S.H.A.D.E. [{ Completed }]✔ (#Wattys2018)

Syncing

16.

I wake up, and surprisingly, I am refreshed from the night. At least my new bed is comfy.

It's 6 am. Time to get going.

"Copper?"

"Hey."

"I want to practice my swings with Bellona, and I want to practice that round kick some more too. I think my martial arts needs a lot of work. I want to move like Scarlet. "

I hear his smirk when he says, "Well, let's get started, then."

***

The apartment is a two bedroom, the other room set up for practice and training, including my very own cloth dummy.

I have spent the majority of the morning training, perfecting my fighting techniques.

My body is strong, and after sleeping and putting some food into me, I am formidable, though a little clumsy.

"It'll come. You just have to be diligent."

"I'm sure you'll help with that."

He grunts in reply, busy studying my heart rate or whatever.

I am sweaty and my muscles ache, but I welcome the feeling. It's the feeling of progress. The better trained I am, the better my chances of survival.

I am in the middle of ignoring my jello arms, swinging at the dummy again with my heavy axe, when Copper announces, "You will be meeting your Swatch today-- Swatch 999."

I brace myself, panting, against the dummy. "What?"

"Your Swatch. You all are scheduled to perform a mission tonight."

"So soon? Dammit." I feel my stomach churn.

"This one's an easy one. No chances of death here."

"It's so weird to hear you say something like that as though it's nothing."

"Been at this for a long time."

"Can't you quit?"

"No."

"Because you can't, or won't?" I ask, curious.

"Enough."

"Enough of what?"

"Trying to get to know me. I am your Sync. That's all you need to know."

I frown at this, but shrug. "Fine, I just thought we could make this more bearable by being friends."

"We are not friends, Ebony. We are two cogs functioning together to make S.H.A.D.E work correctly. That's it."

I feel offended. It's like he doesn't see me as a person, a human being. But then again, it seems like he doesn't think of himself that way either.

But he is human. He has Nightmares.  He has fears, a past. He chose his name, and with it, this life of service to an invisible organization. Does he remember who he was before becoming Copper?

The image of that girl, the one with yellow hair, flashes through my mind.

Then the little girl with the yellow rain boots.

What does it mean?

"What are you thinking about?" Copper asks, and I hear an underlying tone of uncertainty in his voice.