Half an hour after leaving her childhood home, a short tube ride and jog through the streets of Peakpoint’s surface city found Val standing back in the abandoned building that housed the entrance to the Defect bunker. She knew it had only been a few days since she had stood her for the first time, but it also felt like a lifetime ago. Val had expected her life would change when she became a User but nothing could have prepared her for the magnitude of the change. It was like a completely different person stood in her boots now. In hindsight, her original worries of fitting in with a new squad seemed childish compared to the threat of the Unshackled that Zyra had unloaded on her now.

With a shake of her head, Val broke herself out of her thoughts. She steeled her nerves as she entered through the hatch, dropping down into the bunker’s staging room with a heavy thud. Her eyes scanned the room, looking for any threats lurking in the shadows but not finding anything. She immediately felt mildly embarrassed as she walked towards the door to the main complex.

Of course nothing’s there. Someone would have to be pretty ballsy to pull something so close to one of Peakpoint’s elite teams.

On the contrary, I think those are exactly the instincts we need right now. Our enemies already got us with a false sense of security once. Better to always be on our guard.

Sounds exhausting.

Better than being dead.

Val grimaced but couldn’t disagree with Noir. They approached the world with a level of cynicism and paranoia that had originally felt extremely excessive to Val, but she found herself starting to understand the Daemon’s point of view. Val reached out and turned the door handle, pushing the door inward and taking a step into the next room. She squinted briefly as her eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness, but before she could take in the scene, a pulse of warning shot into her brain from Noir.

Acting on instinct, Val dodged down towards the right as a shadowy figure suddenly appeared before her. A fist slammed into the wall where her head had just been moments before, her hair fluttering from the breeze generated by the punch. Val’s eyes widened as she realized her helmet was still in her right hand, leaving her head exposed. Cursing herself for the mistake, she dropped the helmet, letting it clatter to the ground since she had no time to get it on anymore.

One of Noir’s batons dropped into her newly freed palm and extended out into its needle form. Val activated the penetration subroutine, hearing the familiar whine of nano shifting at high speed around the outside of her weapon. Her wide eyes narrowed in on another fist cocked back above her. Val lashed out with the needle, piercing her attacker’s shoulder with ease as another punch started rocketing towards her. She followed the strike up with Noir’s nano disruption subroutine, sending a full 10% of her power into her opponent’s body in an attempt to weaken the incoming punch.

The sensation of nano rushing out from her core, down her arm, and through her weapon was becoming familiar after the past two days of hunting in the wilderness, but nothing in her experience had prepared her for what happened next. Every time she had used the technique before, it felt like her nano shredded through her target’s traces with little resistance, causing significant internal damage and interrupting any active routines.

But this time, it felt like her nano slammed into a brick wall. It was hard to describe, but her opponent’s nanosystem felt so dense. Val’s brow furrowed in concentration as she dumped another quarter of her power into the subroutine, feeling a slight twinge in her own chest as the exertion stressed her cracked core. Even with that significant effort, she only managed to momentarily slow the powerful current of nano in her opponent’s shoulder that enforced the fist. A fist that continued to descend towards her unimpeded.

Her connection to the disruption subroutine was shattered as the punch connected with her torso. Val’s blows seemed to have done little to negate the force of the punch as she felt a few ribs crack even through her exosuit. Val gasped painfully as she found herself pinned to the wall, the hand on her chest pushing her back into the wall forcefully. She activated Noir’s second needle and brought her arm up to stab down at her opponent’s face, but froze as she looked at her opponent again. The look of surprise on Bri’s face likely mirrored her own as they each finally realized who they were fighting.

“Val?! But–” Bri’s surprise immediately morphed into one of worry. Bri pulled Val down off the wall and stepped in front of her. Bri turned back to the rest of the complex and opened her mouth to say something else but was interrupted by a loud crack. Val barely had time to register the sound of Kaya’s rifle before Bri’s arm snapped outward, hitting something out of the air. Val flinched as the bunker wall next to her face exploded, pelting her with shards of concrete, but she barely noticed as she stared at Bri with awe.

Did she just deflect Kaya’s bullet… with her bare hands?

“Get down, Val!”

Bri’s warning cut off any other superfluous thoughts Val might have had. Bri grabbed Val and pushed her down to the ground before covering Val’s body as much as she could with her own. Val’s brow furrowed in confusion, but her question died on her lips as she looked over Bri’s shoulder at the overcharged ball of energy that Wallon had likely lobbed in their direction a few seconds earlier.

Her view was suddenly filled with Zavis’ broad back as the towering man stepped between the women and Wallon’s grenade. Zavis angled his shield upwards, the already massive nano construct expanding quickly to cover a larger area. There was a brief lull in the chaos as silence fell over the bunker for a second, but the calm was shattered a moment later by the exploding grenade. Zavis absorbed most of the impact and Bri shielded Val from any stray debris, but the explosion still left Val blinded for a moment.

Val blinked rapidly, waiting for her vision to recover. It was a good reminder that although many aspects of human physiology were improved by the nano coursing through her body, there were still limits to what Val’s body could handle. When her vision finally cleared, Val was surprised to see Bri’s face hovering inches from her own. Concern was evident on Bri’s face, a stark contrast to the usual upbeat expressions she usually wore. As Val’s eyes focused on Bri, some of the worry and tension leaked out of the other woman. Bri leaned back and settled into a crouch, giving Val a little more space.

Taking a deep breath, Val pushed herself up into a sitting position against the wall. She still felt on edge from the unexpected combat as adrenaline pumped through her veins. As she caught her breath, she noticed Kaya and Wallon walking up to join them. Kaya was casually running through checks on her rifle, acting as if she had just finished a round of target practice rather than fired a live round at Val. At least Wallon had the good sense to look sheepishly towards Val, giving her a shrug and apologetic grin.

It was only until Val saw Wallon’s lips moving but didn’t understand his words that Val realized she could only hear a loud ringing sound. Reaching up to her left ear with her free hand, she glanced down at her fingers as they came away bloody.

Ruptured eardrums. Your nanosystem is currently a little strained, so it should take longer than usual to repair. Another minute or so.

Val sent a mental acknowledgement to Noir, wiping the dribble of blood away from each ear. Bri noticed her movements and looked up at Zavis, saying something else that Val obviously couldn’t hear. The man nodded, and moments later, Val got a notification inviting her back into the squad’s channel.

Zavis: We can talk like this until your hearing comes back. Are you otherwise injured?

Val shook her head.

Val: This works for me. I think I’m OK. I’ll be sore tomorrow but that’s nothing new at this point. I gotta say though, not quite the welcome I was expecting.

Bri: Sorry about that, Val. It’s just… We were sent out after you once we got back from our other mission, but the outpost you were kept in was completely obliterated. We assumed the worst after finding no trace of you. And then an unknown exosuit and Daemon signature walks into our base… I guess we were in a “punch first, ask questions later” kind of mood.

Wallon: To be fair, Bri is always in a punch first mood.

Bri rolled her eyes and slugged Wallon in the shoulder, causing the rotund man to stumble. Wallon recovered his balance with a practiced ease that indicated this occurrence happened frequently. He waggled his eyebrows at Val, giving off a strong “told you so” impression. Val smiled at Wallon, but internally she was confused by something Bri had said. Dropping off the squad channel for a moment, she directed her thoughts at Noir.

The unknown exosuit makes sense, but do you know anything about the unknown Daemon signature, Noir?

That was my doing as well. It was often necessary for my previous Users to go undercover and so masking my own digital signature was an important skill I developed. I’ve been projecting an alternate Daemon identity since we reentered the city.

I didn’t even know that was possible.

One of many tightly-kept secrets of the Daemon collective. On that note, try to avoid revealing that piece of information to… anyone really.

Yes, yes, I know. No one is trustworthy and I need to keep as many tricks hidden as possible.

You’re learning quickly.

Turning her attention outward, Val watched Wallon dodge a follow-up punch from Bri. Val’s smile broadened as she came to the realization that she had missed the band of misfit Defects. Although she had not known them for long, they had been the most accepting of her unique situation. Maybe it was just her isolation making her desperate for stable relationships, but she felt in her gut that she could trust them. A feeling that Noir’s paranoia clearly disagreed with, but it was something she and her Daemon would have to compromise on.

One thing had become clear over the past few days: while Val and Noir’s partnership showed some promise, she was in way over her head and needed help. Her breakfast conversation with Zyra had been the first step in repairing that relationship, and an ally on the Council was very welcome. She knew Fynn would always have her back, but he was just as new to this world as she was. Not to mention that the Unshackled clearly had some Guardian plants, as her experience with Kriven had taught her.

This left the four Defects standing in front of Val, who already knew her situation and clearly had power she was lacking. The last few minutes had made it clear that they could take Val at any moment. The fact that they hadn’t yet wasn’t hard proof of their trustworthiness, but it was something and Val needed to start somewhere.

What do you think, Noir?

I think we have no choice.

A sudden pop in her ears startled Val until she realized she could hear again. Apparently Noir had finished repairing the damage to her eardrums enough. Standing up with a groan, Val looked around at the other Defects. She met each one of their gazes, finally locking eyes with Zavis.

“I think we need to talk.”

An hour later, Val cleared her throat as she leaned back in her chair. A glass of water slid across the table, stopping just in front of Val. She looked over to see Wallon at his usual post in the kitchen and nodded appreciatively as she took a sip. The cool liquid soothed her throat. After days of not speaking to anyone, her vocal cords had seen heavy use this morning. First Zyra, now the Defects. Somehow, I doubt this is the end of it either.

She looked around the table to see how her story had landed. Frankly, it seemed crazy even to Val as she relayed the events of the last few days. Kriven’s betrayal, her abduction by the direwolf, the imprisonment and eventual escape from Brain and Brawn, and her trek back to Peakpoint.

At Noir’s insistence, she had left a few key details out. Her exosuit had been scavenged from the Unshackled outpost rather than Noir’s safehouse, and she didn’t mention her encounter with Gaia either. Luckily, her relationship with Zyra and the open secret that the Messenger Guildmaster ran Peakpoint’s spy networks gave Val an easy excuse for knowing any information that she otherwise shouldn’t.

For their part, the Defects seemed completely unfazed by most of Val’s revelations. They had asked clarifying questions several times but mostly sat silently as Val told her story. Wallon had perked up when Val had described the flashes of blue light she saw while climbing the mountain pass at night. He thought it may have something to do with the disappearance of the outpost and made it clear his interest was “purely professional.” Not a sentiment that made Val feel any better after being on the other side of one of his explosive creations now. Zavis waited until Val had drunk her fill before addressing her.

“I think we are all up-to-date on the situation now. The most important question is, what do you want to do now?”

Val glanced around the table nervously. The frown on Bri’s face made it clear she was not happy about what Val had experienced. To a lesser degree, Wallon also looked sympathetic, but Kaya and Zavis were completely unreadable.

“Well,” Val started, “I doubt I’m safe just because I made it back to Peakpoint now. The only long-term solution is to get strong enough to fight the Unshackled off if they come after me.”

Val paused, but Zavis motioned for her to continue. She struggled for a few moments to come up with the right phrasing but nothing fit quite right. In the end, she just decided to lay her cards out on the table and hope for the best.

“Look, I’ll be honest. I don’t have many options here. The Guilds are large and can obviously be infiltrated. On the other hand, you are already familiar with my situation and don’t seem to want to kill me. I know it’s asking a lot since you barely know me, but my best-case scenario is that I can stay on with your squad. You all are strong, so hopefully I can learn how to protect myself too.”

“In other words, you want us for protection and training,” Zavis grunted.

Val looked down and fiddled with the empty glass in her hands, not denying it but not confident enough to openly admit it either. His steel blue eyes considered her for several seconds before he looked around the table. Seeing her chance, Bri jumped into the conversation.

“You all know how I feel. Val hasn’t been her for long, but she’s been thrown in the deep end just like the rest of us. She’s weak now but she shows potential.” Bri looked thoughtfully at Val before continuing. “When we fought earlier – sorry about that again, Val – but anyways, I actually felt her nano disruption technique.”

“Didn’t seem to help much,” Val mumbled under her breath as she looked down at her shattered exosuit.

“Val, you don’t understand. You’ve had your Daemon for less than a week. The fact that you can even land a blow that I’d notice is impressive,” Bri said. “My overall combat rating is in the B ranks, and my body enhancement routines are probably in the top ten on the continent. For you to even influence my nano as a brand new User is unheard of.”

Val felt her cheeks redden at the unexpected praise, but Kaya’s sudden voice dampened her spirits.

“She’s dangerous,” the normally silent woman said.

“Aren’t we all?” Bri scoffed back in return.

“Bri, enough. You’ve said your piece, let Kaya say hers now.” Zavis jumped in before the conversation could get any further off-track. He gestured at Kaya to continue, but it seemed the sniper was content with what she had already shared. When it was clear that Kaya would say no more, Zavis turned to Wallon.

Wallon simply shrugged. “I don’t really mind one way or another. Taking Val in would certainly put a target on all of our backs and disrupt the quiet routine we’ve settled into. We spent so long trying to get out of the spotlight, and this would push us squarely back into the middle of things.”

Val felt her heart sink. She didn’t know whether Zavis was looking for a simple majority, but if Kaya and Wallon both didn’t want to help her, things weren’t looking promising.

“Then again–” Wallon started again, interrupting Val from her thoughts “–a major conspiracy involving the infamous assassin Daemon and a shadowy group of rogue Users? Sounds like fun.”

The man’s eyes gleamed with excitement as he continued wiping down the counters. Zavis leaned back and crossed his arms. Ten long seconds passed before he addressed Val again.

“Do you have anything else to add, Val?”

“No… Oh, wait! Did I mention that Zyra offered to get us a new space closer to the center of the surface city? That was the sort of compromise we came up with. You are the best team for me, but being isolated in the outer city is not ideal, so we could relocate to be next to the rest of the Guild outposts in the center of the surface city.”

Val wondered if she made a mistake as four pairs of eyes immediately narrowed in on her.

Wallon leaned over towards Val, his large gut pressing up against the table. “Will the new space have a fully-stocked kitchen?”

“Uhh…” Val hadn’t discussed any specifics with Zyra, but seeing the hungry look in Wallon’s eyes, it didn’t seem wise to disappoint him. “I don’t think anything has been decided yet, but I’m sure that’s something we could push for…”

That seemed to be enough for Wallon. “I’ve changed my mind, Zavis. We have a clear responsibility to help our fellow Defect.”

Zavis frowned but another voice cut in before he could say anything. Surprisingly, it came from Kaya this time.

“Gun range?”

Val shrugged. “If I had my way, that would be nice too. Shooting was one of the areas where I felt like I needed the most work, after all.”

Kaya nodded as she also looked at Zavis. “She’s dangerous. But Unshackled are worse.”

“What about an armory? Combat facilities?” asked Bri.

“Well, I certainly need some new armor,” Val replied as she looked down at her beat up exosuit. “And if my plan is to get stronger, I can’t see how I would do that without a decent setup for training.” Val drummed her fingers on the table before her eyes lit up. “Ooh, maybe I can talk to Mae and get one of the Technician workstations installed too.”

Zavis let out a heavy sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Val, are you trying to bribe my squad?”

“Um, not really, no,” Val replied. When it seemed like Zavis wasn’t really upset, she put on a small smile and asked, “But… is it working?”

She winced as he pinned her with his intense gaze, but after a second, his face softened slightly.

“Yes, it does appear to be working. But can you really get us a space with all those things?”

“Yes, definitely,” Val said with as much confidence as she could muster. She quickly wilted under Zavis’ gaze, though. “To be honest, I’m not sure. But they all seem like reasonable requests, so I’ll try my best to make it happen.”

A sudden notification in the corner of Val’s vision distracted her. She nearly dismissed the message, but noticed it came from Zyra. She opened the message and skimmed its contents, raising her eyebrows in surprise. Zavis noticed the change in her expression.

“What is it?”

“Well, as luck would have it, I just got a message from Zyra. Apparently she put our plan forward to the Council and they’re discussing it as we speak.”

Zavis was about to respond when he suddenly stopped. His eyes flicked back and forth as he also received a message. When his eyes focused back on reality, he grunted and pushed his chair back from the table. Standing up, he looked around the table.

“It seems we’ve all been summoned to speak with the Council.” He looked at Val. “It seems things really do move fast when you are involved.”

Val’s heart skipped a beat as she also stood up. “If you plan on answering that summons… does that mean you’ll keep me on the squad?”

“At the very least, we’ll go see what the Council has to say about the situation.”

Val nodded. That was really the most she could ask for at this point. Bri, Kaya, and Wallon had run off to the workbenches to armor up. It seemed their mentality was the same as Noir’s. Even if they only expected to talk with the Council, better to be prepared for any circumstance. She and Zavis started walking towards the staging room. Val watched with apprehension as Zavis leaned down to whisper something to her.

“A longer bed.”

Val looked up at the tall, imposing squad leader of the Defects with an incredulous expression on her face. Zavis straightened up and gave a light shrug.

“My ankles dangle off the end of the standard size. Would be nice if they didn’t have to.”

A grin broke across Val’s face.

Turns out he’s human after all.

He had me fooled.

Be nice, Noir.

Looking up at Zavis, Val answered, “Sounds reasonable to me. I need the whole squad to get a good night of rest if I want them to protect and train me.”

For a split second, Val swore that the corner of Zavis’ mouth twitched upward, but even Noir’s microexpression suite had difficulty confirming it with 100% accuracy. Regardless, Val’s smile widened even further.

“Whatcha grinning about?” asked Bri as she stepped up to the pair.

“Oh, nothing. Just happy to be back.”

“Happy to have you back,” Bri said with a warm grin of her own. “Now let’s go talk to the Council and get us some nice new digs.”

Val grabbed her helmet and slipped it over her head.

“Sounds like a plan to me.”