The S.H.A.N.E. Game (editing)

Chapter 2: Not All Blondes Are Dumb

The cover to the side is made by @dxntlikeme_ ! Guys, she's an awesome cover maker. Check it out! - - - - - - - - >

|| Nikki ||

"Isn't our new recruit supposed to be here now?" Alicia asks me impatiently, clicking her sharp cat claws against the cold stonewalls of the crumbling house beside us. I glance at the sun, which is slightly more to the west. Probably 1:50. I groan and roll my eyes at her. "Hold your horses, blonde."

"I don't know why people don't name a type of -cism for discrimination against blondes," she says irritably, flipping her slightly curled blond locks. Blue eyes, blond hair; I don't know why people find them so attractive. Alicia continues. "There's racism for discrimination against blacks and Asians, but none for us? Poor blondes."

"How long am I supposed to stay with this crazy bimbo?" I hiss into my mouthpiece, which the Maroon Jackets made especially for being fitted beside your lower right canine. It picks up even the faintest sound, so it's all I can do not to shout at the blonde or else the others back at mission control may get deaf.

"Only for thirty-one more minutes, Agent Connor. If she doesn't show up, leave ASAP," Sara says. I can hear Erin giggling in the background. Her voice then crackles over my earpiece. "Don't vent out your blonde-ism on poor Alicia, Nikki."

"Yeah I know, but she's so annoying," I whisper back, watching from the corner of my eye as Alicia clacks her claws against the wall again and anxiously checks her nails. "I swear; if our new recruit doesn't show up, I'm up and away."

"I don't think you have to wait long, though," Alicia says, overhearing me. "My tracker is picking up the paper you gave her. "She's about a block away."

"Thank God," I sigh, crossing my arms. "I think you should put your claws away, though. You don't want to freak the newbie out."

"Hey, it's not my fault if the newbie's a scaredy-cat or some modern Joan of Arc, because you're the one who decided to recruit her one day at a sports store," the blonde shoots back. Suddenly, her tracker screen flashes red, which means that we have company. I glance at her. "Is that the newbie?"

"No," she answers, her icy blue eyes never leaving the screen. "I can't read her code."

It was Erin who suggested we engrave a tracker code into the corner of the paper. That way, we could easily detect when our new recruit was arriving. "What do you mean? Do a body-scan. Is he a threat?"

"That's what I'm doing, genius. You don't have to tell me everything. There's a reason I got into the Jackets, you know. Not all blondes are dumb."

"Well, hurry up then." I tap my feet impatiently. After a while I hear a soft humming noise followed by a beep. Alicia tells me the readings. "He's five-foot-seven, has pitch-black hair, wide stance and long arms. I don't think he's a threat though. He carries no known weapons."

"Um duh, he carries no known weapons. The Jackets know all the weapon types," I say. "Who cares, just sharpen your claws in case."

"I did. Have you loaded your XV300 yet?" she asks me. I roll my eyes and nod. "Duh."

We're silenced by slowly increasing footsteps. We shut our mouths and slip into the shadows of the walls of the abandoned house, weapons at the ready. The sounds come closer, and the cogs in my brain starts turning. He's light on his feet, judging from the faint sound. Plus, I can already guess that he's quick, because of how patterned his footsteps are.

The man comes into view, his back turned to us as he stands by the bus stop, which I just noticed was there now. Alicia and I let out a collective sigh of relief. "Not a threat."

Those words barely left our mouths when he tracker starts flashing red again. Alicia taps the screen a few times. "Before you freak out, I can read her code. I think that's our new recruit."

"I wouldn't have freaked out. That's your thing," I say, shoving my stun gun into the pocket of my backpack. "Keep your claws."

The tiny green blinking dot comes closer to the two small black ones, who're Alicia and I. We hear light footsteps around the corner, muffled by the material of probably leather boots. A face peeks around the wall of the crumbling house, and piercing black eyes connect with mine. Alicia whispers to me that that's our girl, and it's all I can do not to say 'duh', since I was the one who found her in the first place.

"Hi," the girl says with an Asian accent. I take in her shoulder-length, ponytailed jet-black hair, pale complexion and small eyes. Chinese; maybe Japanese. "Are you the person who gave me this paper?" she asks, holding up a creased bond paper with a single sentence on it. It catches sunlight and our tracker code shows faintly.

"Yep. You're the girl at the sports store, right?" I inquire, taking the paper from her and tearing it to shreds. I must've looked pretty scary while doing that because Alicia is now giving me a 'you-told-me-to-not-scare-her-but-look-at-you' look, which I think only I can understand. The newbie, though, shows no emotion, and nods.

"What's your name?" Alicia asks her, flashing her sweetest smile, which I think only blondes can pull off.

"I'm Hana Minami. My ryoushin had me move to America three years ago, where I had to live with my uncle-"

Japanese. "You can tell us your life story later, Hana. Should I call you that, or Agent Minami?"

"Hana would be better."

"Well, Hana, you can tell us your life story later. We keep a tight schedule, you know. Unless you aren't aware of what the Maroon Jackets are?" I inquire frankly, giving her a dumbfounded look.

"No, I know exactly what you guys do. You're the government agency that goes on extreme missions that involve crimes and other major offenses to the law."

"Where'd you learn that information?"

"I searched it online."

Turning to Alicia, I say, "Remind me to tell Erin to do a virus scan when we get to HQ. Have her track down the website URL and have it removed."

"Yes, boss." Alicia tilts her head at Hana as if to say 'she's always like that'. The newbie just shrugs and gives us a thin-lipped smile. "Okay, how do we get to your headquarters?"

"Sara should have sent a car here by now," Alicia answers. "When we get there, we'll run you through some tests, which will determine if you're qualified enough to join us. Think of it as cheerleading tryouts, okay?"

"Sure." Hana raises her eyebrows, and I question why. She just shrugs again and gives me a sheepish smile. "I thought you guys came here by teleportation or something. The Maroon Jackets are just so high-tech that I forgot that you still use cars."

"Erin is still doing experiments on our new teleportation unit. If all goes well, we'll be doing tests on it in a few weeks. With Erin West, nothing in all the laws of science is impossible." Alicia grins. My earpiece crackles to life again. Erin is laughing. "Did Alicia just give me a compliment?"

"It's not a big deal, you know. If I, however, gave you a compliment, that would be a miracle," I say plainly. She just laughs again. Since when was I so funny?