It’s been quite a while since I’ve written anything, and that’s because I’ve been very busy, both with work and with this. Classified: A New Life, and Classified: Stellar Remnants were my proofs-of-concept for the idea that became this universe, so there will be a lot of familiar elements. However, after refining my worldbuilding, I’ve ended up with a lot more than I originally planned for, although it still takes place in an alternate/parallel universe. The worldbuilding document is almost 300 pages long, and includes everything from a creation myth and a religion with various sects and interpretations, to an explanation of medicines, disorders, law, and technology. The scope has expanded considerably, so there is a lot of room to play in the sandbox if anyone happens to be interested. I left many things deliberately ambiguous in the original works, both because I wanted to allow for creative freedom, and because I personally hadn’t refined my ideas enough to avoid contradicting myself by accident. This is something I hope to be able to publish at some point in the future, but I must say that if you’re looking for sexual elements, this probably isn’t for you as I don’t particularly enjoy writing about that sort of thing. Chrysalis in particular has changed a lot, and I hope you all enjoy the new changes. Things will be explained as we go along organically to the best of my ability. This is a rough draft, and I haven’t finished writing it yet, but I’m reasonably far along. I hope you enjoy the story!
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Maya Weston paws blindly at her left wrist, successfully silencing her alarm on the third try. She lets out a heavy sigh and forces herself out of bed, blearily scrolling on her Smartband to check the timetables for the autobus.
The soft blue text displays: On-Time.
*
Thank Esvyra for small mercies.* Maya thinks, pulling on a well-loved sweater and her least-worn pair of jeans. It’s not business-casual, but it’s all she’s got. She heads to the bathroom to brush her teeth and does her best to make herself look presentable and professional. She thumbs on her aging holoscreen for background noise. Stat, her Smartband’s onboard AI recites the weather forecast. Maya is unsurprised at the varying forecast, given Southgate’s proximity to the mountains. Her thick brown hair is uncooperative as it usually is in the morning and she opts for a ponytail rather than taking the time to brush it out. Her next stop is the fridge, where finds a lone nutribar and the rest of last night’s vegetable wrap.
Maya takes the nutribar and puts the wrap into her bag to have for lunch at work, planning to stop on the way home for some cheap noodles or some—ugh—a mystery wrap from the vendor if she’s desperate enough. This isn’t the life she would have imagined for herself, but after growing up as a Lightbearer…even this, even though it’s less-than-perfect, is better than living like that.
For once, she’s grateful that she doesn’t have a smart-fridge—a smart anything really, other than her band—because at least then it can’t nag her to spend Coin she doesn’t have on food she can’t afford. She wolfs down the nutribar and washes down her EMRD medication with a swig of water before brushing her teeth and heading for the door.
Maya checks her account as she locks up, seeing the notification on her Smartband tick over from *Rent Due: 3 days remaining *to Rent Due: 2 days remaining and, as if by some cruel irony, there’s still no paycheck. Her internship at BioHealth is the best job she’s ever had—or it would be, if they’d bothered to actually pay her like her contract had stated. At first, she’d thought that maybe it was just a clerical error, but her repeated attempts to reach HR to find out what’s been going on have been stymied. She’d tried submitting tickets, escalating those tickets, and even trying to schedule a meeting with HR in-person, but she hasn’t had any luck so far. She sighs and heads for the stairs, hoping no one creepy is at the autobus stop this morning.
She barely notices the broken cleaning drone anymore as she passes by, it’s been at the end of the hallway, covered in dust and lilting in its charging cradle since she moved in. The security system doesn’t work, the building is falling apart, and in this neighborhood, expecting the police to do anything is a chanceroller at best. At the very least, her job at least gets her out of her tiny apartment.
Anticipatory anxiety ties her stomach in an uncomfortable knot as she waits in the chilly morning air, the deserted autobus terminal lit only by the glow of the arrival and departure displays and a lone sodium streetlight. A discarded paper cup from some fast-food place tumbles along the sidewalk, fetching up against the overflowing and graffiti’d trash can. Maya breathes a sigh of relief the autobus rolls to a gentle stop in front of her, kneeling with a hiss of compressed air and emitting a pleasant:
“Welcome aboard, please watch your step. Thank you for choosing Breezeway autobus services. Most anywhere, we’ll get you there.”
Maya smiles softly, the little jingle they play has always been catchy. She holds her ID up to the reader and selects her destination, the fare automatically being deducted from her account’s already-meager funds. The air on the autobus is pleasant and refreshing, it smells faintly of leather and some kind of citrus-scented cleaning agent. It’s a nice change from the stale air that permeates the hallways of her apartment building. The buildings outside the window get progressively nicer as the autobus heads closer to downtown, the beating heart of Southgate’s financial and industrial districts. Bars and anti-theft mesh melt away into pristine glass windows, graffiti-free brick facades, and clean sidewalks. Clean, energy-efficient streetlamps light the autobus’ path, a welcome shift from the dull glow of the sodium lights in Northview.
The BioHealth headquarters stands tall among the surrounding buildings, its polished glass exterior reflecting the early morning sun in a scintillating shade of vermillion. The fountain out front is intricate and impressive, with a beautiful urn sculpture in the center, depticting Esvyra tending Her garden. It’s something Maya has always found soothing and she’s glad the campus looks quiet this morning as the autobus pulls into the terminal across the street from the building.
Maya exits the autobus, checking her Smartband for the time and she is pleased to see that she’s arrived twenty minutes early. Hopefully that will give her enough time to sort out the payroll issue before she’s due to start her shift in the Research and Development lab. BioHealth makes a variety of products for all Classifications, mostly medical supplies although Maya’s current project is a prototype from a client looking to start a line of premium diapers and clothes for Littles. Maya herself has always had very specific preferences about texture for her clothing, so it’s nice to be able to channel that into something meaningful.
The lobby of BioHealth is enormous and refined, with an enormous wall fountain along the entire right side of the lobby. The golden plating behind the flowing water is inlaid with a beautifully intricate vine design, and the water circulates into planters that hold gorgeous red roses. The massive windows above the entrance are designed to let in natural light, making the lobby a beautiful and inviting place to be.
Blinking, Maya turns her focus to the left side of the lobby, where the HR office is located. It’s dark right now, as they don’t normally come in until 09:00, but she heads over to the terminal anyway to check the status of her ticket about her pay. She swipes her badge to log in to the interface and frowns.
Access denied. User credentials expired. Please contact your system administrator for reset.
Maya swipes her badge again, her heart pounding. *What did I do? I’ve never been late or reprimanded, or anything. Did they…did they fire me without notice? I didn’t do anything wrong…*Her stomach churns, her Smartband feels like it weighs a ton as the memory of the notice from this morning plays again in her mind. Rent Due: 2 days remaining.
Access Denied. User credentials expired. Please contact your system administrator for reset.
*Oh no…*Maya takes a shaky breath, trying to both calm her racing heart and also not throw up on the nice lobby floor.
“S-Simon? Are you there?” Maya says quietly, pressing the “help” button in the corner to summon the AI that handles HR requests when HR isn’t available.
“Good morning, miss Weston. How may I help you?” The AI responds in a friendly voice, as a holographic display fades in behind the reception desk to display the AI’s avatar.
“I’m locked out. Have—” Maya swallows hard, barely able to think the words, let alone to say them aloud. “have I been, um, terminated?”
“Negative. Your credentials are expired, but your employment status is active with no pending disciplinary actions or performance reviews.” Simon replies helpfully.
Maya braces herself against the reception desk to avoid collapsing when her knees threaten to give out from sheer relief. “Oh, good!” she gushes. “Um, can you fix my logins so I can see what tasks I have for the day? And has there been any response to my payroll request?”
“Negative. I do not have access to those systems. My capabilities are limited to scheduling appointments and drafting emails or submitting tickets. My apologies. And I’m sorry to inform you that there has not been any response to your request.” Simon answers, helpful as always.
“Is…Is Director Saphrin available? It’s really urgent.” Maya wonders, feeling a bit lightheaded at approaching Director Saphrin about, well, anything, but especially something that should technically be fixable without her help is more than a little daunting. But being homeless is considerably scarier…
“She has a meeting that should be over shortly, but I’ve given you a temporary visitor’s pass so you may use the elevator to attempt to speak with her.”
“Thank you, Simon.” Maya replies gratefully.
“You’re most welcome. Goodbye for now!” Simon responds, and the avatar fades away as the AI…well…goes to do whatever it is that AIs do in their free time.
Maya smooths her shirt and jeans as she steps into the elevator and presses the button for the executive suites. She forces herself to take deep breaths as her Smartband vibrates: elevated heart rate; elevated blood pressure
“Thanks, Stat,” Maya grumbles.
The elevator doors open to a reception area that seems almost…homey. The floor is carpeted by a plush material, and there’s a fish tank set into a smaller version of the vine fountain from downstairs in front of her. To her right is a desk, where a man in an immaculate suit with slicked back hair. A short black beard, dark skin, and a shaved head. His brown eyes are warm, but intense.
“Good morning, Maya, what brings you up today?” he asks pleasantly.
Maya blinks. “You know my name?”
The man smiles. “Of course, Director Saphrin speaks very highly of your work. I’m Nick Farrel, but you can call me Nick.”
“It’s nice to meet you Mr. Farrel,” Maya says with a strained kind of cheerfulness. “Um, to answer your question, I, uh, I’m locked out of the system. Simon says he can’t perform a reset, and HR doesn’t get in until 9…and there’s an issue with payroll that hasn’t been resolved in three weeks, and rent is due in two days and—” Maya stops herself, taking a deep breath. “Sorry. I’m rambling.”
Nick’s eyebrows draw together. “Three weeks? Have you not been paid at all in that time?”
Maya shakes her head. “No, Mr. Farrel. I tried submitting tickets and setting appointments, but I haven’t gotten any responses…I was planning to check that this morning, but I can’t login to the system.” she explains.
“I’m sure the Director will be more than happy to help you out. It sounds like several people are neglecting their duties. She should be wrapping up shortly, but I’ve sent her a message to let her know you’re waiting out here.” Nick gestures to a nearby sofa next to an oko machine. “We’ve got roasted oko and sweet oko if that’s more to your taste. It even makes whips and combiccinos.”
Maya settles onto the couch to wait—it’s comfier than her bed—and folds her hands patiently in her lap. She makes herself a small cup of sweet oko, as the roasted kind has always been far too bitter for her taste. It’s rich and indulgent, and it fills her with a pleasant warmth as it settles in her stomach. No sooner has she finished her drink and disposed of the used cup than Director Saphrin’s door slides open.
Director Saphrin is dressed in a deep blue pantsuit with a crisply-ironed white shirt beneath it and tasteful black shoes. She’s not one to wear much jewelry as far as Maya can tell from the few times she’s seen the woman around the building, and today is no different. Her jet black hair is pinned up in a tasteful bun, and the only jewelry she wears is her Smartband and a pair of diamond stud earrings. Her perfume drifts over, a gentle mix of mint and vanilla.
“Good morning, Nick.” She says softly before turning her attention to Maya, her brown eyes attentive. “Good morning, Maya. Nick said you needed my help with something, would you like to step into my office for a bit so we can talk?” her voice is firm, but calm, with a softness that Maya has never known it to have.
“Yes ma’am.” Maya answers, standing. “Thank you for the oko,” she says to Nick, who simply smiles.
“Sure thing.”
The Director’s office is luxurious, but not opulent, with a few live plants and a small wall fountain opposite the corner where the windows meet, overlooking the city. It’s tasteful but not gaudy, and the desk and chairs look comfortable, but not obscenely expensive. Still, the genuine hearthwood desk probably costs more per ounce than Maya makes in a month, she reflects…
“Have a seat,” The Director says, settling easily into her own chair across the desk from Maya and waving away the holo-display. “What can I do for you?”
“I, um, I’ve been locked out of the system, ma’am. I asked Simon for help downstairs, but he said he doesn’t have the ability to reset my credentials. He also said that I haven’t been flagged for any discipline or reviews.”
“That’s…very strange. There’s no reason the system should have locked you out of anything, especially with no flags. That would have had to have been done manually. And please, when it’s just us, call me Meekah. Being called ‘ma’am’ makes me feel old.” Meekah says, smiling gently. “I can fix that right now, but I’ll be having a word with HR about this. Is there anything else you need?”
“Well, I don’t mean to be a bother or anything, but I’ve tried talking to HR and I think they’re avoiding me…all the tickets I’ve submitted or appointments I’ve tried to make just get marked ‘resolved’ or canceled. My internship was supposed to be a paid position, but…I haven’t actually been paid at all yet. It’s been three weeks since I’ve started, and rent is due in two days and I know I’m not dressed appropriately for work but I promise I’ll—”
“Maya.” Meekah says, her voice calm but firm. “Take a breath.” She waits patiently.
Maya does, breathing out slowly and evenly, and then does it again.
“Good. I’m really not concerned about your attire right now. Your clothes are clean and presentable and that’s good enough for the moment. What I am concerned about is the fact that you haven’t been paid. That’s absolutely inexcusable and there’s no reason whatsoever for that to have happened. I will be having a meeting with HR as soon as they arrive and you will have your back-pay before you leave to go home today.” Meekah taps a few things on her display and there’s a low hum, a click, and then Meekah is handing Maya a black and gold card.
“Thank you so much for your help ma’am. I was so worried…” Maya gushes, feeling genuine relief for the first time that she can recall in recent memory. “What’s this?”
Meekah smiles gently. “You don’t have to thank me, Maya. You’re entitled to your pay, that’s literally in the the contract you and my company signed, and I’m sorry that hasn’t been honored. There’s 5,000 Coin on that chip, separate from your pay from HR. Please consider it a bonus for all this inconvenience and use it for anything you need.”
5,000 Coin?!
It’s more money than Maya has every seen in one place before, and Meekah’s just…handed it to her like it’s nothing. “This is too much! I can’t t take all of this…” Maya’s eyes well with tears; she’s completely overwhelmed by Meekah’s generosity.
“You can. As a matter of fact, I insist that you do.” Meekah pauses to hand Maya a tissue.
Maya blots at her face. “I’m sorry I’m such a mess. No one has ever done anything like this for me before.”
“You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for, Maya. You were put in a terrible position as a direct result of my employees incompetence, at best and deliberate malice at worst. No one should have to deal with being treated that way. Please, just let me help, to put my own mind at ease if not for yourself. You’re an incredible employee, Maya. You’re an asset to the company, and I don’t want you to feel like you’re not appreciated or valued. It’s been a privilege to be able to watch you develop, and I hope you’ll be able to look past this incident and continue working for us. I’d like to offer you a formal position as a Product Design Specialist. This situation should have never happened in the first place.”
“I…I accept.” Maya says, barely able to speak past the lump in her throat. “Thank you, ma’am.” Maya says, her cheeks warming. “It’s alright, mistakes happen.”
“It’s not alright, Maya. I’m impressed by your willingness to forgive, but personally I’m not willing to let something like this slide for any of my employees, least of all someone who does some of the best work at this company. And I promise I’ll make it right for you.” Meekah says earnestly.
Maya doesn’t know what to say, so she just nods. “Thank you…so much.” she says finally.
“I’ve reset your credentials, you’ll have to make a new password, but you shouldn’t have any more issues and I’ve locked your files so any changes to status will have to be approved by me first. You don’t need to worry about that ever happening again. And you’ll get an official offer letter to sign in your employee portal later, your new position comes with a substantial raise and profit sharing as well. In the meantime,” Meekah checks her Smartband. “I have a meeting to schedule with HR, and I believe you have some things to do as well. You can message me on the portal whenever you need something, but for now, I need to get this meeting set up.”
Maya nods. “Of course, I understand. And thank you…for everything.” She says as she turns to leave, feeling something dangerously like hope building in her chest. Maybe for once, things will turn out okay.
***
Or not.
Maya’s absorbed in her work—Jenkins is a wizard with blends, but not proportions and the mix of synthetic to natural fabric is way too…wrong. It’s scratchy, but in a sticks-to-your-fingers-and-is-really-uncomfortable sort of way, not scratchy like rough, or even necessarily itchy either. She frowns and highlights the areas that need adjusting.
There needs to be more room in the butt area, if the wearer has a thick diaper on or is wearing lots of layers, it’ll be stiff and too squeezy…Maya makes a face, wrinkling her nose in distaste at the idea of that sensation, even though she doesn’t wear diapers, clothes that are too tight feel kind of…suffocating. The straps of the overalls are also slightly too short, which would also make it the wrong kind of snug—comfy clothes should feel like being hugged, not squeezed so tightly you can’t breathe….And the elastic bands in the built-in diaper cover shouldn’t be that close together, it’ll be pinchy on the wearers thighs in an area that’s already really sensitive…Maybe we could just scrap that entirely? No need to make the Caregiver’s job any harder for changes, and it’s already got the mag-snaps, so everything’s discreet without the elastic…
Maya frowns thoughtfully, making more annotations and manipulating the holographic model, and recommending a blend of extra-spun fleece and down for the inside. She pauses to go back and edit her notes to be more professional-sounding before sending them back to Jenkins for review.
Personally, she doesn’t understand what’s wrong with using ‘pinchy’ or ‘squeezy’ to describe something, since that’s how it actually feels, but after more than one of the other design specialists have commented that her notes ‘sounded like something their kid sister would say’, maybe it’s better to jazz it up a bit. Why sounding like that is bad when it’s just notes, Maya can’t fathom, but being made fun of is kind of miserable if she’s being honest. Maya’s just finished her notes when her tablet chimes loudly, causing her to flinch.
*
Thorns! I really need to change the alert tone…* Maya thinks, before picking up the tablet and reading her messages. It’s Meekah, requesting her to come to the conference room for a meeting. She swallows hard, gathering her courage, and heads for the elevator.
Maya’s heart drops into her stomach as she approaches the door to the conference room, Meekah sounds really upset…
“Do not lecture me on procedure, Janit. Who do you think wrote the policy in the first place?” Meekah’s voice has a cold, venomous edge to it and it makes Maya hesitate before she pushes open the door.
Meekah looks at her, eyes softening for a moment as she uses them to indicate Maya should sit next to her.
Maya does, already feeling tense and nauseous. She can’t even bring herself to make eye contact with Janit, but she can feel the anger rolling off the woman in waves. The woman is dressed professionally, with too-much lipstick and her nails painted an awful, garish shade of red. Her earrings are too big and the wrong color to complement her fake tan, and her green eyes are cold as Maya inevitably looks at her.
Maya sits down, trembling.
“Thank you for joining us, Maya.” Meekah says.
“I meant no offense. I was simply stating that when people don’t follow the proper procedure, it makes it very difficult to accomplish necessary tasks. Perhaps she just forgot?”
“Excuse me? I had IT pull the logs Janit, don’t you dare—” And that’s all Maya hears of Meekah’s sentence before the ringing in her ears drowns the rest of it out.
Maya is five years old again, tears dripping off her chin as the side of her face flares with pain, stinging and smarting from the slap she’s just received.
“Don’t you dare lie to me, Maya!” Her mother shouts.
Another slap.
Maya whimpers.
“And stop your crying! You just want me to feel bad for you so you can get out of trouble. Keep it up, and I’ll give you something to cry about! You know Esvyra wouldn’t like you getting involved in such selfish things. And now you’ve made her sad, and the other Lightbearer kids in your class saw too! Do you want the congregation to think you’re ‘corrupting association’? What about your father? Do you want him to have to stop being a Tender because you can’t be a good girl?”
“No…” Maya says pitifully.
“And you had an accident on top of it all! In first grade and still peeing your pants, unbelievable!”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…” Maya says honestly.
“I don’t want to hear it.” Her mother replies. “Go take a bath and change your clothes. We’re having dinner soon. And you’d better pray and tell the Gods you’re sorry or they won’t want to be your friends anymore because you hurt their feelings by being bad. I love you, but you need to think about how things look to other people, and what the Gods want you to do.”
- “Okay…I love you too…” Maya turns heads to the stairs, looking back only once.* I didn’t even want the cake that much…she thinks…I just didn’t want to be left out. I don’t like being made fun of ‘cause I’m different…
“Hurry up please, Maya. I want us to all eat together.”
Maya flinches, instinctively expecting another slap, even though her mother is across the room.
“And don’t flinch like that. I’m not going to hurt you.” her mother says, like she’s being silly at a bad time.
“Sorry. I’m going.” Maya says, and begins climbing the stairs, feeling confused, alone, and ashamed.
“—unacceptable. I will not have my employees victimized by your lack of attention to your responsibilities, be it through negligence, incompetence, or malice. Let me be absolutely crystal clear, Janit. IT and myself will be reviewing all employee records from the last six months to ensure accuracy of payroll and benefits. Your access to employee files has been revoked, except for what you need to do your job. Until the audit is complete, all changes to payroll and employee credentials go through me, and me alone. If it is discovered that you or anyone else under your supervision purposefully altered credentials or withheld pay, this entire department will be restructured, and responsible parties will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
Maya blinks, hoping her spacing out hasn’t been too obvious and trying to discreetly scrub at her eyes, her face damp. Meekah’s foot gently nudges against hers, grounding Maya in the present.
“I understand.” Janit says, tight-lipped, glaring at Maya.
“I shouldn’t have to remind someone in your position of this, but I expect that Maya will receive an appropriately contrite, sincere, and professional apology. And I’ll need your admin chip until the investigation is concluded.” Meekah says, and the grim set of her jaw is equal parts unyielding and predatory, like a lion cornering a wounded animal.
Maya looks at the table, losing herself in the swirling patterns of the wood grains and wishing to be literally anywhere else. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause any trouble. I’m sure it was just a mistake—” she says, almost automatically, not looking up at either of the women in the room.
“I understand that, Maya, and I appreciate you trying to be a team player and give the benefit of the doubt. I however, am not convinced this wasn’t done deliberately, so the investigation will proceed as planned. You come to work and do your job to the best of your ability every day, and it is only fair to hold others to the same standard. A mistake has been made that could easily have been avoided, and it’s important that we make sure that no one else has been dealing with similar issues. We all come to work to get paid, so I need to make sure that’s happening as it should.” Meekah says, her voice firm, but without the venomous edge. When she speaks again, it’s back. “Janit. Your chip.”
Janit all but slams the small card on the table. She looks at Maya in a way that reminds Maya of her mother when she says: “My sincerest apologies for any inconvenience you may have been caused. It won’t happen again, Maya.”
You don’t sound *sorry…*Maya thinks, feeling almost like she’s just been told to jump off a cliff instead of apologized to. She feels cold and looks back at Meekah, and then at the table.
Meekah’s brows draw together, but she doesn’t comment on it other than to say: “That will be all. Nick will be in touch with next steps. You’re dismissed.”
Janit stalks out of the room, staring Maya down the whole way, her green eyes cold and piercing.
*“*Are you okay?” Meekah asks, once the door slides closed again.
Maya’s eyes well with tears again. She feels drained and too hot and this is all her fault and—
“Maya, honey—”
“Don’t!” Maya says, in a voice that sounds like someone else’s, bitter and angry and sharp. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m so upset. I shouldn’t have snapped at you. I’m sorry. I know you were just trying to be nice to me.” Maya says, more to the table than to Meekah.
“You have nothing to be sorry for, Maya. Nothing, do you understand me? None of this is your fault, and I’m not upset with you at all. This was clearly very difficult for you and you did very well. You should be proud of yourself.” Meekah’s voice reminds Maya of herself when she’s trying not to cry.
“Kind of? I don’t know. I don’t feel very good.” Maya admits, finally looking at Meekah, seeing a gaze that’s just a bit too shiny for just a moment before Meekah’s normal expression is back.
“It’s okay to not know. Do you want to go home for the day? With pay, of course. I can tell this was a lot for you.”
“I…I don’t want to go home…” Maya says, because that would mean being alone with her thoughts.
“Okay. Why don’t you take a few minutes for yourself, okay? And if you change your mind about going home later it’s not a problem, just let me know. You did a good job, Maya. Really. I have to get to my next meeting, but you know how to reach me if you need anything.” Meekah says gently, lingering for a moment before leaving Maya alone with her thoughts.
Maya collects herself for a few minutes, getting up only when she’s sure she isn’t going to be sick all over the super-expensive-looking carpet. She almost runs straight into Sydney on her way back to the lab, only half paying attention to where she’s going.
“Oh, hey…Maya?” her friend’s voice is full of concern, and she’s taking Maya by the shoulders and and guiding her into a side hallway. “Sweetie? What’s wrong? You look awful! What happened?”
“I’m okay…I’m fine…I’m okay…” Maya replies, her cheeks wet before she can even really register that she’s crying, tears dripping off her chin in big, fat drops. She wants to throw up, her entire body shaking with the force of her sobs.
Warm arms wrap around her, a gentle hand rubs her back while another gently presses her head into Sydney’s chest.
“Oh, sweetheart…it’s okay. I’ve got you. You’re safe. I’m right here, okay? I’m not going anywhere.” Sydney’s voice is thick with emotion.
Maya clings to Sydney, trembling, afraid of falling apart without her. Sydney is warm and safe and she smells like spice and clean laundry.
“Shh…” Sydney whispers, swaying them gently.
Maya can’t remember the last time anyone hugged her like this. She can’t remember the last time she was hugged at all.