Rimelion: The Exploiter

The next morning, I woke up in the worst possible state. Again. I brought this upon myself in the evening to have a few more hours for myself.

"Good morning, Miss Charlie," my watch chirped, entirely too smug about my suffering.

I groaned, shoving my face deeper into my pillow. "Not yeeet..." I whined, voice muffled and pathetic. But no matter how much I protested, my body, traitorous as ever, started dragging itself out of bed.

I was miserable.

I hated being awake.

I hated I had to function.

"You say that every morning," Jerry reminded me, utterly devoid of sympathy.

"Because it's true!" I snapped, rubbing the bleariness from my eyes. "And for the record, I recall telling you my social battery is low. No talking."

"You said you didn't want to talk to people," Jerry countered.

"You also count," I grumbled, trudging toward the shower like a condemned prisoner marching to the gallows. The pod had auto-sanitation, sure, but there was something irreplaceable about hot water. The way it scalded my skin awake, steaming away the last remnants of exhaustion—it was less about hygiene and more about survival at this point.

Twenty glorious minutes later, I emerged, damp and refreshed, but still very much naked. Not that it mattered. I was just going straight back into the capsule, anyway.

"Before you go," Jerry's voice chimed in again, coming from... somewhere. "I, um... thank you. For what you said earlier."

I paused, blinking. "What did I say?" My brain was still booting up, and retrieving yesterday's data was not in its priority queue. I sat down at the capsule, leaving the lid open while I tried to piece it together.

Oh. He counts!

I let that sink in for a moment before a small smile tugged at my lips. "Well, yeah. You do."

Jerry didn't respond right away, but something about the silence felt... pleased.

I chuckled. "Bye, Jerry." And with that, I climbed into the capsule, the world around me dissolving into the familiar hum of Rimelion.

I slipped through the halls, careful to keep my footsteps light against the stone floor. The last thing I needed was someone spotting me and thinking I was available for conversation. Or worse—paperwork.

The corridors were quieter at this hour, the usual clatter of armored boots and hurried messengers reduced to an occasional echo in the distance. I hugged the walls, ducking past open doorways, moving with the grace of someone who definitely wasn't sneaking out of her own fortress.

Almost made it.

Then, right as I turned a corner, I nearly collided with someone. My breath caught, but I pivoted at the last second, plastering myself against the nearest pillar as if I belonged there. A soldier strolled past, eyes focused on whatever report he was holding. He didn't see me.

Perfect.

I exhaled slowly, giving it a few beats before moving again. The entrance was just ahead, and—most importantly—there were no bureaucrats in sight. No one to drag me back inside with urgent matters that absolutely couldn't wait.

When I finally reached the entrance, undetected and free, I grinned so wide I could barely contain it. A flawless escape.

And then—

"My Lady!"

Two guards snapped to attention, their backs straight as spears, their voices perfectly synchronized.