After leaving Dante and Nadia with Dr Jiji, Cassie went to a dimly lit tent filled with shelves of scrap metal or broken relics of technology- sorted in various makeshift crates and cupboards. At the backside of the tent, she hears Commander Preston and Missy conversing by her technology-ridden desk and computer screen, positioned by the only ‘tidy’ thing in the entire place. Missy’s bed.
“Yeah, this is good stuff,” Missy grins as she shifts multilayered, welders goggles up to her forehead. “I am seeing data for multiple Krix sites,”
“How many?” Preston asks.
“Three so fa’,”
“I’m more concerned about findin’ some type of malware in the data of one of the locations,”
“So they might have our location?” Cassie asks, concerned about the same issue.
“Well, it's not just our location. Knowin’ the Krix, they’d probably get access to all of our data- includin’ our roster and user stats. In the worst case scenario, they might even get access to the OWS,”
“We can't allow that,” Cassie shakes her head, “Stop the scan,”
“No,” Preston says, “We’ve found three sites so far. The risk is worth it,”
“I don't know about that. If they get access to the OWS we’re screwed-”
“They won’t,”
Cassie glances at Missy, shrugging her shoulders before accepting the Commander's resolve, “I need you to stop any malware from trying to get into the OWS. If our user data is lost, so be it,”
“I can set up a filter but I’ll need some time to do it,” Missy responds, anxiously glancing at Cassie and then at Preston.
Cassie's eyes follow Missy’s and glare at Preston for approval.
“Do it,” Preston nods as he turns to leave the tent.
“Copy that, Sir,” Missy says, scrambling at her desk to get the filter set up and sighing in relief once he leaves. “You and him make a great team,”
“I’m just keeping up,” Cassie responds. “He’s probably right,”
“What?”
“We’ll set up this filter and it won't do anything, because they were never going to get into the OWS in the first place. To him, this is a waste of time but it’ll shut me up,”
“I don't know about that, he seems to really value your opinion,”
“I hope so,” Cassie sighs.
“You know, when I was still Bethel’s successor, I used to feel that way all the time. I’d constantly obsess over the smallest details about the shop or the most efficient part selection for any repairs or tech we had to build… Bethel told me that one day I’d get past all that. He said that trusting in your experience came with his job. Gaining experience came with mine,”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” She raises an eyebrow.
“It means that you’re obsessing because you're still learning. It means you don’t give yourself any credit because you don’t know what credit to give yourself,”
“What would be the point?”
“Well, most people gives themselves a pat on the back to feel good about themselves. But, I don’t think you want to,”
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“I don’t think I should,”
“That much is obvious,” Missy laughs, typing away on her keyboard, “You don’t want to because it actually benefits you,”
“What? How does this benefit me?”
“It keeps you on edge. Keeps you sharp. It’s the reason Bethel liked me, and I think it’s why the Commander likes you,”
“Pfft,” Cassie scoffs, struggling to digest the compliment. But, despite her reaction, she knows it's true. She would never do it intentionally but she doesn’t really have to. She always thought of it as a switch that got turned on a long time ago and hasn’t been turned off since.
“Thanks,” Cassie rolls her eyes at herself, trying to embrace sentimentality. “Talking to you helps,”
“I’ll send you an invoice,” Missy chuckles, “Now go do somethin’ more important, I need to focus up,”
“Copy that,” Cassie says, as she makes her way out the tent.
Upon exiting, the loud Hoorah of squad members echoes from the main tent. She glances to see Nadia in the Arena with Melinda. The first thing Cassie notices is how much more distance Nadia is managing to keep from Melinda so with a sudden excitement, Cassie goes to check out the fight.
“Oh!” a few spectators yell as Cassie enters the tent.
She looks at the arena to see one of Nadia’s whips grasp for Melinda’s leg- it connects, and Nadia uses all of her strength to pull on Melinda’s leg.
Melinda’s foot slides forward, but her stance grows sturdier. Resisting Nadia’s attempt at displacing her.
“Not a bad idea,” One of the squad members says.
“Nah, she was never going to out-muscle Melinda,” Another responds.
“Pfft, what do you think, Heir?”
Cassie shrugs with a grin on her face, “I’ve seen worse,”
“Exactly!” The soldier reiterates.
“That doesn't mean it was good!” The other responds.
Nadia unfurls her grip on Melinda and recalls the whip. Squinting as she thinks up another plan- but, before she can make a move, Melinda launches at her in full sprint. Nadia jostles in panic and loops her whip to create a lasso- she shifts out of the way just in time to avoid a punch from Melinda whilst successfully slipping Melinda into her lasso, tightening it and shifting it with all her strength.
Using Melinda’s momentum, Nadia has the strength to throw Melinda and put all her might into doing so. Melinda launches off the floor- and in her airborne state, she shifts all of her weight to bring her feet crashing to the ground.
Suddenly, Melinda shifts all of her weight again, keeping the initial momentum Nadia was using. Nadia quickly takes in what just happened, realizing Melinda somehow nullified the effect. But, before she can fully process it, her feet lift off the ground, and she is flung across the arena.
In a flash, her body crashes into the side of the arena.
_LOSER
_ID: NADIA MEHDI
_HP: 0 (-64)
_NOTES: Spinal Cord Severed.
_WINNER
_ID: MELINDA KAWASAKI
_HP: 71 (-29)
A big cheer comes from the surrounding viewers and the soldiers in the cafeteria nearby.
_ARENA: SIMULATION DISABLED
“Not bad,” Melinda says, “But you over-committed,”
“To physics?” Nadia sighs, cradling her head as her body recovers from the injury.
“You really didn't notice what I was doing?” Melinda chuckles.
“No, Ma’am,” Nadia grunts as she stands to her feet.
“That’ll come with experience,”
“Understanding physics?”
“No,” Melinda laughs, “Reading the situation. You are still struggling to digest all of the information and make decisions with a calm state of mind. There’s no real way to practice that, but being aware of it is a good start,”
“Yeah, my mind is so focused on small parts of what you're doing that I can't see the bigger picture,”
“Micro and Macro combat,” Melinda says, “The same applies to large-scale combat. Your surroundings and the state of your allies will all have an impact on the state of the battlefield. That's why we haven't run any advanced sims yet. You recruits are too new for that,”
“I see,” Nadia nods, “Why wouldn't the Academy teach this?”
“There’s a lot that the Academy’s aware of that they don't teach you. And it's probably best they don't because it’s not needed right now,”
“Oh,”
“Just keep working on it and be aware of how unaware you are,” Melinda chuckles.