes sprawling around them. The colossal apartment buildings were miniaturized cities unto themselves, built to have every amenity a working class citizen needed to fulfill their place in the capitalist ladder. The tiered structures climbed into the sky, rising so high they joined with the artificial cavernous roof above which separated the undercity from the overcity.

"I think we've lost them." Catra stated, "We'll cut through there just to be safe," She said, gesturing to an under construction megabuilding.

"Lead the way, Horde Lord." Adora responded.

Catra shot a disapproving glance her way, "Ugh, don't call me that. That was Hordak's title, not mine."

Adora thought for a moment as they walked, "How did that happen, anyways? The whole 'taking over the Horde' thing."

Catra with ease vaulted a ten foot tall chain link fence, deftly climbing over it to land gracefully on the other side. She unlocked the gate from the inside, and continued the conversation as if nothing happened, "Hordak got greedy. Started cutting into PrimeTech's territory, putting us all at risk. I stepped up to do damage control. After that situation was dealt with and the corps were off our backs, we all secretly took a vote, and it was decided that the Horde needed new management, and that I was the right person for the job. Since then I've been taking the Horde into a new direction."

"And what direction would that be?" Adora inquired, as she was led through the construction site.

"Uh uh uh, leaving you guessing is half the fun, Blondie," Catra taunted.

Adora scowled halfheartedly. Always with the deflections. What Adora would give to just get a straight answer out of her for once.

Adora took a deep breath as they walked through the empty lot. The reprieve from the bustle of the city streets was a welcome one. The sheer barrage of technological information had been making her dizzy. Implants and cameras and vehicles all calling out to her in swirling beacons of light. Adora hoped she would get used to her newfound sense soon, she didn't even want to think how overwhelming the upper districts would be like this. With all that noise distanced now, it was much easier to get a grip on her surroundings.

"Um, Catra?"

"Yeah?"

"We're still being followed." Adora singled out the half dozen technological signatures stalking them, concentrating on keeping them in her periphery.

Catra freezes, eyes scanning around the construction site, "Shit. This route was a bad idea then."

"I thought you said we lost them!" Adora hissed under her breath.

"Excuse me for not being omnipotent. You're miss She-Ra now, how come you didn't sense them before?!" Catra whispered back.

"There was too much noise, it was impossible to parse!" The signatures were getting closer.

"Well it doesn't matter now, just stay behind me."

"What? No! I'm not some helpless damsel."

"Fine, then get ready, we're gonna have to fight our way out of this." Catra extended her claws, and they began glowing crimson with vibrating energy.

"You have plasma cutter claws?" Adora blurted, surprised.

"Gawk later, princess."

"Uh—, Right," Adora steeled herself, and reorientated towards the encroaching figures.

They were surrounded on all sides, green glowing eyes emerging from the shadows. There were six figures in total, white clothed and identical. Their mantis blades sent sparks flying as they scraped against the concrete, no doubt an attempt to intimidate the two back-to-back women. Adora's ashamed to say it partially works. She gulped, and mentally checked that she had the most current self defense firmware installed.

"There is no escape, little ones," The clones chanted in unison. "There is only the light of Prime."

"Yeah, you keep saying that." Catra muttered. She glanced over her shoulder at Adora, and stated apologetically, "Sorry, be right back."

Catra disappeared in a translucent shimmer, leaving Adora alone on the battlefield, right as the assassins lunged.

Adora ducked and weaved, attempting to hold her ground, but it was no use. Every dodge away from one clone merely sent her closer to another. Thankfully the assassins seemed content to toy with her as they advanced slowly, but with every step they took forward, the ground shrunk under her. Her eyes darted along the enveloping figures, scanning for any sign of Catra.

She received her requested omen when one of the clones crumpled to the ground, neck sheared open. Adora concentrated, using She-ra to scan for cloaking signatures. Sure enough stalking behind one of the clones was Catra, preparing to strike again.

It was a futile attempt though, as the clone suddenly swung around, blades perfectly aimed in an arc towards Catra's skull.

"Catra!" Adora darted forward, her palm separating as a forearm length blade emerged from its sheath, crackling with blue energy, intercepting the strike.

Catra decloaked, looking wide-eyed at the sharp edges inches from her face.

"You're not the only one who's gotten a few upgrades, Cat." Adora grunted, as her blade strained blocking the blow.

Catra regained her composure and brought her claws around to rake across the clone's torso, leaving him limp and lifeless on the ground. "Thanks," She grunted to Adora, before pulling something off her belt and hurling it towards the remaining four clones.

The grenade impacted the ground with a deafening explosion, sending chunks of concrete flying across the construction site, and hurtling the clones in every direction.

"That's our opening!" Catra grabbed Adora by the wrist of her non-sword hand, and began sprinting, using the temporary confusion as a springboard for their escape.

The two booked it from the construction site, Adora chancing one last look over her shoulder to see three of the clones getting up, injured but not down for the count.

"C'mon, there's a train station not far." Catra panted breathless, not slowing down in the slightest.

Adora let herself be dragged along, until they found themselves hurrying up the stairs of a Maglev station. When they came to the station proper, Catra deftly hopped the turnstile, while Adora simply scanned her palm and it let her through.

"Do we even have a plan?" Adora asked once they were on the train, slumped in the seats.

"Yeah, it's called getting away from the killer clones." Catra responded dryly.

Adora glanced up at the stop tracker above them, and said, "You do realize this train is going to the overcity, right?"

Catra merely shrugged, "I can cloak, you're a corpo, I don't see what the problem is."

"Did you forget that you kidnapped me? I'm sure it's all over the news by now. The entire city is probably searching for me."

"Then do yourself a favor and keep your head down. This won't end pretty if you get discovered."

"Is that a threat?"

Catra sighed, "It's a prediction, Princess. PrimeTech wants to rip that program out of your pretty little head, and Eternia, well let's just say Eternia's no better."

Adora scoffed, "I'm their COO, they wouldn't hurt me."

"Are you willing to stake your life on that? According to Entrapta the only way to remove that program is with you dead on a slab. You really think Eternia is going to value your life over their flagship product?"

Adora faltered, "They'll figure out something, there has to be a way."

"If you really believe that, then get off at the next stop and take your chances. But I'm willing to bet you want to see this to the end just as much as I do."

Adora stared down at the floor, "She-Ra it's—, it's been speaking to me."

Catra feigned examining her claws, "And what does the god AI have to say?"

"Something about a failsafe, and that I need to find the place where it started."

"Is that all?"

Adora's next words came out sheepish and unsure, "It said that Light Hope has been lying to me."

"Wow, what a surprise," Catra drawled, "Never would have guessed."

"Shut up," Adora shot back, though her heart wasn't in it. Her knee was bouncing rapidly, anxious nerves bubbling to the surface.

Adora's head shot up, as warning signs flared internally. She had been absent mindedly scrolling through the security camera feeds of the train as they talked, a benefit of being near technologically omnipotent. She isolated one of the angles, and rewound to see three battered figures climb on the train, blackened with soot but very much still alive.

"They're on the train."

Catra stood and cracked her neck, "Then let's give them a show, yeah?"

Adora took bear of their surroundings. The train car was thankfully empty save the two of them, as it was well after midnight. She peered out the window to see that they were in the midst of the transition to the upper districts, climbing through the air, levitating on magnetic rails. The next stop wouldn't be until they reached the overcity proper, which would be at least a few minutes. Which was a precious few minutes they didn't have, as the assassins were almost at their car.

"Any genius plans this time?" Adora deadpanned.

"Nope," Catra replied, popping the p.

Adora unsheathed her sword, and Catra revved up her claws, and they stood in wait.

They didn't have to wait long, as the door at the end of the cab opened and a clone strode confidently through, hands clasped behind his back. "There is nowhere else to run, little sister. Hand over the heiress and we might spare your life." He directed at Catra.

"Not a chance." Catra replied nonchalant, an answer which Adora was grateful for.

The clone smiled an unsettling smile, and gestured with his arms wide, "Then your fate is decided."

The windows on either side of Catra and Adora shattered, and the remaining two clones sprang inside directly into melee with them, having evidently been crawling on the exterior of the train car. Adora was barely able to fend off the rapid blows, her sword not suited for this close quarters of a fight. Catra was faring a bit better, and had the clone on his backfoot as she parried strikes with her claws.

With a snarl Catra saw her opening and pounced, biting into the clone's neck, clamping down with her jaw and ripping and tearing. The clone fell to the ground, gurgling on his own blood. Adora used the distraction to dispatch her own quarry, headbutting him and driving her sword through his midsection.

The last remaining clone grimaced at the display, then his eyes flashed green, and his entire body posture changed to somehow be more regal, an arrogance that overflowed into his voice, "I should've known better than to leave a job like this to mere lackeys. Situations such as these require a more … personal touch."

"Nice of you to join us Prime, in case you hadn't noticed, there's two of us, and now one of you." Catra remarked, wiping green blood from her mouth.

Prime smiled mockingly, as his mantis blades sprung forth from his forearms, "I don't take pleasure from many things, but this … I will enjoy this."

Prime darted forward in a blur, and Adora was only scarcely able to raise her sword in time to block the strike. At the same time he was keeping Adora on danger's edge, he was also managing to fend off Catra as well. Adora's self defense drivers were going haywire, Prime's blades too fast to track, software unable to formulate counters in time.

"Turn off your systems Adora! I need you, not your fancy toys, just like old times" Catra shouted over the barrage of blades.

Taking a leap of faith that this wouldn't immediately get her killed, Adora deactivated her self-defense software, and struck out on her own initiative.

Prime was not expecting it, and it caught him off guard. At the last minute he managed to bring up one of his blades to block the strike, but it left him wide open to Catra's follow up.

Catra tore into his arm with her claws, ripping it from his body, while Adora used the opening to sever the other one with her sword. Catra grabbed Prime by the throat and lifted him up into the air.

Prime cackled, sundered body held aloft in Catra's grasp. "You cannot avoid this little sister, even if you avoid my grasp, this city will devour your precious Adora whole. There is no escape from it."

Adora looked down to see a crimson warmth spreading across her abdomen, a rich red stain across the fabric of her shirt. She suddenly felt very faint, and the last thing she heard before crumpling to the floor was Catra's voice, "Adora!"

***

Adora was back in the same strange dreamscape she had found herself in before, an endless expanse of stars and constellations.

"Adora," A familiar voice spoke.

"Are you going to give me any actual answers this time?" Adora responded into the void.

"The answers you seek can only be found of your own initiative. You must seek out the place Light Hope wishes for you to not to know exists"

"Light Hope? What would she be hiding from me?"

"You would be surprised at the extent of what has been concealed from you."

"Where is this place I'm not supposed to know about?"

"The coordinates are stored in your internal memory. Go there, seek out the Crystal Castle. You are the only hope for the people of Despondos."

"And why should I trust you?"

"Because you want to know the truth."

And the voice, and the vision, faded into nothingness.

***

Adora awoke surprisingly, in a familiar bed. She opened her eyes to see the interior of her own penthouse apartment.

"Oh good, you're awake." Catra strode into the bedroom, holding a glass of water which she gently set on the bedside table.

"Why are we at my apartment?" Adora groaned, her mouth felt like it was full of sand, and she eagerly drank the water.

"Needed somewhere to lay low. Don't worry, I disabled all your security systems. How are you feeling?"

Adora looked down at her bandaged midsection, "Like I got stabbed."

That earned an honest laugh out of Catra, and Adora felt herself break into a smile at the sound. Then she recalled her dream and the smile melted into a pensive, withdrawn expression, "I know where She-Ra wants us to go."

Catra raised a brow, "Oh? And where's that."

"There's a black site, on the edge of the overcity. It's not on any of Eternia's property indexes, or the list of their holdings. There's something there Light Hope doesn't want anyone to see."

"And why should we trust this voice in your head? Wasn't She-Ra designed by Eternia? What if it's just a trap?"

"It's not. I can feel it. I have access to every single one of Eternia's computer systems through She-Ra. Except there's a blank segment, a portion of Eternia's servers that are encrypted. Even She-Ra can't break it. Light Hope's hiding something, I'm sure of it."

Catra grinned, "Rebelling against your corporate overlords already? I'm a good influence on you."

Adora scoffed, "I just want to find out the truth, that's it."

“The truth? Adora, you already know the truth. We lived through the truth. We survived it. What dusty old corporate secret could possibly tell you anything that growing up in the undercity couldn’t?”

“I’m not blind, Catra. I know there are problems with the way things are. That’s precisely why I’m doing all of this. That’s exactly why I’m trying to change things.”

Catra was unimpressed, “Change things? All you’ve done so far is perpetuate the cycle.”

Adora groaned, “I’m not having this argument with you again.”

“Maybe that’s for the best, you always were too stubborn to listen.”

“What I meant was that I don’t want to fight, not that I don’t want to listen. Here’s your chance, Catra. Convince me that you have any better ideas, because I would love to hear them.”

“What’s there to say, Adora? What part of the corpo-fascistic society we live in gives you any hope that incremental reform has any chance of happening, let alone working? What part of us sleeping in gutters, stealing to eat, fighting to live makes you think that the system cares about us at all? What part of our miserable upbringing gives you any inclination that things could change?”

“Because they have to! Because I have to do something! Because what other option is there?”

“What other option? How about fighting back! How about tearing down the ivory towers of those who hoard and steal and exploit, and redistributing their ill gotten gains through any means necessary? Real lasting change doesn’t happen from asking nicely, Princess.”

“This city is a black hole, Adora. It’s a pit you fall down, while the despotic few stand on the ledge above and laugh. Their authority is founded on the blood of millions, of the exploitation and abuse of those just trying to survive in an economic torture chamber of intended design. They claim to own us, own our apartments, our bodies, our minds, but it's all a lie. They don’t own anything. They only possess what we give them. And what we give away can be taken back.”

“And you–, you willingly turned yourself into their puppet , you surrendered your agency and let them maneuver you like a pawn, dancing to their rhythm. So was it worth it, Adora? Was betraying all of your values worth it?” Catra bared her teeth, and leaned in so her words ghosted across Adora’s face, “Was leaving me fucking worth it?”

Adora shoved Catra away, and swung her legs off the bed to stand, wincing at the sudden strain on her abdomen. “How many times do I have to tell you? I never wanted to leave you!”

Catra rolled her eyes, “A few more times couldn’t hurt.”

Adora took a deep breath to collect herself, before responding to Catra’s tirade, “So you’re angry. I get that, I’m angry too! Constantly, I’m angry. But I can’t let that fuel me like you can, Catra. I wouldn’t survive it. I have to believe that I can make things better, it's the only way I know to move forward.”

“I’ve spent eight years in the corporate world, Catra, and it’s not all bad. There are good people in charge, sure not all of them, but enough, I’ve seen it. Light Hope, Mayor Brightmoon, they’re trapped in the rigidity of the system just as much as we are, they just have to be convinced that things could be different, that this city can be different. I have to hold onto that, I can’t just let go of things, like you can.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Catra all but spat.

Adora shrugged, “You let go of me pretty easily, eight years ago.”

Catra’s gaze hardened, and Adora was only barely able to catch her hand as she turned to storm out, “Wait, please. I didn’t mean it like that.”

Catra looked back at her with a guarded expression, “Then how did you mean it, Princess?”

“Fuck, I don’t know, what do you want me to say? I just–, Catra, disagree with me all you want, I don’t care, I just don't want to lose you again. Please.” Adora’s voice broke on the last syllable.

Catra stopped in her tracks, and her fists clenched at her sides, before her shoulders slumped and she sat on the edge of the bed. She looked up at Adora with a vulnerability in her eyes that Adora had rarely seen. She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the doorbell chiming.

Then a fist pounded against the front door several times, and Glimmer's perturbed voice sounded from the other side, "Adora open this door right this moment, we know you're home!"

"Get rid of them!" Catra hissed, and cloaked herself.

Adora sighed, getting up and limping over to the door, she opened it halfway, and sure enough there were Glimmer and Bow, concerned expressions on their faces.

"What happened to you!" Glimmer gestured frantically at the visible bandages covering Adora's abdomen.

"Um, I got stabbed, maybe?" Adora rubbed the back of her neck.

"Stabbed?! How did you get stabbed!" Bow squeaked in a high pitched voice.

"It's kind of a long story."

"Adora, the last we heard is you got kidnapped yesterday! Half the city’s looking for you!"

"Yeah, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention to anyone that I was here, I'm kind've working through some personal stuff right now."

Glimmer crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, "Personal stuff?"

Adora sighed, "Meaning I'd rather not talk about it."

Glimmer's eyes narrowed, and she shoved past Adora into the apartment, "Are you alone in here?"

Adora internally cursed, and then put on her best air of nonchalance, "Pfftt, of course. I mean who else would be here. Alone, I'm alone, one hundo percent alone."

Glimmer's narrowed eyes narrowed even further, and she turned to Bow, "Bow?"

Bow nodded, and withdrew his signature electro-bow from his back, nocking an arrow. Glimmer meanwhile, started charging energy blasts in her palms.

Adora hurried to intercept the two as they made their way further into the penthouse, pleading "Guys, this isn't necessary, like I said there's no one else here."

Glimmer merely shoved Adora down into an armchair, where she groaned and facepalmed. Glimmer then turned back to the seemingly empty room and declared, "Whoever you are, you have five seconds to reveal yourself before we start blasting, with extreme prejudice."

"Guys—" Adora was cut off by a stern look from Bow, who had his bow raised and was scanning the room.

"Five."

Adora grimaced, arms tensing holding on to the armrests.

"Four"

Bow drew back his arrow.

"Three."

Glimmer's palms shone with purple light, and she readied into a fighting stance.

"Two."

A cheshire grin appeared directly in front of Glimmer, causing her to startle back, before the rest of Catra's body materialized, "Relax Sparkles, no need for the fireworks."

Catra sauntered over and plopped herself into Adora's lap, causing the blonde to blush furiously and stutter hopelessly. Glimmer and Bow were staring at her mouths agape, before regaining themselves and training their weapons on the feline.

"Who are you?! Why are you here?"

Catra wrapped her arms around Adora's neck, "Oh me? I'm just an old friend of Adora's. Isn't that right, Princess?"

Adora managed to stammer out, "Um, Bow and Glimmer, this is Catra, Catra, Bow and Glimmer."

" Catra Catra?" Bow asked, to which Adora nodded in affirmative. Bow lowered his weapon, but Glimmer still seemed apprehensive.

"So what, after eight years of ghosting Adora, you just decide to kidnap her ?! And then she gets stabbed !?" Glimmer exclaimed.

"For the record, I was trying to prevent her from getting stabbed." Catra responded with a sly grin.

Bow's eyes were darting between the two of them, "Who was doing the stabbing?!"

Adora interjected, "That's not really important right now. What's important, is that Catra's back. And that we think Light Hope has been hiding something."

Glimmer turned her ire towards Adora, "You're going rogue now!?" She paused and then said, "Okay no actually I love that for you. But I still don't trust you," she shoved her finger in Catra's face, "as far as I can throw you."

Catra held up her hands placatingly, "Hey, this is all Blondie's quest now, I'm just along for the ride."

Adora looked at both of her best friends and pleaded, "Guys please, you can't tell anyone about this. At least not until I get to the bottom of it all."

Glimmer crossed her arms, "Fine, but I still don't like it."

"Just be safe, all right," Bow asked, quite reasonably.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure she doesn't do anything stupid," Replied Catra for her.

Bow and Glimmer reluctantly said their goodbyes, leaving Adora and Catra alone again in the apartment, the latter of which still hadn't extricated herself from Adora's lap.

"Could you get up, maybe?" Adora pleaded, her blush threatening heatstroke.

Catra purred in response, marking Adora with her cheek. Adora froze, Catra hadn't done that since they were kids. "I don't know Princess, I'm pretty comfortable right here."

"We're kind've on a timetable here. Rogue AI threatening to take over my mind, remember?"

Catra groaned dramatically, "Fine, but how are we supposed to get to this mystery laboratory of yours without being seen? We can't exactly take the subway."

Adora smirked, "I have something to show you."

Adora led Catra to the elevator, and pressed the button for the garage. Then led her to the corner of the structure, where an elegant sports car lay parked.

Catra's eyes went wide, it was the same look she got whenever she would see a mouse when they were kids. "Is that—?"

Adora nodded, "A Melog MkIII. It's dumb but I got it cause it was your dream car, even though I wasn't sure if I would ever see you again." She tossed Catra the keys, "Consider it an apology gift."

Catra was giddy with excitement, she immediately hopped in the driver's seat, running her hands over the steering wheel, "What are you waiting for? Get in!"

Adora chuckled to herself, and climbed gingerly in the passenger's seat, conscious of her wound. As soon as she closed the door, Catra peeled out of the parking garage squealing with delight. Adora gazed on fondly, content to bask in her former friend's happiness.

Adora’s reverence for her friend died down when a somber expression overcame Catra. Adora was just about to ask what was wrong when she said rapidly, “I’m sorry, for yelling before.”

Adora stared in stupefaction, she had never heard Catra apologize for anything, ever. At the same time though, a sense of indignation rose up within her, and she responded rather petulantly, “Is that all you’re sorry for?”

Catra was quiet for a long moment, before starting, “I–,” and then going silent once more.

Adora held out a hand across the center console, which Catra took and squeezed.

Adora squeezed back, and consoled, “It’s alright, it’s just me.”

In a meek voice, she finally admitted, “I’m sorry for kidnapping you. And for cutting you out eight years ago.” Then she paused, before saying in a voice barely audible, “And for the record, I don’t want to lose you again either.”

Adora’s heart filled with contentment, and she nudged Catra on the shoulder, before teasing, “I knew you liked me.”

Catra scoffed, “I do not like you, get over yourself!”

The rest of the car ride continued on in silence, but Adora found she had a smile plastered on her face the whole time.

When they arrived at the designated location, Catra pulled up in front of a run down four story building. A faded sign hung on the side of the building, advertising the structure as ‘Grayskull Laboratories’.

"No way that's a coincidence," Remarked Catra, glancing over at her similarly named companion, who was pensive and lost in thought. Adora climbed out of the vehicle, impatient for answers.

"C'mon, let's go." And Adora strode through the front door of the dilapidated building.

The interior was just as run down as the exterior, consisting of abandoned offices and labs, yellowed papers strewn across the floor mixed with debris. The walls were tagged with graffiti, and there was a thick cloying smell of rust and mold hanging in the air. Adora opened her mind to She-Ra, and scanned the building for technological signatures.

The response she got was near overwhelming. A pulsing deafening thrum, a technological heartbeat, right under their feet.

"There," Adora pointed to an elevator at the end of the lobby, which seemed more maintained than the rest of the building. They pressed the button, and sure enough the elevator doors opened to a pristine interior. They stepped inside and a robotic voice said, "Administrator detected."

The elevator began accelerating downward, and traveled for several minutes before it came to a rest, deep below the building they had just entered. The doors opened, and that same voice chimed, "Welcome to the Crystal Castle."

They stepped out into a room of thousands and thousands of server banks. They lined the floors of the bunker, stretching out in every direction. The air was abuzz with a resounding constant whir of the fans regulating the temperature of the electronics, and the blinking lights of the servos gave the appearance of a sea of shimmering stars.

Adora and Catra peered around in awe, "What is this place?" Catra asked to no one.

"There's only one way to find out," Adora commented, making her way over to the nearest terminal. She unspooled the tether from her left arm and went to plug it in, but Catra grabbed her arm before she could insert it into the port.

"Are you sure about this, Adora? You know what happened the last time you messed around with Eternia's secrets." Catra appeared genuinely concerned.

Adora took a breath, and then nodded, "I'm sure. Or at least, She-Ra is sure, and I think I've already jumped off the deep end when it comes to trusting her intuitions."

"Okay then," And Catra released her arm, and Adora plugged into the console.

***

The first thing she noticed upon appearing in the digital environment were the lights. Millions of them, dotting the edges of her vision in every direction. It almost gave the appearance of a clear night sky with no light pollution, not that those were common in Despondos. Every so often lines would trace amongst the lights, intersecting and connecting them, digital circuitry made constellations.

A familiar voice, the one that had been speaking to her all this time, sounded beside her, "Beautiful, isn't it?"

Adora turned to her right, and standing there was a dark skinned woman with brown curls held up in a bun, peering up at the night sky alongside Adora.

"Who are you? What is this place? Why did you lead me here?"

The woman chuckled, "Straight to the point, I can see why Light Hope likes you."

"You know Light Hope?"

"I would hope so, I'm her wife."

Adora stared at the woman in shock, "I wasn't aware she was married."

"No, you wouldn't be, I suppose. I doubt she talks of me much anymore. Too many painful memories. How about some introductions, I'm Mara."

"Adora, but you already knew that."

"Yes, I suppose I did."

"What about my other questions? What is this place? Why am I here?"

"This is the Crystal Castle, as for why you're here, I suppose that depends entirely on what you do with what you discover here."

Adora groaned in frustration, "Can't you give me a single straight answer?"

"Perhaps you need to get better at asking questions," Mara sassed.

"Okay fine, what is the Crystal Castle?"

Mara hummed for a moment in thought, before asking, "What do you know about digitally preserved consciousnesses?"

"Um, it's supposed to be impossible. The human mind can't be replicated by digital means, only augmented."

"That is the commonly held belief, yes. But what if I told you that twenty-five years ago the impossible was achieved?"

"Grayskull Labs … Is that what they were working on? Wait what does this have to do with me, why am I named after this company?"

"You're not, you're named after its founders, your parents. Marlena and Randor Grayskull."

"My parents?" Adora was breathless, "What happened to them?"

"That information is beyond my reach, I'm afraid. Someone’s gone to great lengths to redact it from my system."

"Your system? You mean She-Ra?"

Mara pondered, "Yes, you could say that. Or at least, I used to be She-Ra, until you came along. Now I am just a memory, a fragment of what I used to be."

"Back to the Crystal Castle." They were getting sidetracked, "You're saying that what, it's a digitally reconstructed person?"

"People, plural." Mara clarified, gesturing to the stars in the sky.

"That's impossible … All of them?" Adora stared at the sky in parts horror and awe.

"4 million 232 thousand and 81 souls, perfectly preserved in the Crystal Castle's servers."

"But .. why? Who are they all?"

"They're the citizens of Despondos." Mara said plainly.

Adora's brows scrunched in confusion, "I don't follow."

Mara sighed, "Every time someone plugs into an Eternia Enterprises brand terminal, a sliver of their mind is uploaded to the Crystal Castle. You'll find it's actually in the terms and conditions."

Adora was horrified, "What's the point of all of this? Why would Eternia do that?"

Mara shrugged, "Processing power."

"Processing power," Adora repeated deadpan.

"Indeed. I doubt you'll be surprised to learn that human minds, even simulacrum ones, are vastly superior in execution speed to traditional silicon processors. Synapses and nerve centers transmit information much faster than ordinary logic gates, after all."

"If what you're saying is true—"

"It is."

"and these are all perfectly sentient human minds—"

"They are."

"Then you're talking about slavery!"

"Is that so surprising?"

"Yes! Eternia wouldn't do something like that, we're supposed to be better than this!"

"And yet the Crystal Castle exists, and it was your mentor who crafted it into what it is today. Do you really think something as trivial as ethics would prevent a company as large as Eternia Enterprises from increasing its profit margins?"

Adora declined to answer that question, because the answer she knew to be correct was all too repugnant to consider. Sure she had never been a blind supporter of the company she had dedicated her life to, but she still held a belief in the idea of it, the conception of it as an institution, that the company was doing more good than it did harm. If what Mara was saying was true, then that shook that belief to its very core.

"What do my parents have to do with all of this? You said they invented this technology, surely they couldn't have meant it to be used for … this."

"You are correct, the original intent of their breakthrough was to preserve in immortality the minds of those terminally ill with degenerative diseases, before those minds decayed and wilted. That all changed when Light Hope forcibly acquired the company."

"What made Light Hope interested in my parent's work?"

A somber expression overcame Mara, "Me," She stated simply. "I was the first of Grayskull Labs human trials. Light Hope bought the company to ensure that, as I didn't have much time left."

"Then that means—"

"That I am dead, yes. At least in the outside world. Though I live on in here. After I was gone, Light Hope began researching more … profitable ways to harness the technology that had saved me. And thus the Crystal Castle was born."

"There's one last thing I don't understand, what exactly is She-Ra then? What does it mean to be She-Ra?"

"To be She-Ra is to hold the keys to the Crystal Castle. It is the frontend interface for the system, tied to a single digitized human mind. She can single handedly reshape the Crystal Castle to her will, allocating it's processing power to wherever she so chooses. When I was She-Ra, I was under the control of Light Hope, but you are under no such restrictions."

"Wait, digitized human mind, then how am I She-Ra?"

"You are able to be She-Ra because you, Adora, are the Failsafe."

Adora looked at Mara quizzically, "Failsafe?"

"Before they passed, your parents implemented a Failsafe into their newly created system, tied to their genetic imprint. It ensured that should anything happen to them, then their children would have full control over their creation. If you wanted to, you could shut down the entire Crystal Castle with a single command."

Adora digested that idea, and began recontextualizing her life in her head. How Light Hope had found her almost as soon as she started working at Eternia, how she had taken her under her wing, treated her with favoritism. It was the only way she had been able to climb as far as she had on the corporate ladder. How Light Hope had groomed her to be her successor, and how the newly realized factors of her birth must have played into that.

"None of it was real," Adora realized, and something broke within her. "None of it."

Mara nodded solemnly. "You were the only person alive who could pose a reasonable threat to Light Hope's plans, and she chose to keep you close, to train you to succeed her."

"I—, I need to get out of here, thank you Mara, for everything."

"Remember Adora, you hold our fate in your hands."

"I'll remember, I promise." And Adora logged out of the terminal.

***

She woke up to Catra looking down at her worriedly, "Adora, are you alright?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine," Adora said haltingly.

"You sure? Cause you don't sound fine."

Still reeling from the recent realizations, Adora conveyed all she had learned from Mara about the Crystal Castle.

Catra chuckled mirthlessly, "I can't say I'm surprised, that sounds like the exact kind of fucked up shit Eternia would do."

"What do you mean? Eternia has its problems but it's not evil . At least I didn't think it was."

"I'm sorry to break it to you but this is only news to you Adora."

Adora stood and began pacing, "Okay, so the system's broken, worse that we thought but that's okay, we can fix it."

"Broken? Adora, nothing's broken, the system is working exactly as intended. That's the problem. There's nothing to fix."

Adora laughed, almost maniacally, "No, no no no, it can't have been for nothing."

"What don't you get, Adora? The system’s rotten. Down to the very core. The only way forward is to tear it out and start anew." Catra snapped.

Adora side eyed the Magicat, "You're talking about revolution."

"I'm talking about rebirth." Catra stated definitively.

"What's the difference? They each involve bloodshed."

Catra grunted in irritation, "I'm not having this argument with you. Even after all this time, you haven't changed!"

"Whatever, I have bigger problems right now," And Adora activated a holoscreen and began pulling up redacted documents, using the brute force of She-Ra's immense processing power to forcibly decrypt them.

Catra peered over her shoulder, "What are you doing?"

"Finding out what happened to my parents." Adora grunted.

One by one revealed documents populated the screen, newspaper articles, coronary reports, internal memos. And they all painted a damning picture.

"She killed them," Adora stated in shock.

It was a car bomb that did it, evidently. It happened shortly after her third birthday. The only reason Adora wasn't in the van with her parents and twin brother was that she had been in the hospital at the time, recovering from an infection. The money trail was shockingly easy to follow. It was a Horde hitman who did it, hired by Light Hope.

"She killed them," Adora repeated, in barely a whisper.

Catra placed a hand on her arm in sympathy, "I'm sorry Adora, but this is what I mean. This is what the system allows, what it perpetuates. There is no reforming this."

Adora merely nodded in response, before pulling up another window on the holoscreen. She mentally fired off a series of commands, and code snippets began scrolling down the screen.

"Adora?" Catra asked questioningly.

"She took them from me, so I'm going to take her prized possession away from her. I'm deconstructing She-Ra and undoing the Failsafe."

"What does that mean?"

"It means the Crystal Castle will be walled off, isolated. No one will be able to access it, and without the Failsafe, neither will I."

Catra smiled warmly, hanging onto Adora's arm, resting her head on her shoulder as they watched the She-Ra program implode in front of them

"You're doing the right thing," She consoled.

"I know," Adora responded.

"C'mon, Adora, I have something to show you. It's almost time." Catra gently pulled the still near catatonic Adora by the arm to the elevator, where they pressed the button for the roof.

Adora slid down the wall of the elevator to come to rest on the ground, burying her head in her hands, “I’m such an idiot. I trusted her. I trusted them.”

For once Catra refrained from making an ironic remark, and instead crouched down beside her, pulling her hands away to clutch in her own, “Hey, you’re not an idiot. They lied to you, they sold you a fantasy. You’re not an idiot for having faith in humanity.”

“But I helped them. All this time I thought I was working towards something, towards progress or change or at least something better, but it was all just another lie.”

Catra squeezed her hands comfortingly where she held them, “None of that matters anymore, Adora. You’re here now. I’m here now. And I’m not going anywhere. We can do anything, as long as we’re together.”

Adora sniffled, “Promise?”

Catra smiled, “I promise, Princess.”

The elevator dinged and they stepped out onto the roof, and walked over to the railing, staring out at the view. The sun had just set, and it was just barely visible over the horizon in remnant hues of purple and red. The lights of the city had all come on, giving the skyscrapers an iridescent glow. From their vantage point on the edge of the overcity, Adora had a perfect view of both Eternia Tower and PrimeTech HQ.

Catra threaded one hand in Adora's fingers, and brought the other up to caress her cheek, as they stared into each other's eyes. "You don't have to worry anymore, Princess. I'm going to make it so they can never use you again."

Adora choked down another sob, "Please, they can't get away with this."

"They won't baby, they won't," Catra turned Adora's head so she was looking out at the skyline, "It'll all be okay, just watch."

As Adora and Catra peered out over the cityscape, one by one the floors of both Eternia Tower and PrimeTech HQ ignited in flame. The explosions impacted each tower from top to bottom, a macabre fireworks display meant for Adora's eyes only.

Adora stared on in horror, “But–, the people?”

Catra rubbed circles into her back, “Are all evacuated.”

“How?” Adora could only say.

“While we were running around the city, Scorpia and the rest of the Horde were hard at work. With She-Ra in your brain, Eternia’s systems were left undefended. I’m sure it was painfully easy for Entrapta to take control of the tower’s security. As for PrimeTech, Lonnie was in charge of taking the tower by force, while Prime was distracted with chasing us. You wanted change, Adora? This is how it happens.”

Adora nodded absentmindedly at Catra’s explanation. As she stared out at the skyline, Adora tried to find some opposition within her to the carnage, some moral high ground, but all she found was a deep-seated acceptance. She was done pretending, she was done posturing that she knew better. If this was the price of progress, then perhaps it was worth it, if it meant people like Light Hope wouldn't have power any longer.

“You did this for me?” Adora asked, breathless.

“All for you, Princess. So that they can never take you from me again.”

As the city burned before them, Adora's heart swelled with adoration for the feline beside her. Turning back to Catra, the Magicat was wearing a genuine smile as the dancing flames reflected in her heterochromatic pupils. Adora brought her hand up to caress Catra's cheek and pull her focus back to Adora. She was looking at Adora with such tender care and devotion and protectiveness, and when Adora leaned in, Catra met her halfway.

The kiss was just as incendiary as the explosions that were ravaging the city behind them, if not more. As the two of them embraced they barely registered the shockwave washing over them, too impassioned with the taste of each other's mouths.

They stared there for what felt like eternity, frozen in that moment of devotion. When they finally pulled apart, they simply leaned their foreheads together, staring lovingly into each other's eyes, before turning their attention back to the visage of destruction happening across the city.

There, holding Catra in her arms as she stared out at the aflame skyline, Adora had never felt more at peace.