Calico and I entered a small room with a large table and a chalkboard. It was faintly lit by an oil lamp hanging overhead and a little wood-burning furnace in the corner. Shugr stood near the entrance with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. He was the first to greet us.

"It's good to see you both safe! Sounds like you two had as much fun as the rest of us."

He eyed my coat that Calico was wearing.

"Maybe more fun than us."

I'm sure Raust must've told him about our situation. I wondered what their 'encounter' was. Also, I wasn't sure what he meant by his second statement.

Calico responded, "Shugr, why are you smoking indoors?"

He quickly put the cigarette out on the table, probably fearing the wrath of the cat-lady. Being a Cambion, Shugr didn’t have to worry about the harmful effects of smoking. Our natural cellular regeneration was fast enough to render things like cancer unviable, though in exchange, our tolerance for addiction was much lower than a human. Shugr started smoking as a weapon to use with his arma, then it became a habit he enjoyed partaking in. He said it made him feel like a 'distinguished gentleman.'

Shugr was eccentric, even among Cambions. He had a blanket of snow for hair despite only being in his 30's and sly purple eyes you'd expect to find on a con-man or a fox. He always wore a slate suit, he said it matched his eyes or something, and a long navy duster with a high collar. It was Dead Circus' signature jacket, the one all captains wore. I asked him once why he chose his coat in dark blue, and he told me I'd learn when I was older. Shugr also wore gloves regularly, no matter the situation, and also declined to share why.

"What smoke? You must have me confused with someone else. The only smoker here is Eclaire. Isn't that right, dear?" Shugr said sarcastically.

"No. That's incorrect, sir," Eclaire responded.

Eclaire was our unenthusiastic vice-captain and our general caretaker if I'm honest. She was typically more of a leader-figure than Shugr, who tended to act immaturely. Eclaire often led our missions, even if Shugr was present, as she was the one that tied everything together. Her arma was the ability to project her consciousness to others. Through her powers, we had no need for radios or any other form of communication. We always kept in touch through a mental link, meaning our comms were never compromised. Her arma was complimented by her intelligence, being the brains of our little operation.

Eclaire was taller than the rest of us, with Shugr only being slightly shorter than her. Her hair was thin and wispy like strands of seaweed beneath the water, sitting loosely at her shoulders. She wore a straight black suit and tie, accompanied by a pressed and crisped white button-down shirt underneath. For all of Shugr’s idiosyncrasies, she was the opposite; she was rather unemotional most of the time, rarely being expressive except over small sweets like shortcake.

Then there was raust; he had a thin chocolate stick hanging out of his mouth, mimicking the cigarette Shugr had just put out.

“You guys let the prisoner die? No experience points for either of you.”

Raust was the youngest of the group by a couple years, and he often spoke in reference to video games he played. Additionally, he almost always had some kind of snack on him, usually a cookie stick covered in chocolate. He wore the same coat as me, a standard issue for fieldwork. While I opted for a traditional black jacket with white fur lining, Raust decided on a digital camo with brown fur lining. His eyes were red, matching a thin streak in his bangs that stood out against the rest of his black hair.

Calico walked to Raust and took a cheek in each hand, “don’t say such mean things, my darling! After all, it was Sylas’ fault!” she exclaimed loudly, pointing a finger while sheltering Raust with her free arm.

Shugr let out a small gasp, “oh heavens! Sylas, please say it isn’t so!”

“Oh, good lord,” I responded, “I just watched a man explode, and you guys are making jokes about the situation.”

“Ahem, WE watched a man explode!” Calico interjected.

“Does that matter? He was trying to tell us something, Calico. Right before he-“

Eclaire stepped to me, interrupting my sentence. “What was he trying to say?”

I stepped back slightly, “uh, well, I was getting there.”

“Speak more briskly. I need all the Intel you and Calico gathered for my report.”

Calico jumped up, waving her hand in the air. “Oh! Oh! Oh! I know this one!”

Eclaire acknowledged her like a school teacher, “yes, Calico?”

“Okay…so here’s the deal. Sy and I find the prisoner, and Sy is insistent that we gotta save him!”

She said her words mockingly, doing an imperfect mimicry of my voice.

“So, we hop out the transport, and there’s blues coming, so we duck into the steel plant-!”

Calico continued storytelling, embellishing details along the way, like how she managed to move me out of the course of the explosion in an instant while also saving a small bird trapped in the rafters of the factory.

“Then, before the blues raided the factory and locked us up forever…Sylas professed his love for me!”

She hugged herself and wore a loving smile on her face.

“What? No, I didn’t-“

“He said, I love you, Calico! You’re my hero and savior! Before we flew into the sky together!”

“Calico, that’s not true-“

Eclaire grabbed me by the lobe of my ear, “Sylas, Miss Calico is an essential member of our team. Your fraternizing could lead to impregnation and Calico’s inability to perform fieldwork. Furthermore-“

Ouch. Eclaire had a fucking firm grip on my ear. She rambled about the dangers romantic relationships pose in our work, all the while Calico was winking at me with her tongue out. Shugr couldn't help but laugh at our exchange while lighting another cigarette. Meanwhile, Raust took to sitting on the floor cross-legged and playing some game on a handheld device.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Despite how outlandish the situation had become, I enjoyed every moment of it. All the friends I'd made in life had been stripped from me one by one. My family had been reduced to nothing more times than once. Yet, as I had my ear yanked and was scolded about safe sex, I couldn't help but believe this family was finally the one that would stay.

“Additionally, as you are aware unprotected sex can lead to-“

“Alright, alright. That’s enough,” Shugr interrupted.

Thank god, someone had finally stepped in to end the nonsense. Shugr stepped between Eclaire and me, shoving a gloved finger into my face.

“Sylas, Calico is far too old for you!”

“Captain! That’s so mean!” Calico cried.

“Please kill me, captain,” I said, giving in to the senselessness around me.

The antics continued. Shugr and Eclaire paced the room, arguing with each other how to properly expose me to sexual education. Raust became further enveloped in his video game, blocking out the world in a way I could only do with my arma. Calico came over to console my recently tugged ear by tugging on my other ear to even them out.

After aimlessly deliberating for far too long, we finally got to the task at hand, the operation and the prisoner. It was safe to assume from comparing intel that another Cambion must have used some kind of arma to help Rain slip by us. Shugr was giving us a presentation from the chalkboard.

"Arma is broken into categories based on their usage. For example, Calico possesses what we call a Physical arma, which allows her to use her arma through contact."

I knew little about the technical classifications of arma. All of my knowledge on Cambions came from my time locked up in Article C, and I wouldn't refer to that as higher learning.

"Eclaire and Raust, on the other hand, both have projection arma, allowing them to affect things they aren’t touching," Shugr continued.

I knew more or less how arma worked upon observing it's usage. That skill was beaten into me while trying to make me a weapon of the military. My arma was classified as 'spatial,' allowing me to affect the space around me and others. Though Dr. Amedia did mention that she wasn't positive in my classification, it made sense from my experience.

Shugr removed the cigarette from his mouth and blew smoke onto the tabletop. His eyes began to glow vivid purple, and three small wisps of the same hue materialized around his shoulders. He waved his hand over the smoke, and it began to form into a miniature diorama of the military office in sector 9.

"Then there are Cambions like myself; manipulators who can control matter with our arma."

I was awestruck by the delicacy of the smokes maneuvers, how the tendrils wove themselves into buildings and streets, as well as moving figurines of humans and cars. Shugr pointed out locations on the smoke map.

"Raust, you were positioned at the top of this building, roughly 70 meters from where you found Rain's heat signature."

Raust looked up from his handheld for a moment to nod and take a bite of his chocolate stick.

Eclaire chimed in, "so we have to presume that whatever Cambion sabotaged the operation had to have been near Raust. Otherwise, we would've sensed multiple from the office. Additionally, to cast an illusion that could fool Raust's arma, it'd most likely be a spatial classification, limiting its range of use."

Shugr continued, "aside from you, Sylas. There are no documented spatial arma with a range of over 30 meters."

"Yeahh, so...do we think someone wanted to keep Rain alive?" Raust asked.

"Not necessarily. We have no confirmation Rain was ever there in the first place, and we were deliberately led to believe that we were pursuing him, leading Sylas and Calico to the prisoner," Shugr responded.

Calico and I looked at each other, then back to Shugr as he released his arma and allowed the smoke to billow out.

"He tried to tell Calico and me something before he was killed."

"Oh?" Shugr raised his brow, "what were his words exactly?"

"Well, first he said they were taking him to Article C."

"And then?"

"They're planning to...then boom."

Shugr turned his back to the table, examining the chalkboard he had been using to write arma classifications before. He flipped the board and began to scribble while muttering to himself. Eclaire posed next to him, one arm tucked beneath her other elbow, hand-pressed firmly to her chin.

"Are they like, thinking together?" I asked. I was slightly curious but also somewhat uncomfortable.

"Yeah, they do that. You'll get used to it, Sy. This is your first in-depth mission, after all," Calico responded.

Come to think of it, Calico was right. I had yet to be on a mission that didn't go according to plan. The few times things got a little hairy, I was pulled back on account of being in training. However, this time, I was in the thick of it with the team, trying to figure out what we should do next.

"Captain, vice-captain?"

Shugr and Eclaire both turned to me, revealing a rough sketch of Concordia.

"Yes?" they answered in unison.

"What if this mystery Cambion was trying to help us? Rain was the one who brought me to Article C five years ago. If we're being directed to go there, maybe Rain is planning to recommission it and reopen or something."

"That's close to what Eclaire was thinking," Shugr responded. "Article C has been decommissioned since the incident two years ago. It's since been a quarantine zone, but maybe Rain and the military have finally devised a plan for it's reopening."

Since 'the incident' Shugr referred to, Article C was the most dangerous place in Concordia. It had been quarantined entirely, no entry or exit until all the escaped Cambions could be killed or recaptured. It's decommissioning had been a blessing, effectively killing most Cambion trafficking in the city for the last couple of years. If Article C were to reopen, it'd mean reestablishing widespread Cambion genocide that had only recently been ended.

Shugr lit another cigarette and placed one foot up on the table confidently.

"Well, I say we follow the lead of our mysterious tamperer and find out what Rain is up to. If they are reopening that facility, it'll combat everything Dead Circus has tried to do for Cambions."

The room nodded in agreement.

"With any luck, maybe our mystery someone will accompany us and continue to intervene. Now get some rest, all of you." Shugr concluded the meeting, and we all left the basement.

Rodger allowed Calico, Raust, and me to stay the night in the brewery. His bar was on the street floor, and most of the upstairs offices were unrented, so Rodger had turned them into makeshift hostel rooms. The anticipation for what was to come made it hard to sleep, so Calico and I stayed up by the window.

"So, Calico. What's Baltigo like compared to here?"

She had my coat zipped up all the way, and the collar covered her whole lower face.

"It's less gaudy. The neon in some of the sectors here is just too harsh on the eyes."

"Well, I more so meant for quality of life."

"Oh, that? Well, in Baltigo, Cambions don't have to worry about being ripped off the streets or stolen from their mothers. We're still monitored, but we aren't slaves like in Concordia."

"Right, aren't Cambions more like celebrities?"

She paused for a moment to free her hands from the oversized sleeves of my jacket.

"Damn fabric. Oh, what? Celebrities? In a way, I guess."

She managed to free herself and unzip the coat enough to show her pretty face. I mean, her regular face. Then she continued.

"Humans and Cambions should have a symbiotic relationship. Cambions protect them from the dangers outside the walls, and they protect us from the dangers inside the walls."

"Dangers inside the walls?"

"Discrimination, prejudice, racism. All the things that hold a hierarchical society together."

There's a fundamental difference between a sense of moral duty and seeking to be a problem fixer. Concordia wasn't her problem, so why did it matter? Why would she come here? Balitgo sounded like it had everything I'd ever wanted. Security, equality, peace. Yet, she left and faced the dangers outside the wall to interject herself here?

"I really wish I could've been born in your shoes, Calico. I would've never left Baltigo. I wouldn't have even cared if other city-states existed or not," I laughed.

I was laughing by myself, getting only silence in return. Calico stared out the window, acutely focused on the gate to sector 5 and its tawdry neon sign.

"Sylas. Evil isn't created by those who perpetrate it. Evil is something perpetuated by those who standby and watch because it isn't being done to them."

Calico looked to me from the window. Her face was stone cold, a seriousness I'd never seen her show before. She tugged the collar of the coat up to her chin and whispered to me.

"..."

Beep. Boop. Badooooop.

"Shit. Game over."

"Raust?" I replied, "how long have you been in here?"

"I dunno. Been gaming. Other room was lonely."

Calico and I laughed together, and Raust restarted his game.

"That's alright, Raust. You can hang out with us. There's plenty of places to sleep here." Calico smiled and gave him a tight hug, which he accepted apathetically.

Raust continued his gaming, stopping for only a moment after Calico let him go.

"Wait. Isn't that Sy's jacket?"