Chapter 102: Unofficial Therapy

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Camilla

21 SEP 34AE

It was just Camilla's luck that her dad's memory stick didn't have the evidence they needed to completely take down Hester and the corrupt members of the Org. While there were some pieces that definitely made certain parties look bad, it wasn't nearly enough to guarantee they would pay for their crimes.

The most incriminating evidence they had was the recording of Hester's conversation with some nameless Org lackey, but it only contained discussions of what could possibly be a crime and was far from enough. They only had one shot for their attack, and they couldn't waste it in some halfhearted attempt. They needed much, much more.

And of course Camilla had to be repeatedly reminded of these facts over the course of two hours, not even a day after they returned to their Alaskan hideout. She supposed she wasn't required to attend Senior's "exclusive" meeting, limited only to a select few high ranking guardians, but she did so for the sake of at least trying to be cooperative. And if that meant she had to endure her cousin mockingly calling her "Captain Wyatt" a few times in exchange, then so be it.

Of course, she hadn't wanted anyone from their group to endure such a useless meeting, no matter how much Elsie tried to pretend to be supportive. At the same time, Camilla didn't want to face Senior and a bunch of her guardians alone. In the end, she ended up compromising and dragging Mack along with her. He was, after all, her vice captain; he also chose to join in on Hitomi's taunts.

The meeting ended up being a debrief of what they found from Ken's files, and planning what their next move would be. And since they still didn't have enough evidence to prove Hester and her associates' guilt, their next move had to fix that. Several people suggested using Amira as a way to gather more information from the inside, but Camilla was silently against that idea, and thankfully Senior felt the same.

After giving them a hand in San Francisco, and even helping them return to Alaska faster, Amira remained where she was stationed to continue monitoring the situation from within the Org. While her decision wasn't favored by Nakia, Camilla knew it was for the best.

Amira's one-time assist wasn't enough to make her trustworthy, and her insider position within the Org was too valuable to lose without a good reason. She had the potential to be a powerful ally, or an equally powerful enemy. And if she was an ally, having her simply collect evidence seemed like a waste that came with unnecessary risks.

It was a relief by the time they made it out of the debrief, even though they weren't a single bit closer to determining what their next move would be. The lack of progress irritated Camilla to no end. She felt like she was wasting her time, and the longer she took, the longer Hester could get away with torturing some other poor soul. Camilla was helpless.

Mack, on the other hand, didn't seem to share her sentiments. Instead, he casually yawned and stretched on their walk back to regroup with the others.

"Don't tell me you're tired already," Camilla scolded, even though she couldn't really talk. Before San Francisco, her sleeping patterns had already been a mess. They had only gotten worse now that she knew more about her dad, and she knew she had dark circles under her eyes to prove it.

No matter how you decide to live your life, just know that I am, and will always be, so very proud of you. If her dad knew what Camilla had done, would he still think that?

"As much as I respect Senior, she talks way too much," Mack said, then belatedly looked around them to make sure no one else was listening.

They agreed to stop by the cafeteria to grab coffee before meeting up with the rest of their group. Since lunch had just finished, the only people that lingered around were the cooks as they cleaned up the cafeteria to start preparing for dinner. Thankfully, the coffee machines were an all-day commodity, and the heat from the beverage was more than warm enough to thaw the perpetual chill that constantly lingered throughout the hideout.

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