Xenotober 2022 09 Daily Life (Family cont.)
a/n: Lila and the others get out of harm's way.
No beta we die like Ma-non.
All the good things belong to Monolithsoft.
There was no way that Lila was getting at the elevator's control panel. Vandham had her firmly by the shoulders, and even the lightest grip of that man was enough to stop a skell. If by some miracle she could have shaken herself free, Eleonora was keeping a cool and efficient watch over the rows and rows of numbered buttons. Neither of these barriers kept Lila from trying.
"Avery!" Lila pushed against the immovable object that was the Commander. She reached toward Eleonora. Vandham herded her further into the corner. "Avery!" she screamed. A new thought sliced into her mind. "Those Outfitters! We need to go back! Avery!" The name had become a keening wail. Lila sagged, and Vandham did something to keep her from falling on her face while also keeping her well away from the controls.
"Lila, dear, they're gone," said Eleanora. Lila pulled away then, wedging herself into the corner, shuddering.
The elevator ride concluded, stopping gently, the doors opening with a ridiculously innocent chime. Lila might have stayed inside, unwilling to step into normality again, but she wasn't given that choice. Eleonora on one side, Vandham on the other, their strengths equal if very differently sourced, they steered her out of the elevator and into ...
The lobby. They were in the lobby. Lila looked around at the potted ferns and waiting area that filled the ground floor of BLADE tower. Soft and soothing lobby music floated through the air. The floor gleamed in front of the elevators, an innocent path to the exit and the rest of New Los Angeles.
It didn't make sense. They'd ridden for such a long time on the way up to the presentation. Their floor must have been near the top of the building. Then the escape, they'd escaped even higher, and they were now ... in the lobby?
They walked into the receiving area as a trio, side by side. At first Lila was too stunned to struggle, but almost at once she regained the cool that served as her daily shield. No one needed to see anything they didn't need to see, least of all Lila being less than under control. She looked around the lobby. The area was sparsely populated, much emptier than when she and -... Lila stiffened. She forced herself to continue analyzing where they were. The lobby was much emptier than earlier this morning. No civilians, no representatives from the Industries. Two armed soldiers now guarded the inner door, and a team of Reclaimers clustered over a comm center next to a stockpile of fire suppression gear.
"You got her?" Vandham grunted across to Eleonora.
"I'm fine," whispered Lila. She was not surprised when they ignored her.
"Run along," Eleonora said generously, taking a firmer grip on Lila's arm. "I'll see she gets looked after."
Vandham gave more of a rumble than an answer and left them, heading for the Reclaimers. He spoke a few words to their leader, then moved ever further away. Lila didn't watch where he went then, because Eleonora was demanding her attention. Lila was being introduced to a soldier that Eleonora had waved over to them. The custody of Lila was apparently being transferred.
"Now make sure they see her immediately," Eleonora was instructing the soldier busily. The uniformed woman, stocky and serious, nodded along. Lila wished she had been paying attention; it would be nice to know where she would be held. Eleonora smiled sweetly at Lila. "Lila, dear, I know you and the Mim Center don't mix well, but just this once try to be a good patient. Smoke inhalation is nasty even for mims. Just like that time on the Whale, when you got in trouble while upgrading the security cameras." Eleonora looked brightly at her.
"That was from cold, not smoke," Lila said slowly.
"Just like that time. Let them make sure you're okay. As a favor to me?"
Lila understood. Go to the center, get treated, answer no questions and ask none. Wait for Eleonora to visit. On the Whale, Lila had misunderstood what the Lifehold was doing when she'd blundered into the huge complex. Eleonora was worried that, just like then, Lila would misinterpret what she saw.
Lila wasn't worried about it all. She knew she didn't understand, nothing at all.
a/n: These next bits may be shorter because I'm having trouble getting the parts in order in my head, but I know where I'm going. Lila repairing the security cameras, more or less, in Twitchy Tales of the Whale/3.
Next up: Rebirth. Eleonora explains stuff, we dearly hope.