Mijra guided Evie to the medical bay. It looked no different from the rest of the ship, with one major exception. Three large black cylinders loomed at the room’s center, stretching up to just below the ceiling. Each was open on one side, revealing a dark, unpleasant interior.

A shorter, nervous looking Skonarian who Mijra introduced as Var was in charge of the med bay. As soon as she had performed the introductions, Mijra turned on her heel and left the room.

“Evie, welcome aboard,” Var said, picking idly at his claws and avoiding looking Evie in the eye. This Skonarian was a male, if his deeper voice was any indicator. He walked up to one of the cylinders, gesturing, and she realized he wanted her to step into the cramped interior. She didn’t move. She wasn’t afraid of confined spaces, but this one looked particularly coffin-like and unwelcoming.

“Don’t worry,” Var’s mouth twitched into an attempt at a smile that did nothing to ease Evie’s growing unease. “I know they look awful. We have tried to explain that to the Sniffers, but they insist that a design change would affect the function. I assure you, resurrection chambers are perfectly safe.”

“This is a resurrection chamber?” Evie asked, eying the intimidating structure. “I’m, uh, not dead. Also, I thought I didn’t get access to Sniffer tech, because I’m not a member of The Understanding.”

“Resurrection chambers are a bit of a misnomer. They can diagnose and fix most medical problems, including the more extreme ones. You are correct about not having access once you’re in the Sim, but we get some flexibility during your training. It’s not nearly as fun watching you guys risk your lives if you’re suffering from a debilitating chronic illness.” He laughed, the sound high pitched and grating, but stopped abruptly as soon as he realized Evie didn’t look amused.

Var gestured again, and Evie hesitantly took a step into the dark interior. Curious, she ran a finger down one of the leathery walls and felt it ripple as if in response to her touch. Shivering with revulsion, she turned to look skeptically back at the Skonarian. He waved, his hand visibly trembling and his eyes full of an expression akin to terror. Something was very wrong. Before she could react, the contraption snapped closed. Around her, the walls pressed in, enveloping her like thick mud.

She opened her mouth to scream as the world around her dissolved into nothingness.

Evie’s eyes snapped open. It was nothing like waking up normally. She went from unconsciousness to an abrupt state of total awareness, with no groggy transition. She was still inside the chamber, but the door had reopened, and she stumbled out.

“Welcome back!” said Var, now seated nearby in a desk-like cubby, monitoring something. “How are you feeling?” He looked much more relaxed than before. Evie stared at Var, noticing for the first time how the light glittered on his pearlescent scales. She hadn’t noticed before. It was really quite beautiful.

“Evie?” Var asked again, bringing her attention back to the question.

She wasn’t sure how she felt. Something was different, but it wasn’t obvious what. She bounced up and down on the soles of her feet, stretching her perpetually stiff neck and back out of habit. Except they weren’t stiff. All of her normal aches and tensions were gone. The change wasn’t just physical. She felt light, as if weights she hadn’t realized were there had been removed from her shoulders and chest. Her mind felt impossibly sharp, like she could think clearly for the first time in a long time.

“I have your results,” Var continued. “Overall, you are in excellent health! Which is a bummer. If you had a more serious medical issue, we could have taken care of it! Unfortunately, you look good, which means you will probably get them later in life, and have to rely on human health care. Tough luck.”

Evie stared at him, then burst into laughter. A genuine, full body laugh, much more than the joke deserved. It surprised her. Since Mildred’s disappearance, laughing was something she had done less and less frequently. But that hadn’t always been the case. Suddenly, she realized what this strange new feeling was. She felt normal. Her anger, her grief, were still there, but they were no longer a constant, all-consuming presence.

“We did find a few minor concerns.” Var smiled at her. “You had some scar tissue around your left elbow that was restricting the joint’s mobility. Looked like an old injury that healed incorrectly.” Evie looked down at her elbow, the one she had injured ten years ago during a Kendo match that had never healed right. “You had some fascial adhesions on your back, along with a bunch of minor tension spots all over your body. I have never met a human who didn’t have those, though. Finally, there were some chemical imbalances in your brain. Those are also common, but your case was more severe than average. We cleared all of those up for you.”

The last diagnosis sobered Evie. A few months after Mildred’s disappearance, she had briefly seen a therapist. The therapist had done her best to help Evie, but Evie had refused to hear the well-meaning words that gently told her she needed to accept her loss, let herself grieve, and move on. Evie had been in denial, entirely consumed with her frantic search for her sister. She had stopped going. Never filled the prescriptions.

Evie hadn’t considered that something might have actually changed in her brain, but now, with this new clarity, it was obvious. The last three years felt like a blurry, painful dream.

“You fixed everything? Just like that?”

“Welcome to The Understanding! Just don’t get used to it, of course!” Var replied, smiling. The expression filled her with a welcome, glowing warmth. How could she have found the Skonarians’ toothy smiles to be anything less than comforting?

Var stood and walked over to Evie. As she watched the graceful, glittering being approach, a wave of gratitude swelled through her. When he stopped, she reached forward and grasped his hand, hoping he would understand the gesture. He looked mildly surprised, but didn’t pull away. His hand was just as cold as Mijra’s had been.

“Thank you,” she said, feeling tears slide down her face. “I hadn’t realized how bad it was, how much of myself I had lost.”

He looked down and awkwardly patted her hand with his free one, giving her a tolerant smile. The expression and the gesture were inexpressibly comforting, and as she cried, Evie found new clarity. She hadn’t truly been interested in the Assassination Simulation before this. She was here for her sister. That hadn’t changed, but now she realized how much she owed these strange but benevolent people. If it weren’t for them, she would be in prison, ostracized, removed from everything that made her miserable existence worth living. The Skonarians had given her life back to her.

Some time passed as Evie pulled herself back together. Every minute or so, Var would glance at a clock in the wall above the med bay door. His hand twitched in hers, making her realize she was taking advantage of his time and kindness. Hurriedly, she wiped the last tears from her eyes and straightened.

“Thank you,” she said again. “I think I’m ready for whatever's next.”

“Good.” Var pulled his hand from hers without any further ceremony. “We need to head over to the training space, where you will meet your instructor for all the physical skills you will learn over the next several months.”

Evie nodded, eagerly jumping to her feet and following him back into the hallway.

The training space was a little distance from the Med Bay, which gave Evie a chance to see more of the ship. It seemed mostly composed of narrow, winding hallways full of frequent doorways leading to various rooms. None of the doorways had doors, and as she walked by, she saw the rooms were full of Skonarians going about different tasks. There was one exception. Halfway between the medical bay and the training space was a large double door. As they passed, even from a few feet away, Evie could feel the heat radiating out.

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“Where does that go?” she asked Var, curious.

“That leads to most of the ship. To the Skonarian section. Our native atmosphere is much warmer than yours. Much too hot for humans to last long in, so we tone this part of the ship down.”

“Really?” Evie asked. “Doesn’t that make this section of the ship uncomfortable for you?” She hated the idea of her own comfort being prioritized above that of the Skonarians.

”Yes, but that’s why we wear these horrible things.” He picked at the clothing he was wearing, which was identical to that worn by every other Skonarian she had seen, except Azur. “Normally, we don’t bother with clothes, but out here we have to wear these. They’re heated, and keep our core temperature from dropping too much. We also put on lots and lots of moisturizer.”

Evie laughed. She had forgotten how good laughing could feel.

“This side of the ship actually replicates the average Honrad atmosphere, the planet where you’re headed,” Var explained. “The nitrogen and oxygen levels are slightly different, and the gravity is lower, though not enough for you to notice. We want to make sure all three of you are well adjusted before you get on planet. Honrad’s similarity to Earth is one reason we have a lot of human assassins this season.”

“Wait.” Evie stopped in her tracks. “All three of us?”

“I thought you knew! We picked up you and two other new assassins from Earth this time around. You’ll meet them before too long, I’m sure.”

Before Evie had time to think about that, they stopped in front of another doorway, this one leading into a larger space.

“I’m sure I’ll see you before too long. You guys always get busted up during training.” Var gave her a brusque pat on the shoulder and headed back the way they had come. Evie beamed at his retreating figure, glad that this wasn’t goodbye. Then she turned and walked through the door.

Evie entered a large space with a high roof. Everything inside still seemed to grow out of the surrounding ship, but she could recognize what looked like exercise equipment, and what had to be an obstacle course hanging from the ceiling. Before she could process any of it, her eyes locked onto something else. Onto the large padded mat proudly positioned at the room’s center. She recognized what it was immediately, and a sudden, unexpected tidal wave of longing washed over her. It was a sparring mat.

Through Evie’s life, Kendo had become a passion that was as much a part of her as breathing. Until she had had to repress it, because it was too irreversibly linked with Mildred. Now, with this new mental freedom, she could feel the old passion burning inside of her, begging to be let out. She wanted nothing more than to run to the mat and lose herself in a struggle with a worthy opponent.

A new Skonarian walked up to Evie. This individual was more heavily muscled than the others, although still very slim. They moved like an athlete, with a confident, balanced gait that Evie recognized, even though they were different species.

“Evie. It’s nice to meet you.” The Skonarian had a deep, feminine voice. She reached out her hand for a friendly shake. “My name is Claro. I’ll be working with you on your physical fitness and combat.”

Evie couldn’t keep a grin from spreading across her face. Her eyes flicked from the woman to the mat. “Claro! It’s nice to meet you. I don’t suppose you fence, do you?” Evie raised a challenging eyebrow.

Claro examined Evie from head to foot, taking her time. “I, unfortunately, do not. Azur mentioned you have experience in swordplay. I don’t suppose that experience extends to hand-to-hand?” Her eyes twinkled, throwing the challenge back at Evie.

Evie shrugged modestly. “I studied kickboxing for a few years in college to supplement my Kendo training,” she said, trying to prevent her excitement from being too obvious. Her focus had always been Kendo, but kickboxing had come easily to her. It used a lot of the same skills, and even though it had been a few years, she was confident she could hold her own.

“Excellent!” responded Claro, nodding approvingly. “Would you like to see what you remember?” She gestured towards the mat.

Evie and Claro circled each other, the Skonarian adopting an unfamiliar but practiced stance. Evie couldn’t keep a smile off her face, and her skin tingled with excited anticipation. She made the first move, lashing out with a kick. A kick that was deftly blocked by a lightning quick arm from Claro, who then, seemingly without effort, knocked Evie off her feet with a hard palm to her chest. Evie grunted, the wind knocked out of her, but rolled aside in time to avoid Claro’s downward punch. The blow had a little weight behind it, but not much. It would have hurt, but wouldn’t have done any actual damage. This was what Evie had always loved about sparring. The point wasn’t to hurt your opponent, but to outsmart them. More like a dance than a fight.

Evie bounded to her feet, putting a little space between herself and Claro. The Skonarian was also smiling now. This time, Evie was more cautious. She looked at the way Claro moved, trying to read her intentions. It was the other woman who struck first this time, with a quick jab to Evie’s ribs. She dodged it, barely, and managed to land a pretty good knee to Claro’s thigh before the other woman hooked her around her ankle and once again threw her to the ground. Before Evie could roll away, Claro was on top of her, a knee digging lightly into her stomach and a hand raised in a finishing blow that never fell.

Evie couldn’t remember the last time she had been this soundly bested. She was definitely out of shape, but she had a feeling that wouldn’t have made a difference. As she lay prone on the ground, Evie basked in a warm feeling of total contentment. It had been a long time since she had felt like this. Like a student, eager to prove herself to her sensei. She was outmatched, which meant she had a lot to learn.

Claro stood and offered Evie a hand up. “Not bad, but not great. You clearly have experience,” she said as she pulled Evie to her feet. “Lucky for you, we have time to work on it. You won’t get your weapon back until the Weapons Ceremony, which is in about two months. That will give us plenty of time to work on basic hand to hand, before we incorporate it.”

“My weapon?” Evie asked. She remembered Azur had said something about a weapon too, but she hadn’t gotten details.

“Yes, it’s one of the main things we use to pick our assassins. We can’t give you anything to use for violence for the same reason that we can’t take part in the Sim ourselves. So, each assassin brings their weapon with them. Whatever you used to kill another member of your species. In your case, I believe Azur said it’s an umbrella, which is frankly bad ass.”

Evie blinked in confusion. “You want me to perform assassinations with Amelia?” She asked, incredulous.

“Amelia? The umbrella? Is it normal for humans to name their inanimate objects?”

Evie felt her face growing red with embarrassment. “Um, not really.” She had been inspired to look for a self-defense umbrella by the parasol wielding Egyptologist from Elisabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody series. It hadn’t taken her long to mentally christen the umbrella Amelia, though she had never said it aloud before.

Claro looked amused, then thoughtful. She pulled a tablet out of a pocket in her uniform, quickly typed something into it, then slid it away. “Anyway, technically, we want you to perform assassinations with whatever makes sense in the moment. Anything you find, or make on planet is yours to use. However, your weapon will be your unique advantage, and your most dangerous and valuable tool.”

Evie’s heart sank. “Wouldn’t it make more sense to find an assassin with an actual weapon? I feel like a gun would be more useful than Ame-, then my umbrella.”

Claro smiled. “Of course, when the Sim first started, all the weapons were various types of firearms, but those are very easy to defend against when you’re expecting them. It’s become increasingly popular over the last several seasons to collect assassins with more unique weapons. You have nothing to worry about. Your umbrella has the potential to be one of the best weapons we have seen in years.”

This made no sense to Evie, but at the moment, it didn’t matter. She was too full of energy, fueled by a passion she had long kept dormant, to care about the details of the Sim right now. She took a step backwards, falling once again into a defensive stance.

“Ok. Show me how you did that! How you put me on the ground the second time.” A wide smile spread across Claro’s face. They might have been different species, but it was clear they were kindred spirits.

For the next few hours, they trained. By the time Claro declared they were done for the day, Evie was a panting, sweating mess. When offered water, she took it with a shaking hand. She felt amazing.

Another Skonarian escorted Evie from the training center back to her room, where she showered and emerged feeling tired, clean, and satisfied. Mijra once again appeared, bringing her more of the porridge-like substance to eat.

“More oatmeal?” Evie said, trying to conceal her disappointment.

“You’ll get solid food tomorrow. You and the other two assassins will eat Honrad food once a day to get accustomed to it.”

Evie, drying her hair with a towel, jumped on the opportunity to ask about the others.

“Var mentioned that I’m not the only human onboard. Who are they? When will I be able to meet them?”

“Tomorrow.” Mijra replied curtly. “The wake-up chime sounds at hour five, and you’re expected in the training center at 5:30. I suggest you take advantage of your rest.” Without another word, Mijra exited Evie’s room, letting the curtain fall back into place behind her.

Evie briefly wondered at Mijra’s attitude. She wasn’t nearly as friendly as the other Skonarians Evie had met, and Evie wondered if it was something she had done. But her newfound contentment quickly swept away that minor concern. She took a half hour to stretch out, trying to avoid being too sore the next day. The thought of continuing to train with Claro filled her with excited anticipation, and she was curious to meet the other two humans. However, in the back of her mind was a small, itching worry about what sort of people they might be. After all, the other two humans were like her. Murderers.