Liv and Charlotte come up to a small, cozy cabin near the edge of the outpost, sparsely lit aside from the occasional light pole and shutterbugs blinking in the moonlight. Charlotte ascends the stairs with Liv close behind. The door clicks open pleasantly, swinging open to a small rush of heat as the cabin’s inner warmth washes over the two. The cabin is sparsely decorated, more so for shorter stays than a home of sorts. It’s a single, large room with an offshoot bathroom to the left hand side. A table sits near the bed, in between it and a small kitchenette embedded in the wall with a stove, oven, and sink. A pantry stands adjacent to the kitchenette, a smidge shorter than Charlotte.

  Liv blinks as she walks in, running her gauntleted hand over the wood of the countertop. It was cozy, cozier than anything she'd ever experienced. A few of the bigger shops within the city had decorations like this, pictures showing happy families and loving couples leisurely relaxing in their moderate comfort. Liv never thought she’d experience it for herself. She takes a deep breath in, the smell of oak filling her nostrils, a crooked smile overtaking her face as she closes her eyes.

  “You seem to be enjoying yourself.” Charlotte muses, pulling up a chair from the kitchen table, her armor clanking as she takes a seat. It creaks beneath her, the shining armor adding a considerable heft to her step.

  “Ain’t been in anythin’ like it before.” Liv says, slowly opening her eyes, appreciation glimmering behind her irises as she observes every little thing like a kid in a candy store

  “Truly?” Charlotte cocks her head to the side, looking around with an appreciative twinkle in her eye. “It seems quite sparse to me…”

  "Better than where i was livin'. Hell, ya got a bed with one of them frames!" Liv exclaims, pointing to the bed. Its a comfortable looking queen sized bed, a dozen pillows pressed against the headboard, the frame made of the same wood as the counters. "I only got one of them mattresses where I lived! Couldn't figure out how to put one of 'em together." She says, her eyes turning about to the sink. She reaches out her finger, slowly pulling one of the handles. Hot, steaming water rushes from the faucet, causing Liv’s eyes to widen even further. “Yall even got steamin’ water!” She exclaims, pushing her arm under it, a contented sigh escaping her lips as the hot liquid runs down her skin. It washes away some of the grime stuck on her skin, brown water spiraling down the drain.

  Charlotte observes, crossing her leg, a smile crossing her own face, an easy elegance in her stature and mannerisms. “In all my days, I don't believe I’ve ever seen anyone who hasn’t seen hot water. I suppose I am quite lucky, though.” She muses, her eyes trained on the easily amused woman.

  “Ain’t nothin’ like this where I’m from. I knew these ol’ things coulda spit out some water, but I didn’t know it was all warm!” Liv says, pushing the lever off, the water dying off in at once.

  “You’ve never seen a sink function?” Charlotte asks.

  “My Ma told me ‘bout em. I’m just happy to see what it all looks like!” Liv says delightedly, messing with the temperature control of the faucets.

  “I see.” Charlotte nods, stroking her chin. “I’m sure your mother was very proud to see you join the Initiative. It’s quite the lucrative opportunity, especially with someone with a weapon like yourself.” She gestures to Liv’s gauntlets, a glint forming behind her eyes. “Are they some sort of heirloom? A name? Power?” Charlotte prattles on. She was getting more and more excited with each question, her eyes fixed on the metal gauntlets like a hawk, her body pushed further off the chair.

  Liv looks back to her, shrugging her shoulders, then back to the gauntlets. Were they an heirloom? She did inherit them, but the title didn't feel right. After a moment, she shakes her head to the negative, deciding to tell it like it was. “Nah, My Ma’ died when I was a lil girl.” She says, her arms crossing as she leans on the counter. Her mind wanders to the city, to the tunnels she dug, to the smog, to her mother “I didn’t really think ‘bout why I wanted to come ‘round here, I just did. Figured it’d be better than wherever I was. Not a lot worse than that place.”

  Charlotte blanches, her eyes widening as the glint vanishes from her eyes, her mouth moving in invisible words. Eventually, she bows her head, her voice filled with remorse. “I deeply apologize. I didn’t know the subject matter was a sensitive one. It was a foolish question, and it is not a mistake I will mistake.”

  “It’s fine. Nothin’ I ain’t spoken on before.” Liv says, her eyebrows furrowing. That damn reaction again, the same one Olivia and Ean had, treating her like she was some helpless child who needed to be coddled. She could feel her mood souring rapidly, that familiar annoyance building in her gut. If this was going to be a whole thing every time she spoke about it, she might as well just hide it-.

  “I understand.” Charlotte lifts their head, their tone returning to a practiced normality, her hands folding on her lap.

  “Oh, uh. Thanks I 'spose.” Liv says, taken aback by the complete 180. A part of her was relieved, but another felt something else, something she couldn’t place. The way Charlotte was looking at her with, an automaton-esque gaze, and the ways she let it go so quickly. It made her feel something, something she couldn't really place.

  “No need to thank me, it is my pleasure.” Charlotte gives a small smile, gesturing to the gauntlets again, the shine in her eyes returning as she speaks once more, her normality gone. “Does your wonderful weapon have a name?”

  “Name?” Liv says, cocking her head to the side.

  “Yes, a name.” Charlotte says, drawing the blade from its scabbard. Its a beautiful blade, longer than Liv's torso at minimum. Its a vibrant silver with gold veins running across its surface, traveling from the tip to the pommel. Its cross guard juts out left and right in a straight line, the same gold as the veins with a symbol etched into its depths, a swirl etched into a circle with a line running through it. The tip comes to a wicked point, looking sharper than the Bug Queens claws. It easily slots back into its scabbard, the cross guard clanking against the entrance, the blade hanging at her side.

  Liv looks down to her gauntlets dusty metal, her eyebrows furrowing. Name? She never really got an actual name for her boss. They had always been “boss” in her mind, and she'd been okay with that. Was she supposed to give it a name? Maybe, but that didn't feel right. She looks down at one of her gauntlets before shrugging noncommittally, closing and opening her hand as she speaks. “I just call ‘em boss.”

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “As in a name, or a title?” Charlotte asks, shifting her focus away from the gauntlets and toward Liv.

  “Title, I s'pose. Never needed to ask for a name.” Liv says.

  "Truly?" Charlotte questions, her head cocking to the side. Before Liv can answer, Charlotte responds to her own question, her hand coming to rest on her chin. “Not common, but not unheard of.” Charlotte mumbles under her breath, her eyebrows furrowing as she looks at Liv’s boss. "What would be it's ability?”

  “I can blow stuff up.” Liv says, very gently knocking against the counter three times. A low, dull, orange glow forms in her hand. She digs in her pocket, finding all the stones gone. She could have sworn she had a few before she left the Strata. “You got anythin’?”

  Charlotte looks around before standing, walking over to the bed. It hangs just a bit over the floor, enough to house a small box. Charlotte extracts it, the contents of the box revealed. Inside appears to be a handful of possessions, alongside a slew of clothing. Charlotte grabs a shirt, tossing it to Liv. Liv catches it, analyzing it for a moment. Its long and grey, though far too thin for Liv to fit in. Far nicer than anything Liv had ever owned, though. She tosses it up into the air before clapping it between her hands, temporarily shifting her gaze. A small explosion rips from her gauntlets, the shirt combusting into flames before turning to ash, piling at Liv's feet.

  “Impressive.” Charlotte nods enthusiastically, nudging the box underneath the bed with her foot. Her eyes are practically sparkling with the way she looks at Liv’s boss, her. “Does it always activate upon the fourth hit?”

  “I s'pose." Liv says, her arms crossing as she thinks. "I kinda gotta be thinkin' bout it."

  "Conscious activation?" Charlotte questions, looking at the gauntlets with a inquisitive eye. "I suppose that makes sense. It would be counter-intuitive to detonate on accident."

  Liv nods in agreement, Charlotte nodding along as the room goes silent. The two just stare at each other, an awkwardness overtaking the room. An idea springs to Liv's mind in the silence, her mouth moving to ask. “Aye,” Liv says, pushing herself off the counter, pulling up her own chair. She sits down, kicking her legs onto the table, balancing on the back two legs. "I've been answerin' your stuff. You reckon ya could answer some of my questions?"

  “Ah. That you have.” Charlotte says, perking her head up. “I suppose I could divulge some information. Alright, ask away!”

  “Aight.” Liv says, resting chin on her hands as she looks at Charlotte. “Synth. What’s that word ‘bout?”

  Charlotte looks at Liv, then at her gauntlets, then at her again. She contemplates for a moment, her head bobbing from side to side, tossing ideas around her skull. She eventually walks up, retaking her seat next to Liv. “Tell me, Liv. Do you know what a synthesizer is?”

  “Nah.” Liv says curtly, earning a nod from Charlotte.

  “I see.” Charlotte says, humming to herself. “Well… A synthesizer was a machine that remixed the sound of a musical instrument. From what I've read, Stratas do a similar thing with radio waves, so the name “Synth” stuck within the minds of people who studied Stratas. After a few years, the name 'Synth' stuck in the minds of people, leading to the title of Synth sticking to every part of the Phenomenon.”

  “I reckon I get a bit of that.” Liv says, scratching the back of her neck. In truth, she got about half of that. The first part confused her, but she mostly got the jist of the entire thing; plus, she knew her boss would get it all, so she could ask them to summarize some of it, even if it would be long and confusing just like Charlotte's explanation. “What about the Auras you were talkin ‘bout? The, er…” She thinks, wracking her mind for the correct terminology.

  “Synth Aura?” Charlotte questions.

  “Yeah, that.”

  “It’s a bit complicated, especially since you have no prior knowledge on Synth Waves.” Charlotte starts, tapping her pointer against her lip. “To grossly simplify, Synth Auras are abilities we wielders have when close enough to a weapon. Typically, its connected to the weapons ability, though some powerful users have Auras completely disconnected from their weapon. It’s not exactly common for people at our general power level to have them, but I wouldn’t have known if I didn’t ask." Charlotte says, adding, "Especially considering your impressive time on the Strata."

  “Huh. I reckon that makes sense.” Liv kicks herself further back, looking at the ceiling. She had gotten a lot of that, actually. She muses on what ability she might have, her foot slowly kicking to an non-existent beat. Dirt cascaded from her boot, creating a small pile of filth on the table.

  Charlotte looks to Liv for a moment before standing, her chair screeching against the floor as she pushes herself up, walking toward Liv. She scooches her chair to the side, removing her boots from the table, all four of the chairs legs on the floor again. Liv blinks, surprised by the display of strength, even if it was small. Liv wasn't light given her bulky form, and Charlotte didn't seem the muscular type; though, she supposed she didn't know what Charlotte looked like under the armor.

  “You were getting dirt on the table.” Charlotte says simply before sniffing. “You also could use a shower." Charlotte stops for a moment, something akin to concern passing her face as she asks, "You do know how to use a shower, correct?”

  “Err. I reckon I can figure it out.” Liv says, pushing her chair in as she stands. As she walks, Charlotte stops her, confusion etched on her elegant features.

  “You need a change of clothes, no?” Charlotte asks.

  “Why? I'm just gonna wash em when im washin' my body.” She says, pulling on her tank top.

  "Please tell me that was a joke." Charlotte says, a small grimace etching their way into her elegant features. Liv slowly shakes her head, elliciitng a grim nod from Charlotte. Slowly, Charlotte walks to the small kitchenette, opening the cabinets to reveal a miniature washer and drier. "Trust me when I say I can wash them myself. Just don't wash your clothes in my shower, please."

  “Well, I guess that works.” Liv says, scratching the back of her head sheepishly. “I, uh, don't got any extra clothin' though."

  “I have a few extra sets to loan you.” Charlotte says, already walking back to the bed, pulling the box back out as she extracts a set of clothing.

  “Oh. Thank ya kindly.” Liv says, catching the clothes soaring to her head. They’re a bit too long, and a bit too tight for her broader, more muscular frame. Still, if they fit, they fit.

  “It’s nothing.” Charlotte says, amusement bleeding back into her tone, “I’ll set up a sleeping bag for you. Take as long as you need.”

  Liv nods, walking over to the bathroom. She creaks open the wooden door, peering her head inside. It’s a nice enough bathroom, fluorescent lights shining through the room. Liv takes a step in, closing the door behind her. In front of her is a porcelain sink mounted to the wall, a similarly porcelain toilet a mere foot away. Next to that is the shower, a showerhead jutting from the top of the ceiling. On the floor, near the back sit a multitude of different soaps. Liv cocks her head to the side, walking over, inspecting the variety of soaps. She was aware of body wash, shampoo, and conditioner; her mother used those to stay clean and, of course, passed those lessons to her daughter. The others? Liv had no clue what they were. She ends up scooping up a small bar of soap. It was a familiar product, one she had back in the city. This shower, a meal, and a night of rest have Liv forgetting her horrid test results. She continues to think as she turns the shower on, hot water gushing from the shower head like a waterfall. She could only hope that she did good.