[Lauchenoiria]

Veronica Penners yawned as she opened the fridge, grabbing two cans of a Kerlian knock-off fizzy drink designed to approximate the taste of coke. She passed one to Nelichē, her old friend from Aurora training and her new flatmate, and pulled her own open, taking a gulp, then going to sit down at the table with the Xiomeran-looking woman.

“Okay, so they definitely have Zichitla in prison,” Nelichē said, sipping her drink and scrolling through some files on a laptop that she definitely wasn’t meant to have access to. “She’s being moved to Facility 343 near Caralina on Wednesday, according to these records.”

“What level is that? New system and old?” asked Veronica, taking a bite out of a slightly stale pastry that had been sitting out on their table for several days.

“High security, used to be a level 7,” Nelichē shuddered.

“Jesus,” Veronica whispered, causing Nelichē to let out a snort of laughter. “What?”

“Sorry, it’s just you swear like a Lauchenoirian. And in your own Kerlian accent it just sounds, well, a bit funny.”

“Focus, this is serious,” frowned Veronica. “We have to work out if this is an isolated incident or if they had indeed lied to us when they promised us freedom. Robinson won’t tell me anything; in fact she’s asked me to stop contacting her. If the Council decides to come for us Auroras, we’re going to need to be united to prevent it.”

“Yeah, course,” nodded Nelichē. “So what should we do about Zichitla?”

“If they won’t tell us why she’s been detained, then we have to assume it’s because they think we will not approve of the reason. That makes me fear that they’re coming for us. We need to gather the others, somewhere they won’t find us.”

Both former Auroras fell silent, Nelichē closing the laptop and gathering dirty dishes beside the sink, next to the ever-growing pile already there. She stood looking out of the window at the towering apartment buildings that made up this part of Grapevale. Neither of them had worked as Auroras for long enough to afford to live in the upmarket districts, but this suited the pair of them just fine - they even had a spare bedroom they planned to offer to their former classmate Rita, aka Riley Nelson, after she was released from Eirian prison.

“We have to leave,” Nelichē said reluctantly. “If we think there’s a chance that the Council plans to go back on their word, we ought to get out of Kerlile. Xio… Huenya, the part ruled by Empress Yauhmi. We would be safe there. If the war ends.”

“If the war ends,” agreed Veronica. “But Lauchenoirians make continual jokes about how this is 2018 over again, and I lived through the war in Lauchenoiria. We don’t want to be in a situation like that, it was not pleasant.”

“What about Lauchenoiria itself? Alvarez seemed to be surprisingly willing to negotiate with the Matriarchy regarding Auroras,” Nelichē pondered. “Laeral, too, for that matter. Or Kvask.”

“No,” Veronica shook her head fiercely. “Alvarez may have been okay, but she just wanted to use me and the others; plus she won’t be in charge forever and frankly a majority of Lauchenoirians would probably like our heads on sticks displayed in a town square like it was 1482.”

“... oddly specific,” noted Nelichē. “Laeral, Kvask?”

“I don’t know, Nel,” sighed Veronica, resting her head on her hands. “I wanted so hard for it to be over, that we could just move on… but I guess that was never going to happen. I don’t want to leave Kerlile! But I don’t want to end up rotting in a prison cell either.”

At that moment, the doorbell rang. Both women jumped up, looking at each other in alarm. Neither seemed willing to move towards the door. It was impossible that someone had been listening to them; they swept for bugs each morning as a matter of routine, and their training meant they were very thorough. Given the circumstances, however, neither of them seemed to trust their own abilities. Eventually, after the bell rang one more time, they both headed to the door, guns in their hands. Veronica opened it.

“Renee and Rhona, of the class of 2014? We need to talk,” said a very pale woman, looking around 40. With her was a woman who looked Lauchenoirian, of the same age. They were holding a tablet playing a video of a Laeralian film star… no, they were on a video call with a Laeralian film star.

“Um… can we help you?” asked Veronica, her fingers tightening on the weapon she held behind the door.

“I know you have a gun, girl,” laughed the second woman. “My name is Nicole, these are my colleagues Nora and Naomi although you likely know Naomi as Anaïs. We’re like you.”

“Come in,” Veronica said quickly, not wanting to have this conversation on the landing, particularly surrounding the identity of the remote member of the group. Once the two women and their tablet were inside, Veronica quickly shut and locked the door. “Talk quickly and you better give us a reason not to kill you.”

“Interesting,” mused the first woman, Nora. “I expected the younger generation to be less paranoid, not more so. Anyway, we will indulge you. We three are from the Aurora class of 1993, and we need your help, Rhona.”

“Nelichē,” corrected Nelichē.

“Nelichē,” Nora repeated distastefully. “You’re like Anaïs, then. Preferring of a false identity. It doesn't matter. You were assigned to Xiomera. Ideally we would contact Zichitla as she is better fitted to this mission but she was detained. We need you to rescue a fellow Aurora from ASI’s custody.”

“I’m sorry, what?” sputtered Nelichē. “There’s no way I’m doing that, even if I could. As I told the Council, I’m out. I’m certainly not going on a suicide mission for people who do not outrank me in any manner but age.”

“Please,” asked Anaïs from the tablet. “Her name was Nadia, or Tlālzixiuhxa as she was known in Xiomera. You may have known her as Empress Yauhmi’s spokesperson in the weeks leading up to the coup. She’s in ASI custody on Calhualyana’s side of the border and we fear for her life.”

“Two of our classmates are in prison in other countries,” replied Nelichē. “Should we decide to risk our lives they would be our priority. Forgive me, but if you want to stage a high-risk rescue mission, you have the same training we do. I was in no position to gain knowledge which would help you. Zichitla, though… Well, perhaps you can practice your prison break skills right here in Kerlile. We were just talking about her.”

“You know something of where she’s being held?” Nicole pricked her ears up.

“We’ve been discussing what we do - if there’s a risk of the Council deciding to round up Auroras,” Veronica explained.

“Shit, I didn’t think of that,” swore Nora, who stood up and began pacing back and forth. “It would make sense, after all, when we all returned here it seemed too good to be true, we really ought to pay attention to our instincts on these matters… I have a daughter! What will happen to her if I’m imprisoned!?”

“Calm down everyone,” announced Anaïs on the tablet. “There are still a number of us outside of the country, should they do that, they would open themselves to retaliation from us, particularly those of us who have permission to remain in our assigned countries from both governments.”

“Oh, are you immune to assassins?” inquired Nora sarcastically. “We can’t risk it!”

“We’re here about Nadia,” soothed Nicole. “The girl makes a good point, though. Zichitla is much better placed to help us… and to tell us if we need to fear the Council. The way I see it, there are two problems here. And the solution…”

“Is to free Zichitla,” finished Veronica, nodding. The five Auroras exchanged glances, each nodding in turn. In silence, a first step was agreed. They would free Zichitla from Kerlian prison, and what happened after that was not for them to decide.