I was in a writing mood, so I wrote a quick little short story. Also midterms are next week so that's fuuuun.

~~~

Call her crazy, but Tamaya could swear that someone was following them.

"I'm telling you," Marcellus adjusted a few knobs on the transmitter board. "Radar's been acting up over the last couple of days. If someone was on our tail as close as you think, the patrol would have spotted it."

Tamaya readjusted her glasses for what seemed like the tenth time within the last three minutes. "But haven't the Undae been experimenting with camouflage technology? Could it be possible that they've perfected it already?"

"Nothing's left the lab yet, they shouldn't even have the proper technology for another fifteen years!" Josh, the new human resources expert, called from the other side of the room where he was flirting with Rozene. Stupid know-it-all Josh. Butting into conversations and flirting with Tamaya's little sister. Shouldn't he be doing his job and be breaking up fights in the soldiers' corps or whatever?

Marcellus ignored Josh. Good. "Even if they were completely invisible, the patrol would spot the motion in the water and realize that something was there," Marcellus said. "We're fine."

Tamaya wrinkled her nose, glancing again at her radar screen. There very clearly was something following them at a steady pace. But if the patrol hadn't had spotted anything, then maybe it was just a glitch in the system?

The doors opened with a swish, and a woman in a purple uniform like Tamaya's entered. Josh's face lit up and he ditched Rozene faster than she seemed to even process it. Her face faltered for a moment as Josh snaked a hand on the woman's shoulder before she turned back to her work with a tiny little huff.

"Look, your relief has arrived," Marcellus motioned to the woman. "Go! Enjoy your time off, take your mimmers, and take a nice long nap before you have to come back here later tonight. Your nerves deserve a break after all you've put them through today."

"Fine," Tamaya stood up, grabbing her satchel and throwing it over her shoulder. "I'll try to... be the chill out. Is that it? Are the kids still saying that? Be the chill out?"

"Tamaya, you're like a big sister to me and I love you, but you're really three hundred years behind the times. Just go."

"Okay, I'll go," Tamaya rolled her eyes fondly, passing by her relief and Josh and waving her good-bye at Rozene before walking out the door.

The halls were exceptionally crowded that day. Tamaya allowed herself to be push along with the herd until she realized that she had passed her transporter four turns ago. Once she had finally made it to a wall and physically pulled herself against the flow of the crowd to make it to her transporter, she punched in her codes and password, relaxing when she felt that familiar feel of the world around her blurring away from her senses before solidifying into the small room in front of the door to her quarters.

Tamaya tried to stop her hands from shaking as they pulled her card out of her satchel's pocket and moved to swipe it in front of the senser. She had been constantly on her guard ever since the drills two weeks ago, so of course her first thought when the radar glitched would be thoughts of the enemies. Marcellus was right; she really just needed to pop her mimmers as quickly as possible and take a nap. Maybe she wouldn't be as paranoid when she woke up for her next shift?

The door swung open, and Tamaya entered, swiping her card again on the senser on the opposite side for the door to close, and immediately made her way to her mini-kitchen. Tossing her satchel on the table, she opened the medicine cabinet.

The mimmers. They were gone.

Someone was there.

Tamaya's hands shot to her occidere and whipped around, aiming it at the doorway that led to her resting room.

The figure that was standing there raised their hands in surrender. "Asteri, asteri! Is that really the proper greeting for someone who's just trying to stop your mind from being poisoned?"

"It's not poison if it helps you more than it hurts you," Tamaya shot back, recognizing the voice despite not even being able to see the intruder's face. She didn't lower the occidere though.

The person laughed. "You know, you were actually wrong about the radar picking something up," they said, leaning casually against the doorframe. "It seriously was just a glitch in the system. None of our doing. But you were right about a whole lot more stuff. Good thing your superiors didn't listen to your concerns. Could have ruined a bunch of plans in works."

Tamaya didn't say anything, instead choosing to take a single step foward, her hands not shaking for the first time in weeks as they moved to aim her occidere towards a more fatal region of the intruder's body.

The person feigned offense. "Now, is that really the way you want to welcome back your most beloved husband, darling?"

"It is when she thought she killed him thirteen years ago."

Tamaya's dead husband stepped into the light, choosing to admire the wedding ring around his finger instead of staring down his wife's weapon.

"Well, that's all in the past now, Maya," Vivaan smiled sweetly, finally meeting Tamaya's cold eyes with his burning ones. "Now can we get back to work?"