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It was 2015. It was early November. The skies were dim with hazy clouds and the streets were ugly with damp, torn fallen leaves as winter teased its way in. The seasonal shift felt like it was crawling, taking its sweet precious time to commit to the cold.

General Uranophane had been practically living in the Rift for the past three and a half years, and she heaved a heavy sigh as she appeared with an ozone-tinged snap! into the gray. The scenery around her was barely an improvement. And she'd only be relieved of the rage-filled sky and petrified decay and crawling presence of youma all around for a few minutes at most. All she was out here to do was grab her and her team some ******** coffee. They'd all quit using energy weeks ago.

So she walked into the nearest coffee shop. She didn't even power down. She stood in line, fully uniformed, with a wad of cash in her hand, and wearily smacked it on the counter while growling out her order.

It was a complex order. Neptophane and Radonite in particular had exacting tastes that Uranophane found equal parts relatable and exasperating. She already warned them what would happen if they complained about their orders being even slightly wrong.

So she waited by the pickup counter, like any customer would, eating a croissant she decided to grab while she waited. Her power signature made it obvious that she was in fact of the Negaverse, but her actions were aggravatingly unsuspicious.

Then with a cup holder precariously loaded with five coffees in hand, her boots clipped to that same alleyway to teleport out.

And there were two Knights there. Looking at her.

She glared back.

Her exhausted scowl deepened further as she asked, sharply, "What?"

Through gritted teeth, the General replied, "The Negaverse supports local businesses -" her eyebrows jumped and her head swaggered - "and tips generously. Where's the crime in that?"

In theory, this could have been a trap, part of a defamation campaign. But something in Uranophane's tone made that seem unlikely. It matched something in Sessrumnir's tone. Even with that strange, ambiguous sense of agreement hanging in the air, the situation remained tense as she listened to Valhalla's question. And she stood, with her armful of coffee, no weapon drawn, staring them down, for a long moment.

Sessrumnir was right. Uranophane had no obligation or reason to answer that question at all. She could have laughed Valhalla off with a snide remark and teleported away so she could still get to her meeting on time. But she stayed, she thought, and she answered.

"Sure, I have. I've heard of comrades betraying the Negaverse and becoming Knights like you." Her eyes narrowed, but there was a cool sense of resignation in them instead of the anger she'd meant to conjure. It would take her moment longer to realize that she had just revealed a lot more about herself than she'd intended to.

Damaged, corrupted... they were the same word here.

Part of her always knew that.

"You're a Knight, why don't you tell me?" Uranophane replied sarcastically. Suddenly, her hand jumped from her side --

-- and she pulled her soy latte up and took a long sip from it. It was perfectly prepared, but the taste and sensation of it amplified the empty feeling that crept along her nerves when she powered up. Caffeine paled in comparison to human energy. So, she frowned at it and returned the cup to the crammed cup holder, giving the ground a long stare.

Then she drew her weapon. It was pointed to her side, away from either of them, but the look on her face was a clear invitation.

She was going to be late, and needed a good reason.

"So you had no choice?"

Uranophane cracked a twisted smile as she paced a careful arc around the Knights, her boots clacking on the pavement. The wolf was surprising, but not too intimidating to her. She had to navigate around unpredictable youma every damn day.

"That's the draw of the Negaverse, you know. You choose it. You earn your power. And it's all for a good cause."

In a quick, practiced movement, she flipped the short sword in her hand and threw it towards the wolf.

Uranophane attempted a dodge, but she got smacked pretty hard. The coffee got knocked out of her hand and spilled everywhere. She growled at that. Her form was not great right now. She was exhausted, distracted, and low on energy. Cautiously, she jumped back while summoning her weapon back to her hand -- a move that took more effort than it should have.

"You have no idea," she sneered at the Knights. So many of her lived experiences had come to mind immediately with Valhalla's retort, and Sessrumnir's words sharpened the focus. They were right. They were right. This time the blade flew at Valhalla, and she yelled, pointedly, "Why do you think I'm attacking you?"

"You're right."

Those words, directed at Sessrumnir, came from Uranophane after a long moment of silence. It had been a long, long, time since her weapon had struck another human, and seeing it happen after everything she'd learned and thought about made her feel... sick. Guilty. It didn't matter that she had honestly expected the Knight to dodge it. She'd still hurt somebody out of some egotistical, improvised plan to put on an act so she wouldn't get caught fraternizing with the enemy. She was still using these people for her own gain, just like the Negaverse had trained her to do.

The weapon was dismissed with another strained thought. And then, she said, surprising even herself: "I'm sorry."

It felt like too little, too late.

She had just stabbed a man in the arm, and he was apologizing about the coffee, and he was offering help, as if such an act had been completely forgivable. It was in such stark contrast to what she'd come to expect from others. Charonite, Tanzanite, Beryl, Zinkenite... none of them would have been so gracious or compassionate. It was an opportunity she couldn't pass up, in spite of the circumstances. But she had to take a genuine risk and proceed with honesty.

"General Uranophane," she said. "That's my Negaverse name." The change in tone from just a minute ago was astounding, even to her. All the anger and bitterness had evaporated, and now she was talking to the Knights like they were simply other people. "No one on my team uses stolen energy anymore... so I was getting us coffee."

She spoke slowly, carefully, quietly. There weren't any other chaotic energy signatures around, and no people nearby, but that didn't mean there was no chance of being overheard and found out. "When I ran into you, I attacked... to keep my record good. I've gotten into trouble for insubordination before." It had been a few years ago, but it was still a permanent mark on her history. "So, if our cover gets blown..."