Sofia Samu’s Reviews > Alchemised > Status Update

“You are not replaceable,” he said, his hands trembling against her shoulders. “You are not required to make your death convenient. You are allowed to be important to people. The reason I’m here—the reason I’m doing any of this—is to keep you alive. To keep you safe. That was the deal.” He searched her face. “They didn’t tell you.”

TELL HER!

“What do they want?” His voice was almost a whisper.
She looked back. “What?”
“Is it—actual crawling? Or was there something more constructive Ilva had in mind?”
Her throat closed. “I—I’d have to ask.”
“Find out. I’ll do it.” He looked exhausted, but now there was an edge of something seething in him.

I love them, Your Honor.

Part 2: it's flashbacks time, babyyyy

There had been so many women in the Resistance. Not many in combat, but everywhere else; they’d staffed the hospital, gone to the front lines as field medics and dragged the wounded bodies to safety, operated the radios and relayed messages, washed and repaired the clothes and uniforms, and cooked the meals. All the ordinary tasks that never ended, not even when a war began. It had been women doing them.