“How the hell did it come to this?” Jaid spawned a clone to open the door for her into Tize’s room. She couldn’t use her own hands, because she was afraid she’d drop his limp body if she adjusted at all.

After the orientation ended, Jaid had stuck around to pack up some food. There were plenty of leftovers that nobody was claiming, so she figured she’d help herself. During this time, Tize and Nachi resumed their drinking contest. Niloy had explained to them that she’d spiked the alcohol like crazy since she was leaving and to be careful with it, but they didn’t listen.

Instead of a cautionary sip, they both downed the full shot of alcohol. Tize passed out instantly, collapsing face-first onto the table. Nachi laughed and declared her victory, only to fall out of her chair a moment later, blacked out on the floor. Mallea had picked up Nachi, saying she’d take her to her room and asked Jaid to take Tize to his. Since their hostility wasn’t public knowledge, it was a perfectly reasonable request, and one she couldn’t refuse.

Jaid really shouldn’t have been so nice to prop him up and carry him with his arms wrapped around her shoulders. She should have just toted him around like a piece of luggage or gently in her arms like a princess. It’d be decent payback but garner far too much attention. She could have used her clones to help carry him but somehow felt that’d make her seem ingenuine.

They entered Tize’s room, and while Jaid was eager to snoop, she needed to get the lunk off of her. She drug him over to the bed, and plopped him into it. About to walk away, she couldn’t help but notice the awkward position he was in—his face half buried into the pillow and his ass straight into the air.

After a bit of flopping his body around that was probably a bit too aggressive, she managed to get him on his back and even went so far as to tuck him in. All that would be left was a kiss on the forehead for her to fully transform into his mother. A few steps away from his bed, Jaid froze again when she heard mumbling from behind. “You’re a good gal, Jaid. My hero, a knight in shining, well you’re not wearing any armor. Stop lying about stuff and we could be friends.”

She really had to stop letting him get the jump on her like this and whirled around to confront this new nonsense. But now he was out completely, snoring louder than most. Fortunately, she’d heard worse in her past life, so it only took a second for her to get used to it again.

Now, it was time to look around. Jaid didn’t know the next time she’d be allowed into his room so easily and wasn’t going to waste the opportunity. The space was about what she expected from ex-military—in that it was extremely organized. There wasn’t much to find. Tize lived a very minimalist life it seemed.

However, there was one glaring thing over his desk: a bulletin board with a picture of each member on it. It was clearly still a work in progress, but it seemed she wasn’t the only one keeping tabs. Under each member was a few notes. Jaid of course checked hers first. There were several:

>Definitely Hiding Something

>Has Had Formal Training

>Nothing Malicious So Far

>Could She Just Be An Awkward Girl? Leaning That Way But Needs More Observation

>Eats A Lot. Maybe Break The Ice With Food?

A storm of mixed emotions swirled up in Jaid. It was clear his suspicions of her wouldn’t be dropped so easily, yet he was still trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, even going so far as to try and find common ground. It didn’t stop there as Jaid checked the rest of the group. A few had much more than others, herself included, and it seemed he’d been writing out some more. Most of the notes were fairly basic stuff on their history, but almost everyone had something unique.

Kada:

>Should Get Her To Tell Me About Her Art

Itsy:

>Never Been A Car Guy But I Can Look Into Them

Roque:

>Somehow Already Out A Few Grand To Him

Nachi:

>Ex-Military Too

>Possible Drinking Buddy?

Xard:

>Should See If There’s Any Cases I Can Help Him Solve

Kaizu:

>This One Might Be Out Of My League To Help

Niloy:

>Her Personality Is The Exact Opposite Of Mine

>She Started Calling Me Sir Solider And Salutes Whenever She Sees Me.

Phon:

>I Really Doubt We’ll Ever Get Along, But Dammit I’ll Try

Pox:

>Heard He Likes Trash, Maybe I Can Find Some Exotic Stuff For Him

Rezin:

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

>I Should Really Try Out Some Video Games

It was like he was a dad trying to connect more with his kids. Jaid had no idea Tize had this side, and it was honestly kind of adorable. Not everyone had something noteworthy, but there was one that stood out from all the others—Well, except herself.

Drim:

>Far Too Mature For His Age

>Can See A Lot Of His Mother In Him. Should Never Mention That

>Obviously Hiding Something. Out Of Everyone Else, The Most Suspicious

>Don’t Know If Can Be Trusted

Jaid really didn’t know how to feel about this. Drim Drazah really wasn’t discussed that much in the public eye, well not compared to his sister. That’d probably change after it leaked that he was in charge. In a way, he compared quite conveniently to his father: the one lurking behind the scenes, pulling the strings.

That said, even she hadn’t noticed anything really off about Drim. Yes, he was a bit too eager to make everyone happy, even at the cost of his own sanity. There was certainly some suspicion to be thrown towards someone acting completely selfless, but not enough to warrant whatever was going on in Tize’s mind. Perhaps it was his years in the military that gave him the experience to see something she couldn’t.

◆◆◆

Back in her room, Jaid struggled to fall asleep, reflecting repeatedly on what she’d discovered in Tize’s room. The notes he’d written and what he’d mumbled in his drunken stupor was really starting to change her view on him. Tize wasn’t out to get her, she at least had that comfort. That still didn’t mean she could lower her guard around him.

What was bothering her more was his skepticism towards Drim. Everyone else who knew him seemed to love the boy beyond reasonably healthy amounts. The idea that he had such a hidden side was really eating at her. She’d even spent a good while on her phone researching him after battling with insomnia for a bit, but found nothing that would validate Tize’s beliefs.

Just as she was finally on the edge of dozing off, Jaid’s bed suddenly felt weird. Pressure was now applying against her at precise points all over her body. She tried to turn her body to alleviate the discomfort but then felt a small cut on her cheek. Her eyes shot open, only to find one of them a hair away from being stabbed.

She leapt to her feet when she noticed what she was laying on. “Welcome to my room,” Phon greeted her casually in a weak attempt to calm her down. Jaid looked around, surprised to find the room oddly normal besides the absurd amount of yoyo’s decorating the walls. Something smelled good cooking in Phon’s personal kitchen too.

“Why do you have a bed of nails?” Jaid inquired as she still tried to process why she’d been brought here.

“Oh, Mallea made that for me a while ago as a… we’ll call it a friendly prank,” Phon gave an answer. Jaid wouldn’t call it a helpful answer, but it’d have to do. “Why I teleported you there… Well, I just wanted to see how someone would react to suddenly being on a bed of nails. It was great by the way. Now, will you please appease this tantrum throwing child so I can go to bed.”

Phon gestured over to her own currently occupied bed. Jaid had noticed the occupant earlier, but hadn’t commented on it, hoping it wouldn’t concern her. The child in question was currently an adult and rolling back and forth while whining and screeching. Tantrum had been a spot-on descriptor.

“Umm, hello?” Jaid cautiously approached the bed.

The woman jumped out of it, immediately turning back into a child. The larger body and all the rolling had led Jaid to not instantly recognize her as Ahvra, but it was obvious now. Ahvra patted over to Jaid and began poking and prodding into her stomach without hesitation. Jaid did her best to endure, but those small child fingers could really hurt.

“Organs,” Jaid heard a mumble.

“Huh?”

“Organs! Do your organs multiply?!” Ahvra spoke up, practically yelling. “When you make clones, do you get more organs?”

“I really don’t—”

“When you have four clones, and get injured, do you get full injury or 1/4th injury?” Ahvra continued her questions without concern. “If there are four of you, and I take a kidney, do you lose a whole kidney or 1/4th of a kidney?”

“I’m sorry, I have no idea,” Jaid could finally give a complete answer. “I know I get injured but never really measured the severity.

“I would like to run tests, many many tests,” Ahvra finally got to the point. “Lots of dissection. It’ll be a fun night. You consent, yes?”

“Gonna have to say no for now.” Even Jaid was surprised at her own blunt response.

“Hrm, this research could save lives, lead to medical breakthroughs. Still no?” Ahvra was really laying on the pressure.

“Listen, it’s really late, and I have to be up early for the ranking tests tomorrow. Could we discuss this another time?” That seemed like a perfectly reasonable request to Jaid, but Ahvra wasn’t a perfectly reasonable person.

“Fine then, bribery.” She didn’t miss a beat and pulled out a slender emerald-green pouch. The mouth of it was strangely wide and didn’t match how proportionally shallow it was at all. “Had Bigger Inside make this. You use giant sword, right? Must be a pain to carry around. This is a special sheath. Will make your sword’s blade travel size when inserted. Even has convenient loops if you want to put it on your back or belt. Tempting, yes?”

“Had this made through more bribery, no, generosity. Bigger Inside brought dog with them, very old, trouble moving. Was going to die any day, its flows made it obvious. Turned it back into a young dog, not quite a puppy so no training needed again. Normally, I don’t like using my Curse to aid immortality, but feel better about using it on a creature that can’t abuse it.”

“So you see, I am a very selfless person who just helps sad creatures. You should help me help them. Just one night, for science. And you get fancy pouch sheath.” Ahvra started flapping the pouch in Jaid’s direction, like she was taunting a dog with a stick.

Jaid grabbed the pouch and reluctantly accepted. While it would certainly be an item of great benefit to her, she was doing this more because it was the only way to get Ahvra to leave her alone. “Such a gracious and generous person you are. Alright, Annoying Convenience, take us there.”

After another unconsensual teleport, Jaid found herself in an already fully prepared lab room. “Had this ready to go for when you said yes,” Ahvra further cemented the idea that Jaid never really had a choice to begin with. “I will let you know when we’re done, Annoying Convenience.”

“Feel free to take all night.” With a yawn, Phon vanished.

“You may ask why we need Annoying Convenience to facilitate this,” Ahvra mentioned from behind as Jaid looked around, getting increasingly weirded out by the setup. The operation table had clearly been widened to allow for multiples of her, but all of them had restraints prepped. Tools that she’d want nowhere near her body readily lined the nearby counters.

“Most importantly, this operation room is part of our secret lab. Can’t have you knowing where since you’re new. Second, you may have noticed, no way in, no way out, that you can see. Can’t have you trying to escape.”

Jaid was starting to get a little—severely freaked out. She turned around to voice her objection and desire to bail but was met with a face full of gas. Her limbs went numb, and she slumped to her knees. She was now face to face with Ahvra and could see the demented glee that looked so much worse on her child-like face.

“This was something I had Gaseous Understudy cook up: an anesthetic that works on Fiends. You shouldn’t feel pain, maybe pressure. You won’t be out completely, need you to listen to my directions. It will be over soon, and you’ll barely remember a thing. Don’t worry about if you die, I’ll just keep bringing you back.”