"I'm sorry I don't have anything more your style," Anya apologized.

"It's alright, Deary. Beggars can't be choosers," Lizzy smiled as she looked herself over.

"Elizabeth... Is this really you?"

Lizzy laughed as she hacked her hair shorter. "Yeah. I guess so." She admired herself in a grimy chunk of mirror. Her hair was a tumble of mismatched layers. Instead of being way past her shoulders, it rested lazily by her chin.

"... I... I thought you liked your long hair."

"This is more manageable. I never got around to cutting it until now."

"Because of Marcus and Dom? Because they remind you of-"

"Did Helena ever tell you who my father was?" Lizzy interrupted.

"No. She never mentioned him. No one did. Do you have a name? We might be able to find him," Anya thought aloud.

"Padrick Salton. Islander."

"Pad?"

"I'm guessing you knew him."

"Not very well... Marcus or Colonel Hoffman would know more," Anya sighed.

"Of course Marcus and Victor would know. Between the two of them, they'd know every Gear that's ever served," Lizzy rolled her eyes.

"Probably."

"Anya, do me a favor, yeah?"

"Of course. Anything."

"Don't find him. I don't give a fuck."

Lizzy left Anya alone in her quarters. Anya sat down, tired and mostly still in shock. She hadn't seen, or heard, anything from, or about, her friend since after her mother's funeral. It's like she disappeared off the face of Sera. Anya felt a twinge of guilt; she hadn't given much thought to Lizzy. Not even after the Hammer struck.

The Gears were a-buzz about the Stranded woman that addressed Colonel Hoffman so casually. Gossip flew around that she was his long lost daughter, or maybe she was Anya's evil twin. A few people said she was related to Marcus somehow. Perhaps they were married before E-Day. Chairman Richard Prescott, however, did not buy into any of the rumors floating around. Hoffman and Anya sat in his office. Between the two of them, Prescott didn't get much about Lizzy's past life. From the two Gears that brought her in, he got all he wanted to know about her present life. His decision to deal with her wasn't very thought out, logical, or sane.

"Execute her? Publicly?" Hoffman asked, his eyes narrowed.

"Sir, are you crazy?" Anya tried to keep her voice level.

"For one, she's Stranded. For two, all the things found in her 'headquarters' are illegal for civilian use. Three, this woman has somehow gotten inside our computer networks. What if she gets the Hammer satellites online? She could blow us all up!" Prescott pointed out.

"Not that some of us wouldn't deserve it," Hoffman thought.

"She's a threat," Prescott went on, "to the COG and all we stand for. We can't have a threat. We are within our power under the Fortifica-"

"No," Anya said suddenly.

"Excuse me, Miss Stroud?" Prescott raised an eyebrow.

"No, sir. I will not let you murder Elizabeth Salton."

"Just because her father was a war hero, does not mean she shares the same blood!" Prescott yelled.

"Not just her father. Everyone who has ever had a hand in raising her. It is in her blood to be a Gear. She was raised like that," Anya snapped. "I was raised like that. You'll have to shoot me too. And Marcus, Colonel Hoffman and every Gear in the service"

"Well... If that's how this is going to be..."

"You've got to be fucking joking, Chairman," Hoffman said, bitterly, "This is more of your political bullshit. We can't have that anymore! She's a human! We can't host public executions and still call ourselves civilized!"

Hoffman had risen out of his chair; one hand gripped the desk. Prescott still managed to maintain his cool, or at least he appeared that way. He cleared his throat.

"You're right, Anya. We are a civilization; we must act like one. I don't know why I said that," Prescott apologized.

"Because you want control, and Liz is the exact opposite of control," Hoffman thought.

"Victor, you'll handle her?"

"Of course. We'll get her some supplies, and I'll throw her right into the service. Unless you have any objections," Hoffman shrugged.

"No. None at all. You're both dismissed."

Hoffman held the door open for Anya, but before he could leave Prescott called him back. He rummaged through his desk for a second. The chairman stood, so he was eye level with Hoffman. They sort of glared at each other for a few seconds before Prescott cleared his throat again.

"I want her in Delta. Temporarily. And Mataki too. This," he said handing Hoffman a folder, "Is what the COG needs taken care of."

"It's an old high-rise in Jacinto," Hoffman scoffed.

He couldn't believe it. Prescott was going around behind his back and gathering information. He was keeping secrets. Still. In times when nothing should be kept secret anymore. As much as he wanted to hit Prescott for it, he couldn't. It was old information to Hoffman's eyes. He'd seen the building many times. At the moment, numerous civilians lived there. At least, they used to. The ground below logged tremor after tremor, but no Locust ever came up around the area. The civilians were evacuated; a lot of them wanted to leave the building anyway.

"We need the dish on the roof and any equipment on the top floor still operational," Prescott explained.

Hoffman thumbed through the papers. He remained silent, so Prescott continued talking.

"It was an older radio tower until a few years before E-Day. Whatever we can use, we use. Everything else we scrap."

"... We can send a couple of Ravens in to get the dish. Delta goes through the roof to get equipment. We'd need three at the very least... Hmmm..." Hoffman murmured to himself.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm planning, Chairman. I'll get them right on it."

"Very good. You're dismissed," Prescott said.

"Goddamn fool," Hoffman thought as he left, "How did he get this file? Building archives aren't anything like what he hands us."