“It’s over…”

Nina breathed a sigh of relief as she dropped onto the couch before lying down and burying her face into the nearest cushion. Besides Euris, the entire team had turned up to eat, which had left Nina scrambling not only the eggs, but also to get everything done on time. To make matters worse, Svanda seemed to eat enough for three or four people, shoveling the food down like she was fueling a steam locomotive. Thanks to her earlier preparation, she had somehow managed to get everything together as she steadily scrambled her mix of egg, onion, tomato, and sometimes mushroom while the slices of bacon fried alongside.

“Good work,” Reina smiled after the group had taken their turns to thank her before either heading downstairs or back to their rooms. Trim had been kind enough to offer to clean up and had tossed everything, pan included, into the dishwasher.

“I’m just glad that it’s over,” Nina sighed, her voice muffled by the cushion.

“Did your cooking skill level up?”

“Skills?”

Seeing Nina’s confusion, Reina laughed. “It was a joke.”

“Meanie.”

“Don’t be like that.” Sitting on the couch by her feet, Reina laid back as she yawned. “What’s on the menu next time?”

“I don’t know, ask Svanda,” Nina mumbled before turning onto her back. Holding her hand above her face to block the light from the lamp which hung from the ceiling, she paused. “Was it really alright?”

“It sure was,” Reina replied as she pinched one of Nina’s toes. Smiling as she watched her legs recoil in response, she stood up. “We’re heading to the range at twelve, be ready.”

“I thought today was supposed to be a day off.”

“It is, for everyone but you.”

Nina watched as Reina disappeared down the stairs, leaving her as the only person that remained in the living area. Pushing herself off the couch, she decided to head to her room in order to sort out the mess of bags on the floor that was yesterday’s shopping.

I need some books to read, she thought as she began to hang her new clothing behind a sliding door which she had since learnt contained a wardrobe. Sorting her clothing by type and then use, she stopped for a moment to gaze at the business suit that she had been wearing when her journey had started. It was only two mornings ago that she had been watching the blacks and greys that made up her life from her apartment window. The dreary mornings where the rain swirled through the streets were gone, it couldn’t even rain here. She almost missed it.

Now… just about everything was different. It hadn’t just been a spanner thrown in the works that was her life, it had been the entire system destroyed with the click of some fingers. She had surprised herself at how quickly she had adapted, now that she thought about it. She was still uncomfortable, but at least she had a safe space here. The atmosphere, while louder than what she was used to, was warm.

Going out on a job, however, would be completely different.

As she finished packing her clothes away, her eyes moved over to the bed, and more specifically, to the case which sat upon it. Sitting on the bed, she ran her hand over the lid before pressing on the latch.

“Nina,” Aline’s voice traveled through the door to her room. “I’ve got something for you.”

Opening the door, Nina instinctively held onto the bag that had been thrust into her arms. Before she knew it, Aline had disappeared back down the hall without a word. Looking in the bag, she found the brown boots that she had been searching for earlier, looking no different from when she had bought them. Closing the door before taking them back to her bed, she examined them in detail to find that she couldn’t see anything odd at all.

After idling away for a moment, Nina dressed in what Svanda would call her work uniform. The navy jacket she bought earlier sat over a fitting white shirt while her recently delivered boots sat under a tight pair of maroon pants. After fiddling with her hair in the bathroom mirror for a moment, she picked up the case before leaving her room and heading downstairs.

“You look good,” Svanda smiled from her desk as Nina descended. Looking at the clock on her computer, she paused for a moment before standing up. “Are you ready to go?”

“It’s not time yet, is it?” Nina asked as she looked at the arrangement of desks. Two lines of four faced each other to make eight stations, three of them currently unoccupied.

“We can go early if you’re ready,” Svanda said as she knocked once on the sliding glass door that led to Reina’s office. “Are you ready?”

“Sure.”

“Your desk is the one next to mine, by the way.” Svanda pointed to a desk on the side closer to the stairs as she opened the door to Reina’s office a fraction. “We’re ready to go when you are.”

“OK. Give me a moment,” Reina said as she looked up from her screen for a moment before her attention returned to the screen before her. Sliding the door closed, Svanda returned to her desk before patting the seat next to her.

“Thanks,” Nina said as she sat down at the desk. Around a metre and a half long, the desk was empty save for a computer, two monitors, a keyboard, and a mouse. While there was no divider between Nina and Svanda, there was a partition that separated her side of the desk from the one facing it, although it was low enough for Nina to see over it if she sat upright. “Who sits there?”

“Who’s across from you?” Svanda asked as she looked over at the desk. “Oh, Saela sits there.”

“I see…” Nina sighed. Of all the people at The Cloud Orchestra, Saela was the one person that she didn’t want to be looking in the eye every time she looked up from her computer. Looking at the partition, she thought about Saela’s height. Was she tall enough for them to lock eyes every time they looked up from their screens? She hoped not. It would save her from a lot of potentially awkward moments.

“Jade sits on the other side of you, by the way,” Svanda said as she pushed off from the ground with her feet, sending her chair rolling across the floor until it stopped besides Nina. “It fits in your pocket, right?”

Nina was confused before she realised that Svanda was talking about the pistol in the case before her. Opening the case, she withdrew the scarletite weapon before unzipping the outer zip on her jacket. Between the inner and outer zips there was a pocket on each side of the jacket which sat just below her breasts. Sliding the pistol into her left pocket, she zipped the outer layer back up before standing up and walking in a quick circle around the room.

“I can’t even see it, not bad,” Svanda said with approval as she turned her attention to the rest of the bits and pieces in the case. “You could put a backup magazine in the other pocket.”

“It’s quite comfortable actually,” Nina agreed as she sat down again. “I can feel it’s there, but it’s not intrusive on my movement at all.” Removing the pistol from her pocket and then setting it on the table, she paused for a moment. “Why would I need to carry an extra magazine?”

“Wouldn’t hurt, would it?” Svanda asked as she inspected a round of ammunition. Returning it to the case with a nonchalant expression, she pulled out one of the empty magazines. “Do I need to show you how to load this?”

“Please do,” Nina replied with the intent of dodging the first question. She was just carrying this around because she had to, not because she wanted to be a soldier. Carrying extra ammunition? If she ended up in a situation where she needed extra ammunition, she would probably be dead already, either shot or from shock. Watching as Svanda began to load the magazine with the ammunition from the case, she took another one from the case and began to replicate her movements.

“Let’s go then,” Reina said as she stepped out of her office. Having changed into the unbuttoned black lab coat that she had been wearing yesterday with a sky blue shirt sitting underneath, she looked around as she tugged at the orange skirt that stopped just above her knees. “Did anyone else want to come?”

“Saela went back to bed and Trim didn’t want to come. The other pair went out,” Svanda said as she stood up while placing the loaded magazine on the desk. “I think it’s just us.”

Reina nodded as she inspected Nina’s attire with an amused smile. “It looks good,” she said as she walked over to one of the desks before scribbling something on top of the notepad that sat there. Looking to Svanda, she noticed her lack of equipment. “You’re not taking anything?”

“I’ll use something there.”

“Foot your own bill then,” Reina smiled as she watched Nina place the pistol in her pocket before leading the other two out of the door. They walked through empty apartment that sat between The Cloud Orchestra and the backstreets before heading off.

Moments after the door closed behind them, Trim made her way down the stairs before walking over to her desk. Sitting down and reaching for her headphones, she noticed the note that had been scribbled on her notepad.

She’s wearing blue, that’s a win for me.

Trim sighed as she read the note before a wry smile appeared on her face. Opening a locked drawer in her desk, she withdrew a collection of silver coins before taking them to Reina’s office and leaving them in a neat pile on her desk.

“Every single time,” she muttered to nobody as she sat down once more before placing her headphones over her ears and starting a new playlist.