After the morning fiasco ended, the school day went on with lectures as normal. Some students would eagerly look over and eye the strange new girl, but they and Sabia kept calm and didn’t cause disruptions. During breaks, students surrounded her desk and asked questions. Hal listened, but not with much care. The responses were what he would expect from an agent on an infiltration mission. She was part of a family that had to move from Nun to Roanoke for work. She had siblings, but they were back home; her parents traveled a lot… he had used the excuses before, though Sabia did a better job playing the friendly role.

Some students asked how she knew Hal, but Sabia played it off as a mistake, and the Netzian soldier backed her up where he could. Eventually, the conversation turned to interests and hobbies, and Hal zoned out completely; he knew they would be tailored to fit her environment rather than what she was interested in. She very well couldn’t say assassination was one of her hobbies, though the green-haired boy was certain it was true. He rubbed the joint where his flesh met metal and then zoned out.

He had no way of knowing what was happening under the surface, but he did not expect to meet an agent so quickly after the battle in Nun. He was certain he told Feya all the physical attributes of their foes, so Sabia should not have been able to get through the school system without some alarm going off.

Yet, she was there. The infiltration might have begun even before his trip. Hal figured he would need to interfere before it was too late. Nun was one thing, but he did not intend to let any spot of his sister’s home get damaged.

“Okay, class, break into pairs,” Mrs. Bright said as she put an empty bottle on the desk and pulled out another. She hadn’t bothered hiding it even as other teachers had come and gone for lectures.

“Mrs. Bright, you’re going to get an earful if the principal finds out!” a student warned. Their teacher waved her hand.

“Nah…now group up.”

Sabia turned around to flash Hal a mischievous grin; a chill ran up his back. He shook his head, but the green girl had already turned her seat around to face him.

“Why don’t we pair up, Hal!”

Others in the class squinted and looked at them, but they said nothing. Bert shook his head at first but then gave Hal a thumbs up. The green-haired boy’s head dropped so low his chin pressed to his neck. He and Bert usually worked together.

A note was sent across everyone’s tablets. Sabia squinted intensely at the screen before her face lit up.

“Oh, an outdoors assignment!” she chirped.

Hal shook his head but didn’t say anything else.

The assignment was to collect pictures of local plant life around the school; Hal figured it was one of Mrs. Bright’s backup activities for when she had too much to drink. He didn’t voice his concerns, but others reached the same conclusion if their whispers as the class walked outside were any indication.

Sabia, conspicuously, clung to his arm as they walked. Hal heard some noise behind him, words of approval and cries of distress, as she did, but he wasn’t concerned with what they had to say. He was more concerned with a glare from Haleigh, who happened to be staring out the door of her class as the group walked past. He would have trouble explaining it later.

The class spread out as soon as they walked into the warm Roanoke air, and they started to scatter. Mrs. Bright, who stumbled behind them the whole time, was guided to sit on a decorative stone in the flowerbed by Hal. He took the opportunity to take her bottle.

“Stay here and sober up.”

“Ah… m ot unk.”

Hal emptied the bottle in the grass and returned it. She tried to take another drink, then drunkenly and disappointedly whined that she finished it all already.

“Was that a good idea? That smelled expensive!” Sabia asked as they headed to the woods. Hal pondered a moment the Aqueenian girl’s sense of smell but ignored the question and instead led her deep into the woods. They continued until the trees and plants grew so dense that attention was needed to avoid hitting them. Hal eventually stopped as Sabia walked face-first into a tree limb. “Ow!” She whimpered as she rubbed her green face.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Hal sighed and looked around the space closely. They had gone far deeper than anyone else would have. He could consider it safe to speak freely. Quickly, he took off his glove. In a flash, his robotic hand unfolded. A short blade and gun barrel slid out, and he pointed it at Sabia. The girl didn’t notice as she was turned away, eyeing some plants.

“Do you think we should get a picture of this one?” she asked, pointing to the tree whose branch had hit her face.

“Enough games. We have come far enough to avoid listening ears. What is your purpose for being here? I have heard of your role in Nun.”

Sabia turned to him with a beaming expression that quickly shrunk to a space between a smile and a frown.

“So, you heard, huh? Well, not to worry, I won’t cause any trouble. I’m not really sure what I’m doing here anyway. Orders were to go to this school for a little while—additional details to be sent kind of thing.” She began to walk toward Hal. “I was a little disappointed initially, but seeing you here excited me again!” Sabia ignored Hal’s arm cannon and moved her body close to his, pressing her torso against his limb that was not mechanical; she leaned in close to whisper in his ear. “We never got a chance to talk much in Nun, but I would love to get to know you better.”

Hal moved back faster than he had in his life. His metal arm folded back into a hand, and he pressed it over a raging heart. He had not known he could be so easily intimidated. Sabia smiled.

“Very well,” Hal replied after he felt he could speak calmly, “I do not wish to waste energy in a useless battle. Shall we consider a truce for now?”

Of all the things Hal needed, it would be more time to prepare against his new foe.

Sabia chuckled.

“Yes, a truce is fine, but keep your guard up; you never know when I might stab you in the back.” Her face suggested she was teasing, but Hal knew the threat in the words was incredibly likely.

“I wouldn’t be much if I wasn’t prepared for as such; consider yourself able to be arrested at any moment as well,” he replied sternly.

Sabia sighed and shook her head.

“Well, should we get some pictures and head back? I’d love to spend more…alone time… with you, but people might get suspicious and all that.”

Hal nodded, and they found some good specimens to photograph, though he had to yell at Sabia multiple times to stop posing in his shots.

***

After gathering enough pictures, the duo returned from the dense woods. The school building wasn’t a welcome sight to Hal as he saw a group of other students had already returned and were engaged in a lively chat.

“Hey, they’re back!” one student yelled.

“Did you two go all the way to Lover’s Bridge?” another added.

Sabia pressed her hand to her cheeks and blushed.

“Oh, don’t tease us like that!” she said as she leaned close to her green-haired companion.

Hal rolled his eyes and shoved her away. His heart still felt uneasy from before, and he did his best to steady his breathing.

“Has everyone completed their assignment?” he asked.

The others showed him their pictures with glee. Hal’s lips remained curled into a frown, but he nodded to each image shown.

“Do you think Mrs. Bright will be okay with these?” a student asked. They all turned to look at their drunk teacher gently swaying on the rock Hal had sat her on earlier.

“Write a good enough report, and they will be acceptable.”

“We have to write a report too!” Sabia exclaimed. The others laughed.

“Did you not read the handout?” Hal said without holding back a disappointed sigh. Sabia blushed, then frowned. She crossed her arms and turned away with a ‘hmph.’

The green-haired boy soon left to type a quick report while the others stayed behind to chat. Eventually, as Hal expected, another teacher saw them and sent them back to class. Mrs. Bright was absent due to receiving “a scolding.” Her third one in the week, according to the other students.

***

“Well, who is she?” Haleigh asked on their walk home from school. She had waited until no other students were around, and their two younger sisters had run ahead.

“She who?”

“Don’t play innocent. The Aqueenian biaskylo!”

“Watch your language. She’s not worth you soiling your tongue.”

Haleigh spoke with a gasp, “Then who is she? Your secret lover from your trip?”

“She is a dangerous foe from a dark organization. She almost killed several of my allies and now has come here to do Crenussal knows what, but I guarantee it will threaten our very way of being.”

Haleigh held a hand over her chest and let out a deep breath.

“Oh, is that all? Here I was worried for nothing.”

“Did you hear what I said?”

“Yes, yes, you haven’t found yourself a girl who’s a bad influence; she’s just a crazy murder.”

“I plan to tell Feya when I get home.”

“Ah, good call. We’ll pluck her right out of the school!”

The conversation shifted to a less serious topic after, one which Hal wasn’t as concerned with, until they got home and told Feya of what happened.

To Hal’s surprise, she wasn’t concerned with Sabia’s presence and only nodded like he told her information she already knew.

“Keep an eye on her for now” was the only words the Dare offered to the young boy. He went to sleep pondering what she could have in mind. Knowing Feya, it was sure to be reckless.