WARNING: UPSETTING CONTENT.
Mentions of nightmares related to trauma. IN PART 2.

ASHRYN'S P.O.V

How dare Caia try to make out that the UAE are the good guys?

Sure, I understand the loss that they've faced.

But who the h*ll backs out of their promise to help people in need?

I traced the stitching of my siblings' names—the ones the designers added to my uniform.

I used to look at it with love, but now all I think about is them grinning triumphantly, thinking that they've bought my loyalty by guilt tripping me with a reminder of my family.

Well, I've had enough.

★★★

Raphael and Ashryn sat together at lunch.
Some of the other agents still gave them weird looks, but Ashryn felt better now that she was actually sitting with someone she knew.

She looked over and noticed Raphael sketching something onto a piece of paper.

"Didn't know you liked doodling", she said.

Raphael gasped.
"Doodli–you take that back!
This is serious work."

Ashryn held her hands up, an amused smile appearing on her face.
"Alright, alright.
What is it anyway?"

"My invention for the competition", he replied.
"It's a small robot broach that you can attach to your uniform.
It also acts as a video camera, and when you press a button, it sprays Purple Y on them", he explained.

"Purple Y?"

"It's a liquid commonly used to temporarily blind someone", he replied.

"Oh.
That sounds... good."

"Just 'good'?"

"No, it's a really good idea.
It just seems like something that's been done before, you know?
I feel like it's similar to what some other people will have planned."

Raphael frowned.

Ashryn's face softened.
"Where's the Raphael stamp?"

Raphael furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
"The what?"

"The thing that makes it unique to you."

Raphael smirked.
"Well, I've actually planned for it to play this really fun tune when it sprays the Purple Y on someone.
And the little robot legs wiggle."

Ashryn chuckled, quickly coughing at the same time to hide her laughter.

Raphael smiled.
After a few seconds, his smile began to fade.
"It's not enough, is it?"

Ashryn shrugged.
"I don't know."

Raphael groaned.
"Ugh, I wish I could go back and read those tech files properly."

Ashryn contemplated this, having her own reasons for wanting to go back to Aoife's office too.

"What if there was a way you could?"

★★★

"Oh my–how is your brain so great?", questioned Rhiannon.

Minerva giggled.
"It's not that great!"

"Oh, get out of here with that Minerva slander!", she exclaimed, earning a laugh from Minerva.

They were in one of the training rooms, and Minerva was showing Rhiannon her progress on the security system.

"Honestly, I bet your parents are so proud to have such a smart daughter."

Minerva's smile faltered, and she reached for a tool to distract herself. "Anyway, how's training going for you?"

"Oh!
Uh, well I think–"

"Min, my big brained Queen!", exclaimed Faizah, startling both Rhiannon and Minerva.

Faizah's eyes widened when she saw Rhiannon, and her smile brightened. "Rhiannon!
How's my favourite trainee doing?"

"I'm your favourite?"

Faizah raised a finger to her lips.
"Shh.
Don't tell the others."

Rhiannon laughed.

Aoife's voice could be heard coming from outside the room.
Her voice was loud, and she seemed very angry.

"How irresponsible do you have to be to pull Faizah away from her mandatory health checks?"

"Head Guard Aoife–", started Alessa.

"Save it!
Not even Oren is on your side here! You've pushed and pushed and-"

Faizah opened the doors, startling Aoife.
She looked at Faizah, then at Minerva and Rhiannon, before looking at Faizah again.

"Faizah, I–"

"It wasn't Alessa's fault, Head Guard Aoife.
I told her I was going to my appointment, but I actually skipped it."

"What?", gasped Alessa.
"Why would you do that?"

Faizah frowned.
"I hate them, Alessa.
They hurt, and they're uncomfortable!"

Aoife's face softened.
"Faizah..."

Faizah exhaled sharply.
"I shouldn't have skipped it.
I know they're important.
I just... I wanted one day where
I could pretend I was ok."

Rhiannon watched as a pained expression appeared on Alessa's face. Her brows furrowed and she looked down briefly, before looking at Faizah again.

"Faizah, I'm so sorry", she said, her words coming out as a whisper.

Aoife's eyes darkened, and she turned around to face Alessa.
"You should be.
Now get yourself to the Briefing Room now!"

Rhiannon was stunned by Aoife's harsh tone.
Alessa hadn't been very nice to them at all, but Alessa was supposedly a valued member of the family.

Is this how Aoife treated family?

★★★

Oren was tying and re-tying his shoelaces, something he often did to calm him down when he was stressed.

Makoto entered the room without knocking, as the door was already wide open.

Oren jumped up.
"Faizah!"

Makoto stood awkwardly as Oren frowned, visibly saddened by Makoto's presence.

"I'm sorry, is now a bad time?", they asked.

Oren shook his head.
"No, no, I'm sorry.
I just thought you were someone else, that's all."

"Faizah?
She's the agent Rhiannon loves, right?"

Oren chuckled.
"I don't know for sure, but if they've met, then that makes a lot of sense. Everyone loves Faizah."

"Do you?"

Makoto suprised themselves with their bold question, but they wanted to know more about the people here.
After all, knowing more about who they were would help them to bond with their trainers.

Oren paused for a moment, their eyes widening.
"Uh, I–I don't know if that's really something we should talk about."

"Right, right.
I'm sorry.
It's just, you know so much about our skills, but nothing about us.
And we know absolutely nothing about you all.
It just feels hard to form any sort of meaningful connection with you."

Oren smiled.
"Are meaningful connections important to you?"

Makoto nodded.
"Yeah.
They mean everything to me."

"Hm.
I never would've guessed that about you."

"Really?
Why?"

"You just seem so... distant."

"Oh!
Well, I suppose that's because I need time to decide my role."

"Your... role?"

Makoto nodded.
"Who I need to be.
A friend, an agent, a diplomat... you know?"

"You can't be all of those things?"

"Well, I am all of those things."

"No, I mean, you can't be the Makoto that's a good friend, good agent, good diplomat?
Why do they need to be 'roles'?"

"I... I don't understand."

"Who are you, Makoto?
When you're not doing things for others, who are you?"

Makoto opened their mouth to answer, but they couldn't find the words.
All their life, they had learned to adapt so they could be whoever they needed to be.

They weren't gifted at life, like their sister, but by learning to adapt, they made sure they were always needed in some way.

After all, you can't leave behind those that you need, can you?

"If you try to be one thing for someone, you'll always be expendable.
So, when they decide they don't need a diplomat anymore, what happens to you?"

Makoto had never really thought about that before.

"It's ok if you don't know exactly who you are.
I mean, humans change all the time. But it would help if you stopped trying to please others."

Makoto frowned.

Oren's face softened.
"I was a ball of nerves when I first got here", he revealed.
"On top of that, Imelda wouldn't stop pranking me."

Oren chuckled at the memory.

"But I found a home in this place.
I found friends, a family... I found a place that would accept me as I grew."

Makoto smiled.
"That sounds nice."

Oren grinned.
"I know, right?"

A thought crossed Makoto's mind, but they weren't sure whether they should say it.

"Are you ok?
If you want to say something, you can. I'm here to listen."

Well.

Here goes nothing.

"I just... I noticed something between you and Agent Arden.
Something to do with Agent Faizah?
I'm probably overstepping, but... I don't know.
Something just seemed off."

Makoto watched Oren's facial expressions as they spoke, their voice wavering when Oren frowned.

"Um, there isn't much to say I guess.
The three of us were inseparable, and now we aren't."

"But you still are with Agent Faizah?
So Agent Arden did something wrong?"

Oren sighed.
"Yeah.
She pretty much ruined everything between us."

_______________

Hi!

What do you think happened between Oren, Faizah and Alessa?

Any theories about anything far? It doesn't matter how silly you might think they are, I love reading them!

We're learning more about Makoto. I'll be honest, I was going to cut Makoto's conversation with Oren, because I felt like it didn't make sense in terms of dialogue. However, the scene was really important, so I kept it in. Does it make sense, or is it a little too long-winded?

What did Alessa do to make Aoife hate her?

Rhiannon's collecting friends left and right over here! Can she eventually collect one in the form of a familiar grumpy brain bot?

What are your thoughts on this chapter?

Also, I *might* have another update for you later today!

DoodleYeet

LeMystical-Puffle

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SoniczurcX

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