Triple Point

Chapter 89: Make and Break

Elsie

For days, Elsie didn't see any sign of Camilla. Initially, she panicked, but before she could gather up a search party, Hitomi assured her that Camilla was fine. Except when Elsie tried to press her for more information, Hitomi bitterly claimed she didn't actually know much more than Elsie did, and she had only happened to see Camilla with AJ by chance. While Elsie couldn't help but still worry, she at least took some comfort in knowing that someone at least had contact with Camilla.

What they did have to worry about was Exodos's reaction to the incident. Word quickly spread that Camilla could use her abilities after all, and suspicions grew about why Camilla tried to keep them hidden. While some of Exodos began to worry that Elsie's group was planning on attacking them from within, others simply jumped to planning on how Camilla's abilities could help them turn the tide against the Org. Both viewpoints put Elsie and her friends in unfavorable positions, and they gathered a few times sans Camilla to discuss their next move.

According to AJ, nearly all of Exodos had now agreed that their group shouldn't be allowed to leave, primarily for security reasons. Even the healers, who had generally been on their side since the beginning, as well as others sympathetic to them all believed that Elsie's group could still pose an unintentional security threat should they be released. So if they wanted to leave, it had to be done in secret.

Things were like how they were four months ago, when they were trying to find Camilla again and they were forced to plan while they kept their true intentions from the Org. Except this time they needed to keep their secrets hidden from Exodos, and both they and the Org would be after them should they succeed. It was a daunting task, but at least their goal was clearer this time, as opposed to them having no idea where Camilla was being held. And now that they all had experience in plotting a break-in and getaway, planning just the getaway portion should be easy.

Unfortunately, thanks to the recent rotation schedules that seemed to put all of them on conflicting shifts, it took them almost halfway through August to form some semblance of a plan, along with individual assignments. Nakia and Finn were in charge of mapping out a layout of the base as best as they could, Hitomi would gather any tech they needed, and Mack would collect rations and medical supplies.

And Elsie was responsible for explaining everything to Camilla.

Elsie wasn't sure why the others thought she would have better luck at getting Camilla to talk to her than the rest of them. It seemed like Camilla actively avoided her the most; while all of them had managed to greet Camilla at least once over the past couple of weeks, Camilla always seemed to be heading in the opposite direction whenever Elsie spotted her. And Camilla's blatant avoidance of her was making Elsie nervous, especially since she had no idea how to fix it.

Maybe if Elsie had learned how to make more than just scrambled eggs at some point in her life, she would have managed to keep her shift in the cafeteria where she could have collected rations like Mack.

In any case, Elsie had her assignment, and she wasn't going to give up that easily. No matter what Camilla's reason for avoiding her was, it had to be put on hold for the sake of their own safety, and Elsie was determined to succeed. Fortunately, and surprisingly, before Elsie could even come up with a plan for how to approach Camilla, Camilla approached her first.

It was the middle of August when Elsie had been alone in their room trying to brainstorm ways to break the news of their plan to Camilla. At the sound of soft footsteps entering the room, Elsie initially thought it was Hitomi or AJ, and she only briefly glanced up from her notes to greet them. But when she realized it was Camilla paused nervously in the doorway, Elsie stared blankly at her for a moment before scrambling to her feet.