Lodestone TLR-99

Some time ago

201 EN (Era Novum) - On a reservist base on the outskirts of Mimisbrunnr.

Almost the instant the 98th Reserve had been dismissed by their drill sergeant, the barracks had been completely vacated. Nobody really had anything important to do, but most everybody had something unimportant to do, and they'd set out to do it as if ordered to do so. Reservist Mehr Sherazi, though, slumped back down on to her bunk, on top of the bedspread that she was so sure would pass inspection this morning, careful not to put her boots on it.

Mehr had been feeling out of sorts all week. Well, all year, if one wanted to be realistic. She'd tried to remember the better times, the times before she'd been drafted into the Armed Forces of the Sunnr Principality. Outside of a vague recollection of what her childhood bedroom looked like (curtains drawn, bookshelves full of old comics and technical manuals, and just the desk lamp to read them by), she could not remember anymore what her life was like before this damned war. Most of it had been overwritten by now. Her favorite characters from the stories she used to read, she could only remember names now and not the reasons she'd liked them. If she'd tried to dig any deeper in her mind, her thoughts would crash directly into marching cadence, or the loyalty pledge recitation, as if the record player in her head skipped several grooves into the wrong song.

All of this began because... why? Because of the damn North. It did not feel like her own thought. It felt like somebody else's, cut-and-spliced over what she was actually trying to think about. Mehr had no idea how they'd done it so effectively. It would have bothered her more, if not for... she was not even sure how to complete the thought. It bothered her how much it did not bother her. But for lack of a stronger reason, the reason she'd been copy-pasted felt like it fit well enough, even if the puzzle piece was not exactly the right shape for that spot. The thought rattled disconcertingly in her head, but never loosened.

"Girl, you look fuckin' miserable." The face that spontaneously entered Mehr's field of vision had a darker complexion, and features that she was not sure belonged to one specific people, but it was the azure blue eyes that most drew her attention, long before she noticed the strands of blonde, definitely-not-regulation hair. The smirk on her face seemed almost mischievous, before it reached a more concerned expression. "...No, really. You alright?"

Mehr had to look away. This level of eye contact was bad enough from her sergeant, let alone this stranger who was not even from her squad. "No," she said to the empty bunk next to her, in the opposite direction of where the stranger stood.

"You're, uh..." The gremlin-like woman leaned to look at the nametag on the foot of the bunk. "Sherazi? ...Or is that a hard Z, like Sheratzi?"

"You had it right the first time." Mehr stared back up at the bunk above her. "What are you doing here though? I don't think this is your barracks."

"It's not, because I don't sleep in one anymore. And if you and I both play our cards right, you won't, either." The dirty-blonde woman leaned back over Mehr, and twisted herself just enough to point out the insignia on the shoulder of her white uniform. Mehr didn't know what the symbol meant, but it was definitely a higher rank than Reservist.

"Who the hell do you think you are... ...ma'am." The words stumbled and tripped over Mehr's lips, followed by an address that had crashed into the entire rest of the sentence. "I...uh..."

The gremlin attempted to cease her gremlin-ness and straightened up, almost playing at the kind of military stiffness Mehr was used to. "Reservist Sherazi, I'm Staff Sergeant Katherine Niemeyer. And I'm here to recruit you." She raised a finger in front of her face, then pointed it directly to Mehr's, just like in all the old recruitment posters.

"Recruit me? I... I'm already here, aren't I?"

"Maybe that's not the word, but I will say this. You wanna see how the sarges bed down for the night?"

"What's the damn point. I'm just gonna wind up back here."

"Oh, booo. Look, I'm offering you a ticket out of morning muster, out of loyalty pledges, out of whatever shitty morning hazing rituals your D.I. has you doing. I will take care of all of your transfer paperwork, and you will enjoy your new digs."

"Sounds too good to be true."

"Well you're the only one still in the building, so it's not like I'm extending this offer to anyone else. Besides..." SSgt. Niemeyer bent over Mehr's bunk, so close as to almost be touching their chests together, and whispered. "You would look way hotter in an NCO's uniform."

"Hotter for who? Who in hell am I going to impress, on a military base in the middle of a desert planet?"

"Whooooo else." Niemeyer playfully reached her finger towards Mehr's chin, moving to stroke from the tip towards Mehr's neck. Mehr, on reflex, grabbed the hand in the middle of its motion. "Switch off now and then," said Niemeyer blankly. "You can't be this high-strung all the damn time, you'll have a coronary before you see action."

"That's extremely inappropriate behavior for an NCO." Mehr did not release Niemeyer's hand.

"Like your D.I. is any better."

"Drill Instructor Travers is a--"

"Saint, right? That what he's been insisting you say every morning on top of the pledge?"

Mehr pressed her lips shut.

"Well I make no claims that I'm any better. And yeah, I'm sorry for teasing you. But I promise you I'll get you out of here. Get you into a part of this stupid little army that cares a bit more about your well being and isn't trying to stomp on your soul at every turn."

"How, exactly?" She finally let go of the staff sergeant's hand, having no idea why she was so willing to hear her out now.

"Well, there's this other unit I've been trying to apply to. They sound safe enough - the 12th Mechanized Research Detachment."

"Mechanized Research... so, vehicle development and maintenance?" Mehr sat upright in her bunk, taking care not to hit her head on the bunk above her.

"Some real back-of-the-line stuff going on. Nobody really talks about them, I get the feeling nobody really cares. Doesn't sound like they do anything dangerous."

"And where do I come in?"

"Well, my application was granted, but there's a vacancy in my double-quarters. Boss says I should select a bunkmate. Ideally one I've formed a good relationship with."

Mehr snorted a bit. "I wouldn't call our relationship 'good,' with all due respect. We've just met."

"And yet, it'd be a great opportunity to get to know each other better. Surely a better opportunity than all of this. Better than learning which Reservist sneaks jelly donuts, which Reservist peed their bunk..."

Mehr thought about telling her she didn't want to leave. Above all of the other things she had been afraid of, since the war's start, she was the most afraid of change. But at this point, anything was better than this. "You know what, I'm in. But on one condition."

"You know, I'm your superior. I don't think you have the power to make conditions."

"You try to touch me like that again and I'll report you to your superior."

"You talk a big game, Sherazi. But let's see how it plays out."