SYSTEM ALERT - YES, I’M PARANOID, BUT YOU SHOULD REMEMBER I’M A L W A Y S W A T C H I N G

“Rude,” Kaelich says, “also, wait, isn’t Stemlink super-secure? Fuck. I should stop believing everything they tell me.”

“The communication would be secure if you didn’t keep your encryption key saved in your tablet, idiot,” Aeniki says “Also, my implants can read subvocalizations. That’s easier than most people realize. You must cover your throat if you want to be sneaky.”

She points at her own turtleneck, and I curse. We did learn about this in intelligence, but I completely forgot about it.

“Still kind of rude, not gonna lie,” Kaelich says, wincing.

“She went the nice way,” I point out, “she showed us that she can read our messages. She could have said nothing and kept spying on us. So, thank you, Aeniki.”

The techie looks surprised, but she nods. “Your Blademaster has some good sense, Kaelich. Even if her baking attempt was embarrassing.”

I’m not even surprised Aeniki knows about my muffin failure. “Hear that?” I say, and decide I might as well try to fight more than one battle at once. “I have good sense, and that’s why I’m saying we should wear full field equipment in the University. Given your suspicions, don’t you agree?”

Aeniki frowns. “Not saying no, especially since I’m not the one who would wear a helmet for ten hours straight. But I’m not sure you should focus on the risk of direct attack. Whatever is happening - here, and everywhere - the magical factions still care a lot about secrecy. If they fight, like in Valanes, it’s because something has gone horribly wrong. We should try to be smart, and discover them before they start playing hardball.”

“I thought the same.” Althea intervenes. “Just in much fewer words, and without all the boring parts. We shouldn’t expect a fight. What we should worry about is having mages sneak past us. Point is, our CivInt is useless. I’m not much good at spotting magic, I’m more into smashing stuff, and Jaeleri might as well work with the enemy.”

Kaelich’s face drains of color, and I remember one of xir recommendations. Aeniki gets along with Jaeleri. Don’t insult him too much in her presence.

Aeniki’s glares at Althea. Well, at least she can’t mess with Althea’s implants, since she doesn’t have them. Small blessings.

“Jaeleri is a Sight mage,” Aeniki says, harsh, “and much more competent than you give him credit for.”

Althea looks at Aeniki like she just sprouted horns – she can’t stand Jaeleri, and I have the horrible suspicion that she forgot about Kaelich’s warning.

“Jaeleri isn’t bad!” Kaelich adds quickly, “he’s just a bit of a, uh, manatee!”.

Aeniki looks at him, baffled, and Althea seems puzzled for a moment, then she closes her eyes, her lips quirking up – fortunately, she recognized Kaelich’s camel-brained code.

“Well, I’m not saying he’s incompetent,” Althea says, grimacing as if saying the words physically pained her. Liege of Shadows, she’s a terrible liar. “But he ref… he’s unable to stay near the Black Door. And the same goes for Sorivel, who is surprisingly good at seeing the Else for a fallen mage. So, there’s only me in the cave.

“Also, an infiltrator from the Factions would probably be an Adept, possibly a Master. There’s no way I’ll be able to see past their Lies. We need another way to screen suspicious people. Can you help us background check the students, Aeniki? They’re the obvious choice for an infiltrator who wanted to reach the Black Door. You said something about cross-referencing their IDs with university data.”

“In principle,” Aeniki says, stressing the word, “that would be the smart way to go. It’s hard to say if any random kid is a mage, as long as they don’t use their powers. And the factions can buy as many fake IDs, even top quality ones, as they want. But we could find out if they’re really students - academic record, lesson attendance, essays, the university tracks all that stuff, and faking it all would be almost impossible, unless they spent years undercover. So, that would be great – except the fucking Rakavdon University won’t share their data, because they don’t like our muddy, uneducated paws in their sacred halls of learning.”

Lord of Seas, this girl is so bitter. I like her.

“Could you get the data anyway?” I ask.

Aeniki smiles. I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what she hoped I’d ask.

“Yeah. I checked, just as a proof of concept,” she says. “The university database is embarrassingly vulnerable. So bad, I’ll have to add my own integrity checks, because any half-competent hacker could add false records. But if you want, I can definitely cross-check the academic record of anyone who wants to enter the Vault, or the excavations.”

“Is that, uh, legal?” Kaelich asks, visibly cringing.

Aeniki scoffs. “Why would you ask me instead of CivInt, if it was legal? Of course breaking into the university’s database without their authorization is illegal.”

Althea laughs. “I’ve been here, how long, a month? And we’re already flunking the law together. This is the Council-Agency cooperation we need more of!”

“About that,” Aeniki adds, grimacing, “You two, be a bit more careful with your close cooperation.” She’s looking at me and Althea, and I fight to repress a blush. How does she even know about us? We’ve been very discreet! She must have hacked into our private comms.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Lieutenant Sareas,” she goes on, “doesn’t like to see agents getting too friendly with mages. He hates team Gold for that already, but while he’s stupid, he’s not that stupid, so he doesn’t challenge them. You, however, are a much easier target, and his mean streak is a mile wide.”

“We’ll deal with him, if need be,” Althea says. And judging by her expression, she’s not planning to bake him a pie. “Well, Aeniki, it was a pleasure, I can’t wait to do more crimes together. Now, Cerical, it’s getting late, and we have some close cooperation planned for the night.”

***

I haven’t dressed up in too long. I could also say I haven’t had a date in too long, but that wouldn’t be entirely correct – none of my brief relationships involved dates.

But any obstacle can be conquered with planning and methodical determination. So, I rummage in the storage unit under my bed until I find the outfit I bought for my sister’s marriage - sharp black trousers, a light gray blouse. Undeniably civilian attire, reasonably fancy, and sort of looks like a ThauCon dress uniform.

Should I wear make-up? It feels silly to work so much on presentation, for a night out with a girl I literally meet every day. In the end, I put some powder to conceal my pimples - which is especially pointless with a girl I meet every day, but I hate those things. Aren’t they supposed to go away after you hit twenty?

I look at myself in the mirror. Stupid at that is, it strikes me as weird that I’m not wearing tattoos. If I had those, I could highlight looking for a relationship. Or tweak it with makeup, so it would say currently in a relationship. Karesians love that kind of silliness, tattoo script is squiggly and every letter looks similar, which makes it very difficult to read, but allows a lot of nuance and cleverness.

Lady of Light, I’m starting to get the point of it. But if I’ll try Karesian tattoos at some point, I’ll definitely won’t do that this evening.

I stare at my reflection, and find what I see utterly ridiculous. This is a waste of time. It’s not a formal event, just an evening out, and a discussion between adults about a possible relationship. And yet, I want to look good. Should I wear eyeliner? My eyes are sharply angled, and some people claimed I look good when I emphasize that.

I should have asked some of my teammates for help. Kaelich is good with makeup. But xe and Sorivel went to discuss theology with a seal pup or something like that. It is… strange, realizing I’d be happy to have xem around, doing something that is both frivolous and private.

I take a deep breath, to make my hands steady, and apply the eyeliner myself. I passed the Seven Blades test with full marks. I can draw a fucking line on my face without messing up.

I check the time – as I did every thirty seconds – and realize with a jolt that it’s time to go, if I want to reach the tube stop ten minutes early. I wear the whole panoply of thermal layers over my nice outfit - which is quite light since it was meant for reasonable climates - and walk to the maglev platform in the inner courtyard. Althea and I will take the same train, of course. I’ll feel really stupid, if she shows up in an everyday tunic or something like that.

She gets to the platform, in a hurry, just two minutes before the train’s scheduled time – I was torn between worry that it would turn out to be a prank, and annoyance at her tardiness. But when I see her, I forget it all.

She definitely didn’t wear an everyday tunic.

She can’t use her usual heating spells, since she can’t possibly claim she’s on official business, so she wears a heavy coat. But at her wrist and ankles, I glimpse green silk – legit, shimmering, absurdly expensive silk. She wove golden thread through her hair, wore her emerald earrings, and put on green lipstick. She also did something to her skin, it’s so smooth and perfect I’d think it’s magic, except I know she can’t do Lies.

She looks stunning, so beautiful I feel my knees go weak, and fight the urge to check if there’s someone else behind me that she might be smiling at. Because I still find it so hard to believe this incredible girl may actually be interested in me.

She also reminds me, with painful clarity, of how she looks when she touches the Else, the way her eyes fill with green fire and her arms become like glass, its hue deeper and more real than anything should be.

Lost Stars, they warned us about so many dangers magic poses - no one told me magic could be so beautiful.

And yet, Gehat’s words echo in my mind.

You can’t trust her power. The reason Council Mages aren’t part of the Agency is that part of our duty is to keep watch on them, for everyone’s sake. And if we get too close, we can’t do that.

The smile falters on my lips.

But forcefully, deliberately, I shove those words out of my thoughts. I’ve given them consideration. I’ve chosen a course of action. Now I won’t second guess myself, won’t think about Gehat story for a single moment this evening. Because otherwise, they’ll poison anything I might ever have with Althea.

And I’ve agreed to a date. There is no point doing things halfway.

I focus back on Althea’s gorgeous lips, on her adorable pointy nose and the curls of her hair. I smile.

“Ready?” Althea asks. “Not going to lie, I half-expected you to just wear a uniform.”

“That would be against regulations,” I say. “Which is a pity, I look great in a dress uniform.”

She laughs, warm and contagious, and moves closer to me, a little more than would be proper. But I guess, since we are on a date, propriety can be stretched.

“So, how does this work?” She asks. “What do ThauCon agents do on their dates? Compare rifles? Butt heads to establish dominance?”

She’s talking quickly and fiddling with her hands, why does she – oh, wait, she’s nervous too. Confident as she is, she’s just out of the Council Academy, so she can’t have much experience with regular people’s dating, either. It makes me relax a bit, knowing that I’m not the only one who’s anxious about this.

“They usually start by getting high or drunk,” I answer, “which is their only approach when they can’t solve a problem by shooting. And in basic training, we… sort of skipped the dating part, we were mostly worried about having sex before a drill sergeant caught us. What do council mages do? Are you even supposed to date?”

“We’re civilians, and we’re not priests,” she says, “we can date whomever we wish. Except our handler, now that I think of it. Not that I’d be tempted - cute as Kaelich is, I want my partners to have at least two functioning brain cells.”

I laugh, but can’t find anything to say in response. There’s a moment of awkward silence.

“So, what do we do?” She asks. “I mean, Council dates are usually thirty per cent impressing each other with our magical skill, thirty percent gossip, thirty percent innuendo about what you can do with your Path in a bedroom.”

“That only sums up to ninety,” I say, and immediately regret it. Most of my romantic partners didn’t appreciate accuracy.

“Unmaker’s tits, you’re the worst,” Althea says. But she’s laughing, and I feel a relief so strong I may cry. She looks me in the eyes, and gives me a mischievous grin. “I thought the last ten percent was obvious, but I’ll show you. Sorry in advance for the green smears.”

She stands on her tiptoes, pulls my head to her with both hands, and kisses me.