September 21st, 2063. San Francisco, Fireblue territory, North American Province, 1:20 am local time.

Louise’s eyes widened. “Shit!”

El had left a few minutes ago. Louise was still in bed, trying to hold back tears. She had been so preoccupied with El leaving that she had forgotten entirely about her job. And, more importantly, her team.

She jumped out of bed, muttering to herself. “What the fuck is wrong with me?”

Her team had safely arrived at the border late last night. Louise had checked in with them on the terminal in El’s office. She had felt reassured that things were as safe as they were going to get and had gone back to bed.

She couldn’t believe it had taken her so long to connect the dots. Her brain must have been very foggy when El woke her because the team’s safety was usually all she could think about during a mission.

Louise raced into the bathroom, finding her clothes jumbled together on a chair in the corner. She put on her sweater and jeans in less than a minute. A quick glance in the mirror told her she looked exactly as she felt: like a hot mess.

It didn’t matter. Louise practically ran out of the room. She doubted she’d be in time to catch El, but she had to try. When she arrived at the bottom of the staircase, still barefoot, a security guard was quick to meet her.

“Everything okay, ma’am?” she asked, slightly startled by Louise’s appearance.

“Has El already left?” Louise asked.

“Excuse me, ma’am?”

Louise pointed in the general direction of the outdoor gate. “Has the President left?”

“Oh, yes, ma’am,” the guard nodded.

“Shit,” Louise cursed.

“Is there a problem, ma’am?”

“Yes, clearly,” Louise snapped back, then regretted it. “I mean…” She didn’t know what to say, so she just added, “Thank you.”

She ran a hand through her unruly hair and looked around the large hallway. Her eyes fell on the door to El’s office. She started to make her way over there. She would check for updates about her team on El’s terminal like last night.

“That’s locked, ma’am,” the guard said from the other side of the hallway.

Louise spun around. “What? Why?”

She realized it was an odd question. It was perfectly normal for the president’s office to be inaccessible to anyone. Except, El rarely locked her office. She kept all confidential paperwork inside a safe so there was no need.

The guard looked regretful when she said, “I can’t share that information with you, ma’am.”

Louise huffed in annoyance. “Are you kidding me?”

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” the guard replied quietly.

Louise regretted her impatient response again. None of this was the guard’s fault. El had been called out of bed in the middle of the night. Clearly, heightened security would have been activated. Something big was going on.

“I need to find out if my team is okay,” Louise pleaded. “Is there another secure terminal I can use? Maybe the one in your office?”

The guard’s eyebrows dropped. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but I can’t allow that.”

Louise’s nostrils flared, but she managed to keep her frustration to herself this time. She looked around the hallway again, thinking. Sometimes she did miss the hyper-connected world she had fled from. Now was definitely one of those times.

“Am I allowed to leave the building?” she asked the guard.

“Eh,” the guard hesitated. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Alright,” Louise said, making up her mind instantly. “I am leaving then.”