[Conley House, Austin, Texas (April 30, 2023)]
"It's a shame that I was only able to see you right when it was time for you to leave." Samantha Conley said to Maria with a calm smile on her face. "I was really looking forward to researching that dragon of yours. But…I guess I'll just have to wait until next time to get a good look at it."
"It's cool." Maria replied with her trademark stoic face. "I know that you're pretty busy with your company."
As strange as it was to believe, this was the raven-haired 'beast magic' user's first time seeing Samantha Conley ever since she had gotten to Austin. The woman's pet cloning company, RepliTech, was based in Dallas. Which was, at best, a three-hour drive from where the rest of her family lived. And considering how important her work was, it made sense that the woman wasn't here as much as one would expect.
"I'm sure that you'll get the chance to see it one day, sweetie." Chief Alexander said to the woman with a casual smile. "But that companion of hers really is something. Even Morning Star was impressed by it."
"Oh, now you're just trying to make me jealous, aren't you?" Samantha replied while cupping her hand around her husband's chin.
Maria still found it hard to believe that these two were actually a married couple. To be honest, they seemed pretty mismatched in her opinion. A comically laid-back DPA Chief and a mad scientist were hardly the kind of match that she could've predicted. But from what she had seen of them so far, they got along pretty well.
"Ugh…" Alex scrunched her face up at the sight of her parents' shameless flirting. "Can you two not do that in front of us? It's gross."
"You'll be fine." Chief Alexander waved the blonde woman off without a second thought.
"I still can't believe that it's already time for you to leave." Sam then added from his seat at the kitchen table. "It feels like you've only been here for a few days."
"Can't argue with that." Maria looked at the man.
"At least this was a very productive trip for Agent Ortega here." The Chief then said as he placed his hands in his pockets. "Her synergy with her companions has improved quite a bit. It won't be long before she can finally merge her consciousness with them. I can see why Harold's kids were hyping her up so much."
Maria couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed at the sudden praise that the Chief Agent was giving her. That being said, the man was right. Maria had improved a lot more than she expected when it came to the bond she had with her companions. Sure, she still wasn't at the level of someone like Robin. But for only a month of non-stop training, she had grown more than she thought was possible.
"In any case, I hope you find your way back here soon, young lady." Samantha then said to her. "From what my children tell me, you fit in rather nicely around here. It's a shame that you're already working for Zoe Chandler. If it weren't for her and Mubele, I would've tried to convince you to put in a transfer request."
"You're just saying that because you want to poke and prod Attuma to your heart's content, aren't you?" Sam said to his mother.
"I won't pretend that I'm not." The woman folded her arms across her chest.
Since they still had a bit of time before they had to start making their way to the airport, the group decided to sit down for a bit and relax. Maria couldn't help but admire the family dynamic that they all had going on as she watched them talk about what had been going on in their lives while the matriarch of the family was away at work. They all seemed pretty happy to be around each other.
The young woman then thought back to the times when her father was still alive. Their family had pretty much been the same before everything went to shit. Her father would always regale her and her mother with stories about how his students used to drive him crazy. And her mother would constantly complain about all of the crazy patients that she would encounter at the hospital where she worked.
Maria would be lying if she said that she didn't miss those days. They seemed like such a long time ago that she couldn't help but feel nostalgic about them. But as much as she hated to admit it, there was no point in fondly reminiscing about the past. Especially not when her father's killer was still on the loose somewhere out there in the world.
"So…" Samantha then turned her attention toward Maria. "My son tells me that you figured out our family's little secret."
Maria instinctively tensed up after hearing that. She had no clue how the woman was going to react to her learning about her son technically being her clone. "I did…."
The brunette mad scientist gave the raven-haired teen a hard look for all of five seconds before giving her an indifferent shrug. "Oh well…it is what it is. I can't say that I didn't expect this to happen. Not much that we can do about it now. So there's no point in fussing over it."
That…was not the reaction that Maria had been expecting.
"Hey, at least she was cool about the whole thing." Chief Alexander then said. "You remember how Oliver freaked out the moment he found out about it."
"God…don't remind me."
"Besides…" Alex quickly chimed in. "It's not like it's the strangest thing about our family. Sam being a clone probably isn't even in the top five on the list of crazy things about us. I mean…have any of you seen the newest additions to Dad's LEGO collection lately?"
"Hey! How I spend my free time is none of your business."
"It was still pretty crazy to hear, though." Maria quietly replied.
"Don't worry. If you stay in the DPA long enough, you're bound to encounter way more bizarre things. Believe me, human clones are pretty low on the list of weird shit out there."
All Maria could do was nod at the Chief Agent's words. She had no doubt that there was a plethora of strange and mindbending shit out there in a world where magical monsters roamed the streets on any given day. If anything, these guys were right. Clones were probably one of the more normal things that she should expect to see in her lifetime. That being said, the whole thing was still absolutely insane for her to think about.
"Alright, it's about time we head out." Sam declared as he stood up from his seat. "We need to leave now if we want to avoid the traffic."
"Agreed!" Alex also stood up. "I'm not trying to get stuck in the middle of all that mess."
"Well then, I guess this is goodbye. See you around Ortega! I look forward to hearing about your progress."
"Thank you for having me, sir. I greatly appreciate it. And I'll make sure to put everything that you taught me to good use." Maria replied with as much courtesy as she could muster.
"Don't mention it! Just make sure to stay alive and keep your head above water."
"I'll do that."
"Don't be a stranger!" Samantha then said. "If you're ever in the area, feel free to give us a call!"
"Will do."
With the goodbyes now finally out of the way, Maria, Sam, and Alex took their leave and began making their way to the airport. The raven-haired woman had a great time while she was out here. And she certainly wasn't going to forget it anytime soon. But now it was time for her to head back home and get back to the grind.
'Time to get back to work.' Maria told herself as she watched the Austin skyline from the passenger seat of the car. 'No rest for the wicked.'
There was still a lot of work that needed to be done when it came to finding her father's killer. And she planned on picking up right where she left off the moment she got back home.
-(o)-
Character Profile: Samantha
Name: Samantha Mae Conley
Alias: N/A
Gender: Female
Age: 49
Birthday: January 17th
Birthplace: Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States of America
Height: 65in
Weight: 131lbs.
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Race: White
Magic: Beast (Cervidae)
Occupation: CEO of RepliTech, Biotechnological Engineer, Cryptozoologist, Cryptid Breeder, Magical Research Association Board Member
Stat Chart: B
-Physical Strength - 2
-Intelligence - 5+
-Magic Amount - 4
-Magical Control - 5
-Magic Sensing - 4
-Special - N/A
Fun Fact:
-Favorite food is barbecue pork.
-Alma Mater: University of Oklahoma (BS), Georgia Tech (MS), Stanford University (PhD)
-Favorite movie is Robin Hood.
-Was once offered a position in the Clock Tower's Council of Lords, but turned it down for unknown reasons.