Freyr came to the long table with benches on either side holding a colourful chicken salad and a glass of water. She was feeling quite dehydrated following the scotch and didn’t feel like drinking any more alcohol tonight. It was important they slept well and had a productive day tomorrow. They were in a spacious dining area adjoining the auto-dispensary and a kitchen area, in case the team were feeling the urge to cook for themselves. Three corridors split from this common room, leading to small but comfortable bedrooms for each of the team.

Freyr sat down facing Vreta across the table. Masgard sat down next to him. “I must admit, my work has not often taken me away from Outremer, so I don’t know.” Freyr said, tucking into her salad with a fork. “The facilities are pretty good though, so far. I guess they want us at peak performance.” She could see Masgard had chosen a lot of different meats, like Vreta, and paired it with a bowl of Tullusk, a soup known for its calming qualities. “Am I right in thinking the facilities on Rothian worlds are all of a pretty high standard?” He asked as he demolished his food like he hadn’t eaten in weeks.

Vreta was interested to know if most scientific expeditions received this same level of treatment from the Human military, as it would be indicative of how seriously they were taking both this expedition, and the threat in general. Though, if this was Freyr’s first outing, she would not be the one to know. In any case, he took a moment to tear off a piece of his steak before replying.

“The highest. The Rothian people have an…especially large economy, particularly compared to the size of our population. Automation has streamlined many aspects of our society, so we do not suffer for a lack of resources. We can afford to put our best foot forward for nearly any effort we wish to make. For this project, you can expect to have the highest quality assistance we can give you. ” Vreta answered. “I know my people have a certain…reputation for having high standards, but I think you will enjoy what we can offer, both when working and in your free time. You will receive all of the same quality of accommodations as any Rothian would. You should also be able to make special requests, if there is something you want that a Rothian might not normally think of, or if there is something you think you might not need. I suppose I am not completely sure if a Human would have any use for a basking room, for instance.”

Freyr nodded appreciatively, chomping down on a mouthful of salad. It made good sense for a cold-blooded species such as the Rothians to take the guesswork out of doing the things they enjoyed, like keeping warm. “Speaking of which, are you comfortable on the ship? I realise now that you must feel a little cold.” She noticed Masgard’s eyes glazed over as he consulted an implant, but after a moment he was back. “As i thought, there is actually a ‘beach’ room on the ship. They have them on civilian liners too; it’s supposed to put people at ease and give the impression of a warm planetary environment. Warmer than the rest of the ship, at least.”

Freyr perked up at the mention of ‘beach’. She’d lived near potentially the best beaches Angjusk had to offer during her childhood. Some of her happiest memories stemmed from a warm day and water lapping around her toes. She’d been sad for a long time that Babylon sat in the middle of a large continent, meaning the sea was a couple of hours away rather than at the bottom of the garden. “Oh, we should check that out at some point! I love the beach, but never had much of a chance on Outremer...Are there beaches on Rothia?”

Vreta seemed to perk up after Masgard mentioned a beach room. From the sounds of it, that was not a kind of luxury that Vreta would have expected on a Human military vessel. Although, he supposed that again might be owing to the modular design of its compartments. In any case, he was pleasantly surprised to hear that he might actually be able to enjoy at least some of the features he was accustomed to on Rothian ships. “I would not say I feel cold exactly. Or I should say, part of my implants’ functions is to maintain a healthy body temperature, so I am not in any danger of health issues, but I do naturally still feel more comfortable in warmer air. This ‘beach room’ you mention, it does sound like something I would like to visit. I think I may, after I eat. It would help me wind down for the day.”

There was another brief pause as Vreta tried some of his fish fillet. He felt he liked the steak better, but he still would not call the fish “bad”, by any means. “Rothia has oceans, seas, and beaches to accompany them; some sandy, some rocky. Though, Rothia is quite a mountainous planet, compared to many others. It is also a very warm planet. Even in the mountains, the air is usually comfortably warm for us. Only the highest of peaks get to be unlivably cold to a Rothian. At sea level, the air can be rather hot. I don’t believe it is dangerously hot for a Human, just make sure to stay hydrated if you want to visit.”

“That kind of climate sounds ideal!” Masgard grinned, popping a slice of steak into his bearded face. “I don’t know, I prefer gentle warmth to blistering heat. I might request a cool-suit or an implant if we’re going to be there a while.” Freyr mused, gathering up the last of her salad with her fork. Masgard downed the last of his Tullusk and yawned expansively. “I’m gonna need to take a rain check on the beach tonight though. Seventy-two hours of no sleep is catching up to me.

“What’ve you been doing for three days straight?” Freyr asked, stifling a yawn of her own.

“Oh, you know, fixing stuff for our new boss.” Masgard eyed her levelly. “I expect he’ll call us at any minute.”

“Well, I hope he can wait until morning, because I’m exhausted too. In fact, I think I'm going to retire to my quarters. Perhaps we can hit the beach together some other time, Vreta? Please don’t let us stop you investigating it tonight though.” She stood up from her bench, grabbing her tray. Masgard did the same.

“I think I shall.” Vreta replied. He had been eating somewhat slowly, so he was not ready to leave the table just yet. “Sleep well. I think we will have quite a fair amount of work to do before we arrive, but it’s nothing I would lose any sleep over.”

After the others left, Vreta took his time to enjoy his dinner. He had a feeling that he would be spending quite a lot of time doing his “official” job during this expedition. He was, of course, still operating in the service of the Rahn’Masser, but he had, for the most part, already done his job in regards to espionage. There was no reason to use subterfuge to learn about the Cradle when they had a formal agreement that involved the cooperative research on it. Ensuring that they were able to work smoothly with the Humans was legitimately a large part of his role. Otherwise, he just had to make sure they were able to gain what they were hoping for from this expedition, by whatever means were required.

Once he had eaten, Vreta did take some time to find this “beach room” Masgard had mentioned, and he spent about an hour simply enjoying the heat before finally retiring to his room. He did not make much of an effort to see what else the room had to offer aside from warm air, as he was just in the mood to relax for a short time before finally retiring to his room for the night. He could explore it more in-depth later.

---

Vreta did not rush to start his day the next day. He slept in late, then had a hearty breakfast while relaxing in his own room. From there, however, he did take the time to find the gym designated for the ship’s civilian passengers. Strictly speaking, his heavily-augmented body did not require regular exercise to keep in good shape. His augments were entwined with, and sometimes replaced, his natural muscles, so they kept his natural muscle mass to the required minimum for the implants to function properly. However, there were still some physical and mental benefits to regular exercise. It was a way for him to wake himself up and get himself in the mindset to be active for the day. Although, he did find that there was no equipment that could provide meaningful resistance for his level of augmentation, so he did make a request for something more heavy-duty that he could use next time.

Freyr said good night and made her way to the cabin she’d dropped her luggage in. As far as she knew, all the sleeping quarters were identical; she had a small bunk, a dining/sitting area, an all-purpose entertainment system and an ensuite bathroom to herself. It was small but cosy. Freyr collapsed on the bed, despite her instinct to unpack and have a shower first. She projected holo-pictures and videos of her family into the air via the entertainment system. They circled above her head like a mobile until she eventually fell asleep.

---

She woke in a dark clearing. Spindly, dead trees presented an impenetrable barrier all around her. Familiar blue-purple veins slashed the sky. A sickly orange light illuminated the clearing from above, revealing two people she recognised instantly. David and Amy, her husband and daughter. Laughing and crying with relief, she ran toward them.

As she drew closer, David’s body suddenly changed. She could now see a giant insectoid carapace connected to his face. His eyes were pitch black and his mouth was bent into an unnatural, U-shaped smile with too many teeth. A purple tendil, shaped into a serrated blade at the end, circled around her motionless daughter and pressed against her bare throat. She skidded to a halt mid-run.

“Please…” She pleaded, holding her hands out in front of her. “Don’t hurt my daughter.” Other-David tilted his head to the side, moving close to Amy. “You must bring her to me!” His voice was deep and wet, like seabed boulders crashing together. She paused, confused. “What do you mean? I don’t know where she is!” She sobbed.

David growled and the tendril-knife pressed against Amy’s jugular drew back as if to stab the girl through the heart. “No!” she yelled, leaping forward.

In the blink of an eye Amy was in front of her, but instead of hugging her mother she fell to the floor, a sanguine patch spreading across the front of her white dress. She looked down and saw a long dagger in her hand, stained with blood. She screamed with no sound, dropping the dagger to grab her daughter but her legs wouldn’t move and-

---

Freyr woke up instantly upon thudding onto the floor. She quickly rose to her knees, heart pounding, and looked around her cabin. The light suggested it was morning. She couldn’t quite remember what she felt so bad about as she massaged her bruised eye socket.

Freyr washed, got dressed and left her cabin to find everyone was already up. Most of the team had already eaten breakfast and were testing out the new lab. She put on a smile and joined them, temporarily sharing their excitement. She logged into the division’s shared workspace, but couldn’t concentrate at all. After answering a few messages and trying unsuccessfully to focus for about half an hour, she got up and left the lab.

At first, Freyr had no idea where she was walking. To begin with it just felt good to stretch her legs. After a little while she opened her map of the ship, and one relatively accessible area caught her eye. Setting a waypoint, she descended a few levels and traversed the maze of corridors until she was greeted with a set of blast doors labelled ‘Combat Simulation C-53’.

It was loud inside. Freyr discovered it was a large open space, subdivided into many clearly partitioned boxes. Inside the occupied boxes, she could see a variety of simulations running, from hand to hand fighting to field hacking.

“You lost, Doc?” A muscled soldier asked after turning from the knife-fight he was spectating. “No, I erm...I want to learn how to shoot.” Freyr responded. The man chuckled. “Right you are then, Doc. Come with me.”

Ultimately, Vreta did not stick to exercising for as long as he might have normally. He went through stretching and running as he normally would, given that the equipment available was perfectly suitable for it. However, when it came to strength training, even the highest values of resistance on any of the equipment in the gym was not difficult for him. It was a bit amusing to see some of the looks he got from the other gym-goers while lifting even the heaviest of the weights with ease, but this was the gym for civilian passengers, who generally did not have extensive strength-enhancing augmentations. Those sorts of enhancements would be more common among the Human soldiers, he supposed, so the request he put in for better equipment would likely remedy the situation next time.

After doing what he could for his workout, Vreta supposed he should actually get to work. He needed to ready the crew to arrive on Rothia, though there were different considerations for different types of crew. The scientists were by far the most important individuals to acclimate, quickly and effectively, to their new environment. Soldiers needed to know enough to stay out of trouble, but they did not even have to leave the ship, except during the expedition itself. Vreta would probably need to prepare the civilians and military differently. He had taken digital pamphlets from the Rothian Tourism Commission meant to help inform new arrivals, though Vreta intended to edit them to pertain more specifically to Humans from Outremer. Thinking about it, Vreta supposed it would be a good idea to speak to Freyr again and ask her some questions.

This time, Vreta sent a simple message to Freyr instead of a call, so as not to be disruptive to anything she might be doing. ”Do you have time to talk? I wanted to run a few of my thoughts by you.”

Freyr followed the man along the width of the room, past soldiers in combat with each other or against AI. He finally stopped in front of a set of smaller, empty, rectangular boxes in the corner of the room. The guy hit a few settings on the interface before turning to her. “Okay, Doc. This one is easy; target shooting. There’ll be a rack of standard issue weapons in there - choose one and the instructor will walk you through firing it safely. Enjoy.” He gave Freyr a wink and started the simulation before walking away again.

Freyr stepped inside the box and her surroundings totally changed. She was now in what she could only describe as a firing range. A row of booths looked out on a long empty space with targets at the end. Behind the booths, a dizzying array of weapons sat on a rack. After quite a lot of deliberation, Freyr asked the instructor what weapon a civilian might carry. The AI directed her to a small, plain pistol. She decided to try that.

The calm instructor's voice told her how to check the weapon was ready to fire, how to stand and how to aim. It also politely informed her that she was eligible for an upgrade to her implant network that would allow a superimposed crosshair. Apparently it increased lifetime accuracy by 35% on average. Freyr politely declined and began shooting. The pistol spat tiny bolts of energy down range, but very few hit their target. The instructor soon generated a physical avatar that adjusted Freyr’s posture and she started hitting a couple more.

Freyr quite enjoyed the satisfying thud her bolts made as they impacted the back stop. For a while it was just her, the targets and her pistol. That is until a message came through on comms. Freyr supposed it could be one of her team requesting her presence, but it wasn’t. It was from Vreta, asking to run a few thoughts by her. She answered in the affirmative and pinged her location over. She was about to resume shooting when a nearby voice made her jump. “Who was that?”

Freyr whirled round and found Agent 595 leaning against the back wall of the sim-box. “The person you were messaging. Was it Vreta’Sori?” Freyr hesitated, caught completely off guard. “Hi.” 595 smiled. “It seems you and he are firm friends now. That’s nice. May I join you?” Freyr nodded. The agent selected a heavy assault rifle from the rack and walked into the booth next to her. “Sorry i missed you yesterday. There was still a lot to organise and I gather you got an early night.” The targets began disappearing all along the width of the firing range as 595 hit them; a deafening staccato of energy pulses filled the box.

“You’re his mark, Freyr. We’re certain of that now.” Freyr stopped shooting, lowering her pistol. “What do you mean?” She asked, confused. 595’s head poked around the side of the booth, a grave look on her face.

Vreta was somewhat surprised by the location that Freyr pinged. It was a combat simulation room, and he did not take her to be much of a soldier. Although, from what he had seen her go through during their encounters in the past, it probably should not have been surprising that she would want to know how to defend herself. Provided, of course, that was what she was doing at the simulator. He supposed she could be there for other reasons.

In any case, Vreta decided to go to Freyr right away. He doubted that any of his questions would be anything that would require great deliberation or consideration. He just wanted to run some pamphlets by her.

Vreta could see what he interpreted as suspicion in the eyes of the first soldier he encountered when he approached the combat simulation module, but that seemed to relax once he gave his reason for being there. As long as he stuck to the firing range and was not trying to intrude on military operations, then he was not going anywhere he was not allowed to be. In any case, he was pointed to the corner of the room, towards a collections of booths arranged in a line. Though, even without directions, the sounds of gunfire would have been a reasonable sign.

As he drew near, Vreta lowered the sensitivity of his hearing to high-decibel sources of sounds so he could at least somewhat filter for voices. Freyr was easy to spot, as she rather stood out among those using the range. As for the woman that she had been talking to before his arrival, Vreta himself did not recognize her face, but his implants quickly pulled up her image from memory. It was that agent. And to her presence…Vreta could not help but to smile.

“Hello there.” Vreta remarked, grinning at both Freyr and the agent.

“Do you not think it strange that Vreta was at an abandoned facility, snooping around a crime scene when those things attacked? And now, he’s miraculously been appointed as a liaison on our top secret mission to investigate Cradle activity on Rothia. The alien can’t stay away from you, and I'm sorry to say it’s not because of your sparkling personality. It’s because you’re one of our top scientists working on the Cradle.”

Freyr looked into the agent’s beautiful grey eyes, dumbfounded and slightly angered by what she was saying. “Vreta’Sori is a spy, Dr Lang. All of the Rothians covet our most precious asset. And now our own administration has given them direct access to it.” 595 spat the last few words with such vitriol that Freyr involuntarily took a step away from her.

“But...Vreta said he was selling Rothian components to human companies to test in the Cradle. That’s why he was there...and at the meeting the Ambassador said-”

“Freyr, for fuck’s sake open your eyes! The whole Rothian establishment is in on it. They’d say just about anything to protect their agent. Just like we’d do anything to stop the Cradle falling into the wrong hands.” 595 moved toward Freyr, assault rifle cradled under one arm. "Vreta'Sori isn't your friend. The lines are going to continue to blur, I can't stop that. But that doesn't mean we should forget who we both work for. I apologise for my delivery, but I need to make sure you understand."

Before Freyr could answer, they were interrupted by the sound of Vreta entering the booth. "Vreta'Sori! We were just talking about you." 595 smiled sweetly, taking the lead. "How are you?"

“I’m feeling fine, personally.” Vreta answered Agent 595. “I slept in a while. It was nice to get some rest after yesterday. I also got a good workout this morning, or…well, a decent one. The civilian gym on the ship isn’t really meant for my level of augmentations. I put in a request for higher grade equipment; I just hope they don’t see me as too ‘demanding’. I’m here to solve problems, not cause them.” He grinned.

Vreta maintained his friendly demeanor when he turned his attention towards Freyr. “And how are you, Freyr? I’ll admit, I didn’t expect to find you in a place like this. I didn’t take you for a soldier. Of course, I suppose I don’t look like much of one on the outside either, so…appearances can be deceiving.”

Vreta gave a quick glance downrange at the targets. He did have some work-related questions to ask Freyr, but it was hardly time-sensitive. “Are you two going to be staying at the range for any longer? I wouldn’t mind joining in, myself.”

Freyr didn’t know what to think when Vreta addressed her. If what 595 had said was true, part of her hated both of them for getting her involved in this skulduggery; frankly she wanted no part in it. There was also a part of her that simply didn’t believe 595’s narrative. Freyr didn’t know anything about her, or the mysterious Director-General who was apparently was in charge of them both. Their evident commitment to the Cradle appeared to dwarf even hers, and she wasn’t clear why yet. She vaguely remembered claims of assassination being flung around in that fateful meeting a few months ago. But here 595 and Vreta’Sori both stood, being perfectly cordial with each other. She just couldn’t make sense of it.

For now, she just had to focus on getting through this conversation without slipping up. Freyr partially returned to her senses when Vreta said something about her not being a soldier. “Yeah, I umm, I wanted to learn how to defend myself. Seemed appropriate, considering everything that’s happened.” She glanced at the time, she’d been here a while already, but couldn’t think of any good reason to leave, so she nodded. “I can carry on..” She looked at 595, who nodded strenuously.

“I’m not going anywhere - this is far too much fun. Shall we make things a bit more interesting?” She fiddled with the interface for a few seconds and the targets began moving quickly in all directions downrange. Freyr's eyes grew wide when she saw the speeds the targets were moving at “Err...this is my first time on the range, i’m not sure i’ll be able to-”

“You’ll be fine! They won’t bite you, just watch their path and try to anticipate where they’ll be when you fire.” 595 chirped, heading back to her booth before raising her massive assault rifle and laying waste to half a dozen targets at once. The noise was deafening, which made it all the harder for Freyr to focus on shooting her own targets. “I hope our feeble selection of Human weapons doesn’t disappoint your Rothian sensibilities, Vreta?” 595 asked in the short pause after her gun stopped to cool down.

Vreta shrugged, looking down at the simple pistol he took in his hand once he went to his own booth. “They are fairly small in my hands, and of course your weapons don’t have the power of our own, but they are still lethal. And they are still a step up from some of the other weapons I have seen out in the galaxy. There are species out there still using metal and gunpowder for their projectiles.”

The most important detail about the pistol to Vreta was the fact that it had software that could link to his neural implant. With that, his combat assistance program could paint a reticle for him, even if the weapon itself was out of his field of view. It could also visualize recommended adjustments for him to make to put himself on target, and even display the predicted path of the projectile. The chaotic conditions of real combat could certainly muddy the waters, but his combat suite essentially made simple target shooting trivial. He did not even need to use particularly good form in order for him to land shot after shot with remarkable accuracy onto vital areas of the simulated targets.

Unlike the agent, Vreta still paid attention to what Freyr was doing after finishing his targets. He put down his weapon and leaned back out of his booth. “Do you have any implants that would help you with shooting, Freyr? I just want to get an idea of what sort of assistance you may or may not be getting.”

“The instructor offered to update my suite to put some kind of crosshair in my view. I turned it down, although i think i can see the use of it now…” Freyr replied, shooting and failing again to hit a speeding target. “Actually, Instructor, can you give me the crosshair please?” she called into the open air. Immediately after, she could feel something interfacing with her general purpose communications implant. A small red + appeared superimposed on her vision, and moved around as she waved her pistol.

“You would benefit from a dedicated combat module. This crosshair is using resources from a multi-purpose civilian implant, which-” Freyr bade the Instructor be quiet, and aimed at the fast-moving targets. She found that with a little bit of practice, she could co-ordinate her hand and eye to track them much better. Freyr cheered out loud despite herself after stringing together three hits in a row. “Well done, Dr Lang!” 595 exclaimed. “Shall we introduce a new challenge? How about a 360 degree attack vector? Instructor, switch it up!”

All the details of the shooting range disappeared, replaced by a pure black background that soaked up the light from above. A pulsing X marked the spot where the three of them should stand, backs to each other. Targets appeared all around them. “Don’t let the targets touch you, or you’re out!” 595 gushed, effortlessly disconnecting her used rifle battery and kicking it away in favour of a fresh one. Freyr gulped and tried to steady her hand as the targets began moving side to side at lightning speed. Something registered in the corner of her vision and she moved mainly on instinct and shot a target about a metre from her leg. 595’s assault rifle began firing at full pelt, filling the sim-box with crackling energy noise again. "They're going slightly fast!" Freyr shouted over the din, shooting another.

It was an amusing game that the agent was playing, in more ways than one. She set them up in a new, perhaps more exciting challenge. The targets could move more quickly, and in more directions. Although, it still was, at its core, target shooting. The software of Vreta’s implants could keep up with targets far faster hand his hands could ever hope to track, so his perceptions were no bottleneck. Between his predictive targeting and aim assistance, the change in scenario led to no change in his performance. He did have to keep his eyes on the targets to aim at full effectiveness, but beyond that, he could hit them firing from the hip. Still just with the simple pistol, he had no trouble keeping up.

Vreta kept his eyes forward, but spoke calmly towards Freyr behind him. “It’s good practice to shoot in chaotic environments. A shootout is not a calm experience. There will be shouting, plenty of noise. You just have to focus on what is in front of you. Your target and your aim, that is what matters.”

“Yes. And in a situation like this, you must always look out for your teammates. Or someone could come and stab them in the back!” 595 added, pivoting to shoot two incoming targets on the periphery of Freyr’s vision. Freyr would’ve responded to these words of encouragement, had she not been solely focused on hitting targets. She could only keep up with the fast pace of action for about thirty seconds before two simultaneous thrusts by the floating shapes made contact with her.

A klaxon sounded and the targets abruptly stopped moving. “Oh, bad luck!” 595 patted Freyr on the shoulder, her rifle pointing up at the ceiling. “I’d say you have promise. Keep practicing and we’ll make a warrior of you yet. I can teach you all sorts of moves if you’re interested?” Freyr hadn’t been sure what to expect when she’d entered the shooting range. But she actually found it quite exhilarating. It kept her mind off what might be happening back home, while also sharpening a skill that could keep her alive in hostile environments.

Freyr nodded. “I’d really appreciate some tips. Despite letting the team down I quite enjoyed that; thank you both.” 595 grinned, bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet. “How exciting! I think this will be a real bonding experience for both of us. I’ve also been put in charge of keeping you safe at all times - that’s actually what I came to tell you before we started shooting. So we'll be seeing a lot more of each other.” Freyr hesitantly returned the agent’s smile. “Isn’t that what all these soldiers are here for?” She asked.

“Well, yes. They’ll be protecting you too. But the Director-General wanted someone who has the relevant experience with Cradle-tech to be your last line of defence.” The pretty lady replied before spreading her piercing gaze between Freyr and Vreta. “Do you want to run another simulation? You can choose this time, big guy.”

On Vreta’s part, the agent’s role did not particularly bother him. Despite their history, there was some advantage to keeping her close. Vreta was reasonably certain the Humans had a saying regarding just that. In any case, he took a moment to review the stats on Freyr’s performance in the simulation once the round ended. She did well-enough, considering her relative experience. With some upgrades to her implants and just some regular practice, he felt she could become comfortable enough with a weapon to reasonably defend herself. Although, it would also depend on how skilled she wanted to become.

“If you are simply wanting to become comfortable enough with a weapon to be able to defend yourself in emergencies, I would say there is no problem using every tool at your disposal. Though, if you want to become truly skilled in a fight, there is a more comprehensive form of training you could follow.” Vreta commented to Freyr. “For Rothian soldiers, we start our training without the assistance of our implants. We use just our own senses, our own reactions, our own bodies. We develop our skills from there, then add implants on top of it. That is quite a time-consuming process, though, so it is up to you whether you would find that sort of training worthwhile. Honestly, if there is one skill in particular from that training I would say is worthwhile for you to learn, it would be to keep a calm mental focus, even under stress. There are plenty of people who can aim well at the firing range, but panic when the targets are shooting back.”

Vreta went ahead and started going through the selections for simulation scenarios once Agent 595 made the suggestion. Assuming Freyr wanted to run another one, he decided to pick something that would benefit from keeping a cool head. It was a scenario that involved shooting hostile targets, while avoiding shooting innocent targets. “As I mentioned in my message, I do have a few questions to ask you, Freyr. I have a primer on Rothia meant for tourists that I would like to edit to help your people adapt to our world, and I just wanted to run a few of my ideas by you. It is nothing time-sensitive nor difficult, though. We could run a few more rounds of this, if you like, then discuss it in a more relaxed environment. Perhaps one with less gunshots. We could visit that ‘beach room’ Masgard mentioned, if you like?”

Freyr seized gratefully on the legitimate excuse to bring training to a close. As much as she’d enjoyed the session, she’d already been at the range for close to two hours. Even on a weekend, a little string at the back of her mind was pulling Freyr back to her team and all the work that needed to be done.

“Ah yeah, i totally forgot. I actually think I've been on the range enough for today, so let's run through your ideas. The beach sounds good, as i think it’s on the way back to the lab? Perhaps we can go again tomorrow…?” Freyr directed the last sentence at the black-clad agent still cradling a heavy assault rifle, but tailed off when she realised she still didn’t know her real name.

595 looked slightly crestfallen when it became clear Freyr was done, but perked up slightly on a promise of a rematch. “Alright, i’ll allow it. You kids have fun.” She gave Freyr a pointed look before resuming the target shooting simulation. Her rifle began firing at full tilt even before Vreta and Freyr had even filed out of the box. Glancing back to see her gracefully covering all vectors, Freyr could at least say she was pleased the agent was tasked with protecting her. She wouldn’t want to be enemies with her.

They exchanged small talk on the short trip from the combat simulation area to ‘Beach Leisure B35’. Freyr couldn’t help but smile upon seeing what lay behind the blast doors. The first thing she noticed was the ceiling, which had for all intents and purposes had an exact replica of Outremer’s sun beaming down from it. The sky was hologrammed in too, with tiny fluffy clouds gathering in the corners of the room. Freyr instantly felt a sense of open space and could see the benefits of this kind of facility.

The beach was equally delightful. An L shaped bank of sand with tropical trees and bushes gathered against the walls led down to a pool of azure water. Waves gently lapped onto the beach. The only human structures were the deckchairs arranged along the beach and a small lifeguards hut. As it was still not even lunchtime, there were only a few dozen sailors hanging out to enjoy the heat.

Freyr couldn’t resist. She rushed to a deckchair and took off her shoes, socks and jumper. Leaving them by the chair, she rolled up her trouser legs and headed straight to the water’s edge. The water was warm and inviting. She turned back to Vreta. “It’s lovely! Are you comfortable with water?”

Vreta canceled the simulation he had queued in the firing range once Freyr decided to move on. Target shooting was a nice diversion, but he did need to get some work done for the day, at any rate. The agent seemed like she would be staying regardless, so he bade her farewell as Freyr did, then followed her lead out of the combat simulator.

---

Vreta had come into this room the previous evening, though it had been late enough that it was even less crowded than it was now, and he had only stayed for a short time. Perhaps now, he would get to relax in the heat for a bit longer. He did not seem to have quite as much energy as Freyr, as he was slower to step out onto the sand and take in his surroundings. There was at least a thin layer of genuine sand under his feet, collecting between his toes; not enough to become disruptive or annoying, but enough to help sell the illusion. The sky was, obviously, simulated, but it was a convincing one. The heat even felt like it was coming properly from the star shining down on them from above, which was always a pleasant feeling on his scales. These aspects of the simulation were indistinguishable from reality, so for all intents and purposes, its quality was equal to what one could find on Rothia.

“The sky might look a bit different, but this pleasant heat certainly reminds me of home.” Vreta commented as Freyr left behind some of her clothing to wade out into the water. It had primarily been the heat he had wanted to enjoy, but he did not mind water as well. He just had his belt to remove, which had a few pouches and, for this outing, an integrated personal shield unit. The shield emitter was waterproof, but he did not feel that he was in enough danger to warrant wearing it at all times.

Vreta tested the water slowly at first with his feet, then waded out alongside Freyr once he felt that the water was sufficiently warm. “I am…mostly comfortable with water. My scales are waterproof, so it is comfortable as long as it is warm.” He said, though he soon gave something of an embarrassed grin and rubbed the back of his neck. “Although, I will say I, um…can’t actually swim. Not anymore. It’s the metal skeleton. I’m not, uh, buoyant, really. In fact, I sink like a rock. My lungs do allow me to hold my breath for quite a long time, though, so if I ever need to cross a lake, or something, I suppose I could just walk along the bottom.” He chuckled.