I opened my bleary eyes and rubbed the dried drool on my cheek. "Feels like I got run over by a train or, I don't know, a war mech."
Kiara let out a mocking laugh. "You do more than talk. You give speeches. Who're you addressing in those dreams?"
Her words woke me up completely. I grabbed a cushion and threw it at her, making her laugh even harder. "Please, not a word about this." Damn it. Had I always talked in my sleep?
"Only if you do what I say. Bought a few things while you were snoring away." Kiara placed several boxes on the sofa, and I began opening them. Inside were clothes and beauty products. I picked up a black cassimere coat, admiring the fabric, then examined the jewelry and slipped a ring onto my finger.
Hideaki would have been speechless. She had always liked these things. I hadn't.
Still, whenever I visited Parliament, attended events, or met people of higher rank, my parents had always taught me that power was how you carried yourself. It was how you wielded it. They judged your power and how you managed your resources. So I had to show everything I had.
Yes, that was Zenith. Everything about it was masked. Superficial. Illusory. But it was there, among those rehearsed expressions and sharp smiles, that I had grown up. I knew how to play that game. I just resented having to play it now.
"You really know Zenith, huh?" I tried on the black glasses.
"Yeah. Had my fair share of those bastards." Kiara's features hardened. Her expression made it clear she would say nothing more about it. Perhaps one day she would tell me?
I set the items aside. "Am I really going to do this?"
Her scowl showed how little she wanted to discuss it again. "We've got two moons until the national holiday, Awá Reru. The celebrations will fill the streets, so someone from up there will blend right in." Kiara gave me a knowing smile.
A bubbling sensation rose from my hands to my head as an ocean of insecurities condensed into tension across my shoulders. I doubted I had enough confidence to do this.
Kiara, however, kept showing her faith in me. I had to trust myself as she did. Well, she had experience. Her plan was solid. But the operation's success depended more on me than on that place's security. It also depended on my unquestionable standing as someone from Zenith, my influential parents—especially Hideaki—and my status as a doctor.
A doctor leading one of the most important research projects in the Americas. It was more than opening doors or hacking nanosystems. It was about me. How I carried myself. My gift. The slightest mistake, a slip in my gaze or tone of voice, and my chances would drop to zero.
Moons passed.
Silenli of Irraluna, 2879, caught up with us. Awá Reru, the Path of Spirits.
The day I infiltrated Parliament.
The day everything changed.