The Next Day

“Colonel! Didn’t expect to run into you, here.”

“Eh? Oh, Captain,” Saito replied, and then gestured at an empty seat next to him. “Here for lunch, huh?”

“That was the plan,” Captain Travis replied as he took a seat next to Saito. The table in front of them stood in the shade of a large canopy, just outside one of the many restaurants lining the Mirage Lake boardwalk. Shouts and bustling activity from the nearby boardwalk made clear the midday time, exacerbated by an undercurrent of excitement for the following day’s holiday: Creators’ Day.

“I’m surprised to see you on your own, though,” Saito remarked as he passed Travis a smirk. “Where’s your boyfriend, eh?”

“Oh, c’mon, sir…” Travis responded with a bashful smile. “It’s only been a few days…”

“And I’ve barely seen the two of you apart these past few days.”

“Ha ha… I suppose. Well, I actually am meeting Gavon here, but he has watch, right now, so it might be some time before he shows up.”

“I see.” Saito nodded while resuming eating his lunch. “I’ll try to be out of your hair by then.”

“No, it’s fine, sir—“

“Captain.” Saito fixed Travis with a level stare. “The only thing worse than having to deal with a third wheel, is being the third wheel.”

“I’d almost say that it sounds like you’re jealous, sir,” Travis cheekily replied.

Saito merely responded by shaking his head, though an amused smile was on his face all the same. He then looked out over the boardwalk, eying the bustling activity and the colorful canopies that had been erected over the past day. “Seems like everyone’s excited for the big day, tomorrow,” he remarked. “I didn’t really think much of this ‘Creators’ Day’ when I first heard about it, but the Nimalians must take it pretty seriously.”

“Yeah, almost too seriously…” Travis responded.

“Don’t tell me you’re about to chide people for being excited for a holiday.”

“No, no, that’s not what I meant, sir. It just seems like they’ve all forgotten the imminent danger, that’s all.”

“…Hmm…” Saito paused for a moment, his expression growing serious. “…I can see where you’re coming from. But if anything, I think this is a good sign.”

“Is it? The Bleeders could attack at any moment.”

“They could, but the civilians shouldn’t have to worry about that. Protecting against the Bleeders is our job, and the Defense Forces’ job.”

“Sure, I get that. But the Bleeders have successfully attacked other Compounds that were protected by the Defense Force. How do we know that Tresnon will be safe?”

“Well, we don’t. But what do you want people to do, be anxious all the time? That isn’t healthy in the slightest.”

“I guess, but…” Travis trailed off, his mouth turned down into a frown as he mulled over his thoughts. “…It just doesn’t seem right. It almost feels like people are forgetting just how much of a threat the Bleeders are.”

“I don’t think that’s quite right,” Saito refuted. “If the civilians here had decided that the Bleeders weren’t a real threat, then they wouldn’t listen to the Defense Force advisories. But from what I hear, most people are listening. Travel in and out of the Compound is basically nonexistent, and none of the reformed former Bleeders in Tresnon complained when Selind temporarily suspended the Reformation Program.”

“So you think everything will be fine, then?”

“Let’s not put words in my mouth, now. But it seems clear to me that the civilians here trust Selind, they trust Davídrius, and they trust the Defense Force. It’s because of people like them — and us, by proxy — that the locals are able to put the Bleeders out of mind, even if only for a few days. And, because they trust the Defense Force, in the event of an attack, the civilians will be much more likely to follow Selind and Davídrius’s orders. That’ll make defending the Compound significantly easier.”

“Are you sure the people trust the Defense Force so much? Even after they failed to stop the Bleeders, before?”

“That’s just a matter of perspective. The Defense Force didn’t fail because they were weak or incompetent, they failed because the Bleeders were a bigger threat than expected. That means that the Defense Force can take those failures into account and plan to do better the next time.”

“Fair enough, I suppose…”

“I’d say that the likelihood of the Bleeders attacking tomorrow isn’t too high, personally. When they attacked on Hunger’s Bane, they had saboteurs already placed within the city. This time, they don’t. Not to mention that the Defense Force is still on high alert, and both us and Dean Densalin are still in the Compound. Chances are, the Bleeders will at least attempt to draw some of us away before attacking Tresnon.”

“Do you really think they’re that smart, sir?”

“I think that should be obvious. Strén might be a psychopathic egomaniac, but he’s still capable of strategy and threat assessment. Before Hunger’s Bane, he managed to plant two saboteurs in Tresnon, and when he showed up to actually attack, he let his reason trump his ego and retreated when he lost the upper hand.”

“So you think that he won’t attack Tresnon unless he thinks he has the advantage?”

“I do. And as long as Dean Densalin, Mark, and Danielle are here, at the very least, the Bleeders don’t have the advantage. Not to dismiss Gavon or the Defense Force, of course — but I think it’s quite evident that Densalin, Mark, and Danielle are on an entirely different level.”

“I see. Well, I guess we’ll at least be here tomorrow, right?”

“We might still get the recall order tonight, but for now, it does appear that we’ll all be here tomorrow,” Saito replied. “So if the Bleeders do decide to attack, tomorrow, then we’ll be able to help crush them.”

“I see…” Travis nodded. “…I still feel a little uneasy about all of this, but you do raise some good points, sir.”

“It’s all part of proper threat assessment,” Saito declared. “You can’t afford to underestimate your enemy, but you can’t overestimate them too much, either. Over-preparedness can wear you down in ways you might not expect.”

“Can’t say I disagree!”

Saito and Travis both looked up from the table just as Gavon strode over to them, his rifle strapped to his back.

“Oh, you’re here,” Travis remarked, watching as Gavon took a seat next to him. “How was watch?”

“Same as the last several days: absolutely nothing of note,” Gavon declared. “The Bleeders sure have been quiet, lately. Maybe they’ve realized that attacking Tresnon is a taller order than they ever thought, even with SFC tech!”

“Here’s hoping,” Saito replied, and then stood up from the table while gathering up the remnants of his lunch. “Nice to see you, Savénos. And good chat, Travis.”

“Leaving so soon?” Gavon questioned.

“I don’t want to get in the way of the lovebirds,” Saito responded with a wink.

“Colonel…” Travis responded in exasperation.

“Ha ha ha!” Saito laughed to himself. “Well, I have a watch to get to, myself, so I’ll leave you two be.”

“See you later, then, Colonel,” Travis replied, offering a quick wave before turning to converse with Gavon. Seeing this, Saito offered a quick nod before disposing of his trash and continuing on down the boardwalk, preparing to do his part in keeping Compound Tresnon safe.

---

*

“Alright, the cookies are in the oven; timer’s set for fifteen minutes. What else is there?”

“The eudaks need slicing into thin pieces. You’ll find them in a bag on the counter next to the fridge.”

“Hmm… these? They look an awful lot like potatoes. A little smaller and smoother, but still.”

“They’re the closest Nimalian equivalent, as I understand it.”

“Huh. And they have these in Tresnon?”

“No. I had to ask Dean Densalin to make some, for me.”

“Oh. …So you’re saying that she can just conjure up vegetables out of thin air?”

“Among other things. Her Materiatechnism is quite convenient.”

“I’ll say,” Hackett remarked as she began pulling the eudaks out of the bag and slicing them into thin pieces. “How many of these do you need?”

“Preferably, the whole bag…” Mark replied from the other side of the kitchen as he carefully yet quickly whipped up another batch of cookie dough. “I don’t know if I’ll have time to use a fryer tomorrow, so I’d like to get as much prep done today as I can.”

“You really want to make these chips from scratch, huh?”

“It wouldn’t be in the spirit of Creators’ Day to just go out and buy chips to go with the sandwiches I’ll be making. I’m curious to see how good of a substitute eudaks are for potatoes, anyways.”

“Fair enough. You have dozens of these ‘eudaks’ here, though, not to mention all the ingredients you bought for those cookies. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re trying to feed the whole Compound!”

“Cookies and chips keep fairly well in storage, so it’s better to have too many than too few, I’d say. I’m sure that what isn’t eaten tomorrow will disappear within the week, anyways.”

“I’ll have to take your word for it,” Hackett replied as she picked up her cutting board to dump a bunch of eudak slices into a nearby bowl. She then glanced back at Mark, who was busy depositing dough into small circles on a baking sheet. Despite his massive size and broad build, he quickly and deftly handled preparing the cookies for baking, his steady hand leaving perfectly-sized circles of dough on the sheet. “…Cooking really is second-nature to you, isn’t it?” Hackett remarked.

“Hmm?” Mark glanced back at Hackett before returning his attention to the dough. “I suppose. I enjoy it well enough, at least—”

“MAAARRK!! You still in here?!”

Before either Hackett or Mark had any chance to reply, Danielle barreled into the kitchen, catching herself against the fridge before whipping around to face Mark — and then snapping her attention to Hackett. “Oh, Major!” she remarked, “I didn’t expect to see you, here!”

“I originally just dropped by to check on the two of you,” Hackett replied as she continued chopping up eudaks. “That’s when I found Mark, here in the kitchen, preparing all of this food all by himself. So I thought I’d lend a hand.”

“Thanks again for this, Major,” Mark said. “The extra pair of hands has been an immense help.”

“It’s no problem. I’m glad to see you’re adjusting to life around here.”

“Yeah, it is pretty different from back home, huh?” Danielle commented. “All of the foods are different and weird!”

“They’re different, sure, but they’re similar enough to ingredients on Earth,” Mark responded. “Similar enough to be used the same way in recipes, in some cases. The biggest problem is that not all of them are actually native to Tresnon, or Treséd.”

“Was there something you wanted from Mark, though?” Hackett questioned, passing a side glance toward Danielle.

“Oh, right! …Or, uh, not really,” Danielle replied sheepishly. “I just had some free time, so I thought I’d come check in on Mark.”

“Probably looking for some food to pilfer, I’d bet,” Mark responded cheekily.

“…I mean, I wouldn’t say ‘no’ if you had any. And you said you were gonna be making cookies, soooo…”

Mark chuckled as he finished filling the baking sheet with evenly-spaced dots of dough and then handed the cooking bowl to Danielle. “Here.”

“Yay!” Danielle readily accepted the bowl and began eating the dough that remained within. “…Mm! If your coofies—“

“Don’t speak with your mouth full,” Hackett admonished.

Danielle smiled sheepishly, pausing to swallow before continuing, “if your cookies are even half as good as the dough, then everyone will love them!”

“Well, that remains to be seen,” Mark replied. “I’ve never made cookies for the Tresédians, before.”

“I’m sure they’ll love them,” Hackett responded. “And if they don’t, well, that’s just more for me, Saito, and Travis.”

“And me!” Danielle quickly interjected.

“Ha ha…” Mark smiled in response. “Well, we’ll see.”

“And what about you, hmm?” Hackett turned to give Danielle a look, watching as she dug into the cookie dough Mark had given her. “You said you had some ‘free time’, does that mean you’re busy with something?”

“Sorta,” Danielle replied. “I had guard duty this morning, which I just finished a little bit ago. And I’m supposed to meet with Austin, Spike, Conrad, and Kirstin in a few hours.”

“Oh, really? I’d heard that Kirstin was working with Austin and them on something for Creators’ Day. So you got involved, too?”

“Yep! It’s this fantasy game thingy. I don’t really get all of the rules, to be honest, but Austin and I made plans to make it really cool, so tomorrow’s gonna be great!”

“What kind of plans?”

“It’s a secret,” Danielle replied, a mischievous grin crossing her face. “But it’s something I’ve never been able to do before, so you should come and see if you can!”

“Never been able to do before…?” Mark echoed uneasily. “What does that mean…?”

“I can think of a few things,” Hackett remarked with a smirk. “Probably one of the flashy transformations that the Colonel shot down in the past, am I right?”

“…It’s a secret!” Danielle insisted, though her face had clouded somewhat, as though Hackett had seen right through her.

The Major let out a brief laugh in response. “Alright, alright, I’ll stop guessing. I suppose the Colonel and I will have to drop by and see what you’re talking about.”

“You should! It’s gonna be great!”

“Well, I’m glad that you found something to work on,” Hackett said, and then glanced between Mark and Danielle. “I have to say, I didn’t really expect the two of you to fit in quite so well. Though I suppose without Mote and Kate around, it should’ve been obvious.”

“I wish they were here, though…” Danielle lamented.

“What do you mean by that, though, Major?” Mark questioned, looking over at Hackett with a confused expression. “I’ll grant that Mote and Kate probably wouldn’t like it here as much, but what does that have to do with us?”

“I suppose you haven’t noticed it…” Hackett replied, returning to chopping up eudaks as she continued, “but the two of you often defer to Mote and Kate when they’re around, allowing their preferences to dictate what you do. Or, rather… you like spending time with them to the point where, if they were here, I wonder if either of you would actually be doing anything for Creators’ Day. I doubt either of them would’ve.”

“I… suppose so…” Mark responded uneasily.

“Is it so bad to want to spend time with your best friends, though?” Danielle asked.

“Not so much, but think about it,” Hackett said. “If Mote and Kate were here, would you be spending time with the recruits?”

“…I guess not…”

“Are you trying to say that Mote and Kate are… holding us back?” Mark questioned.

“That’s a very strong way of putting it,” Hackett refuted. “But it’s valuable to expand your horizons, and the two of them are both incredibly resistant to doing that.”

“Can’t argue with that.”

“Maybe we could’ve fixed that, if they just came to Tresnon!” Danielle said.

“The fact that they didn’t come is proof of my point,” Hackett replied.

“Even so, I don’t want to force them to visit Tresnon,” Mark said. “The way I hear it, you haven’t had much free time while you were all back on Earth. Even now, we’re liable to leave any day now to attack EA’s base. I’d bet that Mote and Kate stayed behind on Earth because they wanted to take advantage of the time to relax.”

Hackett raised an incredulous eyebrow. “Mote and Kate? Relax?”

Mark chuckled. “Well, as much as they’re capable of relaxing, at least.”

“Now that you mention it, I wonder what they’re up to, now…” Danielle mused.

“Probably reading and researching. It’s all they do with their free time.”

“Mote participated in some of the recon missions to locate EA’s base, actually,” Hackett corrected.

“Wait, really?” Mark questioned incredulously, only to shake his head in disbelief. “I mean, that does sound like Mote, but…”

“He really likes to work, huh?” Danielle remarked.

“Too true,” Hackett replied. “Still, the recon missions have ceased, now that we know where EA’s base actually is. Hopefully, he and Kate are using this time to rest and recuperate before our inevitable mission.”

“Hopefully,” Mark echoed.

“Ha! I suppose I am being a little optimistic.”

“We’ll just have to rest and recuperate for them, then!” Danielle exclaimed.

“If only it actually worked like that,” Hackett lamented.

“I think we can still do a version of that,” Mark countered. “If we go back to Mote and Kate with positive stories about this place, then they might be more encouraged to come here in the future.”

“Oh, that’s a great idea!” Danielle said. “We should totally tell them about Creators’ Day!”

“Certainly couldn’t hurt,” Hackett added. “But in order to tell them about a good Creators’ Day, we need to focus on making the day good.” She then looked at her watch, which reported a time in the mid-afternoon. “…And as it stands, Mark, you might have your prep work cut out for you.”

“We’ll certainly be cutting it close…” Mark mused.

“Don’t worry, I can help!” Danielle declared. “I still have a couple hours before I need to go! So what needs doing?”

“Ha ha, thanks, Danielle,” Mark responded with a smile, and then turned towards the counter, where there were two trays of unbaked cookies as well as now a large number of eudak slices filling several different bowls. “…What we mostly need now is the actual cooking. I think the best way to go about this is…”

He then continued to issue instructions to Danielle and Hackett, the latter two bustling about the kitchen to finalize Mark’s preparations for the following day’s holiday.