Nestra had the rest of the tail for breakfast — it was pretty good! The teeth experiment made her want to test exactly how much she could bite so, still in her pajamas, she searched her garage for an errant piece of metal. There was a shelf part she couldn’t use so she grabbed it then bit it. Her teeth sank in the metal with ease. At least the first centimeter. It took a little bit of shaking but eventually, she was free. The shelf part still bore an imprint, each tooth leaving a neat furrow. “Ok, note to self, sharp teeth does not equate jaw strength.” Thus chastened, she finished her routine, then she realized she had little left to do until Officer Kim contacted her to start her new job. There was always the book of the Scornful Crescent she wanted to try and, after stretching, she read more. There was some meditation involved as well as slow motions to start off, which was all good, but then training asked for footwork and she realized she just didn’t have enough space. A quick shower later and she made a decision. It was time to build a lair. A sort of airlock between mundane everyday Nestra and the toothy one. Her own personal Nestracave where she could also train and receive suspicious packages without nosy neighbors wondering why those were unmarked. Biting the bullet, she spent an hour applying for and being approved for a storage space. She picked one in district thirteen which had the benefit of being between her dorm district, twenty-three, and fifteen where she would apparently be working. It was really cheap at six hundred a month for a respectable warehouse, unsurprisingly, since thirteen was kind of a dump. The only caveat was that she could not conduct a business out of it. “You’re going to strut around a region that’s been outside of the protection of the law for weeks, months maybe. The city wasn’t there when the civvies needed it. Fuck, sometimes I wish I could clone myself. Anyway, you’re going to be moving around traumatized, betrayed people in a state of deep poverty. All while corpo cunts fly around the block as their new overlords. You’re gonna need a skill you weren’t trained to use and that skill is de-escalation.” “I can do diplomacy.” “That’s not what de-escalation is. I’m talking about a specific set of techniques used to calm things down before a situation leads to violence. You. Are. Not. Trained. And you’ll be deployed without being trained. I’m sorry Nestra. You’re a competent soldier who’s faced life and death situations on many, many occasions. You’re still alive because you were faster. Sadly, faster will get people killed. If you’re with civvies, that’s a bad thing.” “I’ll be paired up with an experienced officer.” “Will you only ever shoot if he tells you to?” Claire challenged. Nestra only saw patient concern in the woman’s expression. And sadness. “Ok. How about… I get non-lethal weapons?” “Those are often less lethal weapons.” “I think I can find a way. I’ll apply for online training and let my new partner do the talking. Don’t worry, I’m not here to purge the district, alright?” “Yes, of course. I know. Look, this won’t be a powder keg. It will be a hundred powder kegs, several per day. You won’t have the emotional stamina to handle them.” “I told you, I’ll let the other guy do the talking. His name is Shinoda. He’s supposed to be an experienced guy at the end of his career.” “Alright, alright. Your mind is set, and I can tell you’re taking this seriously. That’s okay. Just… I don’t want you to get the wrong expectations. Fuck, wish I could keep an eye on you for a while but the guild won’t allow it.” “It’s fine. As you say, I need to prepare more seriously.” “Good. That’s all I can ask. Oh, and by the way, how are the mana cravings?” Nestra’s tension spiked and Claire blinked because of course she would pick up on it. It said a lot about the older woman that she patiently waited for Nestra to talk instead of pressing her. “If you don’t wanna discuss…” “No, it’s not that. The cravings are, well, they’re mostly gone.” Nestra scrutinized Aunt Claire with all the fibers of her human self. That was it, the moment of truth. The opening that could lead to revelations if Aunt Claire knew something. And there was nothing. Mostly, the woman frowned. “Huh. Well then yes that’s, uh, great news, I think? You don’t seem too happy.” “It strikes me as rather sudden.” “Yeah, I see what you mean. Did you talk to Mazingwe?” “You really really should. Just keep in mind, it could be just fine. Us gleams are not as perfect and monolithic as we appear, except me of course. Sorry, poor timing for a joke. What I mean is, some people are late bloomers. They need something to click. Happens all the time, especially around your age. Well-trained raiders linger at the bottom of D-class and then suddenly they unlock their affinities and skyrocket through the ranks. Just don’t worry about it too much.” “Still haven’t got a core though.” “Sorry dearie, I can’t help with that.” “Hey at least you have a heart. And me. You have me.” “Can you call me Clecle like when you were all small and cute?” Nestra finally focused on the food in front of her, served at some point during her retelling of the ambush. It was a nice salad with some enclave vegetables which she ravenously finished, hungering for more. “Your appetite isn’t gone at least.” “Yes. Been feeling peckish lately.” Nestra waited to see if Aunt Claire would react, say something. Anything. Even though she knew Claire was a high B-class, one who defied the rules of reality. If there was something her aunt truly meant to hide from her, Nestra would never learn of it. That’s just how it was. “Well that’s a really good sign. Maybe you’ll get taller than me! Until I finish infusing my body, that is. Then I’ll make sure I’m slightly taller than your dad just because.” “When will you stop pissing each other off?” “When he removes the titanium bar stuck up his ass.” They kept going at it for a while. Aunt Claire had news about everyone, as usual. Nestra’s mom was training to start raiding again though she and Nestra’s dad disagreed on whether she should do it or not. Her brother Ulysses was doing amazingly well with a blossoming metal affinity while young Helena was being an absolute hellion, almost getting expelled from prep school due to disciplinary issues. Even Claire showed concern about her restraint which was saying a lot. “I don’t know about her. I was angry against patriarchy when I was her age but she’s just angry about everything, including herself. Just a little ball of nerves. And her affinity…” “It’s… well it’s still being discovered but it appears to be extremely rare… and rather destructive. Can you talk to her at some point? Please?” “Claire, she was seven when I left. Now I’m a self-exiled loser with no friends and no hobbies. Why the fuck would she want to talk to me?” “She thinks we’ve abandoned you.” Nestra waited to see if Claire would explain herself because she was lost. “Ok, the family did when they let you go and cut ties, kind of. She also thinks you’ve abandoned her. She… really looked up to you, you know?” “Yeah and then I went on and became the single biggest failure in the history of gleams by essentially failing to be one.” “Look, I admit I’m still sore about it but that’s not the point here. The point is she’s sixteen and when I was her age, let’s just say who you hang out with and how cool you can get was… rather important. I’m not saying she’s exactly the same. I’m saying that trying to get the rebellious teen to get closer to the living reminder that gleams might not be better from birth after all might not be the best solution.” “It’s not like that. She’s not like that. Look, she needs help and we’re all burnt in her eyes. She barely trusts me because I sided with her mom once. Debbie is… well, you know your mother. She’s trying. It would just be nice if you tried as well. We’ll have a party at the manor to celebrate our recent victories as well as Ulysses’ ascension to B-rank. Could you please attend?” For the first time in forever, Nestra look into Claire’s congenial face and felt annoyed. “You want to get me to come during a party? Are you insane?” “It will be symbolic. Helena always says that we’re hiding you, which pisses her off the most. I know your parents will want that. And Ulysses will have his friends. He won’t care. Please?” “This is a recipe for disaster.” “I just want us to be a family,” Claire said in a clipped, slightly vulnerable tone. “We gleams are spending more and more time in portal worlds for… reasons. Maybe it’s, well, maybe we won’t have that many chances to spend time together as time goes on. Helena is growing fast, Nestra. And not in the right direction. Please? For me?” Nestra considered the question for a moment. The problem was that she couldn’t refuse Aunt Claire. Not the way she looked, all hopeful and candid despite the fact she was much older than she looked and should know fucking better. Not after everything Claire had done for her. Nestra had to say yes. She wouldn’t be able to face herself otherwise. “Ok fine. It’s your funeral if things go to shit.” “Thank you, dear. By the way, you polished that salad well. Do you need something more?” “I’d love what the people behind us is having.” “The terrine? Of course.” Nestra demolished another plate and the dessert as well since Aunt Claire was picking the bill. The raider watched Nestra eat with a smirk before announcing that she had a later appointment with a certain gentleman at the Tree of Seasons. “You’re going to a hotel?” “What can I say, I was invited to a nice setting.” “You would rather engage in lewd activities than spend more time with your niece?” Nestra mock-complained. “Without a single second of hesitation.”