It was a beautiful morning. The mountain air was crisp and fresh, and the sun shone brightly down through the sparsely clouded sky. A light breeze blew through the streets of Peakpoint, bringing a slight chill that nipped at the various denizens of the city as they rushed about their business.

For her part, Val didn’t feel the cold at all. She paced nervously inside the abandoned building that housed the ladder entrance into the Defect compound. It was several minutes before eight, and Val was trying her best to calm her nerves before she had to face her new teammates again. If they’ll still accept me, that is.

“You might as well go in, you know.”

Startled, Val whirled around, searching for the source of the familiar voice. A slight cough caused her eyes to glide up to a hole in the ceiling of the first floor. There sat Bri, legs dangling and swinging slowly, as she looked down at Val with an amused expression on her face.

“How… how long have you been sitting there?” Val spluttered out when her brain finally started working again.

“Long enough. I’m surprised you didn’t notice me earlier, but I suppose you’re probably pretty preoccupied.”

Pushing off the side of the hole, Bri dropped down to the first floor to stand next to Val. She landed with only the slightest bend in her knees to control the impact, dusting off her hands as she came to stand next to Val.

“‘Preoccupied’, huh? I guess you could say that,” muttered Val darkly.

“Well, you should at least wait and hear what everyone says before getting too worked up,” said Bri brightly. Grabbing Val by the shoulders from behind, she started pushing Val towards the hatch that led down into the compound. Val tried to resist, but it was futile against Bri’s iron grip.

Resigning herself to her fate, Val climbed down the ladder slowly. Reaching the bottom, she stepped into the staging room only to hear Bri land with a thud behind her as she leapt from the top of the tunnel.

“Ladder too slow for you?” Val asked dryly. Bri just gave her a goofy grin and Val just shook her head. But she felt her mood improving regardless as she cracked a slight smile. It seemed that Bri had the same effect Fynn had always had on her. Their antics were just too ridiculous for Val to stay annoyed with them for long.

The surprises continued as Val stepped into the compound’s main room. She saw the other three Defects in the kitchen area. Zavis gave her nod and gestured for her to join them at the table. Kaya didn’t look up or acknowledge Val’s entrance, but in Kaya’s defense, there was a pretty enticing-looking omelet on the plate in front of her.

Val’s stomach rumbled loudly. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was until she saw the others enjoying some breakfast. Wallon expertly flipped another two omelets into plates, setting them down at empty seats at the table. Bri eagerly sat down in front of one plate, digging in immediately.

“The other one’s for you, Val,” he said, turning back to the cooktop to keep an eye on the next batch.

“Thanks, Wallon.” Val sat down next to Bri, staring at the omelet for a moment before taking a bite. Followed quickly by a second bite and a groan of satisfaction. “This is amazing!”

Bri nodded enthusiastically. “Wallon’s cooking is the best!” she got out between mouthfuls. Val grunted her agreement, refusing to waste any time on something as superfluous as talking.

Without turning from the cooktop, Wallon slid a plate full of bacon behind him down the table. It came to rest halfway between Bri and Val. There was a dramatic pause as each woman looked at the plate and then up at each other. The moment was broken by a mad scramble as they each tried to secure as much of the crispy goodness as they could.

In hindsight, Val had to admit that she had probably been masterfully played. Bri’s initial contact and Wallon’s scrumptious breakfast could have been happy coincidences, but they were more likely engineered to increase her comfort. It spoke to a social intelligence that she hadn’t initially expected out of the combat-oriented squad, but clearly she continued to misjudge the Defects.

Val couldn’t even be mad at them for it, mostly because it had worked wonders for her anxiety. She was still nervous about the upcoming conversation, but those little moments had injected a sense of normalcy and camaraderie that soothed her fraying emotions.

The air changed slightly when they had finished breakfast. Bri had hopped into the kitchen to help with the dishes. Wallon replaced her at the table to eat his own meal, which seemed to consist of the remaining food. Kaya maintained her silence, but it was Zavis leaning forward that signaled the start of the next phase of the conversation.

“Val, thank you for telling us what you did yesterday. We may not all be happy with the content of what you disclosed, but it still took an incredible amount of bravery for you to trust us with that information. That said, we can’t just ignore the elephant in the room, which is Noir in this case. We’d like a few guarantees from you before we go any further. If you meant what you said yesterday, it should not be a problem to accept any of our conditions.”

Val nodded meekly. There was a small part of her that hoped for unconditional acceptance, but she realized that was just unrealistic. She could only hope now that they would be reasonable requests.

“Before I lay out our conditions, you have to understand their context. Purely because you are Noir’s partner, you will be targeted by allies and enemies both. The sort of abilities you could wield makes you an important piece to control for anyone who wants power, whether it is social, political, or military. Do you understand that?”

Val hadn’t expected to need to respond so quickly. She cleared her throat before responding. “I think so. At least, I realize that people will want to use me as a way to get access to Noir’s abilities. Mae effectively told me as much. I just… don’t think I understand exactly how far-reaching that would be. And I’m perfectly willing to admit that I’m not really equipped to deal with those sorts of situations yet.”

Zavis nodded slowly. “As good a response as I could expect from one so young. If you understand the context, then I can be blunt. Enemies will attack you, and allies will try to manipulate you. Which means that we will be attacked and manipulated.”

“Even more than usual, you mean,” interjected Wallon.

“That’s right. But usually we manage by staying under the radar. That is no longer an option. Our best path forward is for Val to gain the power she needs to maintain her neutrality. And for that she needs time and training.” Turning to Val, he continued, “We can provide both of these things to some extent, but that brings us to our conditions.”

Val nodded. She was impressed by Zavis’s ability to handle this uncomfortable discussion very tactfully. She idly wondered what his background had been before becoming a Defect. He had an excellent head for tactics in the field, but these were the sorts of clear communication skills that expedition leaders needed.

Zavis raised a fist before extending his index finger. “First, you don’t tell anyone else about Noir. The fewer people that know, the fewer that can harass you. It’s highly likely that a fair number of people already know, but it’s still good to limit the spread of that information as much as possible.”

He waited for Val’s nod before lifting his second finger. “Second, you don’t make any big actions by yourself. No accepting missions, or ‘performing favors’ as the politicians might call it, without talking to us. And we get a veto. Anything you get entangled in will inevitably entangle us. If you are going to be one of us, we get a say.”

Val nodded again but that didn’t seem to be enough for Zavis this time. “That makes sense. I promise, no missions by myself.”

Lifting a third finger, Zavis continued, “I’m not so naive to believe that you won’t be called on to perform duties like Noir’s previous Users before. So our third condition is a little more personal: that you only kill other Users if absolutely necessary for your own safety. Even if it is more difficult than immediate termination, It should be possible to incapacitate and restrain rogue Users with Noir’s abilities”

Val nodded vigorously. “That was already my plan. I have no intention of taking any human lives. And I’m sorry for any lives lost because of Noir’s actions in the past.” She shot a glance over at Kaya, who watched her with a neutral gaze.

“To that end, our fourth and final condition,” Zavis said, drawing Val’s attention back to him as he lifted another finger. “You train hard to understand and develop new capabilities with Noir, and you keep us in the loop regarding any new breakthroughs. This is already a normal expectation, as we should all be aware of each other’s abilities so that we aren’t surprised during combat. But it will be especially important for you, so we wanted it to be explicit.”

Lowering his hand, Zavis stared at Val. “Do you understand and accept all these conditions?”

Resisting the urge to immediately accept, Val ran through the conditions again in her head. They all seemed incredibly reasonable, and frankly better than she was expecting. But she had already recklessly accepted several things in the past few days, so it was better to take her time and think these things through.

Val looked back at Zavis. “Two points of clarification.” Zavis raised an eyebrow, but motioned for her to continue. “I just want to be sure I understand the subtext. You’re offering to train me and potentially protect me while I’m still inexperienced. Does that mean that I would be… accepted as part of the squad, so long as I obey these conditions?”

Zavis’s shoulders relaxed, but it was Bri who answered. “Of course you are part of the squad, Val. We Defects have to stick together, after all.”

Val felt her eyes water as an intense wave of relief swept through her entire body. “Thanks,” she squeaked out. She took a moment to compose herself, brushing away the tear forming in her eye. Sitting up straight, she forced herself to look at Zavis again.

“My second point of clarification. These are all good conditions, but they are pretty binding and one-sided. After all, I don’t have any say over any personal missions any of you take.” She raised her hands to forestall any interruptions. “I’m not saying I want that power, I’m just saying that’s the end result. My point is that I will only consider these conditions so long as you all aren’t trying to take advantage of me.”

A moment of silence reigned at the table, and Val wondered if she had gone too far. A burst of laughter from Wallon immediately cut through the tension, however.

“Ohh, very good! Maybe she’s not as naive as you think, Zavis,” he said with a chuckle.

Zavis also cracked a rare smile. “I was never concerned about her potential, just her lack of experience. And yes, that is a perfectly reasonable constraint, Val. It’s impossible for us not to try to use your strengths for our benefit, but I promise we won’t do it in an underhanded way. If you are part of us, then I hope you’ll see that our benefit is your benefit as well.”

Val nodded. “As good a response as I could expect from someone so shrewd.”

Bri snickered. “I was sure she was gonna say ‘old’ there.”

Zavis raised an eyebrow. “I’d say she showed some real wisdom in her word choice. So, what do you think, Val? Are these conditions acceptable?”

Val almost responded but stopped herself. “Give me a moment.” There was one other thing that she needed before she could accept. Reaching out to Noir, she willed her thoughts to make it through to the Daemon.

Hey Noir, I respected your silence yesterday. But this is a different situation. The terms they’re offering seem pretty good to me, but if we’re going to be partners, it needs to be acceptable to you too. What do you think?

A few seconds passed by before she tried again with a smaller question, trying to coax the Daemon out. Did you at least hear their conditions?

I did.

Val jumped on their response, trying to keep the conversation going.

And don’t you think that these are pretty good terms for us? You didn’t want to be manipulated in the same way as before right? I don’t want to be, either. So far, they’ve been extremely upfront with us. We need time to figure out how to work together, and this seems like… well, maybe not the safest place, but… a good place, at least?

I… don’t disagree. I had just hoped to avoid any entanglements for as long as possible.

Maybe in time, but I can’t protect us in the physical world enough yet. We need allies now. Plus, I doubt we’ll find many others that will explicitly ask us to focus on nonlethal techniques, right? Something I think both of us want.

Fine. Yes, these conditions are as reasonable as any I could expect, I suppose. A surge of annoyance pulsed out from the Daemon. You are truly an infuriating User, did you know that?

You’re certainly not the first to tell me that. You’re an equally infuriating Daemon, leaving me to deal with this shit by myself yesterday. If we’re agreeing to these conditions together, can you at least make an effort to work with me? The sooner we can understand and control our power, the more ‘entanglements’ we can avoid.

… We’ll see.

Val sighed. Well that’s a start at least. The longest back-and-forth conversation with the Daemon so far, and with a significant outcome as well.

“Everything alright, Val?” Bri looked at her with concern.

“Yes, sorry. Was just having a frustrating conversation with Noir. Well, personally frustrating at least. But we both accept your conditions.”

That got more of a reaction than she expected. Zavis raised both eyebrows, a gesture she equated to complete surprise given the man’s external emotional response. But the biggest reaction was Kaya, who sat up straight and looked at Val intensely.

Turning towards the sniper, Val met her gaze. “I’m sorry for the pain Noir has caused you in the past, and I promise we’ll try our best to not disappoint you in the future.”

Kaya stared at her for several long moments before giving Val a brief nod. More importantly, Val saw some of the hardness leave her eyes. Not perfect, but it’s a start. Val nodded back. Giving a quick look at the other Defects, she slumped back in her chair.

“So what now?”

“What do you think?” asked Bri. She gave Val a menacing grin. A jolt of adrenaline entered Val’s veins. It was a different face, but the same sadistic expression that she had seen many times in the past.

“Time for training.”

“A—choo!” Celedon uncovered his face after his violent sneeze.

“Gaia bless you, Celedon. Are you sure you didn’t get sick on your last trip out in the wilderness? You know, I have some new equipment that cou–”

“No, I’m fine Mae. Please don’t test one of your new contraptions on me. The only thing I’m sick of are all these Council meetings.” Celedon’s eyes twinkled. “No, I have a feeling that sneeze was brought on by one of my dear students singing my praises.”

Mae snorted. “More like cursing you, I’d bet,” she muttered under her breath.

“What was that?”

“Oh, nothing!”