Time/Date: TC1853.01.18 (Morning)
Location: Brenner Estate, Real Safe House (Craftsman Quarter)
Serenya hadn't slept.
Couldn't sleep.
She'd spent the entire night sitting at her vanity, watching the clock with hands that wouldn't stay still, jumping at every sound, every creak of the estate settling. The darkness pressed against her windows like something alive, and she'd kept lights burning despite knowing it marked her as awake, as aware, as guilty.
6:30 AM. The encrypted communicator buzzed against the lacquered wood of her vanity, making her jump so violently she knocked over a perfume bottle. The delicate crystal shattered, expensive scent spilling across wood grain, but she barely noticed.
Her hands shook so hard she almost dropped the device. Had to grip it with both hands to read the message.
