A few more minutes pass and Fedora was now fully asleep, her body limp and her head resting on Linn’s upper back.

  Linn’s eyes open slightly, groggy and heavy from the sleepiness.

  Sylvia’s eyes wander to them for a split second before going back to the road.

  -“Linn, I don’t mean to be nosy but since this could affect the team’s work, I want to know, are you and Fedora lovers?”

  Linn’s pale cheeks turn rosy pink at the question.

  -“N-no no, we’re just really close friends that’s all.”

  -“Understood.”

  Sylvia responds coldly, the road left until they reach the Kola being dead silent, only filled with the sound of the truck’s engine, and Fedora’s near snoring.

  After a few hours of driving they finally arrive at the Kola’s base.

  Sylvia reaches the main gate of the wall, and stops. After about 10 seconds the 3 massive metal doors start to open slowly, their faces having been recognized, their rank allowing them pass without the tests.

  Once inside the wall, Sylvia drives to the Razum wing, where their living quarters are.

  -“Wake up sleepyhead! We’re here.”

  Says Linn softly as she gently nudges Fedora to wake up.

  Fedora’s eyes open slowly, the green lights of the parking lot blinding her even through her glasses.

  -“For fuck’s sake…I barely opened my eyes and I’m already getting hit with a lightshow…”

  Fedora stretches and yawns, getting off Linn scratching the back of her head and looking around to see Sylvia missing from the driver’s seat.

  -“Where did she run off to? Nature’s call?”

  She laughs to herself with such fervor she coils her hands around her stomach and slaps her knee.

  Linn smiles at her.

  -“Glad to see you back to your usual self. She said she got an urgent call from Miss Catherine herself and had to be there.”

  Fedora’s laugh stops nearly instantly, her face becoming serious and confused.

  -“What the fuck? From Catherine herself? She never talked to any of us directly.”

  Her seriousness is short lived as she immediately focuses on something else.

  -“But why did she call for Sylvia or not me or you? Why is she sooo much more special than us?”

  She lays back into the seat once more, putting her hands behind her head.

  -“Pfft, if anything out of the 4 of us, her ability is the most boring, Catherine must have some trash taste dude…”

  -“I’m sure it was random, maybe Catherine asked who was available to come talk to her, and maybe she only needed one of us, and think about it, you were sleeping, I was your pillow, and Mary is still in training, so she was the only one who was available.”

  Fedora stays silent not wanting to agree with what Linn was saying.

  -“I’m sure none of us is more special than you are!”

  Says Linn.

  Fedora smiles widely, looking at Linn.

  -“Thanks Linn.”

  The two of them get out of the truck and head up with the elevator to the living quarters. Just as the elevator door opens on their floor, Sylvia was right in front of them.

  -“We need to talk, here and now.”

  Fedora sighs and hunches her back, placing her hands on her face as a sign of desperation.

  -“I just fucking woke up after a 4 hour drive can I get some actual fucking rest…”

  Linn’s face turns more serious than usual, Sylvia rarely makes such statements, and it makes her feel quite uneasy.

  -“What happened? Is it something miss Catherine told you?”

  Just as Linn finished her sentence, a high pitched happy voice could be heard yelling from far away through the crowd of people.

  -“SYLVIAAAAA!!! WELCOME BACKKKK!!!!”

  It was Mary, her long ponytail swinging wildly behind her as she was running as fast as she could towards them.

  She doesn’t even wait for a response, she jumps right into Sylvia’s arms and hugs her so tight Sylvia exhales forcefully from the pressure of the hug.

  Mary looks up to her, her emerald green eyes glistening with the shine of her tears.

  -“I WAS SOO SOO WORRIED I HEARD ABOUT THE SELVIM ATTACK AND EVERYTHING AND I STARTED CRYING EVERY SINGLE TIME I WAS THINKING ABOUT YOU AND I THOUGHT YOU DIED ASWELL AS EVERYONE ELSE I WAS SO SO SO SO WORRIED I COULDN’T STOP STRESSING AND JUST RUMMAGING OVER THE THOUGHTS I THOUGHT YOU DIED AND WERE GONE FOREVER!!! WAHHHHH!”

  Mary buries her face into Sylia chest, crying with such relief, and from the deepest depths of her lungs, staining Sylvia’s fancy uniform in her tears and snot as she kept rubbing her face left and right.

  Sylvia gives her a small warm smile. She places her hand on Mary’s head and gently guides it back to look into her eyes.

  -“No need to cry so much Mary, we’re all fine thanks to Fedora.”

  Fedora looks slightly surprised to get praise from Sylvia, who’s always so cold and detached.

  *What a bitch, she only acts like this around Mary to make herself seem sweeter and kinder, what a fucking mask wearing clown* Fedora thinks to herself.

  -“I promise I’ll tell you more about the last mission later, right now I have urgent news.”

  They all look at Sylvia with a serious look, listening closely to what she had to say.

  -“For the first time ever, The Kola was able to locate hives made by the Selvim. Miss Catherine let me on confidential information that I am allowed to share only with you 3. The Kola was only ever able to locate Selvim through their movement in the Earth’s atmosphere, but today, for some reason, the Kola gave away the location of 6 stationary Selvim hives, which are spread all across the world. Miss Catherine said that these hives are their relay gateway, what allows them to descend to the Earth undetected. If we can destroy the hives, not only we can eliminate every known trace of Selvim off of the surface of the Earth, but we can also detect them from before they even enter the atmosphere.”

  Fedora’s hands uncross, her expression one of shock and disbelief.

  -“No…”

  Sylvia responds nearly instantly.

  -“Yes…we can finally find out where the Selvim come from, that would be the biggest advancement we could make toward the end of the Selvim war. Apparently, these relays are why the Kola is unable to detect Selvim above the Earth’s atmosphere.”

  Mary looks hopeful at Sylvia once more.

  -“REALLY?” her eyes start tearing up

  -“You’re saying this awful war could finally be over and we could finally live normal lives without living afraid all the time?!”

  Sylvia gives Mary one more tiny smile in the corner of her lip.

  -“Yes Mary that is very much a possibility.”

  Mary rushes in to hug Sylvia once more, crying into her chest once more, out of happiness this time.

  -“I NEVER EVEN DARED TO BELIEVE THIS HELL COULD BE OVER. EVER. I THOUGHT I WOULD HAVE TO KEEP ENDURING IT ALL MY LIFE WAHHGGHGHHHHH.”

  Sylvia keeps her hand on Mary’s head, her smile remaining painted on her face.

  Fedora rubs her forehead, and makes a dismissive gesture with her hand.

  -“Sounds great and all…I’m gonna go take a nap and eat something, I’m starving…”

  Linn stays silent as usual, just as surprised as everyone else, but her face also showed a hint of relief.

  -“Thank you for the news Sylvia…I think I’ll go with Fedora, I want to eat something too. Are you two not hungry? We can eat together! All 4 of us like we used to do!”

  -“No thanks, I promised Mary I’ll tell her what happened in our last mission, then maybe I’ll eat something.”

  Mary finally takes her face out of Sylvia’s chest, looking at the stains she left for a few seconds, then she wipes her nose and tears with her sleeve.

  -“Y-yeah, I’m not really hungry to be honest.”

  Linn smiles as she turns to walk after Fedora.

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  -“Alright you two, have fun!”

  Mary smiles wide.

  -“You too!!!”

  The group separates, Linn going with Fedora and Mary with Sylvia.

  Linn and Fedora walk together through the crowd, the people making space for them to walk through, showing that they are a sort of celebrity or well known people there.

  The halls were massive and multilayered, the clean white one they were walking on was full of people, shops and different places left and right, small trees, it was like an indoor city. Above them was nearly the exact same thing, a clean white ceiling full of white lights that turned warm to simulate a sunset. Above that ceiling was a region nearly identical to the one they were walking through, shops, alleys, benches, around 4 layers of the same kind of structure on top of one another like a cake.

  -“Sooo where or what do you wanna eat today?”

  Linn thinks for a few seconds.

  -“Oh I really want a margherita pizza from Aurelio’s…they’re so good, and I’m really hungry.”

  Fedora sighs heavily.

  -“Aww man…that’s all the way into the first region of Telo…and I’m starving…”

  Linn giggles.

  -“Ah c’mon we can go by bike! Won’t you do it for me?”

  Says Linn making the puppy eyes.

  -“Ugh fine but if I die of starvation you pay the coffin.”

  Linn bursts out laughing at her joke while walking towards the bike stand on the left of the wide white road.

  -“Sure thing, now get on!”

  They both walk over to the bike stand and put their watches close to the monitor that took payments for renting the bikes. The locks on the bikes unlock and they start to cycle on the bike lane that was on the left side of the living space.

  -“Ughh my stomach is sticking to my spine…”

  After a bit of cycling, they reach a large metal door, and next to it, was a much smaller one. Through the left people were entering and through the right people were coming out.

  Seeing the large line of people Fedora puts her head on the front of the bike sighing frustrated.

  -“Aghhh we’re gonna be here all day…”

  People start turning around when they see Fedora and Linn waiting last in line, allowing them to go first.

  -“Oh thanks guys!”

  Says Fedora now much happier.

  -“Thank you everyone!”

  Says Linn.

  -“No we thank you for keeping us safe Ergals!” Says one random citizen.

  Linn laughs but Fedora couldn’t care less about what they had to say.

  They go to the gate and a guard scans their wrist devices allowing them to pass, their devices looked very similar to smartwatches.

  The scenery on the other side of the gate was very different, the roads were slightly uneven with bricks pavement instead of white marble. The houses looked a lot more worn out, and the stores were fewer.

  People looked tired, their clothes stained by work, but even here, on the uneven pavement, the people were still admiring and making space for Linn and Fedora to go through.

  After cycling a bit more on the pavement they reach a small restaurant with a large wooden name above the door:“Aurelio’s”

  They park the bikes outside the restaurant, locking them.

  As they enter the bell just above the door makes the distinct ringing noise that signals that someone entered the restaurant.

  The inside was small but cozy, plants in the corners, LED lights on some walls with warm lights, brick and wooden walls.

  A few people were in there, most likely passing by to eat after work.

  A person arrives at the counter, full of joy.

  -“Ciao ragazze! How have you been? Still saving the Kola?”

  A young man with his wavy black hair and brown eyes, wearing a white shirt was happy to welcome them.

  -“Mi amigo Aurelio! How’s the restaurant doing? And yeah I’m DONE for today I am starving.”

  Says Fedora.

  -“It’s seen better days but we manage! What would you like today?”

  -“Hm, a large margherita and 2 large lemonades please!”

  Says Linn.

  Aurelio writes it down in his notebook.

  -“Right away ragazze! Please don’t stand up pick a table and we’ll bring your food right away!”

  Fedora and Linn sit at a table near the window and shortly after a waiter brings them their food.

  Aurelio comes to sit with them at the table not shortly after.

  -“So how was your last mission? I heard it was tough!”

  Fedora grabs a large slice of pizza and bites it.

  -“Eh well it was just some stuff the Council didn’t prepare for so it took us by surprise, but nothing I couldn’t handle…if anything my biggest battle was with my hunger when coming here”

  Aurelio laughs and looks at Linn who was a little serious thinking back about the mission while eating a slice.

  -“Is there anything wrong with the food Miss Linn?”

  Linn snaps out of her thoughtfulness and smiles.

  -“Oh no no, I’m just really tired from the mission that’s all the pizza is as delicious as always!”

  More customers start to come in as they see Fedora and Linn inside through the window.

  Aurelio turns his head hearing the door open.

  -“Well, I have to go, enjoy your food and thanks for stopping by!”

  -“Good luck.”

  Says Fedora with her mouth full.

  Sylvia and Mary were sitting down on one of the benches around a big lake in the green space which was in the middle of Razum.

  The sun was dipping low beneath the horizon and the sky was turning into a beautiful shade of pink.

  Mary was eating a cone of ice cream vanilla and she looks at Sylvia.

  -“So…what happened today during the mission? I heard there was an unexpected selvim attack…”

  Sylvia looks into the distance thoughtful for a few seconds and answers without making eye contact.

  -“We were ordered by the Council to retrieve supplies from an underground bunker and deliver them to a village far north from here…once we got there, I simply got off the truck and headed for the door of the bunker, but just before I could open it, from the forest hundreds of selvim were charging at us..Linn passed out immediately from her condition, but thankfully for some unknown reason her flowers did not activate…I immediately rushed over to her and put her inside the truck while Fedora charged in to fight them all alone…I went back to the bunker and I managed to open the door, find the crates inside and put them in the truck…while Fedora protected both me and the truck with Linn inside…she fought alone for about 2 hours…she is a fearsome Ergal…by the time she killed them all she was really wounded and had passed out from exertion since she used a magnitude 4 for so long…”

  Mary eats a bit more of her ice cream while listening attentively to Sylvia.

  -“Did you manage to deliver the supplies…?”

  Sylvia stands up and sighs.

  -“Yeah…and we spent the night there…”

  Sylvia smiles a bit remembering the events at the village.

  -“It’s late, we should head home.”

  Says Sylvia.

  -“Right”

  Says Mary.

  A few hours later, Fedora lays on the sofa in the living room of their shared big apartment.

  The apartment itself was nothing extraordinary, It was the same lifeless minimalist art and design everywhere you looked, as if the place itself was meaning to turn you blank and make you colorless. The big living room was connected to a kitchen which was just as large, and to the other end of the living room, 4 doors were present, each leading to someone else’s room with their bedroom and bathroom.

  Fedora was laying on the sofa, Linn sitting on the other end of the sofa, they were both playing some card game where you have to guess what the animal the other person has on their card based on hints.

  -“Alright so, hmm…ehh, I like to slide around on my belly.” Says Fedora after looking at her card for a few moments before deciding what hint to give Linn.

  -“Hmm…a seal?”

  Says Linn after thinking for a bit, her hand on her chin.

  -“Nope! But it is pretty close…I think…I don’t really know I ain’t no scientist…”

  Fedora’s face gets a bit more serious.

  -“Say…do you really believe what Sylvia said? I mean…doesn’t it sound too good to be true…? The Selvim have been around for a really long time…and what, now all of a sudden, not even one year since we became a team, we can suddenly end the war…? It sounds fishy to me…”

  Linn’s face gets a bit serious aswell.

  -“I guess…but think about it, the military hardly ever stood a chance against the Selvim…that’s why there’s so few humans left…but on the other hand, one of us can kill dozens of Selvim without any external help…And yeah I know, it seems too sudden…but maybe the Kola gave this information now because it knows that there is actually someone who can fight and defeat the enemy…Maybe it didn’t want to send regular humans there since it knew they would die trying…after all, The Kola was never wrong…”

  Fedora sighs, not fully believing what Linn was saying, everything seemed out of a fantasy book to her.

  -“So it’s not a seal, I slide on my belly, and I live somewhere very cold, who am I?”

  -“Ah got it! A penguin!”

  -“Yup you got it, I wonder if these thing even exist anymore.”

  Says Fedora as she slams the old card on the glass table.

  -“We should go to…uh..was it north or south pole…? I think south…we should go there sometime and see them in person!”

  Says Linn with a smile.

  Fedora huffs, searching for another card in the pile.

  -“As if, the Council wouldn’t let us go out of the walls without permission even if you had stage 8 bone cancer and the cure was just outside the walls.”

  Linn frowns slightly.

  -“Why are they so strict on who goes in and who goes out…? I mean I get it residents are not allowed to since it is dangerous, but why wouldn’t they let us out?”

  Linn picks up a card and looks at Fedora.

  -“I like to bury my head in the ground when I feel in danger, who am I?”

  Fedora thinks for a bit before answering.

  -“An ostrich? Well from what I heard, they used to let residents in and out too, but they say that, a few years ago, someone with the exact same fingerprint, ID, appearance and retinal scan as another resident, came into the Kola Base. They said he was a clone of one of the residents who was a very known scientist. Once inside Razum, her started to shout nonsense and spread panic among the public. I don’t know that much, but he kept saying something about a deer, how we are not real and that the Kola is Satan or some shit like that.”

  Linn’s face turns even more surprised and negatively intrigued.

  -“Yeah it’s an ostrich. How come I never heard of this?”

  Fedora picks up one of the cards from the pile starting her turn.

  -“Some call me invisible with the way I fit in, who am I? You won’t find records of that event anywhere, they were deleted from every archive, I myself heard about it from Sylvia, and she herself got to know this after eavesdropping on a Council member by accident.”

  -“A chameleon? Sylvia eavesdropping?”

  -“Yup you got it, chameleon. That’s what I was thinking too, but she said she did it on accident, she wouldn’t even breathe if the Council told her not to.”

  Fedora lays back again, putting her hands behind her head again.

  -“Ehh fuck this game…have y-“

  Just before Fedora can finish her sentence, the door opens and Sylvia and Mary step in.

  -“News from Miss Catherine.”

  Sylvia pulls out a list with various pieces of information written on it.

  -“Miss Catherine says that tomorrow we will all be dispatched to Finland to conquer and destroy the first Selvim base. She also told me, that we will begin training after that mission.”

  Fedora recoils a bit from what Sylvia said.

  -“What wait? Slow the fuck down what do you mean tomorrow and Finland? And fuck you mean training we don’t need to train.”

  Sylvia listens to her and responds coldly.

  -“We will be dispatched via the hyperspeed underground tunnels. While physical training is ineffective and inefficient for us, Miss Catherine wants us to train our resistance to the flower’s abilities.”

  Sylvia flips the page of her clipboard.

  -“The results of your last check are as follows, Linn uses 0 out of 10 units of magnitude, Mary uses 2 out of 6 units of magnitude, Fedora uses 4 out of 10, and I use 6 out of 14. Miss Catherine was very disappointed in our abilities, especially with Linn.”

  Fedora frowns even more.

  -“Hey what’s her problem with Linn? Doesn’t matter if she fights or not, she’s still one of the 4 Ergals and she’s always been our support, tell Catherine to shove that piece of paper so deep up her ass it reaches her rotten heart.”

  Sylvia doesn’t react to this, she just keeps stating facts.

  -“Miss Catherine is deeply worried that with the current magnitude of our abilities we might be unable to destroy the bases of Selvim.”

  -“You must’ve drank some spoiled milk, I alone killed like 300 something yesterday, with my oh so mediocre 4 out 10 magnitude, all us together can easily kill thousands.” Says Fedora in a laid back manner.

  -“She advised me not to go into uncharted territory unprepared, we do not know what lies in these hives and especially at their origin point.”

  Linn looks very uncomfortable, her face a bit uneasy.

  -“I…don’t know if I can do any sort of training…could you please tell that to miss Catherine…I thought she knew that already…?”

  Fedora suddenly stands up from her bed and goes face to face with Sylvia in a very threatening manner.

  -“Don’t you dare say a word about Linn to Catherine, Sylvia. This stays between us. I believe even you find our team more important than that fake bitch.”

  Sylvia looks at Fedora with an empty look, not a single emotion present on her face.

  Mary looked tense and worried from the side.

  -“C’mon girls there’s no need to get so riled up…”

  Says Mary as she approaches the two of them wanting to separate them.

  Fedora extends her arm toward Mary.

  -“Back the fuck off snowdrop this doesn’t concern you.”

  Mary steps back, hunching her back slightly, wrapping her hands around her stomach.

  -“S-sorry I didn’t mean to…” She says weakly as she goes a few steps back, looking down at the floor.

  Sylvia finally speaks.

  -“The sole purpose of the 4 Ergals is the elimination of the Selvim and to ensure the future of mankind.”

  Fedora’s face contorts into one of disgust and disdain, her thumb nail and pinky nail of her right hand snapping furiously as she stares at Sylvia through her opaque glasses.

  -“Fancy way of saying you don’t give a shit about us miss marble statue. Don’t say I didn’t tell you.”

  Sylvia remains as still as a stone, as Fedora turns around and slams the door to her side of the apartment shut with a loud thud, giving the middle finger before closing it.

  Both Mary and Linn stay quiet, their face conflicted and uneasy, half from the tension of the moment, and half from what Sylvia said.

  Seconds later Sylvia walks away into her room aswell, following soon after, the other two also walk to their respective rooms.