With rules all their own, the ranks work slightly different for us. While our respective ranks apply perfectly normally to other Warriors, they do not... function so normally to anyone of any other section than the Warriors. You are equivalently one rank higher than you would normally be to anyone outside of the Warrior Corps. In other words, to anyone except a Warrior, you are all First Lieutenants. Anyway, enough banter, let's get to this slop that passes for food around here."They quickly ate. "Stephanie pulls out of the parking lot and almost instantly pulls into the next parking lot down the street. The garish neon sign of The Elm Tree Inn beckons, promising liquid solace to my jangled nerves and turbulent emotions. One of the benefits of working next door is that we are both well known regulars at Joe and Curly's, the local watering hole, located in back of the ground floor of the inn looking out on the pool. Surprisingly, the pool has been filled since our last visit. The. I needed this form to learn to slip loose from those constraints. Again, all a part of the plan. Now I hovered as I went, but still, I was thinking.Teddy was jealous, and had good reason to be. Ben definitely gave me the same kind of feelings she did, and to the same degree. I had to promise Teddy a public 'date' similar to my lunch with Ben for the following Saturday to make it up to her.Dating brought out a 'parental' gathering, or rather word of its impending certainty did. Not only did I. The first consideration Jason needed to make was the possibility there wouldn't be any air or perhaps the atmosphere would be un-breathable. To counter this possibility he would need to make something that could be sealed and which would carry its own air supply. He would also need some means to test the air to ensure it was breathable before he exited the pod. While his earlier animal tests indicated there was breathable air in the nodes he had sent them to, Jason wanted to be sure he was.