“Well, if that’s the case, I’m glad I inducted today.” Arias half turned. “This is my partner Chester.” He motioned forward a tech standing just behind him. “He’s a west coaster.”
“Hey there, Chester.” Jason lifted his glass. “So am I. “ He said. “Rainer Islander.”
Chester produced a grin. “My uncle lives there. He likes it.”
“This is Elaine Cruz, and her partner Tucker.” Jason went on. “This is my partner, Brent.” He paused, then glanced at Jess, raising one eyebrow.
For a moment, Jess stared back at him impassively, then she looked at the new agent. “I guess you already know who I am.” She remarked. “This is my partner Dev.” She tilted her head in Dev’s direction. Then she went back to munching on a seaweed fish wrap.
Dev looked over at her with a startled expression. Then she recovered, and smiled. “Hello.” She greeted the agent. “Nice to meet you.” She added. “Welcome to the citadel.”
“Mike.” The agent stuck a hand out and smiled when Dev shook it. Then he turned and motioned the other new agents forward.
Dev took the opportunity of the distraction to look back over at Jess, who, after a moment, lifted her eyes to meet hers. After a brief moment, Jess shrugged a little. “Hell.” She said. “I can’t go on calling you my bus driver if you keep saying nice things about me now can I?”
Dev smiled happily. “Thank you. Now I really do feel like I belong here.” She responded in an undertone, as the other new agents came up in front of them. She turned to face them, finding herself looking at one of the new female agents. “Hello.”
“You’re the bio alt?” The woman asked.
“Yes.” Dev responded cordially. “NM-Dev-1.” She added, taking a quick sideways look as she felt Jess shift, and became aware that her companion’s attitude had shifted, from casual to alert, her pale blue eyes fixed on the newcomer. “Is that a good or bad thing for you?”
The woman seemed caught offguard. “Um.. “ She lifted her hands a bit and let the drop. “I don’t know, really. We just heard about it when we were heading out here.” She said. “I’m April.” She said, belatedly extending her hand. “Did you say... Dev?”
“Dev.” Dev confirmed, shaking her hand. “Welcome.” She felt Jess relax and turn her attention back to her plate, which was nearly empty.
“So is it true you got all your stuff in a week?” The brown haired man next to her asked. “I’m Doug.” He added. “April’s mule.”
“Doug.” The woman gave him a look.
Jess gave them both an approving look, but didn’t interrupt.
“That’s not exactly true.” Dev said. “I had my basic instruction starting when I was five, and went to advanced school when I was twelve. So I’ve been learning a long time. I did get a big dose of programming before I came here, but that was mostly all the tech stuff I needed to do my job.”
“Not so different from us.” April said.
“No, not at all.” Jess said. “I didn’t think a bio alt would work, but Dev proved me wrong.” She said, in a matter of fact tone. “Uncomfortable as that is for all of us. It is, what it is.”
“I don’t think I’ve proved that yet.” Dev objected. “I’ve only done one mission with you.”
“Did you know they’ve been playing the recorder file of that one mission in the rec center for the last two days?” Jess asked, her brows lifting.
Dev blinked. “No, I didn’t.” She responded honestly. “Why would they do that?”
“And she’s modest too.” Jess addressed the assembled agents, who chuckled softly. “That’s what I meant about going with change. I thought this was going to be crap. I was wrong.” She regarded Dev. “Who knows? Maybe we won’t need a thirteenth generation of Drakes doing this.”
“You really want that?” Mike asked. “It was my ticket to school. Rest of my family harvests grubs and half of them can’t read.”
“Mine too.” Jess agreed. “The ones who don’t get taken to Interforce, that is. I’ve got a brother raking weed, and another doing recap for the processing station downhill.” She extended her arms, and the light hit them, showing the burned in sigils. “But every dot’s a dead body on these.”
A silence fell, and the new agents exchanged glances.
Jess turned her arms over, since the sigils went around in a band. “Clear means stalemate. Green means we won. Red means they won. “ She looked dispassionately at her skin. “Yellow diamond means I ended up in med.”
Dev examined her companions arms intently, since some of this code was new to her.
“Maybe it would be better to have them do it.” Jess said, after she let the silence go on for a moment. “Most of us don’t survive to forty.”
“Wow.” Mike finally said.
“Don’t tell ya that stuff so much in field school, huh?” Jason smiled thinly “They didn’t when I went through.” He hopped off the ledge and stretched his arm out next to Jess’s. Despite his greater height, their fingertips matched, though the burned sigils only went halfway down his arms just past his elbows.
Elaine circled to come up on his other side, showing her own. “People will talk crap here.” She said to the newcomers. “But this tells the real story.”
Dev watched intently, seeing the young faces that surrounded them absorbing the information. She felt that they were a little ambivalent about her, but that was okay. She hadn’t gotten the outright antagonism she’d sensed from Sandy and her partner, or the two other older agents she hadn’t been introduced to.
She reached over and touched Jess’s arm, running her fingers over one of the more intricate sigils, which also had a prominent yellow mark on it. To her surprise, she watched goosebumps rise behind her fingers and she looked up, to find Jess watching her. “Was that a bad trip to med?”
“Broke my back.” Jess said. “So yeah.” She looked down at the mark, which bore six green roundels. “They kept me in a fuser for a week, and then in a pin rack for two more. I’d rather have died.”
Dev grimaced. “Well, I’m glad you didn’t.”
The sound of clapping drew all of their attention. “Enough war stories, people.” Bain was standing nearby “Go dance and have fun for a change. Tomorrow’s soon enough to be serious.” He waved them all towards the lit, open area, and as he did, music started playing.
Jess made no move to stand. Jason and Elaine exchanged glances, and then Jason held his hand out. “Shall we? Show the kids how it’s done?”
“You’re on.” Elaine said, and they walked through the crowd as others moved along as well, and the music picked up in both pace and loudness. “Cmon, kids.”
The newcomers shuffled, and then trailed after them, as the lights went down to a lower dimness, and that only let the lightning overhead become more prominent.
Jess and Dev were left at the ledge, everyone else obeying Bain’s orders.
Jess turned her head and studied her companion. “Do you dance?”
Dev tore her eyes from the dance floor and returned the regard. “I have absolutely no idea what that is.” She responded. “It looks like they’re walking across a very hot floor with no shoes on.”
Jess laughed gently. “Yeah, I’m not much for it either.” She admitted. “I’m too self conscious, I think.” She said. “I’m always aware of how stupid I look flopping around like a fish out of water there.”
Dev studied her. “Are you a fish out of water here?” She asked. “You seem different than the rest of them.”
Jess looked up, with a startled expression. “I belong here.” She stated flatly. “Are you saying I don’t?”
Oh no. Dev felt immediate distress. “I’m sorry.” She said. “I didn’t mean to be incorrect.” She slid off the ledge and faced Jess, her brow creased. “I’m very sorry.”