"You know what's my favorite thing after I turned?" Catrina asks.
She and Adalia are sitting on a staircase to a building a few distances away from Makoto's disfigured lifeless body, where they can still see it. They have been waiting for the cleaner agents, who many call the janitors as they often clean buildings, to pick up the mess before reporting the execution, for several minutes now.
Adalia hums and rubs her chin as she thinks. "Is it the strength? Never getting tired again? The fact that you got taller than me? I remember you were very excited about that."
Catrina chuckles. "Yeah, I was, but no, not that."
"What is it then?"
"Look up." She points at the sky.
Adalia looks up and it seizes her eyes. It hypnotizes her. Filling her eyes with its bluish silver light.
"The moon's beautiful, isn't it?" Catrina stares at it as well.
"Ooh, it is."
"Right? I don't really look at sceneries before, but after the surgery, everything seems more interesting. When we're on the walls I can see people walking, going about their lives in the distance. I like to look at the epsilon district and watch people scream and laugh on the rides."
They keep looking at the moon. Their eyes reflect its light. It's almost as if their eyes glow with a blue tinge.
"Hmm," Adalia nods. "Yeah, the world does look different now. Everything looks brighter, especially in the dark... Well... When it's supposed to be dark. Is that why you push your head on my shoulder when we're sleeping?"
"Yes, sometimes it's too bright for comfort it's hard to keep my eyes closed. Lights are mesmerizing though. From the windows of offices, the rides at the theme parks, and even here. They look like stars."
"So that's why you like staring at lamps. I get it now."
Adalia isn't looking away. In fact, neither of them are. Their gaze belongs to the moon. Their irises are full of its glow.
Catrina closes her eyes and leans on Adalia's shoulder, hugging her arm. "Yeah, I can so get used to this."
Adalia rests her head on Catrina's.
Sound of roaring engine runs in, robbing their attention from the moon and themselves. A white ambulance arrives. It has the silver agency logo on the side. It stops in front of the mangled corpse and 2 people in hazmat suits, the janitors, come out. They carry a large plastic box and put the body into it. After putting the box in the ambulance, the janitors start cleaning the leftover blood and flesh from the road.
Adalia scratches Catrina's ear, making her giggle and moan. "Let's go, Kitty. We have to make our report." She will not stand before Catrina lets go of her arm.
"Okay." Catrina lets go Adalia's arm. She stands, stretches, takes a deep breath, and looks at Adalia with a big bright smile.
"What are you thinki..."
"Race you there!" Catrina disappears in an instant. Leaving floating dust.
"Kitty!" Adalia shouts as she chases her partner.
After a couple of minutes, they arrive at the report station, near the construction office. Each district has plenty of zones; each zone has its own report station. It is tiny. It's more of a booth than an office. It has a steel framed reinforced glass window on one side, where the office table is. There's an officer inside. he's leaning back on his chair, the headrest touches the bookshelf behind, where the report logs are kept. There are pasta and tea on the table, as well as a scanner and 4 monitors. One shows the map of the zone, the second one shows the active agents in the zone and their heartbeats, the third shows the chronological log history, and the last one is a stream of an emo panda vtuber playing Omnaloke.
Adalia knocks on the window and gets his attention. "Execution report."
The officer sips his tea and takes a report paper from one of the binders from the bookshelf. He fills in the blank spots before opening the window. Adalia and Catrina write their names, sign the paper, and stamp their thumbprint while the officer takes a second paper which he and the agents sign as well. He scans both documents and staples them together before putting them in a different binder. He closes the window and continues watching the stream.
After all that, the couple goes to the cafeteria for some coffee. That's when Adalia receives a notification on her phone. Catrina sees her typing on her phone, smiling and giggling.
Before she could say anything, Adalia speaks first. "Kitty, it's ready."
"What? What's ready?"
"You'll see."
"Ah..." She remembers Adalia texted with Kaiden earlier, it must've been what Adalia had come up with for their anniversary. "Ok, bring it on." Catrina crosses her arms. She can't wait to see what her partner was planning all along.
"Not here, silly. It's somewhere else." Adalia giggles.
"Ok, let's go then." Catrina stands.
Adalia takes her hand and carries her. Catrina is more than happy to go along. She feels warm on the hand Adalia is holding, on her face, and on her chest. Her heart beats faster with excitement the longer it is. They approach the wall construction. Plenty of workers are here, doing their jobs. This part of the wall is still only the metal framing with platforms and scaffolds. There's a large sheet covering a part of the framework. Catrina can't help but smile
"So, where is it?"
Adalia looks around, waves her hand, and back at Catrina. "It's here." She turns around, facing her beloved, standing close. Their faces are only a breath away.
Romantic song starts playing. The music echoes throughout the metal bars and platforms. Adalia holds her partner's hands, lifting them up to about their chest level.
"Catrina..."
"Oh my god," Catrina starts laughing.
"What's so funny?" Adalia smiles.
"Nothing, nothing. Go on," she brushes it off, looking into Adalia's eyes.
"Catrina, you're always there for me and you always have my back. When I need someone, I know I can always count on you, in my darkest moments you always know how to cheer me up, and whenever I'm with you I always feel safe and my days are never unfulfilled."
Several workers drag bushes with colorful lights on them, framing the couple. Some others arrange lanterns around them.
"I really appreciate having you as my partner for these last few years. You are very dear to me and I really want you to know that, Catrina..." She looks up and points toward the unfinished structure.
The sheet drops. With a loud boom a series of lights forming "I heart U" shines in industrial yellow. The workers are clapping and some are even cheering at the couple, "happy anniversary!"
At this very instant, with everything going on, Catrina bursts into tears... Of laughter. She falls onto the ground rolling all over the place. One arm over her eyes and the other hand holding her stomach. Her voice echoes and mixes with the song that's currently going into the second verse.
"You do all of this and you dare call my gift corny and cheesy?" She continues laughing. Her laughs might even be louder than the music.
"Do you hate it though?" Adalia bows down, holding her knees, looking at her partner.
Catrina stands up, brushes herself, and squeezes Adalia with all her might. "I love it," she says, followed by a big passionate kiss.
"Bring in the cake!" Adalia shouts.
A group of workers brings a wooden table and chairs. Kaiden shows up with the cake and Novalie brings a big bottle of champagne.
"Oh my god." Catrina shakes her head, wondering how can the night be better.
"Your celebratory drink, ladies," she says as she hands the bottle.
Catrina laughs and hugs her brother.
"Hey, Hey! Look at the fireworks, look at the fireworks!" Kaiden points above the wall. Colorful explosions spark and splash, illuminating the sky.
Catrina is so full of joy and humor her body is steaming. It's like having a fever, only pleasurable. She has to squat down covering her face.
Adalia stares at the fireworks with her hands on her head, eyes wide, and her smile gaping. She turns to Kaiden, pointing at the explosions with her arms.
Kaiden giggles and shrugs.
Catrina tugs on Adalia's trousers. Adalia goes down and wraps her arm around Catrina.
"What is it, Kitty?"
She says nothing. Catrina hugs her and kisses her.
The night continues with a party. Everyone's chatting, singing, dancing, playing games, having cake, drinking, and enjoying each other's company in general. Especially one particular couple. When the champagne runs dry, the workers take out their beers.
Catrina finishes another shot. "You totally did more than just making it up to me."
"Hehe, thank you. We're still on duty though, so don't knock yourself out," Adalia says.
"I know I know. I had three shots and that's all for tonight!" Catrina takes another slice of cake.
"Good call." Adalia looks around for Kaiden. He's just beyond the bushes, chatting with Novalie and Aliks. She waves at him. He notices and approaches. "Hey, Kaiden. You really went above and beyond, huh? You really shouldn't, you really don't have to, but you did anyway. So, thank you. So, so much."
Kaiden smiles. "Well, what can I say except you're welcome?" He sings. "It's only what you deserve. Happy anniversary." Kaiden grabs three cans of beer and goes back to his friend.
Adalia lays back on her chair. Everything feels good. The warmth of the company, the music playing, the rousing party, the sound from the forest...
There's a sound coming from the forest.
Adalia can't help but be on guard. She stares into the forest as a wind blow shaking the trees.
"You hear that too?" Catrina asks.
"Yeah, grab your hammer," Adalia stands up and walks away from the table, to the forest, right on the edge of the light from the party.
The two other agents approach them. Weapons in hand.
"What's going on?" Asks Henry.
"I don't know, just be on guard," Adalia puts her hands at the ready.
Catrina holds her hammer tight, resting it on her shoulder. Jeannie points her spear at the forest, while Henry activates his electric mace.
It doesn't take long for the workers to notice the agents are on guard. They start to pay attention. Some are standing up from their chairs. The music stops. Everyone's on edge. The only sound is the blowing wind, shaking trees, and creaking metals.
The ears of both mutant agents twitch.
Adalia charges her sword.
Several werewolves jump out of the forest and rush the masses.
"D-TYPES!" Catrina shouts.
"EVERYBODY FALL BACK!!!" yells Jeannie.