After breakfast, the three of us went by the apprentice launch gate and parked our stuff in the lockets there. Leo had been told by his bunoid guide, Marlin, that if he wanted to wander freely without the burden of his bag, he could park it at any of the lockers and take the key. Then, before he leaves, he can retrieve his gear and proceed on his journey with everything packed and ready to go. So, the three of us took Marlin’s advice, parked our bags in the same lockers, and went on a tour of the facilities.

The personal tram took us to the open gardens, which boasted flowers from many different planets. Some looked like burning stars on the end of stalks, and others looked like dripping monster plants, dripping acid as they hung low, waiting for their prey - small unsuspecting insects, to wander in and dissolve into sugars and proteins.

Next, we visited the mirror pools, which were nine pools that interlinked, and the surface mirrored the sky. You could see the clouds moving and the light shining, and people swimming in the pools looked like they were swimming in the sky. 

Next, there was a public library, which was three stories high. Unlike Janus’ closed-off library of musical instruments and books, this one was open and had thousands of people in it, all busy working or reading or working at the provided computer stations. 

Area after area made me feel like a whole city seemed to exist within the confines of the job fair spaceship; it now made sense why it was so big and why the local rules of the planet did not apply here, as the ship was an extension of the Council Planet. It was beautiful, modern, and extremely clean, starkly contrasting to the dusty streets, the stealthy rules, and the old-fashioned style surrounding Winter Manor. 

Finally, at 9:30 am, the three of us piled back onto a tram and had it take us to the auditorium. There were already quite a few people gathered there, so we took our time walking over to see if we could find a good spot to sit and wait for the announcement.

“Ehem, excuse me,” Marcus said, clearing his throat and standing in front of the three of us. “ I am Marcus, a Team Lead here at the Job fair. Have you collected your number card?” he asked pointedly.

“No, we just got here,” Leo said, raising an eyebrow. 

“Well, please give me your names, and my colleague will give you your assigned number card,” Marcus said, waving to one of his colleagues who came over with a clipboard stacked with sheets, each sheet with a number card clipped to it with a paper clip.

“Umm, Leo Winter,” Leo said, and the Lizard looked through his tablet.

“Ah, F02002, Christalas,” Marcus said, and his colleague quickly flipped through all her papers and then ripped off a number card and handed it to Marcus, who handed it to Leo.

“Margaret Evanly,” Margaret said, looking nervously at Christalas, who was waiting for her colleague to check the number.

“Also, F02002, check three pages below; you should find a Margaret,” Marcus said as his colleague quickly flipped through and then ripped off another number tag to hand it to Marcus, who handed it to Margaret.

“Alaina Winters,” I said, and the lizard checked his tablet again.

“F8008 should be the first one, Chrissy,” Marcus said as Christalas rapidly flipped through the pages again, pulled out a number card, and handed it to Marcus. Marcus then handed it to me, nodded, and strode off, making a beeline for another set of people who had just disembarked from a tram.

“Well, I wonder what these are for,” Leo said, looking at the number card.

“When you go to the auditorium floor, you will see signposts with your number on a sign at the top. These are your official assigned teams for the length of your apprenticeship. Please stand or sit at the signpost corresponding with your number and wait for further instructions; thank you,” Christalas said timidly and then rushed off to follow Marcus as he beckoned her to come along.

“Oh well, I guess this is where we separate,” Margaret said a little tearfully.

I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a hug. “Take care of my brother, will you?” I said softly, and she nodded. Then, she hugged me back.

“Hey, what about me?” Leo asked, and I released Margaret and hugged Leo, who engulfed me in his soft, furry arms.

“You got us this far, kiddo; when you’re out there struggling, always remember that, don’t give up, ok? We all are rooting for you,” he said into my hair.

I nodded, struggling to hold back tears, but I didn’t want to make Leo cry too, so I sucked it up and nodded into his furry,

After that, we said our goodbyes, and I walked over to the flight of stairs that took me straight to where I could clearly see the signpost that read “F8008” as Leo and Margaret headed over to “F02002”.

As I approached the signpost, I noticed there was someone already there. A boy with bright red hair was leaning against the post, his eyes closed. He was dressed in a loose-fitting tunic over a rough-looking linen shirt and pants. His boots looked worn and old, and the only item he had was a sling bag with some pens and a book peeking out.

“Hi umm… I’m Alaina. It's nice to meet you,” I said as I stood next to him at the signpost.

The boy opened his eyes and gazed up at me. He had the clearest, greenest eyes I had ever seen.

“Amanita Muscaria, at your service. You seem to be missing some body parts,” he said and then closed his eyes.

I took a step back, then calmed down; right, there were species who could tell what you are upon sight; I guess he was one of them. 

“Well, hello there. It's nice to meet you,” a voice said from behind me. I turned to find myself looking right at someone’s chest.

I backed up and looked up to find a smiling felinekind smiling down at me. She was decked out in a bright red jumpsuit, zipped all the way up to her neck.

“Umm, hi, I’m Alaina,” I said and held out my hand. It was received by a nice firm grip, and a display of toothy canines flashed at me as I smiled pleasantly down at me. 

“I’m Rael, Rael Jewel, from the knight class!” She grinned proudly.

I released her and looked her up and down. “ So, this is your first choice?” I asked, wondering why I had never seen her before.

“Yeah! My parents are bakers, and I always admired the knights who looked out for us on the road, so instead of becoming a baker, I decided to be a knight and help those in need,” Rael said proudly, hooking her fingers into her backpack.

I snorted. “Well, you aren’t even saving yourself dressed like that,” I said, eyeing her. “Shoot me now,” the outfit said in disbelief. “ You sure you want to stick with knight class? Why not just do F&B? You already have the background in it,” I said.

“Hey, I’ll protect you, even if you are a snotty-nosed brat who looks down on other people’s dreams,” Rael snapped and walked off in a huff.

“Hey, I didn’t mean it like that, ah,” I sighed, but Rael already had her back turned to me and was not paying me any mind.

“Well, looks like your social skills haven’t improved,” a familiar voice said behind me, and a large, warm hand clapped me on the shoulder.

“BiBi!” I exclaimed and turned into a warm side hug. “ What a sight for sore eyes. How are you doing?” I asked as I looked up at my friend's jolly face.

“Pretty good. It's been a really awesome experience talking to my reporting officer. Thank you so much for getting me out of that mess yesterday; I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you,” BiBi said with a half smile.

“Well, I try my best, but I think I should learn how to try and keep my mouth shut,” I said, looking at the grumpy slouch of my teammate.

BiBi grinned. “I’ll try and put in a good word for you,” he said and walked over to Rael and introduced himself while I sighed and sank down to the floor cross-legged and hoped that I had a better time getting to know who else was on my team. 

“Do you know there is a 99% chance of contracting an incurable disease by sitting in the same place that people walk around on?” 

I jumped and was snapped out of my daydream by the same dreamy, luminous eyes that had popped up in front of me yesterday on the tower windows.

“Apple?” I gasped.

“The very same. Now, if your legs work, I would suggest standing,” she said, holding out a hand for me.

I gratefully accepted it, and she pulled me up and then pulled me into a hug.

“I am most grateful for your work in distributing all the flying devices; who knew we would be on the same team?” Apple squealed in delight as she hugged me, then held me at an arm’s distance. “ Won’t we be the best of friends?” she said, her eyes flashing with glee.

My heart sank at the words ‘friends,’ but I couldn’t just go ahead and confess on the spot, could I?

“Y-Yes, of course, friends, always,” I said through gritted teeth, smiling as hard as I could to hide the pain in my eyes.

“Good, good, now let me meet the rest,” Apple said and bounced off to say hi to Blue and Rael.

“Well, that sounded convincing,” Amanita chuckled, cracking open an eye to peer up at me.

“Shut up, mind reader,” I pouted, crossing my arms.

“No, I’m just a humble mycelium. What do I know about the human mind or the butterfly mind? Wait, I don’t have to know much; you lot are so very predictable,” Amanita said and stood up, dusting himself off as he dusted off my feelings. 

“Hate you” I spat out.

“How could you? That’s such a hurtful thing to say,” Amanita said, clutching his heart. “ Too bad I don’t have a heart and a brain like you lot to be offended by your callus statement,” Amanita smirked. “ But if I was to say the same to you…” I trailed off, and I couldn’t help but feel offended at that moment.

“Hmmhmm, yes, all mammals release different hormones into their bloodstreams when they feel things. So I’m not reading your mind; I’m reading your blood, and your blood says you are now feeling a sense of distress, so I’m guessing you are. “ Amanita paused as if waiting for me to fill in the blank.

“Offended,” I said, crossing my arm.

“And now you are, “ he said

“Angry? Pissed off? Annoyed?” I said.

“Very good. Now that we understand each other, there is no need to fear that I am reading your mind. In fact, if anything, you should be grateful to have such an attentive teammate who can help you to work on calming your emotions so that in the heat of battle, you won’t let your emotions betray you and will be victorious every time” Amanita said shrewdly, grasping at the air as if he was grabbing hold of a victory.

I scoffed and smiled. I couldn’t help it; it would be nice to learn how to control my emotions; anger had been the reason I slipped up and tried to kill the guard yesterday; I had to do better.

“Alright, I like you; you won me over,” I said, grinning.

Amanita smiled and sat back down calmly. “ Good, I like you too, Alaina Winters,” he said and returned back to whatever form of meditation he had been engaged in. 

“Hi umm, is this F8008?” Asked a tall, slender Marcus. He had his blonde hair pulled back in a tight ponytail and also was dressed in the familiar jumpsuit, his being white in color.

I snorted. “ Yeah, but are you seriously planning to go out and do field work on that?” I asked, completely forgetting this same comment just got me canceled with another teammate.

“Well, as a medic, I mean a Field Healer, one must always dress the part. Clean attire means clean hands and mind; that’s how it goes,” he explained, brushing himself off nervously. 

“Oh, a medic class, I guess that’s alright. You’re a sitting duck no matter what you wear” I shrugged, deciding to accept that some people just won’t get it until the bullet hits them in the arse. 

“See, I’m not the only one dressed in the official attire. I don’t know why you had to get on my case,” Rael suddenly said, marching over and pointing at the healer in his jumpsuit.

“Hi, I’m Daemon. It's nice to meet you,” the healer said, shaking hands with Rael.

“I’m Rael, of the Knight Class. I’m a field squire, but I will protect you as my life depended on it,” Rael beamed, standing proudly in her red jumpsuit as if she were ready to take on the world.

“Oh Daemeon, weren’t you picked up by Leo?” I asked, suddenly remembering the list of names Leo and I had split in our attempts to help as many as possible High Break.

“Yes, and Leo was marvelous; he guided us through the dark underpass, and we even picked up a lost Amanita along the way. The flying devices really came in handy, thank you,” Daemeon replied.

“Oh, those were from Apple; she provided us with the devices to give to everyone’ I said, motioning to Apple, who was talking to BiBi.

“Then I must thank her in person; if not for her, I wouldn’t be here, excuse me, ladies,” Daemeon said and made his way over to Apple and Blue.

“Well, it seems you are capable of being civil,” Rael said, crossing her arms and looking away from me.

“Trust me, I don’t need your protection. If anything, you’re going to end up needing my protection, dressed up like that. Take it from me: bright colors attract unwanted attention and make you a target; I’m just saying this for your own good,” I said, feeling really wary, especially since she is trying out being a “knight” as her vocation.

“Says the 5-foot munchkin who looks like a breeze could knock her over. I could tie you up and sell you off in a blink of an eye; you lil wet behind the ears, ruffian,” Rael snapped, balling her fits and leaning over me, her eyes red with anger. 

I smirked “ Oh really, well, this 5 foot 2 munchkin has a mean deadlock knot, so it’ll be you begging for mercy if you even tried something like that,” I said, getting all up in her face, toe to toe. I didn’t care that she towered over me; this girl was egging me on, and I had dealt with bigger opponents before, so I wasn’t about to back down.

“Hey ladies, please, enough. The announcement is about to start; you can kill each other later,” BiBi said, wedging himself between us and pushing me away.

“Alaina, behave yourself,” BiBi hissed.

“She started it!” I exclaimed, but BiBi just shook his head. “And you should know better.”

I sighed as Rael smirked at me over BiBi’s shoulder. Fine, she could have this victory, but she better watch her back herself; I wasn’t gonna save her when the real “Knights” that she so looked up to came out of the trees and shot her in the leg.