"Better use that waddling tongue of yours for something more fun than asking questions, Zemin. Too much knowledge brings only grief."
This didn't sound like the Adia that Zemin knew in the academy. Too dark, too serious…
He reached out to take her hand. It didn't feel like enough, so Zemin pulled Adia closer and pressed a kiss to her lips.
Adia's hands grabbed Zemin's sides, caressing him through the coarse fabric of the uniform. The air grew more heated by the moment.
When Zemin pulled back from Adia, he was breathing heavily with lust. The same lust reflected in Adia's eyes and was painted on her flushed cheeks.
"If that's what you want, Adia," Zemin whispered, looking into these shadowed eyes.
She grinned and her hands went to Zemin's belt. "I want it, trust me, I do. No need to return to the base, either… Fewer eyes in this forest than in our barracks."
Zemin's eyes widened, but his shock didn't hide the eager response of his body to these words.
"But what about protection?" he asked, putting his hands over Adia's fingers to stop her. "I didn't bring—"
"I always have a condom in my pocket," Adia whispered in Zemin's ear. "Never know when you might get lucky, he-he."
Zemin smiled and reached out to the buttons of Adia's jacket. "I should make it a habit to do the same."
***
Zemin returned to his barracks two hours later, satisfied in body and calm in spirit. There were still troubling questions on his mind, but they could only be put away.
Citri was watching TV in the living room—it was some old melodrama, and she didn't appear very invested in it. At the sight of Zemin, she perked up and waved.
"Oh, finally, someone! Looks like everybody dispersed God-knows-where. Narcisa ditched me and went to the city on her own… So, want to play cards?"
"So Danis isn't here?"
Citri shook her head. "He left a good hour ago."
And Zemin just about decided what to buy from him… Well, this could wait. The day was only half-over.
"Let's play, then. You said this game you all play requires some special cards, right, Citri?"
The next hour was spent in trying to understand simple at first but complex in depth rules of the game. Despite the earlier meeting with Adia, the rest of the day was almost as any other, except for the lack of training.
Danis returned in the evening, appearing more irate than rested. Zemin approached him in his room and told about his request.
"You want Psi-retaining bullets? You are lucky—I have some on hand. For personal use, but there are spares. It's not like you can afford more than one, anyway, Zemin. Not with your 'funds'." Danis gestured at the tickets and pills Zemin brought for the exchange.
"Just one bullet?! This was a week's allowance for three people… and some."
Zemin had put his own pills into the pile, but left himself some entertainment tickets.
"Exactly. It was barely worth anything at all. And each of these bullets cost guts and blood that some Esquire or Exemplar lost when getting rating points to request them." Danis paused. "In this case, the Esquire was myself. So take it or leave it."
Zemin frowned.
"And with all that, you still sell them at all? Why?"
Danis smirked.
"Isn't greed the universal motivator?"
"This isn't an answer at all…" Zemin muttered, frowning even more. What was with today and people being mysterious?
In the end, he sighed and put his stuff on Danis's table.
"Then give me the bullet, then. 9mm caliber."
"Yeah, I know. Standard type ammunition."
A minute of rustling around later, and Danis dropped the bullet in Zemin's open palm. Then, before Zemin could pull away, he suddenly dropped another.
"New customer bonus," Danis said before Zemin could ask. "Now get out of my room. And don't even think of stealing more from me… Locks are no obstacle for anyone who can do a bit of telekinesis, but I have something better to protect my things."
Zemin glared at him. "Didn't even think to. Even if some people in this camp are not the best, this doesn't mean everybody is!"
He didn't wait for the answer—just walked out of the room.
"Yeah, tell yourself that while you can, kid," Danis muttered at his back.
***
It felt like this could go on forever. Training, rest, occasional scuffles between Psionics—until it didn't. The very next morning, when the team prepared for training, they instead got orders from their sergeant.
"Gather your things. Everything for a long scouting mission. I will explain things on the go." Jagger sighed and turned to Zemin. "It's supposed to be a relatively easy one. We might even avoid fighting whatsoever, although I'd never hope for it. If something happens, be careful and keep behind us, alright? You are always good at training spars, but a real fight isn't the same."
Zemin clenched his fists and lowered his head to stare from under furrowed eyebrows into Jagger's eyes.
"I've seen demons before, sir. I won't freeze in front of them."
'Not again. I won't watch people die in front of me again.'
Jagger shook his head. "I will hope for it. Now, enough chatter. Gather your things, everyone!"
It didn't take long. The rules required every Psionic here to be ready to go on an urgent mission at any time, which meant keeping the necessities on hand.
In half an hour, the team gathered outside near their transport—a four-wheeled open wagon without an actual car to carry it. Instead, it was attached with a cable to the back of a mecha.
Well, maybe "mecha" was too generous a word for it—the thing was only two meters tall. It looked more like extremely massive exo-armor, through the transparent visor of which Citri smiled at her teammates.
"Get in the back and let's go to clean the world from the ugly mugs of demons. Sergeant, show the way!"