It was the end of fire fighting week. I understand fire. I knew how it was built, what it did, what it consumed. I knew a dozen ways to make a fire and another dozen ways to put out a fire with magic, but since that wasn't the point, I had to learn how the humans here did it. And they did it well. There was a certain method they had worked out to efficiently make a fire go away without magic. I could respect that.

  There were even people whose whole job was to make fire go away. Crazy, right? So we learned how to stop a boat from burning. There were people on the boats to make sure they didn’t have a fire, but when the boat was on fire everyone helped.

  As we were on our way back to the bunk room from our final fire evaluation I caught sight of Ashley. I nearly tripped, but caught myself. I couldn’t show a reaction while we were working. Still, it had been three weeks since they made her go back to the Capitol, and I missed her. The other two and the four new agents they had sent just didn’t have the same personality. Although that wasn’t quite fair. I had barely talked with Agents Winters and Smith since the Airport, and not at all to the new four other than a brief introduction. When we got back to the bunk room the RTI’s called my name.

  “Recruit wem Wammat! Your minders want to talk with you! Report to Agent Flemming in the passageway.” I moved with haste.

  “Rick.”

  “Kos-Api.” Splendid. Someone had told him not to call me wem Wammat. Probably Ashley now that she was back. I wasn’t sure Bianca or Tracy had really understood why, and probably hadn’t told the new agents. I walked alongside him down the hall.

  “Did Ashley explain some things?” I asked mildly.

  “Yes, and you have my apologies for any unintentional disrespect. Special Agent Robins will likely make it slightly more formal and I don’t want to steal the boss’s thunder, but it came up so here we are.” He poked his head out the door and then preceded me outside. Agent Winters waited for us.

  “Bianca.”

  “I see you, Kos-Api.”

  “Respectfully, Agent Winters, the English translation is closer to “I know you.” To say “I see you.” is closer to a separate greeting that is frequently used as a chastisement.”

  “Thank you for the clarification, but how is that a chastisement?”

  “If you are greeted as a scout by someone that saw you first it can be embarrassing. Of course that leads to hunter games where people end up stalking each other for bragging rights.”

  We moved on, Rick and Bianca looking everywhere but at me.

  After about 20 minutes we got to a conference room. Ashley was waiting with Tracy and the other three new agents.

  “Temf ay, Kos-Api.” Ashley greeted me.

  “Temf ay, Ashley. What happened in the Capitol that warranted this meeting?”

  “We will get to that, but first, I have explained to everyone that they should not call you wem Wammat, but would you like to tell them why?”

  “A newborn takes the name of their mother. When they are grown enough to take on an apprenticeship to learn a trade or life skill the mother gives them their own name. My mother named me Kos-Api when I turned seven and traveled to a city to study magic. I remained with the name Kos-Api wem Wammat until I completed my training. Then, since my mother was a tanner I attained a higher prestige than her and we traded names. She had previously been named Wammat bos Fugo-Bemmet after her uncle who was a scout of moderate renown. Now she is Wammat fen Kos-Api.”

  “So kids just walk around with their mother’s name until they are seven?” What if a woman has more than one kid under seven?” asked Ted Miller from across the room.

  “It is not always seven. Everyone’s life experiences are a little different. The latest I heard of someone starting, um, career training was ten. I was called tem wem Wammat until I traveled to live with my mage instructor. That means the third daughter of Wammat. My younger sister was fon wem Wammat until she started training as a… ah… weaver? The translation doesn’t seem a good fit.”

  “So you are saying that calling someone by their mother’s name is an insult?” asked Tracy.

  “If they have progressed past it in their lives, yes. I am not so fragile of ego to take issue, but allowing people to casually insult members of the tribe makes the tribe look weak.”

  “So how did you end up with a name you couldn’t allow?” asked Ted Miller again.

  “The Navy filed the immigration forms without talking to me first. I think someone just pulled it out of my English instructor’s notes. My lawyer didn’t know enough about me to question it and when I objected they told me it could be fixed but it would be best to wait until the citizenship process was complete so paperwork didn’t get confused. How do you confuse a paper?” This got a laugh from the room.

  “The RTI’s know the situation and while the chief petty officer did apologize, they can’t address me as my status requires because they have to address everyone to the same standard.”

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “So what is the proper way to address you?” asked Tracy.

  “Just Kos-Api is fine. Although I do have several significant appellations, they would all be gibberish to you since they aren’t in English. One of them is equivalent to calling me a Doctor of Medicine, one signifies that I have several in my family group that have pointed their names at mine, and is the rough equivalent of calling someone a Don in Spanish. I have another that signifies that I am a, ah… Senior scout that can operate solo and another that means I have killed an Aether Beast by myself and puts me at the tribal equivalent of a, um… honorary elder.”

  “OK, don’t call you a nameless child with no life skills, got it.” said Marie Sanders from across the room.

  “And now to the main event.” said Ashley, changing the subject. “The president has decided that he is pulling the plug on Secret Service protection. The National Security Agency and the State Department feel that having us here ties the President’s hands should a response be required if someone else should try to put more bullets in Kos-Api.”

  “What was the response to someone shooting you the first time? Because I don’t like the idea of all the nothing we did. Makes us look like Red Shirts.” offered Jean Palmer, speaking up for the first time that I had seen from her.

  “There was a response. The single most devastating proportional response I've ever seen. It made the news.”

  “Wait, I’m not surprised that it was us that did that, but that was about this, er, us?” asked Bianca.

  “Yeah, I don’t have all the details, but that was about more than just Kos-Api or just two would have been executed. Our friends upstairs weighed the bullet that hit me as well as the one that was deflected just as heavily in their retort.”

  “So that wasn’t us?” asked Bianca.

  “No, it was. The squidies didn’t pull the triggers on those shots.” confirmed Ashley.

  “Who did?” asked Ted.

  “That is information that none of us are cleared to know.” warned Ashley.

  “We are losing the beat here. What happens next?” asked Jean.

  “Once we get a final date then we will wind down. The Navy and Marine Corps will assume a greater share of the protection responsibilities, under the guidance of a certain private security company since they don’t have the same training as we do.” Ashley grinned. “In a totally coincidental and unrelated matter, the boss has my letter of resignation. This will be my last assignment with the US Secret Service and then I will be moving into the private sector.”

  “Is this security company hiring?” joked Bianca.

  “You need to think very carefully about that before you go and do something you can’t take back.” warned Ashley.

  “So noted, Ma’am.”

  I was shocked.

  “Ashley, you are leaving the Secret Service for me? It is so important to you!” I exclaimed.

  “Well, you are looking at Agent Ashley “Bigger Picture” Robins now.”

  “That’s still a big step, Ma’am.” mused Tracy.

  “I’ve been assured that it is going to be interesting. You all shouldn’t quit for this though, you have promising careers ahead of you.”

  “And you don’t?”

  “Unless my boss unexpectedly retires, not so much.” Ashley shrugged. “Anyway, I have a few more details for Kos-Api and then we head back to the barracks, so if I could have the room please I would appreciate it.”

  The six agents filed out and Ashley turned to face me.

  “So there will be some extensive brain and body modifications that will allow me to operate closer to your level. The Hive folks are going all out with a technology partnership. I’ve already started on that, and should be done with it all in a few weeks.”

  “What changes did they ask of you?” I probed.

  “Several things that they have already have modified some Navy types for, which is the framework for more extensive technological adaptations. It’s all very cool.”

  “If they give you a space ship so I can pull magic power from it, that would be the best!” I gushed.

  “I don’t think they are going to go that far, but unless I miss my guess they are going to be handing over everything they can get away with to ensure no one takes you out. They need to find where you came from and you are the only real clue they have to do that.” Ashley told me.

  “So will agents start to go home now?” I asked.

  “No, I will start sending them back to DC once I get a final date so they can be reassigned.”

  “Bianca looks like she wants to quit too.”

  “She is pretty sharp. Not sure about it though. I am actually going to start interviewing former agents that got medically discharged on disability. The squidies want to use their medical technology to fix whatever happened to get them benched in the first place.”

  “And you make sure those Agents aren’t still broken of mind or heart. Those wounds I am not specialized in fixing.” I warned her. “But bring them to me after and I will check the squidies work.”

  “I will, but there is something you need to know first which has a material effect on the whole situation.” Ashley looked sheepish about it.

  “What? Are you finally going to profess your undying love for me and demand I ravish you on the spot?”

  “No. Dork.” She finally met my eyes. “I am kinda in a relationship with Mia.”

  I did not squee or hop or anything else undignified. Nope, I was in uniform so I was most certainly dignified. You can’t prove otherwise.

  “Was the sex amazing? I am betting the sex was amazing. You two both seem like you know what you are doing. Did you have fun? Did you both get all the orgasms you wanted? How was it?”

  “I am not going to talk to you about that. We need to keep it professional.”

  “You ruin all my fun.” I whined.

  “If I didn’t, would I be half as interesting?” Ashley taunted as she indicated that should use the door.

  We headed back outside, and Ashley handed me back off to Rick and Bianca. They walked me back to the barracks and I got started on my evening routine. Tomorrow was the final physical fitness evaluation, and while I still expected to easily reach maximum scores I didn’t want to let the instructors be disappointed, so I wanted to go all out.