The headquarters of the Ranger's Guild was nestled into a small building near the entrance to the residential blocks. The main lobby was circular in shape, with gleaming chromatic walls and holographic screens covering every inch of the room. In the center of the room stood a large, purple photon crystal, held levitating in place by a series of almost imperceptible blue energy rings. Like many of the other buildings on the Overture 2, behind the bright, neon colors hid a palpable depression. Faint, upbeat music masked the sounds of a dozen droning devices in the walls.

The glass doors slid open in front of Nol and she felt a burst of cool air flood toward her body. She felt a slight chill in the tips of her long, pointed ears.

The only other person she could see was a receptionist, whose attention was taken by a stalwart man on a holoscreen. Nol crossed the room to the receptionist and eyed the news tickers on the walls. Naturally, she didn't see a single headline relating to the fate of the Overture 1 and its passengers, nor anything about the surface migration timeline.

With an almost robotic happiness, the receptionist hung up her call with the stalwart man and fixed her gaze on Nol.

"Enrich your life!" the woman squealed, "This is the Ranger's Guild, welcome!"

Fake as the woman's enthusiasm was, it was refreshing to see someone - anyone - put on a smile.

"My name is Nol Rinale," the journalist started, "I was wondering if you could help me get a message to one of your Rangers,"

"Why, certainly!" the receptionist affirmed. Nol noted the woman's nametag - Zidd. "Is this in reference to a contract?"

"Um, yes," Nol said, unsure. She realized as the words left her lips that she had probably complicated things significantly by saying yes.

"Great! Could you please give me the 12 digit case file number you were assigned?"

Fuck. "I…I forgot to write it down. Silly me," Nol played it off. "Um, but I have the Ranger's name! It's just a quick message, if you could just send it to him. Really just a simple…thing."

Zidd eyed Nol suspiciously. Her demeanor shifted; something went dark in her eyes. Behind her smile, which Nol now realized was mannequin-perfect, Nol could see gears turning.

"Unfortunately, ma'am, I am unable to connect you to any specific Ranger without the case number. It's a security thing," Zidd explained. "You understand."

"Totally! I totally get that," Nol feigned, "It's just, um. It's…kind of a…surprise? For my boyfriend. He's a Ranger."

Nol watched as Zidd's eyes traced upward, making contact with something behind and above Nol's head. She turned her head and found her eyes level with the broad chest of a fully-armored Ranger.

"Boyfriend?" the man scoffed, in a smarmy tone. "What are you, 12?"

Nol was taken aback by the man's directness. "As a matter of fact, I am. Newmans age tw-"

"Twice as fast as humans, I know, sweetheart, I'm not as dumb as you think we are."

The man was easily two heads taller than Nol, clad in a skintight bodysuit strategically plated with synthetic, hyperlight armor. In the center of his chest glowed a small, forest green symbol composed of circles and chevrons; this symbol identified him as a resident of Viridian Block. His pale, periwinkle hair reached down to the small of his back and was kept together by a series of braids within braids. Over his shoulders floated two massive stones; the first was a cream color and crescent shaped, while the other was composed of an orange stone core ringed with yellow stone spikes. She did not recognize these PokéCells, and for good reason; unbeknownst to Nol, the Viridian man's companions were actually Pokémon.

"Just who do you think you are?" Nol barked. The Ranger rolled his eyes and looked past Nol toward Zidd.

"Zidd, take care of her, please? Quick? I need your help with some stuff," the Ranger said, and then departed.

"Sorry about that," Zidd said quietly. "Some of our rangers are a bit…cocky."

"What a dickward. Does he treat everyone like that?" Nol asked incredulously, eliciting a short nod from Zidd.

"Well, what with everything that's going on," Zidd explained cryptically, "the Rangers are under quite a bit of stress. It affects everyone differently. Although, something tells me that guy was just born that way."

"Right. Some people are just born dickwads," Nol concluded. "So, back to my message - it's for Boaz Holdt?"

"Oh - you're Boaz's girlfriend?" Zidd said, almost as if the concept were foreign to her. "Huh. I didn't know Boaz had a girlfriend."

Jackpot, Nol thought to herself. She now knew everything she needed to know.

"You know, on second thought, I just had an even better idea. Thank you for your assistance, have a nice day,"

Nol turned quickly and walked away, leaving a confused Zidd staring after her.

He wasn't lying. Boaz Holdt is his name. And he is a Ranger. So why was he skulking around the military hospital the same night I was?

Lost in thought about the implications of her newfound information, she didn't notice when a big, cream-colored rock floated across her path. Nol let out a yelp as her forehead collided with the rock, though the yelp was more from shock than from pain. Before she had time to recover, she heard that grating voice again.

"Hey, watch it, mutant," the long-haired Ranger growled, swatting Nol away from the Lunatone that floated before her.

Mutant.

Nol couldn't believe her ears.

"All right, that's it, Dickwad!" Nol roared at the top of her lungs. Tapas let out a feedback-like whine, loud enough to distort the holoscreens around the room, as if to punctuate Nol's rage. "You and me, right now, let's go!"

Nol became suddenly aware of the second floor of the lobby, and of the significant number of faces now looking down into the circular room.

The long-haired Ranger let out a dismissive guffaw. "You can't be serious."

Nol shot her arm forward and opened her palm - as if an extension of Nol's body, Tapas lunged forward and shot a bolt of lightning from the red tips of its dangling ears. The spark ricocheted off the ground near the Ranger, who leapt to the side to dodge the wayward bolt.

Tapas returned to Nol and hovered in front of her, its eight red eyes glowing fiercely.

The long-haired Ranger now realized that Nol was serious.


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