The Cardinal

"Sorry if I failed to clarify who I am to you, newbie."

"Oh, pardon me, sir." she ends her sentence with a mocking bow. The hatred I see deep down in her expression. It catches me on the wrong foot. "Would you be kind enough to spell it out for me?"

"Of course," I smile through gritted teeth. "It would be such a pity if I stripped a newbie of a good life lesson." I take a step closer towards her not breaking eye contact.

She looks uncomfortable but refuses to take a step back.

"If you want to be more than a fucking puppet that likes of Jack manipulate, you should be more subtle. Maybe even more than you are observant. 'Cause you are a natural at grabbing attentions, ..." I look down at her badge as if I haven't already memorised her name "... Alicia."

We stand like that in the middle of the corridor for a while and I take a step back with a small cough. She doesn't open her mouth to come back at me with a witty response for the rest of the walk.

She clears her throat when it's time for her to enter the Examination Room.

"So," she says and starts fiddling with her fingers. "Any more last minute advice for this newbie?"

"Just be yourself. I can tell you have much of a fighter in there." I point at her chest.

...

Sasha, in other words Alicia - her new name for a new start in the Cardinal as a new recruit in the Phoenixes- has been waiting for the moment to take the revenge of her parents who were murdered by the government. The government that treats its own citizens with such hostility just because they are on the wrong side of the River.