Elvira stared at the ground, trying to avoid grinding her teeth while at the same time fighting the blush on her cheek. Also, no small part of her wanted to leap across the room and punch Pandora’s smug face clean through the opposite wall. Thankfully, for her career at least, she resisted the impulse.

Her team captain escorted the offensive Paladin to the door and ushered her into the hallway. “Goodbye, Kalindi,” he said.

“Pandora,” she replied flatly.

Hitori shut the door without comment. He waited a few seconds, as though to ensure she hadn’t decided to loiter, then returned to the center of the room. He sat in front of the team on a small stool askew from the knee-high table.

“What a bother,” Gordon said with a chuckle. “She really need to tell us to do our job again?”

“I guess everyone’s got their own problems.” Hitori shrugged. “For now we’ve got to decide our next move.”

“I thought we were searching for the Ex Stone,” Chandra said. She walked back into the room shortly after Pandora left.

“Yes, but I meant specifically. We don’t have much to work with. Did any of you happen to see that woman last night?” He looked to each of them, then specifically at Protius.

“Sorry man,” Protius shrugged. “I passed out after you jumped in.”

“Think the rest of us were keeping our distance,” Gordon said. Everyone nodded with him.

“It’s alright, I got a good look at her myself. But it was so surreal another set of eyes would be reassuring,” Hitori said.

“Can you tell us what she looked like,” Chandra asked. “You said she might have been a Paladin?”

“Well, she was a Bachijan woman with white hair and pale skin.”

“That does sound like one. Perhaps she was a renegade?”

“Could be.” Hitori gave Chandra a long look. “Sit tight. I want to check something.”

Hitori walked to the front door and turned off the lights, then threw a thick cover over the window. He had Protius hold it up, then returned to the center of the room. Elvira heard him stand in front of Chandra. A dim light came on between them from his WebComm. Hitori spent a few seconds studying her face, adjusting the angle several times, before returning to the entry way and flipping the room lamps back on.

“What the heck was that about?” Elvira asked.

“The woman last night had silver eyes, and I thought it could have been a product of the environment.”

“What does that have to do with Chandra?”

Hitori laughed. “She’s the closest Paladin,” he said. “I suppose I should check you too.”

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“Huh?” Elvira found Hitori leaning into her space, peering intently at her face. She blushed, but held his gaze. He wasn’t so much looking into her eyes as at them, but seemed satisfied after a moment and backed off.

“Not any silver at all,” Hitori said. “Not yet at least.”

Elvira looked about in confusion, settling on Chandra who seemed amused.

“People with sufficient Vital Net densities have a slight metallic sheen to their eyes,” Chandra said.

“You can barely make it out in normal light,” Hitori said, “but I thought it might be more apparent in the right conditions. That doesn’t seem to be the case though.”

“So, what, she was some kind of super Paladin?” Elvira said.

Hitori hummed. “I hadn’t considered that. I was leaning towards a Berserker.”

“All the way out here?” Protius said.

“What’s a Berserker?” Chandra asked

“Oh, wait,” Elvira jumped in before Protius could answer. “I’ve heard of them. They’re a mercenary company from back h— I mean, from Duroterra, right?”

“Basically,” Hitori said. “They’re known for having absurdly high VN densities.”

“Do you think Reaper could be one of them?”

“Who?” Everyone replied in unison.

“Oh, right,” Elvira answered with an awkward smile. “I haven’t told you yet. Dr. Menna mentioned him during my, um, ambush. I guess he thought I might have been him?”

“That’s a good lead,” Hitori said.

“It is?”

“Yes. Reaper will have a file in the Database if they’ve ever done work through the Guild, or even if they’ve run in to someone who has.”

“Ah, I see,” Elvira said.

Hitori smiled. “So that’s Elvira and I.”

Chandra cut in before Hitori could continue. “The city is looking for Paladins to help with survivors from last night. I was thinking I could join them.”

“I like it,” Hitori said. “Keep an ear out for rumors and hearsay while you’re working. There could be some clues in chatter from the White Temple.” Chandra nodded. “Also, Protius, you should go with. There might be some people still trapped in the rubble, and you can help with that.”

“O-okay!” Protius said. He looked a mixture of pleased and concerned, though Elvira wasn’t sure what he had to be nervous about.

Hitori turned to Gordon, who was already frowning. Hitori laughed, then said, “Come on, don’t be like that, it won’t be so bad.”

“Track record isn’t great,” Gordon said.

“You get to go shopping. Protius and Elvira need serious work on their armor, and I want to gather some supplies for an expedition into the desert. We’ll likely have to visit a few villages, especially if we don’t find anything at the Guild.”

“Should I look into a truck?”

Hitori glanced at Elvira, then said, “Probably best for now. Even a basic Longstrider takes weeks to get right.”

“Sorry,” Elvira mumbled.

“Bah,” Gordon said with a dismissive gesture. “Like driving anyway.”

“Alright, that’s good for now,” Hitori said. “Keep an eye on your WebComms and don’t hesitate to message if you need me.”

Everyone stirred to action, and after a few minutes coordinating things with the other members, Hitori joined Elvira outside the room. He was wearing his full kit, sans the helmet as usual. She wondered why Nova even bothered issuing the things, given no one wore them.

She felt profoundly underdressed by comparison. She brought a cute knee length skirt and matching blouse, but hadn’t expected to wear either while on duty. The floral blue pattern did not mesh at all with the heavy duty black belt for her scabbard. Problems for later, she supposed, for now she had work to do.

“So, we’ll be heading to this Guild thing then,” Elvira said, then grinned. “I guess that means I can finally figure out what it is.”

Hitori laughed. “Yes, but before that we can do something about your hair.”

“I know I’m a bit raggedy, but is that really important?”

“At this exact moment, not really, but in general yes,” Hitori said. When Elvira continued to look at him incredulously he added, “It’s bad for Nova’s branding if you look like a bandit hobo.”

“Oh, right, that ‘luxury mercenary bodyguard’ thing,” Elvira said with a grin. Hitori smiled back. “Then I guess we’ll do that first.”