Chapter 94: Working On ONI and Breakfast With The Queen Of The Underworld

Irina was right, she really had gone beyond his request. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to allow her to court him.Ethan chuckled at the thought.

Yes, he’d get access to every single material he might ever need, no favors demanded or debts recorded. But that convenience came wrapped in iron chains. It would bind him to the underworld queen in ways far messier than their current deal did.

And Ethan Carter did not belong to anyone.

Besides, he’d be hurting Lillian and he didn’t want that.

Putting on a pair of latex gloves, Ethan adjusted his lab glasses and walked towards the work area Irina had previously gotten set-up.

He had on a clean white lab coat, which reminded him of his times in labs in his past life.

The desk was already arranged with all the tools and materials he might need by Irina’s bodyguards on her command so he didn’t have to bother with it.

Turns out, she really had something else to do here in Atlanta so she had left already, giving him the chance to get to work.

The blueprint for ONI was already completely in his head so there was only one thing to do right now.

’System, remove the restriction on my mind,’ he said, ’I can’t focus while it feels this stuffy.’

[Understood,] the system responded.

Soon after his words, Ethan felt the restriction being lifted and he felt truly free, though, the constant calculations had returned, it worked pretty well in this situation.

"Alright then, let’s get to work." He said.

He proceeded to move his materials towards the electron microscope and started preparing them.

All he had to do was make sure the materials were in place and everything would be assembled in the microassembler Irina had gotten.

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The hours quickly passed and before Ethan could realize, it was morning already... Well, he hadn’t realized yet since he was still focused on the results of his work before him, plus there were no windows to let in sunlight.

He had spent the night making sure that he used the right amount of polymer gel or that the graphene sheets were in the right order.

And finally, he had to make sure that ONI didn’t fry his eye balls the moment he wore them... That’d be pretty bad.

Which got him curious, could he still see the system’s interface if his eyes were—

"What’s that?" He was cut off mid thought, by a familiar voice over his shoulders.

Slowly turning around, he was faced with Irina, who, again, was in his personal space.

She was standing really, really close but Ethan didn’t step back this time, he just sighed and turned back around before saying, "that was fast, I thought your meeting would take longer."

"My meeting?" Irina looked at him in confusion, "that was last night, it’s 7:39 AM right now."

Ethan froze, finally realizing that he had been working for the whole night. But thanks to his brain upgrade, he didn’t feel the slightest bit tired.

"Have you been working the entire night?" Irina asked.

Ethan didn’t answer right away. He set the tweezers down carefully, eyes scanning the thin lattice of graphene suspended in its polymer bath one last time before sealing the microscope chamber. Only then did he remove his gloves and lean back in his chair.

"Yes," he finally admitted. "And I’m not finished yet."

Irina tilted her head, her crimson lips curving in amusement. "Most men lose track of time in my presence, Ethan Carter. Not in front of... toys."

"Tools," Ethan corrected dryly, brushing the bridge of his nose where his glasses had dug in. "And if you’re going to stand there and hover, at least don’t breathe on my equipment. Some of these materials react to humidity."

That earned a soft laugh from her. She leaned against the edge of the desk anyway, close enough for him to catch the faint scent of her perfume. "So serious. You’ve been locked away all night, and there’s not a trace of exhaustion in your eyes. What are you building that matters so much you forget the sun exists?"

Ethan considered brushing her off, but that’d get annoying fast, especially with the glint of curiosity glowing in her eyes, so he just sighed and responded.

"Something that will let me see and think differently," he said at last, deliberately vague. "And no, you can’t buy it, borrow it, or steal it."

"Not interested," she shook her head, "I’m just here for you."

’You would be if you knew its capabilities,’ he mentally thought but said nothing in response.

"Now then," Irina stood up straight, "take off the lab coat and let’s go get breakfast."

"Not hungry," Ethan stated but his body clearly disagreed and its protest was made known by the loud growl of his stomach.

"Your tummy says otherwise," Irina said with a chuckle, "now come on, let’s go get something to eat."

With a sigh, Ethan resigned and stood up, walking towards the hanger in the lab and hanging his lab coat there before disposing of the latex gloves in his hands.

"I wish you’d take off more than just the lab coat and gloves," Irina who was watching him commented, a sly grin on her face.

Ethan shot her a flat look over his shoulder. "If you’re expecting me to laugh, don’t hold your breath."

"Oh, I wasn’t joking," Irina only smirked, utterly unfazed, "I want to see what lies under those clothes."

Well this isn’t working, Ethan thought to himself with a sigh before he turned and said, "let’s go."

"You’re no fun," she said, slipping past him toward the door, her heels clicking lightly against the sterile floor. "But that’s alright, it wouldn’t have been as fun if you were easy."

With that, she silently led him towards her car which worked well for Ethan. He entered the car right after her, the same two guards closing the door behind them and driving away.

_____

Their drive took a while since they were basically at the outskirts of Atlanta, but they soon arrived at a breakfast place.

The car came to a smooth stop in front of a quiet brick-walled café tucked between two larger storefronts.

It didn’t look like the kind of place for someone like Irina Romanova.

Ethan raised a brow as one of her guards stepped out first to scan the area. "This isn’t exactly your style."

Irina’s lips held a faint smile as the second guard opened her door. "Not everything about me is about the underworld, Ethan. Sometimes I prefer something... simple."

He gave her a look that said he didn’t believe her for a second but followed her inside anyway.

The café smelled of fresh bread and roasted coffee beans, the warmth was a contrast to the sterile coldness of the lab they’d just left. A few early risers sat at the other tables, sipping coffee and reading newspapers. None of them gave Ethan or Irina a second glance.

Irina chose a corner booth where she and Ethan sat and a second later, a waitress appeared, "welcome to Aurora’s table, what would you like to order."

The menu was already on the table so Ethan and Irina picked them up and started place orders.

"American breakfast with black coffee for me," she said before turning to Ethan, waiting for him to place his order.

"A stack of pancakes with maple syrup," he said, handing the menu back. "And a hot chocolate."

The waitress scribbled it down with a polite nod and moved away, leaving them in the faint hum of quiet conversation and clinking cutlery.

Irina’s brows lifted slightly. "Hot chocolate? How... uncharacteristically sweet of you."

"My brain’s been running calculations for twelve hours straight," Ethan replied, resting his elbow on the table and rubbing his temple. "Something hot and full of sugar is exactly what I need."

Irina said nothing in response, she just gave a chuckle and turned to look out the glass window.

There was a moment of silence between the two before Ethan ended it as he called out to her, "Irina."

"Hm?" She curiously turned to him.

"I don’t know whether this... thing you’re doing is just you having fun, or if you actually mean it," Ethan said, his tone calm. "But either way, I need to be clear with you."

Irina tilted her head, watching him with that unreadable smile of hers, as if inviting him to continue.

"I’m not ready for a relationship," Ethan said plainly. "Not right now. My focus is on my work... and there’s already someone else I care about."

Irina raised a brow, though her expression barely flickered. "Someone else?"

"Yes," Ethan nodded with no intention to clarify who she was.

"I see, " Irina nodded, her expression cracking a little before she quickly hid it with a smile, "and am I correct to assume it’s your COO?"

Ethan said nothing in response, he just narrowed his eyes.

"Calm down, I don’t intend to do anything," she laughed, "but know this Ethan Carter, I’m not giving up and I don’t mind sharing, as long as you belong to me."

Ethan was a bit taken aback by her words but she didn’t allow him to continue.

"So until you can see that," she locked eyes with him, "I’m not letting you go."