Whatever punishment Sara and Emily had been thinking of did not come to pass. Instead of being punished, Commander Arnold gave them time to cool off.
But as expected, only some were equally lucky. Lea had been asked to stay behind because Commander Arnold wanted to talk to her regarding something serious.
Emily and Sara exchanged a look and tried to interfere in Commander Arnold's decision. They also wanted to stay back and listen to what he had to say.
"Maybe we should stay behind as well. Lea is a little clumsy, so the extra help might-"
"No, you both go ahead. It could be a state secret if Commander Arnold asked me to stay behind. You do not want to get involved in anything that can have sensitive information, right?"
Lea asked, and the pair had nothing else to say. The first code about survival in this new world was not to be curious.
More people die every year due to their curiosity and walking into places they should not have because of the rift. It was a fact that everyone knew, but no one liked to talk about it.
'This is a warning from Lea's side. It's not often that Lea advises us on something. We should not get involved in this.'
Sara noticed how Emily was about to protest again, and she quickly nudged her to quieten her. Emily looked annoyed and rubbed her ribs where she had been smacked. But Sara pretended not to notice and dragged Emily out.
"Good luck, Lea. Let us know if we can help you out in any way."
Sara breathed a sigh of relief once she was out of the suffocating office. She also let Emily go, and Emily breathed in relief as well.
"Finally, freedom. What were you thinking in there? You almost suffocated me when you dragged me out. You should be more careful if you are going to do something like this. And what about Lea? Are we just going to leave her behind like this?"
Sara asked these questions in quick succession. She was worried but relieved at the same time.
These were the same emotions Sara felt, so she understood what Emily was going through.
"Look, I know that you are worried about Lea and want to help her. But the best thing you can do for her is to back away and let things happen. The more you pry into the high-up's business, the shorter your peaceful life will be."
That was what Sara's adoptive parents had told her before they died. This saying was something that had stuck with Sara her whole life.
Emily made a face of understanding, but Sara knew she could never truly understand how treacherous the government could be regarding their decisions.
The rift was the lesser of the two evils of the government.
"Ugh, things are too complicated for me to process right now. I will go and rest now. I need to head back home soon, so I also need to pack."
Emily admitted and walked away. The further she left Emily, the more her doubts consumed her.
She had imprinted on a guide and formed a half-bond. She did not know what she would say to her parents regarding this, especially since she knew their stand.
'Ugh, this would be troublesome. But knowing Mother, she might have already found a guide for me to form a bond with. She has been like that from the start.'
And if that were the case, then there would be no stopping her mother. The deal with the guide's family would have been made keeping family honour and interest in mind.
Emily would have no say in it. And if her status was revealed, she might also get disowned. So, she needed to hide her status.
'I might be the most powerful sentinel in the family and cherished right now. But who knows what would happen if I taint the family name? Mother might kill me if she knew about all I have done.'
......
"You all can leave the room as well. I only want Lea in here since the news I am about to share is top secret."
Commander Arnold coughed in his hand as he looked around the room. The workers stopped working and looked at him in irritation.
But no one opened their mouth to complain about his decisions. They all liked their job and did not want to anger their superior.
"You could have formed a small sound-proof barrier around the room if you wanted people to stay quiet. There was no need to send everyone out like this."
Lea reminded the Commander, and her words felt like a jab to Commander Arnold. It was well-known that he needed to improve with basic techniques like that.
'Let's calm down. There is no need to get triggered since my strength lies in strategy and warfare. There is no need to get angry about such a minor jab. Especially when it was unintentional.'
Commander Arnold tried to make himself feel better by thinking like this. He coughed in his hand to hide how awkward the situation was for him.
"I will let your words slide off this time. The reason I called you here is simple - we are being called for help. Chief Atlanta asked you to head toward her base and help there. But I am not interested in helping her for no reason."
"So, I want you to do simply - demand a huge compensation from Chief Atlanta for helping her out. Make it as much as you can, and then only help her out barely. Do you understand?"
Commander Arnold asked with a straight face. But he could not help but feel greedy inside. He had no right to deny Chief Atlanta's request, but it was a different case for Lea. She could make an excuse and lie about her condition.
The bottom line of this interaction was that Commander Arnold wanted more but needed the means to demand it. So, he was going to use Lea to get what he wanted.
Once the base had the money, it would be easy to make it all disappear. Commander Arnold would buy a new villa under the guise of business expense, and he could privately own it.
But all his plans came to a halt when Lea refused his order. It was unexpected, and Commander Arnold had not considered this a possibility.
"I am sorry, but I cannot do that. I hate to remind you, but my loyalty lies with the government and not you. You might be my retainer, but I am not your subordinate. Now, why don't we get the real problem sorted? Did Chief Atlanta call for me? I heard the officers gossiping about it."
Commander Arnold gritted his teeth as soon as he heard the refusal in Lea's voice. He knew that he could not do anything about it.
'Darn it. This is not fair to me. I am the one who must put up with your sorry mess, so you should obey me and follow me. How dare you say that you are not my subordinate.'
Commander Arnold was about to do something foolish. But their station received a call before he could do anything.
The caller ID showed Chief Atlanta and Commander Arnold panicked. He tried to pick up the call, but he messed it up. It was humiliating, and he hated how he could not do anything right.
In the end, Lea picked up the call. She did not say anything, but Commander Arnold was sure she thought of him as pathetic.
"Commander, I can see that Lea is back. You should have informed me when she arrived, but I will let this brush off now. Lea, it's been a long time since we last talked. Do you still remember me?"
The Chief asked, and Lea vaguely recalled seeing that face.
"Hmm, I vaguely remember your face from a few years ago. Sorry, I can't say I know who you are immediately."
Lea confessed, and Chief Atlanta looked disappointed. But it had to be expected since she had not been impressive when she met Lea.
There had also been too many people around for Chief Atlanta to stand out.
"Ah, I apologise if I made things awkward for you. Then, I will get to the point. Lea, you are being ordered to head to the Rift battle site A_12. We need to retrieve the Grand Portio Oasis at all costs."
Lea was not surprised to hear these words. Technology might have advanced beyond measures in the last few decades, but there were still things humans could not do.
And one was creating fresh water and resources.
Now, it was possible to purify seawater and use it, but only some bases were lucky to have a sea or a water source. Humanity's first fight against the rift was to reclaim their resources.
"I understand. I shall head out as soon as I can."
With this, Lea's next destination had been decided. And this time, she would prefer to head out alone. This battle was not one that an amateur could head into and hope to survive.