Luckily, the day after Joel showed up on my doorstep was the beginning of the weekend.

I wouldn’t have to expend energy by keeping him safe in my apartment while attending school at the same time. That would suck.

Especially since I would only be able to keep him safe while he stayed inside the apartment. And now, after gaining a bit of understanding into his character, I doubt that he would be content to stay inside.

Even more, if he were to stay inside, there’s no guarantee that he would keep out of my stuff. I don’t want him going through my things. I don’t want anyone going through my personal items.

Well, thankfully, I can keep an eye on him, since I have nothing better to do for now. Though, I have to wonder what I’ll be doing when the weekend’s over. Or rather, what Joel will be doing. I think I have a plan that would work, but I need to keep him from finding out about it; else he’ll object quite vocally. Actually, it’s not like he has a choice otherwise, but I would like to not hear him whining about it.

So, for the first thing in the morning, I sent out some e-mails in order to put the plan in motion. Hopefully, everything will have worked itself out by Monday.

In the meantime, we need food. My fridge in nearly empty since I haven’t had the chance to restock it lately, and because Joel eats quite a bit—as I found out to my dismay last night. It’s not too big an issue though.

Though, it became an issue when I tried to wake up Joel. I wanted to bring him along with me to the food market around the corner, so that he would know what goes into the food I make. Also, I want him to carry what I buy. What? He’s basically free labor, you know? In addition, I need to take out a little of the anger I have towards him. After all, he ran away from Earth due to a silly little engagement, and then came over here and got my nice couch all wet.

I went over to where I had set up his mattress, and said his name a few times, while also poking his face. Eventually, he woke up, bleary-eyed and confused.

“Ergh—whaday want?” He said, his voice muddled by sleep and the blankets.

“Need food. You’re coming.”

“Like hell.” He said, and rolled over onto his side, going back to sleep.

I returned a minute later with a few ices cubes. They were promptly dumped under the covers with Joel. He shrieked and shot upright, instantly awake. Pulling out the ice cubes, Joel glared at me.

“What was that for?”

“Next time, water bucket. ” I said. He begrudgingly got up out of bed, and grabbed a nice looking set of clothes from his suitcase. Joel disappeared into the bathroom to get changed. Minutes later, the door opened again; and Joel stepped out looking a little more awake then he had on entering. He was also fairly grumpy.

“You said you need food? Where are you getting it?”

“Market. You carry.” I said, throwing a few sturdy bags at him. He caught them with surprise, and we left the apartment.

It was still a little damp outside from yesterday’s rain, with little brown puddles populating the street’s sides, and the dense stone surfaces darkened with moisture. It was entertaining to watch as Joel avoided the puddles, not wanting to get his shoes dirty. They were bright white, expensive, and loud looking. Those shoes practically drew people’s eyes to Joel’s feet, and proclaimed him as someone special, someone different. Though, his flashy clothes did much the same thing.

As for me, I wore simple clothes, and boots. They may not be cute or fashionable, but at least they’re practical. Besides, it’s not like I’m planning on meeting anyone today. Maybe I will tomorrow, but that depends on how my e-mails are received.

We turned the street corner, and the market store was right there. Entering the market building was a bit interesting, since Joel walked right up to the clear door, and just stood there as if expecting it to open automatically. I walked past him, and pushed it open. I held the door for Joel as he gawked, evidentially surprised.

“The doors don’t open for you guys here?”

I gave him a puzzled glance.

“Why waste energy?” I ask. Aren’t most people perfectly capable of opening a door? I mean, even if they have no arms or legs, they could still use their mana, right?

Joel shook his head, as if the lives of most other people were beyond him. And I’ll admit—they might be. Not understanding how doors work is a pretty big deal, you know?

Thankfully, Joel doesn’t seem to be a complete idiot. He at least knows how to walk and talk.

I went down one of the food aisles, and found the bread that I like the most. Grown on planet, the stuff ends up filled with air bubbles. It’s got a unique taste, and is chewer than most other types of bread. I grabbed a loaf of the bread, and get Joel to open up and hold out one of the bags I brought along. I stuffed the bag of bread into it, much to Joel’s indignation.

“Hey! Am I just here to be your pack mule?!”

I nodded sagely.

“Must pay for meals.” I said.

We went around all the other aisle, and I pulled down all the things I thought I would need. Of course, I also ran into the eventuality where one of the things I wanted was on a higher shelf than I could reach. Joel proved his worth in those moments.

I quit looking around once two of the bags we’d brought were filled to the brim. I had found enough food to last us about half a week, depending on how much Joel decides to eat. There was a fairly good variety as well, which would allow me to make whatever I wanted.

We did have a slight problem when leaving the store, though. Of course, it was completely Joel’s fault, as he walked straight past the payment desk, and almost left the building. The lady working the desk called out after him, and I could tell when he turned around that he was about to say something tremendously stupid when he turned around. So, I briskly walked straight on up to him, and planted a fist in his stomach right as he was about to speak. His face had an expression of imperious distain before that point, which is what convinced me that he really shouldn't speak.

As he lay gasping on the floor, I took the bags from him, and brought them to the payment desk, whose operator was eyeing me suspiciously. I paid for the food though, and was able to leave without a problem after that. I got Joel off the floor, and walked out with him. As soon as we were outside the store, I handed the bags back to him.

“What was that for—I didn’t do anything wrong, right?!” He wheezed in complaint.

“Pay for food. Not gift.” I said.

“Paying? What do you mean? I’m the son of Klein Al’Verath. I shouldn’t have to pay for something like food.”

I affixed him with a sharp look.

“Here, you pay. Is normal.” I replied.

“But!” He began. I glared at him. He wilted.

It looks like he has quite a bit to learn about society away from Earth. That’s okay—He’ll have plenty of time to study normal people up close later.

We took the food back to my apartment, and I quickly rustled up a nice breakfast using the stuff we’d just gotten from the market store. I was thinking that by using a bit of positive reinforcement, Joel would be willing to help me again in the future without whining about it. I figure that dog training would be effective on a fox, right?

He enjoyed the pancakes and waffles I made, so it’s looking like I may have done the right thing. If he really likes food, then I have a way to control him. Well, outside of sheer violence—and I would rather steer away from physical punishment if a classier alternative presents itself.

After breakfast, I tried to fill Joel in on common knowledge, including stuff like currency, manners, and privileges. I wanted to bring down his overly inflated sense of entitlement. To his credit, he was receptive to what I wrote down for him and at least seemed to seriously consider the things I suggested. He even agreed to go clothes shopping with me tomorrow, since he seemed to have only brought along the fanciest and most expensive name brand items in his suitcase. And while those are certainly good at impressing people, I want him to fit in, and experience the life of a normal person. He can’t do that while looking like the young master he really is.

Other than my little lessons on normalcy, we really didn’t do much that Saturday. It was a nice little lazy day, and I figured Joel would appreciate the rest, especially considering what I have in store for him when the week comes again.

All in all, we relaxed.

The leader of Starfall team 1 was currently concerned. His lightly aged features were set into a frown as he and the rest of the team went over what they had learned during the day they’d spent on Jor so far.

Normally, they would be able to find their targets within an hour of landing, thanks to the extensive electronic connections available to Kara. There are very few networks closed to her and her hacking skills, and the Jor systems were no exception. In most cases, access to the city systems would then allow them to find a target with very little hassle.

Apparently, this job was not “most cases”.

As soon as the target had entered Jor, he had become a ghost. Someone who had access to Jor’s systems had wiped all mention of him in the records and camera footage. Still, they had ways of finding people without the aid of electronics. Namely, the old fashioned investigative way.

There was a problem with that though. For one, Jor is a massive city.

It’s size may not compare to some of the most central trade cities, but it’s still fairly sizable—making the task of finding a single person in the slew of humanity around them an arduous one at best. Especially when it became clear that the target wasn’t staying with any of the higher class people in Jor. Sylph has checked, and none of the Jorian Houses had taken in the target as a guest.

“Let’s shift the investigation a little. Instead of focusing on where the target might be in the city, check out his past, and see if any known acquaintances of his resides in Jor.” Said the group's leader, when all other avenues of investigation had turned up empty. If they could identify a person living on Jor known to the target, then they would have a reasonable idea of where he went.

Changing the focus of the search like that yielded results very quickly. A small look into the docking records on Jor reveiled that the target had visited Jor before, and had even stayed for a few days. During that time, he had stayed in the city lord’s manor and was lavished upon by the servants there.

More telling was the fact that he had only left the manor once, for an Awakening ceremony.

As soon as Kara had discovered this, Starfall’s boss knew that they had found a lead. A very big lead.

Especially when considering that the subject going through the Awakening had left with the target directly afterwards, and returned a little more than a month later. He had Kara look up more information on that Awakening ceremony, and it’s focus. The results were a little baffling, to say the least.

The girl who had gone through the Awakening was almost talentless. In all actuality, she would likely never be anything even remotely special. It was a bit of an oddity then, that the target had removed her from Jor for a time, bringing her back with him. Maybe he took a liking to her admittedly good looks?

Regardless, she was very likely the one who was currently sheltering the target. In retrospect, the whole thing made quite a bit of sense. The target had run from Earth after learning of a marriage arranged for him by his parents, right? Perhaps he was running back to the one he had already fallen in love with?

The leader had Kara look up the girl’s information, and easily came up with an address for her.

With a clear and solid lead to follow, most of the Starfall team decided to go to the address and capture the target. Kara was the only one who stayed behind, as a non-combatant. Besides, everyone knew that she works best when running over-watch for the team.

The rest of them prepared very professionally, loading up on weapons that would be easily concealed. The only exception belonged to Sylph, who brought along her signature black hard-shelled case. The weapon within was too big to hide in a non-conspicuous way, so she was forced to carry it around inside that case.

Starfall team 1 was careful when walking to the address of the girl. To avoid being seen as a single group, they all took separate routes to the girl’s apartment, and most of them met up right in front of it. Sylph took up position in a building a distance away, choosing a spot based on sightline towards the apartment, and secrecy. Once there, she opened up her case and set up the mana-powered gauss rifle within. For it’s size, the rifle was actually one of the most powerful anti-personal weapons available to man. It was capable of taking down powerhouses of the tenth divide, though it was totally useless against someone of a higher power. It was also hellishly expensive to buy and maintain, but the rifle’s stopping power largely made up for that downside.

The rest of the team entered the apartment complex as one unit, letting the triplets take the vanguard position due to their inherent ability to soak up punishment. Starfall’s leader took up position behind them, and Raphael occupied the rearmost guard. Sylph eyed their progress through the scope of her rifle, being sure to offset the crosshairs so that she doesn’t accidentally shoot her own teammates. That’s a mistake you only make once. Kara monitored everyone’s positions, and tried to get access to the apartment building’s computer systems.

That was when the first problem made itself known.

“Umm— I might be encountering some troubles here boss.” Said Kara over the coms.

“What is it?” Asked the leader, while still moving up the apartment building’s staircase.

“I can’t get past the apartment’s firewall. Someone’s reinforced it, and done a damn good job of it. I can’t seem to find any backdoors either…”

Kara was furiously typing on her computer, examining the firewall for potential weaknesses that she could exploit.

“Just keep trying, Kara. It’s not completely necessary for you to take over the system though, we should be able to handle it.” Replied the leader. Honestly, he didn’t see a reason for Kara to hack into the apartment building’s computer systems, since the rest of the team should have the matter well in hand. However, he also wants Kara to feel useful, since she’s a recent addition to the team and has such great utility in most other situations.

“Ah! I found a way in! I’m going to go ahead and begin my hack, boss.” Buzzed Kara’s voice over the coms.

“Go ahead. We’ll be breaching the room in fifteen seconds.” Said the leader as the door they wanted came into view.

He started the countdown silently, holding up his fingers.

Ten, nine, eight, seven.

“Huh? What the...?” Came Kara’s voice over the coms, before abruptly cutting off.

The leader was unperturbed, and continued the countdown.

Four, three, two, one.

One of the triplets—Josh, kicked down the door. The team flowed through the opening, and into the apartment.

They were met with the confusing sight of a family sitting stock still, watching them wide-eyed. One of the kids had a sandwich halfway to his mouth, while the baby in it’s high-chair began to cry. The mother screamed, seeing the hardened mercenaries intruding on their home. That broke the stillness of the moment, and the leader stepped forward.

“We are looking for a boy named Joel, and a girl named Revian. Have you ever seen these people?” He asked, holding up pictures of the two of them.

The mother’s scream trailed off uncertainly.

“Revian?” She said weakly, eyeing the men cautiously.

“Yes, Revian. I would advise that you share any information you have, for the well-being of your family.” Said the leader.

The woman considered this for a moment, obviously engaged in an inner conflict. She looked over at her children, and seemed to make a decision.

“Revian lives in the apartment to the left of mine. She should be there right now.”

The leader thanked the woman, and walked out. He considered the room number outside of the apartment for a moment, vaguely getting the feeling that something was wrong.

After everyone had left the apartment, the leader waved his hand, and the door repaired itself. They took up positions next to the correct door this time, and followed the same procedure.

They got similar results. This time, they intruded on a young couple doing what young couples do. It was obvious that neither Joel nor Revian were in that apartment.

They left once more, and the leader tried to contact Kara over coms, and ask her what had gone wrong. Had she given them the wrong address or something?

That was when the leader discovered that the coms system was down.

Something had gone wrong. Was still going wrong, actually—since the group quickly found that they were unable to leave the apartment building complex.

Meanwhile, Revian had started giggling inside her apartment.

“What is it?” Asked Joel, who was playing with a small holo-scene on the couch.

“Nothing. Personal joke.” Replied Revian in a coy and mischievous way. She had fun using her ability, even though she knew that it would be better to not give the mercenary group any hints into it’s nature.

Perhaps it would be better to simply face off against them with her own strength then…