"Now let's discuss the missions you'd both be taking." She stood up from a large chair and walked towards a desk with a chair and laptop.
She sat down and began pressing some buttons which stopped after some seconds as she seemed to be reading through something. A sigh escaped her lips as she closed the laptop.
"You're both aware that every base has a region in Ethiopia that they are based on, and the ninth is the southwest region. The tenth base is an all-rounder not having a particular area of concentration and the ninth is allowed to help out because our region has lesser land mass and population."
They both nodded in response.
"You both have two mid-grade missions to complete."
"Two?" Ray repeated with a frown.
Missions were tasks given to Sentries to solve problems in Euthopia which isn't always on abyssals.
They were graded into three categories.
Low-grade, Mid-grade, and High-grade.
Any Sentry could go on Low-grade missions, whereas, mid-grade missions could only be taken by Sentries at least at the Eta rank.
While High-grade missions are taken by Alpha, Beta, and Gamma-ranked Sentries.
Ray didn't think they could take on two Mid-grade missions unless they were both easier ones.
"Don't worry, you won't be taking both of them simultaneously. You'll have to choose which one you'll prefer to handle first." Fiona voiced out as two projections displayed on different white surfaces in the room with the details of the missions.
Ray and Sylph read them carefully.
In short, the first mission was about investigating a small forest where an abyssal had been spotted, and the Sentries at the Zeta rank which had gone to check it out, didn't return, so it was graded as a Mid-grade mission.
Unlike the first mission which was centered in the southwest region, the second mission was not in a particular area.
They had to track down a group of people who had formed some sort of terrorist group and has been going around causing problems and deaths in different regions, without getting caught till now.
Their last location was in the western region, which was under the fourth base.
They were both in thought for some time before Ray spoke out.
"I think we should take on the first mission. While the terrorist group would have to plan their actions, make preparations, and need to proceed with caution in order not to get caught. The same doesn't apply to the abyssal.
Killing off a bunch of Zeta ranked easily isn't something a lower abyssal would be able to do. So I believe it should at least be a higher abyssal, and if it decides to emerge from the forest into the residents' area, a lot of people would die.
Besides, we're meant to preserve the wildlife in the forest." Ray gave his reasons.
Fiona had a surprised expression on her face which changed to that of joy. "I knew you were a caring guy all along."
"It's in my interest, why wouldn't I help out?" He said dismissively.
A slight frown appeared on Sylph's face but it vanished quickly. Ray didn't notice this but Fiona did.
"Say, Sylph are you okay with the missions, especially the terrorists part? Not everyone can handle killing their fellow humans, and it might come down to that."
"Yes. I have no problems." She hadn't killed anyone before but she believed she could handle it.
"If that's so, then you both would set out tomorrow morning. We can't afford to lose any more time. Anything you need would be provided," Fiona ordered.
"Then can I get the····?"
"NO!" Fiona cut him short, causing a frown to appear on his face.
"You stingy little girl!" He blurted.
"Huh! It's not my fault you're a weak little boy."
Ray's mouth twitched slightly as a dim golden glow began to appear around him.
"So we're doing this huh?" An evil grin appeared on her face. She always enjoyed sparring with him.
The dim glow vanished as Ray waved his hand dismissively before proceeding to walk out.
"Before I forget, you should both go for checkups. Maybe you could use that time to start bonding." Fiona winked.
Ray shook his head before looking at Sylph.
"I'll be waiting outside." He walked out of the room.
"Excuse me." Sylph was about to head out when Fiona stopped her.
"May I have some of your time?"
Sylph didn't know why she asked her to stay behind, but she did. Not that she had much of a choice in the first place.
*************************
Ray was standing beside his bicycle with a frown on his face.
'How long is she going to take? This is why I prefer going solo.'
Even before the law of partnership, Sentries usually formed groups when going on missions, but Ray wasn't a fan of that and usually went solo.
He felt that he could get stronger, and faster this way, while avoiding the troubles which came with forming groups.
When the law was implemented, he was totally against it, but what could he do? He could only grit his teeth and avoid it.
Surprisingly, he was somehow able to last two months without a partner.
When he felt his patience had finally run out, he heard a soothing voice behind him. "Sorry for the wait. Can we proceed?"
He turned around to see that she had changed her clothes.
She was clad in sportswear which would make movements and fighting much easier, that the gown which she formally wore.
She looked so beautiful in them, as the clothes outlined her perfect figure. Ray felt almost all his annoyance vanish in an instant. He sighed internally when he realized this.
"Let's get going," Ray said, as he got on his bike. She also got in hers as they began cycling away.
"Have you gotten familiar with this area?" He asked because he heard that she had been transferred from the first base, which was in charge of the central region.
"Not very much," she replied.
"Maybe I can brief you on the areas which we would pass through."
Like that, their tour began which ended up sparking some memories within him.
**************************
5 years ago,
"Mum! Mum! Mum!" A young boy ran into a house with the expression of someone who had just met his favourite comic character in reality.
He ran upstairs into a hallway before barging into a door.
This boy looked exactly like a younger Ray. The only differences were his eyes and hair colour which were black.
A woman with similar facial features. Was seated on her bed reading a book.
"Mum!" he jumped on the bed with stars in his eyes.
"What is it? Why are you screaming like that?" She wanted to scold him, but seeing his excitement, she decided to hear him out first.
"Mum, guess what?" He said looking at her like an excited puppy.
"What?"
A pout appeared on his face, "You would have to guess." His mum rolled her eyes before placing her index finger on her lower lips with a thoughtful expression.
"You finally got an A+?" His mother said in excitement.
"Umm! Nooo," he said with a wry frown causing her to frown.
"You got into the football team?" She wasn't as excited as her first assumption.
"Nooo. Damn those guys! They are a bunch of losers," he said in irritation.
"Ray, your language."
"Sorry Mum, I guess I'll have to tell you before you ruin my mood with your guesses," he sighed.
His face lit up in excitement once more.
"I got picked for the tour to Europe," he screamed while hopping on the bed.
His mother processed what he had just said and remembered that he had told her that some students would be going on an excursion to Europe about two weeks ago.
"Wow! You got chosen! That's great."
"Of course, only about 60 of us were chosen, I'm so happy I got in."
A smile appeared on her face as she stared at her son who was over the moon.
"So when are you leaving?"
"Four days from now, they said we should get prepared within that period."
"Four days! Isn't that a little too soon?" She frowned.
"Come on mum, don't tell me you miss me already," he smirked.
"You cheeky little kid, no one's going to miss you, at least I'll be relieved from some headaches. Anyways, how long would the tour last?"
"A little over a week," he replied.
"That's even a short amount of time. Even if you stayed longer, I doubt anyone would miss you," she said. Unknowing to her that some things you say might just happen.
"Hmph!" Ray snorted.
"So where would you be going specifically?"
"They didn't specify. But I know, we'll be visiting more than one country," he said in contemplation.
"Let's wait for your father to come back, so you can break the news to them. I'm sure your sisters would be quite jealous," she giggled.
"I can't wait to shove the news in their faces," he said with an evil grin.
***************************
Present day,
After showing her some places in the southwest area, they finally arrived at their destination.
A building, just as large as their base, but this wasn't a base, rather, it was a Sentry health and research facility.