Zteel

"Long time, no see."

Nyota was dreaming again.

No burning town. No screaming. No chaos.

Just darkness, and a conversation between him and the same woman who had claimed to be his guardian.

"Look," he responded. "I've got questions, and I'm hoping you've got the answers."

"Well of course you do," she joked. "Depending on what they are, I might be willing to answer."

Nyota was puzzled. "Well, I was hoping you'd tell me everything. There isn't some kind of limit, is there?"

"Well, I'm not some kind of three-wish-limit genie, Nyota. I'll tell you what I want when I feel the time is right," she responded.

"I'm sorry," he replied. "But why is the time not now?"

The woman shook her head in rejection. "Choose your questions wisely, the only limit tonight is time.

When you wake, we'll meet to do it all again. I promise you that meeting me here regularly will eventually make you remember your memories," she smiled.

"And I'll even let you in on some secrets about me!"

"Fine," Nyota slipped a hand in pocket as his eyes wandered away.

"Well, where do you wish to start?" She asked excitedly.

"For starters, what is this burning town I keep seeing?"

She shook her head. "Nope."

Nyota raised his arms in protest. "But why?!"

"Well, last time we spoke, you said you knew what it was, did you not?"

He looked to the ground, kicking it. "I thought I did, turns out I still have no clue. About a week ago, I woke up and my memory was hazy, and it still is,"

The woman nodded. "Yeah, there's a reason for that."

"Then why not tell me if you know?"

"I've already answered, in due time, Nyota."

He sighed, looking for other questions the woman might have been willing to answer.

"Who are you?" He quickly raised his head.

"Vague questions call for vague answers."

"Yeah," he thought. "And specific ones call for none."

"I'll grant it. My name is Nora."

"Like the planet?"

She nodded her head. "Yes, that is correct, no relation."

"Okay, we've got a name. Well, why do you care so much about my memory?"

"I feel as though this is a multi-part question," she laughed. "Try to be more specific."

Nyota was growing angry. To him, this woman seemed to be turning his own head into a scrambled puzzle.

He inhaled. "Dreams aren't supposed to be this difficult," he sighed.

He pondered a bit, determining what immediate information he needed and how he could probe for it. Finally, he asked another.

"I've only got one more for tonight.

How do I know this isn't just one complicated series of lucid dreams? How can I trust you?"

Nora's smile turned into an expression of ponder. "Well, I suppose I do need to establish trust."

Then, she replied. "So, you know how you're allegedly an orphan?"

Nyota questioned how she knew, but quickly realized that she was in his head, meaning she probably knew the past memories he currently had.

But then it hit; he began to realize what it was she was getting at.

"No, don't tell me," he gently shook his head.

Nora nodded hers. "Yes, I'm your mother."

Nyota refused to believe it. He was convinced there was no true way to legitimize what he was hearing.

"Yeah no," he rejected. "I knew it, I knew it was too big to be true. I'm just having another bad dream, and I want to leave now." He started to panic.

"Nyota… Nyota, calm yourself." She approached him as he panicked, eventually placing her hands on his shoulders to calm him down.

"How is it possible? How's it possible you're in my head?! I... I don't understand!"

"Nyota!" Nora called once more, grabbing his attention, she placed her hands on his face and looked him in his eyes.

"I promise, it will all make sense in time… I promise.

I understand just how crazy a lot of this sounds, but I need you to trust me. You're not going crazy. I'm not your enemy.

And I know it's crazy to have some mystery woman living inside of your head claiming to be your mother whom you've never met, saying that you've forgotten your real past—I know how crazy all of this sounds, I promise.

But I promise you, I'm not a figment of your imagination."

Nora let go of Nyota and created space. Nyota just stood in place, staring into nothingness until he fell to the ground and sat.

Nora continued. "Which brings me to my next point. Depending on what information it is you provide me with, I can determine just how soon I tell you everything you so rightfully deserve to know.

It all really depends on your new experiences, the developments outside in the real world that I don't have access to. It's up to you to give me information to know that it's truly safe to tell you everything."

Naturally, Nyota was very perplexed. He didn't know what to believe anymore.

All he could have been sure about was the lingering fuzzy feeling in his mind that he first remembered feeling the morning he woke up in his dorm room.

This was the only proof he had to go off of, and he did want answers.

So, he decided to gather himself, stand up, and comply.

"Well, this is a tad bit ironic," he stated. "What is it you want to know… Mom?

And why didn't I have you in my life? Did I lose you, or did you leave me?"

She laughed. "If it's uncomfortable, you don't have to call me that. 'Nora' is just fine."

She turned back to him. "Well, I assure you didn't lose me, nor did you lose me as long ago as you might believe.

Another bit of information I don't mind sharing with you this instant is why you kept seeing a burning town.

It's because it's an old memory, your mind is holding on to it, and the rest of your memories are still here.

They're all just buried, and it's my job to help you bring them to the forefront. Alas, we'll get into all that another time.

Why don't you go ahead and tell me what you first truly remember, your first new memory?"

"The dormitory," he exhaled. "Right.

I woke up in this dorm room, once organized just for me. It's in a dormitory complex for Lunanova EPSA and RSAA cadets."

"So you're in Lunanova, that's good to hear. Not for any reason in particular, just knowing that you're alive and where you are exactly is a relief.

And these acronyms, are they related to Lunanova's law enforcement?"

Nyota nodded his head. "Yeah. I woke up from a bad dream about the town, you weren't there."

"Well, I was always there. I called for you. You just couldn't hear me over the screams and terror."

"Well," Nyota continued. "When I woke up, I found myself in this dorm room with two brothers my age named Sage and Kilo. They knew who I was, but I couldn't remember who they were.

They were sure I had met them the day before, the first day of instruction on the cadet campus. Them and the whole rest of the world, apparently."

"Memory loss."

"Exactly.

I had to introduce myself again, as did they. Together, we traveled to the main building where most of our classes were held.

We met our class's—or rather, our squadron's—instructor, Jora Newman, a Lieutenant EPSA agent who's barely older than us.

We showed up to class late, so he told the three of us to meet with him afterward, and the conversation we had..." Nyota shook his head.

"He asked us why we were there. Very insightful, the conversation was deliberately exclusive.

He told us that as cadets, we're in positions where it is impossible to return back to our old lives.

But I didn't have much of one. Because I spent my whole life in a Lunanova orphanage, this is the only job opportunity that I'm guaranteed.

I owe it to Noriko to serve, she made the orphanages. She has her hand in establishing everything, or so I thought."

Nora didn't respond. Instead, she just listened.

Nyota continued. "Anyway, Jora helped us realize that we should be raising certain questions, like the ethics of the business."

"He's right." Nora interrupted.

"And we have since. He let us in on a couple secrets, hinting that Noriko might not be as good as she's made out to be to the public."

"Who is Noriko?"

"The head of Lunanova's military and police force. The single renowned leader of the District. I've never met her before, but the more I hear of her, the scarier she seems."

"So, you've made allies…" Nora smiled. "That's great! Anything else?"

"Well, Jora considers the brothers and I his mentees. When we asked him why he trusted us with the information, he said he had a hunch we were the future of Lunanova, and by extension, the rest of the world."

"Well, he might've been on to something!" Nora laughed. "I'm glad to hear it."

"He gave the three of us an exclusive opportunity to travel to the southwest of the region to train and gain field experience underneath the leadership of one of his great friends.

In fact, we just landed here."

"Glad to hear that as well. Just make sure you're careful."

Nyota nodded. "Do you know what a Modus is?"

"Of course! It's an ability! I assume you have one."

Nyota nodded and chuckled. "Yeah, I do, blue electricity. I'm not sure what to call it yet, though, still figuring out a cool name."

"Well, don't overthink it. The names typically come naturally."

"Did you have an MO?" Nyota asked.

"So, that's what you kids call them nowadays!" Nora laughed. "I did, actually."

"What was it?!" Nyota's eyes lit up; he was eager to know."

Nora raised and waved her finger. "Uh-uh."

"Right," Nyota rolled his eyes. "In due time."

Nora laughed again. "Well, I really am glad to hear all this, to know you're doing well and have allies you can trust. Keep them close.

Alas, the time for you to wake is drawing near. It's time for me to retire for the night."

She yawned and turned around. "You went to sleep later, so you've got to wake up sooner, too.

Hopefully, you can see why I care so much now." She began to fade into the darkness again.

"You're my kin. I'm always going to watch over you, just like the stars in the sky.

And I know that you're sick of me saying it, but I promise everything will come back to you all at once. Regardless, the point is of course I care for you, and I will continue to do my best to guard you.

Don't you forget it."

She turned around to face him and smiled. "Good chat, we'll talk later, okay?"

"Yeah, sure. Of course."

With one final wave, she vanished into atoms, her atoms scattering through the darkness and glistening like the many stars in the night sky.

Within an instant, Nyota quickly arose from his sleep.

It was roughly 6:00 in the morning. Doran had come around the corner knocking on the wall.

"Hey, it's time to wake up!" He shouted. "Get your things ready and meet me by the door no later than 6:15."

Without another word, he left the room.

Enki and Idalia woke up and gathered their baggage. Tatius and Sage had already been up and packed. Kilo was slow to wake.

Sage had been sitting down in a lounge chair near where Nyota had been sleeping.

His phone in hand, rapidly tapping his foot on the ground, he had a concerned expression on his face.

"It was happening again."

"What do you mean?" Nyota stretched and wiped his eyes.

Sage signaled him with his head with raised eyebrows. "You, glowering and abnormally squirming in your sleep. What happened in that head of yours this time?"

"I had another dream, hopefully I'll have one every night moving forward. I'm sorry, you can probably tell I'm disoriented with the whole, 'mystery woman in my head' thing.

It was a good dream though, no burning town this time. Just a quick and informative conversation between me and my mother." Nyota stood up.

"Your what?" Sage's concerned face exaggerated.

Nyota lifted his arms toward him. "That's exactly what I said. Don't worry, I'll explain everything to you and Kilo. Let me grab my things."

Sage stood from his seat. "Oh man, this oughta be good."

Kilo overheard them. "'Something happen?" He grabbed his baggage and came over to where Sage and Nyota stood.

Nyota grabbed his things, and the brothers followed him to the front exit of the precinct where Enki, Tatius and Idalia had already stood, awaiting Jora's instructions.

"The woman said she's my mother. Her name is Nora."

Lacking context, Kilo could only assume what Nyota was talking about. "What?!"

"And you believe her because…?" Sage asked.

"Look, my memory was foggy when I met you, right? I don't genuinely remember anything from the day before the first day of instruction when I first met you.

Not only that, but Jora's already hinted to us that Noriko might be a little suspect."

Kilo paused, then snickered as he attempted to hold his laughter. "That's golden," he said, as he wiped a tear from his face.

Nyota hadn't responded to Kilo's comment, likely because he was still somnolent from a lack of sleep. Instead, Sage glared at Kilo without saying a word.

"My bad," he responded.

Nyota continued. "We only had so much time to chat, so I asked her a few questions, like why I kept seeing the town.

She explained that it was a link to my past memories and that they were buried somewhere in my mind, waiting to be dug up again.

But, she didn't explain what the town was. In fact, she basically refused to explain everything."

"Why?" Kilo questioned.

"She said I wasn't ready yet. She wanted to make sure I was safe and in a good situation so that she could tell me everything.

I think she has another agenda aside from ensuring that I'm safe, but I'm willing to hear her out as long as it isn't anything bad.

I just want to find out what it is."

"What are you three going on about?" Nyota and the brothers were talking in a circle when they heard a deep voice from behind them.

They turned around, Enki, Tatius and Idalia were in a circle of their own. It was Enki who had asked.

"Nothing important." Nyota responded.

"If you've got something to say, say it."

"The world doesn't revolve around you. What I discuss with my friends here doesn't pertain to anyone else."

Enki grew agitated. "You got lucky back at campus, put some respect on my name, I could have you crushed at any moment."

Nyota directed his attention to Tatius and Idalia. "Could you please address your fellow man here? I don't want any problems."

Tatius smirked and shook his head.

Enki retorted. "Watch who you're talking to! I'm not some child."

Idalia stepped in front of Enki in an attempt to calm him down. "Now, now, let's all just calm down, okay? We haven't forgotten why we're here, right? We're supposed to be working together."

Doran appeared from around a corner, putting his coat on. "Hey, hey, what's all this commotion I'm hearing?"

Sage quickly interrupted. "Nothing sir, just talking amongst each other is all."

"Is that so?" He asked sarcastically. "Well, that's not what I heard. You better get it together, before we have to handle things a certain way I'm sure you won't like."

The six cadets arranged themselves to stand in a line, facing Doran.

"I don't know what you're used to up in the northeast, but down here, we handle our problems tolerably."

He pulled out a folded sheet of paper and pen from his pocket. "Now, let's see what we've gotta do next." He read over the slip and tapped his chin with the pen.

"Right, you all packed up, got all your belongings?"

The six nodded and responded in unison. "Sir!"

"Great, follow me."

They followed Doran outside as he led them to a Lunanova police SUV. He opened one of the side doors. "Get in."

--

Doran hadn't been driving the cadets around for long before they reached an elegant hotel. The cadets hopped out of the SUV and followed Doran inside.

"Welcome to where you'll be staying during your time down here. It's not the best in the world, but it's the best the region has to offer."

"Not the best?" Nyota thought to himself. "Where we're from isn't deficient by any stretch of the imagination, but it doesn't even begin to compare to this."

"You can thank Jora when you get back, too. He hooked you up with the place. I don't know why he likes you all so much, but I'm sure there's a reason.

If it was up to me, you'd probably be staying back at the precinct."

The cadets were speechless. The conditions they were used to living in were never bad, but staying in a hotel as classy as the one they were standing foot in was an experience they could only ever dream of.

Kilo whispered to Nyota and Sage. "So, this is what it's like to partake in an internship."

Nyota, Sage, Kilo and the Big Three were quickly allocated rooms since their stay was arranged in advance. Nyota, Enki, Tatius and Idalia each had their own. Meanwhile, the brothers shared.

Doran instructed them to situate their baggage in their rooms, freshen up and meet him back at the hotel foyer in less than an hour.

The cadets finished a little earlier within the time they were allotted, so Nyota, Sage and Kilo decided to take the rest of their time to familiarize themselves with the hotel.

Contrarily, Enki, Tatius and Idalia decided it was best to return to Doran immediately.

At the end of the hour, Nyota and the brothers did the same, rendezvousing with Doran and the Big Three.

"Everyone here?" Doran did a head count once Nyota and the brothers arrived. "Alright, let's head back to the precinct, I'll let you in on what exactly we're going to be having you all do."

"Finally," Kilo muttered under his breath.

Doran gave him a quick look, suggesting that he heard him. Sage then looked at Kilo, reminding him to be respectful.

The cadets followed him back to the SUV.

On the road, he explained what their internship would be focused on.

"Alright, listen up, here's the gist of it. I'm sure Jora has already let you know what the plan is: crime's been on the rise in the area down here. You're here to help us identify who's responsible and put them away."

"Sounds good to me." Enki grinned.

"Been waiting for a showcase opportunity," Tatius agreed. "It's about time."

"Good, because you're here now, so it's not like you really have much of a choice at this point."

Doran and the cadets arrived back at the precinct. Unlike how it had been early in the morning, Nyota noticed it was now bustling with many police officers.

As they walked inside, every nearby officer greeted Doran.

"Morning, Lieutenant Bakar."

"Morning, Lieutenant, you're in for quite a bit today." A receptionist greeted him, handing him a coffee.

"Just a typical day in the office," he responded. "What's new?"

"Chief Warrant Officer Walker should be in room 106."

"Sounds great, thanks. Cadets, follow me."

Arriving at the room, Doran called for Officer Walker.

"Walker,"

He was standing with other officers around the single large table in the center of the room, riddled with documents. "Doran, glad to see you."

Reaching out to shake Doran's hand, he noticed the cadets lurking behind him. Resting his hands on his tactical belt, he spoke again. "These must be the interns."

Doran nodded and sat at an empty chair heading the table, crossing his legs on top of it. "Yep."

Each of the cadets shook his hand and introduced themselves.

"Tatius Paxton."

"Enki Thorsten."

"Idalia Alejo, pleased to meet you, sir."

"Sage Hikari, pleased to meet you."

"Kilo Hikari."

"Nyota Atar, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Glad to meet you all. I'm Chief Warrant Officer Maverick Walker. More intimate colleagues just call me Mav."

Maverick turned to Doran. "They seem like a good bunch, might just make our job easier." He laughed.

"Yeah, maybe you're right. But go ahead and tell them what they're up to. I already told them a little bit."

"Sure thing." Maverick turned back to the cadets, who stood there awkwardly, awaiting instructions.

He clapped his hands. "So, right now, the whole precinct's trying to crack down on the crime rising in the area. But we've noticed a couple of things. The crime being done is rarely ever violent."

Doran commented. "That's new."

"Yeah, but that's not it. Every time we've interrogated someone we've caught, they talk as though they're all carrying out the deeds of someone higher, someone with more power. Of course, we can never tell who because—"

"They won't tell. Right…" Doran finished his sentence, then stood up.

"Precisely. Despite having all hands on deck, we're still a tad bit shorthanded, so we thought that it would be handy to grab some interns. Doran talked to a friend of his and luckily, it turned out to be you guys. Any questions?"

Tatius raised his hand. "How long has this been a problem?"

"A few months now, higher ups don't like that it's been that long, though. Good thing we seem to have it relatively under control now, thanks to Doran's extraordinary leadership. Now, we just need to put a lid on it all."

"Yeah," Doran exhaled and scratched his head.

"Anyway, your job is to find some way to be helpful. Anything anybody around needs help with, do what you can."

"That's not what I wanted to hear," Nyota thought to himself. He looked at the others and could tell they were each thinking the same thing.

Doran interrupted. "Actually, they're here to do more field work. They need the experience."

"Oh," Maverick smiled. "You don't say."

"Jora told me you six each have an MO, or at the very least, will have one at some point, correct?"

The cadets nodded. "Correct."

"Great, our main focus is the crime, but on the side, you're going to show me what you're capable of. After that, you can really get your hands dirty."

"Well, sounds good to me." Maverick agreed. "But let me ask, because we also sought after the best Jora had to offer, do you have any proposals on what you all could do?"

Sage raised his hand. "Well I do, but it requires knowledge on the mile radii of the areas the crimes have typically occurred in."

"Sure thing, we've got that on deck for you." Maverick grabbed a map marking general locations of where the crimes occurred and handed it to the cadets.

Sage analyzed it, then spoke. "There are six of us, and I'm sure there were witnesses to the various crimes. Why don't we split ourselves in half and go to the areas and ask around?"

"I like the way this kid thinks. Of course we've already done that, but not as thoroughly as we possibly could, we didn't really have the time." Maverick stroked his chin. "What do you think, Doran?"

"They need their badges first, I'll get those for them after they show me what they're made of."

Maverick laughed and shook his head. "Don't go scaring them now, they're help is needed more than you might think."

"I haven't forgotten, but it's important to do some fine tuning, if you know what I mean."

Tatius and Idalia chuckled. "Sounds great."

"Whatever you've got in store for us, don't hold it back." Enki announced. "In the end, you're the one who's going to have to ask me for mercy."

Nyota observed how the Big Three interacted with Doran in a familiar manner. When he noticed Doran received it well, he did the same.

"Don't count us out, either. I'm not here to be treated like some liability."

Sage agreed. "The same goes for me."

"Me too," Kilo added. "Don't get me wrong, I'm here for work, but I intend to have some fun, too."

Doran chuckled. "I'm liking the mentality; we'll see how long it lasts."

He walked toward the room's entrance but paused before leaving. "Today's a light day. You're free to go. Tomorrow, we see what you're made of. 6 a.m., sharp, here. Be ready."

"Sir!" The six cadets saluted in unison.