The armory smelled like oil and metal.
Juli stood in front of a rifle rack. His hands gripped a cleaning cloth. The weapon looked exactly like it did ten minutes ago. Still dirty.
"You're supposed to disassemble it first." Pamela's voice came from behind him.
She held three rifles. All gleaming. All perfect. She'd finished her section already. Started on his.
Juli blinked. "Oh."
Kade worked two aisles over. His movements were efficient. Each weapon got the same treatment. Clean. Put back. Next one. He'd done this before. Probably as punishment.
Pamela set down the rifles. She looked at both boys. "You may call me Pam. The formality is unnecessary given our circumstances."
Juli's face lit up. He gave her a thumbs up. "Got it, PamPam!"
Kade snorted. "Sure thing, Princess."
The mockery was obvious.
Pamela's expression didn't change. "As you wish."
She went back to cleaning. Unbothered.
The cafeteria was worse.
Steam filled the kitchen. Heat poured from the ovens. The lunch rush had just ended. Dishes were stacked everywhere. Mountains of them. Plates. Bowls. Trays. An endless sea of dirty tableware.
Juli stood at the washing station. Soap suds covered his uniform. Water dripped from his hair. He looked like he'd fought a battle. Lost badly.
"How are you wetter than the dishes?" Kade carried another tray stack over. Slammed them down harder than necessary.
"It's a gift." Juli grinned. Then his hand moved fast. Snatched a bread roll from a nearby counter. Stuffed it in his mouth.
"You're supposed to be working." Pamela appeared from nowhere. Her uniform was spotless. Perfect. Like the steam couldn't touch her.
Juli chewed. Swallowed. "I am working. Working on being hungry."
A cadet approached Kade at the serving line. Started complaining about the food temperature. The portion size. The taste. Everything.
Kade's eye twitched. His fangs showed. "Then don't eat it."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me." Kade leaned forward. "Don't. Eat. It."
Pamela stepped between them. Her voice stayed calm. Refined. "We apologize for any inconvenience. Please enjoy your meal."
She turned to Kade after the cadet left. "Antagonizing them accomplishes nothing."
"It makes me feel better."
"That is not the goal here."
Kade grumbled. Went back to serving. Slapped food on trays with slightly more force than necessary.
The library was quieter.
Rows of shelves stretched into the distance. Books. Data pads. Archive cubes. Centuries of information.
The librarian had given them simple instructions. Organize the returned items. Alphabetically. By subject. By date. Multiple systems. All confusing.
Juli held a data pad. Stared at the label. Then at the shelf. "Which section is this?"
"Military History. Subsection Tactics." Pamela didn't even look up. She was three rows over. Working at triple speed.
"Right. Tactics." Juli wandered off. Came back five minutes later. Still holding the same data pad.
Kade had started a competition. Who could shelve faster. He announced it unprompted. Challenged Juli directly.
Juli accepted immediately.
The race lasted twenty seconds. Kade shelved ten items. Juli shelved three. One of them wrong.
"I win." Kade's grin was smug.
"Best two out of three." Juli was already grabbing more items.
The second race went worse. Juli knocked over an entire stack. Archive cubes scattered across the floor. Rolled under shelves.
Pamela appeared. Looked at the mess. Looked at Juli. Her expression was that of a parent whose child had just broken something expensive.
"Retrieve them. All of them." Her refined voice carried weight. "And no more races."
"But..." Juli started.
"All. Of. Them."
Juli got on his hands and knees. Started crawling under shelves. Kade tried not to laugh. Failed.
The janitor closet was the worst duty.
Bathrooms. Hallways. Classrooms. Every surface needed cleaning. Every corner needed attention. The work was endless. Mind numbing.
Juli mopped the same spot four times. Water sloshed everywhere. Made things worse. He created more mess than he cleaned.
Kade emptied trash bins. Some cadet had stuffed food into one. It smelled. Bad. His face twisted in disgust. "Who does this?"
"Apparently everyone." Pamela worked on the windows. Made them spotless. Each one crystal clear. She moved like cleaning was an art form. Precise. Elegant.
"How are you good at this too?" Kade stared at her. Genuine confusion on his face.
"Practice. Discipline. Standards." She moved to the next window. "Skills transfer across tasks."
Juli leaned on his mop. Watched her work. "You're like a robot, Pampam."
"I am not a robot." Her tone stayed level. "I simply maintain proper form."
"Robot." Juli grinned.
"I will assign you additional bathrooms."
The grin vanished. Juli went back to mopping. Badly.
The competition between the boys became constant. Who could finish first. Who could do it better. Who could avoid getting yelled at by Pamela.
Juli lost every time. Somehow. He'd trip over his own feet. Drop things. Mix up instructions. Kade would win. Celebrate. Gloat.
Then Juli would challenge him again. The cycle repeated.
Pamela scolded them daily. Her refined voice never rose. Never cracked. Just steady disapproval that somehow cut deeper than yelling.
"You are behaving like children."
"We are having fun, Princess." Kade shot back.
"Fun is acceptable. Incompetence is not." She gestured at Juli's latest disaster. Spilled cleaning solution everywhere. "Clean it. Properly this time."
Seven days crawled past. Each one longer than the last. Each task more tedious than the previous.
Finally. Day seven. The last shift ended. The sun was setting. Orange light spilled through the academy windows.
Kade and Juli stood in the hallway outside Vela's office. They looked destroyed. Their uniforms were wrinkled. Stained. Their faces pale. Their eyes hollow.
Juli slumped against the wall. Let his body slide down. Slow motion. "I can't feel my hands."
Kade joined him. Dropped like his legs had given out. "I can't feel anything. I'm dead."
"We survived a war." Juli's voice was weak. Theatrical. "Seven days of war."
"The worst war. The war against mops and dishes."
"And books."
"The books tried to kill me."
They lay there. Two warriors defeated. The weight of their suffering visible in every movement.
Pamela stood nearby. Her uniform was still perfect. Not a wrinkle. She looked exactly like she did on day one. Fresh. Ready.
She shook her head. Slow. "You are both insufferable."
"Insufferably exhausted." Juli corrected.
"Insufferably traumatized." Kade added.
"You completed basic labor duties." Pamela crossed her arms. "Nothing more."
"Basic?" Juli's head rolled toward her. "No PamPam. That was torture."
"You ate during half your shifts."
"I had to maintain my strength."
Kade nodded. "Energy is important."
"You bickered with cadets."
"They started it."
"You caused twelve separate incidents."
"Only twelve?" Kade tried to sound proud. Too tired.
Pamela looked at them both. These two boys who could fight six opponents without breaking a sweat. Now reduced to puddles over some cleaning.
"Get up." Her voice carried that parental authority. "Chief Instructor is waiting."
"Can't." Juli closed his eyes. "Lost the ability to stand."
"Same." Kade's ears drooped flat.
Pamela sighed. Reached down. Grabbed Juli's collar. Hauled him to his feet. Did the same to Kade. Both boys stumbled. Leaned on each other.
"You are going to that office." She pushed them forward. "And you will act like proper cadets."
"Yes, Mom." Juli mumbled.
"I am not your mother."
"Ok, Mom."
Kade snickered. Then groaned. Laughing hurt.
They shuffled toward Vela's door. Three cadets. One week of labor. One hell of a team already.