Set

Cody wiped his eyes and confirmed tears were moistening his cheeks. It must have been what Heather meant by eyes bleeding.

“It’s earned from a syrupy sustenance?” Tiffany asked, raising an eyebrow to question why Heather offered a bowl of food to Cody. The first hint of facial expression Cody had seen.

Cody grabbed the bowl, wondering what the greyish-purple goop was, but from where he came from, it was better to not question food. Otherwise, you starved.

Cody’s eyes lit up, and he glanced back at the food at the first taste. “Sorry, Heather. Sorry, Ashley. I… had a rough life… like Heather said. Please just call out my name to wake me. Even a whisper will work… WHAT. IS. THIS?!” He finished, taking another scoop, no longer wanting to speak—speaking wasted time eating.

Ashley spoke from her bowl, “Vitamin A… beta carotene… sweet potatoes are rich in it, even more so than carrots. Never had sweet potatoes?”

Cody wanted to ask about the color… texture… but understood city folk did something weird to all their food, like making the texture always the same or look to appease.

Before he could finish his breakfast, a buzzing echoed in their room. Immediately his roommates began donning their military fatigues. He jumped off the bed with a mouthful of sweet potato and began getting dressed, occasionally pausing to take another scoop.

While the others were rushing out the door, he was alone with Ashley, who stopped at the door and waited, folding her arms and tapping her foot impatiently.

“Seriously, I’m sorry for the pencil thing,” Cody apologized.

“Like I give a damn. You’re new, so it’s just courtesy to help your bunky know where he needs to go. It’s not like you’ll live through the day anyway, so think of this as my first, last, and only kindness,” Ashley ended.

Cody sighed, “You know, in the manga, this would be where I tell you I think you’re cute, and you’d blush and say, ‘Tch, whatever.’ But you couldn’t stop blushing.” He leaned closer as he was about to pass her. “But Heather told me about earning trust by not lying, so I can’t use the word cute—oomph!” He felt his wind knocked out of him as she gut-checked him.

Leaning over the kneeling man, Ashley smiled and said, “Never get within striking distance of a long-range. Our aim is always exactly where we intend. Keep something between you and a long-ranger’s sights. Remember that on the battlefield.”

This time Ashley didn’t wait for him. She jogged purposefully to force him to move faster to keep up, otherwise, he’d be lost in the maze of hallways. It was hard since he was out of breath from her gut-check.

Suddenly, she took off and left him behind, disappearing behind a corner. He wanted to shout for her to wait up, but as he turned the corner, a trolley was taking off while another one appeared. It was a circle of trolleys speeding away and returning in the large room.

As he hopped on one that passed, he recognized the one face sitting next to him: Ariana. She eyed him with a grin.

He was about to tuck and roll off, like he’d seen someone do in the first pair of giant doors the trolleys had passed, deciding to run the rest of the way or hop on a different trolley.

She put her hand on his chest and said, “Don’t get off too early. I hate men who do that… So… the cannon fodder program I read? Your hangar is in the 1200s. Should have known with your fighting style…”

Cody felt her squeeze his chest before letting her hand fall to her heart and smile to herself. “Last time a man made my ass hurt like that… it was different… Word of advice: you’re gonna get yourself killed if you can’t hit a woman.”

“So I’ve been told. Sorry about your friend… and you…”

“Oh, the fatty? He should be thanking you. I signed our legion for the front line today. Survival rate isn’t too high for the first 996, especially against the Vatican. He would be as good as dead out there.”

“Why would you volunteer—” Cody tried asking before Ariana put a makeshift blade to his throat. He knew people weren’t allowed to have weapons as pilots, but the crude blade was obviously homemade, referred to as a shiv.

As Ariana straddled him, she whispered in his ear, “Because I wanted to see you… up close… in action… Don’t disappoint, or I’ll kill you when we get back, maggot food.” She nibbled on his ear before she leapt off him and tucked and rolled backwards.

She fell in front of hangar 1001-1099, getting up with a move he’d call breakdancing as she twisted her legs around and picked herself up with her hand before leaping to her feet and continuing in a dash, never missing a beat.

Cody hated to admit he was impressed by her skills. The sting on his neck had a bead of blood trickle down. Wiping it, he shook his head and focused on his hangar. It wouldn’t be long before he reached the 1200-1299s.

By the time he reached his hangar, thinking he’d try and casually do the tuck and roll, he dived, then skidded and rolled a few times—a gesture he’d seen only a few times before, always getting a response of laughter and shouts declaring they were a new guy. The laughter seemed to mock him from a distance, then speed past him loudly and distance itself again, only to repeat, over and over.

He got up before the fifth trolley passed and ran into his hangar, his ears burning from embarrassment.

Inside was a small room. Two people were leaving, and three were just finishing dressing.

At least the ones there were all men. Cody knew seeing another naked woman might overwhelm his head with distractions. Tod stayed by the exit door marked M.U.s. He frowned at him before saying, “Ashley told me to make sure you got in the right suit. She’s under the impression you wouldn’t even make it to the right hangar.”

Cody sighed. The skin-tight suit Tod wore left nothing to the imagination. He might as well have been naked in the showers again with every line the thin material made as it pressed snugly to the body like a leotard.