The smoke made me cough despite myself. I had asthma when I was younger, so I stayed away from smokers even now.

I smiled at his inquisition. Knowing I'd been trained in Stanton, he probably wanted a story?

"Ha, yeah. You know what we want, right? So, how long are you going to keep us waiting?"

He was old enough not to be held at bay by fake expectations, such as not asking twice. This wasn't the first time I had seen this as an issue. There were too many old people in Auburn or too many cops.

"Yeah, it's made with magic. I heard it from the defectors. Did they say its corrupted magic, or something? It's actually supposed to be a mixture of animal blood and ritualistic transfiguration."

"Transfiguration?" Joe asked.

"Yeah. A type of magic. Like from one thing to the other. I think they use animal blood as a symbol, like black is rotten, or blue or high-lighted colors are unnatural; so their bad stuff if you see them out in nature."

Joe and the corporal nodded to each other. The corporal said.

"You know we're scouting you?"

"Why."

Although I had already guessed it, I asked, just in case.

The bartender walked to the other end of the counter before he spoke.

"Hovering is almost finished scanning the surroundings of Auburn and Donnelly. We estimate by Wednesday we're going to go after the group."

"Yeah. But do you guy know who they are exactly?"

"That easy?" He questioned.

"You should think about these things. I wouldn't let my daughter do it."

Joe said.

"He's Kimberly's old-man."

"Oh, Kim! So you're Corporal Smith?"

"Yeah. I'm Ian. Next time ask for a name before you agree to go drinking with someone"

"Yes, sir. I still agree."

I drank more that night than I had aimed for. By the end, I stumbled my way home. Finding the new apartment was hard and it must've been three by the time I had got in.

………………………………….

I activated my bioenergy while in bed. Not because I felt threatened, but to get rid of my hangover. My wardrobe was simple, a lot of different colored t-shirts, about five jeans, and a pair of red shorts. Back in Stanton I would wear the cadet uniform, a camouflage outfit with a hat. My new wardrobe was temporary and I had bought it while low on funds.

I went to sprint on the beach and getting there was an exercise in itself. So much, that I did so on a twelve percent power-boost. The middle ring was the biggest. At about four miles in thickness and twelve miles in circumference. The outer ring was scattered, but less dense, and to the north, crowned by a particularly large cluster known as Knockers.

The sprint to the beach lasted an hour and along the Green, Tea Sea lasted two. The name was suitable, I'd sit down and watch the waves fall into white foam before leaving, on almost every run.

By the time I had arrived back to my apartment, it was eight. Just as I left the apartment, the radio girl rang my ear-piece.

"Sock-puppet, Hovering has caught abnormal activity in the second rings outer perimeter, south-sought-west. Please get over there as quickly as possible."

"Alright."