“I think I understand now.” With a smile, Julia propped herself back up and set the pen down before her hands drifted over to the keyboard. As she began typing, she looked over at Nina. “So, do you need all of those things?”

“Not at all,” Nina replied. She realised that it was completely impractical for her to use a heavy weapon, but she still wanted something that carried some weight. “As long as it feels like a real weapon, it’s fine. It doesn’t have to be too extreme.”

Julia’s hands danced across the keyboard as she continued to talk. “I think that you would like a weapon from Terminus. They have access to better metals there, but limited access to energy weapons. They’re quite rare here, but we do have some.”

“Terminus?”

“Terminus is one of the more dangerous plates,” Julia said as she continued to type. “It sits right above Caecus actually.”

“Why is it so dangerous?”

“It’s called Terminus for a reason,” Julia laughed as her fingers stopped, her eyes fixed on one of the screens before her.

“The end of the line?”

“Correct.” Picking up the phone on her desk, Julia punched in a number before pressing the phone to her ear. “There are only a few points where it is possible to pass through to Caecus, and almost all of them are strictly controlled. Considering that you can’t go back up, almost everyone that ends up at Terminus never leaves.” Twirling a pen around her finger again, Julia stared blankly at the screen. “It’s me. Send a T&TERM-022 up to my office please… Yes, a 022.”

Putting the phone down, Julia tossed the pen on the desk as she stood up and walked over to the display cabinet, motioning for Nina to rise as she walked past. After a brief moment, the empty display case slowly slid up behind the wall, the mechanism behind it reeling as another display cabinet soon rose to replace it. In the centre of the large display case sat a single pistol.

“What do you think?” Julia asked as she pressed a button on the panel besides the case, retracting the glass. “Pick it up.”

Nina examined the pistol. Similar in size to the ones she saw in the movies she liked to watch, the pistol was made from a pale rose-coloured metal with a silver grip. A smooth, slightly longer than normal barrel with vents at the end was etched with a gigantic T&TERM-022 which ran down the entire side of the weapon.

Picking it up, it was cold on her hand. Not only were the main elements of the gun made from metal, the silver grip was too. Unlike the K-Point 200 that she had held earlier, this felt solid too. It was lighter than she had expected it to be, but she could tell that it was well-made as she ran her fingers along the etching on the side.

“That’s a T&TERM-022, manufactured on Terminus about a year ago,” Julia said as she stood by the now empty cabinet. “The main parts consist of a scarletite alloy while the grip is made from feather silver. They only ended up making about 200 of these as almost everyone preferred the cheaper 092. Despite being lighter, it’s much more durable that anything you will find on Caecus,” Julia explained as she stepped besides Nina. “There’s a built in silencer, which is why it’s a little longer,” she continued as she dropped a finger on the end of the barrel. “The mix of scarletite inside the barrel is rather high so you won’t have any problems with degradation from continuous use.”

“Scarletite actually exists?”

“Of course it does,” Julia smiled as she held out her hand. “All these stories and legends on Caecus, did you ever think that maybe some of them actually contained some truth?”

“I didn’t,” Nina admitted as she placed the gun in Julia’s outstretched hand.

“You will have to think twice about everything now, won’t you?” Julia laughed as she flicked the magazine release with a practiced motion, catching the falling magazine with her other hand while her eyes were still locked with Nina’s. “There are 14 rounds in a magazine. They’re only 10mm rounds, but because the whole setup can withstand a lot more than what you’re used to, they make them much more powerful than a similar caliber from Caecus.”

“It’s not going to break my shoulder then, is it?”

Julia popped the magazine back in before offering the gun back to her. “You don’t have to worry about that either, the construction absorbs most of the recoil. It’s still going to kick, but you can easily manage it with one hand if your posture is alright.”

Nina looked at the pistol again. She wanted to comment that it was actually on the pretty side, but then thought about her earlier remark and decided to instead hold her tongue. Admitting that it was comfortable and not too heavy, she thought that she would have to actually give it a try before she decided on anything. Wondering if Reina and Svanda would stop asking questions because she bought a gun, she turned to Julia. “I guess I’ll have to try it downstairs then.”

“Downstairs? Just do it here,” Julia said as she took a couple of steps back.

“Here? This is your house though!” Nina shook her head. Was this woman crazy?

“Just aim inside the display case, it’s no problem.” Julia leaned on her desk as she watched with an amused expression. “Unless you miss, that would be a problem.”

With a sigh, Nina faced the display case. With how large it was, missing would be essentially impossible from this range. The glass was still up so it would be the back of the case absorbing her shot.

“Can it withstand it?”

“Just do it, even a pulse rifle wouldn’t go through it.”

Nina nodded and raised the pistol, standing about four meters away. With a deep breath, she again winced before squeezing the trigger.

“… It’s stuck.”

Julia laughed. “Take the safety off, it’s the lever by your thumb. You don’t need to worry about chambering the first round either. It’s automatic.”

Nina followed Julia’s instruction before lightly squeezing the trigger once more. This time, the trigger pulled with ease before Nina felt the jolt in her arm.

“Not so bad, is it?” Julia asked as Nina looked at the sizzling hole in the back of the display cabinet. While she had felt the kick, it was just as Julia had said earlier, easily manageable. The silencer was a nice surprise too, she found. While she had still heard the dull thud that had punctured the silence, it was a heavier and more profound sound than the whine from the pulse pistol.

“Keep going,” Julia said as her smile grew.

Nina fired off another three rounds before deciding that it was enough. Even after she had found something that she was more comfortable with, the whole idea of owning and using a gun still made her uncomfortable. She knew, however, that Reina wouldn’t get off her back until she had something to show.

“Thanks,” she said as she handed it back to Julia while noting that the barrel was still cold. Taking it from her, Julia smiled before placing it back in the display case, tossing the empty cases that she had picked up from the floor inside with it. Hitting a few buttons, the glass slid down again before the entire display case descended back into the wall to be replaced by the empty an unscathed case from before.

“So, what do you think?” Julia asked as she walked around her desk before sitting down again. Picking up the pen from before, it soon began to twirl around her fingers.

“It was ok,” Nina replied without sitting down. Enough guns for one day, she thought to herself.

“You’re of course free to try anything else, but from your words earlier, I think that’s the best fit for you,” Julia said as her free hand swung the mouse to her computer around. “It’s the only one we’ve got, too. Terminus weapons aren’t very popular here. We have a couple of 092’s here, but they’re louder and don’t last as long because they don’t use scarletite.”

Julia seemed to know that Nina wanted this to be over and done with. Nina thought about it before Reina’s words from earlier crossed her mind. ‘If you visit The Eye of Iron, put it on my account,’ she had said.

“Does this come with anything else?”

Julia dropped her pen as her hands danced across the keyboard. “Let’s see… It comes with a cleaning kit and three magazines. I’ll throw in a hundred rounds of ammo as a Cloud Orchestra bonus, how about it?”

“What’s the price?”

“It’s… affordable,” Julia smiled. “I have a deal with Reina and The Cloud Orchestra.”

“I’ll accept then,” Nina said. It was probably expensive, but that would be Reina’s problem. She thought about Julia’s relationship with Svanda and concluded that it couldn’t be too bad, there was a level of trust. Julia could have thrown out a random number and she wouldn’t have been able to tell if it was a good or a bad price anyway. “Can you bill it to Reina’s account?”

“I sure can dear,” Julia smiled as she picked up her phone before dialing a number. “Hi it’s me again. That 022, can you box it up with the rest of the bits and pieces along with a hundred rounds of the 10mm scarlet? Just send it all up here when you’re done, I’ll sort the rest out… Yes thank you, bye.” Putting the phone down, she smiled. “I’ll get it to you by the end of the day.”

That’s quick, Nina thought. The fact that Julia knew where to send it without asking also hinted that she was rather familiar with The Cloud Orchestra. “I can’t thank you enough, you have been a great help.”

“The pleasure is mine, I always enjoy helping friends,” Julia said as she rose. Circling the desk, she guided Nina out from the office. “I’m terribly sorry but I have some other business to attend to shortly. If you like, we could have tea again in the near future.”

“That would be nice,” Nina smiled as the pair walked back through the arches to the door from where Nina had entered. When she knew hardly anyone at all, making friends outside of her work environment may actually be a good idea. Thinking about how contradictory her idea was to how she had felt when she had lived alone on Caecus, she almost laughed.

“You know where to find me, come and see me anytime,” Julia smiled as she called the elevator. Watching as Nina stepped inside, she waved. “Until next time, I hope you enjoy your purchase.”

“I hope I won’t need to,” Nina replied as the elevator doors closed between them. After a moment, she was whisked back to the ground floor of The Eye of Iron.