Estranged [Completed]

Trials

Being a Warden was hardly interesting so far. Most days were spent patrolling along the fence or sparring with Mar and Shenaia to keep sharp.

It was just another Tuesday. Lecia was already well on her way, and Kalei walked along the humming fence, watching chain link after chain link pass to the sound of Mar's grumbling. Her mind wandered from topic to topic until it flitted through Lecia's interview questions and settled on the memory of her final test to become a Warden.

It was... different.

Terin had stepped into the room and walked over to the center of the training mats, not quite sucking the air from the room with his stoic nature. He stopped when he reached a seam in the mats that divided the room perfectly in half. With his hands in his pockets, he looked each of them in the eye, then said, "You're done with basic training. But we can't promote you to Wardens until you pass a test, so here it is: go into the district and shake hands with an Estranged. We will be watching through your ear cameras." He walked back to the door.

Erit stepped forward from where he stood by the wall and added, "Of course, the Estranged you shake hands with cannot be affiliated with SWORDE." Before the recruits could grasp what either of them had said, Erit waved his hand with a "Best of luck!" and followed Terin out of the room.

Several moments passed in silence, until Shenaia said, "What the hell kind of test is that?"

Kalei raised an eyebrow as she continued to stare at the door. "Who knows?"

Mar added, "Who cares? I'm just gonna do it and get this damn training over with." The old woman tore off her ski mask, flung it in a corner, and marched out the door.

Shenaia looked at Kalei, a grin on her face as she said, "He didn't say nothin' about doin' this thing solo. Let's go, little sis! Although I wanna stop by tha closet first. There's no way in hell I'm passin' no test in these damn sweats!"

Kalei followed as Shenaia pranced out the door. "What makes you think I'm the little sister? I'm at least a decade older."

Shenaia looked over her shoulder and smirked. "Trust me, you ain't no big sister ta me."

"Do I need to set you straight, little one?"

Shenaia scoffed. "Go ahead and try!"

Out in the street, Kalei glanced left and right as she tried to make sense of where they were. It occurred to her that she had never spent much time outside of SWORDE HQ, except that time when Lecia had taken her to Tusic. Kalei's sense of direction in the Downtown district was a bit lacking.

She asked, "Where do we find other Estranged?"

"The theatre. They always at tha theatre." There was no hesitation in Shenaia's stride; she was already halfway down the block before Kalei caught up to her.

Kalei replied, "I'm not going to ask."

They had been walking for about half a mile when Kalei told Shenaia, "You know, I'm guessing the entire point of this exercise is that we don't get high from touching them."

"Don't you worry 'bout that." Shenaia pulled a pair of Warden's gloves out of her back pocket. "If you're nice, I'll let you borrow 'em when I'm done."

Kalei raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that cheating?"

"Well, ain't you a goody two-shoes? Did Terin hand you a freakin' rulebook before he left? No." She pulled the left glove down firmly over her wrist. "No rules, no cheatin'."

They took a left down an alleyway, and as they emerged into a parking lot on the other side, Shenaia pointed out, "There." On the far side of the parking lot stood a flat, square building with burnt-out lettering above the entrance which read: C-n-ma. And sure enough, huddled against the outer wall like smokers out for a puff, sat three Estranged.