Superlative

EPISODE SEVEN

Ah, there it was — this is what he wanted. A little more and she could make him crack wholly.

She gave him a surprised look, adding in a faux flattered-and-nervous move of fiddling with her hair.

"What could I possibly offer you that you don't already have?" she asked sweetly.

He took the bait hook, line, and sinker. Excitedly certain that Core was warming up to the idea (he couldn't be more wrong, really), he took her hands in his as he explained. "Just imagine, Coraline: With your endorsement, General Gray would certainly put me in the List for the Intergalactic Exploration! The glory I would bring home would make you so proud, and it would elevate your social status to unreachable heights! You'll be the fiancé of an explorer like you rightly deserve, and not some soft boy who ended up in the Advisory track because he was too weak to become a soldier."

It was in these times she cursed the Confederate and its rules, its social norms and cultural protocols. She wanted to knee this jack-ass in the groin, shoot his face with a plasma gun, punch his gut until he wretched on the floor, do anything necessary to ensure he'd never exploit people ever again, but she couldn't, because she was a she — as if one letter (the "s") made any difference to how she felt things like anger, as if having breasts meant she couldn't throw a punch, as if bearing babies meant she couldn't defend herself and the people she cared about.

Fuck it all.

She swallowed it all, pushed it down, buried it deep inside with all the other instances and shit she had gotten. Sending Van the most sincere smile she could muster, she gave him a parting tilt of the head as Knox's hovercar pulled up in the driveway. "I'll think about it," she assured (more like lied).

"I'll buy you the biggest ring in the entire Confederate!" Van promised to her retreating back.

Good so I can shove it down your throat, Core ranted in her thoughts.

Her day had practically only just begun what with everything she had left to do, and she was already on the brink of exhaustion.

★ ★ ★

{ THE CONFEDERATE | DIVISION ALPHA, GALACTIC ARMY MILITARY BASE | COORDINATES: X-2945 Y-2347 | 6TH SUN, 12TH MOON | 4:48PM }

Core was a force of nature, swooping down on the soldiers getting out of her way in the military base. She strode down its narrow halls, shoulders thrown back and head held up high like she belonged there. Soldiers made way for her by pressing themselves up against the walls, and she didn't even bother sparing them a glance. She kept her gaze firm, staring straight ahead, recalling all the times she had walked the same steps back when she used to visit nearly every day.

When Pollux had died, she stopped having a reason to visit.

She was slightly limping now, her foot starting to act up a bit, but she didn't care and kept walking like she was absolutely fine. It didn't take her long to reach the familiar steel door, and she went straight for the handle, yanking it right open.

"We can bring in more recruits from the Imperial Cons —"

Sebastian whirled around, cutting himself off. He didn't look surprised to see her; instead, he had a resigned countenance that irked Core. The two privates he had been talking two were dismissed with a wave of the hand, and they threw him a salute before leaving the room in haste.

"Did you volunteer?" Core interrogated, shutting the door behind her and stopping right in front of Knox. He was wearing his usual military garb, but instead of his usual three-star badge, something else replace it: Five stars arranged in a circle. Core's eyes flickered to it, and she scowled. "Or did father bribe you with a promotion?"