Val landed on her back with a heavy thud, letting out a wheeze as the air was driven out of her lungs with the impact. Coughing, she rolled over and propped herself up on her elbows, taking a deep breath. Wiping a bit of spittle from her lips with the back of her hand, she pushed herself up to one knee and then her feet. She glared at Bri and settled back into a defensive stance.

Under Bri’s watchful gaze, the rest of the morning had blurred by. At first, Val had enjoyed the physical training. It was a welcome break from the heavy conversations and life-changing decisions of the past two days. Some easy calisthenics and stretching to loosen her muscles, followed by a light run through the ruined outskirts of Peakpoint. The brisk mountain air had reinvigorated her, and she had returned to the compound in high spirits.

That had quickly changed as soon as Bri had taken over her training regiment. While Zavis had made it clear that there was no strict hierarchy in the Defects, it was still clear that Val was at the bottom. No one had made any moves to intervene, although Val swore that she had caught a glimpse of pity from Wallon.

Now, the other three clearly ignored the “training” session that Bri was holding in the sparring ring. She had Val run through some basic stances and movements, slowly increasing the intensity until her muscles burned with fatigue. Normally, Val would have activated some regenerative routines to clear out the lactic acid and reenergize her muscles, but Bri had forbidden it. And in a move that Val should have seen coming but somehow had still surprised her, Noir had immediately jumped in to enforce Val’s compliance with the routine ban.

It seemed that the Daemon had come out of their shell slightly since Val had gotten them to agree to the Defect’s conditions earlier that morning. Maybe it was the direct confrontation with Val, where she hadn’t let them just squirrel away into the recesses of her mind. Or maybe Noir had slowly come to terms with the fact that their isolationist policy was not an effective way to avoid being exploited.

Val had been happy when she had felt Noir lurking on the edges of her consciousness during her morning run. They were still not engaging directly with her very frequently, but Noir sent Val little pieces of information more frequently. A notification that a pedestrian was about to turn a corner, allowing Val to dodge them smoothly. The watchful gaze of a Guardian on patrol tracking her from a rooftop. A suggestion for the most efficient sequence of steps to avoid twisting her ankle in a shattered section of road. It had not been much, but Val had considered it a bit of a breakthrough. The first step on a road to a real partnership.

Traitor. You are enjoying watching me suffer, aren’t you? As expected, there was no response from the Daemon, but Val felt the barest hint of satisfaction trickle out over the neural link. When Bri had imposed the ban on the regenerative subroutines, Noir had immediately broken their silence to make sure that Val knew they would block her usage of the routine. A vein bulged in Val’s forehead as she struggled to control the annoyance welling up in her. It wasn’t even in her nature to give in and use a crutch like that during training. But somehow, Noir ensuring that she couldn’t use it annoyed her to no end.

A fist flying towards her face interrupted Val’s internal monologue as she ducked out of the way and focused her attention on Bri. Even without any obvious body enhancement, Bri was wicked fast and hit like a truck. While she clearly was not out to destroy Val, she wasn’t going too easy on her either. The first few exchanges had been enough for the more experienced Defect to gauge Val’s combat prowess, and Val had been pushed to the edge of her ability for the entirety of the session since then.

Despite Val’s annoyance with Noir, she had to admit that the Daemon was still being more useful than in previous days. Val felt like she could see every tiny shift of weight in Bri’s stance, even the subtle ripple of muscle under Bri’s tanned skin before she started a punch or kick. Her own body was more responsive as well. It seemed like her conscious brain had barely registered an incoming blow before her legs were already propelling her out of reach to safety.

And still it wasn’t enough. Not even close. Bri’s assault was relentless, overwhelming her newly enhanced reflexes with a neverending barrage of blows. While Val was barely reacting to one move, it seemed like Bri was two or three steps ahead.

Val stepped out to the right to avoid a jab from Bri. The woman’s left foot was already there, hooking her ankle and causing her to fall to the ground. Val tried to roll away and get back to her feet, but Bri didn’t let her. Grabbing Val’s leg, she pulled Val back towards her and landed another heavy blow against Val’s ribcage. Val winced in pain, kicking out with her other foot. Bri quickly dropped Val’s leg and stepped smoothly out of range. Val scrambled back to her feet, spitting sand out of her mouth.

Bri gave her a wicked grin. “About time for a break, don’t you think?” She turned around and started walking to the edge of the ring. Val immediately leapt at the woman, ready to finally land a solid blow. There was a blur of motion and the next thing Val knew, she was on her back again staring at the ceiling of the compound.

“Nice try, Val. You’ll have to be smarter than that if you want to land a blow on a body enhancement specialist, though.” Bri smiled down at Val kindly before giving her a quick pat on the shoulder. Standing up, she started walking back to the edge of the ring again. Val groaned and propped herself up on one elbow, causing Bri to look back again. “You going to be OK?”

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“Yea, just… give me a minute,” Val said as she slowly pushed herself upright. How did I even end up on the ground again anyways?

Just as she finished the thought, she stiffened as she felt a burst of information from Noir. She watched in amazement as a slow-motion replay of the final encounter played out in her head. As Val charged forward, Bri suddenly dropped her shoulder, allowing Val’s fist to pass within inches of her face. Bri instantly turned the near miss to her favor as she reached up and grabbed Val’s arm. With a simple lift of the hip and twist of her torso, Bri threw Val over her shoulder and into the ground in front of her. The mental movie faded as quickly as it had come, leaving Val shaking her head lightly.

Is this how it’s going to be with you always? You share these cool features with me, but only when you can use it to make fun of me or make my life more difficult? Val couldn’t stop some heat from entering her thoughts as she berated Noir. There was a pause before she sensed a new sensation from the Daemon. Her brow furrowed as she tried to identify the emotion. It almost seemed… apologetic.

That was not my intention. I’m still coming to terms with our new situation, and took it a little too far. I’m… sorry.

Surprised, Val took a deep breath and forcefully stopped herself from snapping back at Noir. It’s… well, it’s not quite alright, but I appreciate the apology. Val sat in silence for a moment before continuing. Like you said, I think we’re both still coming to terms with this situation. But I hope it’s clear that I don’t want to be turned into a killer-for-hire just as much as you. Do you think that’s enough common ground to start working together, even just a little bit?

Val sat for several more seconds without a response before sighing and pushing herself to her feet.

I’m not as trusting as you. I don’t trust these Defects to not try and take advantage of me while under the guise of training you. I don’t trust the Guildmasters who allowed this pairing, and frankly I’m confused by the motives of the Daemon collective and Gaia for suggesting it. And I certainly don’t trust you yet as my new User.

Val snorted. You haven’t given me much reason to trust you either so far. But like it or not, you and I are stuck in this together. Of course everyone is going to try and use us. The Guildmasters, even Gaia… I’m sure they all had ulterior motives when they paired us up. And I’m sure the Defects have some strong feelings about us, but at least they’ve been fairly transparent about it. Val’s eyes fell on Bri, who was taking a drink of water off to the side. And I’m sure they could wipe us out easily if they wanted to.

If we know everyone is going to use us, let’s at least do it in the most advantageous way possible. The Defects are offering us a chance to get stronger. Out in the wilderness, fighting against beasts and not other Users. I’m not sure what their end goal is, but every bit of power we gain now lets us stand our ground against the next person that wants to use us just a little bit more. And that’s good enough for me to try and work with them, and with you.

A surprisingly mature stance for one so young.

Val couldn’t stop the memories from welling up again. Waving to her parents as they set off on their trip. Zyra’s neutral expression as she told Val that her parents were killed on suspicion of being traitors. The uneasy whispers and strained smiles as those she had considered family, the other Messengers, slowly pushed her away.

I know I can’t even begin to compare my tragedies to those you’ve experienced, but I’ve seen at least some of the pain this broken world can inflict on us. And I don’t ever want to feel so powerless again.

I see. We can agree on that count, at least. I can’t overcome my distrust so easily. But for our mutual survival, I will try to be less antagonistic.

I can work with that.

Val stepped over next to Bri, giving the woman a nod. Reaching down, she uncapped a bottle of water and took a sip of water. Sloshing the liquid around in her mouth, Val spit out the last bit of sand before taking several long gulps of water. She was about to step back into the ring when Noir spoke up again.

I must also admit, you are a particularly interesting User to work with. Your neural link is incredibly high quality. And your nanosystem isn’t too bad either, but your existing neural pathways just seem more in line with interfacing with Daemons rather than the nano in your body. Even the crack in your nanosystem’s core is unusual.

Oh, really? Learn anything interesting?

Maybe. I need more data before I’ll feel confident in my analysis.

“Val?” Bri’s question broke Val out of her internal conversation with Noir. “Everything OK?”

“Oh, yes, sorry. Was just talking a bit with Noir.”

“Really?” Bri looked thoughtfully at Val.

“Yes. Is that so weird?” Val asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable under Bri’s scrutiny.

“Well, I just keep forgetting that you have such high sync from the beginning. Normally, it takes new Users months before they can carry on full conversations with their Daemons. And you still have the skills of a new User” – seeing Val’s wince, Bri quickly waved her hands – “no, no, it’s totally understandable. I’m sure you’ll improve quickly with your high sync. It’s just a weird combination to see, that’s all. No advanced subroutines, but a sophisticated mental connection. It’s usually the other way around – Users unlock new abilities before they truly bond with their Daemon.”

“Hmm. I guess I could see how that would be weird.” Val couldn’t really understand it though. It seemed completely normal to her to carry out a conversation with Noir. Even with Rez in her first experience with a Daemon, it had come naturally to speak to them.

“Val! Bri!” Val looked up to see Zavis waving at the two of them. “Take a quick shower if you want, but then finish tuning up your equipment from yesterday.” Val’s heart skipped a beat as she waited for his next words.

“We’ve got another mission request coming in.”