Yue

 Mandated

22nd October

06:13 GMT +8

I feel a moment of disorientation-.

"…intervention of the Chinese army under General Wu in the Autumn of sixteen fifty seven, the war shifted decisively in favour of crown prince Shukoh Dara, so preventing…"

I open my eyes, reaching out across the bed for-. No, a warm patch, but she's already up. I blink a couple of times, then push myself upwards into a sitting pos-.

"I don't know how you sleep through that."

Jade is -naturally- already dressed, a towel around her hair showing that she's showered as well. She glances at me as she pulls her tunic's right sleeve over one of her concealed knives. Green tunic with the gold pagoda emblem of the Imperial Security Agency… That explains why the alarm went off at all.

"I.. thought that you.. weren't working today."

"I'm not, but I have a training course for my next promotion." Satisfied with the positioning, she drops her right arm to test the movement of the material. "It would be unwise for me not to attend."

I turn and shuffle to the edge of our bed before lowering my legs to the floor. "You need a better union." I stand, trying to work out what I should wear. Lantern Fang's message made it sound like an informal event, but I know for a fact that his ideas of 'informal' and mine are a rather long way apart. I stroll over to the wardrobe and pull open the door. Let's.. go with.. black tunic suit with orange-.

"Unless someone died, I don't recommend it."

I close my eyes for a moment. She probably-. No, certainly knows better than me, but I can't just let that go. "Yes Madam Controller. What would Madam Controller suggest?"

"Hm." She walks up behind me, looking at my selection around my left side. "The red tunic with the blue trousers. The style shows that you've thought to dress formally and so respect his position, and the colours indicate your relative inexperience and desire to grow."

As good as anything else, I suppose. I'm still not.. entirely comfortable with these sorts of.. intense colour in a formal setting, but… When in Datong… I lift out the tunic and trousers and a.. simple white shirt, and then turn to lay them on our bed while I take off my pyjamas. I get a momentary look at myself in our bedroom mirror as I pull my pyjama top over my head, and use a burst of orange light to tidy myself up. Jade was heading for the kitchen, but turns back at the doorway with a small smile on her face to watch me dress.

"Would you like me to make the alarm louder?"

"No, I just-" I push my right arm through the shirt's sleeve. "-haven't got used to this time zone yet. I'll adapt, and I don't want to drive you-" I leave the shirt open to display my chest as I slide off my bottoms. "-out of bed."

"Didn't you used to use your ring for that?"

"I couldn't drive you out of bed with my ring, Jade. I'd have to want to."

She rolls her eyes. "That isn't what I meant. You've been using your ring for fewer things since you got back."

Alas, this is now a pants on conversation. "Yess. When I was on.. Maltus, I got a full explanation of what orange light exposure could do to a person. And.. when I met Larfleeze I.. got a.. very good look at the end result. I wouldn't hesitate in an actual fight, but… I'm going to be cutting back a bit."

Her eyes dip very slightly as she considers the ramifications. "You'll need to tell Lord Fang."

"That's what back to work interviews are all about." I button the last button on my tunic and follow Jade as she leads the way into the kitchen. She opens the microwave as I bend down to take my oat porridge and her rice porridge out of the fridge and pass them to her. "That and sparring. That's the one thing about me that Lantern Fang actually likes. And I'm sure that First Lantern Sinestro has told him about our encounter."

Weird as this continuity is, I'm rather glad that their Sinestro is still on the strait and narrow. He's.. quite a bit better than me with a power ring. And was more than happy to prove it when I showed my face in his Sector.

"That's not the only thing Lord Fang likes about you. It's just the only thing he's told you that he likes about you. He has the authority to call you in for sparring whenever he likes; he wouldn't choose to operate with someone he didn't get on with."

I nod. I suspected, but given the very real conflicts we've had… "Is your.. training going to be all day?"

"No, until mid-afternoon. I'll be back this afternoon." Something occurs to her. "Mother wants to know when we can visit my parents for dinner."

"That.. depends on what assignment Lantern Fang gives me. Unless he says 'thanks, but no thanks', in which case my schedule is open until Dox calls me." She nods. "The.. Colonel.. isn't going to try and put me through one of his 'training exercises' this time, is he?"

Ah, the Colonel. Former nationalist terrorist and currently the highest ranking Zero Team field officer. Zero Teams are called that due to the odds of members surviving their first mission. They're not actually zero now, but for a period of time during the Durlan War it was pretty close to that and even a veteran wouldn't have high odds of surviving more than three missions. How their members are selected is a fairly novel concept that I was only familiar with from the imperial guard: they recruit criminals with military backgrounds. If they survive a certain number of missions, they get a pardon. If they die, their debt to society is considered paid and they get an honourable funeral. Sort of like the canaries or a less secret Suicide Squad.

In theory it makes sense: high powered super functionaries are thin on the ground. On the other hand, violent criminals are common. In the event of a super powered attack, it's more likely that violent criminals will be close to it than a super functionary who would stand a realistic chance of stopping it. And if they can't, the super functionary following them in will be better informed of the nature of the threat.

Committing a violent assault while a serving member of the military might result in a survivable tariff of one or two missions. The Colonel… Lawrence Crock, was given a 'die with honour' tariff of thirty missions, and by a combination of skill and tenacity actually lived through them. And after he was released he came right back and put in for officer training because he'd found those fights more fulfilling than anything he'd ever done before.

I think he's mental. And so does most of the military. He thinks I'm a bit of a wuss. And by his standards he's almost certainly right.

"Mother spoke with him about that, and he won't."

"Thank you. And I'll.. thank her as well."

"You shouldn't let him intimidate you so much."

"Everyone gets intimidated by the Colonel."

"I don't-." Her jaw clenches, and I notice as a half-second later she realises that she snapped at me. Her eyes move aside and she shuffles her left leg-.

I walk up to her, bend slightly and kiss her lightly on the lips. Then I pull back slightly and smile affectionately down at her, prompting her to exhale with a sort of pleased irritation.

"Actually…" She looks me in the eye. "That reminds me."

"Clearly I need to kiss you more often, then."

"Will Lady Yifei be at your 'return to work' interview?"

"I.. don't know. I haven't seen her since I got back. I'm not even sure if she's on Earth. I mean, I'll.. ask after her-."

"She got back to Earth yesterday." She smiles. "Now is the perfect time to ask her out."