And so the story of Anna continues…
Day 23: She kept it packed to run at all times, but this time, she would need to adjust for the trip to the lost archives.
She kept it packed to run at all times, but this time, she would need to adjust for the trip to the lost archives. The adjustment took surprisingly little time. Soon she was setting her bag to the side and getting dressed for bed. The day wore her out but even though her body was pleased to relax into the bed, her mind wouldn’t shut down. She ran over the steps she would need to take in the morning and the possible ways things could go wrong. She had enough components in her kit that she could spy on those looking for her and see if they were still looking when she was ready to return. If her wards were triggered either here or at any of the small safe houses she had scattered across the city she would know that as well.
‘Particularly the one where I changed today,’ she thought. She left the clothing she wore, the most likely items to be tagged with a tracker. She had the papers secured in the file. At some point she may need to insure there was no tracker on them, but for the moment they were safe in the spelled container and neutralized.
Most of her thoughts were on getting away from the city without being noticed, but a part of her wanted to know more of why she was being pardoned now and why exactly they were so keen to bring her back.
‘For that I’d have to contact someone.’ The thought made her weary and she decided to contemplate it while she traveled. Once she got past the outer city, she suspected there would be little to keep her attention on the long walk.
Sleep finely eased into her and stilled her mind, letting her rest. It didn’t weigh heavily and she rose before her alarm, ready to be gone and see what scenarios would prove true. She ate the last of her eggs for breakfast and cleaned up thoroughly from the meal. She bumped up the shielding wards on her apartment so no one would think she was missing and would believe her still in residence even if they had not seen her in a while. They would in fact think they had seen her as usual well after she had gone. It was not an illusion, it simply wouldn’t occur to them that they hadn’t seen her as usual.
While an illusion could be dispelled, a day where the usual happened tended to blur into the usual of every other day. It was one of the reasons she remained particular about her routine. She always left at a certain time and tried to return at that time as well. She was part of the routine they would remember.
Her bag had the illusion put on it. Even though it was a pack containing everything she would need for several months of travel, it would look just like her everyday satchel that she took to the archives. No one would see her prepared to leave for a longer stretch of time than the afternoon.
When the time for leaving rolled around, Anna expected to feel sadness. Instead, she felt excitement. ‘Probably because I plan to come back,’ she told herself as she stepped out of the door and mocked it behind her.
As she walked, she had to admit that part of the excitement was because she had been going over the same ground in the archives for weeks as she planned her next move. ‘In all likelihood I would have gone on to the lost archives anyway. Now at least I have a pardon and I know they are looking for me here.’
Anna squelched her own cycle of thoughts as she studied the world around her. She looked at faces and followed actions to make sure she was not anyone’s particular focus of attention.
Ten til Midnight 