Honey attracts bees

Campus facilities weren't good enough to handle Archer's condition. He was thus transferred to an elite hospital in the city that catered to psychics. As a consequence of his transfer, Ji-ho found herself excused from classes for a week and on a trip to the special ward where Archer was ensconced.

"You shouldn't have come here," Archer cooly told her as soon as she walked into his room. Wearing standard hospital pyjamas pants and a t-shirt, he looked less intimidating than he usually did.

Ji-ho placed her bag on a table and pulled a chair out beside his bed where he was being given drips through an iv in his arm.

"Sorry I refused to be your sentinel," Ji-ho informed him. "I have non-sentinel stuff to do, big dreams to achieve. And none of that will happen if get stuck as a psychic's sitter."

Archer was silent as Ji-ho continued to speak.

"It's nothing personal, Archer."

"You don't have to explain yourself," he responded, onyx eyes settling on Ava's blue ones. "Or spend another moment in this place. I never asked for your presence here, Robinson."

"Well, I took a week's leave of absence. Deal with it, Svenson. You'll see my face till you get sick of it."

The psychic frowned as he watched Ji-ho make herself comfortable at the table where several gift baskets had piled up. Only a few hours had elapsed since his manifestation but his admirers had already managed to deliver their gifts to him. Ji-ho was frankly impressed by their dedication to him.

"I'm studying so don't disturb me if you aren't in pain," she informed him while putting on her headphones. Ji-ho smiled as she glanced away from Archer who was already ignoring her in favour of his datapad. Their silence lasted till the door was flung open loudly.

"Oh, Archer, darling! This is terrible!"

The scent of roses filled the room as Archer's fiance came into the room and rushed over to his bed. Ji-ho figured that it was a good time to leave the room.

____

Standing outside the hospital gates, Ji-ho decided to go buy herself some caffeine for a late-night study session. Flagging down a taxi, she reached a commercial area fifteen minutes away from the hospital.

In this society, physical currency had been phased out in favour of online credits. Ji-ho used her card to pay for a few packets of concentrated caffeine. It wasn't her fault that Ava had already gotten herself addicted to coffee. She was just glad that Ava hadn't chosen to get addicted to nicotine or alcohol, the common vice that stressed-out students often fell prey to.

Darkness had already descended on the market but the city lights illuminated the entire place. Ji-ho drank a sip of cold coffee from a can and watched storm clouds roll in bearing big fat drops of rain. She sheltered under the awning of a shop and observed the world around her.

"Isn't that a Falcon?" A teenage boy pointed to the sky with enthusiasm that was matched by his friend's surprised gasp.

Thinking it weird for them to be so surprised by a bird, she looked up at the sky and saw a sleek black aerial vehicle disappearing from their sights. The thing had been so silent and fast she wouldn't have known it had passed by them if the teenage boy hadn't seen and mentioned it. So that was a falcon, Ji-ho thought as she finished her cold coffee.

"You think it could be Commander Petrov?"

"Pfft! You can't be serious. The hell would Petrov come here for?"

Ji-ho agreed with the second teenager. She'd heard of Commander Ilya Petrov. He was supposed to be some young badass guardian psychic who was leading humanity's fight against the incursions of xenomorphs in the outer colonies.

"I dunno, maybe he needs a break."

The other teenager laughed at his friend. "Connor, I know you're a fan of Ilya but c'mon man. You're ridiculous!"

"Commander Petrov is one of the few officers allowed to use a Falcon! It could be him."

Ji-ho tossed her empty can into a recycling bin. She'd given Archer enough time with his girl.

________

On a supply planet in the Iron colony of Tarmus, a man armoured in a white mecha suit ripped open a screaming xenomorph. Its dark green blood splashed and sizzled on the surface of the mecha suit but it was coated with a special polymer that protected from acid.

"Sir," a female voice came through his commlink. "The scouts have been neutralised. Awaiting further instructions."

Ilya dumped the dead creature at his feet where a mountain of corpses had accumulated. The camera on his visor zoomed into the distance where an alien ship was half-buried in the sand. He'd killed every last one of them in the area but a few still remained aboard the downed ship.

"Begin rescue protocols."

Two hours ago, Ilya Petrov had received a message. His nephew, a late bloomer, had manifested and synced with some unknown untrained sentinel from the same campus. It wasn't reason enough for him to return home but the timing suited him. He had been planning on taking a break to eliminate a different sort of prey; weaker and less worthy of his attention than the creatures whose corpses were being crushed under the boots of his heavy armour. He'd spent five years in the outer colonies, dealing with aliens. Ilya had neglected his duty for too long.

Yes, it was time to go home.

______

"Ava Robinson."

Archer's fiance hadn't left it seemed. She had her arms folded and stared at Ji-ho with a level of hostility that was undeserved.

"Yes?"

"Camilla, stop it," Archer told his fiance. She was a blonde like Ava, but taller and prettier.

"No, I can't, Arch. Can't you understand how I feel?"

Ji-ho checked the time on her datapad. She'd wasted three hours already. Three hours. She could have finished homework by now.

"I trust you, Archer, but not her."

To his credit, the young man was disapproving of Camilla's behaviour. She had every right to be upset about the situation but neither Ji-ho nor Archer had asked for or wanted it in the first place.

"Should I come back later?" Ji-ho asked, looking between the two.

"Don't come back at all!" Camilla rudely told her.

Ji-ho prayed for patience from the saints.

"Camilla, you're being rude. This isn't Ava's fault so stop taking it out on her."

"But she's going to use this opportunity to get close to you! Do you think I don't know about the love letters that get stuffed inside your locker? And these gifts they've sent you? I know what they want!"

Ji-ho grabbed her bag and turned around to leave. She wasn't touching this with a ten-foot pole. Her sleeping quarter was attached to Archer's room. It didn't have a large enough table for her to use but she would have to adjust to it.

"Ava-" she heard Archer's voice as she slammed the door shut. Handsome men were like honey. Just having one close to her attracted dangerous bees. After this week, Ji-ho was going to work extra hard to avoid all attractive men with or without fiances attached to them. After all, if there was anything she had learnt from getting close to Seung-ho, it was that jealous women could be just as dangerous as psychopathic men.