The following is an account of Neo's time at Haven (and further on) while undercover with Cinder, Emerald and Mercury. There will be a few ships touched on, mostly those involving Neo, as time goes on.

The first thing I hear in the morning are birds. The birds are wrong. This bed is wrong. The air is wrong. I don't belong here.

As reality sinks into my groggy mind, I remember where I am. Haven, off the coast Mistral. I miss my old bed. I miss my old team. I thought I was out of the game for good. But when Roman called me in for a huge score, I leapt at the chance. Had I known that it'd be like this, I wouldn't have been so excited.

I hate this place. I hate this school. I hate this plan. But most of all, I hate her.

"All of you. Wake up." The overly sultry voice of Cinder billows out.

I crack open an eye to see her already in the black uniform handed out during last night's ceremony. The jackass and the kissass are both responding like trained dogs. I take my time. I want it clear that I'm not here for her.

The rooms is sparsely decorated. None of us have any personal affects. From what I've gathered, the one with green hair was a thief and the guy with silver hair is a hired killer – Maybe we have some common ground after all.

"Hurry up, dead girl." Emerald snidely chides me.

Dead girl. I'd be more mad at Emerald if that wasn't sort of true. I still flip her off as I get up and saunter over to a mirror. The uniform is bland but easy to project, so there's no issue putting myself together in moments.

Once everyone is ready, Cinder stops at the door to lecture.

"We have to attend classes like normal students. Don't excel too hard, stay only just above the others. Scout out the strongest teams and take note of any weakness they may have." Cinder orders, playing the general.

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Got it."

"…" I don't reply.

"Neo…or I guess it's Nanaimo now. I trust you can still contribute while we have you on loan." Cinder questions.

I roll my eyes and nod lightly.

"Good, let's go." She announces.

"Are you insane!? You could have blown our cover!" Cinder yells at me for nearly killing a student. He had it coming. I don't like bullies. Cinder turned to Emerald. "What the hell happened?"

"Some kid was trying to chat the little freak up and I guess he didn't like the silent treatment. So he started to tease her about not talking. Oh and for being a midget. Guess that set her off, cause he was on the ground pretty quick." She explains, not really painting me in a good light.

Cinder paced a little. "Don't try that again. Once can be explained as student in fighting. Do it more and people start asking questions and watching us too closely."

"B-but she started a fight. She disobeyed you and you're just going to let—" Emerald words were cut off by a harsh strike across the face.

"Do not lecture me." Cinder scolds. "I can work with Neo's outburst, but don't think you can get lippy."

Emerald's posture shifted into complete passiveness and submission, bowing her head in acceptance. I don't know how I feel about this dynamic. I don't like Emerald one bit but this is just pathetic to watch.

Mercury is on his bed, watching the whole debacle with a grin on his face. "If you're all done with your cat fight, I got the low down on a pretty high ranked second year team. Should be easy to manipulate later down the road."

"Oh? Do tell. What team is it?" Cinder asks, leaving her beaten pet to wallow.

"Team SSSN." Mercury replies.

I have no interest in this conversation. I slip into bed and drown it all out. I hate her. I hate this plan. I hate this school. I hate this place.

The last thing I hear before falling asleep are birds. The birds are wrong.