"The first woman-woman to join us at the Citadel." I perform a perfunctory bow, "An honor."

"Woman-woman?" Reina blinks her eyes owlishly at me as she tries to make sense of what I'm saying.

"Man-man." I point to myself as an example, then my finger swivels to Reina's direction, "Woman-woman. Get it?"

Reina continues to stare uncomprehending as Jas walks into the surgery bearing a set of vials and several disposable needles. He sighs in amusement at my labored response as he walks up to Reina and gestures to himself, "Woman-man. Understand now, Reina?"

"Oh!" Reina exclaims with sudden understanding, "You mean when we were back home right?" I grunt in satisfaction and lean against the wall of the clinic.

"Stop confusing the poor girl Don." Jas says lightly, but with a slight tinge of disapproval in his voice, "Confusing her like this makes acclimatization that much more difficult."

"And I've told you before 'Jasvinder'," I scowl, "you can call yourself whatever you want, but between us in private, use my actual name, not 'Don'."

Jas shakes his head sadly and begins rubbing an alcohol soaked cotton bud against Reina's upper arm. The elderly man stays silent for a few moments and I start thinking that this time, he might just finally relent on this bloody issue.

"Don, your real name is Don Kuat." Jas says, totally unrepentant, "You would be much happier if you just accepted that fact."

Damn it. Just give it a rest already. I raise an eyebrow and shoot back, "And the last I checked, your name is Sheryl -"

Jas's eyes narrow with annoyance but he doesn't lose his cool, even when cutting me off.

"Jasvinder Krishnan." Jas addresses Reina directly, ignoring me completely, "Born in the Epsilon Indi sector, and conscripted during the Twenty Year War against the Fallen. Rose to the rank of captain of the Auxilia and met my best friend and incorrigibly stubborn subordinate Don Kuat during the war."

"Uh, charmed?" Reina says, her face bearing the expression of a stunned duck at the by play happening before her.

"Likewise." Jas replies with a smile as he begins giving Reina a shot in the arm, "I also married my lovely husband after the war. You should meet him one of these days Reina. Don's met him already."

"Yeah." I confirm, "Not into guys, but I'll admit that Thomas is pretty hot. Model hot even. Way out of our friend's league." I really want to tear into Jas for pulling rank over me, but now's not the time. We have to make a good impression in front of the new hire. If its not too late for that already.

Reina laughs happily and smiles at both of us, "I was really nervous, you know, when the guys at the hospital back home told me I was going to be sent to a new world. I didn't know who I was going to meet, but you two are really like family. Its great."

No its not Reina, I curse in my mind. The big problem here is that Sheryl, no scratch that, Jasvinder Krishnan, has forgotten who his real family is. He thinks that boy toy husband of his is part of the family. That's complete nonsense of course. The only family Sheryl has are the people in this room, period. There's a reason why the seniors always arrange to do a meet and greet with the new hires as they begin to awaken their true memories. Its to make sure the real person beneath the skin suit can emerge. Its also the reason why the bosses back home have begun to pick orphans as vessels for the new hires. No existing parental bonds means less psychological distress when the awakening happens.

I make a mental note to raise Sheryl's psychological problems in my next transmission home. Sheryl has been using her seniority to get her way for far too long. First its getting married. Next, Jas might start talking about adopting a kid to complete his so-called family. What a cluster fuck that would be.

I smile wanly at my two colleagues and say, "Jas is a complete pain in the ass, just like actual family. So I guess you're right on that count, Lisa."

Before Lisa can reply, Jas cuts in again, "And Don is still as stubborn as ever, but I love him as my brother anyway."

"But which name should I be using now?" Lisa-Reina asks, looking expectantly at both of us.

Jas pats her lightly on the head and answers, "Your real name of course. Reina. Its a beautiful name, don't you think?"

"Just don't forget who you really are on the inside." I remark offhandedly.

....

"Reina's powerful Don." Jas says as he closes up the clinic for the day, the orphanage brats having been dealt with and sent home, "She will eventually grow more powerful than both of us combined."

"Well, duh. She's a woman in a woman's body." I snort, "That makes her power level at the very least a B. What happens if our special abilities are taken into account?"

"No difference?" Jas shrugs, "I've been giving Reina the blood serum shots, its her second today. Once her body stabilizes we will be able to request the management to issue her an ability package."

"I absorbed my first round of serum without issue." I point out, "No fever. No need for additional injections. I got my ability package soon after that. Reina's already running late."

"She's got time, Don." Jas says as we step out of the clinic and he pulls the shutters down, "I only awakened when I was in medical school. You can guess how difficult things were for me then."

I chuckle at Jas raising this bit from his past, "I remember Wu telling me he had to break into your dorm just to do the meet and greet with you."

"Its not funny." Jas grouses, "I thought that a strange man clad in black was going to rape me at the time. What's Wu doing these days anyway?"

"Retired." I say simply, "His host passed on and the bosses sent him off to a paradise dimension. He's on lifetime vacation until the next rebirth rolls around."

"I'm really out of touch with the rest of the group." Jas mutters morosely, "But how could Wu just agree to that? He had friends on this world right? How could he just one day say, 'I want to change worlds' just like that?"

"By saying 'I want to change worlds' of course." I roll my eyes at Jas's silly question, "Wu wasn't part of this world. Neither are we, no matter how much we pretend."

"Yeah." Jas mumbles, but I can feel the undercurrent of discontent from his tone, "Walk with me to my car Don. I need to discuss something with you."

Figures. I had been waiting for this moment ever since I had stepped into the clinic. Jas did say over the phone that he had business with me after all. Meeting Reina was just something we did out of convenience. We walk in silence through the parking area and Jas uses his bleeper to unlock his car, a large luxury sedan painted silver. Both of us get in and Jas locks the doors of the car securely.

"Medicine pays well." I remark, as my body sinks into the leather seats. My car just uses fabric for the upholstery. I need to ask for a raise.

"I don't get a pension though." Jas replies, "Now, Hiro Kuat."

I nod and scrunch my eyebrows together in thought, "Hiro was at the transmission station today. No idea what he prayed about though. I didn't get the chance to meet him."

Jas folds his arms in thought as he murmurs, "Hiro's here already, that's the point. He's going to be looking for you and your father soon, if not already. How should we handle this?"

"Leave him be?" I suggest, "Scuttlebutt says that Hiro has a power level of A, a chip off the old block, so to speak. He can access the Inner Citadel and find Kuat senior for us."

"Your father has a power level of A?" Jas looks back at me, confused.

"What? No, of course not. Kuat senior has a power level of C, like any other battle lord." I scoff, "The stories about him go into quite a bit of detail how he defeated A rated Valkyries though."

"Were the stories true?" Jas asks.

"No idea." I dismiss, "We were never close, and got separated when the war started. The part about him being a battle lord is true though."

Jas closes his eyes, considering the possibilities, "Mm. Battle lords are chosen from the strongest of the Auxilia for their seed. If your father was truly so impressive, its no surprise he would become the consort of the Leader herself as the management suspects."

"Perhaps." I agree, "Hiro did attend the Valkyrie academy after all. Kuat senior's influence might have something to do with that."

"If only we didn't fail in our previous attempt." Jas muses, tapping the steering wheel restlessly.

"Yeah." I agree, "Kuat senior's probably lying low in the Inner Citadel thanks to what happened during the war. He's looking out for D rankers, and the Inner Citadel conveniently only allows men who are battle lords in."

"Alright." Jas says having made up his mind and begins starting up the car, "Nothing we can do about this now. We should do some due diligence though, before calling it a day."

"I need to go to the office tomorrow." I complain.

"A short excursion." Jas says, "I'll even drive you home later if it becomes too late."

"Lead on my kapitan." I gesture lazily with my hand, "Where are we going?"

Jas smiles eagerly, "Club Loveless."