The socially awkward villain's furry superpower

Sienna returned home and felt... inexplicably full of energy.

She faced a tricky social situation, and things generally went as she expected. In the end, she got what she wanted, and even gained more, and perhaps she performed quite well in the process.

This feeling was refreshing, making her both guilty and happy. It made her… Sienna hesitate. Is this what extroverts feel like?

No wonder they spend so much time talking to people.

She wished she could do it without having to prepare so much. She wished she could, but worried she might not have the genes for it.

Her good mood allowed her to tolerate her sisters' increasingly boisterous behavior. Teddy and Trinity played and frolicked the whole way, while Athena loudly sipped her empty smoothie cup.

Sienna was holding a full glass of smoothie, which was for Maple Leaf. She didn't go to the café where Handshaw was with the others.

She stayed home with Sam, who mostly just wanted a quiet place to do his schoolwork and work on a few projects.

Sienna didn't mind that her somewhat secluded underground base became a gathering place for her people who were both her subordinates and friends. Having company was pleasant, mainly because they could distract her sisters, meaning Sienna could have more time alone.

She went into the house and stepped aside so that her sisters could rush in before her.

Trinity spilled some shaved ice on the ground, but her other clone immediately pounced on it, its tongue clearly sticking out intentionally. Sienna quickly grabbed her collar and pulled her up.

“Go get the mop,” she said.

Athena volunteered to help clean the stains, and Sienna decided to let her do it. She had a lot of work to do and a lot to think about.

The message she received just as she left Hendershaw weighed heavily on her mind. Worse still, it wasn't untrue. She had indeed betrayed Glamazon.

Jessbel trusted Sienna, but Sienna hurt her.

Even before handing the intelligence over to Handshaw, Sienna knew he wouldn't just use it to help her; he would likely sell it and use it to achieve his own goals.

When Jessbel gave the USB drive to Sienna, he certainly didn't expect this outcome.

The likelihood of the Human Resources Department (HRT) discovering an intelligence leak might be low—after all, the person who bought the intelligence from Handshaw probably wouldn't spread it around—but… well, there are too many uncertainties involved.

This data was no longer under Sienna's control, and she deliberately leaked it.

No matter how you explain it, Sienna's image won't improve.

In fact, she was more worried about the impact this would have on her image than how bad the matter itself was... This made her feel nauseous and gave her a slight headache.

Sienna knew she should feel guilty, and she did feel a little guilty.

It was like the guilt one feels for not returning a shopping cart to its designated storage area. It was a fleeting and weak guilt, and the fact that it was so faint bothered her more than the guilt itself.

Has she always been this... mean, or is this a recent change?

She wasn't sure. In fact, for most of the past, she had never encountered a situation where she could make a clear and easy choice between right and wrong.

Of course, she tried to be friendly, but overall, she avoided interacting with people from the beginning.

Is it fair that her superpowers earned her the title of "villain"?

Sienna certainly hoped not. Although she had never intentionally done good, she had never intentionally done bad either.

She never cheats... but this is mainly because studying is usually just as energy-consuming as cheating, and she is terrified of getting caught and then having to endure a long lecture from the teacher.

And she has never stolen anything! Not because she actually had the opportunity or the desire to.

Sienna bit her lower lip, pondering these things as she walked towards the kitchen. She held the smoothie for Maple Leaf in her hand, wanting to hand it to her before it cooled down and became unpleasant to drink.

She was about to go find the maple leaves when Sam walked into the living room.

Sam's expression immediately put Sienna on alert.

“Hi!” Sienna said.

Sam sighed, looking as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "I'm so glad to see you," she said.

That didn't sound good. "Really?" Sienna asked.

Sam nodded. “You need to calm Maple down,” she said, “or at least get her to stop. I, uh, she won’t listen to me.”

"What is Maple Leaf doing?" Sienna asked. Of all her sisters, she found it hard to imagine Maple Leaf getting into such trouble. She was usually very quiet, reserved, and even polite. Unless… "What is she making?"

“Legs,” Sam said.

"leg?"

“Yes,” Sam said without further explanation.

“Where is she?” Sienna asked. “What do you mean by legs?”

“She was down in the train tunnel,” Sam said. “She told me she wanted to start making something, but it was too big for her room, so we found a spot in the tunnel. There were a few little repair shops there, you know?”

So I was thinking of giving her one of the rooms as a studio. It's not far from here, and if she makes anything dangerous, it won't be right next to the living room.

Sienna thought the idea was very practical. She still remembered the destructive power of the toaster made of maple leaves.

“I showed her the room. There was a small workbench and some old materials, but nothing else.”

Then I went back to get some things for her. When I went downstairs again, she had already started working, so I took out my laptop and didn't pay attention to her for a while.

Sienna couldn't help but frown inwardly. Ignoring her sisters would be asking for trouble.

This reminded her... she hadn't been paying attention to them either. A quick glance revealed Teddy cuddling a clone of Trinity on the sofa, dozing off after indulging in too much sugar.

Trinity's other two clones are trying to break free.

Athena, meanwhile, was distracted, alternating between watching them and the television.

“Girls, be good, we’ll be right back,” Sienna said, and followed Sam out of the room.

She felt there was a 50% chance they would make a mess of the place when she wasn't there, but there was nothing she could do about it.

Sam led her down the stairs to the tunnel beneath the base.

The massive tunnel was as empty and cold as ever, although Sam and some of his men had installed battery-powered lights around the doorways they used, which easily illuminated parts of the tunnel.

“She’s over here,” Sam said.

There are several small maintenance workshops along the tunnel.

Sienna guessed that these rooms were used by workers to store tools and such, but since the entire subway network was abandoned before it was put into use, most of these rooms became empty rat nests.

Sienna could hear the maple leaves inside. The clanging of metal against metal, the distinctive sound of tape being pulled apart—the sounds she often heard as this little inventor worked hard.

The door was ajar, but Sienna still knocked.

Partly out of politeness, and partly for self-preservation, Sienna didn't want to startle Maple Leaf and cause one of her gadgets to activate unexpectedly.

However, the knocking did not stop, so Sienna carefully pushed open the door.

Maple stood in front of the workbench, wobbling on a footstool so she could reach the surface and assemble… something. The thing was shaped like a leg, which made her uneasy.

“Maple leaves?” Sienna asked.

Maple paused, then turned and blinked at Sienna. She had a pair of goggles askew on her face, and her hair was a mess. “Oh, hi,” she said. Her gaze fell on the smoothie in Sienna’s hand.

“Hi,” Sienna said. She moved closer, feeling a little more at ease, thinking that what Maple was doing probably wouldn’t explode. Legs usually don’t explode. “What are you doing?” she asked.

Maple Leaf turned back to her work. "Legs," she said.

“Legs,” Sienna repeated.

Maple Leaf nodded. "It's for Steffi."

Suddenly everything made sense. Steffi was the daughter of the Sienna sisters' teacher. She was probably the sisters' only friend of the same age, and so far, her influence had been mostly positive.

She is also in a wheelchair, which limits her mobility in some ways.

“Legs.” Sienna repeated, looking at what was clearly the prototype of mechanical legs in front of her. “I understand,” she said.

Perhaps she doesn't need to worry too much about turning into a bad person?