From the author:

I'm uploading some of what I've written for an Xcom roleplay being hosted by a youtuber on graylinesgaming. It's a rare look at a character that storms into Xcom with so little known about her. The first chapter is my roleplay application, which had to adhere to some rules about makes it a little different than how I'll actually write successive entries.

I may end up uploading all entries as chapters; not sure. I'll decide later after I see how this is received. Apologies for the super big paragraph spacing, but it's an artifact of how I wrote the application for greylinesgaming's forum. I think future updates can be tighter now that I'm aware of the issue.

First Name: Annette
Last Name: Durand
Gender: Female
Introduction:

A Lifetime Ago...

Annette pulled her coat closed around her neck against le mistral, but the biting cold winds still succeeded at nipping at her legs. She shouldn't have chosen a dress today. She had told herself that while staring into her wardrobe this morning. But today—today she was going to ask her out. She was going to take a leap of faith, and everything was going to change. So she went against her own common sense, and now she paid the price.

The birthday party for Melody, heartstoppingly beautiful, enthralling Melody, was across the base from Annette. Annette practically dove into the SUV in her driveway, slamming the door behind her. As she started it, she nodded politely to a soldier heading for the nearby guard post. She wasn't expected to salute. The military might be providing for her life here, but she wasn't military. She didn't sleep in a barracks or visit a mess hall for meals. The soldier just beat it for the guard post without giving Annette another glance.

Annette checked the seat beside her to reassure herself the gift was still there. The wrapped shoebox was exactly where she'd left it. Inside, a kaleidoscope of pictures hid a precious gift beneath them. It was a necklace with a synthetic triangular diamond. The metalwork around the diamond gave the impression the diamond was a fancy dress adorning a woman. It had been called "Uptown girl" when Annette found it online. Even its name made it a perfect gift for Melody, who loved the city far more than the base.

Annette wondered what about the city drew Melody in. She'd never seen anything amazing there, just a lot of buildings with cement facades and big glass windows. She grew up entirely on base, schooled on base, did everything on base. She hated that she was so rarely allowed to leave.

As Annette arrived at Melody's home, she saw the Commander's car wasn't in the driveway. She was surprised; wasn't he supposed to be here for the birthday party? Did he get called into some emergency on base? There weren't any air raid sirens, and normally it took a lot to pull Gervais away from doting on his daughter.

Annette parked and grabbed her gift, steeling herself for the cold as she opened the door. She ran to the best of her ability up to the door, punching the doorbell. The wind picked up just as the door opened and Melody appeared in the open doorway.

"Thanks for coming, Ann," Melody greeted her, pulling her inside. The door was slammed shut quickly behind them. "That wind is terrible today," she remarked. "Let me take your coat."

Annette shrugged her coat off and gave it to Melody, carefully exchanging her giftbox between her own hands in an awkward ballet. Melody looked so lively and excited for her eighteenth birthday. Annette felt extremely nervous, suddenly desperate for a distraction from what she was going to do later.

Melody treated Annette to a glass of wine that Annette latched onto immediately for her distraction. Annette's other friends came within a few minutes: two boys, Derek and his friend that Annette had never met nor heard of. He introduced himself as Thomas. Then the final arrival: Jeanne. Annette didn't know her well either. They were all growing up on base together, and it was obvious they all knew Melody and each other from class. Annette never had classes with any of them. She was part of Section C, and Section C had its own school, along with the never-ending experiments.

The party was entertaining, but the occasional butterflies in Annette's stomach made it hard to put herself completely into the setting. There was a lot of food made by Melody's parents, and the cake was delicious, but Annette didn't eat much.

The group voted to start some games next. As they played, the others became interested in their new acquaintance and Section C. Melody knew a lot of this already; they'd talked about it on the phone, but Annette tried to be polite and answer them.

"Section C has its own classes. I'm afraid it keeps me from sharing classes with you."

Derek shrugged. "I don't understand. What's so special about you that you don't go to school with us?"

"I'm not special," Annette insisted. She hated it when people said that. Everywhere Annette went, the researchers, her adoptive parents—they all said that, and right after that, they would say she couldn't have the normal life she wanted because of it.

"What do you do there?" Jeanne asked.

Melody beamed. "Oh, it's incredible. They're training her to make her a real-life psychic."

"No way," "You can't be serious," "You're kidding," they interjected all at once.

"Well, what can you do?" Derek questioned.

"I'm not special; I'm not psychic," Annette insisted. "It's just good instincts, really."

"Instincts about what?" Thomas wondered.

"You volunteering to have your mind read?" Melody poked fun, grinning widely. "What does the mysterious Thomas think about, I wonder?"

"Oh, could it be girls?" Jeanne joined in the ribbing. "Hey, I must be a mind-reader too. Sign me up for Section C!"

A general cacophony of jibs and laughter broke out among the group, but Annette wasn't laughing.

"Show us, please," Derek insisted. The others, besides Melody, were quick to add their insistence.

Annette looked to Melody for salvation, but Melody just smiled and shrugged. "Well?" she asked. "Can't hurt."

Annette took a few deep breaths. "Okay, fine, but Melody is going to help me," she insisted. She reached out her hands over the game on the table between them. Melody grabbed her hands. "Close your eyes and think about someplace warm," Annette ordered, her voice shaking a bit. She was too nervous to make this work. She knew it wouldn't work when she was this nervous. Why was she still doing this? "Pic—Picture it in your mind."

"Okay," Melody agreed, closing her eyes.

"Now put a sign in the middle of that picture, and on that sign, put a single word, any word at all."

Annette tried her hardest to reign in her nervousness and concentrate. This was hard in the experimental labs where there wasn't any pressure... In this situation, it was impossible. Annette glimpsed the briefest vision of a murky scene, like looking at something through rippling water. She couldn't even make out if there was a sign there, much less what was written on it.

"Focus on the sign," Annette ordered. She tightened her grip on Melody's hands, but suddenly she felt something. A ring? On her ring finger? The image faded entirely, and Annette's eyes flew open. "A ring?" she asked.

"Nope!" Melody said, opening her eyes too as she smiled. "It was Derek!" She laughed.

"Derek?" Annette asked. She looked at Derek himself, sitting next to Melody. His arm was around her chair now. When had that happened? "Why Derek?" she asked, confused.

"Derek just asked me out this morning!" Melody explained excitedly. "He gave me this ring for my birthday. We're going to the chapel play tonight!"

"Oh my god, you're serious!" Jeanne burst out, her enthusiasm evident. "God damn girl, and you waited until now to tell me!?"

"That can't be," Annette whispered, completely adrift. "No, that's not... I know you don't... I know you like—," her voice gave out, tears building in her eyes. She knew the truth. This was a lie! Melody didn't like Derek, she liked Annette! She had sensed it before! She loves me, Annette told herself. I saw it, two months ago, during our sleepover...

Annette had to prove this was wrong. This was just a joke, a terrible, terrible joke at her expense. She could prove it! She still had Melody's hands in hers. A laser-focus overcame her, and Annette threw everything she had into it. She'd show Melody, and Derek, and Jeanne, all of them would see the truth. She knew the truth! SHE KNEW IT!

"You don't..." Annette said. "I saw it before..." Her eyes twisted as tightly shut as she could make them. Her face took on a grimace from the sheer concentration she was trying to use. At first it was nothing, but then her world erupted into color. A multitude of images, sounds, voices, even Melody's own.

Melody's voice was the only one Annette focused on. She followed it, tracking it like a hound. Everything around her was blurry, but as she tracked that voice, the scenery was beginning to form cohesive shapes. This was what the researchers wanted her to do, but she'd never managed before. Something seemed off as she pressed forward. There were whispers behind her. It sounded like the others in the room. They were saying something urgently; what was it? She could barely make them out, "Stop," "Let her go!" "What are you doing?"

She was close to the truth. She could feel it, just beyond her grasp. Suddenly the world went pitch black, and Annette felt a sharp pain from something slamming into the back of her head.

Annette groaned and opened her eyes. She was lying on the floor, her chair toppled beneath her. Her head was pounding, and tears were streaking down her face. It took her a few moments to clear the worst of the grogginess and figure out what had happened. Everyone was standing by the table. Thomas was leaning over her, looking every bit the guilty culprit. He looked back and forth between Melody and Annette. Annette could just see Melody's face down to her chin before the edge of the table got in-between them. Melody's nose was bleeding.

"What were you doing?" Melody shrieked at her. "What was that!? GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

"Melody," Annette cried, "Please, listen to me!"

"NO! I WANT YOU OUT OF MY HOUSE NOW!" Melody tore herself free of Derek and ran out of the room.

"Are you okay?" Thomas asked. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you fall." He helped Annette extricate herself from the chair and get to her feet slowly.

"I'm... leaving," Annette managed. "I don't... Please Jeanne, tell her I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt her."

Jeanne took a last wary look at Annette, then ran out of the room after Melody.

Annette left immediately, tears still streaming down her face.

By the next morning, she could barely remember driving home from Melody's house that day, or what else happened for the rest of the night. All she remembered was the pain, the feeling of betrayal, and the tears soaking her pillow.

Present Day

Annette rubbed her Uptown Girl necklace between her fingers as she sat on the bustling aircraft, the soldiers across from her looking at her with a hard look. Her saviors all held questions behind their eyes. She could hear them, even though none of their mouths moved a muscle. She couldn't really begrudge them their looks. There wasn't anything else to look at, the walls barren and without windows. The aircraft jostled some more.

She wondered briefly why she kept it when Melody sent her gift back and refused to ever see or talk to her again. She wondered if it was masochism, a desire to harm herself with her own thoughts. If it was, it didn't work. The necklace didn't bring back pain with the memories anymore; just melancholy. It had become a simple reminder that she was still alone, even among others.

And the aliens... The beings of terror she could have never imagined on her own, they had done something to her. Before, her intuition was limited, the images murky. But when she grabbed that soldier's hand and boarded their craft, it had been instantaneous. The face of someone they'd lost. She could tell as easily as if she'd been there to see them learn of the death.

There was no doubt in Annette's mind that she would never understand what they did to her without help. She knew that the aliens would come after her again and again. They wouldn't stop until she was theirs or she was dead.

Let them come, Annette told herself. Because I've found someone who can fight them, and if they want me, they will bleed before they get me.

She had nothing more to lose. The world looked so bleak, worse than the metal tube surrounding her. She let go of her necklace, letting it fall against her chest. Maybe she was made for this. Maybe she couldn't have a normal life because she was special. But maybe, just maybe, she could still find a place to belong among X-COM, the multinational family created solely to fight monsters. Maybe there was a chance, however small, that Annette Durand didn't have to feel out of place, listless, and alone.

Pledge: I have, on this day, voluntarily enlisted myself, as an elite military soldier, in the X-COM special forces. I am giving myself, unconditionally, to the cause. I do bind myself to conform, in all instances, to such rules and regulations, as set forth by my supreme commander ChristopherOdd. I trust him with my life. And by taking this oath, I realize, I may ultimately lose something while defending the planetary systems. My life.