2024-12-13: In Absentia
- Log: 2024-12-13: In Absentia
- Cast: Lina Lombardi
- Where: Orbit Base
- Date: U.C. 0099 12 13
- Summary: Lina knows this day has been coming for years. So why does it hurt?
Lina paces around the observation deck of Orbit Base, flipping her phone around in her hand. She had been spending most of her time in the hangar, overseeing the construction of her new Valkyrie, and had become so engrossed that she had been hard to get a hold of. But as she had stepped out, she checked her messages and found a single sentence, written in Italian.
[Call me as soon as you can.]
Only one person sent her messages in Italian, and she usually had a lot more to say. She drifted over to the empty observation deck, where she had begun to hem and haw about calling. She... had an idea what her sister was going to tell her. And she wanted to keep it from being real as long as she could.
She sighs, disgusted at her cowardice, and dials, waiting for the slight delay as the signal made its way to Earth.
"Lina! What took you so long?!"
"Elsa, I was working. I'm here now."
Elsa's voice has a crack to it. Lina could tell she had been crying.
"...Lina, we got the letter today."
Lina feels the backs of her eyes beginning to get hot. Her vision begins to ripple, but she blinks it back.
"...Eight years already, huh?"
"They're going to pass the motion to presume death in January."
"Papa..."
Lina's voice begins to crack as well. She thought she would have been able to handle this. She had made so much progress.
She closes her eyes for a second, seeing only the dead body of her father limp in Yapool's hand, on board the orbital train. A years-old wound opens in her heart.
"I need you to be here, Lina."
Lina sighs. She was already planning to go back home, but not like this...
"I'll come down as soon as I can. I'll definitely be there in time for the motion. Give Uncle Francisco my regards. I love you."
"Love you, Lina. I'll... let you get back to work."
As Lina hangs up, she leans against the glass of the windowed wall, her grip weakening as her phone slips out of her hand and onto the floor.
Seconds later, the world comes out from under her feet, her legs buckle, and she hits the ground, knees up to her chest.
She cries.