It turns out all the world needed to produce high quality vegan butter, cheese, egg substitutes and ice cream was an alien invasion that made animal husbandry economically unfeasible. If only they'd done so sooner, we might not also have to deal with our current climate catastrophe, but alas, they didn't quite get the timing right.

--Blink Twice, Valkyrie, in interview

***

I came out of my daze as I noticed Val stepping up behind us on the couch, trying to be all sneaky. She failed to surprise me, but still managed to ruffle both mine and Katherine's hair, Katherine letting out an adorable squeak of surprise.

"What are you two watching?" Val said with a massive smile on her face, and a glance down to where our hands now rested in my lap, still entwined.

"Uh..." I had entirely forgotten.

Katherine rallied sooner, and managed to reply in an only slightly strained voice. "It's ah, a comedy thing."

"Well, far be it from me to interrupt such a cute scene," Val said, and it wasn't entirely clear if she meant what was going on in the movie or the two of us, "but dinner is just about to be served. Do you think you can wrestle yourselves away from the couch long enough to eat?"

"Sure!" I answered a bit too fast.

Katherine, meanwhile, had managed to turn off the movie, and was starting to rise from the couch. That left our hands hanging between us, at which Katherine gave me a smile and a slight squeeze, before reclaiming her hand. Now my hand felt distinctly empty and a bit sweaty, so I rubbed it with my other one as I got up myself.

Katherine had joined Val in setting the table, and I drifted over towards them even though they had the task well in hand. I managed to help a bit anyway, fetching some glasses, before Anker came out of the kitchen with a massive pot full of risotto which he placed on the table, before returning to the kitchen. Moments later he returned with what smelled like freshly baked bread.

Jens joined us, but Terry and Rian were both out, helping out with cleanup in Gdansk. What followed was a lovely meal, I'm sure, but my attention was mostly taken up by Katherine who was sitting right next to me. I considered trying to recapture her hand, but gave up on the idea. Risotto could be eaten one handed, sure, but it would be a tiny bit awkward, and I could be patient. Probably. Maybe.

I caught Val shooting us smug glances, looking like someone who knew an exciting secret and couldn't wait for the opportunity to spill the beans. That had me worried. I gave her my best quelling look, and she mimed zipping her lips, which only reassured me slightly given the size of her smile while she was doing so.

During dinner, Jens addressed Katherine and I. "Hey, are you two available later tonight? And you, too, Anker, Valerie? I figured we could get the after action report out of the way while we're all here."

"Sure?" I said, not quite sure what this was all about.

Katherine and Val both also answered in the affirmative, while Anker nodded.

"Good. We'll do that tonight, say at 20:00?" Jens said, to which he got another round of affirmations.

A short while later dinner ended, and we stuck everything in the dishwasher, then went back to the common room. I was stuck between a desire to try and pump Val for information on Antis and Valkyrie stuff, and a desire to just sort of be near Katherine, which got solved when Katherine excused herself to her room. I watched her go, and saw Val looking between us with a smirk.

"So. I take it things are going well?" She said once Katherine had left.

"Yeah. Yeah, they are." I said.

"Love the new outfit. It's very cute. Seems like Katherine liked it as well."

"What do you mean?" I asked, shaking myself back to attention.

"Well, she was alternating between trying very hard not to stare at you, and staring at you. I'd qualify that as a success."

That made my cheeks heat up a bit. "I guess that's... good?"

She snorted. "Definitely good."

"Well..." I tried to focus. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you, if that's alright?"

"Oh? Need some tips for the bedroom later?"

"What?" Then what she'd said sunk in, and I blushed quite furiously. "No! I mean... maybe later?" I finished in a small voice.

That got a full throated laugh out of her.

"You're terrible!" I hissed at her.

She just kept laughing, eventually drying her eyes and looking at me. "Oh you're adorable. But what did you want to talk about, then?"

"I wanted to hear your thoughts on how I did in Gdansk, and maybe learn something about the higher numbered Models. I don't know much about the teens and barely anything about the twenties, and I don't want to run into them unprepared like with the Thirteens we found. And if you have time, I'd also like to hear your thoughts on how to effectively fight the Antis in general. I tried to ask Anker, but he didn't seem very forthcoming..."

"Ah. He wouldn't be, that man can go weeks without speaking a word. As for the rest, the first bit, your actions during Gdansk, is what will happen during the after action report. You didn't go through one after your excursion to the north alongside the Ranger squad?"

"Oh. That was quite helpful, actually. Is that what that discussion is called?"

"Yeah. And it is helpful. That's why we do it. Gotta keep learning if you want to last for long in this business. As for the rest, you sure are a studious one. That's not a short conversation, sounds like we'd be busy for at least a few evenings."

"Is that alright? I don't want to impose on you, but you've been at this for a while and I really don't like the way I keep making mistakes, so any kind of help would be appreciated. Maybe Katherine would be interested in hearing it, too?"

"Yeah, it's not a bad idea. Would certainly give me something to do while sitting around here on guard duty."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Really? I'd really appreciate your insight."

"Sure. Although I would ask you to do a bit of self-study with Eyon on the Antithesis Model basics first, then I can go over some more advanced tactics or something."

"Oh that'd be so helpful. Thank you!" I almost hugged her, but caught myself. Maybe that'd be a bit too forward after that disaster of a kiss?

Val noticed though. "What, I don't get hugs anymore? That is unacceptable!" She said, then went in for a hug herself.

"Thank you..." I said quietly with a tear in my eye.

"Of course, Sylvi. We're still friends, right?"

I nodded against her shoulder.

"Good. Glad to hear it. And you're okay now?"

"Yeah. Thank you." I said. "I'm good."

"Wonderful. Then we just need you and Katherine to move in together."

"Valerie!" I gasped and hit her on the arm, although without too much force. I paused for a moment, the murmured "We haven't even kissed yet."

"Yet." If I hadn't seen the smirk on her face through a drone, I would have heard it in her voice. She gave me a final squeeze, then held me out at arms length. "You'll do great together." She said with warmth in her voice.

"Thank you. I hope so, too."

"Alright. I'll see you at 20 for the after action report, then we'll see about the rest of your Antithesis study, yeah?"

I nodded.

"Excellent. See you, then." She said and turned to leave.

I sat down in an armchair and pondered for a moment. I still had an hour or so until the others would be back. Figuring I might as well get started, I mentally poked Eyon.

So, about those Anti teen and twenty models, would you mind going over them?

[Of course, Sylvi. Starting with the first one you haven't seen yet, the Fourteen is a...]

What followed was a rapid-fire description of form, function and basic behaviour of the various Antithesis models. There were a lot of them, and the naming convention didn't make it that easy to keep them straight. Thankfully I didn't necessarily need to be able to name them, just to recognize and fight them. And either Eyon was better at this than I expected, or she just got lucky, but either way she ended her descriptions just as Katherine and the others returned into the room. For a surprise, we were joined by a couple of new faces, in as much as I hadn't seen them in person before, but they were Valkyries I'd heard of already. They introduced themselves as Blink Twice and Retribution, and had come on the invitation of Jens. Retribution's face was a mess of scars that had to be a deliberate choice on her part given the state of Valkyrie medicine, while Blink Twice merely looked slim and androgynous and carried a pair of equally slim swords.

We got comfortable in various chairs and couches set in a rough circle, and in an extreme effort of willpower I didn't sit down next to Katherine on a couch. I figured this was too important a conversation for me to be distracted through, so I kept to my armchair and flashed Katherine an apologetic smile at her slight frown. Anker provided a plate full of cookies, and Jens came in with a pot of tea and some mugs. Once we were all seated and served, Jens opened with a high level description of our trip, pausing at times to let Katherine and I interject with comments and corrections. That done, he went into a more detailed explanation of his own solo experiences, while Anker, Blink Twice and mostly Val asked questions and gave suggestions here and there. Retribution stayed mostly silent, seeming determined to out-stoic Anker. I was mostly just impressed with what Jens had managed alone, actually, he seemed to know what he was doing and had covered far more ground than I'd thought possible. I didn't feel very qualified to offer suggestions, but I did ask a few clarifying questions.

Regardless, once he had gotten to the part where we joined up, he turned to us with an expectant look.

So, Katherine and I somewhat haltingly began our own story. A common theme from the comments and suggestions I got, like after I'd explained my troubles keeping the civilians safe in their barricaded houses, was that I probably needed some more diverse drones. Either some with a "bigger alpha strike" as Jens said it, which apparently meant a way to take out the enemy faster with a larger amount of force quickly, or some way to keep the Antis occupied or contained while my current means dealt with them. Or maybe both. Other than that, I got a lot of praise for how fast I could scout and clear an area, and they even had to admit that my toxins were pretty effective, when the Antis didn't pose an immediate threat to something. Katherine was the star of the show during the clearing of the school shelter, and Jens and Blink Twice had some comments about target prioritization and efficiency that went a bit over my head. I then relayed my encounter with the Nine, seeing winces as I described being jumped by it and nearly mauled to pieces. There were surprisingly few suggestions, though, beyond better sensors and better armour, both of which I could tell I either had bought or were going to buy.

I let Katherine tell the story of the malfunctioning shelter, not really feeling up to it myself, and got some sympathetic looks during it. Val looked like she wanted to give me a hug but was restraining herself, and reiterated that she was available if I needed to talk or could refer me to a psychologist that specialized in such things, if I preferred. I just nodded, thankful that I had their support, but not really feeling ready to talk about it just now.

The bombing run passed without much comment, and then we got to the Hives we'd cleared out. The one we'd bombed and shelled got a few comments and a thumbs up from Retribution, surprisingly, but the ones in the tunnels led to more discussion. Thirteens, as it turned out, were troublesome, and it was emphatically suggested to Katherine and I that we improve our ability to keep them at arms length before we were to engage another one. I was praised for my efforts to shape the battlefield, both with the second Hive and with the shelling from a distance. A comment from Jens that it "wasn't very sporting" got shut down quickly by Val, with a terse nod from Anker in support.

A comment I hadn't anticipated was about how we should consider assisting with the cleanup effort, of making sure no new Hives sprouted from the remains we left behind, and making the jobs of the likes of Huginn and Muninn easier. Seemed like a reasonable enough ask, and something we'd almost have to do if we were ever in remote areas anyway.

All in all, the talk had given me some things to consider, and a fair bit of confidence in my ability to make choices going forward.

At the end, after we'd finished with our talk-through and everyone had settled into a bit of a meditative silence, Val spoke up.

"At the request of Sylvi here, I'm going to be teaching her and Katherine some high-level anti-Antithesis strategy, and maybe some generic things about them, too. Seemed like an easy request to grant, and perhaps something to consider going forward whenever a new Valkyrie pops up."

"Lessons from Ghost Widow on strategy? Can I join?" Blink Twice asked with a bit of excitement.

"Of course. we'd be delighted to have you." Val answered with a smile. "Are you going to be a student or a teacher, though?"

Blink Twice laughed. "Bit of both, I reckon. When is this going to happen? I'll make sure to clear my calendar."

As they sorted out their calendar synchronization in-augs, the rest of the group fell to small talk. Retribution came over to me and introduced herself a bit further.

"Hey there Hornet." Her voice was raspy, and sounded almost painful. "Good to meet a new Valkyrie."

"Likewise." I replied a bit awkwardly. "Eh, I mean, it's nice to meet you, too."

She nodded.

"Listen, I won't stay long, but you should know. I'm fire support. If you're ever in over your head and need assistance, give me coordinates. I've got most of the hemisphere covered." That was by far the most I'd heard her say at once all evening, and she looked almost worn out at the end of it. "Here. AI, too."

A contact info package pinged in my augs.

[I have received a request for contact by Retribution's AI, Mercuryal. May I?]

Of course, Eyon.

I returned to the previous conversation. "Uh, I think I know what fire support means, but what can I expect you to shoot at things I ask for help with? Like, how far away do I need to be?"

"You give mission profile, I'll sort out the munitions. More clearance needed for bigger effect. Don't," she looked at me warningly, "call in fire mission on top of civilians."

"Oh, of course not." I said, horrified, then rallied. "You know, I could have used your help when I was up in northern Sweden, shelling a Hive."

"Explain." Came her terse demand.

So I did so, explaining in quite excruciating detail my own artillery operation at her continued insistent prompting.

"Wasteful." Was her eventual conclusion, which didn't make me feel great. "But, effective. Next time, call in strike. You get points as spotter." She considered. "Maybe even more points, total. Hard to say."

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind. Thank you for offering your support, that's really nice of you!"

She looked at me for a moment. "I get points, too." She said, as if that explained everything.

"I mean, yeah. But that doesn't mean your help isn't appreciated, you know?"

She looked as if the idea was new to her, then finally nodded and turned to leave.