Training Days

“Full Transparency.” Lore tried to swallow the lump in their throat. “The Rexian cube had a bit more on it than just languages. It had a few ‘key memories’ that I must have known would come up later. One of them will happen tomorrow.”
“What?” Char had lowered herself to the floor, her hand on Lore’s metal arm.
“There’s two of me here in Scotland right now. I’m currently training with Crait in The Guild’s UCITF. It’s a special training facility where we were taught how to conceal ourselves and blend in with foreign societies.”
“I thought you were supposed to be on Mars?” Tay paused for a moment. “Yeah, you said you were training on Mars then you came to Earth.” Char nodded along.
“I was training with The Protectorate’s TEMPORAL Guild.” Lore sighed. “Well, at least it can’t get much worse.”
“Now you’ve jinxed it.” Tay tapped her parent on their shoulder. “So what’s the plan?”
“Well, because I’m training here still, my ID should get us through the front door. Should be a quick in and out sort of deal. We walk in, talk to Alodrass then we’re done.”
“Tomorrow then?” Char put her hand on Lore’s knee.
“Probably for the best. If we want to ensure my codes still work then the day I’m actually there training should be our best chance.”
After ordering food from a local restaurant, Lore was almost glad they were going back to their training facility. The greasy, battered food was filling and thoroughly enjoyable but the excess calories would be short lived with the day they had planned for tomorrow. After dinner, Lore and Char headed to their room. Despite not being their usual bed, it didn’t feel any different to the one on The Destiny.
“Bit harsh to leave all the washing up to Tay?” Lore moved in closer to Char.
“She’s our daughter, why should we be doing it? As soon as I was old enough to walk, my mother had me cleaning the house, then once she was satisfied that I could do that, she had me washing up and by the age of eight, I was helping dad with almost all of the housework.” Lore looked to Char with a sad confusion. “Ok… it certainly sounds worse than I thought.”
“I’ve only met your… our mother once and it wasn’t for long because she apparently hates me but…” Lore put their arm around Char. “I wouldn’t expect any less than slavery from her. Well, where her kids are concerned.” Lore pecked at Char’s cheek.
“Oh…” Char smiled. She reciprocated Lore’s affection, turning to face them. She placed her hand on Lore’s shoulder. They jolted slightly as Char’s hand clipped their metal shoulder but continued nonetheless. Lore mirrored her actions, placing one hand on Char’s body. Char’s hand wandered slowly downwards, Lore’s stayed put. “You sure?” Lore remained silent, smiling and nodding.
There was a vague noise coming from the room above her. Tay dried her hand and once again unfolded her sheet of unanswered questions. Tapping her pen against the box, she debated ticking it once more, unsure of whether it was the right thing to do.
“Eww.” She ticked the box before continuing with the washing up. Trying to forget what may or may not be going on upstairs.
Sands whipped around her as she stood overlooking the final outpost. She had been on the run for a while but it was almost over. She tapped at her wrist and her weapon formed around her hand. She aimed towards the camp and braced herself. She didn’t have much practical experience with her cannon but her theoretical knowledge was more than sound. Taking a deep breath, she slowly balled her hand into a fist to fire the final shot but as she did, a black hand grabbed her. The hand turned her to face them. Connected to the hand, a rather unhappy Lore. Char broke down in their arms. They stood her up. Char took aim once more, Lore steadying her shot. Together, they fired. The garrison before them joined the desert sands as they were aged instantly to desiccation and beyond. Char awoke. Unlike normal, there was no heavy breathing, no cold sweat, just consciousness. It had still only been four hours but she felt almost normal.
After waiting for Tay to finish getting ready, they went over their plan. Lore handed each of them a fake ID card. They hoped that they wouldn’t be checked but better safe than sorry. The training facility wasn’t too far away so they elected to walk rather than Breach plus after last night’s meal, it wouldn’t hurt to take the healthier route. It wasn’t what any of them had been expecting, especially Lore who only had memories of the interior. The building they found themselves in front of was like the others surrounding it, commercial office space in the middle of a capital city. Lore approached the door and punched in their ID number. There was a moment of insecurity as they had to repeat their code before the light flashed green and the door unlocked.
“That’s not cool.” Char took one look at the facility and disapproved immediately.
“I hadn’t even thought about that.” Lore looked up and to their right. In the corner of the room, a dimensional projector. Despite being twice the size, it was obvious what it was.
“So you kill us all for our resources then make knock-offs of one of our greatest achievements.”
“I don’t see a fake you.” Lore smiled with a quick wink. Tay looked on the verge of vomiting.
“Smooth.”
“Loren! I thought you were with Crait in special training…” He looked up from his clipboard. “Oh… Future Loren. How can I help you.”
“Hi…” Lore scanned the receptionist for a nametag. “Noel… We’ve been tracking a potentially dangerous individual and the trail leads here, we’ll need full access to the facility and, don’t worry, I’ll be careful around myself.” As soon as he mentioned Loren, it was if Lore was a different person.
“Of course Inquisitor. Can I be of any service while you’re here?”
Lore smiled. “This is a Black level mission so I’m going to need you to turn off all of the internal cameras and remove all logs saying I was here.”
“Yes sir.” After a stiff salute, Noel dove behind the reception desk and began enacting Lore’s wishes. Once complete he disappeared back to wherever he came from.
“That went well.” Lore looked over at the reception terminal and saw that the cameras had indeed been wiped. Awkward Youth.