2302 UNPC universal calendar.

---

"Hello," Anton said to the woman at the front desk of the "linguistics" building.

"Hi there, how may I help you four" She asked, seeming startled to see a group of augments at the counter.

"I'd like to speak to a child I'm told is here, her name should be in your system" Anton said.

"Her name?" the woman asked, stepping up to a computer.

"Amara"

The woman nodded, typing. "May I ask the nature of your visit?" she asked after typing for a few moments.

"Social," Anton replied.

"Very well then,she should be leaving a class within a few minutes" the woman behind the desk said, smiling.

"What's the classroom number? We'll wait outside in the hallway and surprise her when she comes out" Anton said, moving his helmet under his left arm from his right hand, moving a billow of his cloak out from under his helmet.

"Sure" she said ecstatically, turning to type on her keyboard for a moment, then looked back up to Anton.

"Room twelve, second floor, elevator is to your right just down that hallway" she said.

"Thanks so much" Anton replied, turning to the others, doing some quick math aloud.

"Five hundred and twenty-two, three..." he trailed off. "I think we're a bit too heavy for the elevators" he chuckled.

"Where's the stairs?" he asked the woman behind the desk.

'Down this hallway to your left' she replied.

Stolen story; please report.

Anton nodded, and motioned the others to follow.

Lira piped up as they were walking. "What's keeping you in the UNPC?" she asked. "You're allowed to retire after fifty years, and you've been in for over two hundred and seventy"

"Good question, I haven't really thought about it, I guess a sense of duty or something like that" Anton replied.

"Well, do you ever think you'll retire?" she asked.

"Only if these two want to' he put simply

"Well I wouldn't mind,'' Sarah said.

"It's been a long time, I've been thinking about asking you guys for a while actually" She added.

"Well I say we stay in until this whole shebang with going after all of the Broken Arrows are found" Kate said, shrugging.

"What about the other five original broken arrows?" Anton asked as the four stood in the hallway just outside room 12.

"Well , those are largely lost to time, so I guess we could wait until the UNPC find just their missing nukes." Kate replied. "The old-old ones are all at the bottom of the ocean or in a glacier somewhere"

"Alright, it's decided then" Anton grinned, just as the door to room 12 opened, and a few children came out, Amara being one of them.

She saw the group, recognized Anton, and ran over, throwing her arms around him as he crouched to meet her.

"Hi there little one" he said, hugging her gently. "How have you been?"

They stood in the hallway, talked and caught up, then let Amara drag them to her room on the 4th floor to show them her new things.

While Lira was sitting on the bed, humoring Amara, who was ecstatically showing her how a toy works, Anton turned to Kate.

"You were wondering about your anniversary present?" he asked, pulling a folded mass of ten stapled together papers from under a gap in his chestplate, unfolding it.

"Here you go," he said, presenting it to her.

She took it, read it, then turned back to him, shocked.

"We're a family now" he said softly, smiling.

"You two were in on this?" Kate stated more than asked, looking at Lira and Sarah.

"Guilty" Sarah said, raising her hands.

"Hey, it was his idea," Lira said, pointing at Anton.

"But you won't be able to come with us" Kate said, looking at Lira.

"I'm fine with that, I'll come visit every time I have the chance" Lira said, shrugging. "Besides, this one wants to be an augment" she turned to Amara, who nodded vigorously in approval.

"And Delta 8?" Kate asked.

"Same story, already talked it over with them" Anton smiled.

"Now go tell Amara," Anton told her.

She kneeled down in front of Amara, who was sitting on the bed next to Lira.

"How would you like to live with us instead of here?" Kate asked.

Amara thought for a moment.

"I would love to," she said in perfect Swedish.

Kate threw her arms around Amara and started to cry.

"Alright, let's get out of here before I cry a river" Kate said, laughing through her tears of joy as she stood up.

"One week," Anton told Amara.

"One week" she replied, holding out a single finger cutely.

One week, I promise