The car touched back down outside the estate, its large walls looming over them. Anna followed the briefcase holding Leonard out of the taxi and through a large and open gate into the complex beyond.
"It's much bigger than I thought," Anna mused as she took in the large sweeping lawn cutting through the centre of the estate, lined by buildings on either side. "Who on earth wastes this much space on a lawn in the middle of Citadel? Besides the university I guess, but their government funded so it doesn't count. Just the grass space alone would be worth billions of credits if they developed it."
She broke free of her stupor and broke into a light jog to keep up with Leonard, the man making his way straight towards the medical clinic and trusting her to follow. Unlike Anna he wasn't struck with awe at the estate grounds, having grown up here his whole life it became normal to him.
The clinic was one of the many buildings that lined the vast lawn, however unlike the residential building Leonard called home this one was far more defended. Its walls were made of the same hard material that composed the towering curtain wall that surrounded the estate, while its roof was lined with anti air emplacements and missile defence guns. Leonard also spied a lone mech around the side of the building, his hands itching as he imagined the inside of its cockpit.
Leonard always wondered why the clinic was so heavily defended, while it could be explained away as protecting its patients Leoanrd never bought that. The estate was already a bonafide fortress in the middle of the most restricted planet of the nation, such worries should be non-existent.
However one day when he asked his father he got the answer. Deep underneath the clinic was where they stored and carried out life prolonging treatments for the elders of the family.
"IDs," an armed security officer ordered as they reached the front door, movement within heavily restricted.
Leonard produced his and the officer gave it a quick scan. "My friend here," he motioned to her, "is here to visit her brother who was just admitted earlier, but she isn't registered."
"Very well," the security officer replied. "This way ma'am, we will need to process you before granting you entry."
"Go, it'll be fine." Leonard waved her on as the security officer walked off inside the building, another moving out to take his place. "It's just formalities, I'll meet with you when it's all done."
She nodded at him before following the security officer through the large glass doors into the clinic. He was there waiting on the other side, holding open a small door to the side and motioning for her to enter.
The inside was what looked to be a small office, and Anna took a seat on one side of a desk while the security officer closed the door and then walked around and took a seat on the other.
"Alright ma'am," he began, "This shouldn't take too long. I just need some personal details for our system and then I'll give you a quick run down of the rules while you are inside."
"Okay," Anna sat up straight with her hands on her knees, feeling like a school girl having been called into the principal's office. Not that the security officer who was typing away on a console was intimidating, but rather the sheer scale of the estate itself that she found herself in was.
"I don't really fit in here," she was still dressed in her work clothes, and although she had discarded her apron, that still left her dressed in a plain black shirt and pants. And while the people she had walked by weren't dressed overly opulently, they still held themselves in a more refined and controlled manner than she.
"Okay ma'am, let's get started." The officer began, shifting his attention away from the console and back to her. "Look into this camera for me."
He motioned towards a camera that fell down from the ceiling. As soon as she looked into its lens it flashed an extremely bright white, before folding itself back up into the home above their heads.
"Ouch," Anna blinked, little white dots still staining her vision.
"Don't worry it will pass," the officer said as he continued the procedure. "Now, your name please ma'am?"
"Anna Solace," she answered, her eyes still stinging. The pair went through a long list of questions, from her date of birth to where she went to school. Some questions she doubted the use of, however the security officer was very persistent on getting an answer. She also had to complete some more physical scans, like fingerprints and a needle that dropped down from the ceiling and took some of her blood.
It took what she thought was 20 minutes for what seemed to be turned into an interrogation to finish. The security officer sitting back in his chair satisfied.
"Thank you for your cooperation ma'am, this should be all the questions complete." While the officer might have been satisfied at a job well done, Anna rubbed her head, her mind aching slightly after having to answer so many questions at once.
"Now for some housekeeping," the officer began. "It's all really straight forward, no wandering off or snooping around etcetera. However since you're a visitor you'll have to stay with that man you came in with, he should know the rules anyways so there shouldn't be any trouble."
Anna nodded in understanding, she was only here to visit her brother and make sure he was alright after all. She didn't want to cause any trouble, least of all with one of the nation's founding houses.
"Very good then," he stood up. "We are all finished, thank you for making this easy for me ma'am. Some people I have to deal with have a massive stick up their ass."
Once they were finished Anna made her way back the way she came, out into the large and open foyer where Leonard was sat down waiting. He stood when he saw her approach, "all done then?"
"Yeah," she stretched. "That seemed like a whole lot just to visit someone inside."
"Ha," Leonard laughed but didn't elaborate, instead leading the pair towards the front desk, the receptionist looking up as they approached.
"How may I help?"
"Here to visit Willam Solace," Leonard said and the receptionist got to work searching for his name on her computer.
"Ah yes, Mr. Solace. Floor 4 room 23C."
Leonard gave a quick thanks before moving on, something Anna was thankful for, wanting to see her brother as soon as possible. They made their way up an elevator and through a long corridor before reaching a door with a small 23C sign on the side of the wall.
"Will!" She rushed right in past Leoanrd who stepped to the side for her. "Are you alright?"
Willam himself was laid down on a bed, various tubes poking into him and his face was covered in bandages. He had been dozing off when the pair arrived, however her loud outburst pulled him back awake.
"Anna?" he looked confused as to why she was here, eyes darting to Leonard. Though he had heard him talking to her in the taxi his mind wasn't all there at the time and couldn't fully comprehend their conversation.
"Will, are you okay? What happened to you? Why weren't you behind me?" She bombarded him with questions making his brain race.
"One at a time Anna," Leoanrd came up from behind. "He's quite tired as you can probably imagine."
"Ah, yea. Sorry about that." She replied sheepishly, taking a step back and sitting down in a chair at the side of his bed.
"But what are you doing here?" Willam questioned. "Why did you not leave the planet like I said to?"
"What? Why would I just leave without you?" She asked, hurt that he would even think that she would. "I'm not going anywhere without you."
"Aye, I thought as much."
"But enough about me, are you alright? How did you manage to get caught?"
"Ha," he sighed, recounting what happened. "The cops must've seen us when he went down to street level, and after seeing you turn around and leave they approached me. As soon as they figured out who I was they arrested me and turned me over to the White Skulls."
"The police did?" Leonard butted in, alarmed at his words. "Are you sure about this?"
Willam looked at him, "I saw it happen, experienced it in person, of course I'm sure about it."
Anna and Willam went back to talking, or more accurately Anna went back to fussing over him. Leonard on the other hand had a lot to think about. If Willam was completely sure about the police assisting the White Skulls it painted a bad picture, especially if it was more than a rogue officer and the organisation as a whole. If they were in the pocket of the Rochester family it could explain how they were able to get away with all that they did. And how the Condor Kingdom was able to operate with relative ease within Bastion's capital.