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I felt a strange sense of the surreal to be sitting on a hotel room and watching TV. Though I would have expected something so ordinary to be rather comforting, instead, it just reminded me that this wasn’t my life anymore. My life no longer included such things as sitting around and watching TV or reading my Kindle, and I was starting to realize that I never would again. I’d seen and done too much to be satisfied with the same entertainments I used to love.

My triad had arrived here last night, with the four of us splitting up into two rooms. Julie and I were sharing this room, which at one time, would have been a dream come true. However, in spite of the fact that I was still attracted to Julie, she was no longer interested in me in that way. And as for the opportunity to see her getting dressed and undressed, that was nothing unusual either, not after the baths we’d taken together in Val Halla.

Being able to take a shower by myself this morning had been nice, or at least the fact that I could do so in private was. One of the things I missed most was simply be able to get clean in private, though admittedly, now that I finally had my privacy back…I really missed the giant bathing pools where I could really stretch out and soak.

“You can’t have everything,” I muttered to myself, turning my attention back to the TV.

Lindrell and Shannon were gone, having taken off earlier for some mission related business, while Julie and I had been told to wait in the room. We had been in Val Halla for weeks, and now that we were finally back on Earth, back where we had electricity, malls, and computers…we were confined to a motel room with nothing to do but watch TV. Fortunately, we’d found an old sword and sorcery movie on one of the channels, that I’d always enjoyed…or at least one that I had before my recent experiences.

“You call that a monster?” Julie heckled the monster on the screen. “Come on…that thing is barely any bigger than a lesser daemon…”

I nodded agreement, finding the movie monster to be laughable. I couldn’t really think of that monster as being a threat anymore, not after having seen and killed much bigger and scarier ones for real. I had a feeling that after my trip to Australia, I’d have a hard time taking any movie monster seriously from now on.

“Come on,” I blurted out at the hero in annoyance. “You left yourself wide open there… That thing should have torn out your entrails…”

“Tis but a flesh wound,” Julie joked in a bad English accent, earning a snicker from me.

I watched the movie for a few more minutes before shaking my head in disappointment. I’d always loved these kind of movies, but that had obviously changed. The monsters were little more than jokes, and I knew that if I faced something like that, I could kill it in only a few minutes. And the hero…it was obvious that the actor didn’t have any idea of how to use a sword. In fact, with the way he was holding the sword, it should have been knocked out of his hands half a dozen times already.

“I’m almost afraid to watch Lord of the Rings again,” I finally admitted.

Julie nodded agreement. “I know what you mean…” Then she gave me a grin and added, “But at least Legolas will still be hot…”

“I don’t want to hear that,” I announced, putting my hands over my ears and going, “La la la la,” to drown out the sound of her describing just how cute she thought he was.

In spite of the fact that neither of us could take the movie seriously anymore, we continued to watch it, mostly so we could heckle it. One thing that I’d learned from Mystery Science Theater 3000, was that no matter how bad a movie was, there were still ways it could provide entertainment.

While Julie and I tried to distract ourselves with the movie, my thoughts kept turning to the reason we were there…our mission. From what I’d been told, the Val Kyr usually only recruited one or two new members a year, but with daemon and daemonite activity on the rise…and especially after what had happened in Australia…recruiting efforts had been increased. Unfortunately, as I’d already seen first-hand, the daemonites had been attacking the new recruits…and had recently killed three women before they could be brought to Val Halla. Our mission was to act as bodyguards, protecting a potential recruit in case the daemonites tried coming after her.

When the movie was over, I went to the bathroom and locked the door, then went through the disgusting, humiliating, and extremely uncomfortable process of changing my tampon. I grimaced as I went through the process, silently cursing the fact that this was now a part of my existence, and that I’d have to go through this every month for the rest of my life. And to make it even worse, being Val Kyr meant that things like Midol and other pain relievers wouldn’t really work for me anymore.

“If any of my old friends at school ever found out about this,” I muttered to myself, actually feeling thankful that none of them would ever know. Well, none of my old friends but Julie, and she’d already gotten the teasing out of her system…mostly.

Once I was finished, I washed my hands in the sink and looked myself over in the mirror to make sure I was presentable. In Val Halla, I hadn’t worried about my appearance too much, mostly because I was constantly training and getting sweaty, and everyone expected me to look like a mess. However, now that we were back in the real world, my appearance was a little more important…for my pride if nothing else.

Though it was still a little strange to see a girl staring back from the mirror, I was starting to get used to it. I just didn’t know how long it would take before I thought of that girl as being ‘me’ rather than the way I used to be. Admittedly, it was getting easier and easier to think of myself as a girl, and that kind of scared me.

I was currently dressed in a casual outfit of jeans and a t-shirt, which gave me a girl-next-door look. My shirt showed off my assets just a little more than I was comfortable with, but I certainly wasn’t flaunting them or even showing them off. It was just that I had such a great figure that it would stand out no matter what I did.

I ran my fingers through my hair, neatening it up a little. I could have just put my hair into a pony tail, which was what I usually did during training, but I kind of liked it hanging loose like this. And it looked a lot nicer this way too.

“I am NOT getting vain or girlie about my appearance,” I quietly told myself, feeling a little self-conscious about it at the same time.

When I left the bathroom, I saw Julie was putting on a new shirt, one that exposed her midriff and showed a little cleavage. She was also wearing a skirt, which I found rather odd for her. Julie never used to dress like this before she’d become Val Kyr.

As if reading my thoughts, Julie gave me a grin and said, “I didn’t have the body to wear this kind of stuff before… But now that I do…I want to show it off.”

“Well, it looks good on you,” I told her with a smile, appreciating the view while trying not to be obvious about staring.

“You know,” Julie told me, giving me a thoughtful look that set off warning bells. “You’d look totally awesome in clothes like this too… I mean, you’ve got a totally killer body so you’ve got to show it off…”

“I don’t think so,” I responded.

However, Julie just watched me with a predatory grin that told me she’d already made her mind up about something and wasn’t about to give up on the idea so easily. “And makeup… You’ve got to try some…”

“Maybe,” I agreed, more to get her to stop pushing than for any other reason. Besides, I knew quite well that she hadn’t brought any makeup.

“You know,” Julie mused thoughtfully, still giving me an evil grin, “I’m pretty sure Shannon brought a makeup kit…”

I gulped at that, having a feeling that once Shannon and Lindrell got back, I was going to be in trouble. Fortunately, Julie didn’t have access to their room at the moment, which meant I was safe…for now.

A short time later, there was a quick knock on our door, and before we could answer it, the door opened and Lindrell came in. She was dressed much like she had been in school, with a professional looking outfit that included high heels. Seeing her like this again was a little strange, and it was easy to start thinking of her as Ms. Lindrell again.

Lindrell wasn’t alone, but the woman who entered behind her wasn’t Shannon. The newcomer looked to be in her early twenties and was cute, maybe even pretty, with short auburn hair and a black leather jacket.

The newcomer was Connie, the Val Kyr recruiter we’d come to help. Her job was to try recruiting the potential new Val Kyr, while we were just there as backup and extra protection. We’d met yesterday, right after we’d arrived, but I didn’t really know her.

“Shannon is keeping an eye on the girl,” Lindrell told us, though it wasn’t necessary. I’d guessed as much from Connie’s presence and Shannon’s absence.

“The girl has a name,” Connie said, sounding faintly annoyed.

Lindrell smiled faintly at that. “Shannon is with Cindy.”

“And what are we supposed to do?” Julie asked.

I nodded at that since I’d been wondering the same thing. “I don’t think we came here just to sit around a cheap motel room and watch bad TV…”

“Or even good TV,” Julie joked, though her eyes were serious.

“No, you didn’t,” Lindrell responded, looking at Julie and then me. “You two are going to the mall…”

“WHAT?” Julie and I blurted out simultaneously.

I stared at Lindrell, feeling hurt and insulted by that, not to mention a bit offended. Sure, I’d love a chance to go to the mall, get new clothes and just be a normal person again for awhile, but that wasn’t why we’d come here. I hadn’t spent all that time and effort training…becoming Val Kyr…just so Julie and I could sit around while Lindrell and Shannon took care of the mission. And I sure as hell hadn’t given up my old gender just to be some kind of tag along.

“Michelle and I didn’t come along just to go on vacation,” Julie protested in frustration, echoing my own feelings exactly. She gave Lindrell a defiant look as she stated, “We’re Val Kyr too…”

“Good,” Lindrell responded, looking somewhat amused. “Because you aren’t here for vacation.”

“Cindy works at the local mall,” Connie told us with a chuckle. “Her shift starts there in about an hour…”

“No one will think twice if a pair of teenage girls spend the entire day at the mall,” Lindrell explained, her eyes going from Julie to me. “In fact, that was one of the main reasons our triad was chosen for this mission. The two of you can guard Cindy without anyone noticing.”

Julie and I shared a chagrinned look before Julie said, “Sorry… I thought…”

“I probably would have thought the same thing in your position,” Lindrell told her, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “I didn’t bring you two here for shopping…though admittedly, you’ll have plenty of time for that as well. Shannon, Connie, and myself will rotate as her primary guard while you two will be roving guards and backup. Your job is to make your rounds through the mall and look for any indication of daemonite activity.” She looked straight at me as she said that last, obviously due to the fact that my senses were much sharper than Julie’s.

“Yes ma’am,” Julie exclaimed enthusiastically, snapping to attention and giving a salute.

Connie smirked and announced, “Your salute needs work.”

Lindrell didn’t respond to that and instead handed Julie and I each a cell phone. “If you see any sign of possible daemonite activity, call us immediately. If the daemonites make any move in our direction, we’ll call you to come running as backup.”

“Okay,” I told her, though I immediately recognized one problem with her plan. “But somehow, I don’t think we’ll be able to get away with carrying those through the mall…” I gestured to where my armor sat in the corner, along with my bow and sword. “Especially if the idea is not to stand out.”

“Good point,” Julie said, looking at the weapons in realization. “And I REALLY don’t want to run into a daemon without a weapon.”

“That’s the problem with recruitment and low visibility work,” Connie said with a sigh. “You can’t carry the best equipment, but there are ways around it…” With that, she reached behind her and pulled out a short sword which had apparently been strapped to her back, beneath the leather jacket.

“You won’t be unarmed,” Lindrell assured us.

With that, Lindrell held out a pink backpack, which she then unzipped to reveal the contents. Without a word, she pulled out a one handed battle axe, one which just barely fit into the backpack, along with a short sword. And then, just to prove that we wouldn’t have to rely only on those, she also pulled out a pair of large caliber hand guns, the kind that would have way too much recoil for normal girls our age to use. Fortunately, neither of us were normal.

“These will probably be of limited use since you won’t have time to charge them up,” Connie said, gesturing to the sword and axe.

“I’m notru,” Julie responded cheerfully. “Not a problem.”

“Nope,” I added, picking up the axe and charging it with my essence. A moment later, the entire blade was covered with a thin layer of frost. “Not a problem.”

Connie stared at me in surprise, looking a bit confused as well. “Michelle is atra,” Lindrell explained with a faint smirk. “She can adapt.”

Connie gave me another odd look, obviously not understanding what it meant to be atra, but not wanting to embarrass herself by asking. Instead, she shook her head and then turned her attention back to the business at hand. “The daemonites are extremely unlikely to attack in such a public place,” Connie told us. “They don’t want to be outed to the public at large any more than we do. In fact, they want it even less. The absolute last thing they’d want would be to have the entire world knowing they exist and hunting them down. It’s easier to operate when no one suspects who and what you really are.”

“From what I’ve seen,” I commented wryly, thinking about my old school and the town in Australia, “they don’t seem to really have a problem about attacking people in public…”

“Not when they don’t plan on leaving any witnesses,” Lindrell agreed grimly.

“If daemonites do try anything, I don’t expect it to be at the mall,” Connie said again, looking back and forth between Julie and me. “But it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

We sat down and continued talking about this for a little longer before Lindrell abruptly held out two credit cards, one to Julie and one to me. I was a bit surprised at that, and by the fact that mine had the name Michelle Sorensen on it. I gave Lindrell a curious look.

“If you two are going to be at the mall for half the day,” Lindrell said with a faint smile, “it would look suspicious if you weren’t doing a little shopping at the same time. Besides, you both need clothing and other supplies, and this is an ideal time to purchase them. Both debit cards currently have five thousand on them, but don’t get carried away. This is your money, so you can spend it however you wish, but this does come from your personal accounts.”

“We have personal accounts?” Julie asked in surprise.

“Of course,” Lindrell responded with a chuckle. “We all have personal expenses, so we each receive a monthly stipend.”

“As hard as it is to believe,” Connie added with a faint smirk, “killing monsters and saving the world isn’t really very profitable. Fortunately, we own several companies and have a lot of investments that are.”

“That’s how we afford all the supplies we ship in to Val Hall,” Lindrell said. “And the various properties we own here on Earth.”

I was curious about what kind of businesses and properties they meant, but Connie distracted me by pulled a silver lighter from her pocket and casually flicked it several times. “The Val Kyr have existed for a very long time, and we’ve built up a lot of resources. We aren’t expected to live like we have vows of poverty, especially when we’re not in Val Halla. You’re here on business, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy yourselves at the same time.”

“Just remember,” Lindrell reminded is firmly. “Guarding Cindy is your top priority. The shopping comes second.”

“Understood,” I responded, sure that I’d have no problem remembering something like that. I might need a few more things for my new body, but that didn’t mean I was really very interested in shopping.

However, Julie seemed to have missed the point because she exclaimed, “This is gonna be so fun… I’ve always wished I could wear some of those sexier clothes, and now I’ve got the body for it…”

I nodded at that, letting out a sigh at the same time. It seemed almost painfully ironic that I’d been dating her before, but now that she suddenly got the physical upgrade, the two of us were no longer an item. However, at least I could console myself with the knowledge that I could see her naked in the baths…along with a lot of other hot women. I just tried not to think of the fact that I was now one of them.

“Come on,” Lindrell said, giving Julie a faintly worried look. “Let’s get to the mall so we can introduce you to Cindy, and then you can get to work.”

“This is the kind of work I can sink my teeth into,” Julie said with a broad grin.

I grabbed the backpack that contained our new weapons, though I gave a disappointed look to my new bow, wondering when I’d get a chance to really use it. However, with a shake of my head, I followed Lindrell and Connie out of the room.

As soon as we were out the door, Connie pulled a pack of cigarettes out of her pocket and lit one. She gave Julie and I each a curious look, her expression a little guarded. Then she looked to Lindrell and I could see the unspoken question of whether or not we were really up to this. I grimaced, standing up a little straighter, and just as silently, promised that I wouldn’t let them down.