Triple Point

Chapter 40: Assembling the Team

After she and Elsie spent the next couple hours relaxing as much as they could, Camilla got ready for work. She had no clothes at all except for the baggy T-shirt and athletic shorts she had been wearing when the Barracks got attacked. Thankfully, Elsie eagerly gave Camilla clothes to borrow, but they didn't fit her well in a way that was attributed to more than just a height difference, and Camilla felt bad enough about encroaching on her home. Without many options though, she made do with what she had, and planned to purchase seven new sets of guardian uniforms as soon as she got to Base.

Since Camilla normally flew from the Barracks to Base, she saw no reason to change her routine just because her living arrangements were slightly different. The only difference was that Everland Park was significantly further away from Base than the Barracks were, and Camilla knew her presence in the skies attracted more attention because of Exodos's attack mere hours ago. Besides that, her morning commute was no different than normal, except for the slight delay at the Base entrance when she remembered her ID was lost in the Barracks rubble.

The debrief only took about twenty minutes, but it felt longer when Camilla had to fake her drug-induced energetic persona after an eventful night with no sleep. Thankfully, Elsie had made her coffee in a travel mug, and Camilla savored it like she was living off rations. Regardless, answering questions with exuberant enthusiasm, plus finding ways to drive the conversation off into tangents, was exhausting, and Camilla was sure that at least a third of what she said didn't make sense.

But the investigators didn't question it, probably assuming her character was just business as usual, and she was sent back to her desk with the orders she expected. First, she was no longer assigned to protect Elsie Bates. Second, Camilla was to remain at Base until directed otherwise by a superior. Lastly, Camilla was required to submit a written account of the Barracks attack by close of business that day.

While she had issues with each of the orders, it was the third one that annoyed her the most. They had a recording of her debrief, so that should've been good enough. At first, Camilla thought she had tried too hard to make herself sound under the influence, until she realized that all of the guardians that were at the Barracks were required to submit written reports.

Still, it seemed like a waste of time to do something that was already done. Plus, it was highly likely that she would receive an additional assignment at some point during the day, giving her less time to actually write. It also didn't help that she was constantly one blink away from passing out right at her desk.

Just as she was drifting off again, Camilla felt a familiar chill at her back—people were probably gossiping about her again. Thankfully, her abilities were almost fully operational, so she pretended to keep working at her computer while she infused some energy with the surrounding air and expanded it throughout the space behind her.

The room was shared by about fifty officer and trainee guardians that weren't assigned to specific squads, each with their own low-wall cubicle. It was mostly used for them to complete administrative work, so it was at full capacity since most had received the same orders as Camilla.

As her energy traveled through the air, stretching past the other guardians at their desks, she could sense that most of them seemed to be hard at work while others were either dozing off or fiddling with their personal phones. It wasn't until her reach arrived at the break room on the other side of the office did Camilla find the source of the gossip. And while Camilla could have easily infused her energy into the glass wall that separated the break room from the rest of the office, her admirers had also left the door wide open, so Camilla took the path of least resistance.

"Why wouldn't she show up?" Fan A said. "She'd miss out on a chance to show everyone how cool she is, being completely fine a few hours later."

"I heard she even flew in, can you believe that?" Fan B added. "As if it was just a normal day at the office."