Courage.

“And that's how we stopped the missile Marm.” Suzie finished her report.

“Excellent. Are there any concerns from the Experiments about how the mission went?” C42 asked as they sat in the debriefing hall.

All five hands shot up at once.

“We weren't told anything about mission procedure before being sent on a mission, leading to all of us being woefully under-prepared!”

“We weren't even told how to dismantle a missile when it's on the ground, let alone while it's in the sky!”

“The facilities we had were manifestly inadequate!”

“Okay, okay, I see our training has lacked structure and purpose.” C42 raised her hands to try and quell the protesting Experiments. “We'll see about setting aside our mornings for more theoretical work that will help with planning in the future.”

“Swell.” Tytus muttered.

“How much of an input do we get on what we get trained in?” Alexis asked.

“We'll have a meeting tomorrow morning to discuss the training. You're all free for the rest of the day.” C42 got up from her desk and left the room. “Hopefully the Major will be up by then.”

C42 quickly vacated the room with Suzie on her heels while the others looked at each other.

“More work. I can't believe this.” Tytus groaned, resting his feet up on the desk.

“What did you think this was, a paid holiday?” Alexis shoved his feet off the desk. He scowled at her.

“It'll shake things up, theory in the morning, physical training in the afternoons.” 24-42 said. “Anyway, I'll see you guys later.”

“Going to go and check on your Major?” Daniel snickered.

“Yes. Yes I am.” 24-42 poked her tongue out at him. He gave her a friendly punch on the arm as she walked out.

“Do you reckon they've...?” Henna asked.

“I dunno. They can't have recently as we were all in Po-Po sleeping in the same truck.” Alexis pointed out.

“I really don't want to think of them getting it on in the same truck as us.” Daniel pinched the bridge of his nose. “I'm outta here before you guys gross me out any more.”

Henna and Alexis were giggling furiously, while Tytus looked disgusted.

“You girls are horrible.” He walked out as well.

“C'mon Tytus, you're curious as well!” Henna followed him out, Alexis close behind.

Tytus sighed.

“Told you so. Blokes are as bad as women for gossip.” Alexis grinned.

“Not like there's much to do around here anyway.” Tytus pointed out.

“You just whinged when they gave us more training to do!” Henna cried as they approached the lunch room.

–

24-42 stood at the entrance to the Majors lodgings, her finger inches away from the doorbell. In her hands was a loaf of banana bread she'd baked.

A cold sweat overcame her. She hadn't done anything like this in years, and the last time she'd tried to get close to a man had ended in disaster.

Just push the stupid button. She told herself. Nothing.

Push it. She tried again. Still couldn't bring herself to do it.

Gosh darn it! You stopped a missile with your bare hands you can push the darned doorbell and give the Major the bread! NOW DO IT!

Finally, the finger reached out and pushed in the button.

There. Now was that really that hard?

24-42 stood there for what seemed like an eternity before M42 answered the door.

“I was just wondering how you were doing...I baked you some banana bread!” 24-42 greeted him, holding out the bread.

“I'm fine, thank you.” He took the bread and closed the door.

...Owch.

–

“These things take time hun.” Alexis brought 24-42 another chocolate from the vending machine.

“He took the bread though right?” Suzie pressed.

“Yes, I said that already!” 24-42 let her head fall into her arms.

“Then that's good! I've known him for years, and he NEVER accepts gifts! You're in girl!” Suzie gave 24-42 a friendly shove.

“I can't believe you're into that jerk!” Tytus sipped his cola. “There are plenty of good blokes on this base!”

“Name one that would be compatible with 24-42.” Henna narrowed her eyes at him.

“L256AP-42 in the labs is pretty neat.” Tytus shrugged. “Or even XCZ124585-42. He's a guard, very professional.” He nodded knowingly.

“You have no idea. You gotta have a CONNECTION for these things to work, and that hasn't happened between 24-42 and those guys. There IS a connection between 24-42 and M42. We've seen it already.” Alexis nodded with authority.

“Geez, you chicks get so riled up with your “connections” and emotions and rubbish like that. Just find a guy who's hot and bonk him! How hard is it?!” Tytus complained. “None of the guys here are going to say no! RVB4587-42 and HZF3615-42 have been going at it for weeks and she looks like-,”

“Do you mind not running down our colleagues?!” Suzie scowled. “Besides, how do YOU know what they're doing?”

“Walked into Lab 3 one day and they were at it.” Tytus shrugged.

“Ew.” The girls cringed.

“Yeah, it was, like I said, HZF-,”

“Trust me sweetie, you're in with the Major. You just got to keep at it, break down his defences.” Suzie said over the top of Tytus, who pouted.

“Really?” 24-42 looked up at the Captain, eyes sparkling with hope.

“Really.” Suzie patted her back. “Now, are you going to stop worrying?”

“I guess so.” 24-42 sighed.

“Good. Now let's go outside and do some exercise huh?” Alexis walked out of the lunch room. “You guys coming?”

“I'm going to go and see what Daniel is doing. Has to be better than listening to you lot whinge about men.” Tytus got up and left the lunchroom.

“He's such a tool.” Alexis shook her head.

“I think you like him.” 24-42 teased, more than ready to deflect some of the attention she was getting.

“I think she does too.” Henna winked at 24-42.

“I do not!” Alexis turned bright red.

They teased her all the way to Training Ground 4.

The First Mission

“TEAM A42 REPORT TO MISSION BRIEFING ROOM. REPEAT: TEAM A42 REPORT TO MISSION BRIEFING.” 1B-42 bellowed at 4am on a Saturday morning. “Please follow the red lights to the Mission Briefing Room!”

“You're joking right?” Daniel groaned as he followed Alexis and Tytus to the Mission Briefing Room.

“This had better be good.” 24-42 muttered to Henna as they followed M42 and the glaring red lights.

The group assembled in front of a desk where C42 was sitting. In her hands was a thick file, which she handed to M42.

“The city of Rashbandann in our allied country of Po-Po is under severe threat. The enemy has managed to get their hands on a potentially devastating missile that could level the city instantly. Unfortunately none of our weapons systems are strong enough to shoot down this new missile. It will be up to you to intercept and destroy the missile before it reaches its intended target. Failure would lead to a war that the world can ill-afford to have.” C42 explained. “M42 has the file, he can give you more detailed information. Right now, you guys need to get to Rashbandann as soon as you can.”

“Yes marm!” The group replied.

“Follow the red lights to your transport. Good luck A42.” C42 saluted them as they rushed out of the room.

“We don't even get to pack?” Tytus looked indignant.

“Everything you need will be supplied.” Suzie said.

“What about those of us who want to say good bye to our pets?!” 24-42 asked.

“You'll be back in a week or two.” M42 replied.

“You're certain we won't be killed then?” Alexis asked.

“You guys seem to be strong enough to handle it.” M42 brushed her off as they loaded up into the cargo plane.

“I gotta admit, it's kinda exciting that we're finally off to do what we were recruited to do.” Henna sat down on one of the klunky bucket seats and did up her seatbelt.

“Exciting? We're potentially going off to our deaths!” 24-42 protested.

“Potentially. You could very well survive the whole thing.” M42 pointed out.

“You fill me with confidence.” 24-42 deadpanned.

“You're welcome.”

The cargo plane shuddered as the motors started. Soon, it was up in the air.

“Why couldn't that lot fly themselves over?” Tytus scowled. He hated aircraft with a passion.

“We don't know how much stamina they have. We want you guys to arrive in tip-top shape, we don't know how much longer we have until those missiles go off.” Suzie smiled.

“Swell.” Alexis sighed and looked out of the window.

“Do we get an in-flight movie?” 24-42 piped up.

“What do you think this is?!” M42 cried.

“I have a tablet with movies on it!” Suzie pulled out her bag. “I learnt on my last assignment to have a bag packed in case the Mission Alarm went off. Every time it goes off, I grab the bag on the way out.”

“Smart.” M42 said approvingly.

“Could have shared this bit of info with us BEFORE tonight.” Daniel scowled. “We weren't informed that we wouldn't have time to prepare when we got called to move out.”

“Quit whining. You have a job to do.” M42 scowled.

“Well now you DO know, right?” Suzie smiled sympathetically.

“Doesn't help us right now.” Tytus snapped.

The rest of the 15 hour plane trip wasn't pleasant at all.

–

“So I'm thinking we'll try a land-based attack first, using our blasts to try and knock the missile into the countryside.” Daniel said as the truck jolted along the poorly-constructed road.

“And then if that doesn't work, those of us who can fly will try to stop it that way?” Henna asked.

“Yeah, although I have no idea how to disarm a missile while it's flying.” Daniel sighed.

“Cut the propulsion system off?” 24-42 suggested.

“And have it blow up in your face?” Alexis pointed out.

“We tested your resistance to explosives, you should be okay.” Suzie said. “It might hurt a bit though.”

“That's not what we wanted to hear.” Daniel frowned.

“So where are we staying?” Alexis asked.

“This truck.” M42 replied.

To be fair, they could have taken it a lot worse than they did.

–

“We have been here TWO WEEKS and no missile yet!” Tytus roared.

“Negotiations must be going well.” M42 shrugged.

“You're a prick.” Alexis scowled at him.

“I've been called worse.”

“This countryside stinks! We aren't even allowed out of this forest!” Henna whined.

“How much longer do we have to wait? I haven't had a shower since before we left!” 24-42 groaned.

“Should be another week.” M42 replied.

It's a miracle he survived.

–

“MISSILE ALERT!” One of the soldiers came screaming from the satalite truck.

“Say what now?!” Henna perked up.

“Experiments, over here!” M42 yelled. The group quickly assembled in front of the Major.

“Remember what you guys planned. The missile should be here in five minutes.” Suzie pointed to a chalkboard with various notes scrawled on it.

“I vote for trying to meet it as soon as possible.” Alexis said.

“I agree.” Daniel nodded.

“I think us fliers should hang back in case the ground assault fails, we still aren't too fast in the skies and if we have to try and catch up with it we'll just increase the chance of failure.” 24-42 pointed out.

“I'm with 24-42.” Henna agreed.

“Let's get going!” M42 commanded.

Tytus and Alexis jumped into the nearest vehicle and drove off to intercept the missile. Daniel, Henna and 24-42 scaled the nearest trees and kept an eye out.

It was eerily quiet up in those trees. The three Experiments were all on edge. If Tytus and Alexis failed...

“NO!” Daniel groaned. The smoking missile was still heading straight for the city!

“It looks like they might have damaged it, come on!” 24-42 flew as fast as she could towards the speeding missile.

“What now?!” Henna cried as they all latched on.

Daniel noticed the propulsion system. “Break it!” He cried.

The three started trying to blast the thing into pieces, but their blasts only dented it.

“The armour on it is too strong!” Henna cried.

“Then rip the stuff off!” 24-42 yelled. The city was now on the horizon.

“It won't budge!”

“Try and force it off-course!” Daniel suggested.

The three jumped off and tried to blast it away into another direction. They only managed to succeed in delaying it a little.

24-42 growled and flew after it. She managed to catch up and started trying to pull it apart again.

This time, she managed to get one of the covers off. Without thinking, she grabbed at the wires and yanked them out.

The missile lurched downwards.

“Yes!” She cried, jumping off.

Then the missile exploded, sending 24-42 flying. Her fall was broken by a nearby tree and every single one of its branches.

“I really don't want to do that again.” She groaned, rubbing her sore backside. She got unsteadily to her feet and looked up just in time to see burning rubble from the missile heading straight towards her.

She squeaked in terror and covered her face with her hands.

“MOVE!”

She felt herself being flung to the ground, then she heard the Major screaming in pain.

Two soldiers managed to get there with extinguishers before too much damage was done, but M42 was still in a lot of pain that night as they flew back to Ostraya.

“Gosh it's nice to be heading home! I smell AWFUL!” Henna sighed as they crossed the Big Water.

“You don't need to tell us, we can smell you!” Tytus laughed, earning him a slap from Alexis.

“You guys did great, especially for your first time. You'll get stronger and smarter with experience and soon these things will be routine.” Suzie pumped them up.

24-42 was sitting next to the cot where the Major was lying down, covered in bandages. Part of his face had gotten burnt, and you could see that one of his eyes was cybernetic.

“How are you feeling?” She asked as he woke up from his nap.

“Tired. Sore. Nothing new.” He mumbled. “How about you?”

“Fine, thanks to you. Just a lot of bruises from where the tree caught me.” She chuckled. “I can't thank you enough, if that stuff had hit me dead-on...”

“You probably would have survived, but you would have been out of action for a while, and it's my job to make sure you guys are able to do yours.” M42 looked at the ceiling.

“Of course it is.” 24-42 smiled, knowing that he'd never admit to doing anything out of the goodness of his heart.

Training Accident

“This is a complete and utter waste of time. I could be sleeping right now!” 24-42 complained.

“Escape drills are important, an emergency could happen at any hour.” M42 barked at them.

The whole facility was standing outside in their pyjamas, some with blankets around them, in various states of annoyance and drowsiness. It was 2.30am, and no one was pleased to have been awoken by the alarms.

“All personnel accounted for.” The electronic male voice of 1B-42 said loudly over the speakers. “Evacuation completed in five minutes twenty seconds.”

“Five minutes twenty-two!” 1A-42 disagreed.

“Five minutes twenty!”

“Five minutes twenty-two!”

“Enough.” C42 said calmly. “Both of you can do a check after we're done here.”

The old lady turned to face her troops, her face stern.

“Not good enough. Under five minutes next time, understood?” She barked.

A general murmur of compliance came from the sleepy crowd.

“UNDERSTOOD?” C42 repeated, louder this time.

“Yes Marm!” Was the snap reply.

C42 returned to her usual kindly demeanour.

“Then let's get to bed, we all want to be up early in tip-top condition for all the work we have to do. Good night everyone!” She smiled pleasantly, before turning on her heel and heading back to her lodgings. Everyone groaned before shuffling back to their lodgings.

“What a pain.” Tytus muttered to 11-42.

“No kidding.” 11-42 replied as they both headed back to bed.

24-42, Henna and M42 headed off in the same direction, their lodgings all being in the same wing.

“G'night guys...I'll try to be awake tomorrow.” Henna yawned, getting her blanket caught in her door. M42 and 24-42 continued on.

“What a waste of time and sleep.” 24-42 groaned. She'd been having a dream about a man she'd once known and loved. She wasn't all too pleased about being woken from that dream.

“Nonsense, we must always be prepared for any emergency, and we mustn't grumble at rules that are meant to keep us safe.” M42 replied.

“You're a pompous arse.”

“You're insubordinate.”

24-42 couldn't help but smile. M42 tried to ignore it but finally caved.

“What's so amusing Experiment?” He glared at her.

“You. You try to be this big macho goody-two-shoes commando but you're so much more than that.” She said, still smiling up at him.

“I'm M42, and I'm here to do a job, nothing more.” M42 turned off towards his lodgings.

“I've seen you smile.”

M42 stopped in his tracks.

“If I tell you another secret, will you smile again?” 24-42 asked.

“No.” Was the answer.

24-42 was about to protest when the Major turned around and gave her a small smile. “Good night 24-42.”

“Good night Sir.” 24-42 smiled back. There was something about the Major that made her feel warm inside.

Maybe she could move on from her past after all.

–

“Okay, get ready...GO!” M42 yelled.

The five Experiments ripped off their blindfolds and headed towards the shipping containers in Training Ground 6. The containers were supposed to represent buildings, some of them stacked two or three high. In two of these containers S42 and D42 were hiding as “hostages” while Suzie and some of her regular soldiers were the “enemy”.

“Remember, no fatalities.” Daniel commanded them.

“Who put you in charge?” Tytus snapped, running into the enemy immediately.

“MISSION FAILED!” Yelled M42. “You're not supposed to be seen or heard! Back here and try again!”

The rest of the Experiments shot Tytus filthy looks as they headed back to the starting point and put their blindfolds back on. They could hear the machinery moving a few of the containers around to make sure the Experiments didn't know the lay of the land.

The mission objective was to get the hostages out without needing to confront or harm anyone. This was their fifteenth go at the training mission, and the Experiments were starting to get irate.

“You're supposed to be peacekeepers, aimed at saving lives, not ending them! Now, GO!” M42 roared. The Experiments rushed off again.

“Henna, see if you can get up and see the lay of the land before we rush in and fail again.” Alexis suggested. “You go with her Daniel.”

“Right.” The two nodded, heading up into the air. After about five minutes, they landed.

“We tried to memorise the path the guards took, it seems like the hostages are towards the back of the facility, judging from where the guards seemed to be.” Daniel said. “I'd suggest Henna and I go back up while 24-42 sneaks in. You other two can provide distractions.”

“And how are we supposed to distract without getting seen?!” Tytus snapped.

“Figure it out.” Daniel glared back. He, Henna and 24-42 took to the air.

“Down there in that building 24-42.” Daniel pointed. “You'll have to land elsewhere though to avoid being seen.

“MISSION FAILED!” They heard M42 yell again. “15-42 if you INSIST on getting yourself caught -,”

“Will you CAN IT already?!” Tytus finally lost it. The Major scowled at him.

“We will start again.” He said coldly. The Experiments went back to their starting line and donned their blindfolds. The machinery started again to rearrange the shipping containers.

M42 sighed, and checked his notepad. Suddenly one of the cables on a crane snapped, sending a shipping container straight towards the Major.

“SIR NO!” Suzie and 24-42 cried. Thankfully, M42 managed to stop the flying container with his cyborg arm. It slammed to the ground just in front of him, just before he fell to his knees with exhaustion.

“Training is over!” Suzie cried. “D42! S42! Get to the Major NOW!”

24-42 lran to the Major, who was clutching his shoulder where his cyborg arm met his body. “Are you okay Sir?” She tried to put a comforting arm around him, but he pushed her away with his regular arm.

“Leave me alone.” He struggled to his feet.

“Major!” Suzie ran over with the two doctors. “You need medical attention, you've overtaxed your-,”

“Leave. Me. Alone.” M42 growled. He pushed the doctors away and struggled to his lodgings, 24-42 close behind him.

“Sir, you really need to let to doctors help you!” She tried to talk to him. “You could have done some damage to yourself!”

“I'm fine, Experiment.”

“No, you're not!” 24-42 grabbed him as he stumbled again.

The two doctors caught up and began looking at the arm. 24-42 found herself rubbing his human arm gently. She looked at his face, which was stubbornly looking away, trying to hide the fact that he was in pain.

“This is why we didn't go the cybernetic path. It puts too much strain on the body.” D42 sighed. “He should be okay, but he'll need to rest for a day or two.”

The Major snorted at that. He lifted himself up again, and staggered to his lodgings. 24-42 watched him for a bit, before rushing to help him.

“What's up with HER?” Tytus watched as 24-42 fussed over M42.

“I think she might have a thing for him.” Alexis replied.

“She's weird.” Daniel piped up.

–

24-42 laid the Major out on his sofa, where he groaned and reached for the television remote.

“Do you need anything?” She asked.

“No thank you 24-42. I'll be okay.” He sighed as he flicked the news on.

24-42 nodded, and headed out of the quarters.

“Thank you for your assistance.”

24-42 smiled to herself. “You're welcome Sir.”

She let the door slide closed behind her. She looked longingly at it for a few seconds, before turning around and nearly bumping into Alexis, who was with Suzie.

“I have known the Major since he had his implants put in, and he has NEVER let anyone into his lodgings before,no matter how beat up he was!” Suzie laughed. “So, tell us everything!”

“Nothing to tell.” 24-42 blushed furiously, but pushed her way past the three girls who were just DYING to hear all the juicy gossip.

“Aww, there has to be something!” Henna begged as they headed back to 24-42s lodgings.

“Well...he has smiled at me twice.” 24-42 admitted.

“You mean a real smile?!” The girls squealed. 24-42 grinned.

“Yup. He's actually really handsome when he smiles.” She continued as they all walked into her lounge room. It had been a few months now since the Exposure, and the lodgings showed signs of being lived in (even though a cleaner came through every day). The yard outside had plenty of potted plants and a small veggie patch (which was most unsuccessful due to the abundance of cats).

“Oh. My. Squeak!” Henna giggled. “You know there's absolutely NOTHING in the rules about affairs between staff at this facility.”

“That's because most of us are permanently assigned here unless something goes wrong.” Suzie winked. “I reckon a bit of action could be what softens the grump out a bit.”

The look on 24-42s face had everyone roaring with laughter. 24-42 joined them.

She thought of her old life. She never had friends like this to laugh with. Not until she met him anyway, but even he kept his distance from her.

Signing up for Project 42 wasn't such a bad idea in the end. Hopefully she could keep her evil temper under control.

A Smile

It had been a long, tiring few weeks for M42. None of the Experiments showed him the slightest hint of respect (and Captain H42 was NO help in that regard!), plus 17-42 was still lagging very far behind the others

The pranks certainly didn't help matters either. Nearly losing the Dangerous Five Gun had scared M42 into sitting all the Experiments in a conference room and screaming at them until they were deaf, which in turn had led to MORE pranks. Treadmills flinging him off, lights not turning on, the computers opening his doors and very inopportune moments. At least the Experiments seemed to be leaving his gun alone – this was a treasured heirloom that he had received from his father.

“What the...?” M42 walked into his office. All of his things had been glued to the roof!

“CAPTAIN!” He roared just as Suzie appeared.

“Oh dear...” Was all she could manage. Being the Captain and second-in-command to M42, Suzie TRIED to get the Experiments to cooperate (after all, hadn't she at least gotten the Major to ease off on the use of names? She still couldn't get him to stop calling her H42 though) but they just wouldn't budge. Battle lines had been drawn and neither side wanted to give any ground.

“Which one was it?” M42 growled. “HOW did they do it?”

“I honestly couldn't tell you Sir.” Suzie stared at the ceiling. “Then again, they all have extraordinary strength and ability.”

“Hmph!” M42 stalked off angrily. He'd tried to talk to C42 about this mess, but the Commander simply brushed him off.

“We can always get someone else to do your job y'know.” She'd said, stirring her tea in that annoying fashion.

In his entire career he'd never met a more infuriating group of people.

Suzie headed towards Training Ground 4 where she knew at least a few of the Experiments were working out. There she found Alexis, Daniel and Tytus blasting targets.

“What did you guys do to the Major?” She asked, exasperated.

The three Experiments roared with laughter.

“How'd he take it?” Tytus asked.

“He's pissed.” Was the reply. “You guys really need to cut it out.”

“He needs to lighten up.” Alexis pointed out.

“You're not helping him 'lighten up' when he's constantly on guard waiting for you lot to strike!” Suzie began her lecture.

Meanwhile, the Major headed to the lunch room for something to eat. He found 24-42 sitting there, happily munching on a sandwich while watching the football.

“You wouldn't know anything about my office would you?” M42 scowled at her.

“Nope, the guys mentioned something about it but I wasn't involved. One of my cats was sick this morning.” 24-42 replied. The cat in question was Boots, who had taken a liking to 24-42s sewing kit. 24-42 had spent the morning pulling threads out of the cats throat.

“Oh.” He went to one of the vending machines and got himself a chocolate bar.

24-42 noticed something hanging off his belt.

“Your gun only has five chambers.” She pointed to his gun.

“I asked my father about it once, he couldn't tell me why either.” M42 pulled out the gun and showed her. “It's called the Dangerous Five.”

24-42 looked at the handle, curious. “Is it related to the Lucky Seven Gun that the Death Valley Gang use in Pleasantville?” She asked.

“I think so.” M42 replied. “You from Pleasantville?”

24-42 frowned. “No. You?”

“No.”

The pair stared at each other for a bit, before returning to watching the game.

“What did they do to your office?” 24-42 asked.

“Stuck the furniture to the ceiling.” Was the sullen reply.

24-42 tried to hold back laughter. “How did they manage that?” She asked.

“I thought you might know.” M42 sulked. 24-42 stared at him for a bit.

“I've never seen you smile, you know that?” She said.

“Smile? What's there to smile about? We're supposed to be training an elite peacekeeping force.” M42 continued to sulk.

“It's just that you're a very nice-looking man who would look better if he smiled.” 24-42 smiled first. “See?”

M42 glared at her.

“Hmmm...okay, maybe we can work on that.” 24-42 chuckled. She looked at his arm. “How'd you become a cyborg?” She asked innocently.

Another glare.

“You're not helping me like you very much.” 24-42 pouted.

“You're not here to like me.”

“Can't you try to be cooperative? You don't have to tell us your life story (I'm pretty secretive myself) but you can be friendly!” 24-42 folded her arms.

M42 continued to glare. “Fine. You tell me one thing about your past and I'll smile at you.” He narrowed his eyes at her.

24-42 went slightly pink.

“I never had many friends. Most people avoided me as much as they could.” 24-42 admitted. “You won't tell anyone will you?”

“Nope.”

M42 smiled at her.

–

“HENNA CAN FLY?!” Suzie yelped.

“That's how we did it.” Daniel grinned. “I don't know how she did it, but she can get up in the air with no problem.”

“Has this been recorded?!” Suzie asked.

“1A-42 has it on log apparently.” Alexis shrugged.

“WHY WEREN'T THE MAJOR AND I TOLD?!” Suzie yelled. “1A-42, get M42, 17-42 and 24-42 here NOW!”

“What's the big deal?” Tytus groaned as 1A-42 summoned the others over the loudspeaker.

“WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL?! WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT YOU GUYS ARE CAPABLE OF SO WE KNOW HOW TO BEST UTILISE YOU!” Suzie screamed.

“Hey guys, what's going on?” 24-42 walked in with M42.

“What's up with you two?” Alexis grinned at 24-42, who went bright red again.

“This had better be important. Like how the hell this lot got my stuff up on the ceiling!” M42 barked angrily.

“I can explain that!”

M42 and 24-42 spun around. Henna was hovering in the air above them, looking very pleased with herself.

“Not so useless now am I?” She sneered at M42, who pouted.

“How do you do it?” Asked 24-42, grinning.

“I dunno, I was doing hurdles by myself on Training Ground 1 and I was thinking about flying and up I went! It's almost as natural to me as walking now.” Henna grinned.

24-42 closed her eyes and tried to lift herself up. Within a few seconds she was up in the air as well.

“All right!” The pair high-fived.

Daniel got the hang of it soon after, but Alexis and Tytus struggled. They still couldn't fly by the end of the day.

“It's nice to see you ahead in something for once 17-42.” M42 said as the group walked back inside. “Your hard work has paid off.”

Henna grinned all the way back to her lodgings.

Inside, 24-42 was smiling too. The haughty Major M42 wasn't so bad after all.