Leila is queuing at the cashier, checking the items in her shopping bag… again. She's eager to get back to Theo, but today's line feels unusually slow.
"Leila!" Someone calls her name.
She turns and sees Miranda Monfort approaching. Her face lights up. Miranda!
"Leila, it's you!" Miranda hugs her tightly. "Oh my god! How long has it been?!" she exclaims, clearly delighted to see her old friend.
"Too long! When did you arrive from Solarys? How long are you staying in Arvion?" Leila replies, equally happy.
"Oh, I just arrived two days ago. And I'll be here a while. Linus has a meeting and suggested I come along to visit you. It's just that I had the flu right after I landed, so I haven't really been out. Today's my first day out."
Miranda looks at Leila again, her eyes glistening. "Oh Leila, it's so good to see you here. I'm shopping for gifts for my visit to Montrose Estate. I didn't call because I wanted it to be a surprise!"
Leila smiles widely. "It's wonderful to see you! And you don't need to bring gifts. What you do need is an empty stomach! I know the real reason you're here—to eat my cooking, right?"
They laugh together, happily.
They are chatting until it's Leila's turn to pay. After paying, she says to Miranda, "It's really good to see you. But I'm afraid I can't stay, I have to—"
Before Leila can finish, the fire sprinklers suddenly burst, spraying water everywhere. People are startled and scramble to avoid the water, but it's useless. All the sprinklers in Montclair Pavilion have turned on.
After the initial shock, panic spreads. "Fire!" "Where's the fire?!" "We need to get out!"
Leila and Miranda are also in shock. "Oh my god! Why are the sprinklers on? Is there a fire?" Miranda asks.
Leila pales. "Fire! THEA!" She bolts, ignoring Miranda.
"Leila!" Miranda shouts, running after her.
------------------------------
Sam is still staring at the Arcatherm on his watch, trying to figure out what's happening, as chaos erupts throughout the shopping arcade.
Sprinklers? Fire?! No! The fire alarms are still silent. What's going on?
He turns to knock on the bathroom door when it swings open and Theo steps out, soaked. A sprinkler in the bathroom had gone off, drenching him from head to toe.
Theo looks around, bewildered. "What's going on? Why is the ceiling spraying water?" He glances at the arcade and sees people running in every direction.
"Why are they running? Where are they going?" he asks Sam.
Sam steps in, shielding Theo from a man rushing past. "I don't know, Miss Montrose. I don't think it's a fire, since the alarms aren't ringing. But we need to get out of here. First, we need to find Mrs. Montrose."
Sam whips out his phone, but then he sees Leila running frantically toward them.
"Thea! Are you okay?!" She immediately checks Theo.
"Good! You're okay! We need to go! There's a fire!" Leila exhales in relief, speaking rapidly.
"Leila!" Miranda appears, running toward them.
"Oh, Mira! Why are you here? Oh, I kinda left you behind, didn't I? Sorry, thank God you're okay too. We need to leave. Now!" Leila barks, grabbing Theo's and Miranda's hands. Just as she's about to pull them away, she turns to Sam. "Don't forget the shopping bags." Then she drags Theo and Miranda after her.
Sam hesitates for a moment, then gathers all the shopping bags and follows.
------------------------------
Leila leads them toward the car in the basement. Miranda pulls her back. "Leila, we can't go deeper! We need to get out to the street!"
"No. The safest place for us right now is in the car. It's equipped with Montrose Aegis," Leila says firmly, pressing forward.
Miranda glances at Sam, sort of waiting his confirmation, realizing he's Leila's bodyguard,
"Mrs. Montrose is correct," Sam confirms. "Our car is equipped with Aegis-M, the latest version of Montrose Aegis. Water, fire—even if the building collapsed on top of us—we'd still be safe. Out there? Not really. People are cramming the exits and fire stairs. There's a real risk of being trampled."
"Oh, right. Montrose Aegis…" Miranda exhales in relief.
As Theo follows behind Leila, he glances up at the dripping ceiling, searching Thea's memories. Sprinklers—that's what they're called. A fire-prevention system. Clever.
Then he frowns. But why did they suddenly go off? I cast Aqura and now water is raining down everywhere? Or just coincidence? I cast Veyra too, but I don't see any wind surging. So… I guess it's not me.
------------------------------
The four of them manage to reach the car in record time, since everyone else is heading in the opposite direction.
Sam starts the engine and activates the car's scanning system, eyes flicking over the display.
"Sam?" After a few minutes, Leila prompts him.
"Mrs. Montrose, there's no need to panic. There's no fire. The car hasn't detected any heat source that could indicate one, and the pavilion's fire alarms are silent. I believe the sprinklers malfunctioned."
The other three passengers exhale in relief.
Leila turns to Miranda. "Mir, did you come to the Pavilion alone?"
Miranda lifts her brows and covers her mouth with her hand. "Oh my! I didn't. Linus assigned one of his personal bodyguards to follow me. But then I came out of the restroom, saw you, and ran straight to you."
She chuckles. "Where was he, though?"
Fishing out her phone, she sees more than thirty missed calls from Linus and her bodyguard. "Oops. I put it on silent again."
She looks at Leila helplessly. "Linus is going to fire him and kill me."
Leila laughs softly. "No, he won't. He loves you too much. But he might ground you."
Miranda's phone vibrates. The caller ID flashes: LINUS. She mouths, I'm taking this.
"Hi, baby."
"Don't be mad. I'm perfectly fine. I'm safe with Leila and her bodyguard."
Leila shakes her head and turns to Theo. She whispers, "Are you really okay? You still need to change your jeans and underwear."
Theo leans in and whispers back, "It's fine, Mother. I already took care of it."
Leila's eyes widen. How? she mouths.
But before Theo can answer, they both hear Miranda going, "Linus, all of us are soaked from the Pavilion sprinklers. I'm going back to the apartment with Leila and Thea. What was that? Ah, yes, Theodora. Leila's youngest child. Liam's future wife."
Theo's eyes go wide. He mouths, Wife?!