"You think you have me cornered but you've forgotten to account for my All-Seeing Analyst and his ultimate burst, Critical Flaw! With it, my three remaining Guardians will turn the tables on you and shatter your own guardians! There's nothing you can do to stop me now Jerome, victory is mine!"

"That's what you think Alice, but have you accounted for my Vigilant Vanguard's team-wide shield?! Your three Guardian offensive won't be able to even kill one of my Guardians, much less all of them!"

Claire watched in amusement as her two good friends Jerome and Alice dueled against each other on the wildly popular Planetary Guardian's dueling game table. She may not have been a great fan of the game herself and was one of the very few who didn't play it, but it was still enjoyable to watch those two go at it. The holographic figures of the actual Guardians themselves fighting with their high-tech armaments were something she could admit that the Frostfire Corporation had done exceedingly well.

Alice smirked at Jerome as she tauntingly yelled, "Hah, you think I forgot about that?! Did you know that at high enough levels Critical Flaw grants all who benefit from it the ability to pierce right through shields and completely ignore them?"

Jerome's eyes widened before his face settled into a grimace before he ended his turn. "Damn it! That won't be enough though, my Guardians will still be able to tank and sustain for long enough to take down your remaining three."

Alice laughed before she ended her own turn. "Well let's find out just how much burst your team can really take."

Both of them watched intently as the holographic figures of their Guardians begin to fight each other, shooting and striking each other with whatever weapons they may have wielded. At first, it seemed Jerome's more defensive team was going to power through Alice's powerful burst damage and simply wear them down before his own Guardians began to fall, though not without bringing down two of hers. Soon enough only Alice's All-Seeing Analyst and Jerome's Vigilant Vanguard were the only two figures left.

The Vigilant Vanguard brandished his energy shield and sword as he charged towards the All-Seeing Analyst who responded by raining down as much sustained laser fire from his signature laser rifle into him as he could. Just as the Vigilant Vanguard had gotten into melee with his foe his shield broke as his energy sword slashed into the All-Seeing Analyst who fired off one last shot before it happened. They both collapsed and Alice and Jerome watched in shock as the table loudly proclaimed the results.

"Tie Game!"

Claire giggled at the results as the coffee machine in their dorm room's kitchen began to go off, perfect timing. She got up and started to head over to it "All that buildup and trash-talking you two did just to get a tie. Now, you two want your usuals, or do you want to spice it up?"

Alice shook her head as she laughed at the results herself. She was a spindly girl with short brown hair and eyes, her skin a light beige. She was currently wearing a solid yellow t-shirt and pink shorts. "Hah! Thought I had you in the end there Jerome, good game. And just the usual please Claire!"

Jerome followed suit with a chuckle of his own. He was a tall and lean boy with short blonde hair of his own and gray eyes, his own skin a sandy color. He was wearing some blue jeans alongside a blue polo shirt. "Heh, it definitely seems like I'm going to have to revise my thinking with the defensive team. It was doing so well until you just overwhelmed it with damage. Good game for sure though Alice. And the usual for me as well Claire!"

Claire nodded as she grabbed three cups for each of them, each of them decorated with some famous Guardian. She grabbed the coffee pitcher and poured the rich brown liquid of life into each of the cups before adding in their preferred levels of cream and sugar with smooth dexterous motions. She took a sip from her own glass and hummed in delight at the taste despite how hot it still was before taking them all back to the coffee table that lay beside the game.

She put the glasses down with a smile. "Voila, here's your coffee you two."

Alice rubbed her hands together in anticipation as she grabbed one of her notebooks and began to fan away at the coffee to cool it down. "You're the best Claire!"

Jerome nodded as he patiently waited for his own to cool down. "Yeah, I don't know how you manage to stand drinking it right after the machine is done with it though."

Claire giggled as she took another sit of her coffee before taking a seat on the couch. It certainly was boiling hot but in a way, she preferred it like that, not that the heat really bothered her. "It always tastes best the moment after it's finished, what can I say."

Alice continued to fan at her coffee as she rolled her eyes. "That you're a bit of a masochist? Seriously, I have no idea how you enjoy it while it's so hot." She paused for a moment before she put a finger to the glass and quickly removed it as she shook her head and fanned ever harder. "Anyways, I still can't wait for Commander Maynard's Guardian team to come on campus for their guest showing today. I still can't believe they're coming here. It's going to be so sick to meet them!"

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Jerome smiled. "That it will be. I wonder if they'll find a new fledgling Guardian while they're here. Hell, maybe one of us will end up being one. I mean I know it's unlikely but it'd be crazy if one of us turned out to have grown to have that potential."

Claire's own grin began to waver a bit as they began to talk about the 'optional' guest showing, though she hid that as she began to drink some more of her coffee as she tuned them out a bit. She was not looking forward to the showing at all later today, even if it was canceling her least favorite lessons, calculus, and english. She'd much rather take those classes than have to go to the showing but there was no getting around it unless she got some sort of exemption which was not going to happen. At least she'd be able to talk some more with Jerome and Alice there.

She was slowly sipping away at her own coffee while Jerome and Alice began to talk in earnest about Commander Maynard and his Guardian entourage. She was brought out of her thoughts when she realized Jerome had asked her a question at some point and the both of them were looking at her expectantly.

Claire smiled sheepishly at them as she set her cup down. "Sorry, could you repeat that? I kind of missed the question."

Jerome didn't seem to mind at all as he chuckled. "Again? Man, sometimes I forget just how absentminded you can be. But anyway, what do you think one of your Guardian powers would be if you were one? I know you're not really into them but I'm quite curious about what powers you'd like. I personally like to be able to create force fields, a bit like the ones Vigilant Vanguard can create."

Alice chimed in immediately after Jerome. "And I'd love to be able to unleash hell upon any of the Lost or Invaders with a barrage of lasers from my palms. Or actually eyes. Wait no, both!"

Claire gave a little hum as she considered how to answer this question before deciding on something simple that technically wasn't a lie and something she didn't have to think too hard on. She'd have rather not thought about it at all but she wasn't about to get angry at her friends for an innocent question. "Well, if I was theoretically a Guardian then the ability to camouflage myself against anything would be nice I suppose."

Jerome gave an approving nod. "That would quite a useful power."

Alice on the other hand rolled her eyes. "It is a bit boring though. Just hiding away from all the action? I definitely couldn't do that myself."

Jerome scoffed at Alice. "Boring? The ability to camouflage anytime anywhere would be a great power to have. And it wouldn't even be close to boring, you could theoretically turn yourself into a living rave in the right places if that's what you're worried about.

They ended up arguing with each other about that particular power and how useful and cool it was for a good while. Something Claire was perfectly happy to let them do as she sipped at the last dregs of her coffee while staring out the window and to the campus grounds. Just as she was about to get up for a refill for it though an alarm began to blare from Alice's phone.

The girl in question smiled widely as she shut off the alarm and stood up, the argument she'd been having instantly dropped. "Finally, it's time! Oh, I'm so excited to see them in person!"

Jerome nodded in agreement as he stood up himself. "Same here. Are you ready to witness some of why I and Alice are so enamored with the Guardians Claire?"

Claire kept her face neutral as she got up and began to head to the bathroom. "Yeah, though I'm just going to go ahead and freshen up a bit before it begins. You two can go on ahead, I'll meet up with you in the courtyard by the fountain."

Alice put her phone in her pocket before slinging a purse over her shoulders. "Well hurry up with that. I wanna get over to see them as quickly as possible and I don't wanna leave you behind."

Claire gave them a reassuring smile before she entered the bathroom. "Don't worry, I won't be too long at all. Just need a minute or two, that's all." She closed it behind her and flicked the light on as she went to the sink.

Turning it on she began to wash her face off a bit before staring at the mirror at herself. Her blue eyes stared right back at her surrounded by pearly white skin as she began to adjust the pigtails her black hair was set in. She reaffirmed the ribbons keeping them together before smoothing out her lavender blouse and long green skirt. She took another look in the mirror at herself before she sighed.

She really didn't want to go to the guest showing but that wasn't an option. Still, a part of her whispered to just stay in her dorm and say she forgot somehow or something, even if that wouldn't end well. It wasn't as if she hated the Guardians. If anything she was grateful to them for helping to protect the world from the Lost and Invaders. But the last thing she wanted was to be a Guardian, after all, everyone knew that for all their power they were bound to the whims of whomever their Commander might be. And sure a Commander enhanced a Guardian's power tenfold and even gave them the ability to defy death but that level of control they had over their Guardians was something Claire wanted no part of.

And it wasn't as if her fears that she'd become a Guardian were unfounded she'd need only let go of the constant pressure she'd felt and it'd be obvious what she was. And she did, for just a moment and relief spread through her.

For just a single second she felt the presence of what she had been hiding ever since the Singularity Event had occurred. Her pupils became slits and on her head two large furry cat-like ears appeared, the fur the same color as her hair while her human ears vanished. She could feel her tail swinging in freedom for the first time in a week as her senses sharpened. She could smell the delicious aroma of the coffee from the other room and vaguely hear her two friends talking about something as they walked through the hall outside their dorm. And then an instant later she reinstated whatever it was that had let her hide her nature for the past eight years since the Singularity Event and felt the pressure once againt begin to slowly mount.

She refused to even think about her powers other than that one, though she had a feeling her incredible reflexes and dexterity could be attributed to it. The last time she had done that she had gotten overwhelmed with information and skills she had apparently gained, causing her to nearly drop whatever the disguise was called that hid her from even the machines made to identify potential Guardians in public.

She sighed as she turned away from the mirror and left the bathroom to begin trekking to meet up with her friends. Why couldn't she just have been a normal person.