“Now, when you open the door for her, do you place your other hand behind your back, or do you hold it out to the side?” he said analysing the hologram as he watched the guard repeat the action over and over again and watched Olivia Traes step through the door before him. She thanked him every time.

“You are most welcome,” he said, emulating the guard on the hologram,

“Why can’t you just nod?” he said looking over at the tied-up man, still struggling at his bindings as he sat on a chair in the sparse guards' quarters, but he had quite a few possessions, a bit more cramped with items than he was used to. He thought that Ko could not see him doing this, but honestly, it was just a bit desperate now.

“You are most welcome,” he said again trying to match the guard's tone. He leaned back on the chair, “You are most welcome. You are very formal, aren't you?” he said to the guard who just moaned through the muffle in his mouth. Ko checked the time, it was three AM, he rubbed his eyes, it may have been three on this planet, but he had been awake going on thirty-six hours now. The hours on Yeley were seventeen more than the last planet he was on and to avoid any disorientation he had decided to stay awake. He would need a booster. “You are most welcome”

The man struggled more, but Ko didn't pay him much attention, he rummaged around the guard room for some form of booster, naturally, he was not permitted to bring anything with him on this mission. They always needed to make it harder for him, always, like a bloody agenda, he thought. Eventually, he pulled a drawer and found a tub containing blue and yellow capsules,

“Bingo” he pulled them out and allowed his recently acquired tech to scan them, they were exactly what he was looking for, go pills, the tech displayed onto his eye recommended a daily use of one, he took three of them, they weren't on the same level as the ones that he was used to, so he figured that it was fine. He then moved to the window which with the backdrop of night created a perfect mirror. He stretched his long neck showing the underside of his chin, it had always been noted as sharp, he had always wished for ‘strong’ or distinguished, but it had been plainer than most of his previous appearances. Ordinary, his eyes were brown, and his hair was straight and dull blonde this time. He did have a sharp nose, but small which allowed for prosthetics to be easily applied, he detested his plainness, but it allowed him to slip in and out without being noticed. A gift, he was told at the academies in the core. Made to be forgettable.

“You are most welcome” he turned to the man sitting on his chair once more, looking at his frame and then to the hologram, “You don’t stand dead straight do you? You have the look of a man that has practised being a good soldier, but your more of a fighter than just a guard, arent you?” he said looking at the soldier, his fury was burning through his eyes.

“No,” said Ko, watching those gleaming eyes, “No, they picked you because you are nifty in a fight, good in a pinch, and then you practised being a good guard, practised standing right, walking right, speaking right” he did feel bad taunting him like this, but seeing a man's true nature was the best way to know what their contained nature was, what it was that they wanted to hide, what is was that they pulled themselves back from being their true self. This man's true self was a fighter, he would place himself in danger without hesitation, not because it was his duty but because it was the right thing to do. Admirable, Ko appreciated men with codes, a code was a far better way to live one's life than duty, duty was always imposed by another, always modified to correctness, filtered by acceptability.

“You are most welcome” he was getting it now, the deeper tone, with the accent. He turned to the hologram again and moved to another video of his walk, strong gait, he thought, wide shoulders, aware. “You trust your eyes more than what the helmet tells you, that’s good, helmets can be hacked,” he said still looking at the monitor, but delivering it like it was a lesson for the guard for next time. “You also nod slowly when you walk past fellow soldiers, you respect them but also know that you are offering them approval when doing so, short nods are acknowledgement, long are approval,” he said turning to the guard smiling and nodding his head slowly, “By all accounts, you are a very good man and a good guard,” he said with a wink that nearly drove Efreet berserk.

“If it is any consolation to you, I am not here to harm anyone, intentionally at least. You are most welcome”. He stood and practised the gait, it was difficult to try and get his height right and the gait, as he was slightly taller than Ko. He walked and then viewed himself in the mirror again, he may need to pad the exo-suit. He pulled the medical kit and grabbed the straps used for holding patients to trolleys, “Old school” he said, they would work perfectly. He placed them on his shoulders and then pulled the exo-suit on, they were tedious, but he couldn't have gotten any luckier than a temple with helmeted guards. That didn't happen much any more, even after attacks, but Pac Traes had delivered the orders, and now Ko had a way to be in the temple, at all times. Unfiltered access, it was a mistake by someone who has only heard about how to play but hasn’t been part of a game yet. He practised his walk again and saw that the straps had done the job for him.

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“How do you behave with the Kryptea, they freak me out man” Ko swiped at the hologram until he got to a frame where the Kryptea were in the same hallway, “See, I knew it, you walk between whoever you are guarding and the Kryptea, what a guy” he also bolstered his chest when doing so, but Ko didn't think this was a conscious act, he wasn't trying to prove anything to the Kryptea, rather he was readying himself, “So you dont like them either,” he said contemplatively.

He worked in the room reviewing more footage, measuring his interactions with different ranks within the guard, he noticed that he stood straighter and at the most attention to the Commander as well as one of the other guards who protected the advisor, Harold, it was not a surprise, and he wasn't looking for a promotion, he was proud of the job he was doing. Moran was the Commander, he checked up on the data pad, “And you deeply respect…” he said looking at the datapad once more, “Shilu Salfour” he said looking at the hologram again, “Hulfean name, it seems that you like her but you don’t speak with her while on duty that much. Thank you for that” the less interactions he would need to make in a personal capacity, the better.

His head was always more slightly bowed when the Regent or his wife were in the room and stood closer to a wall if their guards were in the room, so he relinquished control to more senior guards, then there was the kid, he seemed to have a different demeanour around him, more comfortable, the Planetary Head’s daughter seemed at ease with him too. The information on the datapad about him was also bogus, all entered on the same day. This must have been him, and that must be the Captain Angela Lawrence, and the pilot Paba Rebapa.

Ko watched the holograms with the three as they moved around the temple, with Lady Olivia Traes and the guard. They were being protected, they were being taken care of with apartments, clothes, food, and facilities. He needed to be wary of the soldier, he could just see that she was a soldier, and her movements screamed it. He blew out his cheeks as he watched the hologram of the battle in the street. The guard behind him had been hit with a pulse blast and she stepped right into the role of commanding the troops. It showed that she was experienced, but the fact that the other guards followed her was worrying to Ko.

The smaller one, Paba Rebapa, seemed an interesting case. From all the footage that he had, she was moving in and out of private areas and speaking with technical teams. It seemed she had a different level of access to the others. It was difficult to see what she was dealing with, but whatever it was it seemed to be making an impact, judging by the expressions from the people that she was interacting with. He would need to try and figure out what that was all about.

He moved over to the Kryptea files, Archon, Laken and 6, the number, not the word, it wasn't a name it was still his designation. They were being protected by a Kryptea that hadn't taken a name yet? He pulled up the numbers file. Kryptea were given numbers while they were being trained, from their lots when imported to Lacedon, after they were sent into the wilderness and told to survive for years, they were put into fights and then took names, so why did this Kryptea still only have his number designation? His file showed him to be the largest of the group, he had a disciplinary record which was unusual to see, and by all accounts, he was not a very good Kryptea soldier. They get Kryptea in to defend them, and one-third of them is a dud.

“Nothing here makes sense,” he said to the guard who was still glaring at him, but he appreciated the company. The other two, the woman, Archon had two stripes, senior, proven, she would be a headache if she found him, it was the same for Laken the other male, also two stripes, both full citizens of Lacedon. He counted his lucky stars that they only had two stripes,

“The Traes got stitched up with these three, I’m telling you, I would be pissed” his voice was coming along, he saw that the guard had also noticed this, and he smiled at the look of glaring he was getting from the man. It always happened when he was taking someone's identity, their fear only grew as he started to sound and move more like them.

He looked at the time again and saw that it was just past five, time to start getting ready for his shift. He looked over to the guard and made a forced smile, “I know that you are going to hate me for this and that you dont trust what I am saying, but you can trust this, friend, you dont want to be part of what is going to happen to this place” he drew out a med patch from the med pack and scanned it with the tech, it was perfect, “I’ve adjusted this for five days, it’s going to knock you out, and when you wake up, your ties will be off, that is when you can come and get me, got it?” he said earnestly, “I’ll be with the Traes, in their apartments” he finished with a smile. He placed the med patch on the guard's neck and said to him before his eyes closed. Now the guard knew where he would be, and where to go once he woke up.

“I’m going to use your quarters until then”.

Ko sat on the bed and looked at the guard who was now passed out on the chair in front of him. He thought through his exit strategy. He had placed a bomb in the temple when he had first come in, it was on the second floor and he touched the control for it on his wrist. The Traes armoury was sadly not protected like it should have been. They never should have had a bomb like that in the temple in the first place, but he also needed to stop questioning these small victories. The bomb was now armed.

He looked back up at the guard, now peacefully asleep, only being held up by his bonds. He would place the man on the bed and give him nutrient packs. He released the bonds that held the guard, lay down on the bed, put himself in a comfortable position, and then feeling the tech in his chest heat up he lifted his hand and with the familiar action, twisted his wrist, flicking his fingers, at once, he and Efreet swapped positions and Ko watched from the chair as Efreet’s limp hand dropped onto his chest, the guard now quietly sleeping on the bed.

He linked up the nutrient pack and made his way to the mirror again, ensuring that he looked right once he placed the Traes helmet on. It looked correct. He would need to be at Olivia Traes’ door shortly.

“You are most welcome” he practiced once more. It was time to go to work.