“You…” Svanda hissed through her teeth. “There is a crisis going on, one that we’re partly responsible for. But you… you want to turn our backs on this and just act like it isn’t our problem?”

The stifled rage that seemed to roll through the car’s interior sent a shudder up Nina’s spine. Svanda already looked frightening enough when she wanted to, but once the mask had been thrown on she could look downright terrifying. How Reina hadn’t already withered under the gaze was inconceivable to her, but then again if anyone could do it, Reina was the one. Simmering in the silence, everyone present snuck a glance at their leader. Her calm demeanour suggested that she was prepared for this reaction, Nina realised, and so now there was nothing to do but wait for her justification.

“And what exactly do you want us to do?” she finally asked, crossing her arms before leaning back into the seat. “Go doorknocking and hope that somebody has the answers? Face it, we’re looking for a sentient needle in a haystack and it doesn’t want to be found. If Rucille had even a sliver of intelligence, which she most certainly does, she would have been on the first train out of the Westworks before everything blew up. Now you want us to comb three entire cities, just so you can go after someone who wouldn’t mind sticking another needle in Nina’s neck?”

“We can support…”

“We can’t support the relief effort,” Reina sighed. “I know you want to tell everyone as much as you can about whatever Rucille has let out, but doing so will do nothing but paint a target on our backs that we can’t afford to carry around. At best the authorities will take everything on board while keeping us under their thumbs, and at worst we’ll be arrested. Knowing anything at all about the situation raises suspicion, and if they find out that we’re partly responsible they would never let us go. I know it’s difficult, but the best thing that we can do in this situation is just get on with it and hope that Rucille comes after us once she’s finished.”

Svanda’s silence in response suggested that deep down, she knew Reina was right. It was a bitter pill for her to swallow, and the fact that she looked like she was about to let it go left Nina feeling awful. While it was true that everyone had a level of investment in what Rucille had put them through, her latest attack had struck closer to Svanda’s heart than any of the rest. Terminus was her home plate, and the fact that the damage was done by an outsider only intensified the emotion. You didn’t have to know the victims to feel a part of the bigger picture, and you didn’t have to care about them either. You did, however, have to care about an uninvited guest turning up on your plate before trying to set the entire thing on fire.

For Svanda, it was a matter of pride.

“…I’ll go back to the clan,” she said after a pause, her mask failing to hide the falter in her tone.

“And do what?” Reina replied with a shrug. “Do you really think that they’ll care? You know just as well as I do that they’ll be happy to watch this from afar, ready to reach for whatever valuables they can get their claws into the moment they smell weakness. This benefits them, and you have nothing that you’re willing to offer to change their minds either. So, tell me, why would they help you?”

“Rucille is a threat to the entire plate,” Svanda answered. “The clan needs the Westworks, for processing if nothing else. Raw materials are useless if there’s nobody to buy them.”

“The fact that none of the clans have moved suggests otherwise,” Reina retorted, clearly losing patience. “Think about it. If anyone on Terminus understands the risks associated with the crisis, it would be them, yet they’ve done absolutely nothing. If they’re still sitting up there in their manors, it means that they’ve decided that the threat isn’t troublesome enough for them to mobilize.”

“But-”

“Let it go,” Reina said to cut her off. “Don’t make this any harder for me than it already is. There’s a bigger picture here, for all of us, and I’m not going to lose sight of it because a single woman decided to let a nasty cat out of the bag. End of discussion.”

Nina wanted to check on Svanda, but she was afraid to. Instead she avoided the awkward silence by staring out the window to the drab scenery that flew by. The Westworks weren’t too different from Southstone in the end, but there was still variety. She didn’t know if it was because they were in a specific part of town or not, but here at least the buildings seemed to be wider. It seemed more practical in comparison to the neat rows of offices from Southstone which hinted at warehouses or something similar, but it also raised more questions. How was everything moved around? She hadn’t seen any trucks on the road. In fact, she hadn’t seen anything on the roads besides the same few variations of the car that they currently sat in. Nothing flew overhead either, although she didn’t blame them for that. She certainly wouldn’t want to be up in the sky too often considering the weather up there, and her initial drop to the plate had been more than enough for the time being.

“We’re staying relatively close to the dispatch centre,” Reina said in an attempt to refocus them. “Rest up once we get there and be prepared for tomorrow.”

Letting them linger on her and Svanda’s disagreement was clearly something that she wanted to avoid. The comment did bring Nina’s attention back to the interior of the car if nothing else, but she also found it difficult to resist peeking at the results of the fallout. It might have been easier if she was sitting on the other side of the car, but unfortunately, Svanda was sitting right beside her. Would she be annoyed if Nina suddenly craned her neck so that she could have a look at her face? Maybe she would. Svanda didn’t exactly seem like someone who would take losing very well.

As though her mind had just been read, Svanda’s hand suddenly dropped onto her thigh. Feeling the light squeeze of fingers stretching against her pants, Nina’s expression became melancholic as she stewed over her latest realization. In all of the mess that was currently going on around them, Svanda considered Nina to be her closest ally. While it was true that everyone in the group had been a victim of Rucille’s actions to at least some degree, Svanda would have seen Nina and herself as the two people who had the most to lose.

Running with the thought, it suddenly wasn’t hard for Nina to see how Svanda thought that the two of them shared a similar sense of betrayal. Reina’s refusal wasn’t just a rejection of their wishes, it was also a block on their attempt to find closure. If she was perfectly honest, Nina didn’t know what to think of the precarious position between Reina and her number two. Losing Rucille for good would obviously put her mind at ease, but at the same time she didn’t want to jump back into the flames if that’s what was required to make it a reality. Call it cowardly, but Nina thought that running away and avoiding the issue wasn’t a bad plan.

That was, at least, until Rucille had upped the stakes by putting a whole lot of people through the same thing that she had painfully endured.

Putting a smile on her face in response to the attempt to comfort her, Nina rested her head on Svanda’s shoulder before closing her eyes. She didn’t know what exactly had happened to her logical and orderly former self, but for once Nina was thinking that she wanted to go against the grain. They didn’t know where Rucille was, and just by looking for her they would be sticking their necks out at a time when Ormain was completely unaccounted for. Rucille herself was just as dangerous if they managed to corner her, and Nina was fairly certain that the woman would have some horrifying tricks up her sleeve if she needed them.

Reina had, as usual, been correct in saying that there was no value in going after Rucille. It just didn’t make sense, and the woman in question would more than likely come after them again once she had worked out how to leave Terminus. Julia’s task was already enough of a problem for them, so taking extra trouble onto their plate was something that they should be avoiding at all costs. Reina would undoubtedly keep her eye on them anyway, but Nina was beginning to think that Svanda didn’t care. If she truly planned to go against Reina’s orders, Nina would be left in a difficult position. Did she stick with the orders and her head, or did she push it all away in favour of following her heart?

Ignoring the muted chatter around her as the car sped in the direction of their next destination, Nina realised that once again, she didn’t know which path to take.