As the sunlight slowly waned, Joseph and Lena made it to the new barracks. It seemed pretty small, like a miniature apartment building. It was close to the main police station, but was still quite unassuming. There was a parked car, a silver-colored van with several stickers referencing various sports teams and television shows. The van belonging to Roy, who has owned the van for longer than Michael and Joseph have been in the force.
"So, who's van is this?" Lena asked?
Joseph replies, "It's Roy's. They should be about done by now."
They walked up to the door, with Joseph unlocking it, and entered the building. Within, was the living room. There were two areas within the living room, an upper area in the entrance, which led to rooms and had a kitchen in it, and down a few steps, a lower area with a few couches and a TV. Sitting on one of the couches, was Roy, watching some kind of sitcom, and on another, Michael, who was laying down on the couch, sleeping like a child.
Roy turned back, and said, "You're finally here. Me and Michael finished packin' up into our rooms, and we left your stuff in the room next to Michael's."
He turned to Lena, "Oh, uh, you can choose yer own."
Joseph says, "I forgot!" before handing Lena a key.
Lena replies, "Thanks."
But, she was staring at Michael, who was still out cold on the couch. She'd say, "Is that really him? With the way you talked... I expected a bit more."
Joseph says, "You know, it's not a good quality to be so surface-level about things."
Lena says, ignoring that, "Anyways, I'm gonna go set up in my room. Knock if you need anything."
Lena started to walk away, and chose the room next to Roy's room as her room. She opened the door, and it was quite the modest living arrangements. There was a bed, with some sheets and a pillow, and a desk. There was also a door to a personal bathroom and shower. She started to unpack her belongings from her backpack. She hadn't brought much, but it was everything she had. A stack of clothes, toiletries, a few books and guides, and a photo of her, with a few other people in it. She tried to not think about that right now.
Though, she couldn't stop her mind from wandering. After all, at least in her conversation with that Joseph guy, she had been too lax. To accomplish such a goal as hers, required funds, and power. She could only say that she had one, and needed the other desperately. She shook her head, as this line of thinking would bring her nothing but frustration, so she got out a book from her suitcase. She decided to look at a book regarding magic history, a newer book, nonetheless still reputable, as her thinking was that you can never have enough knowledge.
The book read, "Telekinesis Magic is one of the most difficult forms of magic to master, and can present itself naturally at young ages, however, there is no evidence to prove that genetics affect the appearance, and may pertain to how the user is brought up. It has been known to cause mental instability and insanity in it's practitioners. In the last 50 years, the only major user of it in the world has been Violetta Torres, however, she has not been seen in ten years, not long after the end of the Leonese-Iridian war. Scholars in the field have speculated if she had fell to the magic's side effects, but there has been no proven evidence, especially with the unknown location of any family, due to how common the Torres family name."
She pondered the reading, thinking about how someone could go so far, even risking insanity, for something like that. Though, if it helped her, she supposed she would take it in a heartbeat. She continued reading, for long hours.
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Lena stumbled out of her room, into the living room. She looked at the clock, revealing that she had clearly lost track of time. In the living room, Michael and Roy were sitting at a table, with Roy saying some kind of story, and Michael listening intently. Joseph was in the kitchen area, and had a apron on. He was preparing four plates, each with a salad, with sliced grilled chicken on top, along with a assortment of dressings and toppings.
Michael says, as Lena walks in, "Ah, good timing. We were just about to start eating."
Joseph says, while pointing at the table Michael and Roy were sitting at, "No thanks to the peanut gallery, though."
Roy says, "You know, if you wanted us to help, we would."
Joseph replies, pointing a fork at Roy, "Last time you both helped, you caused what could comfortably be called a warcrime against tastebuds. I'd much rather complain than be implicit in that."
Lena moved over to take a seat at the table, with Joseph quickly serving the food that he had prepared. She took her fork, and tasted the salad. It was surprisingly good, more than she thought.
Lena says, "I didn't know you were a good chef, Joseph!"
Joseph says, smugly, "What can I say, the people call me Colonel Cook."
Lena grimaces, saying, "One, you're a police officer, two, I'm 99% sure no one says that."
Joseph replies, waving her words off, "You wouldn't know them, they went to a different academy."
Lena turns to Michael, not wishing to injure her brain with Joseph's remarks, "I know you use magic, but what kind do you use?"
Michael says, "Fire magic. I've practiced way too hard at it not to use it. What about you?"
Lena says, "I do a bit here and there, but mostly thunder and ice magic."
Roy says, "So, you use two types? Heard it's difficult."
Lena says, "Sure is. If you don't have the right mindset, they can cross over, and that's really annoying."
Joseph thinks out loud, "Ice, and water, would be pretty useful for cooking..."
Lena replies to Joseph, saying, "I'm not gonna be your ice machine.."
As they continued to joke and tell stories, and eventually finish eating, deep into the night, each of them would go off to bed, leaving only Michael and Lena. Michael was deep in thought, while Lena was leaning back in her chair, half asleep. Suddenly, the doorbell would ring, and Lena fell back, surprised. Michael looked surprised, and opened the door. In front of the door was two people, a man, who had short, brown hair that was swept backwards. He had on a modified uniform, similar to Michael's, but was instead in black, with some gold around the ends of it. He had black cargo pants on, and a small green patch on his shirt, that had a small circle orbiting a larger one. The other person at the Door was a woman, with brown hair that went down to her shoulders. She had glasses on, and a silver jacket with a white undershirt, and dark blue jeans. They seemed to both be around Michael's age.
"Hey Michael! How's it going?" The man smiled.
Michael said, "Why are you here? It's late."
Ken replied, "Just to catch up and talk about somethings. If you wouldn't mind, could we come in?
Michael groaned internally, "Alright, come in."
They came into the room, and sat down, with Michael and Lena assuming their previous seats.
Ken looked at Lena after sitting down, and said, "Who's she? A new recruit?"
Michael replied, "Yep. Yours?"
Lena rolled her eyes.
Ken sighed, "She's from Roland's team."
She brightened up upon being mentioned, "Yep! He actually came with me, by the way!"
She shot her hand out, "The name's Layla, by the way!"
Michael shook her hand, a bit confused on what to think of her, "Nice to meet you, Layla."
Ken coughed, "Anyways, meetings are fine and all, but we do have a reason that we're here. Layla?"
Layla gasped, "That completely passed my mind! My bad!"
She pulled a note out of her pocket, and read it out loud.
"Roland has requested for a portion of his team, Ken's and Michael's to work on a operation relating to the Angel Incident. Our current running theory is that it was a drug that caused the transformation, and that there may be a meeting between the supplier and a customer soon, at the harbor." She'd say.
Michael asked, "So, you found this Doctor guy?
Layla had a confused expression, until Ken tapped her shoulder, saying, "We believe we have."
Lena fixed her posture, sitting up straight, "So, you're saying you need our help to get these guys?"
Layla pushed up her glasses, "Yep! We'll be doing it next evening! We were going to come down here earlier, but some things came in the way..."
Michael asked, "Like what? It is awfully late, after all."
Layla looked nervous, "Well, it's partially due to Roland, as he has some duties that he has to fulfill other than this..."
Ken laughed, "You were really at his throat earlier, you know."
Layla pouted, "Did not! I was hoping that he'd be there, but we should be able to handle it."
Ken laughed some more, before he said, "Enough of that, how is your team doing?"
Michael replied, "We've been doing good, apart from that whole Angel business. What about your group, and Kaina?"
Ken sighed, "Kaina hasn't gotten much better, I'm afraid. She is still suffering from those emotional outbursts, you know. Hopefully she'll be able to get back into active duty soon."
Ken then shifted the topics, "Speaking of active duty, how do you feel about what's going on in Leon?"
Michael went to pour himself some water, getting up and grabbing a cup, "I think if they did do those assaults on the border, then it would clearly warrant military reaction."
Ken replied, "That's a fine opinion to have, but I'd prefer some diplomatic action, rather than this showing of offense by stationing valuable men at the border. Murder isn't my cup of tea."
Michael sipped on some water, "Nor is it mine. I think that the world would be much better without it, but, some certain people challenge that notion..."
Lena said, "I'd agree, there's definitely some people that would benefit from some punches in the face."
Ken said, "Sadly, I'd agree too. What about you, Layla?"
They would look at Layla, who was seemingly staring off into nothing, before she raised her hands up defensively, "Oh, me? I'm not really like that, violence isn't my thing."
Ken would look startled, before he pulled out a small electronic device, some kind of alert system.
"I dearly apologize for my intrusion, as I'm sure that we've overstayed our welcome, but I have to leave." He'd get up, and walk to the door, with Layla following.
As they walked out, Layla said, "Good talk! Stay safe!" to Lena and Michael.
When the door closed, Michael let out a exhausted breath.
"I never know what to quite think of Ken."
Lena would yawn, saying, "I think I'm gonna hit the sack, I'm tired, especially after what just happened. Your friend seems a bit eager when it comes to politics by the way."
As she walked off, she'd notice Michael still sitting down."
Michael noticed her pausing, and would say, "Don't worry about me, I'm a bit more of a night owl."
Lena replies, "Night owl or not, it's 1 am, and you just woke up from a injury. You're gonna ruin your skin if you stay up like that."
Michael says, "Why are you concerned about my skin?"
Lena says, "Because I'm not a ass, and the one that probably would be isn't in the room."
Lena tossed Michael a comic book that had been sitting on the table, one that Joseph had left.
Lena says, "Read it, get your mind off things. It'll help you get to bed. Besides, I'm sure the owner won't care."
Michael nodded, not wanting to argue, as Lena went off to her room to sleep. As he started to read the book, he started to understand what she was talking about, and began to eventually doze off himself.
Sleep is important, especially when you'll have a mission tomorrow.