Two young figures were flat under the sun, their hands tightly gripping rifles. Ahead of them were planks of wood with red targets painted on them.
"It's so hot…" Rico panted, wiping off beads of sweat.
"My arms hurt…" Kaitlin added.
"Enough whining, you're only halfway there." A red-haired woman threw peanuts at their heads, sat leisurely just a few feet behind them.
"Come on, Saya… We've been doing this for hours."
"All you have to do is pull the trigger and yet…" The red-headed mentor responded, checking through binoculars, seeing the damaged wooden planks, "You're just barely grazing by."
"It's hot. I'm dizzy… I need water…" The frizzy-haired girl panted.
"Fine. Just hit bullseye on the sixth target, then you can rest."
"Oh, come on!" While Rico whined, crimson energy spiraled into Kaitlin's firearm, shooting a red orb out. As it blazed above the grass, the top half of the wood exploded.
"Ah… ugh…"
Above them, the numbers displayed "Eighty points."
"Well… I suppose using esper power counts." Saya sighed, "Kaitlin, you still have to finish by the end of the day."
"What about me?" Rico pointed to himself.
"Your target's still standing, isn't it?" The red-haired woman threw another peanut at him.
"I'm tired of this, when do I get to train with my powers!"
"You can train whenever you want after your drills. Espers back then had to figure out how psychic powers work on their own." As she spoke, a large dark silhouette to stand behind her.
"A gorilla?!" Kaitlin yelped.
"Hm?" Her eyes widened, looking up behind her, "Oh, that's just my partner. Hi Giganto."
"Can you stop bullying the rookies?" The large man said, his arms covered in fur, his features resembling an ape.
"Pfft. No. What's the fun in training them if I don't get to do that?"
"Your partner's a gorilla?" Kaitlin shouted, pointing at Giganto, only for Rico to lower her hand.
"Yeah. He's a chimera, like me." She turned her head back at him, "You're still transformed, big guy."
"Bullets." The furry man answered.
"Ahh…"
Rico's eyebrows curled, "What? What does that mean? Also, hello, Mister Giganto, sir."
"If I revert to normal, the bullets lodged in my thick skin will cause me to bleed out." Giganto answered.
"Are you uh… are you gonna be okay?"
"Yup… Just gotta hit the infirmary and have the nurses pick them out. Spoilers, they're the parts that are bleeding."
"What's it like, turning into a gorilla?" Kaitlin asked.
"Kate!" Rico hissed, nudging the frizzy-haired girl.
Giganto shot back, "I dunno, what's it like being an esper?"
Rico fidgeted, "It's… weird, all of my senses are in HD. And my movements all weird. Also becoming kin with Da Vinci sounds trippy."
"Yeah." The gorilla chimera snorted, "Bet being a genetic cocktail must freak you out, huh?"
"That's… when you put it that way." He scratched his head.
"Saya, got any rations on you?" Giganto asked.
She handed him what looked to be a protein bar wrapped in foil, "You ran out?"
"A candy bar? Can I have one?" Kaitlin asked.
"Wouldn't recommend it, unless you wanna have a heart attack." Giganto answered, shoving its contents straight into his mouth.
"Custom chimera rations. Five thousand calories a snack. Helps maintain our transformations. You don't think we're converting matter from nothing, do you?" Saya explained.
"Wait, but how does that work?" Rico tilted his head.
"Beats me, I'm just an agent. You're gonna wanna ask the scientists who turned us into this." She threw one of the peanuts through the hole of his gauge earrings, and a vein pulsed on his face.
"Now that's just disrespectful to the kid." Giganto twisted his knuckles against Saya's temples.
"STOP! STOP! STOP! I'M SORRY!" The red-haired mentor yelped.
"You two, go take your break." The large man said, "Be sure to finish it later."
"Yes, thank you!" The two scurried along.
In the lobby, Rico stood directly under the air conditioner, hogging it all to himself, while Kaitlin was on the couch playing her ukulele. There were two slices of half-eaten pie on the table, when the glass doors suddenly opened.
Two individuals entered. A blonde man in a white shirt, and a silver-haired woman beside him.
"Isabelle! Nero!" Kaitlin lowered her ukulele and waved.
Rico wiped the sweat off his face with his collar, "Oh, hey, you two."
Nero clicked his tongue and continued walking on.
"What's up with him?" He asked.
"He's just jealous of you guys." Isabelle smiled, sitting on the couch Kaitlin was on.
"Not my fault I'm taller than him." Rico shrugged.
"Actually, he's jealous that the two of you get to deploy." The silver-haired woman laughed.
"Really? I'm jealous of your situation, I'd rather train a bit more than deploy in the field." He placed his hand on his chin, "Maybe I should switch to Aetherion."
"You know what Anya-sifu said, you will never be ready until you go out and do it yourself." Kaitlin said, placing one hand in front of her like a half-prayer.
"Sifu?" She raised an eyebrow.
"So, what brings you to our humble headquarters?" Rico asked.
"We came here to ask for Felix's location."
"Hm? Isn't he usually out on missions?"
"Last mission he took was meant for us, actually…" Isabelle answered, "He's currently hospitalized, we wanna know which branch he's held in."
"Oh…" Rico glanced at Kaitlin, "Maybe we should visit him, too."
"What about training?" The frizzy-haired girl asked.
"What's the worst the could happen?"
"It took you six days to learn how to walk without bumping into things…"
"Not my fault they made buildings so small."
"I know how that feels… the readjustment period after enhancement was a lot to take in…" Isabelle scratched her head, "Anyways, you probably shouldn't skip training."
"Isabelle, you wanna see a trick I learned?" Kaitlin smiled widely, "Rico, your lighter!"
"Kate, not inside." The lanky man answered.
"Come on, please!" She said with childish eagerness.
"It's an air conditioned room."
"It's alright, we could just—" Isabelle tried to interject.
Kaitlin grabbed her hand, "Come on, it'll just be a second!"
"Fine…" Rico dug into his pockets and threw the lighter her way. As she flicked it on, Isabelle gazed at the flame. "Look what I learned how to do…"
She generated a crimson light from her fingertips, and the fire flowed into the aura.
"That's…" Isabelle stared into the flame.
The energy shaped into a sphere, and the fire began to spiral around it.
"I've been experimenting, it's not a perfect math, but by adjusting the air, it will follow the oxygen… like a fireball." Kaitlin's voice was low, her explanation a whisper.
"Well, could you turn it off? It's starting to get hot." Rico asked.
"I don't know how to turn it off…" Kaitlin smiled nervously.
"I have an idea…" Isabelle extended her finger, emitting a red energy, "Here's we figured out… when two different auras collide…"
The crimson haze flowed into the ball of fire, only for it to grow bigger and faster.
"Wait… that's not supposed to happen." Isabelle panicked, "Wait, maybe without its power source!"
The silver-haired woman took away the lighter underneath, only for the ball to become the main source of light in the lobby.
"It's hot, it's really hot!" Kaitlin yelped.
"Hang on, the sprinklers will—!"
Whip!
A wet slap followed, landing on the fire ball, as well as Kaitlin's hand.
"You're lucky my shirt was covered in sweat." Rico scowled.
"Thanks… Ew, but thanks." Kaitlin's whole face turned red, staring at Rico's body.
"Why did you do that?" Rico asked.
"We were… also experimenting… and learned that when two auras collide, they… tend to cancel each other out." Isabelle responded.
"Your idea was to pour gasoline into a lit fire to put it out?" His face filled with disbelief.
"To be fair, I don't know the full physics of our powers yet."
"Touche…" He nodded, "But this is why we need esper training."
"Right, right…" Isabelle pouted.
Kaitlin's mouth went wide, "Huh?! Weren't you the one who wanted to skip training?!"
"Yeah, the shooting range. I want esper training." Rico swiped his sweaty hair back.
Nero stepped back into the lobby, "Isa, I got the address. Let's go."
"Ah, right. See you guys later." Isabelle waved, following after Nero, who was quickly marching away.
"Later, then." The two waved back.
Kaitlin lifted the shirt off, looking underneath, "You ruined my pie…"
"You can have mine, I'll just have yours." Rico shrugged.
"Boo…" She plopped her head onto the couch.