"What do you mean you slept with her?! Huh?!"
Sera's voice was sharp and furious. It was just before the evening endurance training session, and everyone else had dispersed. She had pulled Mickey aside to confront him.
"I mean what I said... we slept together."
"You mean sex, right?!"
"Yes."
Mickey replied without hesitation.
Sera stared at him in disbelief, clearly displeased.
"Tch..."
"Are you mad?"
"..."
"I mean... I'm more upset that she's the one training me now."
Mickey smiled calmly.
"Feeling threatened?"
"Exactly."
"Even though I knew Marie before you?"
"Yeah, well, you didn't know her the way I do."
"Touché."
Mickey put a hand on his hip.
"You know... I'm guessing here, but I really don't think her showing up is a coincidence."
"Obviously not."
Sera bit her thumb, pacing.
She didn't have evidence. But deep down, she was convinced Annie had orchestrated this. If Mickey was right, that meant... Annie knew about them. Damn it. Was she being targeted too?
No one could say for certain. Sera might be right—or maybe it was just coincidence.
"How many times did you sleep with her?"
"...Are you trying to speedrun her or something?"
"Hey!"
She yanked his collar.
"I'm not lying. I honestly don't remember. It was ages ago—way before I transferred to this unit. I haven't seen Marie since."
"Tch..."
Sera let go of him, just as Toshi emerged from the cafeteria with a popsicle in hand.
"Oh, you're still here?"
Toshi asked her.
"Jody went back to get ready, by the way."
"That one always needs a plan for everything. Brittle legs."
"Sure, but when it comes to stamina, Jody's tougher. No offense."
Toshi said, licking his popsicle once.
"Running around the base isn't easy, you know. You're gonna end up red like a tomato."
"I agree," Mickey chimed in.
"You're exaggerating. Give it a few days, I'll get used to it."
Toshi added, taking another bite.
"Oh, and..."
He said mid-chew.
"Annie's leaving tonight."
"...Oh, right..."
Sera's eyes widened like a startled cat.
Oh crap. The martial arts stuff...
"Don't worry."
"Huh?"
Toshi pulled out his phone and showed her a message.
"I asked Skyler. Annie's leaving at midnight. You'll still have time to catch her after training."
"...Oh..."
Sera's expression softened.
"Thanks."
"No prob."
"How do I find her, though?"
"I'll take you after the run."
"Aww~ That's what I'm talking about, my guy!"
"Wha—Hey!"
Toshi suddenly got hugged tightly by Sera. She pressed her cheek to his, full-on body contact.
He was so thrown off by it, it was like his brain froze. That was the first time Sera had ever touched him like that.
As she hugged him, she glanced over at Mickey—and saw his expression tighten ever so slightly at the sight.
Sera smirked knowingly... then pulled away from Toshi and jogged off down the hall toward the elevator to get ready.
Toshi stood there, popsicle in hand, totally baffled.
"...What the hell was that?"
"What?"
"Oh, Sera just wants to talk to Annie about something."
Lick.
"What about?"
"Ask her yourself."
"..."
But when Toshi turned back around, Mickey was already walking away in the opposite direction.
"Hey! Where are you going, man?!"
———
Later, just before the late-night training session.
We find Marie in her private room, sitting on her bed, speaking to someone on the phone.
She was speaking Lao.
"Hello... yes, dad... I'm doing well... Mmhmm... how are you feeling...? ...I hope you've been eating okay... Yeah... okay... I love you..."
"...How's my little sister?"
"She's doing fine, dad... I'll let her know you asked... Okay. Bye now."
After the call ended, Marie slowly put down the phone.
Then she pulled her knees up and hugged herself, trembling slightly.
Marie was deeply stressed.
Overwhelmed, even.
She was alone with the weight of it all. No one knew how bad it really was—because no one saw it.
Ding-dong.
Someone rang her doorbell.
"...?"
Ding-dong.
Marie sighed. She got up and checked the peephole—only to reel back in shock.
It was Syd Barrett standing at her door.
She stepped away from the door, eyes wide.
"...How the hell did he find my room?!"
Her breathing grew unsteady. Truth be told, she had heard of him. Everyone in the Agency had. And yeah—she'd be lying if she said she wasn't a little afraid of him.
"...He stalked me?"
But regardless, there was no point in hiding now. Somehow, he knew.
She pressed the door panel to activate voice chat.
"...What do you want?"
[Open the door.]
"You followed me, didn't you?"
[Open the door—once.]
"I'm not opening it. And you won't get anything unless you tell me why you're here."
[...]
Syd stared through the digital lens with cold eyes before finally speaking.
[How I found you isn't important. I came to talk.]
"Oh yeah? You? Talk? Give me a break."
[I don't want to talk to you. But if this is about Jody—then I don't have a choice. Now open this damn door.]
"No."
She refused flatly.
"If I let you in, you could do anything—and no one would ever know. We talk out here. Nowhere else."
[...]
He sighed long and deep, clearly frustrated—but ultimately complied.
Vwoom!
The door slid open.
Marie, still in her workout gear and hoodie, stepped outside to face him. She carried only her phone, clenched inside her hoodie pocket.
"You've got five minutes. I have training to run. Make it fast."
But Syd suddenly switched to Thai.
"ภาษาไทย."
"...มีอะไร?"
"Tell me what the hell my mother is planning. Why did she send you?"
"...I don't know. I just follow orders."
"You know Mickey. That's no coincidence. Spill it."
Step.
Marie backed up against the wall as Syd moved closer, his voice cold and deliberate.
"I don't know... Your mom offered me a chance to get out of probation. Who'd say no? Train two rookies and I'm free. That's it. You know how it works—you've been in trouble yourself—"
Marie stopped speaking when she looked him in the eyes.
Those eyes were terrifying.
"..."
"..."
Syd looked to the side for a moment—then refocused on her.
Only the sound of breath between them remained.
He leaned in so close she could feel it.
"You think you know me?"
"If you don't back off now, I'll tell your mom—"
"You think you can?"
His voice deepened. His tone no longer human—it was predatory.
"I'll break every finger you have. Every bone in your body. You won't be able to call my mother—if you so much as lay a scratch on Jody."
"I know you were in the Destruction Unit. But who gave you the right to threaten me?"
"You want to know who I am?"
And then... no one knew what Marie saw.
But her expression changed completely.
The defiance vanished—replaced by pure fear.
Her eyes quivered.
She had seen something that shook her to the core.
"...Did my mom tell you that part?"
Syd's red aura faded.
"...Don't let me catch you hurting Jody. Not even a scratch."
And with that, he stepped away.
He didn't lay a finger on her—but she stood there frozen as he walked off down the hall.
"...That wasn't in the rules..."
Marie whispered, staring at the ground. Then checked the time, took a deep breath, and headed toward the gym.
Unaware that...
From a corner about 7 meters away, someone else had been listening.
Jody Johansson—one of the trainees.
She had spotted Syd heading off and quietly followed, hiding behind a corner and activating her phone's voice recorder just in time.
She couldn't understand Thai, so the audio meant little to her—but she caught the switch in language. And that alone told her something was up.
"Why... did they change languages...?"