"Ah, here we are." 

Trevor's voice brought Elli out of her thoughts and she glanced ahead to see that the group had halted in front of a pair of metal doors. Trevor maneuvered through his colleagues to wave his hand over a pad on the right of the doors, and they swung inward. Elli followed the others in, observing the large round room with a screen taking up half the wall. There was a circular conference table that took up most of the space in the room and everyone seemed to pick a chair at random.

Star grabbed Elli's hand. "Sit with me, newbie!" she grinned.

"Okay." Elli shyly agreed.

The tempestuous brunette seemed friendly enough, in fact, they all did, but Elli was still struggling with the reality of it all. It felt like some bizarre dream, sitting down with a bunch of 'gifted' as Trevor put it in some secret underground base somewhere.

"All right N.N.s," Trevor took command of the room as soon as everyone was seated. "As we all know, the Bluecoats have been keeping busy. Recently, Dark Sector has become more active than we've ever seen."

Trevor activated the screen with a wave of his hand, and a surveillance video clip began to play. Elli concentrated on the grainy video. A girl with short, dark hair was standing outside some bar or club, and an unmarked van squealed into the shot as two men in full body armor and face masks grabbed the girl and jumped into the van, which sped off before they had time to shut the door.

"This is the most dangerous attack so far. They took Reach." Trevor explained, his tone was solemn.

Elli continued to stare at the clip as it looped, memorizing the young woman's features. So, this was Reach, the girl Trevor and Samuel seemed so worried about. She looked slightly older than Elli but younger than the two men. Elli glanced over to Samuel, whose face was stoic, but a tick in his jaw that told her he was upset. She found herself wondering just what the relationship was between the three of them. They seemed to be childhood friends or something. For the first time, Elli wondered if that was all. She glanced back to Trevor, who wasn't as good at hiding the anxiety in his expression.

"As one of the core members of Quantum," Trevor continued, "Her extraction is paramount. Code 1 priority. That's why Samuel and I have closed our recon case and brought in Elli. We also want her to join the extraction team. She has a strong talent but isn't in any database yet and is unknown to Reach."

"A secret Ace, huh?" Wolf chuckled.

"More than that." Trevor smiled sadly, moving his hand over the screen to pull up a photo of a man his age bearing a striking resemblance to the blonde, though the man in the picture had ash brown hair and impossibly green eyes.

It was the eyes, Elli decided, that made him resemble Trevor so much. They stared out with the same striking intensity.

"We have reason to believe Theo is personally responsible for this abduction."

A sharp gasp and grumbling rose from the group. Around the table, Elli could sense the tension rise. The name was familiar to Elli from Samuel's memory of the Songbird, but she didn't comprehend why this would be more upsetting to everyone. She leaned over and asked Star who Theo was.

Star blinked back at her, surprised.

"Trevor didn't tell you already? Theo's his twin brother."

Elli's ears rang with shock. "That makes no sense."

Star shrugged. "Ask him about it later; it's not really my place to talk about it."

"Settle down, everyone." Trevor resumed command of the room.

"I know this makes an uncomfortable situation worse, but we have to move forward. So, the plan—" Trevor pulled a few more files up on the screen as he spoke. "—is to gather as much Intel as possible on Reach's location, and to train Elli to get her mission-ready. We've given this a three-week timeline. Statistically, there's not a lot of chance past that time mark for Reach. If I feel we're ready before then, or we get a red light on Reach, then we'll go in sooner."

"Her chip is still active?" Armon frowned. "Isn't that a little odd?"

"Either they haven't found it, or they don't know what it is yet," Trevor replied.

"Let's hope it stays hidden. That will make things easier." Domina nodded. "How are we splitting assignments?"

Trevor enhanced one of the files on the screen, and a black nodule in the center of the table started spitting out sheets of paper.

"Week one is the most strenuous. Starting today, Elli will rest until lunch, and then start with Domina on the basics."

"Quantum 101. Yikes." Star whispered. "Good luck with that."

"The Sam and Wolf will start on some defensive training—"

Elli's heart dropped to her stomach. Would Samuel be training her? He was built like a rock, what was she supposed to do, just let him beat up on her? Her eyes slid to the large man across the table, Wolf. There was no way in hell she'd be able to take that on either. What the hell? She wasn't some karate kid. Those two would squash her like a bug.

"-- And the day will conclude with Meta-training with Magenta and Armon."

While those who are assigned to training work with Elli, Star and I will take point today on Intel with Ferris as support."

Trevor picked up the stack of printed sheets and handed out the schedule copies.

"Any questions?"

Elli skimmed the next week in ink and balked. It was strenuous and ironclad, not hardly a minute unaccounted for. Did he really expect her to agree to this boot camp bullshit?

"Elli," Trevor addressed her directly, his voice softening. "I know this is a lot we're—I'm asking of you. If at any point you need a break, just say so. I promise it's not as difficult after this initial burst. We just want to make sure you will be prepared for the mission, and there's so little time to do that."

Elli matched his gaze, her temper simmering. She took a deep breath, trying to be congenial as possible. "Just remember what you promised me."

He nodded, his expression tense.

"I'll do this, Trevor, but after that, things are on my terms." She pushed.

"As we agreed." He forced a smile.

"Okay then." She snapped the paper to skim over it again.

"So, then.... Where do I, uh, 'break afforded for rest'?"

Star laughed. "We're bunking together, come with me."

Elli stood, following Star out of the room. As they reached the door, she overheard Domina quietly asked. "Is this really okay? Isn't it too much for the girl?"

"She can do it," Samuel replied confidently.

Elli bit her lip as the door shut behind her. She could only hope Samuel's confidence wasn't misplaced, and that Trevor's expectations weren't too high for her to achieve. She didn't feel up to any of this. She just wanted to curl up somewhere and pretend the world didn't exist for a while.

"C'mon." Star smiled. "Trevor may be strict now and again, but he's more than fair. It seems overwhelming, sure, but it won't be too bad once you get into it."

"I hope you're right," Elli replied earnestly.

"Of course I am! You'll see." Star laughed, pulling her down the corridor.