1 The Rookie and The Novice - 1

HanHan was probably the youngest. That came with benefits, there was no rush to mature, to get started, to hop. And also losses, while no one bullied there was no dearth of teasing jeers and mocking stares. Still, HanHan was in no hurry, enjoying the once in-a-lifetime young innocence.

Until that day.

In the Great White, the world of the Lord and their home, there was no day and no night, just the endless white. And everyone floated along while they were home. The Lord was fair, but there was no denying that there was just the smallest partiality. Just a teeny bit that could be easily ignored. In that teeny bit, the one who enjoyed more than anyone else, if only by a tiny fraction, was HanHan. That day, HanHan was sailing along like usual, feeling especially buoyant because of the upcoming Tournament, when HanHan bumped into Wicur, champion of the Tournament the most number of times and one of the older systems. Usually, Wicur couldn't be bothered about the young systems, especially those like HanHan. Today, however, wasn't like usual. Wicur had just returned from an especially difficult mission that had almost ended in failure because its host had given up and died toward the end. Hadn't been the best host, so Wicur wasn't greatly affected by the host's demise. But the mission had turned critical, which did infuriate Wicur. The only way to avoid failure was pull the emergency cord, force a redo with a new host. The request was granted, since it was only the second time ever that Wicur had needed to do so. That was miraculously low in comparison. Still, Wicur felt it was shameful, even more so with the Tournament so close. Wicur had to find another host and get the host ready in time for the tournament, that was a hard task and was thus understandably distracted. Wicur felt crashing into HanHan was once again shameful. Flustered and furious, Wicur lashed out at HanHan.

"Are you blind?" Wicur screamed.

HanHan was embarrassed and scared, and could only remain mute. That was like fanning the flames.

"How much longer are you planning on being an infant?" Wicur screamed. "Bad enough you do nothing, bad enough you're a waste of space, you plan on kicking us out too, who do all the work around here? Just burrow yourself into some corner, out of everyone's way."

Wicur didn't take long to realize it had gone too far. But what could be done now? The words were spoken. There was no unhearing them. He should apologize. Yes.

But Wicur was slow to making up his mind. HanHan had finally found her voice.

"I'm sorry for being blind," HanHan said, sounding weak and strangely strong at the same time. "But I will not apologize for the rest of what you said. No, it is you who must apologize. And I will make you do so."

And then, without allowing Wicur the opportunity, HanHan flew away.

*

Viki was comfortable even here. The other rookies might feel out of place, might even feel disgusted, but not him. Until a few years ago, this was home. It was no secret since he didn't intend to make it one. And so, the smile on his face surprised no one.

The west had once been prosperous too. Entine was a blossoming city, set to take over the throne as the biggest city in the country in a few years. It was going to be the most rapid growth. Until a totally unexpected tragedy struck. First, the world fell into the grip of disease that claimed more than a quarter of the world's population. Then, came the collapse. Too much was damaged, too much remained stagnant for too long and thus spoiling, too much was lost. The bigger cities and even a lot of the more self-sufficient smaller cities survived. Some of them could slowly claw their way back to the previous roads. Not Entine. Too much was bet on the future that was set in stone before and was now completely impossible. And with that, Entine collapsed. The south that was an abandoned city of tall towers and empty roads. The west rapidly degraded into a dump, home to the poorest and the vilest. The east was just nothingness. The north was all that remained of the glorious city. With the north still clinging to the old dreams, it despised the west which was a mirror reflecting the reality. And thus began the war, the north against the west.

There was a robbery in the home of the Minister of Industry. Money, documents, and sensitive information stored on encrypted disks were stolen. Even more unforgivable was that the residents had been assaulted. It was announced to the news that it was all the servants, hiding that the minister's younger daughter not yet twenty had been among the victims. She had been violated, brutally assaulted, broken. All that remained was a shell, seeming like she would never return to her old self. And the minister wanted to see blood.

Orders had been passed down. The police would track down the filthy robbers who ran away to the west, capture them and bring them back, dead or alive, to face the wrath of justice proper and due. The senior officers had gone after the robbers, tasking the rookies to stand as the rear-guard. The truth was more than that. The rookies would be the bait, attracting the attention while the seniors dug deeper in.

The seven rookies had fought off the first wave successfully, scaring away the majority that was made up of angry children and adults with little ability. They couldn't relax though, because they knew the true attack would only begin now. And they weren't wrong. They were besieged by a gang of fifteen who were armed to the teeth and were comparable to them police. The rookies didn't even attempt at facing the gang head on. They split up and escaped into the dirty alleys. For once, Viki was desirable. Still, only two were willing to bet everything on him.

Kira, who had secured an unshakeable place on the list of the most beautiful women officers, and Sammy, an illegitimate son of a rich and powerful family who been kicked out to join the police by the grandfather who was the only one who cared for him, were completely out of their depth. Neither had ever really stepped out of their comfortable northern lives, and were completely clueless. And so, seeing the unchanging expression on Viki's face comforted them. That was probably why they were willing to follow Viki even as he ran into the basement of a broken building. Sure, they were truly hidden, but the two children of the north had to press down on their mouths to keep from hurling. So terrible was the stink. Fortunately, it was dark. If they could see, there was no saying how scarred they would be.

"What now?" Sammy asked hesitantly.

"We wait," Viki answered easily.

"Wait?" Kira asked.

"Yes," Viki answered.

"For how long?"

"Until our seniors find us."

"Is that safe?"

"We're as safe as we can possibly be given the situation."

"Is that really all we can do?"

Viki didn't answer immediately. Waiting was the easier option, but there was actually another. He took a good long look at his companions before answering. "No. We could go on the offensive. We could kill them before they get to us. It's a risk though." He let himself laugh at the horror on the two faces. Shaking his head, he corrected himself. "Actually, we could run through, to join our seniors. Even that is impossibly difficult."

"Impossibly difficult," Sammy repeated dazedly.

"Still better than waiting," Kira said, "isn't it?"

Viki nodded confidently. Sammy stared back as if entranced. Kira clenched her fists and nodded decisively.

"If we are going to do this," Viki said in a very different voice from one they had heard from him until now, "then we are going to do this proper. You have to follow me. You have to do as I say. It's not just your lives that depend on it, it's mine as well. Are you willing?"

The two nodded after a minute.

"Are you willing to bloody your hands?"

The two nodded again.

"You will never be the same again. Nothing will ever be the same. Are you still willing?"

The two nodded much more vigorously.

"Alright then," Viki said, smiling like this was what he truly wanted from the start. "Check your guns. Safety off. More importantly, forget what we learned at the academy. We shoot to kill. Aim for the chests when at a distance. And when close, shoot for the heads. Clear?"

"Yes," the said together.

"Good. Let's go then."

What followed was something Kira and Sammy would never forget. Years later, when Kira was the chief of a division and Sammy was a successful private contractor, they would say in an interview that today was the day that shaped them into the people they would be.

Viki was clear and concise with his orders. "Do as I say," he said. Only after seeing them nod, did he turn away. They were crouching as the stepped out of the basement, immediately sticking to the dirty walls and walking along slowly so their feet didn't make a sound. They stuck to the tiny alleys, climbing over broken walls and through windows that were more holes in the walls, melting into the shadows rather than stepping onto the streets. A quiet had fallen over the area, even the insects had gone mute. It was suffocating for Kira and Sammy, but Viki didn't even notice. His hands never loosened on the gun, his finger firmly glued to the trigger. "Try to keep your finger as close to the trigger as possible," he told the other two, "we'll be lucky if we have half a second's lead. Shoot first, always." Their nerves were taut, even as it was starting to feel almost unnecessary. Viki's ears were remarkable. He heard the smallest sound. He heard scuffling feet from streets away. The two wondered if he was able to hear them breathing. They were always a step ahead or a safe step behind the searchers, looking safely from behind impregnable shadows. Left with nothing else to do, the two started counting their searchers. They came across the same faces over and over, but they didn't lose their count. Seventeen, they counted. There must surely be more after the other rookies. They paused when they heard a woman with a bloody bandage around her arm tell her companions that they had gunned down two rookies. She was the eighteenth. They counted four more faces after her. They came to stop when they heard another new face announce that they should fall back because the rookies had joined up with the experienced officers. They watched the gang members fall away. And finally, Viki said something.

"No matter how tired, get ready to run your hardest." They were back at where they had begun, but they couldn't see the other officers. "They are two streets away," Viki said, waited for the two to nod and continued. "We must make it in one go. We won't get another opportunity."

The two nodded, looking down the path Viki pointed. They were running into the streets, straight toward a wall which they would jump through to the other side, where they would find the destination. Viki counted down from three. The moment he said one, they burst out. The three pairs of feet slapping the ground made a deafening sound in the silence. Even Kira and Sammy could hear the guns cocking and the triggers pressed before the burst of gunfire and the bullets blasting holes on the ground. No one stopped though. They had to veer away from the window, and their hearts fell as they saw the rapidly approaching wall. They couldn't think, for neither could they slow their feet nor could they stop or they would turn into human sieves. Just then, Viki burst ahead, running past them like a cannonball, and into the wall like a bull. He emptied an entire magazine into the wall before crashing into it, the force breaking down the wall already weakened by the bullets. He fell through, rolled a few times, before lifting himself back onto his feet and continuing the run like there hadn't been a pause. Kira and Sammy were awed, and sped up. It was the fastest they had run in all of their lives, faster than they thought possible. They only ran faster as they saw their seniors, with bloody uniforms and serious faces. Viki slowed and disappeared behind Sammy and Kira as they joined the team. He fell into the background, attracting not even the slightest attention. Kira and Sammy smiled through tears at their seniors welcoming them with ugly smiles of their own and witty lines like, "You're all grown up now," and "These are your battle scars, wear them proud." They couldn't be happier to leave this place. They could neither fully rejoice nor grieve for their fallen fellow-officers until they were back in the north. Having gunned down four of the five robbers, the mission was a success. Much later would the rookies learn that the bags the seniors carried contained the heads of the robbers and they would puke their guts out. All except Viki, who was elsewhere.

*

HanHan was a little girl sitting crossed legged in front of the Lord, grinning toothily even as she wore a grimace over her face. She didn't need to tell the Lord about the incident from before. The Lord knew all.

"So, you're really ready," the Lord asked.

HanHan nodded. "Yes, Lord-father, I'm ready. I will go out, find the best host and defeat Wicur in the Tournament. I will make him apologize. I will have him say that I'm not just in the way."

"The Tournament?" the Lord asked, bemused.

"Yes," HanHan said. And then fell quiet, realizing the enormity of her words. "The next Tournament, of course."

The Lord burst out laughing as HanHan grinned like the little girl she appeared to be.

"Of course," the Lord said. "The next Tournament. By then, you and your host should be ready. Alright then, I approve. Have you decided on the kind of missions you want to take?"

"Yes," HanHan answered, all excited. "I hate those bloody and violent stories. I'll take those sweet missions, about bringing together couples who were meant to be, righting wrongs and making the worlds nicer and warmer."

The Lord burst out laughing again, much harder and for much longer. "Okay then. I wish you the best. I'll give you teeny extra help. Keep it a secret." The Lord put a finger on his lips. HanHan copied him, while nodding vigorously. The Lord smiled and continued. "I've got the perfect host for you. Why don't you take a look."

The Lord waved his hand and a screen appeared showing a hospital room. A young girl was lying on the bed. A young man, clearly older than the girl but still young, was standing by the bedside.

*

Viki was frozen, staring at Cara's still face. It was a face he had seen from far too close, a face he didn't want to see ever again. After a long while, he smiled gently and leaned down. His lips were next to her ears, as he whispered so his voice went only into her ears.

"I know it hurts. I know it's unbearable. I know you don't want to wake. But more than that, more than anything, I know I want to save you. I want to bring you back. I want to make you smile. I want you to see the bright world again. So, stay with me. Okay? Hang on. I'll carry you out of that dark hole. And we'll share a good meal, with good wine, family and friends, and lots of laughter."

He stood back up, staring into her eyes. There was nothing in hers and there was so much in his it seemed like everything.

The next morning, he showed up at the police headquarters to submit his resignation, which was immediately approved. He was from the west after all, and no one really wanted him there. By noon, he was back in the hospital room, sitting by Cara's bedside, with a bag of chips open on his lap. He munched on chips as he watched an old romantic movie on the TV, without the slightest care for Cara.