[UNIT ZERO HQ – LOCKER ROOM]
CRASH.
Kade Riven punched a metal locker. The door dented inward.
"How did we miss him!?" Kade screamed. "An amateur assassin walked right past our perimeter! Through the window! While the Savior was discussing algebra!"
The rest of Unit Zero looked down in shame.
"Sir," a lieutenant whispered. "He used a civilian disguise. A window washer."
"EXCUSES!" Kade roared. "The Savior didn't even stand up! She caught a knife while reading a report card! That is the level we must aspire to!"
He grabbed his gear bag.
"Where are you going, Sir?"
"To the Source," Kade growled. "I need to relearn everything. From scratch."
[SATO RESIDENCE – MORNING]
Noah was eating cereal.
Ding-Dong.
"I'll get it!" Noah yelled.
He opened the door.
Standing there was Kade Riven. He was wearing full tactical gear, but he had removed his helmet. He looked desperate.
"Master Sato," Kade bowed deeply. "I have come to beg."
Noah blinked.
"Oh! You're the camping guy!" Noah smiled. "Did you lose your fire again?"
Kade fell to his knees on the porch.
"I am unworthy! My flame is weak! My perimeter is flawed! Please... teach me the Way!"
Noah scratched his head.
(He wants me to teach him? About camping? Or maybe gardening? He looks strong.)
"Well," Noah said. "Nana is usually the one who teaches people. But I guess I can ask her."
"The Savior is here!?" Kade went pale. "I am not prepared!"
"It's okay. She just woke up. She's grumpy until she has coffee."
Noah led Kade inside.
[THE DOJO (KITCHEN)]
Nana was drinking coffee from a mug the size of a bucket.
"Nana," Noah said. "My friend from the woods is here. He wants to learn stuff."
Nana looked at Kade. Her gaze pierced his soul.
"Unit Zero," she rumbled. "The ones who let a rat crawl through the window."
Kade trembled. "I accept full responsibility, Ma'am! Punish me!"
Nana sipped her coffee.
"Punishment is a waste of energy. Training is better."
She pointed to the backyard.
"The hedges are overgrown. Trim them."
Kade stood up, eyes burning with determination.
"Yes, Ma'am! I will trim them with the precision of a surgeon!"
"Use the manual shears," Nana added. "And watch out for the... thorns."
[THE TRAINING – HEDGE HELL]
Kade marched into the backyard.
The hedges were massive. Gnarly. Thorns the size of daggers.
"Begin!" Kade shouted.
He attacked the hedges. Snip. Snip.
Suddenly, a vine whipped out and slapped him in the face.
Whap.
"Enemy contact!" Kade yelled. He dodged. Another vine grabbed his ankle.
The hedges are alive! Kade realized. They react to hostility!
He fought the plants for three hours. He was bleeding. Sweating. Exhausted.
Noah walked out with a glass of lemonade.
"Hey," Noah said. "You're doing it wrong."
Kade panted, holding a broken shear. "Wrong?"
"Yeah. You're fighting it. Nana says you have to ask nicely."
Noah walked up to a particularly vicious thorn bush.
"Excuse me," Noah said politely, snipping a branch.
The bush didn't move.
"See?" Noah smiled. "It's all about attitude."
Kade stared.
He communicates with the flora. He pacifies the environment.
"I... I understand," Kade whispered. "I must become the leaf."
[THE TRAINING – WINDOW WASH]
Next, Nana pointed to the second-story windows.
"Clean them. No streaks."
Kade grabbed a bucket and a ladder.
"I will make them invisible!"
He climbed up. He started scrubbing furiously.
Inside the room, Nana was throwing knives at a dartboard.
Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.
Every time a knife hit the board, the vibration shook the window.
Kade had to balance perfectly on the ladder while the house literally trembled from the force of Nana's throws.
Balance training! Kade realized. She is testing my stability under fire!
He focused. He scrubbed. He didn't fall.
Noah walked by below.
"Hey! Don't look down!" Noah called up. "You might get dizzy!"
Kade gritted his teeth. "I... am... focused!"
[THE GRADUATION]
By sunset, the hedges were trimmed (badly), and the windows were clean (mostly).
Kade stood in the kitchen, shaking from exhaustion.
Nana looked at his work.
"Passable," she grunted.
Kade beamed. "Thank you, Ma'am!"
"Here."
She tossed him a small, sealed envelope.
"Give this to your Commander. Tell him it's the bill for the window."
Kade caught it like it was a holy relic.
"I will guard it with my life!"
"It's just an invoice," Noah whispered to Lilly. "Nana charges extra for rush jobs."
Kade turned to Noah.
"Master Sato. Today I learned: The Polite Snip. The Balanced Scrub. And the humility of service."
He bowed.
"I will return when I am stronger."
He vanished out the door.
[THE AFTERMATH]
Lilly watched him leave.
"Noah," she said. "You realize he thinks he just completed a legendary training arc?"
"Well," Noah shrugged. "Gardening is hard work. My back hurts just watching him."
"And the envelope?"
"Nana's bill? Yeah, she overcharges. That window was expensive."
(Inside the envelope was actually a handwritten note from Nana: "DO BETTER. OR I WILL.")
[CONTROL ROOM]
"Report," the Commander said.
"Ace Riven has returned from the Sato residence," the analyst said. "He is... covered in scratches and smells like lemon polish."
"Is he injured?"
"Physically, yes. Mentally... he seems enlightened."
The Commander sighed.
"Whatever they did to him... let's hope it sticks. We can't afford another window incident."