If nothing else, at least Val was getting to read plenty of books while in hiding. She’d made her way through the entirety of the JD Claw books, which had made for some excellent reads. Her favourite was probably Mechanics Fly, in which the secondary villain actually realised she had been on the wrong side of the conflict the entire time, switching sides, in the end, to fight against the very forces she had been serving throughout the book. It was powerful, and for some reason, it seemed oddly familiar to Val. There was just something about Kai’s story in that book that really hit home for her.
She’d moved from place to place, ensuring she never stayed too long at a buyer’s agent. Brighton had proved to be a great place to hide for a while, given there were multiple buyer’s advocacies there. After a day or two, she’d head to another one in the local area, perhaps an office for a buyer’s advocate close to Brighton East, or even down to Hampton if she was feeling particularly adventurous.
Of course, she did worry from time to time that she might get caught, and one of the buyer’s agents would rat her out to the Conclave of Mechanists. If that happened, it’d be all over for her. Where could Val go, if not buyer’s agencies? If the Conclave knew she’d hid in one, they’d search them all until they found her. Someone who had stuffed up as badly as she did was not going to get off with a slap on the wrist, oh no.
For now, she’d keep hiding, but if something bad happened, she didn’t know what she’d do. Everyone was against her now. Conclave and Resistance, she’d never have a place with either. Not that she wanted a place with the stupid Resistance, anyway. They had a dumb, unoriginal name, so she wanted to stay well away from them.
Either way, Val knew she was beyond redemption. She could never find a place with anyone after her mistake, unlike Kai from Claw’s book. So, she’d just have to stay hidden.