"Get up," Frieda said as she kicked in Niko's door. It was so early the sun wasn't even out and yet Frieda looked as though she'd spent at least an hour getting ready. Her hair was in cascading shining waves, her outfit was shining and beautiful.
Niko lifted his head off his pillow and scratched it. "Can't I just get one day to sleep in?"
"The way you've been performing? I don't think so."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means so far you've been crap. I hoped you'd be better than this."
"I'm trying!"
"Too hard, some might say. Now, get up!" She walked slowly down the hall and Niko lost sight of her. He put his head back down on his pillow and closed his eyes. "Now!"
Niko sighed and climbed out of bed. He pulled on a pair of pants, and the ill-fitting shoes Princess Sparkles had given him on his first night. He trudged out into the hall and found Frieda waiting for him. "If you think I'm doing such a bad job, why are you keeping me around? You told me if I wasn't any good you wouldn't waste your time with me."
"You're right, I did say that but it just so happens I have one more trick up my sleeve."
"And what's that?"
"Like I said, you're trying too hard. You're always looking and thinking."
"Sorry, I guess it was foolish of me to assume that there would be an element of looking involved in firing a gun."
Frieda sighed and without taking the time to look she pulled out her sidearm and fired three times. Niko looked out into their industrial environment to see what she had hit. Surrounded by unused metal machines it was difficult for Niko to pinpoint where the bullets had gone until he noticed the glass covering of a pressure gauge was broken. He swept his eyes over the room and found two more tiny glass windows shattered with smoking bullet holes through the display on the other side. "Shooting isn't about looking, it's about confidence. You're not confident enough."
"Funny, some would say I'm a little over confident, what with the defaming official republic propaganda and thinking I could get away with it."
"Art and marksmanship are two different things." Frieda swung open the door to their make shift firing range and Niko followed her into the long hallway. "Like I said, today we're trying something new. Hopefully it'll make you more confident."
Niko noticed there was something new there, a pair of shining high heels in the middle of the floor. "You want me to wear those?"
"I want you to decide for yourself. I wear what I wear because it helps me feel strong and powerful. You wear that god awful proxy scarf everywhere you go but it doesn't seem to give you the kind of confidence you need for this. You need to find your power, or else you're useless to me."
Niko stepped closer to the shoes. He slipped one foot out of his ill-fitting boot and felt the cold floor for a split second. "I've never worn anything like this before."
"I can imagine. Looks like they may be a better fit than those old boots though."
"Can't argue with that." Niko's foot slipped into one of the heels and it hugged him like the boot never could. He couldn't help but laugh to himself as he slipped the other boot off. He was easily four inches taller in the heels, which meant Frieda had to tilt her head back a little in order to make eye contact with him. "They feel good."
"Yeah, at first. Wait till you've got them on for hours."
Niko was too distracted to hear what Frieda was saying. He was staring at the shoes, watching them sparkle. "I bet these make my butt look great."
Frieda glanced behind Niko and shrugged. "It's fine. That's not the reason why you're wearing them though."
"That's part of it."
Frieda spun the gun in her hand around and passed it to Niko. "Fire at the first target. Make sure your stance is wide, the kickback is always a bit harder to deal with in heels."
Niko aimed at the target. Usually when he held a gun he felt incompetent but for some reason this time it felt right. He fired and stumbled backwards but he didn't fall. The force of the shot reverberated through him and it was like his new shoes directed the energy differently through his body. He laughed to himself and tried again, this time better prepared. He planted the heels firmly and with both hands on the gun he fired at the target again, this time nearly hitting the bullseye.
"Now the second target," Frieda said and bang! "The third, first, third, second, third." Frieda continued on and Niko obeyed until the gun was completely unloaded.
The vibrations were still echoing through his muscles and bones. He laughed as he gestured to the targets at the end of the hall. "That's the best I've ever done, ever!"
"I told you, shooting isn't about looking. It's about confidence." Frieda held out a hand to stop Niko from switching back into his boots. "What are you doing? You gotta leave those on."
"What? But I can't--"
"You can do what ever you want. There aren't any Morality Enforcement agents here. It's just me, you, and Princess. Besides, you wanna shoot in heels, you gotta walk in them, run in them, fight in them."
"That sounds difficult."
"You can do it, I'm sure you can."
"What about Leo?"
"What about him?"
"You said it's just you, me, and Princess here, but my brother was here too. When does he come back? I'd like to talk to him."
"He doesn't come often. Every time he leaves Yurgistov he puts himself at risk of being discovered. He only comes for really important things."
"Like the Proxy dying during his little brother's jail break?"
Frieda clenched her teeth. There was something she hadn't told him, he could see that, maybe it was something about his family. "Yeah," Frieda said, "That's something big enough to draw Leo out."
"What else is going on, though? You told me not to ask and I've been trying hard not to but why were you and Leo fighting? My sister, Zoya, she's married to one of the proxy's sons. Is he taking this all out on her? Or my parents, they're in trouble too, right?"
"Stop." Frieda took her gun from Niko and turned to leave. "Princess is waiting for you. You guys got hand-to-hand training this afternoon and I want you in those heels."
"If you won't tell me will you at least let me talk to Leo the next time he's around?"
"I can't stop you from talking to your brother, but don't hold your breath on him returning. Sometimes I don't hear from him for months."
"I can wait."
"As long as you're practicing while you wait. I'm going out to follow up on a case outside of Novograv. I think we'll have to move on it in a couple weeks and I want you with us."
"Shut up!" Niko slapped Frieda's shoulder and she looked back at him with an annoyed expression. "You're kidding right? You're gonna take me on a mission? I'm gonna get outta this run down hell for a while?"
"I said I want you with us. I never said you would be for sure. You gotta show me some improvement before I'm willing to take you out there."
Niko waved his hand towards the targets. "What do you call that? Thats improvement."
"That could be a fluke. We'll have to repeat those results a couple times before I'm satisfied. Not to mention, after a day in those shoes you'll find out the real cost of confidence, something you'll have to work hard to get used to. Now, get outta here! Princess is waiting."
"Of course, thank you!" Niko hugged Frieda and she tried to push him off. "I'll work hard, you'll see!" He tried to walk towards the door and he stumbled forward. As he climbed back to his feet he blushed before taking another slow and steady step. "See? Improvement!" He sighed when Frieda refused to laugh, then continued on his way.