Silver Training

[Pearl Dragon]

"Keep your hands up, don't let them get past your defenses. Remember, it's not about maiming or killing the other, it's about suduing your opponent."

Stenson tucked and rolled away from the massive, boulder sized fists of the ogre as it raised them above its head and brought them down with a resounding THOOOMB right where he'd been standing not 2 seconds prior. He could've laughed at the closeness of the hit, but it was short lived as the ogre's left fist suddenly uncurled into an open palm and swept to the side, knocking Stenson back and off his feet to skid across the padded ground.

They'd started his training months ago, but as time passed and more supernatural physical and mental training was exposed to him, the more difficult each session had become.  Within HQ, he was now facing one of his "easier" opponents in the WDSA sparing rooms, but so far his luck was thin.

He first felt the large hand smack past his too-late raised arms and then the ground that hit his back as he fell, leaving him winded on the ground.

"No no, Jones, you need to keep your hands up. Worst case, you can do more. We always tell you, you can do more, you'll have to one of these days. Some enemies are just too big-"

"No, I've got this." Stenson coughed and rose to his feet, facing the ogre. The ogre turned, looking stupidly bored and began to lumber towards him once more, it's pale green skin shimmering under the overhead lights. Each step vibrated the ground beneath Stenson's feet, and the stocky creature stood at least twice Stenson's own height. Stenson braced himself, trying to analyze the situation and what the ogre's weakpoint might be, but eventually had to dodge yet another trunk-sized arm as it came sweeping towards him.

[Sharei]

Isaac placed his hand on the metal door, felt the cold of it against his gloved palm, and pushed it open. Winter light spilled into Training Center 03's main lobby and snow drifted in on his heels. The building's warm air rushed to embrace him, and Isaac removed his helmet with a sigh of pleasure as the door closed behind him. He did not feel the cold as others did, but he could still perceive the temperature change, and it was good to be indoors again. The snow was coming down in a flurry outside, and the millions of little flakes drifting through the air with harmless abandon were stressing out his senses. It was good to have some relief from the persistent headache it caused.

Training Center 03, otherwise known as The Crucible, was the complex's Silver Initiative Combat Development building. Along with its two counterparts, 01 and 02, it was the third and smallest building of the combat development trio. The other two were used for Bronze Badge training, where regularly scheduled class periods and one-on-one combat could be tested without the risk of damaging or hurting anything. 03, however, was restricted to those wishing to obtain the rank of Silver, Silver Badge agents, and Golds. The restriction seemed separatist at first glance, but it was there for safety's sake. The threat level of the training to be found in The Crucible was not for the underqualified.

Isaac did not have to flash his badge to the receptionist at the back of the lobby to proceed down the building's hallway. Even though she was busy speaking to a pair of instructors looking to schedule matches, she recognized him and waved him forward. Perhaps it was the cool look on his face that made her so quick to ensure his passage. Perhaps it was the fact that the Director himself had seen fit to come to The Grind.

The Grind, a name given to it so long ago that Isaac had been a recruit when the Bronzes had started calling it that, was the WDSA's Tactical Training Facility. Eight and a half acres; four city blocks; four sections of intense physical and mental training, The Grind was responsible for almost all of the live training an agent would receive, from wrangling supers on a rampage and pacifying dangerous beings to hijacking enemy transmissions. Two of the sectors resembled legitimate city blocks, complete with stores that could be shopped at, coffee shops agents could eat at, a bank with working ATMs, a mall that was subject to a mass shooting twice a week, suburbs where supernaturals routinely took hostages, and a two-lane highway where high-speed car chases happened every other day. Criminals lurked around every corner, black markets sold unusual and often live creatures in need of rescue, and a plethora of well-paid actors and agents played the part of busy civilians.

Of the other two sectors, one was a Disaster Zone specializing in rescuing civilians from the aftermath of supernatural attacks, and the other was a wooded expanse of forest and uneven terrain bordered by the complex's perimeter wall for tactical wilderness training. With the use of specialized staff, its climate could be changed to accommodate winter, autumn and summer environments all year around. Like the working telecommunications center located inside Barker's Second Hand Books, Training Centers 01, 02, and 03 were located within the urban sector.

They were easy to navigate. The centers sported six large gymnasium-like spaces and four smaller sparring rooms and were split grid-like by hallways that branched from a central corridor. Isaac had no difficulty locating the locker room, where he hung up his riding gear and helmet, and then went to Room 2, where Stenson's training was taking place. He let himself in, but hung back at the door and observed the instructor, ogre and recruit as they traded blows and commentary. He had been tracking Stenson's progress with an almost religious fervor, and while the young man had excelled in the beginning, the Silver Initiative was proving to be an obstacle. Isaac had reviewed the training material several times and nothing about it was any different than everyone else's. Jones' capabilities and service history suggested he should not be struggling quite as hard as he was, so Isaac had turned to reviewing the footage.

What he had seen had not impressed him.

He stayed standing by the door for some time before he made his presence known by stepping further into the space. The bright lights and clinical white of the walls and floor made the black of his suit stand out in sharper relief as he approached. The instructor was the first to notice him, and the man jerked upright, arm raised to salute. Isaac waved him down.

"No need for that, Connoley," Isaac said as he came to a stop next to the man.

"Director!" Connoley sputtered, and it was clear that the man was struggling to think of a reason for why Isaac would be there in person. He waved the ogre down, directing it to stand to the side and halt while their superior office was present. "This is a surprise! Normally you don't come to see the training personally. What can I do for you?"

Isaac raised his eyebrow and looked at Stenson. "Its not you that can do something for me, Connoley. You've done a good job, as always. I'm here for him."

[Pearl Dragon]

The ogre lumbered towards him once more, making a grab for his leg and nearly succeeding except Stenson was beginning to adjust to his larger opponent's slower movements. As the massive hand made to snatch him by the ankle, Stenson launched himself up and over the arm, rolled over his shoulder to a crouching position and turned in hopes that he'd be able to flank his enemy. His hope ran dry however, as the ogre's body had already turned in a wide arc and it's other hand now closed around Stenson's entire torso. One of Stenson's arms became pinned to his side, while the other fell across the ogre's wide wrist. He grappled and pushed at the thing's hand but it was no use, and slowly the ogre began to apply pressure to his sides, intending to squeeze the air right out of him.



"Director!"



Stenson turned, wincing, at the voice of the instructor, and very quickly the pressure around his sides loosened and dropped him entirely to the ground at the ogre's feet. Their session, it seemed, had come to an end with a wave of the instructor's hand.



"It's not you that can do something for me, Connely. You've done a good job, as always. I'm here for him."



The instructor turned briskly to Stenson and gave a sharp waving beckon of his hand. "Jones, step to it."



"But we've only just started?" Stenson breathed, standing up with a small stretch of his back and sides where the ogre had begun to do its damage. He straightened, trying not to look like he'd just taken a beating, and the ogre glanced down at him with a snort. Stenson wanted to snort back at it, but refrained in the favor of trying to look professional in front of a superior. His pride had been suffering since he had initially begun Silver badge training, and with every new supernatural being or situation he encountered, he normally failed miserably multiple times simply due to naivety and ignorance of the supernatural world. He was learning, but slowly, and always had new aches and pains to bring home with him after his training sessions. His instructors always seemed to want to get more out of him, pushing him in an attempt to get him past his limits, but one thing he was stubborn about was his own reluctance to resort to his own abilities to solve some of his challenges. Perhaps it was a subconscious avoidance that he felt he needed to hide himself after all the years he'd spent doing just that in the "normal" world. Or perhaps some level of ingrained fear that he would hurt someone, or cause irreparable damage.  Whatever the case, Stenson knew he had a bad habit of either forgetting or simply ignoring who and what he was.  He'd never needed it before, and that belief still clung to his mind even now in the thick of Silver training.

[Sharei]

Connoley tapped his foot impatiently as Stenson sauntered over to the pair of them. It was an unconscious tick, and something that he did when he was anxious. Isaac could smell his worry, though he did nothing to ease the instructor's distress - he knew that it was not aimed at Isaac, not really. Before Isaac had gotten promoted to Director, he'd been a regular to Connoley's Friday night poker games, and they'd become friendly over cards. No, it wasn't Isaac himself that worried the man, but why he might be there, and what Stenson might have done, to warrant what he presumed to be negative attention.

"Jones, this is Director Isaac Lonan, head of the WDSA's Supernatural Law Enforcement Department" Connoley explained once Stenson had come to a stop in front of the pair. "He's your supervisor's bosses boss."

"Technically I'm his supervisor's boss' boss' boss," Isaac corrected with a small, cold smile. "There are three levels between us."

"In my defense, you try saying that five times fast, sir," Connoley said and rubbed the back of his head. He turned to Isaac and gestured to Stenson, continuing the introductions. "And Isaac, this is-"

"We've met," Isaac said, in an effort to stem the long-winded conversation. "I was the one who introduced Mr Jones to the WDSA in the first place."

Connoley covered his shock well. "Is that why you've come down?"

Isaac nodded absently. "I thought to take a look at how he's coming along," he said, and his red eyes pinned Stenson. "How is it coming along, Jones?"

[Pearl Dragon]

Stenson could almost cut the tension in the air with a knife as he approached. He considered interrupting the instructor's introduction of Isaac, but refrained once more in favor of not speaking out of line. Isaac did the honors, however, by informing Connely that they were in fact already acquainted, although it had been a few months since Stenson had last seen or heard from Isaac.

"Is that why you've come down?" Connely asked, evidently hiding shock.

"I thought to take a look at how he's coming along. How is it coming along, Jones?"

Stenson shifted slightly where he stood, before looking from Isaac to the instructor and then up at the ogre.

"Ah, er...well, it's coming...along. You could say. Me and Brog here were doing a few practice rounds."

"Brog bored. Small blind-eye man no see past shiny lense orbs." The ogre said in a flat, grumbling tone.

"Thanks, Brog. Glad to know you're here to support me." Stenson sighed, giving Brog an exasperated look.

"Boss-boss-boss-boss Man can watch Brog beat small blind-man Jones. No fight back. No win if no fight back. Brog win every time." The ogre offered a rather toothy smile.

"Ah..what he means is...and I'm not blind Brog...he means I've not quite figured out how to best an ogre."

"Bah. Shiny lense eyes blind. No see hand coming, go flat smack onto floor." Stenson closed his eyes and tried to pretend Brog wasn't still pulverizing his reputation, and gave another sigh. He wanted another go at the big oaf, he always wanted to try again. And again. And again, until he figured out how to beat his training opponent. One thing he never quite stopped to consider, however, was that there were now do-overs in the real world...

[Sharei]

"Oh, I know," Isaac said and lifted his hands. He began to peel off his black gloves with menacing slowness. "I've been watching the footage. I was also watching you ignore your instructor not five minutes ago."

Connoley groaned under his breath. Recruits that wouldn't listen to instruction looked bad on them, too. But Isaac did not hold the man accountable, and showed that by putting his hand on Connoley's shoulder.

"Why don't you take a short break, my friend. Get something to eat. I'll take over here for the session."

Connoley looked uncomfortable, but Isaac knew that no one could refuse him, so it was no surprise when the man packed up his things and walked out with some polite goodbyes. Isaac strode over to the far end of the gym and directed Brog to stand in front of him by twenty paces.

"You don't seem to be taking this seriously, Mr Jones. I thought you were excited about being pushed, but it seems to me like you're not willing to give your all. Was that passion a facade?"

Isaac lifted a hand. The lighting in the room dimmed, but it was still bright enough to see by. Then, Isaac extended his hand to the left. Darkness coagulated into the shape of a little girl at his side. She bounced on her heels and curtsied with her frilly little dress.

"To your starting point, Mr Jones. You have three minutes to get past Brog before I kill this child."

[Pearl Dragon]

A knot formed in Stenson's throat at Isaac's statement regarding his attention to the instructor, his overal attitude in taking the training seriously, and then asking if his passion was a facade. He drew a small, sharp breath and any agrument or excuse that bubbled forth was swallowed back down. Although he hadn't seen Isaac in quite a while, he could already guess that redemption would have to be proven.



As if in reading Stenson's very thoughts, Isaac then stepped out into the training area, beckoning to Brog as the lights dimmed in the room. Stenson looked up and around, feeling as if his eyes might've been playing tricks, and then looked back down again to realize Isaac had a child standing beside him. Stenson tensed as he watched the girl curtsie and bounced on her heels. Other than the shadowy appearance, it resembled the exact shape and mannerisms of a little girl.



"To your starting point, Mr. Jones. You have three minutes to get past Brog before I kill this child."



Stenson snapped his eyes from the little girl and quickly made his way to his end of the mats. Brog rolled his massive shoulders and snorted lazily at Stenson, before curling his hands into large fists. Stenson kept his eyes forward, focused on the girl beside his superior. No sooner had he taken off sprinting, than Brog had begun to trace his movements, bald green head turning slowly this way and that to follow Stenson's direction.


Stenson started in a zig-zagging motion, an attempt to confuse and fake his opponent out. Brog however rolled his eyes and swung his arm in a horizontal arc, causing Stenson to duck mid-step and slide into a half-split, landing on a knee from the loss of balance. He had successfully made it under the ogre's arm, but Brog simply rocked back on his heels and fell as if to sit on the grey-skinned agent behind him. "Hey!" Stenson pushed to the side and rolled but felt Brog's thigh land on his own leg, pinning him in place under his massive weight like a mouse's tail under the hind-end of a large cat.


"Hur. Hur. Hur." Brog laughed, to which Stenson twisted and pulled at his leg to try and free himself. Brog, bored of his opponent already, pushed at Stenson's shoulders and torso to try and further pin him beneath his larger hand. Frustration began to build heavily inside of the agent, and he glanced in growing desperation at his superior and the little girl.  Of all the training he'd been through before, martial arts and tactical training, none of it ever worked or paid off against these brute-ish opponents.  "Wait, I can-" He twisted fiercly beneath Brog's weight, now pitting his own arm strength against that of the much larger super. Brog was looked mildly surprised at Stenson's show of strength but otherwise more out of amusement than actual impressiveness.

[Sharei]

"Wait?"

Isaac reached down and grabbed a fistful of the shadow child's hair. She let out a silent cry and reached up to grab at his fingers, her face contorting with pain. "Did you just ask me to 'wait'? Do you think your enemies are going to wait?" he called back, his tone deepening into a threat. "You are lucky that I gave you a time limit at all. I could have just killed her while you were screwing around. Now, are you coming? The clock is ticking."

If Stenson thought that his previous training had been tough, he had seen nothing yet. He was only at the beginning of the Silver's program and the instructors that he would come into contact with if he ever intended to make Gold badge were some of the harshest. Isaac was, perhaps, even harsher than them. He believed that sometimes one could buff out the dent in a shield, but other times the flaw in the blade of a sword was so severe that one had to melt down the whole thing and recast anew. Isaac would find out whether Stenson was a sword or a shield.

"Two minutes and two seconds remain, Mr Jones."

[Pearl Dragon]

Stenson's eyes widened a touch at the sight of the girl's silent scream as Isaac suddenly grabbed a handful of her hair. He knew it was fake, knew she wasn't real, but something about the pained expression that contorted in her face sparked something inside of him. He gritted his teeth as Isaac stated his time limit, and he twisted a bit more fiercely beneath Brog. Struggling like a stuck pup wasn't working. He needed a new plan.

His mind raced back to all of his teachings and studies on ogres, striving to think of a weakness he could exploit other than it's obvious slowness. He knew they were susceptible to sleepiness and were otherwise not particularly bright. Brog made that last fact blatantly apparent, and one piece of information that suddenly came to him stuck in his mind in particular. Ladies. Ogres were...strangely particular to the ladies, and one lady in particular was Brog's favorite. A stocky training instructor named Bretta, though she was not an ogre, Brog's absolute favorite game was to play "hug Bretta". A game Bretta was most certainly not fond of.

"Brog...Don't look now, but Bretta's watching.." Stenson groaned, pointing in the direction behind the massive ogre. Brog's dumb smile faded and his eyes became large ovals of surprise. Very slowly, as if it took a minute for his brain to process the words Stenson had just said, Brog began to turn to look. His large, broad shoulders and short stocky neck made his attempt incredibly hard, and so Brog then began to push himself up to be able to turn completely around at the direction Stenson had pointed.

"No see Bretta..." Brog grumbled, but then grunted as he felt the agent squirm just barely out from under him. Stumbling, Stenson pulled himself into another sprint and began to bolt towards Isaac and the girl. Brog let out an infuriated bark of sorts and lurched towards the fleeing agent. He hooked a fat finger around Stenson's ankle, causing Stenson to trip forward in his momentum, landing heavily on his knees before speedily bear crawling back up into a standing position towards the goal.

[Sharei]

Isaac's eyebrow rose as Brog got up to search for his favorite Bretta, who of course was not present. Stenson used the opportunity to wiggle free and run for it, but though the Gargoyle was fast, he wasn't fast enough. Brog dropped him, and to Isaac's surprise and disappointment, Stenson simply continued to rush blindly forward. He reminded Isaac of one of those 100-meter sprinters, his gaze focused on the end to the exclusion of all else.

"Congratulations," Isaac drolled as Stenson ran at him. "You succeeded in outsmarting an ogre. Quite the accomplishment there," he said dryly.

Then he let go of the girl's hair and ripped off her arm. She clutched at the wound, eyes squeezed shut and mouth open in a soundless scream, and collapsed into Stenson's arms as he reached her. Isaac threw the arm over his shoulder.

"Now you have her. You succeeded with half a minute left on the clock," he said, and then turned to face the agent and his little girl construct. "But Brog is still here, isn't he? And so am I. To top it all off, you took so long that she's bleeding out. So tell me, Mr Jones, what now? Or did you think simply making it to the goal post was all there was to being an agent?"

Isaac's hand shot out, palm outstretched, fingers spread as he moved to put his hand over Stenson's upturned face. His red eyes glowed like gas lamps in the dim light. "You still cannot rescue her if you're dead."

[Pearl Dragon]

Stenson dove for the falling girl right as her arm was ripped from her body.

"NO!" He cried, folding his arms around her small body. He couldn't help it, the word escaped of its own accord and struck home deep inside of him. Her soundless scream, her eyes screwed tightly shut, and suddenly Stenson saw not just her face but the faces of all the children on the bus that landed him here in the first place. She could be them. Any one of them. She wasn't real, but they were. Stenson suddenly felt his heart hammering in his chest. The cold, harsh reminder of reality was there in his arms, and he'd known it of course but now...now he really truly knew it.

"Now you have her. You succeeded with half a minute left on the clock. But Brog is still here, isn't he? And so am I. To top it all off, you took so long that she's bleeding out. So tell me, Mr Jones, what now? Or did you think simply making it to the goal post was all there was to being an agent?" Stenson held the limp figure in his arms, hearing Isaac's words as they sunk deep and stung hot in his chest.

Just as Stenson looked up, he saw Isaac's hand shoot towards his face, eyes shimmering with a red glow against the low lighting. "You still cannot rescue her if you're dead." He said suddenly and Stenson realized in the split second what Isaac meant. He pushed back and away, colliding with his back against the tree-trunk shin of Brog who then reached down and grabbed Stenson once more by the foot to lift him upside down before him.

"Lie. No Bretta. You lose." Brog spat, shaking Stenson like a bully shaking a toddler.

Stenson still held the girl tightly to himself and gave the ogre a sudden, sharp kick to the face. Brog grunted and covered his nose with one hand, dropping Stenson back down onto the mats. Stenson held the girl to his chest so she landed on top of him as cushion and immediately applied pressure to the bleeding wound where her arm had been. He glanced from Brog to Isaac and back again, bracing himself for either to attack. He knew not what the goal was now. To escape? To save the girl? Maybe that was the point, a small voice in the back of his mind said. It sounded a lot like his instructor's advice, you don't need a goal, you need priorities. Assess the situation. You're a lone agent, no backup, with a bleeding child. Two threats, one victim. No back up, no exit. Protect the girl, neutralize the threats.

Stenson was on his feet again, and this time, headed for a corner of the room. Lockers stood against one of the far walls, and he made a b-line for the taller lockers first. When he reached the lockers, he drew back a fist and slammed it into the handle and locking mechanism, bending the thin metal inward so that he could grab the door through the gap and wrench it open off its hinges. Inside, he found exactly what he was looking for. It was taking Brog plenty of time to recover from the blow to the face, and Stenson took advantage of that time by pulling a belt out and wrapping it around the girl to staunch the bleeding. He then set her gently within the locker, and covered her with one of the hanging bullet proof vests.

[Sharei]

Isaac's hand caught nothing but air as Stenson jerked away from him and into Brog's waiting grip. The following exchange was like something out of a movie, as Brog picked Stenson up by the ankle and shook him round like a rag doll. Isaac could have intervened there and attacked the agent while Brog had his fun, but that wouldn't have been appropriate. Jones wasn't ready for that kind of coordinated attack.


It was a small struggle to control himself long enough to give the other man time to breathe when Stenson finally escaped Brog's clutches and fled. The urge to chase him rushed up inside, and a thin smile touched Isaac's lips. There was a hint of the hunter in it, the predator, and his eyes tracked the agent with preternatural attention.

"Good," he called as Stenson stashed his charge, making sure to take precautions to ensure her survival. "Assess your surroundings and assign priorities. Civilian safety is paramount. But you still have to neutralize your threats."

Brog was recovered now. The ogre roared and went charging in, swinging its meaty fist for the space Stenson was standing in, directly in front of the lockers where the girl was hiding.

"Be aware of collateral damage," Isaac warned, folding his hands behind his back. "It doesn't matter you dodged if he hits something else. People's lives are ruined when you start damaging homes, businesses, and cars. Once you've dealt with that, assess and prioritize. You have two enemies. Which one should you be going after?"

[Pearl Dragon]

"Civilian safety is paramount. But you still have to neutralize your threats."

Stenson caught the last half of Isaac's statement right as Brog had recovered and appeared just behind him, bellowing and swinging large fists in his direction. He gasped, stood to dodge, but Isaac's words seemed to stick him in place, distracting him as he tried to take in what the other agent was saying. One of the fists then slammed painfully into Stenson's crossed forearms, knocking him forcibly to the left where he struck the farther end of the lockers, denting them inward, before corkscrewing through the air to land heavily on the padded ground. Brog certainly hadn't held back at all on that blow... His head rang from the hit, and the entire world seemed to spin as he rolled to a halt on the ground, ears ringing and vision blurred. He fought to get back up, however, as he already heard Brog's thundering footsteps approaching from where he'd just been.

Stenson turned to face Brog, eyes squinting through the blur in his vision, and he gauged about where he might be able to slide between Brog's legs as he charged. Stenson timed his own move, hoping and praying that the slowly clearing vision would give him enough focus to aim properly, and soon he was sprinting forward as well until he dropped and slid on his back between Brog's feet. Brog lumbered over top of him, missing stepping on Stenson's right arm by inches before halting to turn and charge at Stenson once more. The only thing Stenson could think to do was position himself between Isaac and Brog. So far as he knew, Brog was wholly focused on charging him, like a bull lost in its rage. He wasn't sure how much Isaac planned on participating in this exercise, but perhaps he could demonstrate a little more tactical techniques. Brog was already charging towards him, and Stenson prepped to jump to the side once more once he was certain the ogre wouldn't carry his momentum into other objects that might represent collateral damage.

[Sharei]

Stenson leaped out of the way of Brog's charge without letting the big ogre hit him this time - an improvement over the severe dent he'd left on the lockers - but Isaac found no satisfaction in the agent's skill in evasive tactics. It was a viable style, and Isaac employed it himself often enough, but there came a point when dodging had to end and an attempt at subdual had to be made. All Stenson had been doing since the start of the lesson was practice his ability to run away, and it was incredibly unbecoming of a being who's strengths lay in other quarters.

Stenson had also missed the most obvious cue. Isaac lifted his hand and pinched the bridge of his nose. A long sigh passed over his lips. It was time, perhaps, to try a different tactic.

Isaac took a single step, quick and sudden. And in that step he came out of the darkness in the air behind Stenson. His knee landed between the agent's shoulder blades and his hand gripped the back of the agent's head. The forward momentum carried them both forward, toppling Stenson's balance badly enough that the Gargoyle was thrown face first into the mats. Isaac planted his other knee on the man's back and let Stenson's fall carry him, until he landed gracefully in a sitting position in the center of the other man's back, while Stenson ate the ground.

"Congratulations," he snapped irritably. "You are dead."

[Pearl Dragon]

Brog came to a sudden stop, just as he was about to barrel past Stenson. The agent had already tumbled slightly to avoid Brog's charge in hopes that the ogre would continue past him and towards Isaac, but Brog apparently had other ideas.

Stenson looked quizzically at Brog, but then felt a sudden, hard pressure at his back and a hand at the back of his head as someone landed on him from behind. The momentum of the attack simply pushed him foward off his feet once more to faceplant onto the ground. The weight on his back never lifted, even as he landed, and a sharp tone scolded him from above.

"Congratulations. You are dead."

Stenson went to push himself up, with Isaac still seated upon him, similar to someone doing push ups. He was more mad at himself than anything, frustrated that he couldn't finish the exercise correctly, and even more so that he'd failed once again in a simple training session. He should know this stuff. He knew he should, and yet why couldn't he do what he was supposed to do?

Because you're trying to be something you're not, said a weak voice in his mind, but his subconscious buried it almost immediately. Brog stood a few feet away, huffing in deep chuckles at Stenson's predicament. His chuckles stopped, however, as if someone had waved him away, and soon his footsteps lumbered off to the sidelines. What now? Were they finished already?