Protocols & Hearts

Chapter 5

August 31, 20XX. Approx 8:36 a.m. Classified Military Base.

Aelia slowly opened her eyes as her alarm blared at six a.m. She felt like she had just fallen asleep ten minutes ago after tossing and turning for hours. The events of the previous day kept replaying in her mind. She reluctantly pushed herself up in bed, every muscle in her body feeling weighed down with exhaustion.

In the bathroom, she splashed cold water on her face to try and wake herself up, but it didn't do much. The dark circles under her eyes seemed more pronounced than usual. She put on her glasses, knowing her contacts would irritate her already red-rimmed eyes.

In the mess hall, she popped the tab on an energy drink and took a long sip, hoping the caffeine would kick in soon, having no time or energy to make a real breakfast.

At her desk, she logged into her computer with sluggish movements. The numbers and code on the screen all seemed to blur together. She took another sip of her now warm energy drink and scrolled back through her notes from the day before, trying to refocus on the task at hand.

Her eyes drifted to the corner of her desk, where yesterday's empty coffee cup still sat. No familiar greeting from her usual Ghost. Shaking away the thought, she plugged back into her work, sifting through data logs and security footage in hopes of finding any clues about the mysterious Russian Six. But her mind continued to wander back to Ghost and that woman last night, replaying their intimate moment over and over again until she wanted to scream. It was going to be a long day...

Aelia rubbed her tired eyes and stared blankly at the code on her screen, only half processing the words. Through the dull roar in her head, muted voices echoed down the hallway. She tried to focus on her work and block them out. But one voice rose above the rest - an overly cheerful feminine cry of "You guys go on ahead, I'll meet you there!" followed by quick, purposeful footsteps. Dread gripped Aelia as she recognized the tone.

She looked up reluctantly to find the perky raven-haired girl from the bar bounding toward her desk, her bangs bouncing along with her b- "Hey there! We didn't get properly introduced last night." She extended a manicured hand. "I'm Sarah from Dispatch."

Aelia froze before shaking her hand halfheartedly. "Aelia.. You work the morning shift too?" Her reply came out sharper than intended through her exhaustion. She tried not to come off angry, really this woman seemed nice, she just happened to do something that she'd been wanting to do.. wait- that came out wrong...

But Sarah didn't seem to notice Aelia's foul behavior. Instead she dove into conversation. "I've heard a lot about you, how you were part of a cartel in Mexico but now you're here on our side.. so cool!" She giggled. She sure was bubbly.

Aelia just shook her head. "I-I wasn't exactly working for them, willingly, it's complicated really, I was-" She attempted to explain herself but Sarah cut her off.

Sarah floated around the lab, looking at everything. "What are you working on?" She studied the equations scrawled across the whiteboard.

Aelia could see Sarah was fascinated yet overwhelmed. "Oh, it uh, applies principles of combinatorics - like the study of arrangements and selections within a finite set. Things like permutations and combinations." She spoke slowly, conscious of simplifying the advanced concepts for Sarah's understanding. While eager to return to her work, Aelia also wanted to avoid coming across as dismissive or aloof.

With an exaggerated laugh, Sarah held her hands up. "Yeaaaa, I never even figured out calculus." She grinned sheepishly. "Say, you wanna grab some lunch with me and Ghost here in a few minutes?" She suddenly prodded.