The first thing that Nina realised as they were walking to what she assumed would be The Eye of Iron was the difference in attitude towards them from the people on the street. When she had walked by herself, she had weaved in and out of the crowd that seemed to ebb and flow at random. When she had walked with Svanda, she had found it easier as Svanda had essentially carved a path through the people for her to follow.

Walking with Reina, however, was on another level.

Flanked by Nina on one side and Svanda on the other, Reina strolled down the street as the crowd parted before her. The combination of her confidence, her green armband, and Svanda’s presence hovering behind her gave the impression that she was important. Nina of course didn’t know if these people could simply recognize Reina just by her face, but she was tempted to chalk it off. After all, if you’re going to work outside the law, you probably didn’t want to be famous.

It was true that green armbands were a rarity down here, but they weren’t impossible to find either. Like anything out of the ordinary, they often fueled gossip about the details that lay behind them. Children would ask their parents who the green people were, and dishonest business owners would speculate if they were tied to SuTSU. Some imaginative people even dreamed that they were professional mercenaries who had come to complete a job in the mess of concrete that SuTSU often didn’t want to deal with.

Ultimately, people tied the colour of an armband to a person’s status. On the orange floors, a green band was likely the highest they would ever see. Someone that owned a blue band would have absolutely no reason to venture down here much like a noble wouldn’t be interested in visiting a slum. Nina hadn’t found it that bad, but little did she know that on the floors above, the orange and red levels had a reputation for being wild and rife with crime. The fact that SuTSU hardly showed up probably helped contribute to that, and people like Reina often didn’t do anything to change the opinion as they found it useful.

“Why isn’t The Cloud Orchestra on the green floors?”

Nina saw the edge of Reina’s lips raise to a smile in response to her question as they walked.

“Why do you think?” she replied while still walking straight, looking ahead as the people parted before her.

“Because it’s easier to hide from SuTSU?”

“Mmm, that’s part of it,” Reina agreed as they reached their destination. As Nina had guessed, the trio turned into The Eye of Iron and walked straight through security under the courteous nods from the staff.

I’m carrying a gun in my jacket and I just walked straight through security, Nina thought with surprise as she realised exactly what she had done. Looking over to Svanda who chuckled at the look on her face, she sighed. Clearly her reaction had been expected. Pulling her thoughts back to Reina’s answer, she thought about what else would be a good reason but couldn’t think of an answer. “So what’s the other reason?”

“There are many reasons,” Reina said as they crossed the lobby. Approaching the elevator, an attendant smiled before opening the doors with a nod. “SuTSU don’t come down here very often, and it’s also cheaper to run everything down here.” As the elevator doors closed, they were whisked upwards even though they hadn’t pressed a button. “The people I pick to work at The Cloud Orchestra also come from either the red or orange levels as they blend in easier while they’re working and they’re more receptive to the work. You saw it before, how green bands attract attention down here.”

“It makes sense I guess,” Nina said as the elevator doors opened to reveal a hallway. Unlike the swathes of white she had seen earlier, this hallway was dark. Black marble tiles ran down the length of the floor before rising up the walls on each side. Thin veins of pale blue rock snaked through the glossy surfaces like electric currents. White downlights were set every two or so meters causing the highlights to shimmer as though they were alive.

“They aren’t the main reason though,” Reina smiled as Julia appeared at the other end of the corridor. “When I started The Cloud Orchestra, I only had an orange band myself.”

Wearing a strapless white dress that was a bit on the short side for Nina, Julia’s footsteps echoed in the corridor as her heels clacked on the marble. Her loose emerald hair bobbed over both her shoulders and the thin silver earrings she wore as she approached. Meeting Reina’s group in the middle of the hall, she extended her hand in the direction of a white door that sat in the wall beside them. “Just two?”

Seeing Reina nod, she smiled before opening the door. Reina followed her and Nina ducked in after Svanda motioned for her to follow. As Svanda closed the door behind them, Nina surveyed the new space. A thin rectangular room that reminded her of a private bowling alley, a small sitting area sat on the raised platform that they now stood on. Steps covered in thick black carpet ran down each side of the platform to two identical areas which were similar to the station that Nina had first fired a pistol in. Empty display cases sat in each wall, while on the other side of each station was a table covered in ammunition. Stretching away from them was a large concrete area which was lit up by a series of bright lights.

“Have fun,” Reina smiled as she sat at the table that overlooked the range. Julia sat opposite her before pressing a small button on the desk. Svanda pat Nina on the shoulder and smiled.

“Let them talk, let’s go,” she said as she led Nina down the steps and into one of the booths. Walking over to the empty display case in the wall, Svanda examined a touch screen before pressing a few buttons. After a moment, the display case retracted up into the wall before being replaced by another one which was full of ammunition. “This is all for your pistol. Reina will pay for it as a training expense, so don’t hold back.”

“What do you want to drink?” Reina’s voice drifted down from the platform that overlooked them. Nina looked up to see Reina and Julia with matching smiles, reminding herself of when she had thought about what would happen if this pair was put together. Now that it was happening, she thought that maybe it wasn’t a good idea after all. Who knew what this pair would scheme?

“Who’s paying for it?” Svanda laughed as she entered her own booth before walking over to the touch panel. She thought for a moment before her fingers danced over the screen.

“I’ll cover it, so ask for whatever you like,” Julia replied. Julia herself may not have seen it, but Nina certainly saw Reina’s expression change to a thin smile at her response.

“Bring out a bottle of the 05 Macing and a bottle of the 03 Ehrenheart then,” Svanda said as the new display case rose in front of her. Filled with an assortment of assault rifles and submachine guns, she picked a heavy-looking rifle off the rack before taking it over to the bench on the other side of the station. Metallic green with what seemed to be three barrels and a long scope, Nina wondered if she would even be able to lift it.

“And you Nina?” Julia asked. Nina could see that Julia was inwardly sighing at Svanda’s probably expensive selection, but she herself didn’t know the name of any drink.

“I’ll just have some water, thanks,” she said before taking her pistol out and setting it on the bench before fishing around in her other pocked for the extra magazines.

“Get her a bottle of the Macing as well,” Svanda said as she finished inspecting the rifle. Sliding a small clip of what Nina assumed to be pulse ammunition into the top of the weapon directly above the trigger, she fiddled with a few dials on the barrel of the rifle.

“Just wait until the screen is up before you start,” Julia said as she smiled at the attendant who had entered the room. Nina was amazed at how quick the service was as three bottles of wine with glasses were brought to them, the attendant leaving two at Svanda’s station before leaving the other at Nina’s beside a bottle of water. After retreating back up the stairs and beginning to pour wine for Reina and herself, Julia pushed a button on the table which sent a hazy blue screen of light down between them and the stations below.

“What is that?” Nina asked Svanda.

“A soundscreen, it reduces noise between each side.” Seeing that the barrier had finally reached from the floor to the ceiling, she stepped towards the edge of the station that looked out over the range. “They can’t hear us, and we can’t hear them.”

“Nina, you need to score 750 points on the easy challenge by the time you leave.” Reina’s voice came through a speaker that was set in the ceiling. “You can select the challenge from the screen at the front.”

“Unless they use the speaker,” Svanda laughed.

Nina was halfway across the floor to inspect the screen when she jumped as a steady flash of green burst out from Svanda’s station. Looking across, she saw that Svanda had the rifle she had selected pressed to her shoulder as she continuously let off a steady rhythm of bursts across the range. The bright pulse ammunition shredded the groups of targets that were constantly appearing, disappearing, and moving around like they were nothing. Watching as she reloaded without taking her eye from the scope, Nina was impressed as a bright number on a large panel above Svanda constantly ticked upwards before stopping at 6,520, a red light flashing to signal that the challenge was over.

“Sorry, was that distracting?” Svanda sheepishly smiled before pressing a button that caused a barrier to slowly rise between the pair. “This should help.”

Nina turned back to the range to see that a barrier had also risen down the centre of the target area. This way, she wouldn’t be distracted as the bright green flashes from Svanda’s pulse rifle shredded the targets at a pace that she would probably never manage. Walking over to the touch screen at the front of the station, she placed the pistol on the small bench before her and studied the display.

Behind her, after breaking their discussion for a moment, Julia smiled. “So did you want to bet on this too?”

“350,” Reina said after pausing for a moment, glancing nonchalantly at Julia before turning her attention to her wine glass.

“The easy difficulty doesn’t offer scaling points for accuracy, just 25 points per target,” Julia replied as her soft chuckle was hidden behind the back of her hand. “14 rounds in the magazine at 25 points each is 350. You’re assuming that she will take her time, hit each target, but not make it past the first reload.”

“Are you going to put a number forward or not?”

Shaking her head, Julia pouted before turning her attention to her glass. “I wanted 350 too.”

“Boring,” Reina sighed although she was inwardly pleased. Any chance to take a poke at Julia was welcomed. “Let’s just iron out the details of this proposal of yours then.”