[2.6] She Approaches

Camilla never went into the storm, anymore. Even with all the different shields up, she would still get sick: headaches, blurred senses, or the sensation of something gritty and burning being caked onto her skin. On some days, if the wind blew toward the fortress, she couldn't even go outside without experiencing some degree of irritation.

After her phone call with Hauke, she dodged all the celebrations and took a maintenance elevator down to ground level. She walked among massive exposed piping systems and regulators tucked at the back of the Efferis. She breathed.

She couldn't remember that last time everything had seemed so . . . possible. Maybe it was when she first went to live with the Sterlings, and she had finally felt like she had allies again. Before her parents had gone, the three of them had been this invincible unit. There had been no limitations for her future, no reason that she couldn't have aspirations that spanned the globe. And then they disappeared, and with them any control she had had over her own life.

But Conlan had promised to help her get it all back, starting with the fortress. If it was influence that he needed, he would earn it. He started with racing, and moved through the ranks. Caught the Crown’s eye, and won some favor. A nobleman’s son with no real worth of his own yet, but he had aimed higher than anyone. And he had done it, despite what all the onlookers had said. Together, she and Conlan had fought their way through the red tape together, banishing the fatalistic pall that the upper Efferis management had adopted, and they had taken the fortress back. Not only that, now . . . Now they were going to be on top again. They were going to prove to everyone that the Efferis didn't just survive, it flourished.

No one could question them now. She could do what she had been waiting years for.

She would find her parents.  

The wind blew against them, that day, and Camilla ducked behind service docks and maintenance sheds, traversing her little steel jungle. She was gaining strength. Just enough lumia wafted amidst the structures that she was beginning to grow a little accustomed to it. Soon she would walk out into the open plain that surrounded Efferis. And after that, she would face the storms again.