Soph’s suite was on the ground floor, which was good for the dogs to come and go. Her lounge area was bigger than my whole apartment. I could see the edge of a large swimming pool, and everything was nicely landscaped except for the holes where the dogs had been digging.

Carla handed me a beer.

“Do you want to tell me why?” I asked.

“There are many reasons. These mutations are not going away. Well, Soph’s isn't, and we need to function in the world, so putting it out there in people’s faces is the quickest way. We have the publicity team of the whole armed forces behind us right now, so they are doing most of the heavy lifting in this. Soph’s mother is also behind us, and her media company is stepping up. We will need to make some appearances, talk shows, and the like and start showing our faces around. People need to start getting used to seeing mutations. There will be more and more of them.”

“So you are pulling the bandaid off now, passing the work on to others, and getting paid for it, " I summarised.

“Basically,” Carla agreed.

“So what is my role in this? I am getting paid, too.”

“Your role is to stay away from all this,” Carla said.

“That’s a bloody relief.”

“What have you been doing,” Soph asked.

“I have been having a good time,” I said. I found a nice, quiet cove. I went for long swims. There was lovely bush and nobody else around. I learned to gut and clean fish! I dined at restaurants. Oh, I bought the ute out there with the signing money. It was great.”

“What!” Soph exploded. “We have been working our asses off, getting our story straight, photo shoots, medical exams, Media team, Negotiating that contract for you. We have been working hard, and you have been lazing on the beach?!”

Carla was calmly watching me while Soph exploded at me. When Soph took a breath, Carla put a hand on her lap to stop her. “Soph, just stop a minute. Remember what I said about him doing his best work when sitting on a beach? ” she turned to me, “How far did you get?”

“I made some progress. I got a good handle on my senses, both in and out of the water. I made some progress on how essence interfaces actively with some mutations and how to control it. That is going to take a lot more work, but it will be the key to helping you change forms efficiently and, preferably, without dying. Once I have a better handle on that, I want to experiment with essence and the mutations that they don’t seem to interact with actively, like my senses. That could have benefits with Soph’s fur and your body resilience. That is a long way away. We have to get you changing forms first. What progress have you made?”

“You can see all our progress online,” Carla said.

“Why didn’t you just say that,” Soph said.

“Because he is the Bastard,” Carla said.

“Hey, these names might stick!” I exclaimed. I looked at Soph, “And because all the things I told you were the things I enjoyed. OK, I also enjoyed experimenting and learning about the mutations, but,” I shrugged, “I am the Bastard.”

“The Bastard, the Bitch and the Witch, huh? Why am I supposed to be the Witch?” Soph asked.

“You are way too nice to be the Bitch,” Carla said.

“Your magic is evil and subtle and worms its way in,” I said. “You use bloody emotions to work your magic.” I pointed at Rich, who was currently outside digging a hole for a bone he had. “You have a bloody essence and emotion detector running around with you. How much did detecting emotions help you at the negotiating table? A lot, right? If we can turn that passive sense into an active sense … You are definitely the Witch.”

Soph was just sitting there with her mouth open, “That's…amazing. Do you think we can do that?”

“I am working on it, and I think it is all linked. Using essence on passive senses to make them active is the key, but it is a long way away.”

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“I told you, didn’t I,” crowed Carla, “He does his best work sitting on a beach.”

“I am moving beaches,” I said.

“Piha?” Carla asked.

“Probably, West Coast anyway.”

“Is that why you bought the Ute?”

“Partly, but also, I couldn’t take Buck on the back of a bike.”

“You were serious about taking Buck?” Soph asked, “Why?”

“He has an active essence ability. Do you know what it is?”

Soph shook her head.

“We need to get him out hunting and exploring so he uses it. Then, we can find out what it is. He is young, and it is an active ability to help him hunt. We need him to be able to be aggressive. In gaming terms, he is one of our damage dealers. We are going to be fighting mutated creatures more and more. The way I see this team working, the Bitch here is our main tank. She is dense in body as well as in… let's leave it as in body. She has light armour naturally covering her. She will be able to take some hits. If we can get her shark form going, she will be able to bite back. I am a damage dealer and scout. Scout, with my senses and poison damage, probably working with Buck a lot.”

“And me?” queried Soph.

“You are the Witch. You are in crowd control and tactical. You and Rich are reading the emotions of our attackers and directing us to the most dangerous. Hopefully, eventually, you will manipulate emotions to avoid some fights and control them.”

I continued, “A lot of this is speculation and way down in the future. Step one is to get a handle on our mutations and essence control.”

“We also need to improve our fighting skills,” said Carla. “I did some boxing for fitness, but that is all.”

“I haven't been in more than a bar fight until the shark,” I said.

“I don’t think I have ever fought,” said Soph.

“The navy could probably help train us, but they won’t see an urgent need for it. Carla, start boxing for fitness with Soph. That is a start. I think we all need to learn knives as they are useful in and out of the water. Knives are also easy to come by. Guns are a lot harder to get hold of here in NZ, but we can hopefully get some training from the Navy in due course. I think the better options for us are spear guns and hand spears. Spear guns can be used in and out of the water, and both are available at regular hunting and fishing stores. I brought some spares, and you can each choose a knife and spear gun to practice with.”

“You weren’t kidding, were you, Carla,” Soph said.

“His best work. Give him a beach, some peace and quiet, and this is what you get.” Carla said.

“Meanwhile, you are fluffing around with photoshoots and talk shows,” I said.

“No. no, no,” Carla said, “It is much more than that. We also have to make appearances. That means we have to go to parties. High profile parties.”

“Right, well, that makes it important then. You have to take Rich to these parties and practice reading emotions and being aware of your surroundings. You will also be a target for fanatics, so boxing and knives.”

“Boxing and knives,” Carla repeated. “I am the tank and a damage dealer. Boxing and knives.”

“Don’t forget Rich can also deal damage, and watch him for early warning signs. Dress him up as a pretty lap dog for rich folk; he won’t care, and people will underestimate him.”

“Do you need anything?” Carla asked me.

“I need information. A lot of the proper research is being locked behind passwords, and I need access so I can continue to prep. The Navy is probably the key here.”

“Yes,” said Soph, “but the person to whom the navy has given access will be Dr. Mohan.”

“Good point. Can you set up a meeting? We probably need all of us there.”

“Oh? Why?” Soph asked.

“Because I am a Bastard, and she is a Bitch, so we need some magic to smooth the way. Also, so that she knows it is important to all of us and that we are a team.”

“This is really serious, isn’t it? I mean, I know it is, but learning to fight? It is just another level of seriousness is dawning on me.” Soph said.

“It is literally the end of the world. The way I see it, we have been given a head start and need not to waste that,” I said.

“How long are you staying?” Carla asked.

“I thought only one night, but that might depend on Amanda’s schedule.”

“You know we could probably use somewhere out of the way to train. Could you rent a house near Piha where we could come? It is under an hour from here, depending on traffic.” Soph said.

“I guess I could look. Maybe I could buy one? I just put my apartment on the market.”

“Did you?” Soph asked. “Mum is a shareholder in a realestate agency. She could have got you a deal.”

I just shrugged. “I will have a look around for places to buy or rent. There is never a lot available, as it is hard to get consent out there, and most of it is a regional park.” I changed the subject, ”So we all agree that this is the way we should go?”

Soph nodded.

Carla also nodded, “Definitely the best work I have seen from you.”

“Excellent,” I said, “The Bastard, the Bitch and The Witch it is.”