“I would say your display makes this all the more necessary girl. I too have my own obligations so I shall not waste any time. You two will be undertaking a mission together. Both of you are quite capable in your own right, but I still would like to give you some time to prepare. You will leave Monday.”
Still standing there for a few beats, Codi finally huffs with exasperation. “So that is it? Aren’t you supposed to tell us what the mission is about so we can prepare?”
Letting out a throaty laugh that seemed quite genuine, “Why would I be bothered going over something that will be provided to you? Did you think the two days of preparation was so you could sleep? Everything you need will be sent to you very shortly. I have been assured this request is very simple, and should be able to be handled within a few hours.”
Peter raising his hand nervously, puts it back down when Ixnes gives him a disapproving look for his action. “Excuse me Headmistress, not trying to say you are wrong, but last time I went on a simple mission, I almost died.”
“Really now Mr. Gilchrist? It was my understanding you were completely unharmed, and you far exceeded the mission parameters. Care to enlighten me as to this near-death experience?”
“Well… I… Maybe not almost died, but it did not go how it was supposed to.”
“Did you presume these activities were scripted? Of course there is a possibility things will not go as planned. That is why we handle such requests. If it was as simple as following the plan to ensure success, any dolt could be trusted with it.”
“It was really dangerous though!”
“I highly doubt you could have been in any danger with Anaar by your side. That child would give his life without a second thought before allowing harm befall you.”
“Well… I suppose you-”
“Wait, this little shit has been on a mission before me? Why am I stuck with him then? Shouldn’t you just get Anaar to babysit him again?”
Puffing his chest out in a huff, “I do not require a babysitter!”
Reestablishing order with the heavy pressure she was known for, Ixnes immediately attracted their attention and expressed her displeasure in their behavior. “This is exactly why you two are embarking on this mission. Mr. Gilchrist, you are the first of your kind to have two mentors, which makes for a wealth of knowledge and experience at your disposal, yet you completely squander it.”
“That’s right. Way to mess up a good-”
“Ms. Aya you squabble like a child, something quite unbecoming of someone of your status and tenure on this campus. Rather than taking charge and rising to the occasion, you feed the waste of opportunity. Both of you are to blame. This mission will seek to reconfigure this dysfunctional relationship by truly placing one another in your care. If you work together it will be simple. If not, well I can only imagine things will rise in difficulty exponentially.”
“So this is some bullshit teambuilding exercise?! How lame is that?! Aren’t you supposed to go bowling or some shit for that?!”
“It would seem you two require a more forceful push if things are to be reconciled.”
Turning and making her way out of the office, Peter can hear Codi grumbling as she makes her exit. “Whatever… Talk about some bullshit…”
Though he somewhat shared her sentiments, Peter remembered his last mission and how woefully unprepared he was. He did not wish to have a repeat of such circumstances. Springing from his seat he gave a quick bow to the Headmistress and ran after Codi to attempt some planning before they both ended up captured or worse.
Stomping out of the building, Codi was on her way down the path when she heard a winded voice calling for her. Though she had the mind to speed up instead of stop, she thought about what the Headmistress had said about her feeding the poor relationship she had with Peter and figured she would at least stop for a moment to see what he wanted. When he had caught up with her, he was quite out of breath and red in the face.
“I don’t want to die!”
“Yeah, you and everyone else on the fucking planet.”
Still panting, his words coming through rapid breaths, “No, you don’t understand. These missions are dangerous. What if we get captured, or worse yet they don’t even bother with the capture, they just torture us!?”
“They have to capture us to torture us dumbass.”
“We need to prepare thoroughly for this!”
“Have you even gotten any information yet for whatever this shit is?”
“No but…”
“Then how the fuck can we prepare for something we don’t-”
Just then they both received messages on their Vizers. Peter hurriedly opened it to find a file of their mission parameters.
“It just came in!”
“Mother… Fine, let’s go over this shit.”
“Should we go to my room or yours?”
“Why the fuck would we go to either of our rooms you fucking creep? We can just go through it over breakfast or something.”
“Why are you upperclassmen so averse to having people over?”
“The fact that you are asking makes you that much weirder. Who else’s room have you been trying to get into?!”
“That does not matter right now. We must prepare in a secure location.”
Staring at him blankly, “A secure location? What kind of secret spy shit do you think we are doing? We don’t need to be in a secure location!”
“You may be older than me, but this is your first mission. As such, I am your superior in this regard.”
Electricity began singing around her bangles, the air noticeably becoming more charged. “You will never be my fucking superior, you got that?!”
“I’m simply saying I have more experience than you so I should be taking the lead.”
“You’ve been on one fucking mission! Just like a fucking man to take something tiny and insignificant and try to make it big and important!”
“You are insufferable! Why can you not accept I am better equipped to lead this mission?!”
“I don’t know, because you nearly shit your pants at the mention of a mission? Some fucking leader you would make!”
“I do not understand what Anaar sees in you! He is forever singing your praises, yet all you are is a vulgar, disrespectful lecher!”
Codi was just about to reduce the little man to a blubbering mass on the ground when she stopped herself. “Wait, the friendly giant is always speaking highly of me?”
Seemingly triggered by some memory, he hops up and down as he responds. “Yes! He is always telling me how I should pay more attention to you because you are one of the strongest and smartest people he has had the pleasure of knowing! It is clear he is just saying whatever he thinks will get me to not see you for what you really are!”
For some reason, hearing those words caused something to shift in Codi. Her relationship with Anaar had been for the most part dictated by his relationship with Phavian. Her staunch loyalty to her best friend saw her cursing him more than a few times, even when Phavian begged her not to. She of course was perpetually annoyed by how well he did in class, but that was something superficial she liked to hold onto so she would remain grounded even when things were good between him and Phavian.
She did like him, but that was what made her all the more determined to give herself a limiter from his influence. Whenever she felt she was feeling too close to him, like snapping a rubber band against your skin to stay awake, she reminded herself it was only due to him that she was not able to be at the top of the ACR and for that she should carry some level of disdain for him. Hearing from another rather unexpected source how much he thought of her gave her an overwhelming urge to live up to his hype. Sighing, she took a few deep breaths, letting go of the charge she was cultivating and straightened her back, looking down at Peter directly in the eyes.
“Look, we are stuck in this mission together whether we like it or not. If we don’t get this shit under control, we really will be in trouble. I’m will
ing to go somewhere out of the way, it shouldn’t be too hard since most people are sleeping in. We can review the file and if it turns out it is not so confidential, we can continue discussing it over breakfast or lunch, whatever the fuck is being served. Deal?”
Peter was rendered speechless. He simply presumed their battle would continue back and forth, neither side giving in. For Codi to be the bigger person and focus on the greater task at hand, perhaps she did have some redeemable attributes. In the spirit of being understanding, though it may have actually been fueled by the refusal to be the one disregarding the truce, he nods and agrees to her terms.
With the weather being so nice, they decided to take advantage of the mild temperature and fresh air. Finding a spot under a tree they began digging through what they were expected to accomplish on their mission. At least on paper it seemed simple, but there were gaps in each other’s knowledge that seemed as if it could cause difficulties.
“I’m guessing you are the hacker, because it sure as fuck isn’t me.”
“I would not say I am, but I can only surmise this is a result of my last mission.”
“Then you are a hacker…”
“I can be whatever I want thanks to my manifestation.”
“Which I still don’t understand, but either way you can be a fucking hacker.”
“Technically yes.”
“Then why in the fuck would you just not respond yes in the first place?!”
“Just because you are capable of something does not mean you would like to be called it.”
Suppressing the overwhelming urge to shock him until he was a pile of ash on the ground, Codi takes an inhumanly deep breath and proceeds. “Looks like the security in this place is pretty high tech, but it won’t pose a problem for me. We don’t have any covers so it stands to reason we will need to figure out our own way in. Have you ever burglarized a place before?”
Staring at her in complete incredulity, “No! Who asks someone that?”
“Well considering we are going to need to do it on this mission it would help if you knew what you were doing…”
“And you have?!”
“Oh, plenty of times.”
Extremely uncomfortable with where things were going, he decided to change the subject. “Should we get like, bulletproof vests?”
“Then people just shoot you in the head.”
Recoiling in horror, “That is not helpful…”
“Of course it is. Now you know to take people out before they can shoot you.”
“I’m not as… combat potent as you are.”
“So you are saying you are a pussy.”
“No! I am not saying that! I do not have a method of protecting myself like you do.”
“It’s called a fucking gun. For fuck’s sake must you make everything so difficult? Look, we have done enough prep work for now. We have two days before this shit goes down. Try to figure out how you won’t get yourself killed.”
Before Peter can get another word in, Codi quickly launches herself from her seated position, leaving him underneath the tree alone. He makes to protest, but thinks better of it, seeing as overall it was one of the most positive experiences he ever had with the spunky, readily violent woman. One thing was certain to him, if it came down to a fight, much like his experience with Anaar, he would not need to wonder who would be taking charge.
Storming away, the first thing Codi does is put in a call on her Vizer. Though it was not like her to normally request a video call without warning, she felt the current situation warranted it. Becoming ever annoyed there was no response, when she finally gets one, she had already lost her temper.
“Hey slu-”
Pointing angrily as she briskly walked down the path, “Don’t you take so long answering my call again fucker! Get your ass to the Cafeteria now! I need to bitch and moan-”
As providence would have it, her choosing a video call could have not been more opportune, though after a second thought, she figured it might be the inverse. Lying next to Phavian, though he was not in total view, Codi could make out the unmistakable mane and rippling body of Anaar. Upon further inspection she realized the backdrop was not Phavian’s room, but instead Anaar’s.
“Well just the fuckwad I am mad at! You know what? Change of plans, I’m coming over. Whatever disgusting man loving shit you two were about to do, either get that shit done quick and clean up or postpone it! If I smell even a hint of cum or ass you are both dead!”
The call abruptly ends leaving Phavian in stunned silence. After a moment he looks over at Anaar bewildered. “What the fuck is up with her?! She is well, about the same as usual, but she is pretty good about manners, so the fact that she just invited herself over is weird.”
There is a pause, followed by a shrug from Anaar as he rolls from the bed. When Phavian sees this, he pokes him in the rear as he is rising. Spinning around from the unexpected motion, Anaar turns to see Phavian looking at him accusingly.
“What did you do?”
With practiced poise, Anaar responds smoothly, “Why do you think I did something?”
“Don’t try to finesse me! I know that guilty shrug anywhere!”
“Guilty shrug? Since when are you an expert on body language?”
“I’m an expert on your body language, and what most people see as a common show of indifference is a whole fucking monologue for you.”
Staring aimlessly at the ceiling for a moment, “Hmmm, I’ll need to work on that so others don’t come to the same conclusion…”
“You weren’t supposed to agree to my accusation!”
“But it was true.”
Sighing while shaking his head, “Where are you going? We probably have a good thirty minutes before she gets here. Shouldn’t we go ahead and take her advice?”
“Ugh, put it away-” When he sees Phavian about to respond, “Keep it away. I’m going to make us some breakfast, or lunch? You know what, I’ll go with brunch to be safe.”
“Why are you going to cook?!”
“Because we have an angry power plant headed our way and she was clearly hungry. If there is food waiting for her, maybe we will get off only a little bit charred.”
When he sees the folly in his word choice he moves to apologize, but there is a pillow that flies at him with surprising force to for it to be a plush object.
“You wouldn’t be charred at all you ass. Or would you just pretend to be until she left? Seriously what did you do?! Fine, I agree with your course of action. You need a hand?”
“We want to make her less angry, not kill her. You don’t know the difference between a whisk and a spatula.”
“That… is surprisingly true. What the fuck is a whisk?”
As he is walking away, “Just make something she would like to drink, and make it strong. You can handle that much can’t you?”
Saluting him with a smile, “That I can do! I’m gonna have her so fucked up she won’t remember what she was mad about!”
“Maybe not that strong… She is quite vengeful, she might black out and then it is really over for us.”
Screaming to him as he continues down the hallway, “How do you always have a full fridge of food for the occasion anyway?!” When he is met with silence, he slumps onto the bed wondering what new mess he had been thrown into.
By the time there was a chime at the door, Phavian had already prepared his decoction, knowing how much Codi secretly liked tea, which Anaar had a disturbing amount of despite Phavian never seeing him drink any. Answering the door with amply spiked brew in hand, he offers it to Codi before she can even say a word. Giving him a squint as she takes the mug, she takes a sip before zapping him violently.
“This shit is like center of the sun fucking hot you asshole! Why would I want something hot like this when I just hiked across campus to get here!”
Still tingling from the shock but understanding it was only a love tap all things considered, he cools the beverage down, hoping it tasted as good as a
n iced tea. When he gives her a gesture and she takes another hesitant sip, she turns up her nose as she walks past him into the room.
“Much better.” Sniffing the air, “What is that smell? It actually seems edible. You couldn’t have had a hand in it.”
“Why does everyone think I don’t know how to cook?!”
“What is a colander?”
“It’s like broccoli but white!”
“That’s cauliflower you fucking moron. I rest my case.”
“Oh shit that is cauliflower… What the fuck is a colander?”
Ignoring him as she makes her way toward the aroma, he closes the door, slightly hurt that he had been called out twice in less than an hour. To her right she saw a number of dishes already on the table, and places set for them. When she entered the kitchen, Anaar was hard at work preparing yet more food, all while plating others.
“Hey Codi, do you want to start eating with what we have or wait a few more minutes for the rest?”
Eyeing him suspiciously, “Booze at the door, a homecooked meal, this must mean you forfeited fucking which gets points from me. If you weren’t holding two plates of food that actually looked pretty good, I’d fuck you up. Shithead.”
Phavian enters the kitchen, taking the plates from Anaar so he can continue cooking. He stops for a moment and spins back to face him, “What is a colander?”
Not even deigning to look up from what he was doing, “Something you don’t have to worry about because you are pretty. Now go put those on the table.”
Sitting at the dining room table, Anaar and Phavian wait in a precarious silence while Codi investigates the offerings. Filling her plate with a number of items, only motioning for one of them to pass a certain dish she wanted, they waited until she had her plate filled and taken a bite before releasing the heavy breaths they had been holding.
“What the fuck is this?!” Sticking her fork into another couple of items and tasting them, “This is absolute bullshit! You can fucking cook like a chef too?! God I fucking hate you…”
Happily munching, although begrudgingly, the two men took it as their cue to begin their own dining. Remembering at least some of her manners, she waited until they had gotten their food before launching into her attack. Pointing accusingly at Anaar with her fork, her eyes flash with electricity.
Apotheosis (Song of Sophangence Book 3) Page 22