xxxxxxxxxxxLocation: Fatherxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  Speaking: #CD5C5C | Thought: #2F4F4F
The lights outside were still dimmed for evening by the time Scout awoke. She felt dizzy and slightly disoriented by the stars outside her window, stiffening for a moment until she recalled where she was.
That man was dead.
Scout brought her knees up to her chest for a temporary hug. No one would hurt her anymore. Scout looked down at her hand, balling it into a fist. She was strong, Mercy had made sure of that before his untimely death.
The wolfish girl stumbled out of bed, looking for the control panel to turn the lights on. With that, the stars didn't seem so bright anymore. She fumbled around in the bathroom, trying to figure out how to turn the shower on. "Why are there so many da*n buttons?" Scout hit them all, the shower turning on at last. It was cold, the water, but that didn't bug her. Hot water was rare in the Wastes, why would it be any different here?
Her leg was sore, the spot where the ori was jutting out from her skin throbbing.
It had never hurt up until now and for a moment, Scout froze beneath the stream of the shower, wondering if something had changed, if it was progressing. "Not yet," Scout slammed her fist against the wall. She just needed a bit more time, the first game hadn't even begun.
Her closet only had one outfit in it, a pair of skintight black pants and a black top with words on the back. "What does this say?" The letters were embosed in silver, could it be her name? No, Scout didn't think so (it was). She shrugged the coat on, zipping it up to her throat and shoved her feet into the sneakers that were sitting at the bottom. Had Aries prepared this? Or Selena?
The hallway was empty, the entire walk towards the center of the mutant housing quiet, save for her footsteps. Scout hid her hands in her coat pockets, her hair a bit of a mess from her fitful sleep. She had ignored the hairbrush that was sitting in the bathroom, knowing that it would only cause her unecessary pain, what with her tangle of floofy hair. At last, she reached the center, the doors to the dining hall were closed, was it not open yet? She recalled yesterday, when Ljilja had opened up the gym with her bracelet. Where was the reader? Scout spotted it on the wall beside the entrance. She tapped her bracelet against it, the doors sliding open soundlessly. The smells of breakfast wafted out, Scout's mouth practically watering.
Food was not abundant, it was not unusual for Scout to go a day or two without a meal. Here, however, she could eat as much as she wanted, whenever she wanted. There was a graphic on the wall that changed every few seconds. No doubt it talked about rules or interviews, but Scout couldn't read any of it. She placed her bracelet against a reader, a tray popping up from a shoot beneath. She slowly went down the line, taking a little bit of everything and sitting at a table besides the window. Was this what the life of a human was like? Scout wouldn't know.
It was quiet, which was odd. Despite the staff working in the kitchen and the mutants who were cleaning and performing maintenance, there was no one else around. Scout was used to a cacaphony of sounds. Crying babies, arguing couples, snoring from her neighbors. Her ears were still, the silence both pleasant and uncomfortable.
The gym too, was empty, save for a lone mutant who was sweeping the floor. Scout was headed straight for the wall of practice swords when the door opened up behind her. "Good morning!" Aries called, her tail sagging in disappointment. She was hoping to be alone for a few more hours. "Like the outfit? Selena and I stayed up late designing it. I'm not surprised you're an early riser," he stopped just behind her, checking out his holo pad for a moment. "Don't mind the crew, they'll just be filming the mutes doing things like exercise."
Scout turned to look at him, "Good morning," she grumbled. Aries seemed to brighten somehow, perhaps pleased that Scout was actually talking to him. "Anyhow, your support item is a sword, right?"
"...Yeah," Scout scratched at her arm. She turned away from him, perhaps talking to Aries was a mistake after all. She picked up a few swords, weighing them in her hands and swinging them around before finding a weight she was comfortable with. "What are you doing?" Aries wanted to know.
"I'm feeling them," Scout grunted in reply. "For a weight close to mine." Aries nodded, tapping something into his holo pad. Was he really writing that down? "You should use one of the sim rooms," Aries grabbed her wrist. Scout growled, tugging her arm away, but he was insistant. "In here," the room was dark until Aries inputted something into the pop up display, then, the small space illuminated. Holograms pinged out of the ground and walls, each with numbers on them.
"What is this?" Scout was wary of entering such a space. "You don't like the cameras right?" Aries's voice was low. He was perceptive, Scout would give him that. "They can't watch you practice in there," it was a lie, but how was Scout to know? She stepped hesitantly into the sim room, the door closing behind her. Scout's ears twitched, picking up the sound of the lock clicking into place automatically. She swung her sword at the hologram in front of her, a ding above letting her know she had hit her target. Was that all there was to it?
WARM UP MODE ACTIVATED. READY? START.