“I’m sorry, but I actually can’t cook very well at all,” Nina apologized.

“You’ll have to practice a little to improve your cover identity then,” Svanda laughed as she placed the paper on the desk. “Anyway, welcome to The Cloud Orchestra.”

“Thanks.” Nina thanked the group as a whole who were all smiles bar Saela, who had an unimpressed look on her face.

“There weren’t many matches I guess then?” Trim asked Reina, who shook her head.

“Nope, only 4,” she sighed before heading to an office which was set into the wall. Pausing in the doorway, she looked over her shoulder at the group. “I’m giving everyone two days off to welcome our new member. Saela, show Nina around upstairs and point out the empty bedroom. Svanda, take her to The Eye of Iron before the break is over. Someone also help her find something appropriate to wear, something that doesn’t scream Caecus.”

With a murmur of agreement, the group dispersed, leaving Saela standing by the printer alone. After shooting Nina a hostile gaze, she turned and walked to the staircase which ran up along the wall at the back of the office.

“Come.”

Following her up the timber staircase, Nina found that they had appeared in a lounge area with an open kitchen behind it to the side of a large dining table. At the back, between the kitchen and dining spaces, another hallway stretched away from them. Despite the fact that there were no windows, the white walls and creamy carpet combined to give the room a clean and bright feel. At regular intervals, framed photos of different members of the team were hung on the wall.

“This is the living area. Food shopping is supposed to be done on rotation but it never happens because nobody here cooks very often. The restaurants around here are quite cheap so people usually go out.”

Saela walked to the middle of the room before pointing down the hallway, “Bedrooms are on each side, everyone has their own bathroom. The second room on the left is empty so it’s your room now.”

“Thank you for your help, Saela,” Nina smiled. Seeing that her attempt at smoothing out whatever issue Saela had failed, she watched as Saela disappeared back down the stairs. Curious, she made her way down the hallway, checking the nameplates on the doors, before entering the room which was unoccupied.

The size of the bedroom was very reasonable. At a guess, she judged that it was around four by five meters, which left plenty of space for her to add her own things around the double bed which sat in the corner. A door led to a bathroom that was small but more than adequate. Seeing that there were clean towels on the rack, Nina locked the door to her room before tossing her clothes on the bed and then hopping into the shower to wash away the cobwebs in her mind that remained from the night before.

While Nina was showering, Reina sat in her office with her feet raised on the desk.

“Someone with some combat training would have been more useful, I think,” said Svanda who was sitting on a chair which faced the desk. Ignoring the bare feet raised in the direction of her face, she looked over to Trim who sat next to her. “Don’t you think so too?”

“Combat skills can be trained, although I don’t think she looks like someone who is cut out for it,” Trim replied. Tapping her fingers on the armrest of the chair to her own rhythm, she yawned. “What about just leaving her here with Euris?”

“I didn’t recruit someone from Caecus to leave them in the office,” Reina said as she looked at Nina’s official printout which she held in her hand. “We need her when we drop into Caecus, the two of you should know that.”

“Last time was fine though,” Svanda stated.

“That was only because we were passing straight through without doing any work,” Reina sighed as she dropped the printout on the desk. “We’ve been avoiding jobs on Caecus because we don’t have good connections. I don’t want to work through the Network’s group of people over there or through those other people either, whatever their names were. The cuts they take are crazy.”

“Wasn’t Nina dropped through because she doesn’t have any connections though?”

“She knows more than us about how things work up there. SuTSU have high standards for who they select.”

“You can’t be sure that what she knows is relevant at all to what we will be doing. You can’t even be sure that she won’t try to run as soon as we take her back.”

“I’ll do what I can but I can’t be sure, no.” Reina stood up before walking to the sliding glass door which separated her office from the open space beyond. Seeing that their meeting was over, Trim and Svanda both rose before exiting the office.

“Maybe she will surprise us though,” Reina smiled.

“Maybe she won’t,” Saela said, privy to the end of the conversation now that the door had been opened.

Sitting at her own desk before picking up a pair of headphones, Trim sighed. “She’s been here for less than an hour and you already have a bone to pick with her?”

“If she didn’t reject Reina to go and have a party with those girls from Dari Corp only to come crawling back the next day, there wouldn’t have been a problem.”

Trim flicked across the desktop of her computer before a dull thud began to leak from the headphones that she had placed on her head. “I would be more worried if she had accepted straight away. You’ve spent your life here Saela, you already knew what you were signing up for. It’s incomparable.”

About to reply, Saela stopped when she realised that Trim wouldn’t hear her anyway. Seeing that Svanda planned on avoiding the conversation, she frowned before getting up and leaving through a door which was placed in the corner of the room, under the staircase.

“Ah, you’re here,” Svanda smiled as Nina made her way down the staircase moments later, looking at the door that had just closed with interest. Although she had showered, she was wearing the same clothing that she had on before as she didn’t have anything else to wear.

“Where did everyone go?” Nina asked, seeing that only Trim and Svanda remained in the main office.

“Out,” was all that Svanda said in reply. After looking over Nina’s attire, she sighed. “I’m probably not the best person to take you, but you really need something to wear. I’ll show you a few shops.”

“That would be great,” Nina smiled before pausing. “But I don’t have any money yet.”

“We can fix that,” Svanda laughed as she tapped on the glass to Reina’s office before sliding the door open. “Give Nina a card.”

“Right here,” Reina agreed before sliding a card across the desk. The same size as a credit card and translucent in appearance, the card had a strange pattern running through it that shimmered in the light. “The amount we agreed on isn’t going to get you very far, so if you visit The Eye of Iron, put it on my account.”

“Thanks.”

Watching as Svanda led Nina over to the door that Saela had disappeared behind before, Reina stood up.

“Pay Sem back first.”

With a nod, Nina followed Svanda through the door, closing it behind her.

“This is the interesting part, isn’t it?” Trim asked Reina after dropping her headphones around her neck.

The corner of Reina’s lips turned upward as she walked over to Trim’s desk, leaning against it. “Shall we bet then?”

“20 credits says she comes back with black clothes and a pulse pistol,” Trim laughed before ducking Reina’s playful swing.

“She’s with Svanda, isn’t guessing like that cheating?”

“If you want to guess red leathers and a whip, feel free,” Trim shrugged.

“She’ll dress in navy,” Reina said as she picked up a packet of candy lying on the desk. Taking one and popping it into her mouth, she thought for a second. “She won’t wear black because she will want to change to a different colour from what she is wearing now without going to far.”

“I think I lose these bets with you for a reason,” Trim sighed. “Not a gun either?”

“A gun is reasonable, something small like Saela’s” Reina replied. “Nobody uses blades anymore.”

“Nobody?” Trim laughed. “Maybe she won’t pick anything yet.”

Looking at the door from where they had left, Reina sat in thought. After a moment, she pushed herself off from Trim’s desk and headed towards the staircase that led upstairs.

“Yesterday might have made it seem otherwise, but Nina is a decisive person. As long as she can see that there is value, she will accept.” Walking up the stairs, she yawned. “I’m taking a nap now so don’t let anyone bother me for a while.”

With a wry smile, Trim nodded before placing her headphones on her ears and returning her attention to the screen, the dull thud of bass leaking across the office once more.