Fortunately, it listened and the kitchen door, which looked like a sealed shut wall, opened some sort of a latch to let me punch in my emergency code.I spotted two guards outside and as soon as they saw me storming out, both of them abandoned their cosy chairs in the hallway to come after me.
“E, what happened?” One of them asked, but I did not reply. I was too pissed off and they could not help.
“I’m going to see Milosh. Where is he?”
“He’s out…” I did not have to turn to understand the confusion in his voice. In all my trials, I had never once abandoned my post without prior warning and confirmation of a specific time.
“What do you mean he’s out?” Rage boiled in my blood, confirming what I already feared. This was either a prank or I was set up to fail. Because how could the unit’s general leave his post during a trial appointment? Such a thing was never meant to happen, not when I could be attacked or killed at any point, not when the subject could escape and wreak havoc around the quarters. And two guards only?This was a joke.Unfortunately for them, the two men found themselves at the receiving end of my fury.
“What the fuck is this?” I did not care if I was shouting, I did not care if my outburst drew attention. Good, I wanted everyone to see this. I wanted them to know how unfair this was. How they thought that I would just take it and not fight back. They should have known better…They should have learnt by now…
“I demand to speak to Milosh right away. I don’t care where the fuck he is, bring him back or I go to his house.”
“Harrow, aren’t you needed elsewhere?” I could recognise that voice in my deepest nightmares, because that was where it belonged.
Castro. My partner in training, my enemy in the unit and one of the ugliest men to ever walk this earth. Which is why he felt the need to compensate with pure hatred.
“Oh, you mean that trial that’s going to make me your superior?” I snapped, then instantly regretted it. I trained for this, I worked on this for so long. I could not lose my temper every time a bully showed up. In this unit, I would have to live my entire day chasing it back.
“I need Milosh,” I added without giving him a chance to respond.
“He’s out,” Castro confirmed what the guards already told me.
“That’s not a helpful answer. Who is in charge in his stead?”
“You’re looking at him.”
Well, fuck. At least Milosh hated me but did not put his mind into destroying me. Castro and his squad however…
“I need some sort of healing energy,” I pressed my tone and forced out the demand.
“Don’t tell me you’re finally deciding to fix your face? Is pretty boy making you feel ugly?”
Pretty boy?If he was referring to the pile of faerie-meat I had left melting on the floor, he would have a big surprise.
“Who do I speak to about trial requirements?”
“Beats me,” he shrugged as if he did not give a damn about my worries. I don’t even know why I bothered. No one had ever lent me a helpful hand, why did I think this time would be different?
“And what am I supposed to do?” I frowned, thinking out loud rather than expecting an answer.
“Speak to whoever gives you instructions. And try make-up once in a while,” he patted my shoulder with a crude smirk.
I turned on my heels and paved an alley of curse words until I got back to the training quarters. Castro’s idea wasn’t half bad and the only actual chance I had.
“Hello?” As soon as I walked back in the kitchen the door sealed shut behind me, trapping me inside. I stepped close to the home gym to find the faerie still passed out.
“I need some sort of healing energy, something appropriate for this kind of faerie.”
Long minutes passed without an answer. Time during which my heart started palpitating with commotion, my gaze scanning the faerie and trying to find at least one improvement from the day before.Nothing. It was not healing. It did not have enough energy left to chew, let alone grow muscle and skin.
“Why are you making this request, Captain Harrow?” the ceiling responded, making me jump. This was not the robotic automated voice I had been talking to, this was an actual person at the other end.A man.
“Milosh, is that you?” It did not sound like him, but I had to try. And hope he was willing to respond.
“This is PDD,” the man said after a while.
“Um…nice to meet you. Thank you for the opportunity. I propose a subject inspection sir, its health is deteriorating by the minute.” Two birds with one stone. He’ll have to come inspect the faerie, which meant he would come in and I would finally get to meet this PDD. “Request denied.”
