24 Struggle (2/2)

Slowed by the attempt to rub her eyes clean of sleeping sand, dragged Karen herself out of the elevator and into the absurdly empty hallway. Her thoughts still clinging to the advice Warren growled, if only not to fall back to what really burdened her.

Her head turned twice while she aimed for Stephanie's office, amazed by the stark contrast the building had to yesterday. The night shift should have increased, if anything.

Standing in front of the room, her head spun, and she had to support herself with her hands against the door frame. She could faintly smell the chemical scent once more, feel the adrenaline in her veins and the pulse of her heart as it pumped it through her.

Distant noises joined the momentary dizziness, only for her ears to perk up when she recognized Stephanie's sarcastic voice from behind the door.

"What, do you happen to know another alien that can suplex a train?"

To hear her voice brought her closer to that very moment, the terror, the relief. Until the calm answer she recognized to come from Diego, pulled her back to the presence.

"No… I'm just trying to say that this doesn't fit his profile. He barely showed up in the last two decades. Could it not be that you just… want that it's him?"

That she only heard half of the conversation didn't help to tell what it was about, but Stephanie's angry retort got her mind to focus on it instead.

"Don't you come me with that psychoanalysis bullshit! We have two eyewitnesses, a railway engine that's rammed straight into the ground, and three containers of concentrated mana missing without a trace. Who else could pull that off?"

Karen straightened her posture when she regained her sense of balance while the psychiatrist tried to mediate.

"Then let me rephrase, it's more than just unlikely that the Persecutor would personally show up to steal back what we confiscated just one day earlier."

Now she knew what they were talking about, albeit it also sparked a bit of concern for eavesdropping on the two. He continued before Karen could even think of any next steps.

"Evidence, I'd like to add, that we still couldn't connect to him, since we have first found no clues in the documents, and second, our only suspect is still unconscious."

These last words stopped all concern for etiquette, instead dropping her heart down to the ground. Unaware of her state, Diego resumed to talk.

"You should at least consider that it might have been an attempt at deception from a splinter group, or sympathizers. Eyewitnesses are notoriously unreliable, especially when Demons are involved."

Karen slapped her own face, taking a heart to Warren's earlier advice. This wasn't why she got here. It was time to move. At least for now.

"Besides the whole fear mongering about a coming war, there's no valid reason to target him directly. The remnant forces under his command are cooperative. We've been at peace the whole time, ever since… well…"

Her fist hesitated, waiting for the right moment to knock after he finished his sentence, but Stephanie interjected with unexpected fury.

"Don't you say it!"

The hesitant hand jolted forward, surprised by the outburst. Its knock almost drowning in the loud voice of her boss.

"I remember that day very well! He made sure I'd never…"

Karen's hope it might have gone unnoticed died with Stephanie's next words, who she directly addressed at her, before berating Diego further.

"One moment! You might have gotten away with a blue eye back there, but Gülay and I didn't have that much luck. So don't you dare use that day as an argument, Dr. Torres."

The cold way she spat his name out sent Karen a shiver down her spine, which only made her freeze up when the door flung open, to reveal Stephanie, with her eyes staring right at her.

"Yes!?"

With all color gone from her face, it was no wonder that the glare grew softer when Stephanie recognized her.

"Karen? What are you doing here so early? I set our meeting for nine. Didn't you read my message?"

Her hands darted to the place her phone should've occupied after she calmed her breath, only to remember where it was.

"No… I forgot my phone at home. What meeting?"

While she had a clue what it was about, the coy question still slipped her mind. A bait that the two seemed to swallow.

Diego put the files in his hand aside before he turned around to face her.

"For your report. But that aside, you look a little pale. Are you not feeling well?"

Somehow their in concern united expressions were even worse than to listen to their quarrel, yet brought to attention by his question, Karen's hand darted to her forehead.

It was cold, sweaty.

Her hand shook.

Karen moved it as inconspicuous as she could manage behind her back, breaking her head over a simple explanation.

"Just a little… tired, perhaps. It is quite early, and I skipped the coffee… and breakfast..."

No longer leaning on the door frame, she noticed just how light-headed and dizzy she felt.

A condition the two seemed to notice as well, causing Stephanie to throw her a skeptical look.

"Sure… either way, Diego and I didn't have the time yet to talk about your report. So how about you draw yourself a coffee in the canteen and spend a quick visit to the lazaret? Just to be safe."

The underlying order let her hesitate for a moment, but she quickly moved to grab the door handle, ready to escape the situation.

Maybe recognizing her flight instinct, Diego called out to her as she was about to close the door behind her.

"Karen?"

"Yes?"

"You should take better care of yourself."

The words caught her off guard, yet summarized Stephanie's order as well. She nodded briefly before closing the door, a part of her expecting the heated discussion to continue.

A moment passed while she remained.

But there was only silence in the hallway this time.

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Empty seats filled the waiting room and that uncertain feeling she could get called at any second. Karen sat down in the closest chair to the entrance, while clutching to the coffee she drew from the vending machine in the canteen.

Her bones still filled with the sleepless night, she sipped on her coffee again, trying to absolve herself with the hot drink from her circling thoughts.

A fruitless effort.

Another patient entered the room as she put the plastic cup on the table. Unable to quell her curiosity, Karen stole a brief glance at them.

She failed to recognize the young woman, who wore the semi professional clothes field agents use to not stand out in a crowd. The short hair and dark skin would have surely stuck to her memory, but there was nothing.

To much surprise, turned the women around to face her directly. She addressed Karen with a warm smile and a slight French accent after studying the empty room.

"Good morning. Would you mind if I sit with you?"

"Oh… ahh… good morning? Why that?"

"Is it not much more pleasant to spend time to talk, instead of simply brooding?"

"I guess that's not wrong… Just not really the first thing to come to my mind…"

Without further questions, the lady sat down beside her, not heading to the unspoken rule of the free seat between every two persons.

Still somewhat perplexed by the extrovert beside her, Karen stayed uncomfortably tense while the stranger sat down. She ogled the door, hoping that she'd be called at any moment, while her new conversation partner turned to offer her hand for a shake.

"My name is Aminata. It's a pleasure to meet you.""Kar… Katharina. Nice to meet you, too."

The genuine eyes and firm grip only increased the intimidation factor of a sudden approach by someone unknown. Karen's wide-open eyes must have been indicator enough for the woman to notice, because she added her second hand to the shake, and kept her from leaving it.

"Oh dear, you are looking quite unwell. May I ask why you're here?"

"I don't want to seem rude, but that's a little personal. I don't even know who you are."

Aminata pulled her hands back, yet there was no less excitement in her demeanor.

"Of course, of course. How could I forget? I'm from the French division. My partner and I were sent to retrieve the confiscated Mana containers per train and transport them to a disposal facility."

Karen already regretted bringing up that she didn't know her, but the informations fit together with the conversation she had overheard.

Her silence to the topic, more caused by her grab for the coffee than the lack of answers, still invited Aminata to elaborate.

"Oh, I'm sure you heard of it. Was a pretty huge thing. The found of the century, they say. So much of the stuff in one place. Just thinking about it makes me shiver. That bit of Mana alone could irreversibly change the landscape of half Europe. If it were to escape, that is."

The hot coffee spilled from Karen's mouth in an enormous bow across the waiting room.

That was entirely new to her.

Of course, she knew the dangers of this strange material. They had gotten constant safety seminars on how to deal with it when finding some during her time as a field agent. But that and the vague connection it had to the abilities of people like Stephanie and Diego were the limit of her knowledge.

Aminata received her surprise much differently, instead putting her hand on Karen's shoulder, trying to calm her coughing fit.

"Should I call the nurse?"

"No… it's just… I must have gotten it in the wrong throat."

"Are you sure? You look even more pale than before."

Knowing that the freight containers got stolen surely had that effect, but it also made her curious about what happened.

"Yes, I'm sure. It's nothing serious. Just had a rough week so far. My boss sent me here, because she said the same as you. But I'm fine, really."

Still friendly, but with the age defying strictness of a mother reprimanded Aminata her attempt to play it down.

"You shouldn't take your health lightly. It's important to always keep a watch on yourself, especially in our job. Your boss is just doing her job."

Half a laughter escaped Karen's irritated throat, while she scratched her neck.

That wasn't wrong.

Not like she hadn't been witness to it before, either. How easy it was to let yourself go after an emotional trauma. And Warren was right with that diagnosis… at least somewhat…

"That's true, of course… I… anyway. I'm here after all. But why are you here, then? You don't look sick."

The strict warmth seemed to yield to a more concerned expression, entirely uncharacteristic until now.

"Because of my partner, Mr Lesage. He got heavily injured during the… well, that's actually confidential."

After but a moment, her optimism returned, and with it the smile.

"Either way, we'll probably stay a while here. So I thought it would be a good idea to get to know some nice people around here."

Another awry smirk fell over Karen at the notion. She was the lucky first victim of that plan; it seemed. A theory Aminata's next question only confirmed.

"So, would you mind to accompany me later to the canteen and show me around? Only if you're better by then, of course."

"Sure. I'd be happy to do so…"