After she and Elsie spent the next couple hours relaxing as much as they could, Camilla got ready for work. She had no clothes at all except for the baggy T-shirt and athletic shorts she had been wearing when the Barracks got attacked. Thankfully, Elsie eagerly gave Camilla clothes to borrow, but they didn't fit her well in a way that was attributed to more than just a height difference, and Camilla felt bad enough about encroaching on her home. Without many options though, she made do with what she had, and planned to purchase seven new sets of guardian uniforms as soon as she got to Base.

Since Camilla normally flew from the Barracks to Base, she saw no reason to change her routine just because her living arrangements were slightly different. The only difference was that Everland Park was significantly further away from Base than the Barracks were, and Camilla knew her presence in the skies attracted more attention because of Exodos's attack mere hours ago. Besides that, her morning commute was no different than normal, except for the slight delay at the Base entrance when she remembered her ID was lost in the Barracks rubble.

The debrief only took about twenty minutes, but it felt longer when Camilla had to fake her drug-induced energetic persona after an eventful night with no sleep. Thankfully, Elsie had made her coffee in a travel mug, and Camilla savored it like she was living off rations. Regardless, answering questions with exuberant enthusiasm, plus finding ways to drive the conversation off into tangents, was exhausting, and Camilla was sure that at least a third of what she said didn't make sense.

But the investigators didn't question it, probably assuming her character was just business as usual, and she was sent back to her desk with the orders she expected. First, she was no longer assigned to protect Elsie Bates. Second, Camilla was to remain at Base until directed otherwise by a superior. Lastly, Camilla was required to submit a written account of the Barracks attack by close of business that day.

While she had issues with each of the orders, it was the third one that annoyed her the most. They had a recording of her debrief, so that should've been good enough. At first, Camilla thought she had tried too hard to make herself sound under the influence, until she realized that all of the guardians that were at the Barracks were required to submit written reports.

Still, it seemed like a waste of time to do something that was already done. Plus, it was highly likely that she would receive an additional assignment at some point during the day, giving her less time to actually write. It also didn't help that she was constantly one blink away from passing out right at her desk.

Just as she was drifting off again, Camilla felt a familiar chill at her back—people were probably gossiping about her again. Thankfully, her abilities were almost fully operational, so she pretended to keep working at her computer while she infused some energy with the surrounding air and expanded it throughout the space behind her.

The room was shared by about fifty officer and trainee guardians that weren't assigned to specific squads, each with their own low-wall cubicle. It was mostly used for them to complete administrative work, so it was at full capacity since most had received the same orders as Camilla.

As her energy traveled through the air, stretching past the other guardians at their desks, she could sense that most of them seemed to be hard at work while others were either dozing off or fiddling with their personal phones. It wasn't until her reach arrived at the break room on the other side of the office did Camilla find the source of the gossip. And while Camilla could have easily infused her energy into the glass wall that separated the break room from the rest of the office, her admirers had also left the door wide open, so Camilla took the path of least resistance.

"Why wouldn't she show up?" Fan A said. "She'd miss out on a chance to show everyone how cool she is, being completely fine a few hours later."

"I heard she even flew in, can you believe that?" Fan B added. "As if it was just a normal day at the office."

"I was there when she landed," Fan C offered. "She was wearing designer clothes for all the press camped out there. Hang on, I think I have a picture..."

"God, good thing she's just an officer," Fan B said. "Imagine having to address her as a superior." They feigned shuddering, and the others laughed.

"If she ever becomes a captain, she would probably get her entire squad killed on the first day," Fan C said. "Oh, here, I found it."

"'Camilla Wyatt still stylish after eventful night,' are they fucking kidding?" Fan A scoffed. "She looks like a toddler wearing mommy's work clothes."

They laughed again.

"Morning," a new voice greeted Camilla's fans, and the gossip group replied with a cheerful response of their own.

"Hey, Pala, right?" Fan B said. "Your sis—I mean, Captain Pala was looking for you last night. Did you find her? She seemed pretty worried."

"I did, thanks," Pala replied. "Um... is there sugar in here I could use?"

After the gossipers directed Pala to the sugar, they continued with their own conversation.

"Oh, and I heard something else too," Fan B continued. "She ditched the investigators afterwards. Like seriously? One of the first things we learn in the Academy is that when there's an incident, you stick around until dismissed."

"She probably thinks she's above the rules," Fan C said. "And since she was the 'hero,' she can do whatever the hell she wants."

"Probably," Fan B agreed. "Anyway, she had to get debriefed today, and apparently it was a real shitshow."

"How so?"

"Oh, the usual. She was all hyper and ditzy and spewed all kinds of shit that made absolutely no sense." The three groaned in unison. "They're hoping that her written report is at least somewhat coherent."

"What I don't get is why she had to send that fireball thing all the way to space," Fan A said. "Like, we get it already, you're super strong and all. You don't have to go reminding us every ten seconds."

"Pala, you were there," Fan C said. "Did you see her?"

"Who?" Pala asked, as if they had no idea who the gossipers were talking about.

"Camilla Wyatt, obviously."

"Oh. Yes, I saw her."

When Pala didn't continue, Camilla's fans pressed for more details.

"Well, what did you think?"

"Was she acting all crazy hyper?"

"She was super arrogant, I bet."

Pala didn't agree or disagree with any of their comments; instead, they said, "She was very... impressive."

Their answer obviously wasn't what the others were expecting.

"Really?" Fan A sounded skeptical. "Like impressively obnoxious?"

"She was very strong and efficient," Pala said. "I wouldn't mind being on a squad with her."

The room was silent for a moment.

"You're just in the post-rescued phase," Fan B explained. "You end up hero-worshipping her for an unknown amount of time. Don't worry, most of us have been there at some point. You'll get over it eventually."

Camilla didn't get to hear Pala's response when her eavesdropping was interrupted by an announcement on the PA system.

"The following guardians report to room bravo, two, zero, five, immediately: Captain A. Lee, Vice Captain L. Perez, First Officer M. Olomana, First Officer C. Wyatt, Trainee N. Pala. Report to bravo, two, zero, five, immediately."

Camilla internally groaned at the sound of Perez's name, then at the sight of her meager report. After a few more seconds of staring at her computer screen, she stopped caring about it altogether, and only bothered to finish off the sentence she was in the middle of:

The third wave consisted of one grade A fire mass, approximately twenty (20) meters in diameter, and approaching from the southeast direction at a velocity of just reference debriefing footage from room B616 of ?? JUN 33AE at 0830. The end.

She stood up as she submitted it, then quickly logged out of her computer as she mentally planned her route to the basement levels. The elevators always had at least one other person in them, and Camilla had no interest in faking a good mood more than she had to. Eventually, she planned to simply fly down the staircase and hope she didn't run into anyone else.

But just as she was leaving her cubicle, she almost ran into a familiar face, and it took Camilla a few seconds to pinpoint where she recognized them from. They were the lead rookie from the Barracks rooftop, and at the sight of the random sugar packet in their hand, another realization suddenly hit Camilla. The one that had spoken in favor of Camilla to the break room gossipers was this very rookie, Amira Pala's younger sibling.

Pala jumped a little, looking more guilty than shocked at the near collision, but managed to nod respectfully at Camilla.

"Sorry, ma'am," they said, quickly averting their eyes downwards.

Camilla was tempted to say nothing, but that unfortunately would not be her reaction if she was still medicated.

"No problem at all," she forced herself to reply, emphasizing the last two words.

She headed out of the office with Pala trailing behind her, so she settled with taking the elevator. As they waited for the elevator, Camilla was focused solely on making sure to occasionally fidget, so she didn't bother trying to strike up a conversation, and Pala didn't try to start one. She got worried though when an elevator arrived and it already had a small, chattering group of civilian employees, but they thankfully fell silent at the sight of her, and the ride to the basement was relatively peaceful.

When they arrived at the briefing room, which resembled a lecture hall for a dozen people, Lee and Perez were already waiting at the front of the room, probably knowing about the summons beforehand as a captain and vice captain. At the sight of Perez, Camilla immediately felt herself grow significantly more exhausted, and she wished she had another cup of Elsie's coffee concentrate.

Perez swore, equally dismayed by Camilla's appearance. "So the rumors are true. You actually came to work like not a goddamn thing happened, you arrogant little shit."

The sneer that Camilla gave him came easier than she thought it would. "Sorry to make you realize how incompetent you are for your rank and class."

"Perez, Wyatt, do not start, or you're both getting mandated community service after work," Lee snapped then turned to Pala with a hand extended. "Abigail Lee, squad captain. In advance, I'm sorry for subjecting you to these two for your first squad assignment, but the higher-ups felt that you have what it takes."

"Nakia Pala, trainee," Pala replied. "And thank you, Captain. I'll do my best."

Lee nodded, then addressed the group. "If everyone could take a seat, we'll start this brief as soon as Olomana arrives."

"The guy's probably on 'Hawaiian Time,' or whatever he calls it," Perez muttered.

Olomana arrived a couple minutes later, flushed-face and breathless, with a wide smile.

"Sorry I'm late, Cap," he said. "I saw some people I knew in the elevator and accidentally went five floors down with them, and I had to take the stairs up."

Lee answered by pointing to the chairs, and only spoke once Olomana had sat down next to Camilla.

"As I'm sure you've guessed by now, you have all been assigned to my squad," she began. "For formality's sake, I'm Captain Abigail Lee, CT3, and with me will be Vice Captain Leon Perez, CT4. In any circumstance where I am unable to be reached or, for any reason, am not able to give orders, Perez will be acting captain of this squad. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," Camilla, Olomana, and Pala said in unison with varying tones of voice.

"Next, we have First Officer Mackenzie Olomana, CR3, First Officer Camilla Wyatt, MG4, and Trainee Nakia Pala, MG3," Lee continued, gesturing at each of them in order.

"Now, for our first mission. I'm sure at least half of you know about the upcoming movie For the World?"

Again, three of them, this time joined by Perez, replied with their confirmations.

"It's not public knowledge yet, but the studio producing it is planning on resuming filming next week—"

"Are you kidding?" Perez exclaimed. He must not have been privy to the mission details as Camilla had expected, and she felt a small sense of satisfaction.

"We are?" Olomana said, the lead actor of the movie evidently being just as shocked as everyone else.

"—and our squad has been assigned as their protection detail," Lee finished her sentence as if she hadn't been interrupted, then added, "Yes, Olomana, including you. You are on this squad specifically so you can smoothly transition between your guardian and acting duties."

"I thought we'd get to go after those Exodos shitasses," Perez complained. "What, are we just going to ignore them and hope another squad catches them?"

"And what would you do if you faced them?" Camilla jumped into the fray, knowing she had already gone too long without speaking up. "Oh! Maybe we'll finally get to see your arm fully decay this time."

After they received a few more mission details and there was a lot more bickering, Lee finally dismissed them with assignments to research the scheduled filming sites to identify potential security threats and plan defensive strategies. Camilla was responsible for all the locations in San Francisco and part of South Korea; the former was her hometown, which she knew well, but the latter was a different story, though she was probably more familiar with it than the others were.

The squad spent the next hour moving into a joint office space that they shared with the elder Pala's squad, who would be one of the many going after Exodos. In their team was Quentin Juneau, who greeted Camilla with a reserved nod and everyone else an energetic wave. Unsurprisingly, Captain Pala gave everyone on the Lee Squad, including her own sibling, a simple nod of acknowledgement before focusing back on her work.

While the shared space was supposed to keep Lee's squad in the loop about Exodos, all it did was make Perez irritated that they couldn't join them.

"SF and Honolulu have their own bases," Perez whined as he unpacked his belongings. "Why can't they handle it?"

Lee didn't shift her gaze from her computer. "Building trust with the public requires stability, Perez, and the Org needs all the trust it can get right now." 

As Perez continued to grumble, Camilla quickly started her research to ignore him.

There were only a few locations in San Francisco that were going to need security plans, so Camilla prioritized that to get it out of the way, then put her finished proposal on the side to review later. South Korea was, as expected, more of a challenge, and it took two hours of research for Camilla to start pondering how much Hitomi knew about the country.

It would probably be better to use the Song brothers as information sources, but Camilla didn't want to trouble them. Unfortunately, the internet and sparse images from past missions in the area could only tell her so much about the area, and it didn't take long for Camilla to be frustrated enough to leave her desk for some low quality breakroom coffee.

As Camilla impatiently watched the coffee machine gurgle out the one thing that was keeping her awake, Olomana joined her with a tentative smile.

"Hey Wyatt, you gonna drink all of that?" he asked, gesturing to the coffee pot with his own empty mug.

Camilla shook her head silently, then belatedly remembered she was supposed to be showing her drug-induced pep. Her next thought was that Elsie trusted Olomana, so maybe Camilla could at least trust that he wouldn't tell anyone if she acted normally. And if he did end up ratting her out, then at least his untrustworthiness would be exposed at Camilla's expense rather than Elsie's. With that in mind, Camilla didn't bother putting on a last-minute act and simply hoped she wouldn't see any repercussions as a result.

"You doing alright?" Olomana eventually asked, and Camilla tried her best to not look guilty.

"Why?" she asked as plainly as she could.

Olomana shrugged. "Just following up after everything that happened last night, or rather, this morning. I don't know about you, but I completely crashed as soon as I got home. Then I almost missed my alarm for work." He held up his mug with a grin. "Hence the coffee."

"You don't have a biobattery?" Camilla asked, actually surprised. She thought all guardians with active cell control abilities had some kind of device, usually in the form of a watch, that contained living plant organisms that produced and stored energy for them to absorb and use if necessary.

"I used to, but I ended up killing them all the time." He sighed forlornly. "Then, I tried growing a bunch of plants at my place, but those would die too. I'm a bad plant daddy." He grimaced as soon as he stopped speaking. "Wait, sorry, that sounded way more inappropriate than it did in my head."

"Hm," was all Camilla said to that. She felt mostly responsible for Olomana's lack of energy since he probably used most of it on her, but she didn't want to tell him that.

The coffee finished brewing, and Camilla nodded for Olomana to do the honors. He only tried to have her go first once before giving up and refilling his mug.

"Thanks, by the way," Camilla forced herself to say before she got cold feet. "For the assist. And for taking me to Elsie's."

"No problem," Olomana replied as if he genuinely thought it had been no trouble at all. He finished filling his mug and turned around to lean back against the counter, then raised his cup to Camilla. "Any friend of Elsie's is a friend of mine."

Camilla nodded slowly, though she didn't really agree with Olomana's last statement. She was just stalling for what she planned to say next.

"And, if you want, and only outside of work..." Camilla tried to conceal the deep breath she took, "you can call me Camilla. But only if you want..." she hesitated again, "Mackenzie."

Olomana—no, Mackenzie was initially shocked, but then an ecstatic grin slowly grew on his face.

"Of course I want that!" he said with a little too much enthusiasm, and Camilla hoped that none of the others in the office could hear him nearly yelling. He grabbed the coffee pot and beckoned Camilla over. "Here, here, let me pour you a drink. And seriously, call me Mack..." his smile somehow grew wider, "Camilla."

Camilla scowled, but there wasn't much heat behind it. "It's still work hours, Olomana."

"Alright, alright, one step at a time, I guess," he conceded, then gently clinked their cups together as if they were toasting to their first names.

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