Chapter 6: Teamwork

"Mm…" The Alvise twins mumbled sleepily as they awoke simultaneously. They raised their heads and rolled their tongues around a bit to dampen their dry mouths. Both girls found themselves sprawled awkwardly on their beds, almost tangled in a mess of sheets, pillows, and limbs.

Celestina pushed her sister's leg off of her chest as she sat up on the edge of her bed to rub her eyes. "…What happened?" she asked in confusion.

"I don't know," Caterina replied, "But my head feels like…" she trailed off and remained silent for several seconds.

"Like what?" Celestina asked, inexplicably irritable.

"…I don't know. I can't even think."

"Yeah. Obviously." Celestina was too tired to dodge the pillow which she knew was going to be flung, but she managed to fire it back lazily over her shoulder.

At that moment, the door of their room was opened and a prudish, bespectacled girl entered. She was only a few years older than them, but looked much more mature than that, likely because of her frown and the slight crinkle of her eyebrows as she coldly scanned the room from left to right, stopping at the twins.

"I'm surprised the two of you made it all the way back here. Both of you look terrible," she commented plainly. Something in her voice sounded like disdain, or something that would indicate that the Twins had wronged her in some way. However, neither could recall ever talking with this girl before.

Despite her unwelcoming tone, though, she spoke the truth. Both girls had fallen asleep in the dresses that they had worn yesterday, their hair was ruffled and stuck out here and there in patches, and their faces were pale and drawn from exhaustion.

"Who are you?" Caterina grunted as she pushed herself up into a sitting position.

"Seriously?" the girl said incredulously. When the Twins nodded, she tried to jump their memories. She pointed to herself and said, "I'm Claes. Triela's roommate. I made you tea yesterday."

The Twins exchanged glances, both mentally agreeing that they couldn't recall ever meeting their guest.

Claes shook her head impatiently, giving up. "I suppose it only makes sense," she sighed, "After all, Triela's in the shower right now coming down from her sugar high and she was fairly tame last night compared to the two of you."

It was then that flashes of memories returned to the Twins. Memories of tea and sweets. Lots of sweets. "Oh…" Caterina said, embarrassed.

"We… ate all of your candy, didn't we?" Celestina finished for her sister in the same tone.

Claes nodded. "And my cookies. Plus, you used up all of my sugar. At first I thought somebody had slipped something into your tea, but I tried some of the leftovers after all of you passed out. I didn't think it was possible, but all of the insanity from last night was fueled purely by glucose." she huffed again, calming herself. "It's alright though," she said, conquering the urge to be angry, "I can always restock. It's not as if I paid for any of those things myself."

"So…" Caterina asked, feeling as if a storm had just passed, "Why are you here?"

"Triela sent me," Claes answered, "She wanted me to tell you to get dressed in those clothes you stole from Etta yesterday."

"The track suits? Why?" Celestina questioned, sounding a bit concerned.

Claes shrugged, "Triela said she was going to 'give you a workout.'"

Another glance was exchanged between sisters. Great, they both thought, sarcastically.

"Alright, girls," Triela said, full of her usual energy and warmth, showing no indication of ever having a sugar high, "Since we had so much fun yesterday, we have to work extra hard today." As she said this, she paced back and forth in front of the Twins, who were almost limp from boredom and sleeplessness.

Accompanying Triela was a tall, handsome man with short dark hair. He had introduced himself to the Twins as "Hilshire, Triela's handler." Just by looking, one could tell that he was a strong, capable person, whom Triela clearly drew her confidence from.

"Now, girls, I want you to…" Triela paused, unsure of what exactly to do. She turned to her handler to consult with her handler. Caterina and Celestina rolled their eyes.

"Should I do twenty?" they could hear Triela whisper.

"What? No, that's too many," Hilshire answered.

"Fifteen, then?"

"Just start with ten."

"Alright, alright," Triela conceded, and then, to the Twins, said, "I want you to warm up with ten laps around the dormitories."

Warm up?! Caterina thought in outrage, We can barely stand!

Well, Celestina tried consoling her sister, At the very least it should wake us up a bit.

Ten laps later the Alvise Twins found themselves slightly more fatigued than they had expected. Apparently their sweetly-induced hangover was affecting their abilities quite a bit. Nonetheless, Triela insisted on taking her cyborgs to the Agency's outdoor obstacle course.

"I want both of you to complete the course as fast as you can," she ordered, "I'll be timing you, of course. No cheating, understand?"

The Twins groaned and set off immediately with Caterina leading, vaulting up several small platforms to traverse an unusually tall climbing frame. They moved quickly and proficiently, despite their conditions. However, because the fatigue was affecting her judgment and sense of timing, Celestina slipped. Her sister reacted instantly, reaching back, catching Celestina's arm, and swinging her down and up, lightly tossing her to the perfect position to seamlessly continue their run.

"Impressive," Hilshire commented, "It's hard to believe they received their cybernetics just recently. They're in perfect sync."

"They always are," Triela said, "I'm surprised they don't finish each other's sentences."

The Twins had reached the climbing wall. They leapt up for an extra boost, grasping separate ropes and ascending rapidly. Celestina reached the top of the wall first, ignoring the substantial height, gripped the top of her sister's rope and aided her climb by pulling her up. When Caterina was close enough, her sister grasped her hand and pulled her to stand at the wall's peak. Together, they jumped down from the wall to a raised balancing platform. Now they were truly warmed up, their sugar highs had been worked out moments ago, leaving their bodies and minds unhindered by the obstructions they faced earlier that morning.

"They seem to form an incredibly cohesive team," Hilshire mused, "Complementing each other flawlessly. Whatever weakness one girl has is covered for by the other."

"It seems like Caterina prefers a closer, more destructive approach, though," Triela said, "And Celestina prefers doing things with as few shots fired as possible."

"How have they decided that already? They haven't even fired their weapons yet."

"I don't know," Triela sighed, "There's a lot about these girls that I still don't understand, even after reading their dossier."

"You shouldn't have too many problems with them," Hilshire reassured her, "They seem to be far ahead in terms of abilities than any beginner I've seen. Even you weren't this good when you first started."

"I still don't think I'd be able to keep up with them," Triela responded grimly, "Even in my prime."

"What's that mean?"

"You know what it means." Triela avoided looking into her handler's eyes. She looked anywhere, everywhere but at him. "Don't pretend like you haven't noticed what's happening to me."

"Triela, why don't you stop worrying about the future and start worrying about what's going on now? You're a handler now, and your problems aren't the only ones that you have to take into consideration."

"So because you're my handler, you should be listening to me and considering my problems at this very moment, right? Well, you're doing a fantastic job."

Hilshire sighed deeply. "It's not as if I don't want to talk with you about these things. You're troubled. I understand perfectly. I'm troubled as well. But you have to remember that we can't deal with the future during the present. We have to wait until the future becomes the present."

"Hilshire…" Triela whispered as an anchor to keep her from feeling lost, helpless; from breaking down the dam that was stopping all of the raging, swirling emotions in her head. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and finally she looked up into her handler's eyes. She felt the storm within her dissipate.

"When that happens, Triela," he said soothingly, "I know you'll face it with the same strength, confidence, and rebelliousness that you always have."

She thought on the matter for several seconds, until she decided that Hilshire was right. She couldn't be concerned with the unborn moments in her life because she had to occupy herself with the little, newborn things; the everyday things that made her life worthwhile. Most of all, however, she had two little girls to think about.

"You always say the right things," Triela said, cheering up, "Well… not always, actually, but still, you're pretty close most of the time."

Hilshire laughed, "It's because I know you well. It's what makes us a good team. A lot like the way your girls operate. Speaking of whom…"

Caterina and Celestina had finished the course and approached their handler, sweating and panting. They both doubled over, barely able to stand up straight. "There," they said, "How did we do?"

Triela looked at her stopwatch. "Not bad," she said, showing no hint of the emotions that she had felt during her conversation with Hilshire, "But you can do better. You will do better, eventually. I'll make sure of that."

"Urrà," Celestina said sardonically, "What else do you want us to do, Princess?"

"Do you have a pool?" Caterina added just as bitterly, "We could do laps."

"No," Triela answered sweetly as if the questions just posed were serious, "That's enough for now. Let's take a break for lunch, shall we?"

The Twins gritted their teeth, frustrated at their inability to vex their handler the way they were able to upon first meeting her. It was as if she had adapted to them, and had become impervious to their methods.

Maybe that's why the Agency assigned her to us, Celestina theorized.

Triela and Hilshire walked some distance ahead of the Twins, who were unable to keep up after having exerted themselves so much in such a short time. For the first time, Hilshire thought about the Alvise Twins. He noticed a considerable difference in Triela's behavior when they were around. Without them, Triela's mind seemed to wander and worry. However, when they were nearby, Triela's sense of humor returned, and she was able to smile. Maybe these girls are good for you after all, Hilshire pondered, If the three of you don't kill each other, that is…