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Two Weeks Later, Facility Cafeteria, Morning, Delenn's POV
In all my time as a member of the Religious caste, I have never known such a… diverse world, she thought, entering the room where all students gathered for meals at set times.
When her first day of classes had ended, she had believed that her future undertaking phase one education would be much like her first year as an official member of the Religious caste seven years ago. She would stumble, she would make a few missteps, but through careful observation of the more senior recruits as well as the instructors, she would learn how to behave as well as what was important. She had believed that it would be the same for her first few weeks but that belief died a quick death because it was not other Minbari she was interacting with, but humans.
They were a species unlike any she had encountered before, if only because of the sheer variety that existed within every aspect of who they were. Languages, beliefs, religions, cultures, customs and many more things were of such a number that she could very well spend her entire life learning just half of what the planet Earth had to offer. While not all things of that nature were represented within the facility, there was still enough variety that it was quite difficult to comprehend everything she saw or was told. There were so many slang terms and figures of speech that did not make sense to her, not to mention behaviors that seemed bizarre to her even if the other recruits considered it normal to act that way. She had already begun to study the various academic sources available through the facility's database but she was beginning to think that it might be more informative to ask someone to get their firsthand explanation rather than rely on cold, lifeless facts.
That was part of the reason why she hoped that Xander would be in the Cafeteria.
Since their first day at the facility they had nurtured a growing friendship between each other, rendering aid to the other whenever a class became too hard to advance through alone. She helped him familiarize himself with the various alien species that existed in the galaxy and she had even agreed to teach him some of the more commonly used languages among the space faring races. Naturally she had started with her own people's language and, while she would not call him gifted in the area of languages, he proceeded at an acceptable pace. By her estimate it would likely take him another two months before they would be able to hold a simple conversation in Minbari but that was mostly due to the demands of their regular classes.
In exchange for her lessons in languages and alien races, he was helping her with the more combat-oriented classes that, if she were honest with herself, did not come naturally to her. While the conflict with the Warrior caste had forced almost a full third of their members to learn the way of the warrior, she had not been instructed in those methods of dealing with an adversary. She had been taught the core teachings of her caste and her tasks, as she'd grown amongst them, had not required that she become familiar with combat or violence. Now that she had made the choice to become a member of the MiB, it was required that she pass a set standard of skill both with the weapons they wielded and their ability to fight hand-to-hand. While Xander was no more familiar with the weapons of the organization than she was, his time fighting the darkness of his hometown did place him quite ahead of her in the area of combat.
Thus far, though, he had been focusing on her physical conditioning, following the reasoning that if her body wasn't strong enough, teaching her hand-to-hand combat techniques would hurt more than help. It was proving to be an arduous experience to say the least. For the members of the Religious caste, they were only as fit as minimal eating habits and general labor allowed. For the duration of her time as a member, she had thought that that would be enough but now she was beginning to realize just how great the gap was between herself and a MiB agent. With this reality placed before her, she had done her best to follow Xander's advice and was building her physical strength at a respectable pace.
Or at least what she hoped was a respectable pace.
She'd have to ask Xander if he thought she was improving or not.
Looking about the cafeteria, she soon found him and after she'd picked something suitable to eat for morning meal she made her way over to the table he sat at. It was then she noticed that he seemed more… lethargic… than he usually was first thing in the morning. While he had conceded to having to adjust his sleeping schedule to better fit the MiB classes, he hadn't given any indication that it'd take this sort of toll on him.
"Is there something wrong Xander? You do not look well," she said as she sat down in a vacant chair on the side of the table opposite him.
"Huh? Oh, Delenn. I just didn't get as much sleep last night as I usually do." he said, looking up from his meal.
"Did something happen?" she asked, concerned for the young man who'd become her friend.
"Yeah. I… sorta… found out that my roommate has some strange interests. Really strange," he replied before shaking his head as though to dismiss a thought. "I think he and I managed to work out a deal that'll let me get the sleep I need though. Now I just need to forget what I saw and heard so everything goes back to normal."
"What exactly is he interested in?" she asked, wondering what could be so strange that it would cause her friend to have trouble sleeping.
"Um… well… I'd kinda rather not say… but… well, let's just say that it's something that would cause everyone of the female gender to get angry with them. Perhaps violently angry," Xander replied, obviously uncomfortable with the topic of conversation.
It was a rather odd response and, even after a cursory debate in her mind, she couldn't really think of any interest or activity that'd cause her to dislike someone the instant she learned of it. Indeed, she could not even recall a single thing back when she was amongst her people that had angered to such a degree that did not involve the civil war. Usually it was when someone stated that cruel and painful methods should be used against their enemies as repayment for the loss of so many loved ones. She, of course, had been opposed to this and made it clear that they could not lose sight of the teachings that made the Religious caste what it was both to them as well as the people. It was at the core of their beliefs to treasure life in all its forms for they were all star stuff, all pieces of the universe split off so it could learn more about itself, and therefore to wish unnecessary harm upon another of their kind was a clear betrayal of their teachings. Usually this was enough to bring the speaker shame but, every once in a while, the one who made the statement would merely storm off, not remorseful in the least about what they'd said.
I truly know so little about the humans and their world. Perhaps it would be best to let this topic go until I am better informed, she thought as she searched for something else to talk about.
"So what about your roommate? How are you getting along with her?" he asked with polite interest and a half grin on his face.
"Catherine has been most helpful!" she replied with a smile mirrored in her tone. "She has been helping me learn more about your world and the things I will need to know in order to blend in should I be qualified to be a field agent of the MiB."
"Good! It'd be a little wierd if you forgot to do something everyone else takes for granted," he said, sounding glad that she was getting along so well.
"Yes I must confess that many of your world's customs and phrases confuse me," she said, remembering her earlier thoughts. "Could you perhaps explain a few to me?"
"Sure. I might not have heard of some of them but I'll do what I can to explain the ones I know," he replied with a grin still on his face.
"I overheard some of our classmates talking once and one said that his sister's boyfriend was a real airhead. What does 'airhead' mean?"
"Well, when you call someone an 'airhead', that means you think they're an idiot or a fool. That they're so stupid there has got to be nothing but air in their skulls instead of a brain. While it can be used with both guys and gals, most people attach it to women, or at least that's been my experience."
So what her fellow student was meant as an insult towards his sister's boyfriend. It was rather unfair and what mattered were the feelings that the sister and her lover had for one another. If the boyfriend's intelligence was… lacking… then that would simply be something the two of them could work on together.
"Another thing I heard was someone telling else not to 'blow a fuse'. What does that mean?" she asked, recalling another discussion she overheard.
"Basically what you heard was someone telling someone else not to lose their temper," he replied promptly, reinforcing the commonness of the phrase. "Most buildings on Earth have electricity going through the wiring in the walls and it's all connected through a fuse box. When there's a power surge or a short circuit, the fuse box tends to start sparking violently and sometimes even catches on fire, so you can see how losing your temper fits with the comparison."
"Yes, I suppose so," she said as her understanding grew. "One more thing, Xander. I heard one of the men in our class say that he 'got some cowgirl last night'. What did he mean? What is a 'cowgirl'?"
This phrase was apparently much more difficult for Xander because he looked decidedly uncomfortable and almost seemed to be looking for a way to avoid
"Well… I'm not sure about the EXACT meaning of the phrase but I think it means that he… spent the evening having fun with his lover." Xander replied since he seemed to watch his wording carefully.
Obviously there was a deeper meaning to his words but Xander was either uncomfortable with it or thought she might take offense at its true meaning.
Deciding that it would be best to move to safer topics, she started talking about what they'd learned in class so far and how they'd do the best they could to make field agent status. While she would be happy to serve in whatever capacity was needed, Xander had made it clear that he preferred to something more exciting than sitting behind a desk or mopping floors. To him that meant that only the job of field agent would satisfy him and, as her only friend, that meant she wished to become a field agent as well, if only to remain close to her friend.
Only time, effort and chance would determine if they both got what they wanted.
One Week Later, The Hallways of the Phase One MiB Facility, Xander's POV
I swear I'm either going to go insane or learn how to get by on four hours of sleep, he thought as he walked down the halls to the gym for an afternoon workout. I like the ladies as much as any other guy but even I am not the freak that Stan is.
Stan, his roommate, had been okay enough starting things off and hadn't looked to be anything other than your average twenty-something young man. However that had changed over time once he'd gotten a little too curious for his own good and decided to peek over the guy's shoulder to see what was so interesting. He'd thought perhaps it was an interesting story or maybe some kind of intergalactic newspaper since both would be enough to keep his interest.
What he'd seen had been two parts revolting and one part… interesting.
What had been plastered on the dorm room's screen and piping through the earphones was nothing less than intergalactic porn at its most hardcore. Some of it hadn't been too bad, with lovely ladies from Orion as well as other similarly humanoid female aliens, but Stan had only been mildly interested in those pictures and vid-clips. His roommate's real interests focused more on the… less than human alien races that he could find pornographic material on. It'd been more than a little weird and he'd done his best to find SOMETHING reasonable about Stan's preferences, but other than the fact that some of them could force themselves into a loosely humanoid shape, there was NOTHING. The guy had tried to explain the superiority of such females over those with a greater amount of similarities to human females but, after a while, he'd just claimed a case of too much information. From that point on he'd done his best to block out anything that Stan did on the computer but it was getting to the point where he was going to have to do all his homework on the library computers.
Wallpapers, vid-clips set on loop and, as of last night, a customized desktop layout from fonts to colors.
He'd already invested in some earplugs and he was considering getting some sort of eye mask to block out the visuals when he wanted some sleep but Stan had apparently taken the earplugs as a personal insult. Sometimes the guy would hide them, sometimes he'd push the volume to the max and sometimes he'd plaster pics on the ceiling so that the first thing he'd see when he woke up was one of his more 'interesting' ladies. Part of him really wanted to go to administration and ask to swap rooms with someone else but he sort of felt like if he did it'd be the same as being a crybaby. He wanted to be a field agent, one of the people who took it to the scum of the universe, so complaining about a roommate's tastes and asking for a swap seemed a little wimpy. So he'd continue to deal as best he could and, when he needed a pick me up, he'd be sure to choose something high in sugar and caffeine. Sure, it'd be tough staying in shape chugging back stuff like that but, since it'd only last until Stan and him ceased to be roommates, he figured he could afford it.
Turning the corner, he spotted the two doors that led to men and women's locker rooms but, before he could approach the right door, he saw something that had him a little worried. Further down the hall a couple of feet and against the wall opposite the locker room entrances was his roommate Stan intently looking at the screen of what looked like a Sega Game Gear. At first he was willing to let it pass since it was normal for someone to be playing videogames, but his inner cynic though pointed out that such things would only be of interest to Stan under certain conditions. Therefore he felt it was his duty to sneak a peak at the screen and, if his inner cynic was right, then he'd snatch the device away from the guy and hide it someplace where he'd never find it.
And if there were some genuinely important files on it… well, that would just be the icing on the cake of justice that Stan would have forced down his throat.
Fortunately for him the guy was so interested with what he was watching it wasn't until the last possible second that he looked up and by then it was easy to snatch the device out of his hands. Dancing back like a professional keep away player, he waited until Stan paused in his efforts to retrieve it before taking a peek himself and found he had to pat his inner cynic on the back. Right on the screen, with surprising clarity and color, was a spy camera's bird's eye view of the interior of the women's locker room. As he discovered when his thumb nudged the directional button it was apparently possible change the direction that the camera was looking a little bit.
Stan must've snuck in there when it was empty and planted the camera before escaping, he thought as he put the pieces of the puzzle together. There's still one question that needs answering, though. "You do realize that there're only human females in there right?"
"Heh, that's what you think," Stan said with a smug, superior grin. "Have you forgotten about the class where Agent U told us about 'human suits'?"
"Yeah. What about them?" he asked, not sure where his roommate was going with his question.
"It means that there could be other aliens in our class besides that friend of yours and we'd never know it until they took off their human suits." Stan said, still sounding quite smug. "And what better place for me to get some choice pictures then the women's locker room? They'd have to take off their human suits in there!"
Figures. Surfing the net for porn's not enough for him his has to set up his own personal peep show, he thought as he rolled his eyes at the man's choice of activities.
"Now give me back those controls!" Stan said as he once more began to try and steal the control device. "I'm missing the best part!"
"Not happening!" he said as he did his best to counter the perv's efforts. "Don't you know it's not near as much fun if they don't show you the goods of their own free will?"
"True, but for the time being I'll take what I can get!" Stan said as he grabbed onto both of the arms holding the controls.
Back and forth they wrestled with the device and, when it came to technique, they were pretty much equal so he wasn't given much of a chance to think beyond his next counter. He could tell that they were moving about the hallway but it'd gone back and forth so often he couldn't tell WHERE in the hallway they were. It could have been ten feet further down the hall or could've gone back the way he'd come.
He had no way of knowing for certain without taking a moment to look around and he knew Stan'd take advantage of that lapse to press his advantage and seize the controls from him.
In the end, though, whether it was through luck or superior skill, Stan managed to hook a leg behind one of his, causing him to lose his balance and fall backwards. He'd thought that he'd wind up either on his back or against a wall but, much to his surprise, while he did go up against something solid it gave way beneath his weight almost instantly. It was only when he heard gasps of shock and a few short screams of surprise that he thought to look around and see what happened. There were three things he was able to conclude by what he saw and none of them were good.
First the thing he'd impacted against that gave way was the door to the women's locker room.
Second was the fact that all of the ladies inside were in various states of undress, ranging from unbuttoning their white shirts to being as naked as the day they were born. Funny thing was that it turned out Stan was right: there were a few more aliens in the facility hiding within human suits, though he doubted his roommate would be happy since they were all of a humanoid female nature.
Lastly, ninety percent of the ladies in the room were directing a decidedly unhappy glare in his direction and, as much as he'd like to think the pissed look was only meant for Stan, he knew his luck didn't run that way.
"I WAS RIGHT!" Stan exclaimed triumphantly as he looked joyously about the locker room, completely ignoring the angry looks being sent his way. "Too bad there aren't more tentacles and blob bodies, though."
Now THAT didn't do either him or Stan any favors since it was a universal rule that neither slights to a female's looks or proud pervs made women happy.
"SO not important right now, Stan," he said as he quickly got to his feet and turned away from the varyingly clothed females. "Sorry for barging in here, ladies. Don't know how much good it'll do but I'm innocent here. Stan planted a camera in here and when I found out, I grabbed the controls for it. We fought over it and stumbled in here. We'll be leaving now."
Grabbing Stan by the arm, he forcibly dragged his roommate out of the locker room with every ounce of strength he could muster so that the twenty-something man couldn't piss the ladies off anymore than the two of them already had. The two of them didn't get more than ten feet from the locker room before someone stepped into their path that guaranteed they weren't going to get away with just the ire of the ladies in the locker room.
"You two, the administration office. NOW." Agent L said, pinning both of them with a glare that made it clear that crossing her would not be wise AT ALL.
Snapping to attention, he immediately followed the seasoned MiB agent down the hallway, most likely to the elevators, and made sure Stan didn't slip away. If he was going to get in trouble for what'd just happened then so was his roommate. Hopefully, if he kept things, honest the people in charge would believe him when he said that he had nothing to do with Stan's peep show. If not he'd likely be labeled a pervert right along with Stan and that would not do him any favors with anyone, especially Delenn, who'd been in the locker room. His only saving grace was that she was innocent enough to believe him when he said it was an accident unless someone she trusted told her differently. From what he'd been able to figure out, the Minbari didn't have perverts or men that acted like most teenagers with their hormones going full throttle. True, he only had what the MiB database had on them plus Delenn's own descriptions but he felt he could trust them to speak for the majority of the Minbari.
Whatever. Now I gotta worry about talking my way out of trouble and maybe persuade the people in charge to get me a new roommate, he thought as he entered the elevator with Agent L and Stan. Maybe doing this will be enough to get Stan booted out of MiB entirely. It kinda sucks but it's probably best for intergalactic relations that he doesn't get past this point.
Whether it was good for intergalactic relations that HE got past this point… it'd be interesting to find out so he'd go as far as he could.
Catherine's POV
One Month Later, Phase One Facility Firing Range, Early Evening
The landscape of competition in her class had pretty much settled and she now knew precisely who she had to eliminate if she wanted to achieve field agent status rather than some desk job.
The first two rivals were Mike and Dan but she already knew their Achilles heels well enough that eliminating them wouldn't be too big of a bother. Mike was a gun fanatic who'd been practically drooling over the new weapons that Agent U had shown them. All she needed to do was make sure that the access codes for the weapons locker got into his possession and the rest would take care of itself. The fool would start using some of the heavier weaponry that they hadn't been trained in yet and then blow something up, leaving a sizeable black mark on his record, removing him from field agent consideration. As for getting the access codes, that wouldn't be a problem because, despite Agent U's moderate competency as an instructor, the man wasn't all that observant.
And he left his list of access codes and passwords in the same place as her old C.O. did.
As for Dan, the man considered himself something of a food expert that had eaten just about everything the planet Earth had to offer. While the guy hadn't come right out and said anything, she could tell that he wanted to expand his palate to some of the alien dishes but hadn't had the opportunity yet. Using the same list of access codes she'd gotten from U, she could get into the facility cafeteria and, like all MiB facilities, they kept a selection of alien food on hand in case of visitors. All she had to do was select a dish that the database stated would leave a human ill for several weeks and Dan would have to wait for the next opening before becoming a field agent.
The difficult one to remove would be Delenn as the young woman was shaping up to be more than just the token alien threat she'd originally surmised.
Whether it was due to recruit Xander's assistance or just the Minbari's own natural abilities, the college-looking girl was quickly shaping up to be serious field agent material. Apparently Delenn had some skill as a diplomat that made her good at negotiation and that was something Agent U approved of since it'd let her talk down perps before things got flashy. With recruit A's help, the former member of the Religious caste was quickly catching up with the rest of them in terms of physical conditioning as well as weapon proficiency. Delenn was, as of yesterday, just barely past the level of civilian in terms of skill with the weapons and, if she kept on progressing that way, it'd be even money who'd get the field agent position.
Fortunately for her she had a lot of elbow room to work with regarding her roommate due to almost two months of carefully crafting the Minbari's image of her. As far as the bonehead was concerned, she was the ever so helpful roommate who was just so nice there was no chance that that she could do anything mean or underhanded. That meant that unless she did something blunt that clearly exposed her true intentions, Delenn was unlikely to believe anyone who accused her of trying to sabotage the alien woman's chances of becoming a field agent. Another plus was that, while the guy she was hanging with was handling the tutoring in what the classes covered, she was the one teaching the Minbari woman how act like a human female. She hadn't done anything too nasty since she'd wanted an accurate assessment of the woman's threat level before taking drastic action. Now that she had that, she could tell some carefully tailored white lies that would make others believe that Delenn was so clueless about humans that it'd be bat shit crazy to put her in the field.
And if it also wound up embarrassing the pious alien at the same time… well, it'd be good for some laughs at the very least.
Some pre-arranged wardrobe malfunctions, a few 'mistakes' regarding proper attire for a woman and they'll be keeping her behind a desk for years, she thought with a smile as she fired another shot down the range.
She had a lot of planning to do if she wanted to put her plans into motion and give them time to have the desired effect. According to Agent U, the phase one training only lasted six months before they got shipped out to various MiB branches and facilities for phase two training. She was coming up on the halfway point and three months would be barely enough time for her tricks to take full effect and change the faculty's opinion of the young alien woman. Still, she prided herself on being able to beat the odds no matter how badly the deck was stacked against her, so she'd manage just fine.
I just need to make sure that I don't slip up with the classes, otherwise Delenn won't be the only one I'll be sabotaging, she thought as she put the series one de-atomizer down on the weapon cart.
The Observation Room Above the V.B.E Mark Three, Two Weeks Later, Delenn's POV
I think I will have to ask Catherine if there are any other cleaning liquids that I can use on my clothes, she thought as she stood with the other recruits. This one she suggested is making my suit itch.
She did her best not to let it show as Agent U continued to work on the console by the observation window, since today was an important day for all of the recruits. Up until yesterday all of their experience with the weapons of the MiB was at the firing range where they shot at stationary targets that randomly popped into the view from either the ceiling or the floor. Now, according to the instructor, the time had come to increase the difficulty as well as give all of them a taste of what it would be like to operate in the field. With that statement he'd led them all to a section of the facility they hadn't seen since orientation weeks ago: the V.B.E., or Virtual Battle Emulator. Apparently it was similar to the holographic displays aboard the majority of Minbari ships except they were solid enough that, if a holographic opponent struck you, it'd feel like the real thing. If she recalled correctly there were safety protocols in place to make sure no one who went in was injured too badly but there was still enough physicality involved to persuade participants to improve in order to avoid pain.
"Okay, students, I've finished inputting the variables for the simulation that you will be put through for today." Agent U said as he finished typing the commands. "Now, as you were no doubt told during orientation, this room is a virtual reality simulator meant to act as an obstacle course as well as a battle simulator. The early version of this technology was fairly basic in its appearance as well as the level of difficulty it presented to those who used it. Targets would appear from windows, doorways, from beneath the streets and even in moving vehicles. After further refinement over the course of several years, the virtual environment has become much more realistic and the simulated criminals much more cunning. This will no longer simply be a case of shooting them when they appear but also countering the strategies groups of them employ.
"You will enter the V.B.E in pairs and, once inside, a holographic map will show you where you are and where your destination is. From that point on it will be up to you to decide what route to take to get to the destination. There are only two restrictions that must be adhered to in order to successfully complete the simulation." A red clock appeared in the upper right corner of the observation window. "The first is that there is a time limit on completing the course. It must be finished within fifteen minutes of the map disappearing. If you fail to reach the destination by the time the clock reaches zero, it will be an automatic failure. Secondly you must arrive at the destination with your partner. You can split up if you want once the simulation begins but both of you must cross the finish line together. Therefore, if one of you is 'killed' by the virtual criminals or cannot reach the destination by the time the clock hits zero, then both participants will fail."
So this is as much an exercise in teamwork as it is in our ability to use our weapons under real battle conditions, she thought as she considered what she'd been told thus far. Sensible, considering that Agent L informed me that it is traditional that agents go into the field in pairs and only engage in solo missions when necessary.
"You will enter the simulation armed with a standard MiB agent side-arm, the series one de-atomizer, but scattered throughout the virtual city there will be other weapons you can use." Agent U said as pictures of the various weapons appeared as holograms next to him. "Some will have unlimited ammunition while others will have a set number of times they can be fired before becoming useless. This is to encourage strategic thinking as well as ensuring accuracy. While MiB does fund the repair and in some cases replaces damaged public property, that does not mean you can cause mass destruction without a care. If something happens by accident then it is dealt with on a case by case basis, but if you are found deliberately acting in such a manner that excess collateral damage is the norm for you then you will be removed from active duty pending a tribunal."
This was another reasonable course of action and one that she would adhere to should she qualify to become a field agent of the MiB. Excess destruction was not something that would aid the organization in maintaining its anonymity since it would draw unwanted attention making their job that much harder. Besides that, it was her opinion that anyone who reveled in destruction to that degree should not be placed in a position of importance.
"Now, to keep everything fair the computer will select two recruits completely at random to be the first in the V.B.E.," Agent U stated before pressing a button, causing identity file pictures to appear on the observation window.
It started off slowly gradually the two pictures shifted to new ones faster and faster until it was impossible for her to make out any one individual image. After a full minute of this the shifting began to slow down until it finally came to a stop on two pictures belonging to two recruits she knew very well.
"Recruit A? Recruit D? Proceed down the stairs to your left and arm up with your series one de-atomizers." Agent U said, indicating a door on the left side of the room. "Good luck!"
With a nod of respect to her instructor, she followed Xander to the door and proceeded down the two flights of stairs on the other side. When they got to the bottom they found six de-atomizer pistols set on a rack just waiting to be picked up, so she took one and, after checking it over as Agent U had shown the class, she looked to Xander.
"Ready to set the standard, D?" he asked her with lopsided grin she'd come to find reassuring.
"Indeed. Let us, how you say, ACE this test!" she replied with a determined grin of her own.
The two of them entered the V.B.E chamber itself and watched as the environment took shape around them, starting with basic geometric shapes, followed by increasing levels of details. Then, with a flash, the construction of the simulated environment was complete and a map appeared ten feet in front of him showing the entire area. Like expected there was a triangle on one side with the words 'you are here' written on it and on the other side there was a stop sign with the word 'goal' written on it. She memorized the location of the goal and where it was in relation to where she and Xander were at the moment. Out of the corner of her eye she could tell that he was doing the same thing, thus decreasing the odds that the two of them would get lost.
"We should stick together," Xander said as he brought up the de-atomizer to a ready position. "Agent U made it clear that teamwork was important."
"Agreed. We should also take the most direct route to the goal in order to ensure we 'beat the clock'," she said as they began to move forward at a brisk walking pace.
"That'll mean quite a few narrow alleyways, but as long as we stay on our toes it should work out fine." Xander said, looking about the area as they progressed.
"'Stay on our toes'?" she asked, never having heard that particular phrase before.
"It means to remain alert and aware of your surroundings," he replied before snapping his head to a spot above and to the right.
Turning her head, she saw an unknown alien taking aim at them with a dangerous-looking weapon. Bringing her pistol to bear on the enemy, she was only a second behind in firing off a shot but luckily both of them hit their mark, causing it to shatter into rapidly fading pixels.
"Nice shooting," he said with a playful grin.
"Almost as good as yours," she said with a similar grin.
"Let's keep going," he said before resuming their journey into a nearby alleyway.
Minute by minute they proceeded towards their goal but, as they soon found out, the more virtual villains they successfully defeated, the tougher and smarter they became. The false criminals began to use the surrounding environment to their advantage as well as increasingly effective tactics when they appeared more than one at a time. Fortunately for her the physical conditioning training that Xander had been helping her through meant that, while she was exerting herself, she was not tiring as fast as she would have before she'd joined MiB. If she had attempted this simulation then, she would not be doing nearly as well.
It was about as they reached the halfway mark though that she was made aware of a feature of her hybrid status that she'd been introduced to during the first week of training with Xander.
Sweat.
Apparently humans did not perspire the same way that Menbari did and, while she had found it uncomfortable at first, it turned out to be more of a trade off when Catherine had introduced her to the standard methods of washing away the sweat and managing her dark brown hair. She found the acts of showering and bathing the human way to be quite soothing so, while they were basic hygienic practices, they were quite enjoyable. However, when it came to the matter of soaps and shampoos, it appeared that human males were ambivalent about which brand they used whereas females were particular about what they used. At least that was what Xander had told her when she'd brought the topic up for discussion. In Xander's opinion, shampoo was shampoo and soap was soap, regardless of what the manufacturer put on the label.
The other women in room who'd overheard what the young man had said had simply shook their head in disappointment, making it clear they were of a different opinion.
"I hope this isn't a typical day on the job," Xander said as they crouched behind a car ever watchful for more enemies. "I'm not afraid of a little action but a little quiet time every once in a while would be nice."
"I am sure that Agent U is simply interested in finding out where our limits currently are," she said as she thought she heard the sound of something approaching.
"Well then, he's going to have to try harder!" he said with a grin as he too heard something. "'Cause I'm barely warmed up right now!"
There is something about the… joy… he takes in this that is quite infectious, she thought as a group of aliens came around the corner to the right. I think I like it.
Xander's POV
Almost there! he thought as he checked his mental map of the place. Just three more blocks and we'll be across the finish line!
He had to admit that the V.B.E was definitely worth whatever it cost the MiB to have it made and refined to what he was in at the moment. The environment looked identical to the real thing and the aliens that kept coming after them were getting increasingly harder to beat. He was already working up quite the sweat from all the effort he was putting into it but, unless a good sized gang of the creeps were waiting for him and Delenn just shy of the finish line, he wouldn't run out of steam before succeeding in achieving the objective.
His 'partner' was doing pretty good herself, managing to hit her stride after the third encounter with the virtual villains and, while not quite as good as him, she was doing much better than he'd thought she would've with less than three months training. She occasionally missed and didn't keep her eyes peeled enough to sense a flanking maneuver when they faced off against more than one enemy but that'd come in time. From everything Delenn had thus far revealed to him about her people and, more specifically, her caste, it wasn't at all surprising that combat was about as common to some of them as crossdressing was to the human race. Thus, expecting someone who was essentially a civilian to be able to fight at the same level as a police officer so quickly was unreasonable. Still, she'd get there if he had anything to say about it but at a pace she could handle rather than anything super accelerated.
"Alright! We go two blocks forward and one to the left and we'll be at the finish line," he said as he checked the number of rounds left in the series three de-atomizer he'd picked up a while back. "If this is anything like a videogame then there's going to be an interesting obstacle or challenge just before the finish line. Be ready!"
A nod was what he got in response to his statement and so he brought the de-atomizer up before charging around the corner, his eyes wide open so he could spot a threat the second it showed up. He didn't have to wait long since a bellowing voice from above quickly drew his attention to an alien that looked like a cross between a shark and a manta ray. It wasn't moving all that fast so at first he prepared to blow it out of the sky but then his instincts screamed at him that he was in danger, so he dove behind one of the holographic cars at the last second. The move wound up saving him from a rather thorough loss as three separate blasts of energy impacted the ground where he'd been a second later. Looking up at the likely origin points, he spotted three aliens on a rooftop that looked like flying squirrel-like lizard people with impressive looking weapons in their hands. Moving to put more of the car between him and his attackers, he looked back the way he came to see if Delenn had managed to get to cover as well. He smiled as he discovered that she'd reacted much the same way he had, albeit to the row of cars on the other side of the street. He could see her crouched behind the rear bumper of one but raised an eyebrow when he saw a tear in her jacket about four inches long.
They figured out a way so that we'd get damaged like that? he thought with mild surprise at this feature of the V.B.E. Guess there's a lot to be said about advanced alien tech.
Catching her gaze, he quickly went through a series of hand signals that he'd taught her during the first week of his 'tutoring' sessions. They were leftovers from his Halloween possession but they were a good way to get across what he wanted to say without saying anything out loud. He'd only gotten the Minbari-Human hybrid to remember the basic hand signals but he fully intended to get her to memorize all of the ones he knew before they got shipped out to phase two training. The signals he sent at her indicated that he would act as a decoy drawing the fire of the rooftop aliens and when they did that she was to take them out. Delenn only had the series one de-atomizer pistol on her at the moment and that would allow her far more shots, as well as accuracy, than his rifle de-atomizer would. Besides, he figured that whatever threat assessment program was controlling the virtual villains would designate him the more serious threat, increasing the odds that they'd ignore Delenn until he was dealt with. When he received her acknowledging nod he bolted from his hiding place, firing a single shot from his weapon to get their attention before pouring on the speed.
For a while he thought his strategy was the correct one as he could both hear as well as feel, to a certain degree, the shots impacting the ground behind him. However when they suddenly stopped for a moment before firing at something that was not him, he slid to a stop and turned around to see what was going on. He quickly saw that his attempt to decoy the baddies had been seen through rather quickly by the lizard squirrels and, at the moment, Delenn was doing everything she could to evade their fire. The cars wouldn't provide her with cover for too long, though, because, when he saw one car begin to change color, he instincts told him that if it soaked up too much fire it'd likely vanish or explode.
"Better take some of the heat off of her," he muttered before taking aim at the rooftop aliens.
Going for precision shots, he was glad to see that after his first shot caused a lizard squirrel to vanish the remaining two divided their efforts between the two targets. Fighting something one-on-one was a lot easier than taking on an enemy that had back up so a minute later the remaining two targets were eliminated. As he waited for Delenn to catch up with him, he took aim at the flying shark overhead and destroyed it so that it couldn't pull anything nasty. It hadn't done anything but fly overhead during the entire fight but he wasn't going to take the chance that it'd start burping out fireballs once Delenn was standing next to him. When he turned back the way that he'd come, he was surprised to see no sign at all of Delenn at all. Had something caught her attention? With the intent of finding out, he began to walk back the way he'd come, looking left and right, trying to find some sign of where his 'partner' had gone.
"Don't come any closer!" Delenn ordered with a bit of fear and urgency.
Worried that she might've stepped on a mine or walked into some other kind of trap, he ignored her demand and hastened towards where he figured the voice was coming from. It appeared to be coming from a nearby alleyway so he entered it but, when his eyes came upon his friend, he immediately found someplace else to direct them. He didn't know how it'd happened but somehow between the last time he'd seen her and now, the tear in her jacket had not only lengthened to the point where the bottom stretch of fabric was literally hanging by a thread but it'd had a few kids. So many kids, in fact, that the reason she hadn't wanted him to come any closer became evident and provided him with incentive to keep his eyes averted from her location.
Every article of clothing she'd put on this morning looked like it was only seconds away from falling apart due to the sheer number of rips or tears in them.
The one clear image he had of Delenn, before his mind clued in to what his eyes were telling it, causing him to look away, told him that the damage was enough to make it unlikely that she'd be moving from her crouched position in the alleyway. Any further movement would cause what little she had on to maintain her modesty would fall to the ground and, considering the fact that there were people at the observation window, that'd be a bad thing. Acting on instinct he quickly took of his jacket and threw it in her direction, hoping that whatever had torn D's clothes wouldn't spread anytime soon to it. Hearing the sound of Delenn putting on the jacket, he waited until the sounds stopped before looking back in her direction. The jacket was a little big on her but this proved to be a good thing since it allowed for more coverage than if it'd been more her size.
'Well, unless the MiB thinks it's okay for recruits to be naked by the end of their training sessions, I think something weird is going on here,' he thought after a moment's contemplation. "We've got a little under three minutes before the time runs out and we fail the simulation. If you want we can just stay put until it's over since there's probably a lot of jumping and diving ahead or we can try to finish this like we started it. Your choice, Delenn. What'll it be?"
For a moment the fear of others seeing her in such a state dominated his friend's eyes but then a look of resolve swept over everything and he knew what her answer would be.
"Let's finish this!" she said with strength as she brought her pistol up.
With a grin born of having a good friend ready to dive into danger with him they left the alleyway and ran for the finish line, deciding that with time against them haste was the best tactic. The simulated aliens responded to this in one of two ways: either they started running and gunning as well or laying down some serious barrage's of weapons fire from a set location. Automatically he covered the right side of the street while Delenn covered the opposite side, with both of them firing off shots as needed without breaking their stride. It wasn't long before he had to toss his series three de-atomizer away and pull out his own series one pistol but he didn't mind. He'd already learned well to make the most of whatever was available at the time, so you wouldn't see him freaking out and throwing a fit because his preferred weapon wasn't available for use.
Not until later, depending on whether or not he wound up in the infirmary because his favorite weapon wasn't available, thus resulting in him getting hurt of course.
Looking ahead for a moment he could see hanging in midair the glowing words 'finish line' and couldn't help but smile that at the fact that he and Delenn would be there soon.
That smile turned to a look of worry when the ground beneath his feet began to shake with increasing intensity, implying that something was coming up from below to try and eat them both. Coming to a screeching halt, he held out his arm in order to make Delenn do the same, completely ignoring where his hand, by pure accident, touched before pulling it away at the earliest opportunity, before looking to the ground to get an idea of the size of the threat heading their way. The more the 'pavement' cracked and, the further the breaks spread, the more he began to think that maybe he should've rationed out the shots to the series three de-atomizer a bit more.
It was with a roar that, had his fake city been real, could've been heard for fifteen blocks in every direction that a monster exploded upwards before, turning its ferocious looking head in their direction. Seeing it, he was beginning to think that someone had tailored this ending specifically for him because the monster was almost a dead ringer for the snake-ified Mayor Wilkins with just a few cosmetic changes. As it reared back in preparation to lunge, he decided to do something both brave and quite possibly ridiculously stupid by pushing Delenn clear of the thing's strike zone but only moving a couple feet to the right himself just before the gaping maw would've eaten him whole. With instinct more than thought he reached out and grabbed one of the spikes on the head of the giant monster snake, swinging himself like a cowboy getting into a saddle. It seemed to work quite fine in the beginning since he was now close to the head and therefore capable of delivering several close range shots. However it soon became clear that the 'saddle' he was in was strapped to the mother of all raging bulls because it was jerking itself in every possible direction, VIOLENTLY, trying to shake him loose. It almost succeeded several times but eventually he managed to adjust his grip and place his feet just right to allow him to wield his pistol semi-competently.
"Alright, snake face! TIME FOR YOUR EYE EXAM!" he yelled before he took aim and began to fire at the eye closest to him.
This proved to be both good and bad because he was definitely hitting a sensitive spot, if the increased flailing on the part of the monster was any indicator. However, while he was causing the thing pain, he could not tell if the creature was any closer to actually disappearing into faded pixels any time soon. A moment's glance around allowed him to catch sight of the countdown timer and he could see that they had less than thirty seconds to finish this up or face an automatic failure. He didn't like the odds of being able to down this monster with bug bites in that amount of time, so he decided that desperate times called for desperate measures.
I just hope I can survive to receive the lecture, he thought as he wedged one end of the pistol between his leg and the beast before using the free hand to do what needed to be done.
During one of the many lessons at the firing range Agent U had told the class specific safety tips for every weapon; a list of do, do nots and ARE YOU NUTS rules that he expected them all to follow both for their own good as well as any nearby civilians. One rule that came up quite often was the dangers of the power supplies that existed in each weapon and the existence of safety measures to keep the unpleasant from happening. In the case of the pistol he had, the dangers were quite few even when it came to the power cell but there was one he could use now. Apparently, if the power cell was ever damaged enough, there was a good chance that it would release all of its stored energy at once in a rather flashy explosion. The safety precautions in place to prevent this were the outer casing of the weapon, the bars of protective metal around the conductive transparent material of the power cell and a special dampening feature that muffled things. As he flipped open the side where a trained person would normally pull out a depleted power cell for a fresh, one he picked just the right spike sticking out of the creature then swung the pistol so that the spike would hit the power cell.
GOD I hope I don't wind up regretting this! He hit the power cell with the spike twice more before a spark of energy let him know the deed had been done.
Quickly and with great urgency he wedged the sparking weapon between spike and skin in the hopes that it'd stay there long enough for the big ba-bang before leaping for a virtual flag pole sticking out of a nearby building. His fingers almost missed it but lady luck apparently liked unconventional fighters like him because he managed to wrap them around the pole, preventing a rather nasty fall. Turning back towards the giant snake, he was just in time to see the pistol explode and, surprise of surprises, it actually proved to be enough to make the thing disappear in a shower of fading pixels.
Hastily climbing down the side of the building, using whatever handholds were convenient, he soon made it back to the street and, once there, he made a dash for the finish line. Delenn fell into stride right behind him and, for a moment, he honestly thought that they'd manage to make it despite the giant fanged road block that'd been in their way.
BEEEEEP!
Like the buzzer sounding the end of a hockey game so too was he notified of the end of the session in the V.B.E… while he and his partner were still ten feet from the finish line.
SHIT!
"Do not worry, Xander," Delenn said placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "We have never used the V.B.E before or faced its challenges. It was foolish to think we could complete it on the first try. Better that we try to learn from this than get angry that we failed."
"I guess," he sighed with resignation as the fake city disappeared around them.
I still wish we could've won!
The Office of the Facility Headmaster, Early Evening, Agent L's POV
"So what have you found out, L?" Headmaster S asked from his position behind the desk.
"Delenn's clothes were treated with T'hom saliva. On its own the substance is fairly harmless both to clothes and people," she replied as she held up the half empty bottle of the substance. "However when a saline solution is mixed with it the saliva immediately begins to eat through organic fabric very quickly. It's part of the species digestive process that starts by removing any clothing, allowing the T'hom to savor the meat in its stomach. My guess is that whoever put it on Delenn's suit knew about the session in the V.B.E and bet on her sweat activating the saliva resulting in the… wardrobe malfunction."
"So not an accident but deliberate sabotage?" S asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Definitely. T'hom saliva is part of the class dealing with hazardous alien fluids and, according to the last inventory taken, it should be full, not half empty," she replied, putting the container on the desk. "I tried to review the security camera logs but there's a blackout period of about twenty minutes last night. When I tried to find out what caused it, I discovered that that section of the logs had been deleted… using Agent U's command codes."
"Care to explain yourself, U?" S asked with an unhappy tone of voice.
"I-I-I don't know what to say, Headmaster" U replied, looking quite shocked by the revelation. "I memorized all of them and my emergency list is in a safe location."
"Emergency list?" she asked, already not liking the sound of things.
"In case I am unable to input the password myself it would allow a trusted student or visiting agent to do so in my place." Agent U said, sounding like he genuinely thought it was a good idea.
"I suggest that after this meeting you verify that the list is where you left it. If it is I want it shredded into so many pieces that not even a Micron could read it," S ordered in a no nonsense tone of voice. "Any clues as to who might've taken the T'hom saliva and used it on Delenn?"
"No. Whoever did it wore gloves to keep from leaving finger prints, a molecular harmonizer to take care of any hairs or skin flakes and liberal usage of bug residue to cover her own emanations," she replied with a bit of concern. "Whoever did this made sure to cover all of their bases. Given where we are, though, I'd put money on the culprit being a student."
"Someone looking to make the competition look bad?" S said, coming to the most likely motive.
"Most likely. It'll be hard to pick out a suspect," she said remembering all she'd seen since being assigned to the phase one facility. "A lot of ambitious recruits this year."
"We'll reset the passwords and command codes to all faculty only areas and have the new ones passed out before morning classes," S said, deciding on a course of action. "Let everyone know that it's FORBIDDEN from now on to keep a written copy. We're MiB, the best of the best, so I should think our minds are sharp enough to remember such things."
"Of course, headmaster! It won't happen again!" Agent U declared, managing to execute a perfect salute.
"Oh… and one more thing, U," she said as the man turned to leave. "I reviewed A and D's session in the V.B.E from parameters to command logs. The Karakton Death Serpent was not a part of the original program. It was added a full minute before they reached the finish line using your command codes."
The headmaster didn't even need to say anything to get his reaction across to the brownnosing Agent.
"I… I was simply making a point to the recruits, sir," Agent U said, obviously looking for any plausible excuse. "Activity in the field can be unpredictable and even the Hot Sheets can miss a few things. Besides, it can be a good thing to ensure that the students fail on their first attempt. Gives them some humility and makes them work harder."
"While you make a valid point, Agent U, I think that the fact that they never used the V.B.E before would've made it unpredictable enough." Headmaster S said in a tone that made it clear he didn't believe what he was being told. "From here on out I better not see any more mid-session alterations without my expressed, verbal and in person permission. Understand?"
"Completely, sir." Agent U said with a nod before leaving the office.
"Despite Agent U's interference and our mysterious friend's sabotage of Delenn's clothing, A and D make a pretty impressive team." Headmaster S said with an interested grin. "Still room for improvement but taking down a Karakton Death Serpent with a series one de-atomizer… don't think I've heard of that being done before."
"Neither have I. Based on what I've read about Xander's exploits, unconventional tactics is one of the two things he's known for," she said, recalling the day when she'd received the Hellmouth reports for the last three years.
"What's the other think he's known for?" Headmaster S asked out of curiosity.
"Overkill. He often uses more force than is necessarily required to deal with a threat," she replied with only a moment's hesitation. "According to the latest report he used three times as much explosives as would normally be used against a newly ascended Old One warlock. Blew up his entire high school in the process."
"Ugghhh… I'll make sure to forward the files on standard MiB disposal methods for every demon he's encountered as well as some of the larger alien species he might encounter," Headmaster S said, no doubt imagining the collateral damage that came with 'overkill'. "Wouldn't do to wash the kid out of the running just because he's a little heavy handed."
She had to agree with that assessment.
Overcoming a threat many times his own size with only one other agent as support? Sounded a lot like K and, if Xander had that kind potential in him, then they'd be idiots to let it slip through their fingers, Fore Seer ability or not.
On the matter of the Fore Seer ability, though, she hoped that the instructor that Director One had chosen didn't take too much longer to get to Earth. Xander would need to have at least basic control over it before he could go into phase two training and that was a little over three months away. According to K, the instructor he'd gained the services of lived on the moon with the rest of her people and possessed an ability to read aura very similar to that of a Fore Seer. The main difference was that the woman could only see the emotions of the people she looked at but, like Xander, she'd lacked control in the beginning when her powers first manifested. K had never told her what sort of price tag the woman had laid out but it couldn't have been too substantial.
The accounting department tended to throw spectacular fits every time MiB had to make a big purchase or made a big mess that cost a small fortune to fix.
The Next Day, Morning, Catherine's POV
BLAST IT! she thought as she rather viciously devoured her breakfast. MiB security is better than I thought it'd be. All of passwords and command codes for that idiot Agent U are useless now!
Ever since yesterday's session in the V.B.E she had been fuming mad that her plan to both humiliate and discredit Delenn had blown up in her face. It hadn't started that way since a little creative manipulation had convinced U to keep a camera on the duo the whole time, allowing everyone to see the Minbari-Human hybrid's suit fall to tatters bit by bit. True, the angle on the alleyway her roommate had dove into just before the really good part hadn't allowed for the best angle to get the money shot but fortunately her 'audience' had been able to connect the dots. If all HAD gone to plan, it should've ended right there with Agent U shutting down the simulation before sending someone out to give Delenn something to cover up with. The sight of the token alien being escorted out with just a sheet to preserve her modesty would've been priceless and would've only been enhanced by her later assertion that it was her roommate's lack of familiarity with Earth that caused the 'mishap'.
Due to the interference of Recruit A, also known as Xander, though, things had gone from terribly good to terribly bad.
Just as she'd been about to convince Agent U to halt the V.B.E session out of 'concern', Xander had given Delenn his coat. Given its size U had decided to let the duo decide whether or not to proceed rather than forcibly bring it to a halt himself. Matters had only gotten worse when, despite having only a single article of clothing keeping the audience from seeing her in all her glory, Delenn had maintained the level of performance she'd shown prior to the destruction of her suit. Whether it was the belief that any exposure would last less than a second or the borrowed confidence from her 'partner' there was no way of knowing. Nevertheless, she'd been less than pleased when it looked like the duo might actually pass the session by making it to the finish line within the set time limit. In an effort to prevent this, she'd managed to trick Agent U into thinking that it'd be a good idea to throw in a wild card alien to show what encountering the truly unpredictable could be like. The idiot had even allowed her to select the alien in question, so naturally she'd chosen the first really big and nasty one she'd found in the directory.
Something big enough to tangle with King Kong should've been enough to 'kill' BOTH Delenn and Xander, ending the session in defeat, but instead the teenager from California had pulled off the impossible. The guy had actually managed to defeat the giant serpent and it had only been by a matter of feet that the duo had failed the session rather than anything she'd directly done. As a result the entire class, minus her of course, had treated them like celebrities when they'd returned to the observation room, even though they'd LOST. With the way things had been going, the two recruits were going to be seen as the examples to follow from there on out, only increasing Delenn's chances of making field agent status at the end of phase one.
It was INTOLERABLE!
What made the situation even worse was that somehow the headmaster and probably the rest of the faculty now had new passwords and command codes. This would only have been done if they were now aware that someone had used them to access the T'hom saliva and erase the security logs of the theft. They KNEW someone unauthorized had gotten ahold of the substance and didn't want to be caught. She would have to be much more careful but that would be relatively easy now that so many avenues were closed to her with the invalidation of the information she'd stolen from Agent U. Reviewing everything she'd seen and heard after the V.B.E session, she could only deduce that it was that old blonde hag Agent L who'd come across the truth. Oh, she'd heard many things about the grandma in the making, about how she'd worked with the great agents K and J, but the past mattered little to her. The old bat was past her prime and well on her way to becoming a has-been, but apparently the bitch thought that her age was enough to justify interfering.
Well I'll show her! she thought with a malicious smile. I'll still embarrass Delenn out of the running for field agent and that sack of bones won't be able to prove a DAMN THING!
"Catherine? Is there something wrong?" asked a familiar voice from a few feet in front of her.
Looking up, she was momentarily concerned that the target of her actions, Delenn, had seen the smile on her face and suspected something. However after a cursory look on the alien-human hybrid's face, she concluded that the young woman's naïve nature had caused the hidden meanings to slide right on by. With some relief she plastered the 'friendly roommate' face she always used whenever Delenn was in her presence and selected one of her pre-made excuses.
"I was just getting a little pumped for today's V.B.E class," she replied with a smile on her face. "Agent U had to cut it short yesterday, after all, because of that other class so I didn't get a chance to try it."
"I'm sure you'll do well," Delenn said with an encouraging smile. "Your accuracy rating at the firing range was much better than mine, so I doubt you'll have a problem."
So saccharinely sweet! Someone like you doesn't have what it takes to be a field agent for the MiB! She thought without dropping her smile as she said, "We'll see. I'll definitely have to try hard to top what you and Xander did in there yesterday."
It was brief.
So brief that she almost thought she'd been seeing things.
However she trusted her eyes and her eyes had shown her a brief moment of blushing on the half-Minbari's face, along with a twinkle in the eyes. It was a combination she'd seen off and on since she'd hit puberty, it'd even been used by her before she'd wised up to reality, and it always indicated one thing.
Love.
It was love, or at the very least the potential for romantic love to manifest within someone.
But who could she be…?
Then it hit her and hope blossomed within her as a potentially VERY satisfying option took shape in her mind. Delenn had feelings for Xander! That was the only guy she'd gotten close to since they'd arrived at the facility and the only one who'd had intimate contact with her since yesterday, so there really was no other possibility! If this was indeed the case then she had a way to not only embarrass the hell out of Delenn but the object of her affection as well, possibly removing BOTH of them from the running for field agent status.
Before I get ahead of myself, though, I need to fan these flames of affection and make SURE it's love. she thought before putting on a playful yet friendly look on her face. "What's this? Delenn getting all blushy and starry-eyed?"
"I-I don't know what you mean," Delenn replied, obviously entering the initial denial phase of romance.
"Oh, I think you do. You like him, don't you?" she asked half-rhetorically. "Xander, I mean."
The fact that the hybrid couldn't get out a coherent reply to the inquiry meant she had pretty much hit the bullseye with her theory about the cause of the blushing and twinkly eyes. Now all she had to do was build up the young woman's courage, give her a few 'pointers', and then watch her rival die a fiery social as well as professional death. It'd be a bit of a challenge since she'd bet good money that Delenn had never gone on a single date in her entire life and probably only thought of men in a romantic manner in the privacy of her own room.
This was both good and bad.
It was good in the sense that the hybrid would be completely clueless about what was considered normal for dating a human or what would be considered offensive. This meant that as long as she came up with a half reasonable line of logic for doing something, Delenn would likely fall for it hook, line and sinker. It was just so easy and just so fun to manipulate people when they were absolutely clueless about the subject matter at hand!
The bad part was that it'd take a while to puff up the half-Minbari's courage up to the point where she'd actually make a move on Xander. It'd be the equivalent of building a house of cards, where she'd have to be careful every step of the way or it'd all come down on top of her. After all, once Delenn was ready to act, she'd have to make sure those actions served her needs without leaving a trail that would lead the blonde hag back to her. Still, the harder it was to set someone up, the sweeter it'd be to watch them fall.
"Relax, Delenn! It's a perfectly understandable attraction," she said, getting up to ease her roommate into a nearby chair. "If he were only a few years older I'd have made a move myself. If you want any tips, I'd be happy to help."
Definite interest!
This was going to be fun!
Three Weeks Later, Phase One Facility Garage, Morning
Delenn's POV
"Looks like they're finally letting us out of here!" Xander exclaimed with joy at the trip they were taking. "About time. The place is nice and all but I was starting to get a bad case of cabin fever."
"You're ill? Maybe you should see someone in the infirmary," she said concerned that her… friend… might not be feeling well.
"No, no… when most people use the term 'cabin fever' it usually means that they've been indoors a long time and want to get outside so they can take in some fresh air and get some exercise," he explained, once again correcting her understanding of a figure of speech. "We've been inside this place for three months with nothing fun to do except watch TV and surf the internet. I'm looking forward to going topside and seeing how the world's doing firsthand."
"You have so many different phrases and slang terms," she said with a bit of befuddlement. "How do you remember them all?"
"I don't. There are probably tons of phrases I haven't heard before and that's just in the English language," he replied with a reassuring smile on his face. "If we add in the figures of speech and slang of every language on the planet… I'm as much of a rookie at it all as you. If you want to get to know the phrases and words most people use, we can schedule a movie night later this week. Watch a couple of films and you can ask me anything. Interested?"
"I'd love to," she said with genuine interest.
If she'd received such an invitation three weeks ago she would've politely declined with a modest excuse before finding someplace else to be. While they were indeed friends and she didn't mind spending time with him, she was unused to doing so in what would most likely be a private setting. The Phase One facility didn't have a large lounge or entertainment area for its recruits but rather made sure each of the students had access to sources of entertainment inside their dorm rooms. Xander had inquired about this fact and Agent U had told them that, when the facility was originally constructed, they'd had to work around existing subterranean structures and geology. Unlike other facilities belonging to the MiB, the place had been added after the construction of the post office above them rather than before. Bottom line, as Xander would say, space was at a premium so most of it was devoted to dorm rooms and everything they needed to teach the phase one classes. Therefore it was likely that they would be watching the movies either in Xander's dorm room or hers and she wasn't sure which would be better.
If it was Xander's room then the two of them would be all by themselves since the headmaster had chosen to give her friend his own room two weeks ago after Stan's replacement proved psychologically problematic. Max had looked to be reasonable at first and, when nothing troubling had been found on the dorm room computer, Xander had lowered his guard. As it turned out though Mister Tackleberry had an unhealthy interest in weaponry, with the more destructive the item, the more he seemed compelled to get his hands on it. At first it was simply spending all of his free time at the firing range or in the V.B.E, but then it got to the point where the man borrowed several of the weapons and then concealed them in the dorm room. A close call with a series two de-atomizer had resulted in Max being ejected from the training program and Xander being given his own dorm room. Therefore, if they watched the movies in his room, they would be all alone and that would save her from the embarrassment of someone else hearing her confusion over common place phrases.
However there was a certain… security… in having another person in room besides Xander and her. It'd keep them both from doing something… daring.
Sadly she believed it would be best that Catherine not be in the same room with the two of them. Her roommate had been quite helpful since they'd first met and, had it not been for her words of confidence, she might never have gained the courage to accept Xander's invitation at all. Nevertheless, her friend had something of a compulsion to tease when an opportunity for amusement presented itself and such a thing would only prove disruptive.
As well as potentially embarrassing.
"MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE!" Agent U yelled from the front of the group to get everyone's attention.
It took a few moments for everyone to quiet down but eventually they all realized that the sooner their instructor said what he desired to say, the sooner they'd be on their way.
"Now, the purpose of this trip is for you to make an effort to blend in with crowds and maintain a low profile at all times. One of the key skills of any MiB agent in the field is to remain unremarkable and unmemorable in the eyes of the civilian population," Agent U said with his same lecturing tone. "You must not stand out in their memory any more than one blade of grass would stand out from another, and must be forgotten just as easily. Faculty members in civilian clothes will also be out in public observing your efforts and grading you accordingly."
A reasonable exercise but it would be somewhat restrictive on the amount of fun they could have if they constantly had to monitor what they did in order to remain inconspicuous.
"Of course that doesn't mean you can't have a LITTLE fun while you're walking about town," Agent U said, putting a friendly face on. "It takes time and practice to truly become invisible to the untrained eyes of the civilian population, so mistakes are bound to be made with your first attempt. Nevertheless, do your best because we WILL be watching. Now let's GO!"
With that the class divided up amongst the various vehicles in the garage to be dropped at various points in the city since it'd be suspicious if too many people came forth from the post office at one time. Fortunately she, Catherine and Xander managed to get into a single car along with their agent driver, so she would not be separated from the people she trusted the most to see her through this experience. While she had seen much of the world outside the facility via the computer in her dorm room, those were just images and recordings. They could not be compared to the experience of actually going to some of the places in person. There were many places she wanted to visit and so she had done her best to make sure that her desires would not be thwarted.
With the help of Catherine she'd selected a bandana that was of just the right size to mostly conceal her head bone from view. There was still a bit poking out just past her eyes but it was so small that it would take a keen eye to see it and an intelligent mind to perceive what it truly was. She had already spoken with other members of the faculty and it was their opinion that, if she made field agent, she would either have to wear a wig to cover the bone or a full head mask. They'd shown her a few examples and explained how through the use of alien technology they could be used to conceal everything from abnormally large ears to decidedly non-human heads. Therefore they thought it would be little trouble to craft one for her that would still be comfortable enough that it wouldn't be a burden to wear it in public.
Until she was officially assigned to field agent status, though, they suggested several ways to consider her Minbari trait including the use of a bandana.
Normally using such a thing with the black and white suit of the Men in Black would be difficult but they'd managed to find a pure black bandana that Agent U had approved of. It would make her somewhat more noticeable than the other recruits but not to the point where the instructor felt it would be necessary to remove her from the trip into the city.
She also remembered Xander inquiring once about whether it was forbidden to own and wear any normal civilian clothes as a member of the MiB. According to Agent U every member of the MiB was expected to wear regulation clothing while they were working or even just on MiB property. This was a security matter since it would prevent the other members from mistaking someone for a civilian and neuralyzing their memories away. It was also important because, while on the job, the aliens they fought would recognize the suits, the weapons and the sunglasses that symbolized the authority of the MiB. This could cause some criminals to surrender immediately and gain them the co-operation from the law-abiding members of the alien and demonic community. Non-regulation clothing was only to be worn in the member's assigned apartment complex or during their two mandatory days off per week when they would not be working. Agent U warned them that all agents were on call all day and every day, whether it was their day off or not. So whether they were in the middle of watching a movie or sleeping or… something intimate, they were expected to report for duty as soon as possible should an emergency arise.
So, while they were permitted to purchase civilian clothes, products and accessories for use on their own time, they could only be used in specific places under specific conditions.
As they exited the underground garage and drove into the sunlight, her eyes drank in the sights her eyes could perceive and, while not as beautiful as the cities of Minbar, Phoenix, Arizona possessed a beauty all its own.
One she was sure to come to enjoy as she became more accustomed to the planet Earth and its varied inhabitants.
