Arachnalich stretched and groaned as she put down her pen. She then narrowed her eyes and ground her teeth.

Just how long did they expect her to work?!

Why couldn’t she get a break?!

Arachnalich, of course, had not realized that Bob had meant it when they said they would let her run the AVS as she pleased and that she had full control over her own schedule. In fact, Bob would notice her continuous work and specifically force her to take some time off by the end of that very week.

But Arachnalich had other things on her mind. Her face curled into a vicious grin.

Because it would all come to an end soon.

See…she had figured it out.

At first, she had panicked, certain the boss and his evil organization could track every last one of her spiders.

And with these implants recording everything she said or did, what could she possibly do to outmaneuver them?

But when she came to her senses, she realized she had no reason to believe that they could track her spiders. Sure they had caught some of her spiders in action. But they had expected the AVS elites to betray one another. So obviously, they would be monitoring the elites very closely. They wouldn’t have needed to follow every single one of her spiders to do what they did.

And her link with the spiders was magical. Once the spiders were raised, she didn’t need to move her body or say anything to control them. A camera in her eye wouldn’t suffice to monitor that.

So Arachnalich took things very slowly. She had her spiders creep back towards the place where her implants were installed, waiting for any reaction, any sign they were detected.

But there was no response.

She grinned.

Even now, the spiders were infiltrating the facility. She would locate her phylactery, kidnap the scientist responsible for the implants, and then she would be free.

And then she would catch that boss in her web, and turn the tables on him once and for all.

She focused in on the spiders to check on their progress.

She froze.

All the spiders she sent were gone.

And text appeared across her vision.

“Thank you for your assistance in identifying security weaknesses.”

Arachnalich trembled.

Back at Nemesis HQ, a team compiled an infiltration report. This would be sent to security and facilities to update all of Nemesis’s buildings.

Ironically, Arachnalich was correct. Bob hadn’t been able to track all her spiders directly while she schemed her way through the AVS.

Key word: had.

Even since her encounter with Xiong Huang, Elise had spent long and hard observing and calculating responses to more mystical energy sources. One result was she had learned to calibrate mundane sensors to track supernatural energies.

So of course, Bob had asked for these types of sensors to be installed in Arachnalich’s implants, attuned to her magic.

And so, whenever Arachnalich performed magic, whether casting a spell or sending magical commands, Bob’s people could track it, following the trace extending from the mage herself.

Which is why they took the opportunity to let Arachnalich reveal some holes in their defenses, allowing her to infiltrate a facility they had only ever used once during her resurrection.

Arachnalich smiled as she sat across her desk. She was currently interviewing another supervillain. She spoke with a smile about the benefits of AVS membership…and the costs of freelancing.

But that’s not all she did.

Her organic eye winked and stayed closed for a second. Then it winked four times in rapid succession. Then one brief wink. Then a long wink, a short wink, and two more long winks.

It was simple.

If they were watching her from her eye…all she had to do was communicate outside of her own vision!

…yeah it never worked. Turns out most of the villains didn’t catch it at all, or thought she was crazy. Three even thought she was hitting on them somehow!

But that was fine.

Yes…it was fine.

She didn’t want a dumb one.

On the contrary, she may only get one shot at this, so she wanted the smartest one she could find! Which means the one hundred percent failure rate meant she chose the right vetting method! Surely, she’d find a supergenius with the brains to outsmart this evil boss of hers!

Surely!

Any day now!

Any day!

Oops, her eye was ‘winking’ incorrectly, better dial it back and repeat the message.

And then…

The villain’s eyes widened. He blinked in a particular fashion as he smiled. Arachnalich grinned.

Success.

She had gained an ally.

Which meant…

Soon…she would have her freedom!

And turn the tables on that stupid boss of hers!

Two Nemesis HQ staff munched on snacks as they watched their monitors. One, from Arachanlich’s robotic eye. The other…from the camera in the corner of the room. Barely even hidden, in fact.

“She, uh, knows we can see her from the other side, right?”

“Shhhh. Just let her have her moment. She’ll realize it soon enough.”

And then they started to compile the villain report they'd hand to the ILS.

Arachnalich took a deep breath from her hiding spot.

This wasn’t a great plan, nor one she was looking forward to.

But it would work.

See…if the implants were spying on her, all she had to do was get rid of them.

And how would she get rid of them?

Easy!

All she had to do was die!

Of course, if she tried to commit suicide, the boss would know. He’d just set the same ritual back up and trap her again.

So what she had to do was find a situation where she could make it look natural and unexpected. Catch them off guard.

She had also been researching her reconstitution methods and came up with a workaround. Simple, she could amplify the connection to one of her minions and so transfer her consciousness to its body. It would not be ideal and she would need to exit and reconstitute her body properly shortly after, but it would buy her a bit of time where she could act anonymously.

She would have a chance to make some connections and set something up.

And right now…she had a chance to die.

A mighty roar filled the air. Arachnalich grinned.

Surely the boss couldn’t complain if she tried to bring a kaiju into the fold…and just so happened to fail. He wanted her to keep the monsters under control, right?

Well, she would try her best!

Arachnalich stepped out, yelling at the monster. It ignored her of course, so she fired a missile at its face.

She let out a sigh.

She would miss the missiles.

And her digital spellbook.

And her shows.

And the flamethrower.

Even the computer spying on her was pretty useful.

She heaved a sigh as the shadow of a massive foot covered her.

It was regretful…but it couldn’t be helped.

Archnalich awoke and stretched her limbs. She went to check the time on her clock…

She paused.

Oh.

That’s right.

No more clock.

She looked down at the ground.

No more spellbook.

No more weapons.

No instant communications.

No more shows.

Just her, her body, and her wits once more. She was about to heave a sigh…

A digital clock popped up in her view.

She jumped slightly, and then raced to check her data.

She smiled.

It was all there!

Her contacts!

Her links!

Her data!

Her spells!

Her weapons!

Everything was still…

Arachnalich froze.

Wait.

If everything was still there…

Bob shook his head as he watched Arachnalich scream. She…she knew they had access to the spellbook, right? That if she came up with a new ritual to get around them highjacking her reconstitution…that they could also use that ritual themselves? Strengthen the connection back to one of the bodies they had pre-prepared for her so it would take precedence?

Well, she was pretty stressed lately. She seemed to be overworking herself, trying to manage the entire AVS on her own. Bob heaved a sigh.

Guess he would have to check on her.

Arachnalich giggled to herself.

In hindsight, it was obvious. So obvious.

The answer was blindingly easy. So incredibly simple she had overlooked it for all this time.

If they were holding her phylactery hostage…all she needed was a hostage of her own!

And who better…than the boss himself?

And the fool was coming here himself to check up on her! He would pay for his insecurity…his need to micromanage her in-person!

She didn’t set up any traps ahead of time, since that would tip him off. But she shouldn’t need to. She was much stronger than him, after all. Wasn’t that why they recruited her to begin with, because they needed someone strong? So she just need to wait for the right moment and then strike quickly and decisively.

She would wrap him up!

She would take back her phylactery!

And then she would make him work for her!

He would have to do all the work!

And wait on her hand and feet!

Until she was satisfied!

Oh, she could taste her victory already...

There was a knock at the door.

“Come in.”

There he was, that hated man, with his stupid mask. But she knew, behind that stupid mask, was the mind of a master schemer, one who could trap even someone as her. She needed to be cautious…to lure him into a false sense of security.

“Hello, Arachnalich, how have you been?”

“Oh my, are you worried about little old me? Well, everything has been going well, please, have a seat.”

“Thank you. Well, onto business then. I’ve been reviewing your performance.”

Arachnalich felt like screaming, but she decided to simply smile instead.

“Yes?”

Bob nodded at her.

“You’ve been going above and beyond. I appreciate the enthusiasm but I have concerns you’re overworking yourself. Tell me, why haven’t you been taking breaks lately?”

Arachnalich froze.

Um, what?

What…was going on?

“I figured you would be delegating some of this, do you need help finding a good assistant?”

“Oh, um, that would be…appreciated?”

“Got it, I’ll see if we can find a good candidate.”

Arachnalich squirmed around. Her heart pounded as the question rose in her mind.

“It’s just…um.”

“Yes?”

“You, um, weren’t expecting me…to do all this…by myself?”

“What? Of course not.”

“Then…um…why haven’t I…been told…to stop?”

Bob tilted his head.

“We told you, right? The AVS is under your management. You can decide delegation of duties and work schedules on your own. In fact, we’re quite worried you haven’t taken any breaks yet…”

“I…could have stopped…anytime I wanted?”

“Yes.”

Arachnalich’s head crashed onto her desk.

The two talked for a while after that. Some planning and schedule suggestions. But mostly, Arachnalich’s heart exploding as she dumped all her frustrations and stress on the nearest willing ear.

She, ah, may have lost control a bit.

But he didn’t seem to mind. So…she kept talking. And talking. And talking.

It was around the time she was discussing her past relationship with her father when her stomach growled.

“I’ve taken up a lot of your time, perhaps we should call it here?”

“Ah, yes, that seems…good.”

“Well, I’ll check in with you to see how things are going later. Take care, Arachnalich.”

“Ah, thank you, take care.”

Arachnalich waved as Bob left the room. She heaved a sigh as she lay on her desk, closing her eyes.

She was utterly exhausted…she may even have cried a bit…but…it was good to talk. To let it all out. She felt…relieved. As if a heavy weight had lifted from her shoulders, a knot untangling within her chest.

She even smiled.

Because! She could take a rest! She could laze about for the rest of the night and get started on her plans tomorrow! Plans that would drastically reduce her workload!

Suddenly Arachnalich’s eyes shot open.

Her plans.

Her plans…to kidnap the boss.

The boss…she had just spent hours talking to.

Who had just left.

Without her kidnapping him.

And whom…she had dumped out her entire heart to.

Arachnalich slowly moved her hands to her head. She grabbed two fistfuls of her hairs.

And then she screamed.