As Nova was picking out ingredients in her small kitchen, Alita came out of the bathroom in new clothes.
She wore a black bodysuit that was closed at the back but had a large hole in the front, the sides of which were pulled together with a small clasp. Her entire stomach was on display while also showing a tantalising glimpse of her breasts.
The suit stopped just after her shoulders and just below her hips, leaving her arms and legs uncovered by the suit. She also wore a pair of black, knee-high punk platform boots and black socks that went all the way to her thighs.
She did a twirl and sighed, "Aaaaah, it feels good to be back in my own clothes."
Nova rolled her eyes, "I really don't understand how you can move so well with shoes like that."
Alita smiled, "Isn't it you who always said you can achieve anything with enough practice?"
A small smile broke through Nova's stoic face, "Well, at least you remember something from my teachings."
Alita went to stand next to Nova, "So, what's the plan? You are the better cook, so I put myself in your hands. Teach me, big sis!"
Unbeknownst to Nova, Alita also wanted to learn more to make a better meal for Ivar next time.
After Nova had given Alita some instructions, they started working on the meal, and Nova asked, "So, ready to tell me about your adventure now?"
Alita nodded while cutting some vegetables, "Well, let me start with the bad news. Andra betrayed us, or more specifically, me, but Tomayto-tomahto, right?"
Nova nearly destroyed her cutting board as her knife came down hard, and her voice flared with anger, "What?! Andra should be out there looking for you right now!"
Alita shrugged, "Well, she found me alright. Tried to kill me again, too, after her initial ambush plan failed. So if she turns up here, be sure to… actually, be sure to kill her on sight. She's much more powerful than a regular human for some reason."
Nova frowned, "Tell me everything, Alita."
So Alita started explaining her adventures in the last 48 hours while leaving out most of what Ivar did to her, simply describing him as a good samaritan with mysterious super-human strength.
After Alita was done, Nova looked very sceptical,
"You're telling me that some mysterious, likely genetically engineered, powerful naked man named Ivar saved you, helped you get back on your feet, protected you from Andra, who is apparently equally mysterious and serves some unknown mistress despite having been our loyal security chief for many years, and then simply parted ways with you when you neared Sanctuary, without ever touching you or asking for anything in return? He just left?"
Alita smiled wryly, "I get that you're sceptical, sis. But all I can do is tell you the truth. You know I wouldn't lie to you." She chuckled, "Or, more specifically, I can't."
Before meeting Ivar, Alita was a terrible liar when it came to Nova, but luckily, being a subjugated therian gave her increased control over her body and her emotions, at least when not concerning Ivar himself, allowing her to lie much more efficiently to her sister.
So Nova found it hard to dismiss her sister's words and sighed,
"Fine. Let's say that's what happened for now. I guess it's not impossible that this Ivar was an enemy of this mistress and helped you out for his own goals. Although what this mistress would want from you is anyone's guess."
Despite saying that, Alita noticed a flickering in Nova's eyes, making her wonder if her sister knew something she wasn't telling her.
Nova continued, "Did you catch the gang markings of the thugs that ambushed you?"
Alita nodded with a victorious smile, "Of course! They were members of the damned."
The damned were a gang of boosters, meaning most of them had heavily modified their bodies with cybernetics, making them dangerous, irritable and highly unpredictable.
Many people considered boosters to have lost their humanity, and the damned leaned into that with their gang name.
Nova's face suddenly twisted in a fury at the mention of that gang as she stabbed her knife into the countertop, "Damn half-metal freaks and their monster of a leader!"
Seeing Nova lose her cool so suddenly surprised Alita, "Woah, sis. I appreciate the anger on my behalf, but this seems a little more than that. Did I miss something?"
Nova quickly brought herself under control again, "No, it's nothing, Alita, don't worry about it."
That was the second time her sister seemed to be hiding something from her, causing Alita to get a little annoyed as she remembered another reason why she and Nova had grown apart in recent years: Nova kept secrets.
Outwardly, she smiled and nodded, while inside, she smirked somewhat evilly as she thought about how her daddy would soon make Nova spill all her secrets.
They discussed a few more details from Alita's adventure until dinner was ready.
As Nova prepared a little wine for the occasion, something they couldn't drink often, Alita brought the plates to the table.
But while Nova had her back turned to Alita, she quickly took the sleeping pills she had crushed up earlier during dinner preparation and mixed them up in her sister's food.
She did this while wearing a perverted smile, thinking about her reward later, but also a hopeful one, thinking about finally having a true sister again.
Obviously, it was a little twisted to try and get closer to her sister this way, but Alita has had a tumultuous life that left some well-hidden but large mental scars, scars that, combined with her new therian instincts, had allowed Ivar to worm his way into her psyche.
Soon, Nova arrived with the wine, and they started to talk about more mundane things while laughing and eating together.
Soon, however, Nova felt herself getting drowsier and drowsier, and soon, she rested her head on her hand as she felt the room spinning around her.
Alita stood up and held her sister's shoulders, "Are you alright, sis?"
"I… Yeah, I'm just… feeling a little tired. I suppose I haven't slept well since you disappeared."
Alita smiled as she fed her sister another bite, "That's understandable, sis. But here, eat a little more; you don't want to waste food, do you?"
Nova was confused and tired, but after so many days of starving on the streets in her youth, not wasting food was a trigger for her, so she kept eating the drug-laced food with her sister's help.
Soon, Nova couldn't sit up anymore, so she slipped down onto the ground as Alita held and lowered her slowly, "Shhh, big sis, just sleep. When you wake up, we can be together again; Daddy will take care of us."
Nova, barely holding on to her consciousness, heard those words and mumbled while slurring her words, "Alisha, wha dis uiu do?"
But Alita didn't answer as she smiled while stroking her sister's hair until Nova fully slipped into unconsciousness.
After it was done, she picked Nova up using her vastly increased strength from being a therian, carried Nova to her bed and put her down. Next, she went to grab her sister's key ring and left the apartment.
After getting back to the stairs, she slowly started sneaking downwards, hoping she wouldn't come across anyone who might ask questions.
Luckily, it was still only 4:30 in the morning, so most people were still asleep, but she needed to hurry, as people would soon start waking up.
She quickly reached the ground floor that held the store, but instead of going towards the front entrance, she turned around and took a small, dark hallway that went under the stairs, past the back of Molly's infirmary, and straight to a heavy looking door, locked with various bars and padlocks.
This door was generally never opened, and the only reason it wasn't completely boarded up was because it made for a convenient escape route.
Which was usually fine since the door was tough and locked with various locks that could only be opened from the inside; combined with the camera guarding the outside, the risk was minimal, especially because there was still the sheet metal wall on the other side.
Unfortunately, these considerations did not consider a traitor.
Even that risk was minimal, however, as only two people had the keys to this door: Nova and whoever was leading the guards at any particular moment, which was Nola right now.
She grabbed her sister's key ring and started opening the various locks until nothing prevented the door from opening, but instead of doing so, she anxiously awaited Ivar's signal.
The camera outside would pick up if the door were opened, so she needed to wait for whoever Ivar's hacker was to put the camera on a loop before the door could be opened.
Eventually, she sighed in relief when she heard a soft knock on the door and quickly pushed it open.