Welcome to My Life

By Armani Borden

Tiana graduates from the academy and becomes an agent. But, before she joins the agency, she learns that she has to go undercover. Meaning starting a family and getting an equal paying job. Unfortunately, the one that she wants to start a family with is not here. So, with that task at hand, she tries to look for her enemy, Drinzor, and get the love of her life to come back to her. Which ends up being harder than she thought so she trains to become stronger and faster as she waits for a long overdue reunion.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jan 10, 2024
• ISBN: 9781304723352

Book preview

Welcome to My Life

Armani Borden

Welcome to My Life

All Rights Reserved

Copyright © 2024 by Armani Borden

Cover by GetCovers

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted, downloaded, distributed, reversed engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, including photocopy and recording, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented without permission in writing from the author.

ISBN: 978-1-304-72050-4

eISBN: 978-1-304-72335-2

Table of Contents

Day 630 – pg. 4

Evaluation – pg. 6

Tired of Waiting – pg. 21

Graduation – pg. 30

I Am An Agent Now – pg. 47

Going Undercover – pg. 62

First Mission – pg. 78

Secret Identity – pg. 105

Ball Rolling – pg. 121

Being An Agent – pg. 141

Undercover – pg. 153

Adulthood – pg. 177

The Normal Life – pg. 189

Shocker – pg. 201

First Real Battle – pg. 221

A Little Gift – pg. 246

Burean Vocabulary – pg. 264

About the Author – pg. 265

Day 630

Dear Threshal,

Coby and I will graduate from the academy soon. It took us a long time to get here, though. You cannot imagine the number of tests and battles we had to go through to finally pass the last stage. Those judges from those agencies were ruthless. I can’t imagine what they do to each other in a battle. But we finally made it. The judges from Bioa had their eyes on Coby and me throughout the tryouts. After hearing how good we can fight, especially me from the fights with the agents from Bioa, they asked us to join them personally. It’s sad to think that you won’t be there with us. Hopefully, you will come back to finish so you can be in Bioa too.

Aliana comes to Rixi’s house a lot to get away from mom and the pimp. It’s almost as if she lives there. It’s no longer quiet and Zocklyn keeps hitting on her. And I think she likes it. She keeps flirting back. This kind of worries me about her taste in men.

I’m still worried about my mother. The pimp has been going to her house more often, especially after she claims that she wants to clean herself up so she can have us all back together. I really wish you were here to help me get through this before I kill this man… again.

I miss you Threshal. I really do. Every night you break into my dreams with your quirky smile and quick-witted comments. Reminding me that you will come back to me. My lips still tingle every time I think about that kiss. How dare you kiss me and leave. I think you did that on purpose. You knew that would make me think about you. I will make you pay when you get back.

But anyways, because of that, I can’t get you out of my mind. When I go on my missions, I always hope that I will run into you there. I look every time I see a man on the street, hoping that it will be you. I still cry myself to sleep sometimes as I try to suppress the pain in my chest from the anger towards your father, and the pain from watching you leave.

If I knew you were going to be gone this long, I would have chased after you and forced you to allow me to join.

Find your father soon, Threshal, so you can come back to me as you promised. So, we can fight alongside each other again. And finish what you started.

Miss you much,

Tiana

Evaluation

Tiana and Coby are sitting in the cafeteria opening their lunch. After getting everything out, Coby drops his hands on the table and sighs, Almost two years. He says while rubbing his hair in frustration, It’s taken us almost two years to graduate from this place."

Tiana nods her head as she pops a piece of qikyovish in her mouth. Coby snatches up his cup and takes a swig from it. Tiana focuses her attention on her food as she tears another piece off, careful not to get any powdered sugar on her. Coby slams the cup down on the table causing Tiana to look up for a few seconds, then she goes back to her food.

All these other levels… Coby shoots his arm out like a rocket while saying, …man we soared through. While slowly bringing his arm back down he says, Why must the last one be so hard?

Because we have to show our true potential to the recruiters. Tiana responds without looking up from her food. This is the umpteenth time Coby has complained about the champs level since the first month into the class. At this point, Tiana’s responses are automatic, especially since her mind is on something completely different. On someone.

Haven’t we had enough time to do that?

Tiana shrugs her shoulders, Apparently not.

Coby examines her, There you go. Sounding dry again. He leans in to get a closer look at her as he tries to read her mind, Are you thinking about… He looks around and leans in closer. He lowers his voice when he says, …him?

Tiana stops moving then slowly lifts her head to look at him, Why are you saying him like we’re in a spy movie or something?

Coby motions towards her, Because you’re… Tiana drops her hand to the table making Coby stop and look at her with big eyes, No, I was just―.

We both know you’re talking about Threshal. Tiana finishes ripping off another piece, Talking all soft like it’s a secret. She says underneath her breath.

Coby falls back in his chair as he sighs, I was trying to… I was trying to spare… keep you from hurting. He says to himself.

Tiana shoves the piece of qikyovish in her mouth and starts to pick at the rest of it. Pain starts to form in her chest. She fights to hold back the tears as they start to sting in her eyes. He’ll be back. She thinks to herself. He’ll be back. He has to come back.

*      *      *

Tiana and Coby are heading towards the evaluation room. Walking towards them is a tall woman with golden-brown hair that is pulled back into a tight bun. Are you Tiana?

Tiana and Coby stop and look at her, Yeah, Tiana replies.

Can I talk to you for a moment? Tiana looks at Coby. Coby shrugs his shoulders and Tiana looks back at the woman.

Sure. Tiana looks at Coby again, I will see you in class.

Alright. Coby continues down the hallway.

The woman leads Tiana into a conference room and motions for Tiana to take a seat. Tiana sits down and the woman sits in the seat beside her.

My name is Zalima, she begins, "And I have heard a lot about you. You are one skillful fighter and I truly hope that you choose Bioa."

I am. I’m only going for the best.

Good. But I must warn you, being the best as a woman is only going to be bothersome.

Tiana furrows her brows as she tilts her head to the side, How you mean?

You know some agents get captured by other agencies, right? Tiana nods her head, Well, they try to find the best way to torture you while you’re in their possession.

Right.

So, with you being a woman, what do you think they would do? Tiana thinks for a moment and then the horrible thought of a man taking advantage of her comes to mind. Her eyes grow wide, and she looks up at Zalima.

Zalima nods her head to confirm that she is thinking the right thing, Exactly. That is why I have pulled you in here. As someone that has been in the agency since the agencies were created, I have watched this incident come about. Therefore, I have made it my goal to warn every woman that may be joining Bioa. Especially women such as yourself because you are one of the best fighters that will be joining the agency, and those agents out there know it. Which means, if or when you get captured, you have to do everything in your power to get out of there.

Tiana looks off to the side as she says, I mean… that was the original plan.

Well, yeah of course. I’m just saying, don’t take your time with it. The moment they chain you up–.

Chain me up? Tiana interrupts while looking shocked.

Yeah. Oh, they’re not going to make it easy for you to get out. So, when they chain you up, you gotta get out of those things quickly. Do you know how to pick a lock? Tiana shakes her head, You should learn. I don’t want you to be taken advantage of by the pervs of the agency.

Okay. I’ll do everything in my power to keep that from happening. Zalima nods and leaves the room.

Tiana sits there and shakes her head in disappointment, That Coveena, I swear. She’s lucky my dad was the one that killed her and not me... Rape? They’re even raping in this world? Tiana gets up and walks out of the room, I wish someone would try to rape me.

*      *      *

Tiana walks into the evaluation room and stands beside Coby. What did she want? Coby asks while looking straight ahead.

She wanted to warn me about what I might face.

What you might face?

Yeah, Tiana replies as she watches Zalima walk into the evaluator room and sit behind the plate that says Bioa. Tiana tilts her head to the side and scoffs. Zalima looks at her and nods her head. The things that I would probably have to face because I’m a woman.

Mr. Devlin walks to the middle of the room. Alright students. The room grows quiet as everyone turns their attention to him. Today is the last day for evaluations. Everyone will take turns showing their skills. Once you are finished, you will be led to a room where you will pick the agency that you want to join. Then you will find out which agency has chosen you at the graduation ceremony, tomorrow. Mr. Devlin takes out his screentube and turns it on. When your face appears on the screen, step up.

Mr. Devlin walks away while tapping on a name. A trainee’s face appears on the screen, and he walks to the middle of the room.

Two agents come into the room, one from Bioa and the other from Sikai. Then three trainers come in and stand off to the side with a screen projector in their hand. They tap something on the screen and three machines start to float in the air. One machine has hands on it, another has a barrel attached to it, and the other one has a speaker on it. The kid looks at the three machines and starts to slow down. Everyone around Tiana and Coby is pointing at the machines and whispering amongst themselves.

They must be testing mentality, too. Coby whispers.

Tiana nods her head in agreement, To see how they’re able to handle distractions and being bothered.

The trainee gets to the middle of the room and waits. Mr. Devlin puts a timer on the screen and turns it on. The screen counts down then Start is heard overhead. A ball comes flying out of one of the machines and hits the student on the back of his head.

Ow! He says as he rubs his head.

He looks back at the machine and glares at it. The agent from Sikai spins in the air while taking out a bola and throws it at the student. The bola wraps around the student’s ankle. When the Sikai agent lands they take out a magnet which draws in the student while the student struggles to take the bola off.

When the bola attaches itself to the magnet and the student is hanging upside down by his leg, the hand machine goes over to him and descends to the student. The machine starts to spin, and the hands start to slap the student’s face. The student swats at the machine while trying to wriggle free from the magnet. The Sikai and Bioa agent laugh as the machine backs away. The Sikai agent turns off the magnet and the student falls to the floor then struggles to stand up.

Tiana shakes her head in shame, He could have gotten out of those easily.

Coby leans into her, "He’s definitely going to Zepud."

After getting thrown around for five minutes the timer goes off. The student gets off the ground and runs to the decision room. The agents laugh at him as they watch him leave.

For the next twenty minutes a few other students go up for their turn. A couple of them were quite good. One of them was able to make the Bioa agent fall. Which made the evaluators nod in approval. The third one got irritated by the hand machine and shot an arrow through it. The evaluators laugh while the Zepud evaluator hits the Xato evaluator on the shoulder. The Xato evaluator shakes their head as they watch the agent controlling the machine connect their screen projector to another one.

"Yup. She’s definitely going to Xato." Coby says as he watches Mr. Devlin walk over and pick up the destroyed machine.

The last one didn’t even wait for the timer to start when he ran for the Bioa agent while screaming at the top of his lungs with a machete swinging above his head. The Bioa agent takes out a lasso, latches it on the machete, and snatches it out of his hand.

Tiana leans over to Coby, Which one do you think he’s going to?

"I’d say Vunba."

Really? Tiana looks at Coby, "I say Qwee."

He seems a bit aggressive.

Yeah. In an abnormal way.

Coby nods his head, "You got a point. But I still say Vunba."

I guess we’ll find out. Tiana’s face appears on the screen. My turn. Tiana smirks, Let’s show em how it’s done.

Tiana walks out to the middle of the floor. When the agents see her, they walk to the back. Tiana stops in her tracks and watches them leave with confusion on her face. Two other agents come out. The one from Bioa looks at Tiana and smiles, They wanted the best for you.

Tiana smiles back, Good. I love a challenge.

The agents take out their weapons as the machines start to revolve around Tiana. Tiana takes out two samurai swords as she uses her peripheral vision to keep an eye on the machines.

The moment the gun machine shoots out a ball, the Sikai agent throws a metal boomerang. Tiana flips over the boomerang while cutting the ball in half. The students duck as the boomerang heads in their direction. The boomerang goes over their heads and goes back to the Sikai agent. The Bioa agent runs past the Sikai agent with two chakrams in her hands. She spins while throwing the chakrams. Tiana dodges one and catches the other with her sword. Tiana spins the chakram on the sword while Coby and the rest of the students fall to the floor as the other chakram flies over them and hits the wall.

They need to have us in a separate room. Coby says as he scratches his head. He sits up and looks at the chakram on the floor then back at Tiana, I am not getting up again.

The slapping machine slowly approaches Tiana while she flings the chakram back at the Bioa agent, the agent catches the chakram and puts it back. She pulls out num-chuks and starts to swing them in a circle. The Bioa agent extends one of the num-chuks and wraps it around Tiana’s sword. The sword is yanked out of Tiana’s hand and the hand machine slaps Tiana once. Tiana kicks the machine away and the machine flies over in Mr. Devlin’s direction, who just calmly steps out of the way.

The Bioa agent drops the nun-chuk with the sword and twirls the other nun-chuk. Tiana swings the other sword around and prepares to attack.

The Bioa agent swings the nun-chuk upwards as she extends it. Tiana leans in the opposite direction as the agent retracts it. The agent spins and swings it down on the other side as she extends it again and Tiana rolls on the floor.

The gun machine shoots out a ball as Tiana gets back up. Tiana sees it heading towards her head in her peripheral. She catches it with her hand and throws it at the Sikai agent, who was about to shoot a net arrow at her feet.

Tiana looks up at the timer and sees that they have two more minutes. She looks back when she hears a scream from the speaker machine. The Bioa and Sikai agents are standing side by side with their weapons ready.

Tiana slowly starts to smirk. The Sikai agent shoots an arrow at the same time the Bioa agent extends the nun-chuk. Tiana slides under the nun-chuk and uses her sword to break the arrow in half.

She gets off the floor and does a roundhouse kick, knocking the bow out of the Sikai agent’s hands. The Bioa agent wraps the nun-chuk around Tiana’s wrist and pulls her towards her. Tiana spins