Rising Shards

Amara cautiously approached as Caeda Firae spoke to an older woman. The woman noticed Amara immediately, but made no expression about her arrival.

"Why are you here, ma'am?" Caeda asked.

"Just visiting," the woman said.

"Did you come all this way to see little ol' me and you're too shy to say it?" Caeda asked.

"No,"

Caeda noticed Amara and winced.

"Oh, you're...walking this way too, huh," Caeda said. "This is...er, I'm not sure if I should introduce her, she's very private."

"A terrific way to raise her suspicions of me, Caeda," the woman said.

"Oops, sorry..." Caeda said. "Don't worry about her though, Amara, she's on the up and up. She knows pretty much everything about me, she hosted my memory trial!"

"I must apologize, ma'am, but this girl just said some concerning things to me, and it has me a bit on edge," Amara said.

"Caeda tends to do that to me too," the woman said.

"Hm," Amara said. That seemed to be a joke, but delivered in the most flat tone imaginable. "May I ask you a few questions?"

The woman's expression stayed still, but she nodded. "If I can ease your worries after my pupil troubled you."

"I said I'm sorry..." Caeda said.

"Are you trespassing? As an honorary prefect, I must inform you that I can and will perform a student's arrest."

"I have a pass," the woman said. "I'm here on official business through the Taramin Labs."

"Taramin..." Amara said. It sounded familiar, she'd definitely heard the name before. "This may sound invasive, but Caeda just mentioned something about a big event occurring soon. Since you just said you're her teacher—"

"I told you, it's nothing scary!" Caeda said.

"—do you know what she's talking about?" Amara asked, ignoring Caeda.

"I do," the woman said. "Caeda has unfortunately dealt with some self confidence issues that have manifested themselves in an anxiety disorder. Do you mind me saying more, Caeda?"

"I'm fine with it," Caeda said.

"At Taramin Labs, we've been researching new medications to handle mood disorders, and Caeda has been on a trial of one of our more promising leads. She has long been afraid of talent shows, so she hopes to perform at one at your school soon."

Amara thought it over. That sounded plausible. Caeda didn't react like it was made up. It may have been her being cautious, but she wasn't fully convinced.

"Caeda tends to get a bit overeager, she's excited to be involved in research that will help a lot of people," the woman said.

"Right! It's really surreal being a part of this," Caeda said. "Thank you again, Miss—"

Amara waited for Caeda to say the woman's name, but she stopped just before saying it. That was a red flag, and the woman clearly noticed Amara catching Caeda's mid-sentence halting.

"Here," the woman said, handing Amara a business card. "I have other matters to attend to today, but I encourage you to contact the labs if you have any questions."

Amara looked over the card, which was a mix of a shiny dark blue with a red slash that glowed in the center of it. The back had contact information for the Taramin Labs, but nothing else.

"I do have one more question, if you don't mind, could I get your name?" Amara asked.

"Of course," the woman said. "I'm Anastasia."

"Thank you," Amara said. "I apologize for taking any of your time."

She sensed she wouldn't get much else from this Anastasia. Amara excused herself, knowing she had a lot to think about. While she couldn't confirm anything suspicious was happening, she still wanted to tell a prefect, and of course check in with Rain and KJ to see what they thought about this.

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