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It read, in bright blue gel pen on darkly stenciled paper:

The day after the events of the Curse, the day Jerhic made the 'game time' announcement ((I figure we'll just say they had a day, but skip to the next)), Arch was standing outside the base, looking over a wide group of forces. Tubby's batallion of over 20 Siege T's was finally finished, and he looked like one happy-a** fat man. Herbasis was there, his s**t-ruiners standing around him, a few large vehicles in the air ((to be covered later)). Merlin stood, arms crossed, watching the Angel.
Arch's voice was broadcasted over the speakers throughout the city, after Jehric finished his message.

"Ahwl raihgt, yeh sahwreh suhns oh' bihtchehs! Thehm bastahds o'ehr ihn Phoenihx've beeihn givhen 'uhs nothihn buht 'ehl sihnce weh stahrtehd thihs dhamned wahr, soh ah saih iht's taihme weh ahwl gihve 'ehm theh shiht theah desehrve!
"Lahwt ohf yeh todaih ahre supehs, ahn thohse shiht-eahds wannah kihl theh lahwt ohf yeh ahn huhk yeh uhp tah battereh pahcks fehr theah fridgehs ahn sehx-toihs! Weh cannah 'ahve thaht! Ahn theh rehst ohf yeh, whoh ahre contehnt tah lihve ihn 'ahrmonen wihth yehr fellahw mahn, beh 'eh Supeh ahwr nahwt, thehm fohlks'd kihl yeh juhs fehr thihnkihn thaht!"
Arch paused, thinking of one last thing.
"Ahn theah ahwl saihd yehr ahwl ugleh!"

Tubby stuck his head out of his tank. "They're ugly!" He roared back, shaking a fist.

"Leht's gihve 'ehm ah ghuhd ahwl fashiohn 'eahpihn ohf paihn!"

Ruby smiled and stuck the card in a wooden box, with the rest of her special keepsakes.

Ruby stood to the side, watching the large group of people gathered and listening to the speech. Aaron was next to her, and had allowed her to hold his hand, but he would have insisted it was only to make her feel better, not because of a lack of independance on his own part.

Good thing it was a trip mike, not the important one. It would have warned the main troops through an auto-alert filter back at Black Ops, but at least her crew still got the message.

The message almost didn't go through, due to the new scratchiness of her throat, but they had been expecting something like it and managed to get the gist.

Due to the activity of the earth beneath her being completely out of the ordinary, A.C. had no reason to expect it and fell down with a look upon her face very much full of surprise. She got a mouthful of dirt.

As A.C. spat out dirt and pushed herself to her knees, she thought emotionlessly, This is what I get for doing my job. Are the perks not wonderous? She brushed off her shirt and wiped her face, thinking with a touch of anger, Like anyone cares what happens to us. Like our families know we exist. Like we get health insurance or something. Freakin' A, that's all I have to say. She stood, brushing off the rest of her, thinking with the muffled sorrow and bitterness of repressed loss, I am nothing. No one. No one knows, no one will ever see... not even my fellow humans even KNOW WHO I AM. That boyfriend? The whole idea of marriage, kids? Forget it. Even if I live, even if I could find someone who could live with my secrets, there is nowhere to settle down, nowhere safe for my kids... Nothing showing in her face through her usual pinched frown, she held her head up and walked on, not bothering to sneak. Whoever had arranged that little trick--because A.C. was too sure of her own feet to believe it had been her accident--already knew where she was.

A spy may be dead before she begins, but that doesn't mean she can't walk dead with dignity.