WARNING: UPSETTING CONTENT. Graphic content and panic attacks are shown.

A woman with jet black hair and piercing blue eyes stood next to an interactive whiteboard.

"Hello, I'm Caia.
I'll be the one to teach you about the creatures you will encounter."

Caia gestured to the woman next to her. She had tanned skin and shoulder length brown hair.

"This is Eila.
She's the one to go to if you want to know more about Agoraville."

Eila nodded her head at the group.

Ashryn slumped against a wall.
She knew this class would be the most boring—and useless, of them all.

"I'm well aware that you all come from different parts of Plurg", said Caia.

Caia grabbed Eila's hand, and the brunette woman's eyes softened, and she gently squeezed Caia's hand.

"Eila is my wife.
Are there going to be any issues with that?"

"Issues?
Why would there be issues?", asked Rhiannon.

"I hail from Agoraville, which is an extremely poor and agricultural place. Caia is from here, a town that's thriving economically", explained Eila.

"It's not uncommon for people to deem our marriage as something negative."

"What?
They'd think that just because one of you is poor and one of you is rich?", questioned Makoto.

Eila nodded.
"People value their sense of self.
And part of who they are comes from where they were born, or brought up."

"So, what you're saying is, some people have a superiority complex?", asked Ashryn.

"Most people", said Eila.
"I wasn't exposed to it until I began dating Caia.
Your hometown may be highly advanced, but it doesn't mean that some of their thinking isn't in dire need of an upgrade."

"What about Agoraville?
Do the people there not think the same?", asked Raphael.

Caia nodded.
"They do.
It's less severe than here, but when I went to Agoraville, the people there were annoyed that the 'rich people' were saving them.
At one point, they refused help."

"They saw it as another kick to the teeth", said Eila.
"It changed soon after.
My people started to see the UAE as people who only wanted to help."

"That's good to know", said Rhiannon. "And I think I speak for all of us when
I say we don't have a problem with your marriage."

"No you don't", said Raphael.

He turned back to Eila and Caia, his eyes widening slightly when he saw them glaring at him.

"Oh!
No, I meant that she doesn't speak for me.
In the slightest", he clarified.

Rhiannon frowned.

"But yeah, I don't mind at all", he said.

Ashryn had her own feelings about the matter.
She hated when rich people used their influence to get what they wanted, but she couldn't understand why some of the poorer places might refuse help.

Surely, their survival was the most important thing to them?

But she wasn't against two people marrying for love.
Sure, she didn't really believe in love, but if that's what they felt, then she didn't really care about what they did.

"Thank you", said Caia.
"But there's something you need to know."

Caia turned to Eila, who looked at the group again.

"My people may have become more tolerant over time, but when the UAE closed the case, things changed.
When the solo mission was undertaken years later–"

"Solo mission?", asked Ashryn.

Caia subtly shook her head at Eila, who cleared her throat and continued.

"The details aren't important right now. Anyway, when that mission was undertaken, the agent did not have a good reception."

"Why?", asked Makoto.

"To my people, the UAE had given up on them years ago.
Then they sauntered in like saviours?
It angered them."

"Well it would anger me too", admitted Ashryn.

"Some people accepted their help, but many did not.
It led to an argument, which gave the creatures much needed time to focus on their next plan of attack."

Eila's eyes began to water, and Caia gently rubbed her back.

"A lot of people died that day", said Caia. "And the Agoravillians aren't likely to forget that any time soon."

"So, what are you saying?", asked Rhiannon.

"Be prepared for hostility."

★★★

The trainees were on their way to their Tech session, but Ashryn still couldn't believe what Eila and Caia told them.

"How are we supposed to save people that hate our guts?", she questioned.

"They can't stay mad forever!
We're not actual UAE agents, so maybe that will work in our favour?
If things really are as bad as we've been told, they can't refuse help", said Rhiannon.

"Don't underestimate the power of pride", said Raphael, before rolling his eyes.

Rhiannon furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, but her irritation bubbled inside her.

"Right, what is your problem?
You've been cold—even more cold than usual with me.
What did I do?"

"What did you do?", he questioned in disbelief.

He whirled around to face her.
"You're a snake, Hendrix.
A slippery, slimey, hissing–"

"Oi!", yelled Knox.

The trainees turned to the side and saw him standing by the door.
His arms were crossed and his voice was stern.

"I don't know what's going on, and
I don't want to know.
All I want is for you to get your butts in here, now!"

The trainees hurried into the room, and they were greeted by Minerva, who hastily placed a green orb in each of the trainees' hands.

"These are Shatterers.
Different orbs have different numbers engraved onto them.
Yours all have the number two, which means you have two minutes until they detonate", explained Minerva.

"Woah, what?", exclaimed Ashryn.

"How do we stop them?", asked a panicked Makoto.

"That's what you need to figure out", said Knox.

Everyone began frantically jabbing at the orb, whereas Raphael prodded at the wires underneath the engraved 'two.'

"What's going to happen after two minutes?", asked Makoto.

"That's for you to find out", said Knox.

Minerva stared intently at Raphael, a small smile appearing on her face when she saw him stick his tongue out and furrow his eyebrows.

"Five!"

"Four!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

Ashryn had already thrown hers on the other side of the room, and Rhiannon let hers fall to her feet.

Ashryn's parents knew how to defuse things like this, but they weren't able to teach their kids.

Rhiannon's eyes widened when she saw that Makoto was still holding theirs.

"Drop the orb!", she yelled, before grabbing it and throwing it as far as she could.

She tackled Makoto to the ground, so that they were far away from her orb too. She quickly shut her eyes.
"Take cover!"

"One!"

The orbs exploded, and a thick green mist washed over Ashryn, Rhiannon and Makoto.

The mist emitted a pungent smell, reminiscent of meat that had gone off, as well as gone off milk.

Ashryn gagged and quickly covered her mouth with her arm.
Rhiannon was much louder when she gagged, and beads of sweat started to form on her temples.

"What the h*ll?", questioned Ashryn.

Rhiannon looked up to see Knox staring at them, with his mouth agape.

"Never in my 17 years at this agency have I seen someone tackle a teammate to the ground to save them from a Shatterer", said Knox.

"So do I get points for originality?", asked Rhiannon.

Knox grinned, before gently shaking his head.

"More like stupidity", muttered Raphael.

"Raphael", said Minerva.
"Let's have a look at yours."

As soon as the words left Minerva's mouth, the orb in Raphael's hand started to disintegrate.

Minerva smiled.
"That's it!"

"Hold on, the orb's supposed to disintegrate?", asked Ashryn.

Makoto raised their hand.
"Um, I'd love to know what was sprayed on us...please?"

"You've worked with this technology before, haven't you?", asked Minerva.

Raphael nodded.
"A similar model, yes."

"I could tell by your face."

"My... face?", questioned a confused Raphael.

Minerva's face heated up in embarrassment.
"Um, yeah, j–just from your mouth thing and–"

"I think what Minerva is trying to say is... well done", said Knox.

Minerva nodded.
"Yes.
That.
You did your inventor's brain proud."

"Inventor's brain?", asked Ashryn.

"Oh!
Yeah, it's kind of like this saying by–"

"Nyan Delancey!
Definitely the most famous inventor of our time!
He has this belief that all inventors are connected by their brain, which is a unique part of us that makes us special."

Raphael's eyes lit up as he began speaking at length about Nyan's discoveries, and about the invention that started his career.

Minerva listened closely, completely enraptured by Raphael's words.
She understood him on a level none of his fellow trainees did, but he wasn't aware of it.

"Ok, ok, well, that's great!
But, let's leave it there for now", said Knox.

"Sorry, can we get back to the green mist that smells like boiling sweat?", asked Ashryn.

"Yes, yes, of course!
We modified the orbs to release a pungent smell upon detonation, for safety reasons", she explained.

Knox pulled up a video on his tablet, and turned it around so that the trainees could see.
"This is what would actually happen."

The video played, and the orb exploded, sending a million blue shards of glass everywhere.
The final part of the video showed a man with blue shards embedded into his skin.
A purple liquid began to bubble inside the wounds, and his skin melted as the liquid dripped down his face, completely coating it.

Before the trainees could see the man's face completely melting, Knox turned off the video.

"I'm sorry it had to get so graphic.
We just want you to know how important it is that you pay attention in the next few sessions, because we'll be teaching you how to safely defuse one of these", said Knox.

"Why did the mist only get us three?", asked Makoto, gesturing to Ashryn, Rhiannon and themselves.

"You three were the only ones to fail", said Knox.
"The mist has a notoriously relentless stench, so you'll be smelling like rotten meat for the rest of the day, I'm afraid."

"In some cases, it takes a few days", said Minerva.

"What?
I have to walk around smelling like this all day?", asked an irate Ashryn.

"Hey, atleast we won't need to queue for lunch!
No one will stand next to us like this", said Rhiannon.

Ashryn rolled her eyes, before turning to Rhiannon.
"Your constant positivity is making me want to punch you in the face."

"Please do", said Raphael.

Rhiannon just stared at Ashryn, her outburst taking her by surprise.

"Alright, alright, that's enough.
Let's review what we learned today, and then we'll test you on the gadgets we showed you in your last session", said Knox.

★★★

"Need help packing up?", asked Knox.

"Don't you need to go to that meeting with Head Guard Aoife?", asked Minerva.

"Well, yes.
But I'm sure she won't mind–"

"No, please go.
I don't want to get you in trouble.
I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

"One hundred percent, Knox."

"Alright", he said, before smiling and placing a hand on her shoulder.

A few seconds after Knox had left, Raphael entered the room.

"Raphael?
Do you need help with something?"

"I just wanted to know where you heard that story?
About Nyan?"

"Oh!
He came to my local electronics shop and did a talk."

"Wait.
You got to meet the legendary Nyan Delancey, and you still choose to waste your skills?"

Minerva was taken aback by Raphael's words, as well as his tone.
"I–I'm sorry?"

"You should be.
You make a mockery of us real inventors."

Minerva felt a lump form in her throat, and her eyes began to water.
"Right, well... I don't expect you to like me.
But I... I'm still your trainer, so please–"

"Treat you with respect?
I will do.
Knox is pretty much the only reason why I'm biting my tongue most of the time.
I'll respect you as a trainer, but just know that I don't value or respect you as an inventor."

Raphael's words stung Minerva, but more than that, they made her feel like the very thing she loved, was something she didn't deserve to have in her life.

★★★

Rhiannon sat on her bed, gently stroking her soft blanket, the texture bringing her comfort.

A knock on the door pulled her back to reality, but she didn't bother to look up.

"Go away!"

"It's me... Makoto."

Rhiannon sighed.
"I don't want to speak to anyone right now."

"I'll only be five minutes!
And I'll stand a safe distance away.
You know, because of the smell."

"Please, just go.
I really need to be alone right now."

Rhiannon could hear Makoto exhale softly, and then the rustling of a paper bag.

"Ok, I'll see you later then!
Come look by your door though!"

Rhiannon waited a couple of minutes, before her curiosity got the better of her and she approached the door.

She opened it to find a small paper bag with a note attached.
The note had a small drawing of a cat on it.

She smiled when she read the message next to the drawing.

'THIS IS MY CAT, MILO, THAT I TOLD YOU ABOUT. I HOPE MILO BRINGS YOU SOME HAPPINESS! I CAN'T WAIT TO INTRODUCE THEM TO YOU.'

Inside the bag was a thick brownie, with a small tub of vanilla ice cream.

★★★

Minerva sobbed into her arm, her face damp with tears.
She started to breathe too quickly, taking in more air than she was ready for.
She started choking on her own sobs, and she shook her hands in an attempt to calm herself down.

"Minerva?
Oh my gosh, Minerva, are you ok?"

Rhiannon dropped the paper bag in her hand and rushed towards her.
She knelt down beside her.

"It's ok, you're ok... you've got this.
Just take a nice big breath for
me... that's it, nice and big.
Now breath out with me, ok?
Push all that air out."

Rhiannon began breathing in and out, and Minerva's breathing eventually started to match Rhiannon's.

"You're alright", she said, gently rubbing Minerva's back.

Minerva buried her face in her hands.

"This is so embarrassing, I'm–"

"Hey, no...no it's not.
Do you... do you want to talk about what happened?"

Minerva looked at Rhiannon's earnest expression, a small smile appearing on her face.

"Um, I guess I'm just in over my head right now.
This is my first time as a Trainer.
In fact I haven't been an agent before–oh, wait.
I shouldn't have said that."

"It's ok.
The fact that they chose you, even though you don't have any experience, must been that they–"

"Made a mistake?"

"I was going to say... that they believe in you.
Now you just have to believe in yourself."

"Easier said than done."

"I know.
But you bonded with Raphael–"

Minerva's body tensed up, and Rhiannon could tell that something was wrong.

"Wait.
Was Raph an a**hole to you too?"

"He was like that with you?"

Rhiannon nodded.
"Yep.
And I have no idea why."

"I can't think of a reason why he'd be like that to you.
But he doesn't think my work's good enough."

"Are you serious?
Ugh, that man has got his head so far up his own a** is practically poking out of his throat."

Minerva chuckled, before quickly covering her mouth to suppress her laugh.
Rhiannon laughed at this.

"I think you're really smart, Minerva. Please don't let him get to you."

"I'll try not to.
As long as you don't let him get to you."

Rhiannon grinned, before holding her hand out. Minerva smiled back, before shaking Rhiannon's hand.

"Deal."

★★★

Raphael zoomed in on the pictures Ashryn took of the tech files.
A large portion of them were devices that would help the UAE.

Raphael scoffed.
"They're all boring.
I've got this in the bag."

A note next to one the files caught Raphael's eye.

Raphael felt his hope dwindle as he read and re-read the criteria.
He never thought about how his invention would help the agency.

He was more than confident in his invention record, but if they were doing this for all of the participants, then surely Minerva would stand a better chance than him?

After all, one of her previous inventions is one that the agency now swear by.

If he was going to stand a chance at beating her, he needed to know the ins and outs of her invention.

But how the h*ll was he going to do that, when he just severed any connection they might have had?

_____________________

Hi!

Just wanted to let you know that this book will be quite long. I'm estimating around 50 chapters. This is just because there's a lot to get through, but I also want to put in what would be seen as 'filler chapters' to even out the pace of certain storylines.

Some storylines might be resolved quickly, whereas others will take time. Pacing out different storylines is something I've struggled with in the past, so please be patient with me, and if you have any advice for me please let me know!

We're starting to learn a bit more about Agoraville! It was important to me that I include some conflict between humans, not just the creatures, because this world isn't a utopia. I'd class this as dystopian. Even though technology is so advanced, and the time period, as well as the actual location of the town in terms of a planet, is ambiguous, I still wanted to find some connections between our world and this world.
(There were so many commas in that last sentence haha.
I overuse commas way too much.)

Raphael didn't hold back in this chapter! Was he completely in the wrong here, or can you kind of see where he's coming from?

Rhiannon's starting to befriend Minerva, but could this newfound friendship come at a cost?

I know Makoto hasn't had much of a storyline yet, but their's will come! Again, it's about how I've paced certain storylines. Makoto's is a very gradual progression. But for now, I hope you enjoy their A+ friendship skills!

Any theories?

What are your thoughts on this chapter?

DoodleYeet

LeMystical-Puffle

ruesbennett

SoniczurcX

bardsarethebest