[Lauchenoiria]

Rebbeka Ochoa lived a privileged life for one in Iustos. Residing in the city of San Bartillo, she spent most of her time at parties and society events for the wealthy and powerful in the country. She socialised on a regular basis with people with more money than sense, in spite of the abject poverty in other parts of the country. Her ‘friends’ were all rich socialites who’d never had to work a day in their lives. They spent their time discussing fashion, celebrities and boys. Rebekka hated every single one of them.

When she received her message on Sunday afternoon she had laughed aloud in joy. She couldn’t wait to get out of there. She was disgusted by her existence and by the people around her. Ironically, she had developed quite a strong desire to help the poor and unfortunate - perhaps because the shallow, awful people around her didn’t care. She wanted to be nothing like them and looked forward to returning to Kerlile where perhaps she could do something that would actually matter - before Shuell took over Iustos and it became riskier for her to remain, too.

It took her a couple of days to make her arrangements. She didn’t want to cause undue suspicion, so she decided to book a holiday to Butterfly Island, the wealthiest part of Lauchenoiria. Her friends all enjoyed their expensive, last-minute vacations to destinations which they could then bore the others to death boasting about what they did there. Lauchenoiria was seen as a risky destination since the war, but she hoped her friends would interpret that as her desire to get one up on them in the storytelling.

She left for Lauchenoiria flying first class early in the morning, even though the thought of airport security made her stomach clench. It wasn’t as if Lauchenoiria was a safe place for her; they despised Auroras more than any other country, if the media was anything to go by. But it was on her way to Kerlile and was a convenient stopping point. From Butterfly Island she could take the ferry to the mainland and then make her way across land to a northern town and walk across the border on foot. The less her passport was scrutinised the better.

There was a moment of terror when they were checking her passport to board the plane, and the man checking paused and looked up at her, but then he smiled and handed it back. Still, her heart rate was worryingly high until take-off, and even when they were in the air she worried they’d be waiting for her on the other end. But they weren’t. She walked out of Seahaven Airport easily, with the Lauchenoirian barely glancing at her documents. Lauchenoirian border security was very lax, as rumoured, and all she had to do was say she was staying less than 3 months and they let her in no problem.

She paid a taxi driver to take her to the hotel she’d booked, but after checking in, she left again quickly, leaving the majority of her belongings in the room - she didn’t need them. She was carrying a lot of money in cash, in a variety of currencies, more than the average Lauchenoirian made in a year. She wasn’t afraid, however, any muggers who dared attack her would find themselves dead or unconscious before they knew what was happening. She headed to the port on public transport, paying cash.

Her backpack was heavy, with all the cash, even though she had the highest-value notes available in the respective currencies. She would try to access her accounts once she was back in Kerlile and try to transfer some of the money but she wasn’t convinced she’d be able to, so this was her backup plan. She didn’t really want to survive on a Kerlian income, given the state of the economy. She paid for the ferry in cash also, heading to the mainland. It was a pleasant journey in the winter sun, and upon arrival she began to feel a little safer.

It was early evening by now, and she bought a ticket on one of the last trains going far north. She was lucky she’d caught it, the night trains didn’t head to the northmost villages. She would leave the train at one of the border villages that were full of terrified Lauchenoirians convinced they’d be kidnapped, and then continue on foot. By morning, she’d be safely back on Kerlian soil, and all would be well.

*

Eva Dreeni had spent most of her life working out how to cause a global recession. When she received her message, she assumed it was because Kerlile had decided it would be a terrible idea, something she’d always known. She breathed a sigh of relief. At no point did it occur to her that it was because she might be in danger. She’d always remained confident in her abilities, and she was very willing to either kill for, or die for, the Matriarchy.

She did not see the need to return to Kerlile just because they were changing her mission, but she’d been given an order and she would not disobey it. She asked for time off work at the Department of Trade, and the secretary Trista Demore was happy to approve it. Demore liked Eva, more fool her, given that there had been a time when Eva was convinced she would have to assassinate the woman. Eva rarely asked for time off, however, not wanting to go far from where her wide-reaching influence was.

Debating her options, she decided she would be better off leaving Zamastan over land, and headed to the Andhra Republic in her car, planning to take a flight home via Laeral from there. She packed what she wanted, relieved she didn’t have a partner that she’d need to leave and lie to. The car journey would be long, which irritated her slightly, but she could always stop on the way and get some food or something. More than anything else, she felt slightly irritated and inconvenienced by the order.

As she drove, she put on pop music that was banned in Kerlile on a CD she had in her car, and sang along as she drove down the long, straight roads. If she was going to return to be reassigned, or get a job training new Auroras, or whatever boring job they’d make her do, she was going to have fun beforehand. Kerlile and her childhood hadn’t been fun, but she was getting kind of sick of her life in Zamastan too.

In the end, she’d been too tired to keep driving, and spent Monday night in a motel, watching poor quality TV shows and eating fast food. She thought about calling them up and requesting some kind of new assignment, preferring that over returning home, but she decided against it. They’d only get angry with her for asking and questioning their orders, and in the end it would only end up worse for her. She’d just go home and see what options she had.

In the morning, she continued her long drive, still humming the tunes even though she’d played the CD on loop so many times she’d had to switch it off. She was calm and collected, and didn’t think anything of it when she crossed the land border. While not particularly pleased to be going home, she was at least looking forward to no longer having to live under a false name and false identity. She didn’t particularly like her name, Eva.