RED DIAMOND

Chapter Four - Harmon

I pulled my phone out of my leather jacket pocket, it read two-thirty.

Sophia's initiation test would be starting any minute now and Fiona wasn't here yet. Sophia was sitting in a white room on a plastic chair, eyeing the two-way mirror nervously. I gave her a thumbs-up, even though she couldn't see me.

Fiona suddenly burst into the room, "Hey! Sorry I'm late!" She panted.

"It hasn't started yet, you didn't miss anything." I said.

Fiona sighed in relief, "Thank goodness..."

Fiona was dressed in her training outfit; she was wearing a white jacket and a red breastplate. Towards the top left of the breastplate was a dark red, metallic diamond. She wore a silver armband, red fingerless gloves, a black belt, white pants with a black gun holster on her right leg and had black and red boots.

"Just had training I'm guessing?"

Fiona nodded, "Yeah! I did, it's harder than I anticipated! I guess I should've expected that though." I nodded, smirking.

"Happy birthday by the way!" Fiona said.

"You remembered this time!" I exclaimed teasingly. Our birthdays just so happened to be two days apart, and for a couple of years she would forget my birthday completely, mostly from being distracted by her own. I took pleasure in holding it against her ever since.

Fiona buried her face in my shoulder, "I'm sorry, okay!?"

I patted her head, laughing. "Ow, my shoulder's already been hit sixteen times. Punched sixteen times by you."

Fiona pet my shoulder sympathetically, "Sorry..."

"Thank you though." I said, hugging her with one arm.

A tall and lanky yet muscular-looking guy with curly red hair and piercing blue eyes walked into the other room behind where Sophia was sitting. This meant Sophia's initiation test was about to begin. The guy wore a white coat and held a clipboard. As soon as he saw Sophia, he frowned, as did Sophia. Maybe they knew each other? I looked questioningly to Fiona, and as if she had read my mind she shrugged, unable to provide me with an answer.

The guy started by asking Sophia simple questions and writing on his clipboard, their voices were projected from a speaker on our side.

"Hello, Sophia." He said.

Sophia rolled her eyes, "Hello Stephen."

Stephen clicked his pen, "Let's just get this over with. Starting with the basics, have you or your family had a history of any medical conditions or restrictions?"

"I can't eat pork or shellfish, but that's pretty much it."

"Have you had any injuries or illnesses in the last month?"

"No."

"Have you joined any other organizations? If so, why did you leave?"

"I haven't joined any other organizations, I was going to join P.O.T.A.T.O, but they got shut down once I became eligible."

"Mhm, I didn't ask about that. Anyway, have you tried to join an organization and were turned down for any specific reason?"

Sophia shook her head.

"Do you suffer from trauma or other stress-related conditions?"

"No."

"Okay. Now, what's your goal here at Red Diamond?"

"My goal is to- er... Do whatever I can to help Red Diamond's cause and improve our society." She stammered, struggling to choose the best words possible.