Author: Yeah! The second chapter! Haha! I find Tea in this story, very cute. I mean, with her getting lost when we all know that her sense of direction is very good and she has superb identification skills. Poor her.. I've degraded her. But only for a while!
Blitz12: Too much credit? Haha. No la… I'm just doing things to make sure my reader(s) are happy.
Tea unpacked her box of stationery and other stuff and arranged them neatly on her table. The cubicle wasn't small. Neither was it too big. It seemed, cozy and just right for her size. She is quite tiny. She placed her photo frames of her family and her brother right beside her computer screen. Her brother. Oh, how she missed him dearly. How she wished that news didn't come six years back. How she wished he hadn't risked his life. But then, working in the police force, it's nearly impossible to not risk your own life for someone else's safety.
Her train of thoughts were interrupted when she heard a knock on her cubicle. When she turned around on the swivel chair, she was greeted by a wide flashy smile belonging to a blue haired girl. Tea noticed that that girl's rank was one below her – Senior Station Inspector (2).
"Hi! You must be new here! I'm Senior Station Inspector Subaru Nakajima." She said while holding out her right hand.
Tea took her hand in hers and shook it firmly. " Hi. I'm Inspector Teanna Lanstar. I just signed up a month ago and now I'm here."
Subaru's eyes widened and she quickly let Tea's hand go and then she was at attention position and saluted her. "Forgive me Inspector Lanstar! I didn't realize your rank!"
Tea smiled and shook her head. "It's okay. At ease." Subaru did as she was told.
"Don't worry. You can just call me Tea."
Subaru gave Tea another pearly white smile and then said, " Okay then, Tea! Welcome to Delta Force office!"
"Thank you, Subaru." Just then, she heard footsteps heading towards her cubicle and soon she saw two other heads pop by. A boy who has fiery red hair and a cute petite little girl with pink hair. She was pleasantly surprised when they appeared. So, these are the two child prodigies that I have heard of so much from my friends. They're cute.
"Hello, there Inspector." Greeted Erio and Caro while saluting to her. They were only the rank of Station Inspector. Three ranks below Tea.
"Hello there. You must be Erio," said Tea, pointing to Erio. "And you must be Caro." She said pointing to Caro. Erio and Caro nodded and gave her a wide smile. "Well, I've heard quite a good deal about the both of you from the academy." Said Tea. "Oh, and by the way, just call me Tea. Drop the Inspector. I feel old."
Erio and Caro nodded. "Hai!"
Then, out of nowhere, Vice popped up behind Caro, Erio and Subaru. "Well, seems to me like you've met nearly everyone in Delta Force."
"Oh, Vice-san. Well, I suppose I have." She replied with a smile. She then noticed Subaru ogling at Vice. Her eyes were full of stars. I suppose she likes him.
"Well, I'm not being the party pooper here but, there's a meeting later in fifteen minutes. Commissioner Hayate expects us all to be there." He announced. He then noticed Subaru staring at him. He then said, "Hi, Subaru." He then left.
Subaru's eyes went as wide as plates and she squealed and jumped for joy. Tea stared at her in amazement and gave Erio and Caro questioning looks. Both of them just sighed and shrugged their shoulders. Subaru was still jumping for joy and screaming something like, "He talked to me!"
At the conference room, the entire Delta Force team were seated at the table. All were silent while waiting for the arrival of Commissioner Hayate and Deputy Commissioners Fate and Nanoha. When they arrived, everyone stood up and saluted them as a mark of respect. They were told to be seated. Once they were seated, the meeting began.
"Good morning everyone," Hayate began. "I'm pleased to introduce to you our newest recruit. She just graduated from the academy and is here to join us today. I'm sure some of you have already met her. Inspector Lanstar." At her name, Tea stood up and gave a short bow. The people at the table gave her an applause.
"Now I'll hand the meeting over to Fate and Nanoha." Said Hayate.
"As you all know," a slide show began. "Tanowa City has been targeted by terrorist. They threaten to take the city down. They have already bombed a few schools and has caused many lives to be lost. The only lead that we have is this." Nanoha nodded her head, giving Fate the signal to change slides.
The slide changed and a letter was shone. It said, "Water is the rejuvenator of life. Air is the giver of life. Fire is the destroyer of life. 13.20.02/12 0800"
"What it means, the other Forces have no idea. We are the only Force left. Only we can save the city." With that the slide show ended and the lights went back on.
"In front of you there's a file containing information that may help you with your investigation. Inspector Vice will be the head for this case. Time is running out. We wish you all luck." With the final words from Fate, the meeting ended.
Delta Force exited the conference room right after Fate, Hayate and Nanoha left. All of them pondered on what that letter meant. Tea was cracking her head trying to make sense of the letter when she bumped into something – or someone. This is the second time in an hour! She looked up to see who she walked into this time.
"Oh, Vice. I'm so sorry. Today's just not my day." She commented while rubbing her nose.
"Don't worry about it. Happens to everyone all the time. Is your nose okay?" he asked.
"It'll live." She answered while rubbing her nose. Vice smiled handsomely. Tea blushed.
When they reached their office, Tea went back to her cozy cubicle. Vice then sent an order saying that it is up to them to crack the code. Their assistance is very much needed by the other forces. For now, they don't have to worry about them being put in the line of defense and capturing and going after the crooks. Their mission for now, is to crack the code.
While Tea was cracking her head and jotting notes down, Subaru popped by.
"So, uh, what do you think of Vice?" asked Subaru.
"Hmm? Vice? Well, he's nice and handsome but I find his character to be similar if not equal to that of a casanova." She stated blatantly.
Subaru cocked her eyebrow at her statement. She then asked why.
"Look at him. Everywhere he goes, he talks to his lady colleagues like he's in a bar attempting to bed at least one of them."
Subaru was shocked at her statement. Talk about excellent observation skills! She then fought back saying, "Then why in the world do you even talk to him in the first place?"
"Because, he didn't talk to me in that manner when I first met him. He seems decent. But I for one would not want to keep my guard down."
"You are one tough nut to crack, Tea."
Tea sighed and put her pen down. She then stood up and faced Subaru. "I have to be like a nut. I don't want the past to repeat itself."
Subaru was taken aback at her statement yet again. She doesn't want the past to repeat itself? What does she mean by that?
Tea rubbed her temples and said, "If you would excuse me, I would like to get myself a cup of coffee." With that, she left leaving behind a very confused Subaru to crack, yet another code.
Five minutes later, Tea came back to her cubicle with a cup of coffee in hand and resumed her code cracking. She tapped her pen on the table a little frustrated that the code was confusing. Then, she looked at the photo of her brother and her when they were young. She smiled sadly to herself and then forced herself to concentrate on the case. She read the words over and over again.
Tea's POV
Water is the rejuvenator of life. Spring water? But there's no water spring in Tanowa City. Rain? How can the terrorist target rain? Okay… How about air the giver of life. Heck air is practically every where. And fire, the destroyer of life. They don't mean they want to start a fire? Okay, let me see the facts. These terrorist target places where there are many people and so far, the attack radius is twenty kilometers from each other.
Let me see. Twenty kilometers radius from the recent bomb attack is… Oh my god!
Author: Haha!! A cliff hangar! Why won't you guess what will happen in the next chapter eh? Haha! Happy figuring out.Please do review. Oh, and maybe ask your friends to read the story as well?
