The Scrapper

Friday, 1st of January, 198 A.C, 14:01

“Many industries in Spark are freezing over as companies begin their annual preparations for New Year’s Eve. Layoffs and contract terminations for non-essential workers are expected to arrive in the coming weeks, and prices are already rising for most manufactured goods. Meanwhile, couriers and Veiled expeditions outside city limits are ramping up as market savvy Bit pinchers turn to Leftovers for everyday items.” - SNN Financial Bulletin

“Remember to set your stance.” I groaned and shifted back into the ‘neutral stance’ that Sable was trying to get me to adopt. One foot forward, one foot back, body facing the side, squared shoulders, weight on the balls of my feet, hands up in loose fists.

“Good.” Sable readjusted his grip on the shield pad. “Now again.”

Sable swayed back from the impact of my kick. It was a new technique he had thought up for me where I would activate my Veil just long enough to land a single hit. The idea was that I wouldn’t burn out as quickly, but even just kicking on its own was enough to make my lungs feel like bellows after a couple repetitions.

This time I was careful to bring my foot back, returning to the neutral stance as Sable had instructed. He nodded his approval. “Again.”

Sable talked in between commands. “Your stance is important. Again. It sets your balance – again – and inclines you towards certain courses of action. Again. Square stances are more common – again – but I – oof – I think you’ll get more out of a more agile one. Again. Once you’ve got these short Veil bursts down – again – I want to see if you can – again – use them when dodging. Once more.

I huffed as I landed the last kick. As I brought my foot back, Sable leveled the pad shield and thrust it at my head. I yelped and ducked under it, but he brought it down, bopping me on the head. “Keep your hands up, even when you’re tired.”

The short reprieve from kicks was all it took for my body to decide I wasn’t doing any more exercise. I fell to the floor, gulping down air and holding my head in an attempt to recover from a sudden wave of lightheadedness. Sable set down his shield and started taking off the pads covering him from head to toe. “Take a breather and stretch out. You’ve been working hard.” He paused for a second, then added, “Don’t get too comfy. You’ve still got a round with Sarie to get through.”

I glanced over to the other side of the room, where Kai was practicing his knife throwing. Yumi had taught him the basics during the last one of these practice sessions. He would take a knife out of the yellow band on his sleeve and tentatively toss it at a dartboard on the far wall, face scrunched up in concentration. He had a 50-50 accuracy, though he would insist it was closer to 60-40.

I pouted. “How come he gets the easy stuff?”

Sable cracked his knuckles. “Oh don’t worry, once you’re off with Sarie it’ll be his turn to suffer.”

Just then, Sarie clomped down the stairs. She fished out a keyring from her jacket pocket and spun it around her finger. “Ready to go?”

“Wait,” I said, “we’re not training here?”

“Nope! I’ve got something unique in mind. You’re gonna love it.” She walked over and helped me to my jellified feet. “Oh, but change out of your gear first. You’re not gonna need it. And take this.” she took something out of her pocket which unfolded into a helmet. “Safety first.”

***

Beck

I unclipped the helmet Sarie had loaned to me. “How is it that I’m just now learning that you drive a motorbike?”

“Good question. Honestly, I don’t know how you *didn’t* know!”

I took another look at her machine as we stepped off onto the sidewalk. It was remarkably upscale for a college student, all black and white with a frame that I could only describe as ‘aerodynamically chunky.’

“It’s cool though!” I said. “Very sleek. Was it expensive?”

Sarie shook her head. “Got it from work, actually. I didn’t have to pay a bit.”

“Seriously!? Must be a pretty cool job!”

Sarie chuckled. “Many would disagree with you there. The bike’s really nothing special though. It already had its fair share of miles when I got it.”

She stopped and gestured to her left. “Alright, we’re here.”

I looked around. “Here at… a ramen shop?”

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Sarie beamed. “Not just any ramen shop. This bad boy is heaven for broke students. A short walk from VA, great food, and cheap as hell. Plus the owners know me. Welcome to The Noodler.”

The door chimed gently as we entered. The aroma hit me like a pickup truck, leaving my mouth full of drool in six seconds flat. Spatially, everything in the store felt just a little cramped, from the low ceiling to the lack of seating for any more than 2 people at a table.

The pudgy woman running the counter waved as we walked in “Oh, Sarie! It’s good to see you again so soon! And with a friend!”

Sarie grinned. “Hey Mrs. Ke! I’m bringing Beck here for a bit of *special training,* if you catch my drift.”

“Oh, of course, of course!” The two of them shared a conspiratorial wink. She turned and called out to the kitchen. “Honey!! Sarie’s here for the deluxe package!”

A tepid voice came back. “On it!” The clatter of cookware followed soon after.

Mrs. Ke extended a hand. “Nice to meet you, Beck! A friend of Sarie is a friend of mine.”

Her handshake was firm and enthusiastic. “Nice to meet you too!”

After the proprietress let go of me, Sarie led me to a table in the corner.

“Sooo,” I said. “The training is… eating?”

Sarie rubbed her hands together. “Sure is! Training isn’t just working out, you know. You’ve gotta fuel yourself properly. Especially if a hunch of mine is correct.”

“And this hunch is?”

“I’ll tell you once the food gets here.”

Before long, Mrs. Ke came out with two heaping bowls of ramen and set them before us. Beef, egg, everything you could want in a bowl.

“Enjoy!”

We dug in. Sarie shoveled the noodles into her mouth like a seasoned pro. I grabbed my chopsticks and had a taste myself.

They. Were. *Amazing.*

I finished savoring the party going on in my mouth and looked down to see that Sarie’s bowl was somehow already empty. She called out to Mrs. Ke, who was there in an instant to replace the bowl.

Sarie took a quick break from eating to gesture towards my own ramen. “You haven’t forgotten that this is training, have you? Eat up!”

Try as I might, I couldn’t match Sarie’s pace. I finished off my bowl and laid my head on the table while Sarie slammed down her third.

As Mrs. Ke set down yet more noodles for us she said, “Ah, another falls before the might of Sarie’s stomach.” She gave me a hearty pat on the back. “Keep at it, Beck. You’ll get her next time, I’m sure!” She threw back her head and cackled.

Sarie started in on her fourth bowl, talking while she ate. “My challenge to you is to finish that second bowl. You can take your time, but get it down.”

“Alright,” I said, fishing around with my chopsticks, partly to grab as big a clump as I could and partly because, as delicious as the ramen was, I was dreading the prospect of getting though another full bowl, “but what’s the goal here?”

“A couple things,” Sarie said with a full mouth. “One, you’re doing a lot of cardio. We’ve gotta work on your appetite if you want to keep up with the calorie burn. Two,” Sarie leaned in and whispered so that Mrs. Ke wouldn’t hear, “I think you and I have similar Veils.”

“Yeah?” I asked. “How so?”

“Well, you burn up a lot of energy zooming around. That’s your main drawback, as I see it – the crashes are because of that. And something else, but I’ll get to that in a second. Anyway, I’ve got a similar thing. Being dense burns a lot of calories.”

“Oh Sarie, I don’t think you’re *that* dumb.” I gave her a shit eating grin and mimed a drum sting.

Sarie let out a “pffft” and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Yeah, I walked into that one, didn’t I? Alright, the point is that I’m regularly on thin ice with Darren because I work myself to the bone. In a very literal sense of the word.” She paused, fidgeting uncharacteristically in her chair. “Now, I don’t like showing people this, but…” she took off her jacket halfway, revealing a much rounder physique than I had seen the night of my first mission. “*Fortunately* for me my Veil did something else to me.” The ‘fortunately’ came out of her absolutely drenched in venom. “It gave me an appetite to match.”

Her point made, she quickly pulled her jacket back on. “Absolute garbage for my mental health, but that’s the price I pay, I guess. Clearly, you didn’t get the same appetite, but take it from an expert here: the best way to avoid a crash is getting a steady supply of calories. Places like this-” she gestured around “-are important to look out for. Cheap but good food in large amounts.”

While she was talking I had been dutifully scarfing down noodles. Exerting every bit of willpower I possessed, I forced down my gag reflex and swallowed the last of the ramen.

I heaved back in my chair with a groan. “So for now I’ve gotta train my body to be able to eat more, right?”

Sarie smiled. “Right. Good job with that second bowl, by the way. As a reward…” Sarie took out a pill bottle and set it down in front of me. “These should help with the other reason you’re having trouble with energy.”

I took the bottle and read the label. Iron and vitamin B12 supplements.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I mentioned all this to Darren and he said that he shared my concerns. He thinks you might be anemic, so he told me to give you these. Take one daily with breakfast.”

I nodded, slipping the bottle into my backpack. “Oh, thanks. I… guess I never thought about it, but yeah, maybe I’m anemic? My dad doesn’t really have the money for a lot of medical stuff, so I’ve mostly just tried to ignore it.”

Sarie got up and stretched out, her hands brushing against the low ceiling. “Well, ignore it no more! I’m gonna go pay, if that’s okay?” She walked over to the counter and engaged in a quick argument with Mrs. Ke about payment, eventually giving in to Mrs. Ke’s insistence that Sarie deserved a discount.

“Wow, you’re really popular here, huh?” I said.

Sarie replied with a pair of finger guns. “Being a regular has its perks.”

I got up to join her, but I stood up too fast and got caught by a nasty headrush. I leaned against the wall while I waited for it to pass. “Ooooh, Yup, I can definitely see where the anemia idea is coming from. Hoooo, yuuuuup. Yup.”