War Games

Chapter 4 - Checkers

Checkers zoned out a long time ago. Dr. Soto just wasn't that interesting. He was staring off into space, thinking about the previous night.

Apparently, some point after Checkers fell asleep, Zak went back to Professor Munsley's office, went through his old fashioned filing cabinets, (seriously, who used those anymore? The holographic cabinets had been invented nearly a century ago), and found the information on their sophomore project.

"I'm telling you, we need those girls," he said, "we can't do this alone. It's better if we team up with them. I looked through their files and-"

"You did what?"

"Never mind that, they're the best in their classes, aside from you and me. You didn't read what I read, Tony. We need them."

After half an hour of begging, Checkers gave in. He'd talk to Indigo.

So Checkers kept his eye on Indigo, only half listening to Dr. Soto as she rambled on about calculus and how important it is on the battlefield. When the bell rang he followed Indigo into the hall and nonchalantly fell into step beside her. "Are we supposed to pretend last night never happened?" He whispered, quiet enough so only she could hear, but loud enough that it didn't get drowned out by the noisy hallway.

"That was kind of the plan." She whispered back.

"Maybe your plan," Checkers said, looking around to see if anyone noticed them talking, "but Zak and I decided we want you on our side."

"For what?" She asked sarcastically.

"For our sophomore project." He replied, waiting to see how she reacted. She suddenly took a sharp turn to the right. That was not the way to their physical combat class. "Where are you going?" He called after her.

She turned, "You and your friend, meet us in the café in 15 minutes!" Then, before he could respond, she was gone.

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Zak was not patient by any means. That's another reason he's along the Combat branch instead of Command. He was throwing up dust clouds pacing in the back of the café. "They're late," he stated for the seventh time in a row.

"You don't say," Checkers responded sarcastically.

Then the doors to the student café opened. In walked Indigo and her friend, Kennie. Kennie had light chocolate brown skin and shoulder-length black hair with a face that screamed elegance and finesse. She wore her tight, clingy, breathable black bodysuit like it was hot off the runway and she had all the right curves in all the right places. The intense look in her eyes smoldered, the way she held herself radiated dignity, and...

Checkers may act like an emotionless robot 90% of the time, but he was human.

Indigo was nothing in comparison. She was short, barely reaching 5 feet tall. Her hair reached down to her mid-back and was dark brown with inconspicuous natural light brown highlights. She was small in every way. Built like a pencil, she had no curves whatsoever except for a slight dip that indicated where her hips were. Her face was the kind of generic face that you could probably look at every day and never remember.

"Finally!" Zak said overdramatically. He sat down and opened his Holocom. "Allow me to show you what I've called you here for."

♧♧♧♧♧

Indigo sat still, continuing to take in what Zak just showed her. Kennie, on the other hand, was as suspicious as ever. "How do we know you're not yanking our legs? You can't seriously expect me to believe you just because you say so."

Checkers raised his hands in defense. "We're not asking you to believe us right away. Sit on it for a few weeks. But Professor Munsley will announce this as our sophomore project and when he does you'll want us on your side. On your team."

Zak shrugged and gave them a serious look. "Think about it, " was all he said before he and Checkers got up to leave the café.

♢♢♢♢♢

Kennie looked at her smaller companion, who was always very good at picking out important little details. "Can we trust them? Should we trust them?"

Indigo took a breath. This is how it worked. Indigo was the brains. Kennie was everything else. "I met them in Professor Munsley's office last night. This was probably the information they were looking for before I interrupted. It happened last night. That's not enough time to come up with a conniving scheme."

"But he's the Falco kid!" Kennie interjected. Indigo silenced her with a wave of her hand.

"I know who he is. It's still not enough time. Less than 12 hours. I think we should trust them. But we also know nothing about them. Let's not trust them just yet.

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A/N: Hey, taking a page from Jason and Violet here. Figured I'd explain a little. Test scores and class ranks are very important at the academy. Like important enough that you'd be willing to take out the highest testers. That's why Indigo and Kennie are so suspicious. Only the top 5 of the class get to skip a Rank each semester. For more about ranks, divisions, and troops, please see the fourth entry of my journal. Thank you!