Triple Point

Chapter 98: Road Trip

Elsie

September 3, 34 AE

Under normal circumstances, Elsie thought herself to be quite the optimist. Sure, recent events would indicate otherwise, and she would be the first to admit that her little woe-is-me phase after Camilla was taken was a little embarrassing, but could anyone really blame her? She was distraught. And really, Elsie thought she handled the whole situation decently well in the long run.

So when Camilla had found the small memory stick in the middle of the night (and almost gave Elsie a heart attack in the process), Elsie let her long lost optimism return. She thought things were looking up, and they finally were headed in the right direction. She thought they were one step closer to returning to normal, and Camilla and her could finally go home without worrying about people being after them.

But of course, things refused to go according to plan.

It didn't take long for Hitomi to find out the memory stick was heavily encrypted, and none of the Alliance metas had better luck in trying to crack it ("If I could not get it, why would they think they could?" Hitomi had said). The only bright side came a few days later, when Hitomi discovered that it could possibly be decrypted by a computer that had belonged to Camilla's dad.

"I think he had a laptop hidden around somewhere..." Camilla replied, once Hitomi finished explaining her theory to Camilla and Elsie as they sat around their room one afternoon. "But if he did, it would be in our house in SF."

"Would Blaire have kept his belongings?" Hitomi asked, skeptical. "She does not seem like the type to be sentimental about him."

"She did, and she is," Camilla said nonchalantly, but her eyebrows were furrowed to match the slight frown on her face. "But I don't know if she misses him, or the life he could've given her."

"Probably the second," Hitomi muttered bitterly.

"How would we even get there though?" Elsie asked. "It'd be bad enough trying to get to Canada. But all the way to NorCal?"

"I'm sure Senior could figure something out," Camilla said, but she still looked hesitant.

And Elsie had a good idea why.

Once Camilla and Hitomi proposed their idea to the senior chief, she easily agreed, and immediately began gathering a team to strategize a plan. While the ensuing meeting needed Camilla for her childhood knowledge and Hitomi for her technical expertise, Elsie felt essentially useless. So as soon as she got the chance, Elsie got Camilla's attention.

"I think I'm just getting in the way," Elsie whispered before immediately sidestepping a guardian rushing by them with an open laptop in each hand. "Should I just go?"

"But I need you," Camilla automatically whispered back before pausing, her eyes growing slightly wider at her own unexpected words.

"Really?" Elsie asked, unable to help the wide grin stretching across her face.

"I mean, you can leave if you want," Camilla hurriedly backtracked, her voice even quieter than before.

"No, I'm fine staying," Elsie said honestly, trying her hardest to lessen her smile into something more suitable for their formal environment.

As she spoke, she let one of her hands drift towards one of Camilla's. They were standing close enough that it didn't take long for Elsie's fingers to brush lightly against Camilla's wrist. And as soon as she did, Camilla's hand moved as well, taking Elsie's with her own. With that gesture, there was no way Elsie could hold back her smile anymore, and she let herself grin as wide as she pleased as she squeezed Camilla's hand earnestly.