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[i]Twelve Hours until S Day[/i]

Besides the gut wrenching, nauseous anxiety that plagued Eli in the morning every day since their meeting with Packet, Eli felt a determination growing within her that she hadn’t felt in a while. She hadn’t felt like doing anything since the gunmen broadcasted her people’s murder on live television. This plan was completely insane. She assumed that Keaton’s ability would tell her that they only had a 5 or 10% chance of making it back to the Ring. There was a whole world just miles away through empty space that they knew much to nothing of. The public was told that it was only for the R&D department, it housed the ones that manifested abilities too early, and the security department. It was true, in all honesty, but Eli’s gut was telling her that there was much more to it than that. Something evil walked through those walls. Either by Mr. Wrath’s doing or the governments that funded The Promise. They would have tested the taser gun before sending it into the residential areas, so how did they test it? What parahuman would willingly go through that torture? She had a feeling that there weren’t any volunteers.

Eli remembered the way Arianna’s body collapsed into nothing but a puddle on the forest floor. She was made of a million cells, and all of their connections were disrupted by one round. She’d had a dream that one of the tasers was turned on her. She imagined that her brain would turn to pudding for minutes, but it would feel like years. That her body would collapse and twitch like a normal taser would do, but her mind, the epicenter of her ability, would be driven insane by the feeling. She’d woken from her dream as a sweaty mess. Her palms shaking and her mind going at a million miles per second.

Would she experience the real thing on this mission? If something went wrong, if they made one miscalculation, would her friends experience it too? She couldn’t bear the thought, but she had to consider the possibility.

As she walked towards the mail center she was processing these scenarios in her head. What would she do after the effects wore off? Would she be able to create illusions immediately after? If she couldn’t, should she have a weapon or a defensive technique ready to use to protect herself and the others? She knew basic self-defense thanks to the classes, but she didn’t have Nat’s strength or Archie’s muscles. She could easily be overpowered by the security guards. She ran her thumb over the edges of the two envelopes in her hands. She had to be careful not to hold them too tightly, lest she’d crumple the letters within.

She almost walked right by the mail center. Her steps took her right past the doors until she realized and turned back. Inside it was quiet. A few workers at their stations and one student in the corner filling out their own letter home.

[i]Home.[/i]

Would she ever make it there again?

She approached the drop box within one of the walls. She’d been in this spot plenty of times before to send birthday cards or letters home. It looked so similar to the ones back on Earth that for a moment she was back in Arizona. Her mother was standing next to her, and she remembered watching her slide the postcard into the slot. All she wanted that day was a sticker from the mailman at his desk or a lollipop. She’d leave the post office with a giant smile on her face. A reward for running errands with her mom. She smiled wistfully as she opened the drop box and placed the letters in the tray.

This was it. Everything she wanted to say to her parents before taking an adventure into the unknown. If she survived it would merely be a way of expressing how she felt. If she never sent another letter again, they would know that she meant to leave these last words with them.

She hadn’t written much in her letter to her mom. They’d grown so close over such a long distance since the Welcoming Day incident. She shared almost everything with her mom now. To her father, on the other hand, at first she wrote a letter that expressed the pain he’d caused her. How could he start a new life after what their family went through? Was he much happier with his normal family? She hadn’t called him in days. In fact, she hadn’t gotten any more than a text from him after the shootings. When she finished her letter, words filling the front and back of the page, she read it over again. It was everything she’d wanted to tell him since he sent her to The Promise earlier than she expected.

She burnt the letter instead. Somehow after writing it all down, she felt better not telling him. Instead she’d wished him the best and hoped that his family were doing well. She told him that she still loved him despite their rocky relationship. She told him that she was glad that she took his hand that day and didn’t leave with her mother. That even if he felt guilt, he made the right choice.

For a moment, her fingers couldn’t let go of the envelopes. Her eyes brimmed with tears, but she didn’t let them fall. Instead she shut the box, took a deep breath, and let it go as she listened to the letters fall into the pile of mail inside. She was out of the doors a few seconds later and, surprisingly, her chest felt ten times lighter.

She still couldn’t bring herself to see the others. She needed this day to collect herself, even though she could use a dinner at El Vaquero with Lynn again or a movie night with Keaton. They’d have another day to do that, right?

So, as her mind continued to think of what she’d need to wear or bring along, she made her way to her favorite spots on The Promise. First she stopped at a bookstore. She ran her fingers over the edges of the books along the walls and even bought a novel that she’d been wanting to read, but never bought before. Then she made her way to her favorite restaurant. Her mind was blank as she devoured as much food as her stomach could take. She ate a whole plate of the best dessert on The Promise: chocolate drizzled beignets. The bill cost three times more than she usually spent, but she knew that this was worth the money. So what if she came back from the Spire with a penny to her name? She could work another shift and have enough in a week for more. She could just read her new book and stay at home until she had money to go out again. She even tipped 30% on the bill.

As she left the restaurant, her stomach full and warm from her dinner, she popped an earbud into one ear and listened to her recent playlist. Her feet took her throughout the streets, looping around the Promise on her usual route. She passed the snow blanketed forest where she’d spent many nights drinking with her friends. Where Radvi took a tumble chasing Arianna.

Where was she now?

Eli contemplated a potential encounter with her until she reached a bridge. Her feet slowed to a stop. She found herself looking at the spot where she’d mourned her friend many weeks ago. She remembered how quickly the shrines had been removed, and that the Promise hadn’t even told the world what happened during the Breakout. Her anger kept her warm while the snowflakes dropped onto her face and hair. She tilted her head back and let them land on her for a moment. She’d never seen snow until she came to The Promise. Did it feel the same way back on Earth? She imagined it was dirtier for some reason. Tainted by the pollution and turned brown by the mud of the Earth and the cars that pushed through it on the roads. She didn’t mind the snow at all here, but she couldn’t see herself liking it down there.

A moment later she stuffed her hands into her coat and pushed onwards. She walked for a while until she knew it was time to go home. As she walked up the steps to her room, she remembered the day of the breakout. When she returned home later that day, the front door to her building had been smashed through. The convict that chased her left blood stained footprints up the stairs and into a nearby apartment. She’d been smart not to go back to her room. She never knew what happened to her neighbor.

All of these tragedies. All of the blood and pain she’d witnessed or experienced in the past six months built up to this moment. Eli changed out of her snow soaked clothes and into the comfiest pjs she owned and laid in bed. In less than seven hours Eli would have answers, and perhaps even her revenge. She stared at the ceiling and thought of all of the footage of The Promise’s mistakes that awaited her on the Spire. She wasn’t quite sure what the others were looking for, but she was looking for justice. She was looking for the cruelty that her kind had been through on this ship.

[color=E5D0FF] “Cara, would you help me upload some files tomorrow?”[/color] She said into the darkness.

[b] “Yes, Eli. I can do my best to make sure they go where they need to be.”[/b]

[color=E5D0FF] “Thank you.”[/color]

Eli thought over their plans until she fell into a deep sleep.

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[i] 4:30 am[/i]

[b] “Eli.”[/b] Cara’s voice was soft. [b] “Your meeting is in thirty minutes.”[/b]

Eli shifted under the covers and yawned. [color=E5D0FF] “Thanks, Cara…”[/color] She murmured groggily. She sat up in her bed and rubbed her eyes, then sat blinking the sleep away as her brain pieced together why she was awake this early in the first place. Once her mind had woken up, she was once again filled with the anger and determination that had brought her to this moment. She crawled out of bed and splashed some water on her face, then pulled her hair back into a bun. She didn’t want her hair to get into her face today.

She dressed in a pair of black joggers that would keep her warm in the snow and cool indoors. Then a simple black t-shirt, black running sneakers, and threw on an old coat that she could leave behind in the sewers. If she returned to it, she could blend in easily with the students in the streets.

For a moment she stared at herself in the mirror. She was a completely different person than she was so many months ago. The Promise was a different place too. What once was a false sense of safety was now replaced with raw reality. She could never [i]really[/i] return to Earth. Not after her abilities and anger was shared with the world. The Promise was her only option if she wanted to leave a halfway decent life, but she still didn’t feel like she could stay either. Not while their secrets were locked away. Not while her people were put to tests and experimentation behind closed, steel doors. If she was put behind bars because of her actions today, she was okay with it.

This was for her people, her friends, fo herself, and for all of the future generations of parahumans that were to come.

This would be an important day.

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Eli spotted her group of misfits up ahead of her and gave them all a grim nod as she approached. She looked around at their faces. All of them looked ready, but they also carried the heavy shoulders and weary eyes that Eli so carefully hid behind her determination. Archie and Amelia were still to arrive. Eli knew Archie would come, but she wouldn’t hold it against Amelia if she didn’t show. They all had things to live for. Eli never really knew what Amelia lived for, but she knew that it was still important.

[color=E5D0FF] “We’ll wait a little longer for the others, and then we can go down below.”[/color] She said with a small smile towards them.

With extreme caution and concern, Eli slowly murmured towards Lynn. [color=E5D0FF] “Lynn, we should go ahead and put the collar on. Just so we can get off of the streets faster.”[/color] She offered Lynn her best apologetic smile and glanced at Packet.