For the last few months, life had been moving far too fast for Korven to spend any time in the mornings preparing for her day. This had stemmed from the fact that Korven had spent months investigating the Chosen Angels, yet, only once she had escaped from the soul trap she had found herself in had she realized that to fight the cult she had viewed as evil for so long, she would have to finally take some agency and take the steps needed to achieve her final goal of defeating Aldrick and his followers.
She broke down her ' final plan ' into a series of steps that, like dominoes, would lead her to succeed in her goal. The steps being,
" 1. Talk to Silia and find proof that the chosen angels have been hiring assassins, 2. Report all evidence to the police, 3. Find evidence about the mass youth sacrifices (because every piece of evidence she had acquired so far had quickly been thrown out), 4. Use the reach of the Agorist church if evidence isn't enough."
Korven writes these 4 steps in her notebook, with a more specific to-do list that breaks each one down further.
Two weeks back, Silia had broken into her apartment and attempted to kill her. After swiftly defeating her, Korven's interrogation was interrupted by the police arresting Silia. Once Korven finished answering questions at the police station, she was able to file an insurance claim (and after forging evidence that Silia had destroyed a valuable airloom), and Korven had just let the memory slide to the back of her head.
As she walks over to her closet, Korven realizes that almost all of her wounds have vanished,
"Aldrick? No, Aldrick would heal all of my wounds; he couldn't have left so many cuts and bruises." She thinks to herself
"Maybe this is because most of my wounds came from when I was in the void." She says, as she gazes towards the newly matte black dagger that she had placed on her bedside table.
"That's probably why, looks like only the pain came with me as I transitioned back, the only wounds I still have are the ones from the real world." She says, as she adds to the page in her notebook where she started writing about her experience in the void.
After showering, Korven puts on clothes more suitable for a visit to the prison.
"I can't forget why I'm going, Silia owes me for fixing up her wounds, and she already admitted who sent her, she'll be able to point me towards evidence, and tell me the source of the void." She thinks to herself
"Who am I kidding? Silia doesn't rank nearly high enough in the cult to have the answers I require."
After a few minutes of an internal ping-pong game while putting on a white t-shirt and a pair of jeans, she decides she has no other lead and that Silia is worth the risk of being discovered. Just before leaving her apartment, Korven puts on a large, baggy hoodie and sunglasses. Although there is never any sunlight in Kilder, sunglasses are still common. For most of Kilder, that popularity can be explained by the prominence of sunglasses in much of southern media (as Yewlin is situated in the north), yet in Gurun specifically, sunglasses are tools for staying anonymous on the deadly streets. While Korven knows she will have to take them off at the prison, a little anonymity on the streets isn't something she will avoid.
As she steps outside, she notices a face she hadn't seen in so long. With all the time she had spent with the sleep schedule of an owl, what should have been a daily occurrence, seeing her neighbour, had become far too rare. Seeing the old lady and talking to her had long been a pleasure, Korven had forgotten.
Before she can even start the conversation, her neighbour starts talking to her,
"Korven! I haven't seen you in so long. How have you recovered from the robbery? I heard you lost some of your family's valuables. I feel so bad," her voice soothes Korven and reminds her of simpler days.
"So I haven't seen her in a bit more than two weeks. The way she is worrying about my health makes it clear she doesn't know what I am capable of. I guess the police didn't question her," Korven thinks, using the context clues of what she had said to remind herself of her personal relationship with her neighbour.
"Ohh Lyn, I have missed seeing you around, yes, I lost a lot of personal objects, things that money can't truly replace," Korven says
She adds the part about her lost valuable possessions being priceless, because Korven knows that Lyn would try to give her money out of kindness. While Korven had forged evidence of many stolen valuables to defraud insurance companies, she would never even consider tricking an elder like Lyn.
Both Lyn and Korven start walking down the thin stairs of the apartment. Korven is too scared to move ahead of Lyn, but because of how slowly Lyn walks, they are forced to keep talking.
"Any plans for today?" Korven asks
"Just visiting the grandkids, actually, take this, I made an extra, and you are looking pale," Lyn answers, handing Korven a pastry from her home nation.
The awkward silence continues. By now, they have reached the exit of their apartment building. As soon as Lyn leaves the vicinity, Korven pricks herself on the finger to bring herself back into the memory of her looking at the map of the city.
After analyzing the fastest route to the Hilden detention center, Korven decides to take the subway.
Public transportation is one of the many signs of Kilder's collapse, with rats and the smell of rotting dogs taking over; the low ticket prices aren't enough to draw people to the subway. Of course, beggars can't be choosers, so without a car, and the distance being too far to walk, Korven decides to bite the bullet and take the subway.
As she reaches her destination, Korven steps out of the subway and walks back out to the surface, still wearing the hoodie and sunglasses. Now that physical wounds aren't bothering her, Korven is able to focus on her other discomforts, such as the fact that she hadn't eaten since before she entered the void.
As she takes a bite out of the pastry that Lyn had given her, a weird, yet tasty mix of custard and sesame seeds, she stops walking. Korven looks up as she has reached her destination. The massive concrete fortress that had grown into the source of a dozen urban legends when Korven was growing up, the Hilden Detention Center