Starter for @xtoomanytimelinesx
Another day as a Patroller, another mission!
That was what Mariko thought on her way to the mission desks, strutting with her chest puffed and her chin high. It had been more than a year already since she graduated from Orange Star and yet, the idea of finally becoming a real Time Patroller still hadn’t settled in. Everyday she woke up to get to work, it was always a new marvel.
So she was beaming just like the sky in Conton that morning when she finally got to the desk, ready for her next task. It was buzzing with Patrollers ready to take off, as usual. Come to think she was staring at that crowd with eyes full of marvel on her first year there as a student... She glanced around, spotting a group of rookies staring at her and the other patrollers with the same look she had years ago. It felt good to finally be on the other side.
She checked the Chronodevice under her glove to see who was going to be her partner: the ID revealed only the name, race, age, and grade. She was looking for a Namekian, around her same age, a graduated Patroller like her. Interesting, she had never collaborated with a Namekian so far, but given the destination of that day’s mission, it made sense.
She glanced around, looking for any Namekian waiting at the mission desks, and she noticed one. In fact, he looked familiar -- unmistakeably tall like most ordinary Namekians, but with a somewhat fairer complexion. Someone from a parallel timeline, probably. Wasn’t he a student back at Orange Star too? She remembered him from some classes, but had stopped seeing him after a while. Odd.
She approached him with a confused tilt of her head. “Hi, name’s Mariko. I’m looking for my partner for today’s mission. Are you...” She glanced back at her wrist, then up at the Namekian with a slight frown. “... Pota, by any chances?”
