All HQs had...pockets. That was the best way to describe them. Pockets of free space that could be inhabited for a limited amount of time. They received ten hours each week to train in each pocket. That wasn't much time, especially since it was per team, and not by individuals.

With some pockets, used for weight training and consequently weightlifting tests, occupied, Dev selected one small room for shooting.

It was a blank room, a fact that confused the boy. He spun around in all directions. "We lost? Lotsu says it's impossible to get lost in this place."

Lotsu, the friend who was late for evaluation. With how knowledgeable he seemed to be about the inner workings of the Volunteers, she half regretted getting this little guy and not the big strong one.

"We're not lost," she assured him. After detaching her matrix from her hip, she brought up the proper commands. A few taps of her security code had the walls to their right flipping over.

Black guns, black arrows, black granades. The boy gasped then laughed but Dev wondered if absolutely everything in this place would be black.

He rushed the wall, pulling her back to reality, and she ran to intercept him. "Whoa. These are all bare," she explained.

Though she waited for him to nod in understanding, he simply blinked at her.

A part of her groaned internally. He was useless.

"Bare. All weapons assigned to a Volunteer are encoded to that person. You cannot just pick up a Volunteer's sidearm without losing your own hand." She nodded to the wall. "Or bare ones." Their eyes met again and she teased, "What? Lotsu didn't 'say'?"

His face reddened and she regretted the misplaced joke.

"Well, show me what you know how to handle and I'll evaluate you."

The green eyes roved the wall.

"Go ahead and give me your name," Dev instructed. He said it and she had to pick her head up to make certain she wasn't hearing wrong. "What?"

He wouldn't repeat it.

"Sonini?" she asked. "What? That's what, three districts. Who gave you such a weird nickname?"

He bristled. "It's not a weird name."

"It's the axes point for three districts. Of course it's a weird name." She erased the entry and asked again, "Give me the real one."

With how rigid he stood, her brain finally caught up with her stupid mouth. It was his name. His real name. His information was purchased.

"Could..." Dev slowed in her speech then typed in the name then shortened it and tried to type it in again. Instead of Sonini, she entered, 'Oni.' Better one district than three.

"You can call me Oni," he offered, unaware of her preemptive nickname.

"Oh?" Dev played along. "Thank you. I'll just enter that in, shall I?"

But he didn't smile back despite her jovial tone.

"Don't feel bad," she insisted. "My dad's name was the joining of two districts, too." With one final tap, the weapons on the wall all flashed blue then fell dormant. "Here. You have access to all of them."

So—Oni made his way to the wall. "So...if I try to show my skill set here, will your evil cousin shoot me with one of these?"

Dev smiled in spite of herself. "We're here to prevent that."

"What's with him anyway?" Hands on his hips, he looked her way. "Or is this how Volunteer kids behave?"

That was a good question. And it was one she tried to answer for herself.

"It's not about you. Sen's...got problems. But that's to be expected with clones."

Oni nearly dropped a gun. Dev rushed in on instinct but the boy caught it.

"Sorry. Sorry." The gun finally secure, Oni asked her, "He's a clone?"

Dev cocked her head. "Yes and no."

She would have ended the conversation there but the curious gaze compelled her to explain it further. Being a clone was nothing to be ashamed of, but it was something Sen hated.

"Sen's his father's clone. Or so he thought. And it's just doing his head in."

Oni handled the gun with more care. "So...he's not a clone?"

"He is a clone, just not of his father. He and me used to be step-siblings. It's complicated. Let's just leave it at that."

Their eyes met and she groaned.

"His father and my mother were together for a few years. They broke up when we were five. But we still hung out. Sen took it hard when he couldn't come visit us. So he stuck to me like glue ever since."

Finding great interest in the weapon, Oni muttered, "So you're not blood relatives?"

They weren't, but that would only lead to more questions. "Did you find one that's appropriate?"

The boy nodded. "I think so."

Each hesitation had Dev pulsing with regret. She should have butted out.

Now she was in too deep.

"What do you mean think so?" He said nothing, amplifying her frustration. At this rate, they'd never get breakfast. She decided to settle for childish guessing games. "It's too big? Too heavy? Too small? Not sturdy?"

Silence.

He turned the gun this way and that, studying it, but she wasn't falling for it. He was trying to figure out how to activate it, or at the very least, what model it was. That made sense. Volunteer weaponry was state of the art. Vagrants would probably have access to an earlier model.

"Okay. We have an extended armory. Can you at least tell me what letter the one you're used to starts with?"

A budding smile accompanied a nod. "It was a P."

Dev's jaw nearly fell. She had to snap it back shut. P. P-gens hadn't been current for nearly sixty years.

Panic welled up inside her but she managed a sincere enough grin, she hoped. "I'll be right back."

She didn't have to go far for the armory but she had to dig quite a ways to find two P-gen guns. They were laughably flimsy, with a memo on the side reading, Caution: may be subject to unintended discharge.

Dev groaned. "Of course, you are."

The room where she left Oni closed in. The all-glass door afforded her a clear view.

Watching him struggle with the weapon was hard to bear. He shook it. He twisted it this way and that. Then he shook it again. Rather than let him struggle, she busted in.

"Got the absolute last two. Here you are."

Oni took the guns then let out a haggard breath. He didn't even try to play it off.

Instead, he muttered, "Maybe they all operate the same."

Dev wanted to bang her head against the wall.

"This isn't happening," she whispered.

After snatching the weapon back from Oni's hands, she squinted at the little label—it had the instructions—then she shoved Oni forward until he stumbled to the starting point of the shooting range.

She stood behind him and handed the readied weapon over. Oni trembled, an action that compounded her worry. This was hopeless.

Oni in her embrace, she guided his hand and held the gun steady for him.

"Here. Just squeeze gently."

But the boy couldn't grip the gun gently, in fact, it vibrated, he was so nervous.

Dev steadied it again and held his left shoulder as she squeezed his index with the right. "Here."

After striking the bare wall, a target appeared on it.

She helped him fire five shots before finally letting him go to do it on his own. With her there, he was a perfect shot, but alone...nothing. Not even one good hit.

Poor Sen. This was going to crush him.

Oni continued to do his best and she leaned away to regard him, wondering how long he could possibly last. It wasn't even a matter of days before he was out, but hours.