"Mia, before we depart, do you have my undergarment cleaned?" Solae asked delicately once Rene had concluded speaking with the artificial intelligence. It had been surprising that Rene was so concerned about the survival of something he had been uncomfortable with at start. She would be lying if she didn't admit that Mia's programming to encourage sensual encounters and speak seductively wasn't a little strange to her as well, but Rene she wagered had been more bothered than she. That he was, in spite of this, worried about the synthetic existence spoke to a well of empathy that was unexpected in any nobility. If it hadn't been intrusive and wholly inappropriate timing she might have inquired further was title Rene possessed before he had left for the Imperial Marines.

"Yes, of course Lady Solae," was the purred response as she ejected the clothing out of an opening in the wall dedicated to pulling items out of (and putting them into) storage. Mia had cleansed most of the blood out but some of the pale lilac color was mottled and streaked with a pale pink. Motioning for Rene to turn Solae shimmied out of her shorts, pulled on the underwear, and then pulled the shorts back on.

"Thank you for everything, Mia."

"You are most welcome, Lady Solae."

"When we get to another house we'll check in with you," she told Mia. Rationally this didn't mean much to the computerized intellect as she would not feel pain at the destruction of Lord Armon's manor, nor would she feel distress at not having anything to do, and she did not have as firm of a feeling of the passage of time. Solae knew if she escaped this she may not ever feel completely at home in her parent's estate if it could be recovered. Maybe, just maybe, she would survive and build a new residence that Mia could inhabit. There was a sentimentality to it- that Mia helped save them and she could help save Mia (unliving though she was).

"Let's go," Solae told Rene quietly as she packaged away her sadness. The marquise did not look back at the underground room as they made their way down the hall in hushed reverence. She knew a single glance back would fill her with dread, fear, and crippling sadness. To leave the refuge was to venture back into open danger.

The tunnel sloped gently upwards before they arrived at a regal marbled staircase into an unremarkable ceiling. Solae pressed a button hidden on the right side of the bottom step and a circular portion of the aforementioned ceiling slid away into itself, allowing them ample room to ascend safely. Stepping outside they were greeted by a small grove of fruit trees, sunlight so bright Solae squinted her eyes into little slits, and the sound of distant mayhem. Once they were both clear of the passageway's opening it slid shut behind them, leaves rustling in place to cover the seamless edges of where it had been.

"We should start towards the Syshin," Solae whispered. No one was around to hear but she was understandably paranoid about Gids or looters happening upon them. There were loud whoops of excitement from the northwest where Lord Armon's luxurious abode was still standing- for now. "I'll lead the way. The closer we get the less people we'll see... not many like being close to the Syshin, and I imagine the rebellion feels the same way."

They went the opposite direction than the route they had taken from when they first met to Lord Armon's. True to her word, Rene could bear witness to how the noble homes, merchant homes, and even peasant homes and farms became increasingly sparse as they traveled towards the Syshin. There was zoning that dictated whom could live where but it became more barren nonetheless as they drew closer. Lots of land laid bare rather than be occupied too close to the Syshin. After an hour and a half's travel there were smaller groupings of buildings (usually houses, but sometimes an errant shop) that represented the last outcroppings of Armistice before entering the borders of the Amber Horizon Encampment.

As Solae and Rene passed towards a row of shrubs in a modest, but well-maintained, two-story residence a voice called out to them from behind a hedge. "Solae? Solae Falia?" The man was muscular but agile, his black hair silvery gray at the temples, his visage weathered and placing his age somewhere in the fifties, and he was wearing tactical armor that cost a small fortune. At first glance he was neither a Gid, nor an Imperial Marine, nor a noble.

"At ease soldier," he said with a nod towards Rene, "if I was going to shoot I could have ambushed you already. What the hell are you doing out in the middle of the day?" Min Ho furrowed his brow- he hadn't expected New Concordia's most wanted woman to waltz on by so he didn't have a pitch to convince them he was safe.

"For fuck's sake Min Ho, ask them inside!" The sniper on the roof slid down to the balcony, then hung by her fingertips from the railing of the balcony before dropping to the ground. "Forgive his manners, he quite frankly doesn't have any." Min Ho frowned at the assertion. "And before you ask, we're not with the rebellion, but we don't have enough time for more questions out here."