05:15 (local time)
Watson Estate, Crawley
Kate was getting impatient and uncomfortable because of the situation at hand and because the lady from before was standing in front of the door silently for almost an hour now, doing nothing. She got up from the couch and tried to get out of the room, but the lady stood in front of her and said in a calm voice, "Please, be seated. The princess will be with you shortly."
Kate said in an annoyed voice, "Look… " She looked at the name tag pinned to the right side of her chest and continued, "Aura, I'm really busy right now. I don't have all day to spend waiting in here for her. Get her… "
The door opened as Annabelle entered the room while saying, "Why so impatient? Whatever you do, you can't stop what's coming. You need to focus on how to finish it before it spells the end of humanity."
Kate looked over Aura's shoulder and saw Annabelle standing in front of the door. She was wearing a navy blue suit with professional high heels, clearly ready to go somewhere. Kate bowed and started to introduce herself, "It's a great pleasure to have your attendance, your highness. I'm…"
Annabelle interrupted her mid-sentence as she said, "Drop the pleasantries, General Hiddleton. You're not in a formal attendance."
Kate was a bit shocked, as only a handful of people outside her family knew her real name, and Annabelle surely wasn't supposed to be in that list.
Annabelle noticed Kate's surprised look and said, "No need to act surprised; I know everything about you. Aura?"
Aura started speaking, "Lieutenant General Kate Hiddleton, Callsign: Sage. Born: 15th of August, 1990. Finished her bachelor's in political science in 2012, top of her class from Cambridge University, and joined the Royal Air Force. Exceptional performance during the training phase made her get selected for the SAS. Served in the SAS for 2 years and then in the SNA for 7 more years before becoming the second British representative in the SNA and the youngest general in the General's council in 2024 at the age of just 34. She was the only member out of the Seven who voted against the expulsion of the Bravo Squad for Project Spectre fallout."
Kate was more than stunned hearing Aura narrate away her whole life, which should've been a top secret, like reading from a diary. Annabelle was looking at Kate with a smug smile. As Kate got back to earth, Annabelle said, "I also know why you're here. Follow me."
She didn't wait for Kate and turned around and started walking. Aura followed closely behind. Kate remained frozen for a few more seconds before she realised that she was being left behind and ran after them. Kate came out of the living room into the main hall and saw Annabelle going towards the kitchen. Annabelle got to the kitchen counter and started making herself a cup of coffee as she said, "We're going to the states. Drop the uniform. Aura, get General Middleton a suit."
Kate silently followed as Aura said, "Follow me," and walked upstairs.
Both of them came down 10 minutes later. This time Kate was wearing a black skirt with a white blouse and a black suit jacket with black professional heels. Annabelle was drinking coffee while leaning on the kitchen counter. She put the mug down on the counter and said, "Now that's more like it."
She took out a few IDs from her suit pocket, gave them to Kate and said, "You're just Kate Hiddleton now. My lawyer, not a three-star general."
Kate silently took the IDs, as she couldn't help but be in awe of the thoroughness and preparation of Annabelle. The three of them got out of the mansion and got in a limousine waiting on the driveway. Annabelle and Kate got in the back as Aura went and sat in the driving seat. The car started, and they got out of the estate as the royal guards saluted.
As they travelled, Annabelle took out her tablet and started working, leaving Kate in an awkward situation. She tried to initiate small talk and asked, "Why are we going to the USA?"
Annabelle said while still working, "You want to bring Sohel back, right? So, I'm arranging a meeting between you two. You'll meet him and talk with him; if he decides to come back, cool. If not, you're taking the next jet back to London."
"I was hoping you…"
"No. Don't ask anything from me. What he decides to do is his choice. I won't say a word."
Kate didn't have an answer. The rest of the journey went by in silence.
02:44 (Local Time)
Female Student Dormitory, Academy District, New Eden
By the time De Luca, Elina and Sifat reached the dormitory building, the fight was over. But instead of relief, despair filled their hearts as they saw the scene before them. The whole compound was full of dead bodies scattered around, their blood being constantly washed away by the rain. But that wasn't what horrified them. They had seen a lot like that throughout the night. What horrified them was the building itself. There was no reception, no walls. All of the ground and first floors were a single hill of broken concrete stained red by blood with furniture and bodies stuck to them like wilted leaves.
People were clearing up the debris and pulling out dead bodies and half-dead people. Elina frantically looked for Jacob, but she couldn't find her. But she found Arina and Mitali in the medic unit. They had set up a temporary medical hut on the far side of the compound to treat the patients who were too sensitive to take to the medical centre. The three of them ran to Arina and Mitali. Mitali was performing CPR on a female cadet while Arina came back with another cadet carrying on her back.
Arina laid the cadet down on a tripol on the ground and was about to run back when she noticed the three. Arina didn't stop. She said as she ran back towards the building, "If you're going to just stand there like statues, go home. If not, help get the bodies."
The three quickly ran towards the building too, following Arina. De Luca had let go of his dog's leash. The dog started running around the medical tent, getting the medics the stuff they'd need.