March 6, 2022
Vigilant had responded to its second working fire in just two days, with this fire being in the middle of the day at a small office building. For this fire, Ruby and Whitley had already been at the station, and Blake, Yang, Ren, and Penny had all made the first engine out with them. Weiss was unable to make the fire due to a meeting in downtown Vale. After having knocked the fire down and putting it under control in half an hour, crews began to do overhaul on scene.
As Blake rested herself at a rehab tent next to a Fire Patrolman, taking her coat and helmet off and rolling her boots down, she looked into the crowd watching the fire. That was when she noticed a familiar face watching the proceedings. "Huh... Hey, Ruby."
Ruby, who was also in the rehab tent, looked over and said, "What's up?"
"Is it me or is that woman over there Ilia?" Blake pointed her out among the crowd. "It looks like her. She's the one in the Kuo Kuana PD t-shirt."
"No shit," Ruby replied as she recognized her. "That's gotta be her." She then began waving in her direction. "Ilia! Hey!"
Sure enough, the chameleon girl turned to them and gasped in surprise. As she ran over, she said, "Blake! Ruby!"
Blake got up and walked through the caution tape to hug Ilia. "Ah, it's been so long, mia amica!" As the two split, she asked her, "So, what brings you to Vale?"
"I'm on administrative investigation leave," she explained. "I had a shooting incident, and as per protocol every time an officer shoots somebody, they're put on paid leave for two weeks so an investigation can be done." She then turned to Ruby. "I see you're here, too, Queen of Vale."
"Yep," Ruby replied as she chuckled. "It's been far too long, Ilia." She then pointed to the building behind them. "As you can see, we sorta had a fire in there. Nothing too serious. We knocked it down before it got out of hand." She then wiped sweat off of her forehead. "Today's unusually warm for early March. This was our second fire in two days, actually."
"No kidding," Ilia replied as she shook Ruby's hand. "I actually made my first save at a fire a few weeks ago on patrol, as a matter of fact. I pulled a lady out of an apartment just as the volunteers were pulling up after I called the fire in as a worker."
Blake then looked over at another Vigilant firefighter. "You alright, Tom?"
"Yeah," he replied. He was an older firefighter, about 60, and was still interior-certified. He was sweating a lot from the work he had done. "Just a bit tired out is all. It's part of being 60, after all. You young guys barely break a sweat." He then chuckled.
"That sounds tough," Blake replied as she and Ilia talked at her apartment. Sun was out at hunting training for the day. "I'm glad that ambush didn't kill you."
"Yeah," Ilia chuckled before she took a sip of coffee. "I'll be here for about a week, then I gotta go back to Menagerie to fill out more paperwork about the shooting. I gotta do like 20 pages of it to ensure I didn't kill a guy for no reason. Fucking sucks, but I can understand why." She then changed subjects. "Say, Blake, you work as a fire dispatcher, right?"
"Yeah," the catgirl replied. "I dispatch the fire department and only the fire department. My ID is 875, in fact."
"Nice. Say, have you ever thought about maybe switching to a higher-paying job? A lot of dispatchers in Menagerie don't make careers out of it, instead working there until they get hired as a cop or a permanent fireman." Ilia wondered why Blake had decided to limit herself to dispatching.
"Not at the moment," Blake replied. "I make good money from hunting and from the dispatching gig, about 130,000 Lien (approximately 91,000 USD) from both combined annually."
"That's really good," Ilia said in surprise. "In Menagerie, they're paying fire and police dispatchers shit pay, like only 43,000 Lien (approximately 30,000 USD) per year starting, and only like 52,000 Lien on average after you get of training. How much are you paid now from dispatching?"
"About 65,000 Lien," Blake replied. She was surprised and kind of annoyed that her coworkers in Menagerie were getting paid so little. "That sucks they're not paying them more. I was making like 55,000 during training for the year I was on probation. Police dispatchers and 911 calltakers make almost exactly the same."
"If I was making that much," Ilia told Blake. "I would not leave as a dispatcher. Right now, Kuo Kuana PD pays me 75,000 annually after having worked as a cop for about three years. I imagine Vale pays more."
"Oh hell yeah," Blake replied, even more astonished Ilia was making so little compared to police officers in Vale City. "VCPD trainees make like 85,000 in a year. After three years, they make like 105,000 on average or something. Permanent firemen here make like 75,000 or 80,000 a year as probies depending if they're EMTs or medics when they start out, and in three years, it's 90,000 or 95,000. You guys are getting fucking scammed."
"True that," Ilia replied as she and Blake did a toast. "Hopefully, your father will win the Chieftan election this year and fix shit. He's got a tough fight ahead of him due to the civil war though. Say, you should come down and visit. He's always talking about how proud he is of you."
"I know," Blake replied. "It's been well over a year since I found out my parents actually aren't dead, and let me tell you, that year has been something."
August 25, 2021
"Hey, Blake," a male voice called out to her in Fanusian. "It's your father."
A heavily injured Blake, dressed in various casts, looked over at him as her vision came into focus. "Huh? What?" She was still being given a variety of pain meds to counteract the pain from her injuries, and thus was groggy.
Switching to Valeanian, Ghira sat beside his daughter's bed with Kali as the two of them smiled, trying their best to hold it together. "It feels like yesterday that we last talked to you before we had to go into hiding. So much has happened that we had to miss out on before then. I'm sure you're tired of hearing that, given it's been a while since we reconnected, but I guess I can't help stating it."
"Blake," her mother said to her as she reached over and placed a hand on her unbroken hand. "We will be here for you every step of the way. When we first sat down and talked, we told you that we had to make up for the years we lost with you thanks to that traitor Simon. Now, here's our chance."
"You don't have to make up anything," Blake was able to say to them. "I told you that already." She then moaned slightly in pain.
"I know, but I can't help it." Tears then began to form in her eyes as her ears drooped down slightly. "Blake, you will make it through this. I swear."
"I know," a tired Blake replied. "I... I know, mom." She managed to squeeze her unbroken hand around Kali's hand.
"Honey," Ghira said to his wife. "We promised to keep it together in front of her."
"I know," Kali replied, breaking that promise but no longer caring. "And I knew I wouldn't be able to keep it." She then hugged Ghira and began to quietly cry into his chest.
Blake said to her, "Mom, please, stop crying. Be glad I'm still here. 15 people from my fire company won't see their families ever again." Earlier, Weiss had visited her and had to break the news as to how many of her fellow firefighters had died, and it hit her hard. "All of this shit that's broken can get healed. The dead can't be."
"I know," she told her between sobs. "I can't help it." She then collected herself as she wiped her tears away. "Blake, you make us so proud to be your parents. You've accomplished so much."
Blake smiled and chuckled, ignoring the physical pain. "No problem."
March 9, 2022
Blake was working at the fire alarm office today from 8 to 4, manning the phones with several other dispatchers for today's shift. Each phone position had three phones at it: One red phone for 911 transfers from the police department, one orange phone for calls to the 7-digit direct emergency line, and one black phone for calls to the 7-digit non-emergency phone line. Each position also had a computer terminal where calltakers would enter information in to be sent to the paging positions.
As the red phone at her desk began to ring, Blake immediately picked it up and answered it with, "Vale City Fire Department, Dispatcher 875." As she said that, her computer terminal lit up with the address of the call already filled in by the VCPD dispatcher who had initially answered the 911 call. In the "Call Agency" area was the word "FIRE-AMBO," indicating it was either a fire-rescue or medical emergency. She had been talking to another dispatcher about some issues in his fire company involving their 2nd Captain when the phone rang.
"My husband is having a hard time breathing," said a female voice on the other end. "He has COPD."
"Alright," Blake said as she typed into the "Call Type" area of the screen the words 'BREATHING PROBLEMS,' making a series of questions pop up for Blake to ask. "Are you with your husband now?"
"Yes," the caller replied back.
"How old is he?" Blake then filled in the "sex" area with 'male' since it was obvious. She had done this many times before.
"82," the elderly female replied. "He's 82."
"Is he awake?" She also filled in the "breathing" field with 'yes,' since it was clear the subject was still breathing, but was having issues with it.
"Yes." The female on the other end was clearly distressed. "Please, hurry up!"
"Ma'am," Blake replied. "Other fire alarm operators will be sending you help as we speak. I just need to get more information from you as they do it. Aside from COPD, does he have any other physical or mental health issues you are aware of?" Blake then entered in COPD on the computer. As soon as she entered in this, the info began appearing in real time to the dispatchers in the paging positions. The response code for now was Charlie, but could be upgraded to Delta as more info came in.
"No, just COPD," the female replied.
"When did he start having breathing problems?"
"About 5 minutes ago before I called," the female replied as Blake entered in the info.
"Has he had a history of breathing problems before?"
"I've called before this twice about it," the female replied. "Last time was about two months ago."
"Alright," Blake replied as she added the info in. As soon as she entered it, the response code changed to Delta. She then skipped over a non-applicable question. "Is he on oxygen?"
"Yes," the female replied. "He's been on it for 6 years now."
"Has he taken any drugs or medications in the last 24 hours?"
"He took his regular medications this morning around 7:30," the female replied. As she did, Blake saw in the info that a fire company had just been dispatched. "They were Theostat, Pradaxa, and Sectral."
"Alright," Blake replied as she moved onto instructions for the caller. "Ma'am, the fire department's been dispatched. Before they get there, I want you to do some things for me, okay?"
"Thank God," the female replied, slightly relieved. "What is it?"
"Are there any pets in the home?"
"No," the caller replied.
"Okay. I need you to not let him have anything to eat or drink. It may cause more medical problems. Let him rest in the most comfortable position and wait for help to arrive. Also, gather his medications, unlock the doors, watch him closely, and have somebody meet the firefighters when they get there. Can I just get your name please?"
"It's Margaret Stone," the caller replied as Blake entered her name in.
"Okay, Margaret, if anything changes before the fire department gets there, call 911 or 725-3432 again, okay? Can I just get your address and apartment number again?" Blake wanted to confirm the address before she hung up with her.
"It's 1142 Vincent Street, Apartment 6," Margaret replied.
"Thank you, Margaret. Goodbye."
"Goodbye," Margaret replied before she hung up.
Blake then put the phone down and typed a few more words to finish the notes out before closing out the call and getting ready for the next one. She turned to another dispatcher and said to him, "Sorry I got interrupted there. What were you saying about your 2nd Captain being a moron?"
At the same time, Weiss was in her office at the Vigilant Fire Company firehouse, going over notes about the impending delivery of the new Truck 201, Ambulance 201, and Ambulance 201B. At the time, they were still using spare rigs from the city shop, but that would change soon. Ambulance 201B would be parked in front of Rescue 201 in the new rescue bay. As she looked over her notes, she said to herself, "These trucks can't come soon enough." Then, she saw and heard the phone in her office ring. She quickly answered it, saying, "Vigilant Fire Company, Captain Schnee."
A mysterious voice on the other end told her, "Ides of March..." Weiss has no idea who this other person was, and was equally more confused when they hung up.
"What the hell?" Weiss immediately got a pen and paper out to write down the phone number that called her. As she did, she thought to herself, "What did that guy mean by "Ides of March?" Is something going to happen on March 15th?"