Estelle
Moments after I read the letter. The door was opened again, this time, two burly guards replaced Nigel. 
I look back at Leeciy, who had a spoon in his mouth. 
"Lexon ordered for you two." The first says, walking in and pulling me up forcefully by my bicep. 
They do the same to Leeciy, tugging him up, the silver spoon falling from his lips, clattering on the wooden floor. 
The walk to Lexon's office was quick, and the settling of us was even quicker. 
Lexon was sitting in his high-backed chair, his feet on the desk crossed at the ankles. "Leave." 
The guards walk out at his order. 
"Sit." Lexon gestures to the armchairs in front of his desk. 
I walk over to the far one, settling in it. Leeciy follows next to me. 
"Surprisingly I'm not going to address your making out." He says, looking between the both of us. "But I am addressing your child, September." 
"Is he in trouble?" I ask, moving to sit at the edge of my seat.
Lexon shakes his head. "You remember Eric Kahler?" 
"September's dad." I nod. "Is he okay?" 
"He's fine," Lexon says. "Just watch." A hologram pops up on the desk of the man I easily recognize as Eric Kahler. 
The paused screen jumps to life. 
"This is Eric Kahler, Professor at University of California, addressing the rumors about his son." The news reporter turns to Eric. "I know it's hard, just go on." 
Eric clears his throat. "I have a son, his name is September." 
The news reporter lays a comforting hand on his arm. 
"September's mom is a whore, she has numerous children with numerous men, one of those children is August Jones." Eric continues. "September ran away at fourteen to meet his brother, who lived in Oregon, it wasn't a surprise I got the call from August himself, as I'd seen September planning a few times to go see him. Then an argument for custody that August and his girlfriend won."
"August was with Estelle Ziveri." The reporter informs, an image of me popping up behind her.
"I was promised visits, and now that Estelle's dead, I don't know where my son is." Eric finishes. 
"September, if you're watching this, please come home to your father." The reporter says before the hologram cuts out. 
I turn and look at a shocked Leeciy. 
"People are looking for your son," Lexon says. "Which they're not gonna find." 
I nod. "I feel bad."
"It's a sob story, a bloody good one at that," Leeciy says. "But that's beside the point, they think you're dead." 
"I feel like that was a given," I say. "I should be dead."
Lexon nods, standing. "We're in the middle of a war, even if there is a pause right now, we need to win." 
"And I'm the secret weapon?" I ask. 
Lexon nods. "You're our face." 
Leeciy nods.
"well, what are we gonna do?" I ask. 
"Since your production value's increased, I say, we release another one of your signature videos," Lexon suggests. 
"I agree," I mutter. "But this isn't the right time." 
"No time like the present," Lexon says, leaning forward. "We'll need a few preparations, including your appearance." 
I tilt my head in confusion. "What's wrong with my appearance." 
"In your time running from the government, how many times did you try and dye your hair?" Lexon asks. 
"A few times, not a lot of it stuck," I answer. "It's still red, with a few blotches of brown." 
"Yes, we'll need to fix that, keep the iconic red hair," Lexon says, fiddling with his own hair. "Then we'll need to try and neutralize those eye bags." 
My hand reaches up and touches my face. "How would you do that?" 
"We have a whole beauty department here," Lexon says. "Of course they're for the other leaders' vain tendencies, but they can be used with you too." 
There's a brief pause. 
"We can start now, or you can go home and take a nap." 
I shake my head. "I'm rested, I'd rather get it done now." 
Lexon nods. "As you wish." 
***
The beauty department is almost completely white, but the small accents of blue draw it away from being just blue.
Leeciy had to go retrieve Cirus from school, so I'm alone, besides Lexon.
A parliamentary official I recognize steps out from a tube-like chamber, looking just slightly different. 
"That's the Suction Machine, it's just like liposuction but without the surgery," Lexon says, placing a hand on the small of my back as he leads me to another room. 
Two women, twins, sit on a desk, holographically typing. 
"Ladies," Lexon says, clearing his throat. "This is the girl I was talking about." 
They jump from their seats, walking toward me in a chilling unison. 
"You know what I want, if there's anything besides that, talk to me first." Lexon orders, turning to look at me. "I'll be off, I'll come to get you later." And with that, he leaves me with the twins. 
They immediately start poking and prodding my face and playing with my hair. 
After they're done with their observing, they turn and look at each other, then drag me out of the room. 
We arrive in another room, and they shove me into a chair, one behind me, one in front. 
The one behind skillfully weaves their hand through my hair, some sort of substance wetting her fingers. 
The one in front has a salve she puts under my eyes. 
They work in an overwhelming silence, their feet making just a soft noise on the floor. 
The one behind me helps me up, before leading me to another room, which houses a few gadgets. 
She moves quickly to another tube-like chamber, pressing a few buttons. The door on the front pops open. 
The other woman is working on covering my nose and mouth with a thin cloth, after finishing with that, she ushers me into the chamber, the other twin shutting it. 
She presses a button and some sort of gas flows down over me, making the salve on my under-eye bags chill. 
The smell makes it apparent why I'm wearing a mask, the gas itself could probably kill a few people easily. 
The door unlocks after a few minutes, and I step out. 
The pair usher me back into the first room, washing my hair and face, before presenting me with a mirror.
I take a deep breath before looking into it, staring back at me was Estelle Ziveri, citizen of Pangaea.