Denton and Bianca exchanged excited faces this might be the ticket they needed; fate is meaning it well with them.
Thilarie was now chuckling, seeing how much the honorary hero of the Spearheads and her handsome brother loved her proposition, but she reserved her from continuing to speak, giving them time to think about it.
<This is it, Bianca! Our ride to a better life. We will get escorted by the Speartip herself and meet the Triumvirate in no time. And then, it is only a matter of presentation to show our leaders what we discovered and how invaluable we are in teaching it.>
Galen was ecstatic, and his happiness was contagious; Bianca nearly failed to keep a rational view. She was happy as well but wasn't completely convinced that a neutral faction would be able to easily enter the palace of unity with two peasants at her side. She shushed Galen, letting him take part in her mind-thoughts, and he agreed to her concerns.
<True ... then better ask, but be careful in how you word it. Drop enough hints to assure we are harmless and have crucial matters to discuss with our leaders. They literally are the only reliable non-corruptive connection between slums and Leaston. Good luck, partner.>
Bianca took a deep breath and nodded to Denton, indicating to him she would start explaining:
"We have made an important medical discovery that could have a great impact on the health of our nation. I would love to go into more detail -", the green kobold moved closer to the Freezers lowering her voice to a soft whisper, " - but we have to protect our ticket out of this hellhole. That might be our only chance to live a normal life."
Thilarie nodded understandingly after looking left and right, nodding in agreement that this place was not a place she would like to know them to remain in:
"Of course. We will treat the matter with professional care. So what do you need us to do?"
"What we need is to get escorted into the palace of unity. We don't trust anybody but the Triumvirate to treat our discovery with the necessary care. Only they can make it bloom. We are not strong in any way and need the protection; protection to not lose our chance to malevolent enviers abusing our weakness."
"Hmm, it is certainly something we could do, Mrs Peritl. You are right not putting any trust in others; it is the best call in these times. Honestly, we are only able to stay out of this downwards spiral Nemthi is currently suffering from because the Bronze Queen managed to grant us immunity on the battlefield as long as we only help the hurt. Scorzosa is heartless, but even they respect the immunity of medical staff ... we even get access to the prisoners of war treating them on enemy territory."
Thilarie realized she was deriving into her own construct of worries giving in to the repressed fears she faced each and every day. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and went back to continue on Bianca's request:
"I-I am sorry, Mrs Peritl. I got carried away. Now back to your request. So yes, we can get you to the palace, no problem. We have a certain pool of favours open with the Triumvirate aiding them in this grave time. You should however consider taking Spearhead Lanstein's offer to brush yourself up for the meet-up. The leaders would appreciate that. But no worries, whatever you want to present to them, we will assure you that you are able to do as such."
Neither Bianca nor Denton were able to express their gratitude tears resided in the corners of their eyes. The automatons took notice of that, and their glowy eyes shapeshifted into happy half-moons. Lanstein took over and started explaining what needed to get done now:
"We will soon leave the slums to restock our truck in the city. If you wanna tag along today already, we have the capacities to take you with us. You have half an hour to pack everything you need, and then we will depart. Is that alright with you, friends?"
"This is perfect! Thank you so much for the opportunity!", Denton couldn't withhold his joy; not only had he today his breakthrough but they also got presented a way; a path to actually solve the looming issue the very same day, "I can't express how thankful I - we are. We are in your debt!"
"We are just happy we can repay you your generosity. Until later.", Thilarie gave them a soft salute and began cleaning up the space preparing the truck with Lanstein at her side.
Preparations went smoothly. Back in the dirt hole, Denton soon was able to find an old backpack under a pile of mouldy books. The stench was vomit-inducing; the whole place smelled now like crap and mould. Having smelled heaven with the Aris venison made returning into their home a challenge for itself. All four personalities present were happy that this might be the last time. Never to be forced to spend another second here. Even Galen was not speaking a single word but was humming a happy tune in the backside of Bianca's consciousness. A happy tune intended on supporting the incoming change with the fitting theme song.
After the cell cubes got stored in the backpack, Bianca struggled to find anything else of personal value in their home. She struggled to make out anything in this pile of junk that she wanted to keep. Heck, even the moth-eaten loincloth of hers she desired at this moment to rip away from her body. Throwing it angrily into the pile of junk, imagining it all to burn away in an instance. Letting everything behind that could remember her of this life in poverty. But she was able to refrain from doing as such, letting out a deep powerless sigh.
"Have you found anything worth taking with us? Because I haven't...", Denton softly placed his paw around Bianca's shoulders, "At the end of the week will start in a better life; you can take my word for granted. We will convince the Triumvirate and get us a nice home in Leaston or somewhere else. Maybe we can even consider starting a family then, finding both someone nice, wouldn't that be great?"
Bianca embraced the comfort provided by Denton snuggling her shoulder into his chest:
"That would be great indeed. But please stay in the now ... for now. We can dream later, or we will miss our friends departing."
Denton nodded, and both left their home behind after Bianca hurled the backpack filled only with the precious cell cubes and the most crucial notes regarding their research. None of the two felt even the slightest need to look back one last time when they climbed up the ladder back to the slums; this chapter was finished, and both hoped it was gone for good.
