178 Sendoff

After getting through a good portion of the paperwork, Aida leaned back to take a break and rest her eyes. Suddenly thinking of something, she got up to go and visit the old lady.

Walking to the room, she knocked on the door again. To her surprise, the door was already cracked open. Peering in, she saw the old lady laying there, clearly in worse condition than she had been the previous evening. The young man was sitting besides her with tears coming down his face. They could all tell that she was on her last breath.

The old lady wasn't fully alert but still managed to notice Aida. She said in a whispery tone, "Girly, you...came."

Aida walked over and kneeled besides the old lady. "Yes Auntie, I'm here. Are you feeling okay?"

She took a huge effort to swallow and laughed weakly, before whispering in a raspy voice, "No you silly, I'm about to die. I… thank you…. take care… my boy…"

The old lady then made a great effort to turn her head to her son and said, "Don't… cry… be happy. I will always be with you… don't forget…" And then, she was gone.

Aida's eyes reddened as she watched the life fade away from the old lady's eyes. She stood up and closed the old lady's eyes before bowing towards her.

Directing her head towards the young man whose face was still obscured, she said, "We should bury her."

He was still silently crying but nodded in agreement. Wrapping the old lady up, they carried her to the car and they drove up to an empty area at the top of a small mountain. The two of them silently dug a giant hole and placed the old lady into the dirt. After they covered her, Aida threw a bunch of sand that she brought from the base and used her electricity.

Soon the grave was encapsulated in a beautiful glass cover. They wrote on the tombstone. "A wonderful, lively and beautiful lady. A great mother. Loved by all."

The two of them silently paid their respects. Aida consoled the young man, "She'll have a great view here and can continue to look over you."

He nodded and the two of them quietly headed back to the base. After they arrived, the two split ways. Aida headed back to her room where her children were sleeping soundly. She laid on the bed and stared at the ceiling, unable to fall asleep.

Artie came bounding towards her cutely with his robot form as he hugged Aida, "Mama, you have a message."

Aida hugged Artie fondly, he was helping pull her out of her reverie. They had grown significantly closer and their cooperation had gotten smoother in the past few days. "Pull it up for me."

As she read through the note, her eyes turned stern. It seems I'll have to leave sooner than anticipated. Thanking her cute little son, she opened her eyes and immediately rolled out of bed and walked towards the door. She always wore the same tight fitted black top and leggings so there was no need to change. Her habit was to be prepared at all times in case of an ambush.

Walking out, she went straight to her penthouse where she surprisingly found all three of the lackeys still awake and working. Silently approving their commitment towards this base, she knocked, "Put down your work and let's talk."

They were all startled to see her but immediately complied. Closing their laptops, Lackey 1 grabbed a hot cup of tea and quietly served it to her before sitting back down.

Seeing she had their undivided attention, she said, "There's been a change of plans. I will need to leave by tomorrow. Can you gather all the troops by then?"

Startled but competent, Lackey 2 responded, "Yes, they are ready and can be deployed at any time."

"Good, bring the degenerates as well. They could be used as cannon fodder." Aida commented casually with a glint in her eye.

The others shuddered slightly, but still agreed with her decision. While Aida had made a strong push towards reforming the base, there were still a number of people who quickly fell back to their old ways. They were eager to take drugs, **** and steal, all of which Aida deemed as capital offenses. Instead of getting rid of them, she decided to bring them onto the battlefield and allow them to have more "meaningful" deaths.

"Before I go tomorrow, I will also bring the others to the city and make sure the mission to acquire more gems and other supplies is complete. It's on the way anyway. However, they will need to find a way back themselves."

The Lackeys nodded. Lackey 3 spoke up at that time, "We've discussed. Lackey 1 will be following you from now on as your personal secretary. Even if you are leaving this base, you will still be our base leader. I will also head into the city with you and lead the rest of the people back afterwards."

"Thank you." Aida was yet again touched by the undue loyalty of these lackeys. The time they spent was short yet their bond was so uncharacteristically deep. She could only accede to their reasoning.

There was a moment of silence as warmth suffused the air before the lackeys got up and quickly went to organize everything. Her change of plans had a major ripple effect across their entire chain of command and would require immediate action if she wanted everything ready by the morning.

Aida sat alone in the penthouse and stared out onto the base. She patted Xiao Ai, who was still wrapped quietly around her neck, "Are you done with putting together the secure network?"

"Mm~ Xiao Ai is done. Don't be sad! We can always come back here after everything!" Xiao Ai was able to sense Aida's reluctance to part with this place.

Aida smiled bitterly as she thought about when they could realistically return. She quietly patted Xiao Ai, "Hopefully we can."