Ultraviolet

Chapter 2

April 16, 33 AE

When Mack stopped at Base for his daily brief, he hadn't expected the buzz of chatter that hummed throughout the main building like a swarm of angry wasps. As curious as he was, he at least had the restraint to wait until after he notified the on-duty captain, an impassive guardian ironically named Joye, of his scheduled table-read before finding out what all the commotion was about.

"You didn't hear yet?" a second officer replied when Mack stopped him by the elevators. "Aren't you usually the first to know these things?"

"Bobo, really?" Mack grumbled, exaggerating a frown. "You make me sound like the office gossip monger. Now hurry up and tell me."

Bobo--Mack had no idea what the guy's real name was--grinned.

"To think I'd have the honor of spilling gossip to you," Bobo chuckled as Mack's frown deepened. "Fine, fine. It's about Wyatt."

Mack couldn't help how high his eyebrows raised with the news. "Camilla Wyatt?"

"The 'one and only'," Bobo replied with a hint of sarcasm. "Anyway, rumor has it that she'll be back later this week."

"So she's alright?" Mack asked. "She's okay?"

While word on Elsie's steady recovery was rampant, news on Camilla had been scarce ever since the attack. The lack of confirmation had resulted in a surplus of rumors, ranging from Camilla's untimely death (which was grimly mocked) to her going AWOL to frolic around Japan on a whim (which was expected).

Bobo sighed sympathetically. "Of course a guy like you would still be worried about an asshole like her. But this is Camilla Wyatt we're talking about. Remember? She'd be fine even if everyone around her was dead."

Mack instinctively grimaced at the reminder of the Academy attack, but he didn't let himself linger on it for long. Instead, he distracted himself by having a bit more small talk with Bobo before excusing himself for his mission of the day: Hollywood.

In all honesty, Mack loved his secondary job more than his primary. Sure, both were assigned to him, but at least he had a choice with acting; as in, it was Hollywood, or a hospital. And after just one week in the hospital and being surrounded by stifling pain and misery, Mack's choice was clear. So even if he did have to endure that anguish every once in a while, at least it wasn't a constant factor in his life, and he could live with that.

Besides, being an actor allowed him to talk to all sorts of people.

It was this perk of the job that made his journey from the parking lot of the studio's office building to the conference room for the table-read take three times longer than necessary. But he couldn't help it; he was nervous.

Mack hadn't seen or heard from Elsie since the Unity Games attack, aside from acknowledging each other's social media posts. So while he knew that Elsie was perfectly fine, he couldn't help his jittery anticipation as he awaited her arrival, resulting in him having a conversation with any person that dared to make eye contact with him. While most were eager to indulge his extroversion, such as the lobby receptionist, others were less sympathetic, such as the custodian in the bathroom.

So when Mack finally made it to the conference room, and Elsie arrived shortly after, Mack swore he heard the entire building sigh with collective relief.

"Els-bells!" Mack exclaimed as he nearly jogged up to her, unable and unwilling to hide his enthusiasm. A part of him was itching to wrap her in the tightest hug he could muster, but his common sense reminded him that she was probably still healing from multiple life-threatening injuries. "Good to see you alive and kicking! Would've been a real pain to recast you."