Atalanta really hated these nights. She hated the driving, she hated the waiting, she hated how her dad got so excited. He would never hurt her, of course. Family was Important, after all. That was why she stuck around, because he was her only Family, the only really Safe person in the whole world. They could only trust each other, that was what he said. That was also why she did this, because you had to make your Family happy. That was why he didn't decide to move too far away from the center where her mag-ball team was and listed her WoW subscription as a Necessary expense even though it didn't really count. This was her paying him back.
So Atalanta drummed her fingers on the handlebars of the scooter and thought about how she'd write up the blog post for this one. She'd leave out the victim's name to add mystery, maybe raise some questions as to whether this was really Oracle's work or just a copycat--it'd been long enough for that now. There had been an actual copycat. Her dad had thought it was kinda funny, actually, even though they didn't actually know who it was.
There was a nasty, wet sound from the alley her dad had gone down, and Atalanta winced. Don't think about it do NOT think about it, she told herself, and firmly concentrated on the guild meeting that was supposed to happen tomorrow. They were going to run a dungeon, and were going to get together first to talk about strategy and stuff. Mage'd better stock up on healing spe--
Her father came out of the alley at a run. He hadn't even bothered to wipe off his hands, and his bag wasn't even tied properly. "Drive," he said.
"But nobody who cares about this guy should be he--"
"You were wrong, obviously. Drive!"
Atalanta swallowed, switched the scooter to its highest gear, and sped off.
