from ten until Sandy awkwardly pipes up.
“Grier, there’s a reason Piper has so many fans. She’s been training since she was just—”
“Oh, fuck off, Sandy!” she yells. She rips off the last electrode from her temple and storms out of the room. I look at Sandy, eyebrows raised.
“She hates me,” I say.
Sandy’s face is hopeless as he shrugs. “No she doesn’t,” he replies. I almost want to laugh as his voice squeaks. Always a terrible liar. Now disconnected, I lope up to the mezzanine and take a seat in one of the cushy wheel-born chairs. I want to stay cheerful, but it’s hard.
“No one really wants me here,” I say after a period of silence. Sandy tsks as he continues to type script into his computer.
“Where’s the tough girl I always see in you? Don’t let Grier get you down—you know she’s just jealous,” he replies. I sigh and spin myself in a slow circle.
“I’ve been here two days, Sandy, and I don’t even feel remotely part of the team. Even Tor with his sweet talk to get me here has been short with me,” I whine. Sandy stops typing and looks at me.
“So quit,” he says, nearly a whisper. I furrow my brows at him.
“I’m not a quitter,” I say. He turns back to his vid-screen.
“Then stop feeling sorry for yourself and do the work you were born to do. I know you and the Corp have issues, but you being here isn’t about Rupert or Myra or David.” I inhale sharply at his name, but Sandy continues, “You’re here because you’re a good Hunter. You’re here to save people. Don’t forget that.” I swallow hard, realizing he’s right. I’m better than this.
“You should start a business with this, you know,” I say, forcing a wry smile.
“Don’t mention it,” he replies, then turns back to his computer, booting up the training program.
“I’ve gone through the coding a few times, trying to improve on it, but I’m having trouble with the Harpy. It’s hard to envision something you’ve never seen before,” he admits. I pull my chair closer to him, peering at the screen. It still looks like gibberish.
“You should come on a hunt sometime,” I suggest.
“And get killed? No, thank you. I’m perfectly content in my nice, safe lab. I do need some more specifics, though. I thought it would be useful to run the program with an aroused Harpy and one in its natural environment.”
“The chances a Hunter has ever seen a neutral Harpy are pretty slim, Sandy.”
“You have to have some information about how Harpies live,” he complains.
I shake my head. “Usually when we meet up with them, we’re more focused on killing them than finding out their behaviour patterns.”
“Well, do some digging for me then, okay? I’ve got a performance review coming up and I’d really love to wow them with something new,” he says.
I give him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “I have faith in you, Sandy. You’re going to do great. But, I need to ask a favor of you as well.”
“I’m not giving you your weapons,” he warns.
I scoff in mock offense. “Come on, I’m not so one-track minded. I want to know a little more about this Harpy group nearby. Can you tell me anything more about it?”
“I’m not privy to that kind of info, Piper. I heard some of the senior Hunters talking about it, but as far as I can tell, it’s pretty hush-hush beyond what they told us at the meet,” he answers. Damn.
I was hoping he’d have something good for me to go off of. “Can’t you like, hack into the system or something for me?” I ask, batting my eyelashes in a pretty please fashion. Sandy gives me another mammoth sigh.
“Even if I could, I wouldn’t. I’m not about to let you go off and secretly work by yourself. It’s dangerous, okay?”
I nod in response and throw up my hands in defeat. “Okay, I won’t do anything more than what’s asked of me,” I say.
Sandy sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “Alright, I’ve got a few hours of coding left
“Grier, there’s a reason Piper has so many fans. She’s been training since she was just—”
“Oh, fuck off, Sandy!” she yells. She rips off the last electrode from her temple and storms out of the room. I look at Sandy, eyebrows raised.
“She hates me,” I say.
Sandy’s face is hopeless as he shrugs. “No she doesn’t,” he replies. I almost want to laugh as his voice squeaks. Always a terrible liar. Now disconnected, I lope up to the mezzanine and take a seat in one of the cushy wheel-born chairs. I want to stay cheerful, but it’s hard.
“No one really wants me here,” I say after a period of silence. Sandy tsks as he continues to type script into his computer.
“Where’s the tough girl I always see in you? Don’t let Grier get you down—you know she’s just jealous,” he replies. I sigh and spin myself in a slow circle.
“I’ve been here two days, Sandy, and I don’t even feel remotely part of the team. Even Tor with his sweet talk to get me here has been short with me,” I whine. Sandy stops typing and looks at me.
“So quit,” he says, nearly a whisper. I furrow my brows at him.
“I’m not a quitter,” I say. He turns back to his vid-screen.
“Then stop feeling sorry for yourself and do the work you were born to do. I know you and the Corp have issues, but you being here isn’t about Rupert or Myra or David.” I inhale sharply at his name, but Sandy continues, “You’re here because you’re a good Hunter. You’re here to save people. Don’t forget that.” I swallow hard, realizing he’s right. I’m better than this.
“You should start a business with this, you know,” I say, forcing a wry smile.
“Don’t mention it,” he replies, then turns back to his computer, booting up the training program.
“I’ve gone through the coding a few times, trying to improve on it, but I’m having trouble with the Harpy. It’s hard to envision something you’ve never seen before,” he admits. I pull my chair closer to him, peering at the screen. It still looks like gibberish.
“You should come on a hunt sometime,” I suggest.
“And get killed? No, thank you. I’m perfectly content in my nice, safe lab. I do need some more specifics, though. I thought it would be useful to run the program with an aroused Harpy and one in its natural environment.”
“The chances a Hunter has ever seen a neutral Harpy are pretty slim, Sandy.”
“You have to have some information about how Harpies live,” he complains.
I shake my head. “Usually when we meet up with them, we’re more focused on killing them than finding out their behaviour patterns.”
“Well, do some digging for me then, okay? I’ve got a performance review coming up and I’d really love to wow them with something new,” he says.
I give him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “I have faith in you, Sandy. You’re going to do great. But, I need to ask a favor of you as well.”
“I’m not giving you your weapons,” he warns.
I scoff in mock offense. “Come on, I’m not so one-track minded. I want to know a little more about this Harpy group nearby. Can you tell me anything more about it?”
“I’m not privy to that kind of info, Piper. I heard some of the senior Hunters talking about it, but as far as I can tell, it’s pretty hush-hush beyond what they told us at the meet,” he answers. Damn.
I was hoping he’d have something good for me to go off of. “Can’t you like, hack into the system or something for me?” I ask, batting my eyelashes in a pretty please fashion. Sandy gives me another mammoth sigh.
“Even if I could, I wouldn’t. I’m not about to let you go off and secretly work by yourself. It’s dangerous, okay?”
I nod in response and throw up my hands in defeat. “Okay, I won’t do anything more than what’s asked of me,” I say.
Sandy sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “Alright, I’ve got a few hours of coding left
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