Hours

Four hours of Millia's life were lost to that waiting area. She had started out sitting patiently on the bench, but after the first eighteen minutes, she recognized that trying to spend the whole time doing nothing would only be self-****. Hence, she pulled out her smart device and passed the time on that. After an hour and a half of social media and mobile games, the device warned her of low charge. The next six minutes were spent attempting to locate a charging station near comfortable seating before she settled for a standing table. Eleven minutes after that, she was hungry, and set out for a mid-afternoon snack. When she was finished with that, she remembered that she ought to wait in one of the most visible places in the building. Ending where she started, Millia spent the remainder of the time bored out of her mind.

By the time someone approached her, she had been so desensitized to the passing foot traffic that it took a moment for the newcomer to get her attention. Standing before her was a trio of vaguely familiar warriors. Most of their armour was off, with each of them only retaining their breastplates, but Millia recognized the woman in front as the one she had spoken to on the video call.

"Are you the one that called us earlier?" she inquired. "I'm sorry, that receptionist said you'd been waiting here for a while." She pointed a thumb over her shoulder. "We're Team Tachyon. What did you say your name was? Mildred? Nala?"

"Millia," she introduced. She sprung up energetically, as much out of relief that her time in limbo was over as it was excitement to meet her potential teammates. As she went to shake the frontwoman's hand, she noticed their state. The trio's armour was covered in slashes, scuffs, scorches, scratches, bumps, dents, and most every other kind of damage imaginable. The wearers beneath were in better shape, but not by much. All of them looked exhausted. Millia's enthusiasm dimmed at the sight. "Rough venture?"

"Yeah, you could say that," the frontwoman said, more tired than humorous. "I'm Eloxochitl."

"I'm Najma."

"And I'm Helki."

The demihuman stole a moment to get a look at each of them. Eloxochitl was a Quetzalcoatl, a race of humanoids with green skin and colourful feathers in various places. Most of their feathers usually adorned their heads, like human hair, but it could also be found along their spines. Eloxochitl's feathers were yellow and blue, and fanned around her head, resembling a lion's mane. She was perhaps a little taller than most humanoids, and had the figure of someone who ran and fought all day.

Najma was a human cyborg, though it was not as obvious as some others that had cybernetics. Instead of the chrome skin and wire-laced limbs, Najma's synthetic components were subtle. Her unnatural elements were internal. Some of her joints could withstand more stress than the average organic, her stomach was less susceptible to toxins, and if one looked closely, they could make out some circuits on her sclera. She had no unsightly seams nor apertures in her dark brown skin, no access ports hidden underneath her black hair, which she wore in a bun. She was perhaps a little shy of average height, and while her muscle definition did not match Eloxochitls, it remained something most would strive for.

Helki was a Lycanthrope. Whether Lycanthrope was a race or a condition, Millia did not know. What she did know was that those of that kind possessed varying degrees of control over their form on a scale of human to wolf. At the moment, Helki looked like she was at the total human end of the spectrum. Her skin was a lighter brown than Najma's. Her hair was a deep brown and looked as though brushing it aside was the extent of her styling for it. She was the biggest of the three in both senses of the word. She was distinctly taller than most people, and her toned thighs looked like the kind you'd want your head crushed between.

Um...

"Come on," Eloxochitl said with little spirit. She led the group, now including Millia, to the receptionist she had met earlier. At her request, he gave Millia a form to get her registered as a member of Team Tachyon. "Thank you," the Quetzalcoatl said after Millia returned it. "I suppose you can take that down now," she pointed to the team poster on the board.

Rogmellol gave Millia a look. See?