Chapter 30: An Unexpected Call

Chapter 30: Chapter 30: An Unexpected Call

Friday morning arrived quietly.

Felix entered Liora’s cell carrying something that looked immediately out of place in the underground prison: a small case, which he set down on the table beside her bed.

Liora stared at it.

"Relax," he said, smiling. "It’s nothing dangerous." Her eyes flicked to him, but she said nothing.

He opened the case. Inside sat a brand-new handheld gaming system. "Did some digging," he said. "Apparently you used to play a lot, back at the academy. Your squad even took a few titles."

Her fingers moved, just slightly. He noticed, and took it as a good sign, she’d heard him, at least.

He set the device beside her bed. "Downloaded a bunch of the newer releases. Try whatever looks interesting. If none of it does anything for you, tell me and I’ll bring something else next time."

She looked at it, then at him, and didn’t touch it.

"Your call," he said, shrugging, and pulled his chair over.

For a while he tried talking, asked what she used to play, whether she remembered her old teammates. Nothing came back either time.

Eventually he let it drop. The same invisible wall was still standing between them and it wasn’t distrust. It was fear, plain and simple.

She kept herself as far from him as the cell allowed, even after everything he’d told her last time, even after he’d shown her exactly how little threat she actually posed to him.

She still believed she could hurt him, and that belief outweighed whatever curiosity the gaming console might have stirred up.

He didn’t push. He just stayed, sometimes playing the device himself, sometimes reading, sometimes just sitting there in the silence with her.

Two hours passed that way, and when the session ended, the console was still sitting untouched exactly where he’d left it.

He stood. "See you next Thursday."

She said nothing. He gave her a small smile and left.

No breakthrough. No real conversation, no sudden shift. Nothing, technically but he wasn’t discouraged by it. Some walls took time to come down, and hers had four years of reinforcement behind it.

---

After leaving the facility, Felix waved off the Association’s usual transport and decided to walk instead, glad for the open air after so long underground. He’d barely crossed a couple of streets when his communicator buzzed.

*Cassian.*

He answered right away. "Hey, brother." His brother’s voice came through the line more anxious than Felix had ever heard it.

"Felix."

His smile dropped instantly. "What happened?"

"It’s Elara. She collapsed." Felix stopped dead on the sidewalk. "I got her to the hospital. Doctors say there’s nothing to worry about, they think—" His voice cracked slightly. "The baby’s coming."

"Now?"

"Apparently."

Felix stood there a second, and Cassian kept going. "Mom, Dad, and Liana are already on the way."

Felix was already turning around. "I’m coming too."

"You don’t have to rush—"

"I’m coming."

A beat of silence, then a nervous laugh. "Yeah. Figured you’d say that."

Felix picked up his pace. "Which hospital?"

Cassian gave him the name, and Felix was already pulling up the transport map on his communicator. "I’ll be there."

"Felix..."

"Don’t worry." He paused. "And don’t you dare panic."

A shaky laugh. "Easy for you to say."

"Exactly."

The call ended, and Felix flagged down the first taxi he saw. "Airport."

"Which one?" the driver asked, eyeing him in the mirror.

"Nearest."

The taxi pulled off, and Felix sat back, fingers tapping an impatient rhythm against his knee.

Just a hospital, a family already gathering, and a kid who’d apparently decided today was the day to show up.