A half hour goes by, the commander says nothing to me. He just ignores my presence and continues acting as if I wasn’t in his office. Finally, the door opens and Jareth Jordan comes in with a wide grin on his face. “Good news, commander. I have the security footage right here,” he says as he lifts a tablet in the air. He walks towards Mortensen’s desk and shows him the recording. “Here you can clearly see Aubrey and the Matron crossing the street and then, the green car runs the red light and tries to run over them, you see? Aubrey saved the Matron by pushing her and then… there! the first rock is thrown… the second… and the third. I also got the testimonies from the two workers backing Aubrey’s declaration. Everything checks out.” “Good, give me this,” Commander Mor

The next morning, as we walk towards the subway station on our way to the Bearer Center, Matron Constance notices a scarf on a store window that she likes. “Look at that! They don’t make scarfs like that anymore,” she exclaims pleasantly surprised. “Aubrey, wait here as I go in to inquire about the price.”Matron Constance doesn’t even give me time to reply, she goes into the store hastily as I watch her go. She is definitely not like Mary Ann, she would have never left me unattended in the middle of the sidewalk. Matron Constance is more relaxed about watching over me and I appreciate it. Through the store window, I see the Matron talking to the store clerk. Based on their body language, I think it’s safe to assume she is bargaining the price.&n

(Leopold’s P.O.V.)Jareth parks the van with no rush and my Sharks step out. They know they can’t help the fireman anyway, so there is no point in hurrying. Forcing us to come here is just a waste of our time. Firemen are already here and are doing their jobs, we can’t do much aside from watching them work, but Major Anderson insisted we came because; after the attacks to the Matrons and the subversive pamphlets many Bearers are getting, he wants us to be involved in everything related to these women and the Ministry of Females, even if all we can do is just showing up. So for today, my elite Unit is being wasted in a mere act of presence.I walk along my Sharks and we stop at a prudent distance so we don’t get in the way of the firemen. I fold my arms across my chest and I look at the firemen trying to extinguish the flames with their hoses. Although I am pretty sure there is no way they can sav

(Aubrey’s P.O.V.)Today marks two weeks since I was released from the Detention Facility. I was oblivious to the fact until Matron Mary Ann mentioned it on our way to the Bearer Center this morning. She just returned to her usual activities and, luckily, she is kinder to me now, it’s like the attack brought us together. Matron Constance has also been nicer to me since the arson. The only person who is still rude to me is the commander; I don’t understand why. For a moment I thought the experience would bring us together; I know he claimed that he was only doing his job, but his job doesn’t consist in hugging me and whispering to my ear that everything will be fine, which is exactly what he did after the fire. I have thought about that moment constantly the past couple days, I recall how safe I felt between his arms, just like the day he gave me his jacket. It is strange that such an intimidating man can make me fe

(Jareth’s P.O.V.)The 9th Unit awaits for its commander nervously. Our morale is down after this morning’s fiasco with the raid and we all know that we are going to receive a monumental reprimand from Commander Mortensen as soon as he gets here. The moment he walks in we all hold our breaths expecting the worse but to our surprise, the commander salutes us distractedly and lets the Unit resume their usual activities. The Sharks look at each other confused, but no one says a word. Most of the stares go straight to me, they are looking for an explanation because I’m the person closest to the commander and I know him better than anyone here but I am confused too. Why does he look so distracted? I follow the commander to the shooting range after I shrug to let my Unit mates know that I am as lost as them. Maybe he was so angry he suffered a mental breakdown.