the era of calamities

Sarah Harley found herself in her bathroom.

The water had the power to relax her while washing away the filth and sweat of her hard day at work unfortunately, it had no effect on the burden weighing on her shoulders.

She spent nearly thirty minutes in the shower, followed by an hour soaking in the bath to recover from accumulated fatigue.

Wearing her robe and activating her favorite playlist from her phone, she sat down at her desk to write a report detailing the progress made that day.

Sarah had finished interrogating the survivors.

From Sirius, she had learned the essentials about what really happened at Invinctus. Her meeting with Iris had left her somewhat shaken, and Lucy, as Sirius had predicted, remained silent. The two women in comas had yet to wake up, leaving her stuck at the same point as the Empire.

It was while questioning Carla that Sarah finally felt like she was speaking to a "normal" person.

From her, she learned how the fortress operated under normal conditions, the personalities of the two captains and the major, and more.

Thanks to Carla, she also discovered that the two comatose old ladies now unrecognizable were once prominent pillars of the Empire: Lady Margarette and Lady Thérèse.

Sarah only had to type their names into her phone to find hospitals, schools, universities, and many other institutions across the Empire bearing their names.

So why were these once-public figures lying in comas without anyone knowing?

And what about their children or even great-grandchildren now holding positions of responsibility? Were they not aware?