Being stuck in an infirmary quickly became one of the top irritations Carole had ever endured. There was nothing wrong with her! The enforced inaction left her feeling like she was in prison, not recovery, and she had become more restless by the minute.
Well, she was finally free. She even managed to get out of jail early, getting pardoned at noon. Her first stop was her sister's room. She'd been surprised she hadn't seen Alisha before she'd been released. She was even more surprised when no one answered as she knocked.
Where is she? Carole wondered. I could track her through her ring. She paused to consider that for a couple of moment. No. I want to tell Alisha so bad I can't stand it, but a hint like that wouldn't be a hint.
Secretly she was annoyed with her sister about that. She'd laid out the hint she was hiding something perfectly. She knew Alisha realized it, but had never tried pinning her down to get at the information. Carole would say it was Alisha respecting her privacy, but come on! They're sisters. Respecting each others privacy wasn't in the contract.245Please respect copyright.PENANA187r1vYEJa
Oh well. The ring was out. Instead she went with a good old fashioned search, starting with the cafeteria. It was lunch time after all. It seemed reasonable. She turned out to be wrong however. Instead she found Simon, sitting alone in a corner, his back against the wall. His eyes never looked down at the food he was eating. They were surveying the entire room instead.
She recognized the defensive position. It wasn't uncommon among people who were combat trained, especially the ones who had gone through more than anyone ever should and were slightly broken from the experience.
There was no way to approach without him noticing her advance, and she didn't want to. She walked right up to him instead. The one difficulty with his defense was there was no escape route. His eyes were glued to her with every step she took, his eyes darting away only briefly to see if he could find a way out.
The chimera still fascinated her. She had worked out half of how the glyphs worked. The easy half. Transmutation was a common enough spell. It would give any material the qualities of another. As she had pointed out on their first meeting his scales were probably leather, not iron. Even now they were leather despite how they looked. As soon as the spell stopped they'd return to leather.
Except the spell had been worked into a glyph. The scales would never change back as long as the glyph remained attached. She was sure now the glyphs were tattooed on somehow. That meant the scales would never change back until he died. To provide the protection they were there for however the glyph would be the only way to go. In a fight his concentration would inevitably break at some point. Also while it is only a minute amount the glyph would use less of his magic.
She supposed a true transmutation would have worked as well, changing the scales at an atomic level to make the scales actual iron, not just the property of it. Then the glyphs wouldn't be needed. Being attached would lead to health issues however simply from a biological view point. It'd limit the ability for the scales to regenerate as well.
The big question was how he maintained his energy levels between those spells and the drain from being grounded. She needed to know. Obsessing on it was one of the distractions that had kept her from going insane while waiting in the infirmary.
It was during one of her visits that Alisha explained why Simon had been so angry at her and continued to avoid her. On their first meeting she hadn't considered what he might have gone through to be modified that greatly. All she saw was a wonderful puzzle. The thirty second walk proved to her the magnitude of what he must have gone through. She was part of a military family. It wasn't the first time she'd seen the signs of PTSD.
He wasn't afraid of her however. Not enough. While the flight or fight instinct had kicked in, the fight option was the one that was in control. There was a coiled sense of anger, waiting to be released. It was entirely possible he could lash out at her.
She stopped five feet away and smiled with as much kindness as she could muster. Being kind hearted by nature it was impossible for it not to look sincere. The distance wasn't for her protection. It was for him to see her less as a threat.
"Can I have a seat?" she asked. "I want to apologize in detail, and I don't want to make a scene."
The chimera snorted. "Why would you apologize to me?" The anger in his voice wasn't even attempted at being masked. She didn't blame him.
"Okay, if you insist, I'll make a scene," she said, trying not to sound harsh. It would be a scene, but it was going to make her look bad and not Simon. Part of her was thankful in fact. She had earned this just reward.
She went to her knees, keeping her eyes on him and ignoring the looks from those around her. "I ask your forgiveness for my rude behavior at our first meeting. I want you to believe me when I say I had no understanding of how inconsiderate to your feelings I had been, and I did not wish to offend you."
She kept your head bowed subserviently, prostrating herself in a way she'd seen in many of her manga, particularly the 'historical' ones. The way they folded their legs under them hadn't looked nearly as uncomfortable as it turned out to be, but she maintained it even has her feet began to go numb.
She couldn't look up to see how he was reacting to her efforts. From him all she heard was silence. From behind her there were little chuckles of amusement, and disapproving whispers. He was a chimera. A second class citizen that should be grateful to the point of tears to be allowed to attend here with his betters.
Her actions, therefore, meant she thought she was less than a second class citizen. She was being pitied by them, and she was going to be treated like one now.
She had known from the start this was going to be the cost, but she needed to atone for her sin. Before leaving the infirmary the chaplain had rebuffed her attempts at finding her calling for a second time, but she would still hold herself to the ideals she believed He had set upon his children.
"Get up you idiot!" Simon hissed, sounding both angry and embarrassed. Looking up she noticed he was staring not at her, but at the students around them. He looked scared, and she searched for a reason why.
She didn't waste time getting back to her feet, giving a bow of thanks. "Do you accept it then?" she asked with hope.
He still hadn't looked at her, his eyes on every other student. She realized her newest blunder. She'd brought too much attention on him from people he had not trust in. "If you'd hurry up and sit down, then yes!"
Sitting down across from him, Carole was shocked when she heard the start of applause behind her. She turned in her seat, her right arm resting on the back, to see students from sergeants to second-lieutenants clapping, a couple cuffing the ears of the underclassmen that had been laughing a second before.
Feeling confused she turned back to Simon to see if he had any understanding on his face, and found none. Trying to ignore it instead, she said "I really am sorry. I can be an idiot."
Simon didn't look convinced, but didn't look like he could find a reason not to believe her either. "You aren't much like your sister, are you?"
He was still all gruffness, but the question had a hint of amusement. It caught Carole by surprised. "What do you mean?"
"From what I saw she'd have come in and act like we were old friends, ignoring what she did. She'd then try to cajole me until I forgot why I was pissed, and probably succeed."
That got a laugh out of Carole, which she had dearly needed. "Yeah, that's about right."
"So, what do you want?" The switch back to caustic suspicion was like a crack of a whip, lashing at the unprotected skin of Carole's shame.
It caught her by surprise, and she blurted out the absolute truth before she realized it. "I want to figure out what they did to you and see if I can modify it to help everyone." She stopped talking quickly, embarrassed, then resumed. "I'm not going to try though unless you're okay with it."
"So you're sorry for what you did, but you don't deny you meant it? You realize you sound like a liar."
Carole had thought she was close to becoming teammates, if not friends, by gaining the trust needed to work together. She was seeing they were far from that point. Some mistakes were meant to last. Looking a bit defeated she shrunk in on herself. "I do. I can't help it. Glyphs are my life. That doesn't make me like whoever did this too you."
She knew it was a worthless plea. "And that is another lie," he said, his eyes flashing with intelligence Carole hadn't expected. "You may like glyphs, but you aren't any good. If you were you'd be in the mage track like Yukiko. Maybe that's why you want to experiment on me, to learn something that might make them let you into that track."
He was too close with that one. He was much smarter than she'd given him credit for. She couldn't tell him why she hadn't made it there however. "It's the truth."
"Liar."
She wanted to be angry at him for accusing her, but she couldn't. His logic was sound based on what he knew, and what would change his mind she couldn't tell him. "Can I convince you that I won't try, regardless of what I want? That I'm not as evil as they were?"
"There's no such thing as evil, so I can't think you are," he started, the statement sounding as illogical as his earlier assessments had been logical. "As for not trying... You've been looking this entire time trying to figure me out, haven't you?"
She wanted to say 'not the entire time,' but that would still prove his point. All that came out of her instead was silence.
"Yeah. So how can I trust you?"
Defeated Carole stood up, readying herself to leave. "I'm sorry." She turned and left, recognizing defeat. Maybe with time she could prove herself. Words never would.
Simon watched the red head leave, feeling his shoulders relax the farther she went. Did she mean what she was saying? Probably. Would she turn him into a science experiment down the road, regardless of her current intentions? He didn't know, and he couldn't risk it.245Please respect copyright.PENANAWfU0aqARPE
"That was harsh," a strange voice said next to him. He jumped involuntarily at the sound. His attention had been so focused on his teammate that he hadn't noticed anything outside of her. It showed how upsetting the encounter had been to him that he'd dropped his guard so completely.245Please respect copyright.PENANAgsOb5hPZtH
Looking towards the voice "Second-lieutenant Stanley Dupree" instantly appeared over his head. It also indicated he was a Rogue Spy, though given his casual clothing being a rogue was already a given.245Please respect copyright.PENANATA6voFexwW
To say he was a dwarf was an overstatement, but his thin frame only accentuated how short he was. He was more finely boned than Yukiko's dancer-like frame. He was sitting, yet still at eye level with his visitor. He didn't think Stanley weighed more than eighty-five pounds.245Please respect copyright.PENANAjJMkzBCnNQ
Perhaps that was the purpose of the bright pink hair, to attract enough attention not to be trampled. Besides the hair and the size, he had an almost child-like face, making him look younger than Carole. Simon wasn't entirely sure how anyone took him seriously regardless of his rank.245Please respect copyright.PENANA0OltDERzLs
There was something off about him Simon realized, aside from his obvious size issues. He wasn't sure what, but he was looking for it now. Whatever "it" was.245Please respect copyright.PENANAuRJbBbyM8L
"No point sugar coating the truth." The voice he used had been just has jaded for him as it had been for Carole.245Please respect copyright.PENANAD998W54Jdl
His observations for the last week had told him that the upperclassmen were going to treat him as an equal. Some of them may even believe it. He was going to test that out by talking to this one the same as he would the headmistress. He knew it wouldn't seem that way, but it was a show of respect that he was entertaining the conversation at all.245Please respect copyright.PENANAtxzqvN8xHF
The spritely man shook his head. He thought he wouldn't understand where his pain was, and because of that he expected him to run off the same as Carole had. Faster in fact. He didn't. "You've had a bad time of it, haven't you?"245Please respect copyright.PENANAqeOmVutzuY
"I'm a chimera," Simon replied, stating the obvious, his weariness betraying the depression that self-inflicted reminder that came with. The rest of his statement went without saying, so he didn't.245Please respect copyright.PENANAueCrjFsg5x
Stanley said it instead. "And chimera are treated like shit." He nodded at the obvious statement. The swearing had been a bit incongruitous to his appearance, but Simon ignored it. "So why are you here?"245Please respect copyright.PENANA20OgPxvKdi
Now that was a complicated question he realized, even if he had answered it to himself multiple times. The trouble was those answers kept changing each time he asked himself for no discernible reason.245Please respect copyright.PENANAHUEgowyflv
"What does it matter?" He asked. "And why should I tell you?" He wasn't really angry, but like Carole he wanted to avoid not only the topic, but the entire social interaction.245Please respect copyright.PENANAjF2s5zrpi2
The question was insubordinate. He knew that. He was using the excuse of being new to military life as an excuse to skip those formalities, and it had enough truth behind it be acceptable so far. He thought he might have crossed the line this time.245Please respect copyright.PENANArhZzAN3efm
"Private, answer the question." No doubt about it. He'd crossed the line in a big way.245Please respect copyright.PENANAJ9IK1qBG6z
Not wanting to rock the boat any farther he started with the reason he told himself most often. "Yes sir. It is because I need the training."245Please respect copyright.PENANAqncXG42jx9
"I've been watching you." He had? He searched his memory and couldn't come up with a single time seeing him, and he wasn't the type to blend in with a crowd. "There's not much this school could teach you when it comes to fighting. So what training?"245Please respect copyright.PENANAW1g5xkFsEd
Simon shook his head like he was missing something, but in reality he was trying to stop reviewing the past and when he had been around. Once he had it locked down Simon refined his first statement. "It's more about control than skill."245Please respect copyright.PENANA0voaBg4789
"So you've killed before." He knew from the HUD that he was a spy in training. That would have stealth training, depending on the type of spy. Could that be how he hadn't noticed her before now? It was hard to believe the way Stanley looked, but possible he supposed.245Please respect copyright.PENANAXK37amLMBM
The mystery was continuing to distract him from the conversation despite his attempts. In a second effort he pulled his thoughts back to his statement, and realized he didn't seem to have any negative reaction to her statement. "What makes you think that?"245Please respect copyright.PENANAn7DKxZfML6
He knew there were enough clues, but he needed to know which ones he was working with. Calmly the second-lieutenant ticked off his reasons. "You're elitely trained, have quite a few symptoms of PTSD, and have control issues by your own admission."245Please respect copyright.PENANAFxce8YeOyr
That covered most of those clues. At least the ones Simon knew about. He wasn't done however. "Then there's the fact you've been living on campus since before the semester started, but I don't ever remember seeing you." That took him by surprise for a moment until he remembered his own HUD listed him as both a student and as a resident which only someone who lived on campus year round would have, and then only after they'd been on for at least four months. "I'm betting Stacy had you in her little bunker. She'd only do that if you were dangerous."245Please respect copyright.PENANATwxOVGzkaJ
The diminutive man paused and looked him directly in the eyes. "But she'd only release you if she thought you'd gained control and weren't a danger to the rest of her students. Definitely a lot of control if she enrolled you. So, control isn't the reason you're here. At least not the complete reason. Why are you here?" he pressed.245Please respect copyright.PENANAdtC4xe7rRv
The way he wasn't pulling his punches was oddly relaxing. He was treating him with respect, but not with fear. Alisha had the same aura about her, which is likely what he found reassuring about her as well.245Please respect copyright.PENANAakbXQTXhwB
Simon was off balance at having his main reason for being at Davis-Monthan destroyed. He gave a second reason without thinking about it. "Even a weapon needs friends."245Please respect copyright.PENANAn773k9dVAg
"And you're a weapon, forged by some of the worst examples of humanity available." The chimera didn't deny the truth. "We're all weapons here, aren't we, in one form or another? The more training we get the more of a weapon we become." Stanley paused in thaught for a second, then continued as he came to a conclusion. "You figure we might be those friends because of that didn't you?. So, did you come to that decision consciously or subconsciously?"245Please respect copyright.PENANAtPZZ8XG3hF
He paused for a second, but before Simon could answer (Which he wasn't sure how he would) he said "no, that's the wrong question. The question is why do you want friends?"245Please respect copyright.PENANAgYb7k22RtC
The first question was easier Simon decided. He wasn't sure how he came to that conclusion so quickly. Sifting through data and analyzing people was probably one of the main focuses of a spy in training, and he was nearly graduated. Perhaps he was drawing off that?245Please respect copyright.PENANAhYSKzqJfmM
"I don't know..." he answered both questions, too bewildered to think beyond those words.245Please respect copyright.PENANAS8DWFXSeoP
"Mind if I take a stab at it?" At his nod Stanley continued. "It's simple: you want to be normal, not a weapon. Normal people have friends."245Please respect copyright.PENANA1LINIz228L
Yeah, that pretty much summed it up. Again Stanley wasn't finished with him, bringing the conversation back around to what he assumed had been the upperclassman's intent to start with. "That girl just humiliated herself for your sake. You realize that don't you?"245Please respect copyright.PENANAQaHaiZYePn
Simon hadn't bothered to think of it from Carole's perspective. As he figured it, it didn't matter. Now that he was forced to the underclassman had to admit the shrimp was right. "If you want to make friends, someone who'll go through that for you might be a good place to start. She wouldn't do that for a weapon, only a person."245Please respect copyright.PENANAUqikN3QnNn
"She already admitted she wanted to dissect me. That's not what I'd call a good candidate."245Please respect copyright.PENANA8YE8sitSHD
He saw it suddenly. It was only a small twitch. If he hadn't been looking for it he would have never known. "You're a chimera too!"245Please respect copyright.PENANA7AZT6Qlng1
Not having any reason to hide it now that Simon knew, the wings he kept flat to his back, looking remarkably like a piece of his shirt, detached and spread. He wasn't entirely sure what Stanley's reason was to hide them to start with. "Guilty, though I'm different from you. I'm natural born. I never had to go through whatever it took to make you."245Please respect copyright.PENANA7C5pPWLlIL
He'd heard of reproducing chimera. It was one of the things his old masters had wanted to achieve with the final version of his mutations in fact. They were so rare Simon never thought he'd see one.245Please respect copyright.PENANAhjGTtRnH0L
"Well, this is as good of a time for you to find out anyways. I may be natural born, but that doesn't mean I was accepted. I can guess what you're going through, and that girl... She's special. She's ahead of the curve when it comes to accepting us."245Please respect copyright.PENANAlVdQaGRXHT
"But..."245Please respect copyright.PENANArxyWu1EJ5z
Stanley was in a groove now, interrupting him seamlessly. "But she wants to turn you into a science experiment."245Please respect copyright.PENANAYN48IP522e
"Yeah."245Please respect copyright.PENANAa4UQExdg2A
That groove ran deep, and it was leading somewhere. "Did she tell you that?"245Please respect copyright.PENANA9xDd3AucK6
"Yeah."245Please respect copyright.PENANAlBiHNPPHQj
"What were her exact words?" The groove he was carving was leading somewhere at least. The sylph-like lieutenant couldn't know it was a dead end though.245Please respect copyright.PENANA77WHGO2o2x
"I don't know," he said, trying to pull out the words exactly and failing. It didn't matter, he remembered the gist. "Something like 'I want to figure out how you work,'" he paraphrased, feeling victorious.245Please respect copyright.PENANATOLX8UMQt7
"And so she told you where she wanted to start cutting first?" The blood thirsty tone shouldn't come from such an innocent face. "I'm betting a leg. It's not vital if cauterized, and it would really slow you down if you tried to escape."245Please respect copyright.PENANA3IRyTHC01i
Simon's mouth dropped. "No. She said she wouldn't do anything I didn't agree too."245Please respect copyright.PENANAsp43YDLqpJ
He made an obvious act of looking surprised, which wasn't appreciated. Smiling devilishly Stanley asked "are you going allow her to take a leg if she wants too?"245Please respect copyright.PENANAB1bJPR7IQa
Simon didn't like being played, and he was definitely getting that feeling. "Don't be stupid," he growled, risking the insubordination his superior had looked past earlier. "Of course not."245Please respect copyright.PENANAj9gTB5nbay
The growl had no effect on Stanley. "Do you think she understands that?"245Please respect copyright.PENANApOx2lKtvlE
"She's not an idiot, no matter how she acts," he informed him.245Please respect copyright.PENANA2T8OdO4heF
His unwelcome table guest had made it to the end of the groove. His victorious smile made that clear before he revealed the trap. "So why did she tell you she wanted to figure out your modifications?"245Please respect copyright.PENANA108C2teCdr
Again, as was happening entirely too often, he had to stop and figure out an answer to the question.245Please respect copyright.PENANAIRRbYy5nvA
The second-lieutenant wasn't waiting. "When I first got to campus I hadn't figured out how to hide my wings nearly as well. I was labeled a freak, as well as a few other choice words. You understand how that is," he told him, giving off a feeling of camaraderie from their shared experiences. "There were also those who wanted to figure out my wings and how I flew. Some were nice about it, some weren't. The nice ones were like her: honest."245Please respect copyright.PENANAYSkLdvEhOy
He felt rebellion rise up in him, denying that logic and personal experience. The world wasn't that simple! It wasn't that nice, and it wasn't that honest. People lied all the time. If the world was that ideal there'd be no reason for this school.245Please respect copyright.PENANAFE0OvYMwOT
Stanley saw it too, and his eyes were saddened. "Try to believe this at least: this is the best place to find the friends you're looking for, and find the understanding that you can be more than just a weapon."245Please respect copyright.PENANAOubcHV4Ga0
Simon couldn't give him that. He was suddenly trying to understand why he hadn't just heard him, but listened. Because he was a chimera wasn't it, though it had helped once it was revealed. That wasn't it at the beginning. Why?245Please respect copyright.PENANAWHX8EwtPsU
Damn rogues. It's the training, he decided, remembering how the class president had the same aura about her. Unlike Carole, Stanley left with an aura of success. Well, there was that difference and the fact he flew instead of walked.245Please respect copyright.PENANAEn76HDwEm0