Chapter 29, something normal.

(Callie)

Callie went to dinner with both Dustin and Taniya, slipping into the bathroom to change into much more ostentatious attire. They went to an upscale restaurant that Taniya insisted made the best pasta in all of Berdant. Callie was doubtful of the chef's skill until she took her first bite of the savory orange sauce. The noodles were flat and perfectly cooked, with shredded cheese sprinkled liberally over the top. Her only concern was the vat grown meat.

Callie dug in with pleasure, ignoring Taniyas' knowing look. After several forkfuls of soft noodles, Callie found the first chunk of Vat grown meat. She poked at the chunk of sauce covered substance dubiously. It was grilled and cut easily under her knife. Callie took a tentative bite, glowering at the off texture of the meat.

Taniya laughed, giving Callie a look of amusement. "What, you don't like the meat?" Dustin asked curiously. "This is not meat, this is vat grown rubbish."Callie said, grimacing as she chewed the fake meat.

"What do you mean? This is high quality beef."Dustin said in confusion. Taniya burst out laughing, drawing the attention of several well-dressed patrons. "You can't talk high quality dressed like that."Callie said, eying his sensible blue pants and light brown shirt.

"How was I supposed to know we were going to such an expensive place?" Dustin grumbled. Callie turned to Taniya, who gave her a cheeky grin.

"You look fine, Dustin. You could pass for our valet."Taniya said, with a smirk. Callie coughed, almost choking on her pasta. "I don't know T, valets dress a lot more formally than Dustin."Callie said with a sly grin.

She glanced over at Taniya, eying the young woman curiously. Taniya was dressed in an elegant ankle length red dress with a knee high slit up her leg. The dress hung low on her shoulders, cut with a low U shaped neckline in the Slax style.

Her light brown hair was curled, draping down her back, and her lips were shaded with a hint of orange. Dustin, on the other hand, was dressed casually and looked like a beggar compared to Taniya.

"Apparently, Dustin doesn't own anything more formal than denim pants and a cotton shirt."Taniya said, with a cheeky smile.

Callie brushed back her silky black hair with one hand, letting her hair fall down her back. She wore a blue dress that cut off at her knees and had a v-shaped neckline, more in the Salian style. The high neckline of her dress allowed for easy storage, giving Callie plenty of hiding spots for her knives.

Dustin chewed a chunk of meat with a thoughtful expression. "I think the meat is excellent, and the pasta is fantastic."Dustin said. "Were you raised in a lab? That is not real meat."Callie said, feigning a serious expression.

"Dont get Callie started on Vat grown meat. She is not a fan of it."Taniya said, with a smirk.

"The pasta is fine, but this rubbish you call meat is just awful. The cook did his best, but there isn't much you can do to improve the flavour of this fake meat."Callie said, taking a dainty bite of her pasta so as not to spill sauce any on her new dress.

"I didn't know you were so passionate about food?" Dustin asked, his attention on his own mostly empty plate. He sat up rigidly, seeming extremely uncomfortable being so underdressed in the restaurant.

A waiter walked by their private booth, carrying a tray of glasses. His posture was perfect, and he wore black suit pants with a grey vest over his button up white shirt. Taniya took a tall glass of amber liquid, thanking the waiter. Dustin took a glass as well, receiving a curious look from the waiter.

"You should have tried Callies cooking the other day, it was incredible."Taniya said excitedly. Callie waved away the waiter as she finished chewing. The waiter left, striding away gracefully.

"I tried the dessert she made the other day. It was good, but it wasn't all that great."Dustin said, relaxing back in his chair with a satisfied smile. Callie took a sip of her ice water, eying Taniyas's glass of wine dubiously. Some small part of her wished she could lower her guard more often and relax.

Unlike both of her two companions, she had to remain vigilant, even while relaxing. The hardest part of this whole undercover mission was the fact that she actually liked them both. That was hard to admit to herself. Taniya and Dustin were Devali, but it was still hard not to like them.

"That is blasphemy, calling that dessert just good! That cake was incredible!" Taniya said, gesturing emphatically. "I have eaten better. I prefer the store-bought crackers to cake anyway."Dustin said, rolling his eyes. Callie's lips turned up into a smile. This was nice, just eating some good food and enjoying some small talk. Despite herself, over the next few hours, she found herself relaxing and just enjoying herself.

Several hours later, she drove down the street, for once, driving the speed limit. With everything else going on, there wasn't much time for frivolous activities. Also, it was great for her cover to make friends and look normal. Or at least that had been the original intention. Faking being friends was the initial goal, but now Callie wasn't sure if she was faking anymore.

Her stomach clenched in worry at that thought. Then there was that problem she needed to investigate. The question was, how could she find the information she needed? Maybe she could convince Dustin to share more about the terrorist attack in the capital of Valia? The terrorist attack was two years ago, but even so, he might get suspicious.

She wanted to discredit his claims that the secari were terrorists, but Callie wanted to do her due diligence first.

Callie drove them back to their apartment late, her mind on the problem. She let out a frustrated sigh, navigating traffic on auto pilot. Dustin sat quietly next to her in the passenger seat, seeming lost in thought as well. Callie retreated to her room, planning on some more research before sleeping.

It was late by the time Callie called it a day and lay down for some sleep. She slipped under her covers, frustrated, with no concrete evidence.

The next day, Callie rose early as usual, or late, as it was five pm on a Sunday. Callie shook her head. Days were weird in the floating city where it was never dark outside. Dustin always worked at night, but never seemed to care how backwards his days were. In fact, most of the city seemed awake at all hours going about their day, regardless of what time it was.

She yawned, stretching her sore muscles. At least training was going well. Besides her negative art, as that would be too risky to practice on the naval base. If she wanted to continue progress in her skills, her daily training would need to continue. Her positive art was improving against the Zrixians, which was a pleasant surprise..

She smiled, slipping on her clothes piece by piece. The trouble was most of the lower ranked soldiers weren't all that strong in one on one combat. Sure, some could fight, but Dustin was still the strongest she had faced in the ring so far.

Excitement filled her. Maybe she would meet someone stronger than her today? That made her even more exited, after all, a challenge was the only way to grow stronger. With a force of effort, she pushed those thoughts from her mind.

She was a combatant, a spy, an assassin. Her job was to uncover the ones responsible for the fall of Etria, not have fun training.She opened her door to the living room after dismantling the webwork of power over her door.

She smiled, noting Dustin asleep on the couch. He was curled up, looking cold from where he slept on the couch. Callie retrieved a spare blanket from her room and draped it over him. Well, it was his blanket, so no loss.

He stirred but didn't wake, stretching out under the blanket. Callie smiled, her eyes glancing over Dustin's side arm and his active comm on the livingroom table. It would be so easy to simply nudge his comm and see what he was working on.

She couldn't help but wonder why he was so careless? Dustin had only known her for about a week. She was basically a stranger and could easily go through his comm. Despite that, Dustin seemed to have the habit of falling asleep while working. Callie shook off the idea.

Crossing the Naval base in a roundabout route, she approached the change room. Callie took in a deep breath, slipping her weapons into the locker and dawning the practice armour. It was still extremely discomforting to have her weapons locked away from her person like this. But much to her displeasure, if it came to a fight on the navy base, Callie would need to flee.

Fighting with this many navy soldiers around would be suicide. She shook off the thought. For now, she was welcome, and many of the soldiers were already familiar with her. She was greeting by one such shorter woman as she finished her warmup run.

The woman was in her early twenties, with extremely short blond hair and intense green eyes. She had a serious expression, but a surprisingly pleasant voice. "Do you want to spar with the art? I need to work on my control against a fast opponent." Briane asked hopefully.

"If you don't mind a few bruises, then I would love to."Callie said, her tone friendly. Briane's eyes widen, but she was otherwise unfazed. "As long as you don't do too much damage."Briane said, gesturing towards a shielded fighting ring.

Callie twisted to the side, flexing her back and arms in a stretch. Like Briane, Callie was wearing a full body suit, designed to lessen the impact of both blunt objects and low-powered strikes from the art. In the event of a strike, the armour would lock up, simulating damage to the body restricting movement.

Callie and Briane enter the shielded ring and faced off. Callie tapped her reservoir and light green energy washed through her limbs. Unlike the day before, Callie lept forwards at a much quicker pace, her body amplified immensely by her power. Her body tingled, and she couldn't help but smile from the rush.

She could see Brianes' energy flowing around her body, but the older woman was too slow in channeling her power. Callie brought up her leg and pivoted, delivering a kick to the woman's armoured gut. With the force of the blow backed by her art, the kick was much more devastating.

Braine staggered back, clutching her gut with a whoosh of expelled air. She collapsed to her knees, gasping to regain her breath, despite the armour. Callie waited patiently at a distance for her opponent to rise back to her feet. Under the clear face mask, Briane winced, her eyes wide as she grimaced.

After about ten seconds, Briane rose back to her feet, and they faced off again. Callie smiled, well Briane had guts, rising back to the challenge despite how bad that must have hurt. They sparred for about twenty minutes, well Callie used Briane as a glorified punching bag.

Briane even blocked one of her kicks near the end of their training. Pride filled Callie as Briane stopped the blow from striking her side. Sadly for Briane, she was too shocked at the success of blocking to stop the follow up strike.

"Hey Callie! There you are. Where is Dustin?" Taniya asked, rushing over.

"Oh hey T, we were just doing warm up sparring while we waited."Callie said cheerfully. Taniya held her helmet in one hand and glanced over at Briane as she picked herself up from the mat with a groan.

"I can see that."Taniya drawled. "T, this is Briane, Briane this is T."Callie said, almost revealing Taniyas' real name to Briane. Taniya gave Callie a glare. She shrugged.

"Nice to meet you, Briane. How is sparring going?" Taniya asked, slipping on her helmet. "I feel like a punching bag. Callie is a brutal teacher."Brian Said with a groan. Taniya burst out laughing. "That is exactly what I was thinking. I swear she enjoys hurting people."Taniya said, stretching in a series of moves Callie showed her.

A soldier bearing three green stars on his chest walked towards them, his smile charming. He too was dressed in a training suit, his green stars adorning his chest."Private, ladies," the soldier said with a nod. Briane saluted, "Captain Merash!" "At ease, soldier." The captain said.

"How can we help you, captain Merash?" Callie asked, making a point of not saluting. After all, neither Callie nor Taniya were in the army. " I hear something about a bounty placed on beating you in a fight."The captain asked.

Callie nodded her head, glancing at Taniya out of the corner of her eye. "Well, I can get the soldiers to stop bugging you if you like?" Captain Merash asked.

Callie shook her head. "Are you kidding? It's great for getting new sparring partners."Callie said, waving away the captain's concern. "Alright, I will leave it be." The captain said, smiling and pivoting on his heel.

They watched the captain leave, and Taniya snorted. "Can you believe that? He was going to ruin all of my fun."Taniya said, with a smirk.

" What do you mean? How would that ruin all of your fun?" Callie asked, narrowing her eyes at Taniya. Taniya smiled innocently. "It was you, wasn't it?" Callie asked accusingly. Taniya shrugged helplessly and walked up to the ring, laughing cheerily.

Callie sparred with Taniya for an hour, switching to Briane whenever Taniya was tired. The Private Briane was quiet and kept getting back in the ring despite Callie's rough sparring. Callie wasn't getting in a lot of practice herself, but she didn't mind. Going over the basics was good. It kept her grounded and reminded her how interegal basics were to her fighting.

Several soldiers, including the lieutenant from the day prior, came over and were watching Taniya and Briane get their asses kicked again and again.

Callie stood in the ring, watching as the lieutenant discussed something with her two punching bags. When both Taniya and Briane enter the ring against her, the next time, Callie grinned. They moved to surround her, and Callie's heart skipped a beat in excitement.

For the first time today, Callie tapped on her reservoir heavily and moved, sending out a wave of green energy at knee height. She damped down the force of the power and blunted the strike, removing the chance of it cutting off Taniyas' legs.

Taniya lept, but the strike caught one of her armoured boots and sent her sprawling. Callie sensed Brianes uncontrolled strike aimed at the side of her head with a fist backed by shimmering green energy. She shifted her legs wide, lowering her center of gravity, and bent back with surprising flexibility. The fist passed just in front of her face, and Callie grabbed the offending arm, using Briane's forward momentum to throw her.

Both her opponent's clatter hard to the mat, and Callie sighed in disappointment. When they both began to rise, she smiled. "Come help us, lieutenant!" Taniya said, winking at Callie, a strand of her blond hair peeking through the breathing vent of her helmet. Well, now this was getting interesting.

The lieutenant turned to Callie with a raised eyebrow."That wouldn't be fair, three on one."The lieutenant said. "For you three."Callie drawled, raising an eyebrow.

The lieutenant laughed, and the other soldiers outside the ring chuckled. He entered the ring with surprising alacrity, and the green dome closed behind him. Despite her bluster, Callie took the fight seriously, widening her stance. Her opponents fanned out in front of her, and Callie grinned.

Her heart raced, and she had to calm her excitement. She couldn't believe how much fun it was to spar these last five days. Her skin tingled as her three opponents moved in for the attack. Her lips quirked into a smile.

More didn't always mean better, and these three had absolutely no practice fighting together. She went after Briane first, as she was the weakest link. In a perfect copy of their earlier bout, Callie caught Brianes' arm and threw her into the lieutenant. They collided together in a pile of tangled limbs and Callie spun around, catching Taniyas' fist with her forearm.

Callie darted in, dismantling Taniyas' guard in a series of blows that drove the younger woman back, overwhelming her. Off balance and alone, Taniya folded under the rapid series of strikes to her chest, legs, and arms.

Taniya stagger, and Callie formed a net of green power in her palm. The net expanded in moments and shot from her palm, opening wide to engulf Taniya. It stuck her to the wall, holding her fast to the shimmering dome around them.

One down, two to go. Callie flooded her body with energy, sensing building energy to her left. Heart racing, she darted into the fight, unable to stop smiling. When did sparring become fun? Callie danced away as the lieutenant attempted to grapple her to the ground. She used Brianes' inexperience with team fighting, using the private against the lieutenant.

Callie sent Briane crashing into the lieutenant again and stuck them together with a net of green energy. Callie smiled as they flounder around collapsing together into a heap. The other soldiers outside the ring that were watching burst out laughing at the lieutenant tangled with Briane.

She glanced around, monitoring the soldiers outside the ring. The crowd of soldiers was around twenty in all, they crowded around the sparring ring. At this rate, an officer was going to get mad and start yelling at people for lazing about. Callie was uncomfortable with the attention, to say the least, and didn't appreciate so many strangers surrounding her.

She released her nets of positive energy and her opponents slowly gained their feet, much to the amusement of the crowd. Taniya walked over to her, grinning like an idiot. "Damn, I thought we could beat you."She said out of breath.

"If you stopped getting in each other's way, you probably could beat me."Callie said, shrugging. Her eyes constantly roved over the crowd, watching for any hostile intent. These were soldiers, Navy and enforcers, making her nerves always on end.

"Still, you are so quick, and how did you make that net of energy?" Taniya asked, bouncing in excitement. "I can probably teach you, but first you need to learn to infuse your body with energy. Not to mention you need to work on your endurance."Callie said, glancing at the two soldiers.

"You think so?" Taniya asked, shrugging. Briane and the lieutenant, Callie couldn't remember his name, walked over. Felling like one of her instructors, well, besides inflicting physical brutality for failure, Callie focused on them.

She politely suggested areas they could each improve, and ways to do that. Taniya gestured Callie to follow her, and they changed out of their training armour. "Dustin told me he is going to be in meetings for the next few days."Taniya said, adjusting her bunched shirt under her leather shoulder holster. There was a beautiful red rose embroidered into the soft leather holster.

"Here let me."Callie said, surprising herself. Callie approached and unbunched the fabric in the back, settling the leather straps into place.

"Thanks. Do you need help with yours? This leather holster chafes if you don't put it on right." Taniya asked. Callie hesitated, but turned her back to Taniya, something she never thought she would ever do. Taniya tugged on the leather straps and they settle much more comfortably.

"But the reason I brought this up is that I need a trusty body guard for the next few days. And Dustin is going to be busy, it could be fun."Taniya asked nervously..

"Are you back at work already?" Callie asked, turning to Taniya. Taniya bit her lower lip and glanced away nervously.

"I don't want to, but I have a lot of work I need to do. And it would make me feel a lot safer with someone to keep me safe."Taniya asked, her voice small.

Callie scowled, anger filling her. Taniyas' face fell, and she seemed to deflate. "I'm sorry I asked," Taniya said quickly.

Callie shook her head."I'm not scowling at you, that is for your mother. How could she let you go back to work? Especially after all you have been through?" Callie asked, angrily.

"Well, she suggested I ask you to accompany me."Taniya said, perking back up. Callie's anger cooled, and she paused in thought. What was lady Veronica playing at? First these meetings, and then putting Taniya back to work despite her recent trauma. The tensions with the Slax must be higher than she expected if Veronica was putting her daughter back in danger.

"Of course I will accompany you T. But those lecherous politicians are going to get a black eye if they ogle me."Callie said, in an effort to cheer up Taniya. Taniya brightened, "Lets goo, we have a lot to do today! "Taniya said, with her usual excitement.