Shards

The Mindy Report

A couple of sleepless days pass until Octavia gets the report she's been waiting for. During those days, she learns more about the Tarnished. They're harder to find than Nickie and Tam first made it seem. Most keep low profiles and all of them don't trust Shard for a reason unknown to Octavia. Some Tarnished are believed to be leaking info to other smaller rebel groups, usually about weapon drops or Shard's location during a hit in the capital. One Tarnished, though, was caught trying to leak info to the government in order to get Shard captured. What happened to her was never explicitly stated but enough was implied she didn't make it much longer after being caught.

A familiar beep beep beep startles Octavia out of her daze. She attempts to rub the heaviness off her eyes and hugs her pillow to her chest.

Marcy Hunnisett takes the screen. "Three days after returning from Chromy captivity, we have gotten word on Mindy Winters."

The feed changes to a recording of Mindy in a hospital bed. She has more color than she did when she left. Little, round stickers on her body send info on her vitals to machines with silently bouncing lines. An IV feeds into her arm.

"Hi, everybody," she rasps. She wiggles a few fingers in a short wave.

A wave of relief knocks Octavia backwards on her bunk. She sits with her back against the wall and relaxed eyes on the TV.

Mindy continues, "I want to let everyone know that I'm okay. It'll be a bit longer before I'm 100 percent again, but I'm getting better every day. Thank you all so much for your encouraging messages and posts throughout the Net. I can't tell you how much it means to me." The small smile on her face fades. "I can't thank you enough for your love and support. And I ask you do the same for Councilman Stickler and all of Lucy's friends and family. I want to say that I am so..." Mindy shakes her head. "No words can describe how I feel about Lucy. It's a tragedy that the Chromies will pay for. We can't and won't allow this to happen to the rest of the hostages. And, I don't know if the other hostages will hear my message, but if they do," Mindy's gaze in the camera intensifies. "Stay strong! Don't let what happen to Lucy discourage you but encourage you to fight. Be strong and survive for her, Councilman Stickler, and all your family and friends hoping for your safe return. We will get the rest of you out alive one way or another. And Octavia..." Tears shine in Mindy's eyes. "I'm keeping my promise to you. You can survive. You're not alone. Don't let Shard win. I know you are stronger than you think you are. All of you are." She kisses her hand, holds it to the camera, and waves. "I'll see you soon my loves."

Mindy is replaced by Marcy Hunnisett. Octavia barely manages to hear her say Mindy is making a speedy recovery and will have an interview within the week about her experience with the Chromies.

The image on the TV sucks itself into a little spark that disappears along with the audio.

"What?" Octavia says out loud.

"There've been noise complaints the past couple days from your obsessive TV watching, and you're running the cable bill quite high."

Octavia is startled at Shard's voice.

He puts the remote he used to turn off the TV into his jacket. "Have I expressed enough how much I love your jumpy-ness?" Shard snickers at Octavia's scowl. "Don't worry, though, Sweet-hart, we'll watch Winters's interview together. Didn't I tell you she'd be okay?"

"What about Lucy, though?" Octavia says.

This is the first time she has seen Shard since the announcement of her death.

Shard sighs. "There were some...technical difficulties that I can't quite go into detail with you yet."

"Yet?"