The New Recruit

  “Mr. Hornet?” I called out.

  His desk was empty — the chair was still warm. Where had he gone?

  I stepped back into the hallway.

  Shhhk—click.

  The door slid closed behind me as I walked down the corridor, searching for Hornet.

  Where was he?

  “Here you go.”

  My steps came to halt when I heard Hornet’s voice. Who was he talking to?

  I peeked my head next to the wall and spotted Hornet on one knee, handing something to a young girl. My eyes narrowed.

  Fattaralla. Tigeralla’s sister.

  What was going on? And what was Hornet giving to the young girl?

  “Thank you.”

  As soon as she spotted me, she ran away while holding something in her small hand. Odd. I cleared my throat before speaking up.

  “Mr. Hornet.”

  His head snapped towards me as I called out. He stood up on both feet, towering over me with his broad figure.

  “Agile, are you looking for me?”

  I nodded.

  “What is it?”

  He started to walk. His boots thudded against the smooth floor. I followed behind, catching up with his long, purposeful strides.

  “I have a request.”

  “Request? What kind of request?”

  “Nianzui is no longer part of Strategic Observation. I would like to recruit someone to replace him.”

  He didn’t look at me even once.

  “Do you have someone in mind?”

  Hornet’s steps never slowed.

  “Yes,” I said, matching his pace. “There is someone.”

  “I suppose this person is someone you met recently.”

  “Yes, she is one of the people we rescued from Valconalla. I have seen her in action. She is a determined woman. She will be a good addition.”

  “Alright. I trust your words. Ask her and see if she agrees to join.”

  “Alright. Good day, Mr. Hornet.”

  With that, he continued his walk back to his office while I turned around to find Coven to tell him the good news.

  “Seriously, how many did you buy?”

  “As many as I want. Jealous?”

  I bent down to open the mini refrigerator to find stacks upon stacks of just frozen blueberry yogurt. Cool breeze blew against my face.

  I shook my head, shutting it behind. Why was I getting riled up about how he spent his Ulle**?

  But it did bug me that he would stack up on his items while not leaving space for me to put my snacks.

  I stood up, walking over to the other refrigerator shared by the rest of the crew. I leaned down, looking through it. There were a few energy drinks Coope had bought. Extremely sour drinks for Doxie and high-sugar drinks for Aureolo. Everyone in this crew was a weirdo. No sane thing for me to drink.

  Coope’s drinks were the least weird. So I grabbed a blueberry flavoured drink and closed it shut. He wouldn’t mind if I took one.

  I walked over to Coven, lounging in his chair with his legs crossed, digging into another frozen yogurt.

  “Sit properly.”

  “Okay, Mama.”

  He still had his legs crossed. How annoying.

  I let out a deep breath before taking a spot on my seat.

  Pop.

  I popped open the can before taking a sip. Chills ran down my spine. How many electrolytes did this thing have?

  Back home, the highest amount a company could add was 5%.

  Anything above that was basically traveler poison.

  I took another sip.

  “Aren’t you going to ask me what Hornet said?”

  I turned my gaze towards Coven who was lost in his love for frozen yogurt.

  “No, I already know his answer.”

  “Oh. And what is his answer?”

  “Go ahead, Agile, invite anyone you want. My dear daughter.”

  My fingers tightened on the tin can. He wasn’t wrong — and I hated that he was right. I took a big gulp, trying to swallow the irritation of being known so well by him.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “He didn’t say that in particular. He trusts me–”

  “Nepotism…”

  “Coven!”

  “What?”

  He lifted his gaze, looking at me through his lashes, putting on an innocent facade.

  “You are just doing this to piss me off?”

  He shrugged nonchalantly.

  I let out a deep breath, it was useless to talk to him.

  “Tigeralla!”

  I called out as she was leading her two younger siblings along with her. Her steps came to a halt when she heard me call for her.

  “Agile Eye.”

  “Tigeralla, did you talk with your mother?”

  She nodded.

  “And?”

  “She agreed.”

  “Good. I spoke with my leader, and he agreed. You are officially part of the Guardians of the Unirex.”

  “Oh…”

  I leaned down, getting at eye level with them.

  “This is Lylla and her twin, Somala.”

  One of them glared at me while the other remained quiet and docile.

  “Nice to meet you, Lylla and Somala.”

  I stood up straight, looking over at Tigeralla.

  “I would formally like to invite you to a small celebration I will be throwing for your recruitment. Join me. These two are welcome as well, if they wish.”

  “Alright.”

  I cleared my throat before turning around and walking away.

  “Did you use the department funds for these?”

  Doxie asked.

  “Yes, but I will pay that money back. Don’t you worry.”

  I pinned the hanging decoration above the entrance. The hovering plate lowered to the ground.

  Just then, Aureolo, Coope and Coven entered, walking through the gold fringe curtains, effectively dropping them on the ground.

  My jaw tightened, and Doxie burst into laughter.

  “Seriously?”

  “What?”

  Coven said, turning to look up at where the gold fringe curtains were supposed to be.

  “What even is this?”

  He picked it up.

  “Just—”

  “Let me help you,” Aureolo said, snatching the fragile decoration piece from Coven. It ripped.

  “Oh.”

  Doxie added.

  This could not possibly get worse.

  “What are you even trying to do?”

  Coven asked.

  “We have a new member joining us after two years. I wanted to give her a proper welcome.”

  “You didn’t do this much when I joined.”

  Coven said, walking behind me and resting his chin on my shoulder. I rolled my eyes.

  “Well, you were insufferable from day one. Tigeralla isn't."

  “Favouritism. Aureolo, you need to look out for this Tigeralla. She’s going to steal all Agile’s attention.”

  Aureolo stood there, lost like a little duck, having no idea how to reply to Coven’s teasing.

  “Coven, be serious. We need to make a good impression on Tigeralla.”

  “Fine, fine.”

  “Now, let’s clean this up. Please and thank you.”

  I said firmly, making sure they actually started cleaning the command room.

  “Coope, you help me.”

  I said.

  Coope had an eye for arts, for creativity, so he must know how to make this place more… Welcoming.

  “Is this all we have?”

  “Yes.”

  He inspected the decoration I spent our funds on. His mind was already working out how to make them usable.

  Coven and Doxie stood in the corner chatting as if none of this affected them.

  While he worked, I walked over to Aureolo, who was observing Coope.

  “Aureolo, come with me. I want to have a little chat with you.”

  ???