Anarchy

Training and Tributes

Over the next few days, Azrael and Solara stayed in the medical bay until Talis was satisfied they healed fine from the communication and translation chip implantation. His methodical checks and soft explanations eased both girls until he’d earned not just Solara’s trust, but that of the traumatized human. Though the crystalline male was gentle with them both, he knew that the older girl was not to be taken lightly.

On the third day, he called her out of the containment room and got her to sit across from him at the table. In front of him was a pack of playing cards. The thick cardstock it was made from prevented the overhead lights from making them transparent. As he showed her the deck, he laid them all out to prove they were not the same.

“This is not a test, but a measurement of your control,” he said, letting her shuffle the cards with awkward movements.

Around them, the medical equipment no longer hummed. She frowned, setting the cards back on the metal surface. “My control? And why are the machines turned off?”

“The machines are off because they are not required at the moment. Less distraction that way as well,” Talis replied. He glanced over at the Weaver, his eyes softening as she played a learning game on the tablet Axel found and repaired. Turning back to the teen across from him, he folded his hands, the action sounding like stones dropping in water. “Bane wishes to know if you can actually control your power or if you require training.”

“Oh,” Azrael replied. “Okay. Well, what, um, kind of test?”

Talis smiled. “I will hold up a few cards, and I want you to sift through my thoughts to find what the card is. We will do, say, ten of them?”

“Three.”

“Five?” He pressed.

Leaning back in the chair, Azrael crossed her arms. “Fine. Five.”

“It’s less than I wished, and more than you wanted, but we’re both satisfied in the end, yes?”

Her eyes snapped to his face. There was humour there. Curiosity, sure, but no animosity. No desire to use her. “I guess when you put it that way, it’s not a big deal.”

The first card went up, and she did exactly what he asked of her. Sifting through the thoughts until she found the quiet one about the card. “Um, Queen of spades?”

“Don’t second guess yourself,” he encouraged, holding up the second, then third cards. By the fifth, she was firmer in her responses, more sure of her answers. As he set the cards aside, Talis nodded. “You’ve far better control than I initially assumed. Five out of five, Azrael. Well done.”

He got up, setting the deck back in its case and set it on a shelf. “Solara, it’s time, little one.”

“For training?” the Weaver asked, her mandibles clicking in excitement.

“You must learn to move like a predator, my child. I may not always be there, so you must learn to defend yourself and your friends.” Talis explained.

Solara scrambled off the bed, bolting to the door. Turning to the human girl, she paused with her hand over the scanner. “Are you coming, Az?”

“Yeah, if you want me to.”

“I want you to watch me!” Solara said.

When they got to the training room, Talis moved to the stool in the corner of the observatory. Crossing his legs, he sat and watched the area below as Novidia guided Solara to the center of the room. Taking a seat next to him, Azrael shivered slightly.

The access door slid open, and the blue-haired Concloian stepped inside with a few bags dangling from his clawed hands. In his reptilian form, he was massive, with an armoured hide and scales that caught the light like ripples on water. His eyes were the same silver as his brother, Bane’s.

He moved with predatory grace as he crossed the floor and stopped in front of her. “Hey, so, based on the size of your, um, research-issued suit, I asked Trykerius to see if he could find real clothes for you. When you’re up to it, the team can take you to the shopping district for anything else you need.”

Setting the bags at her feet, he stepped back.

Blinking up at him, Azrael slowly rubbed her arms. “You bought me clothes?”

“Misha, that was admirable of you,” Talis stated, his eyes never leaving the Weaver on the lower deck.

The Concloians scales rippled slightly, his eyes flicking away from the girl as he took an involuntary step backward. “I just… for her comfort… I have to go.”

Before she could say anything, Axel shrieked from the lower deck. “Novidia! This is not my idea of fun!”

“Just hold still and let her practise sneaking up on you. If you hear her, say something so she can start over. If we don’t train her, her jerky movements will be the death of her.” The Katzenfurg snapped.

Solara quietly backed from them, and started climbing the wall. Forcing her mandibles to stay quiet, she smiled to herself as she used four limbs to hold herself to the ceiling while four of her hands weaved a strong anchor point and made sure it held. Releasing webbing an inch at a time, she slowly descended from the anchor.

Talis nudged Azrael, a sly smile on his face. “You taught her that, didn’t you?”

“I only told her to use her nature, she figured out the rest,” the girl answered.

As they watched Solara, Talis realized a second too late that neither Novidia nor Axel were even paying attention to the Weaver. “Oh, may the Ancients have mercy if anyone makes her angry.”

Seconds later, as if she knew the Katzenfurg was about to go feral on the Avian, Solara dropped and grabbed Axel in one set of hands. The stronger pair of arms grabbed the line of webbing, pulling them up toward the ceiling. At around the halfway mark, Solara started swinging the line toward the perch on the other wall.

Axel held his breath until he realized the tiny creature wasn’t trying to bite him. She stuck the landing, setting him down before peering over the edge of the perch.

Hopping in place, he checked his body for wounds. Finding none, he let his body sag against the wall. Looking down at Novidia, he let out a whistle. “Did you see that?”

“I didn’t even realize she was above us,” the feline called back. Her tail swished as she paced. “Sol, how did you do that?”

“I did what felt, um, right,” the Weaver said, hope and pride warring in her tone.

“Good,” the Avian declared. “Keep doing that, but don’t attack friends. Only the people here on Helix Station are friendly, okay?”

Jumping off the perch, Axel spread his wings and swooped downward in a spiral. Landing gracefully, he glanced up and watched Solara move carefully along the wall in a diagonal pattern. “I don’t get it. She’s six!”

Azrael jumped over the rail, landing in a crouch on the lower deck. “She’s a spider-type predator insectoid. All she needs to do is use her historic nature as a silent hunter, and training will be a cinch.”

“I did good?” Solara asked, moving over to them. Staring at Axel, she narrowed her gaze. “And I told you I don’t eat things bigger or the same size as me. Unless it is a really, really big berry. Then I would eat and eat until it is all gone.”

Using her powers, Azrael levitated upward after praising Solara. When her feet touched down on the grating of the observation deck, she sighed as she picked up the bags. “I’m going to try this stuff on.”

Talis held up a keycard. He smiled when she gave him an incredulous look. “You have your own secure room three doors down from the med bay.”

“When did that happen?” She asked, not reaching for the card.

“Bane and Misha started on it when you first arrived. Your rooms have double access via both keycard and biometric scan. They said it was for your piece of mind,” Talis explained.

She took the card, still eyeing it suspiciously. Giving the doctor a nod, she left the training arena. Only half a day from when the chip was removed, Axel discovered the truth. Hidden within the programming was a trigger word that would have caused massive casualties were Azrael in public when it happened. Deeper still was the remote tracking beacon, which he promptly destroyed.

Looking at the card in her hand, she sighed as she counted the doors from the med bay. “Three. This is it,” she said, stopping to tap the card and put her hand on the scanner.

A mechanical voice greeted her. “Welcome, Azrael.”

Automated lights came on, the pipes humming quietly as the heat increased to a comfortable limit for her physiology. Walking around slowly, she fought tears as she realized they hadn’t just given her freedom and a room.

They had given her a safe place to call her own.

It felt like winning a prize she didn’t know she was competing for.

Moving to the adjoining door, she opened it to reveal a personal shower and toilet area with a small vanity already stocked with hygiene products. Yawning, she curled up in the new bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

Hours later, she woke feeling exhausted, yet energized. Getting a bottle of water, she tried on some of the new clothes. Satisfied that Trykerius got the sizing right, she pulled on a tank top over a pair of black leggings she could use for training.

Pulling on the shoes, which were just slightly too big, she started walking aimlessly. Turning another corner, she heard the sound of someone hitting something.