Futuristic Inter-Galactic Feuds - In-Character

[Kumii]

• Sylva Greenfield
• Charotte and Cal

• 
  
  Sylva GreenfieldLocation: Hangar Bay 018, Gunrange
  Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
  Current Weather: None
  Current Time: August 5th, 3251. 7:35am
  Sylva saw and heard the anger in Tommy's voice. Rae broke her though, she could feel the anxiousness coming from Rae, "Rae--" Sylva didn't know what to say. She felt Rae's tail wrap around her leg but didn't say anything. She heard Tommy comforting Rae as he waved her along, Sylva ran to catch up, "Um... I'm not Tommy but... at least I'm a familiar face... right?" Sylva felt that wasn't sufficient enough though.
  
  After all, she knew what it felt like to be reliant on a older sibling then be ripped away from them. For the longest time, Vincent took care of Sylva kind of like Tommy did then Vincent left to start his business and his presence became less and less, "Uh, R-Raelyn? I-I'll try to be a Tommy for you in his absence." Sylva pulled her mask up back over her face, she had no idea how to deal with this, "I-I can't be a t-tough guy but... y-you can lean on m-me, o-okay?" Sylva went back to her little stutter as she spoke like when she first met them, due to being met with an unfamiliar situation with Raelyn.
  
• 
  
  Charlotte and CalLocation: Halls of the Academy
  Current Weather: None
  Current Time: August 5th, 3251. 7:35am
  Charlotte pouted as she walked through the halls of the academy, "Sleepy!" She shouted. No response. I mean, why would a seeping person answer? She dragged her feet as she walked, "Why am I stuck with looking for him?" She muttered. Then she ran into him, the man, the myth, the legend... Cal...
  
  Except she got scared, screamed and punched him in the face. Cal recoiled and held his nose, "Damn, Charlotte..." That series of events seems eerily similar...
  
  Charlotte crossed her arms and looked away, "You got in my way!" Cal looked at Charlotte, holding his nose, "I got in your way?!" Cal shook his head, "Whatever..." He continued holding his nose, "I think you dislocated it... ow..." Charlotte smacked his hands away, "Oh stop being a baby, c'mere." Charlotte put her hands on his nose and quickly and violently relocated it which made Cal scream in pain, "OW! Could you have been a LITTLE gentler?! Damn..." Cal touched his nose, it was fixed. Good as new. You know, except for the blood which Cal wiped away.
  
  Cal looked at Charlotte, "So why are you..." He yawn mid sentence, "...looking for me?" Charlotte thought for a moment, "OH! Mara and Sandstorm wanted to speak to you about something. I think they're headed to Hangar 016." Cal sighed, "Oh yeah... Isaac's plan for his son or something..." He waved his hand dismissively, "Fine, I'll head there now." Cal headed off to Hangar 016, "Go back to the Gunrange, ya psycho." He joked as he left.
  

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

Tommy tugged Raelyn along as the class moved. She didn't feel excited for the training ships. Her mind worried about what she would do without Tommy. It was nerve wracking to be without her brother.

Sylva caught up with them and walked next to her. She said she wasn't Tommy, but at least she was a familiar face. She wouldn't be with people she didn't know. She'd have Sylva. She appreciated that, but it wasn't the same. She'd known Tommy her whole life. They were best friends and now he was being ripped away from her. Raelyn would rather have her brother with her.

Sylva surprised her, saying she'd try to be a Tommy for her in his absence. This got her to take her eyes off the ground and rest them on Sylva. She pulled up her mask and said that she couldn't be a tough guy, but that Raelyn could lean on her. She smiled and nodded, feeling warmth seep into her bones again.

"Thanks, Sylva. That means a lot." She smiled, her cheeks light pink. "And you can lean on me too. I have cool powers, so we'll be fine."

Rae didn't like to admit she had powers, because that was so unhuman. It set her apart as an alien, which was why she also liked to hide her tail in public. But she felt like she could tell Sylva, because the girl was kind. She'd tried to help her get through her anxiety over not being with her big brother. Raelyn could tell that she wanted to be good friends with Sylva.

Tommy just looked back at the two as he walked, completely surprised by Sylva. He recomposed himself a second later and gave her a nod that was his way of saying thank you.

 

[Kumii]

• Sylva Greenfield
• Mara and Cal

• 
  
  Sylva GreenfieldLocation: On the way to Hangar 016
  Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
  Current Weather: None
  Current Time: August 5th, 3251. 7:35am
  Sylva's eyes widened a bit but her expression as she looked away when Raelyn said she could lean on her, her cheeks turned pink under her mask, 'That's not fair, Rae...' she thought, 'This was suppose to be my moment...'
  
  Sylva glanced at Tommy, who gave her nod, which only made more anxious but in a good way. She pulled up her mask more and blushed but it was hidden by the mask as she averted her gaze, 'Why did I say that...? Can I really be reliable to Raelyn?' She glanced once more at Tommy, 'At least Tommy looks somewhat impressed.. must mean I'm doing something good.'
  
  Sylva nodded in response to Raelyn' comment though. She didn't know what to say though, basically this girl just admitted to being an alien. Not that Sylva cared since Aliens were more or less widely accepted, "You-you're an alien..?" She asked with innocence in her voice.
  
• 
  
  Cal & MaraLocation: On the way to Hangar 016
  Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf SharkBark
  Current Weather: None
  Current Time: August 5th, 3251. 7:36am
  Cal was waling to Hangar 016 but he just so happened to run into Mara and Isaac, "Oh, just the people who were looking for me." Mara looked surprised, "Mara, why are you so surprised?" There was a minute of silence, "Holy shit! Pyro actually did her job!" Mara exclaimed. Cal sighed, "THAT'S what you're surprised about?" Cal looked at the kids following Isaac and Mara, "So this is the infa--" he yawned, "--mous class of this year, eh?"
  
  Mara nodded, "Yup. They've all been good so far!"
  
  *Writer's note: They have not all been good so far.
  
  "Okay fine, maybe one of them got into trouble on his first day..." Mara said, "Wouldn't be a new class if they haven't." Cal quickly interjected but Mara kept on topic, "...but we're working on that. Specifically, I guess you're working on that." Cal nodded, "Right, Sandstorm, whatcha got for me?" He asked Isaac.
  

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

• Raelyn and Tommy Sanders
• Isaac Sanders

• 
  Raelyn flinched when Sylva asked about her being an alien. She never liked to admit it. Even though it gave her cool powers and abilities, she'd rather be human. She would trade all that for being human in a heartbeat. She wanted so bad to be like Tommy and their father.
  
  Raelyn nodded. "Technically, yeah." She admitted, looking away from Sylva as she did. "I wasn't born here, but I have lived here for basically my whole life. My parents were both aliens, I think. Which would make me one. But I don't know if you could call me one considering I've been here for a long time. I'm an earthling, which is probably the most alien thing I've ever said."
  
  Tommy's grip got tighter around her hand. It was an awkward subject, much like with Tommy's mother. They didn't really discuss Raelyn's being an alien, or her real parents. The only time her and her brother spoke of it were when they were testing out her powers. They didn't know what species she was, so she could end up developing a lot of different powers out of nowhere. And that's basically how they started with the whole testing things out. Besides that, Raelyn being an alien was never really brought up among the Sanders family. And they all liked it that way. Isaac and Tommy never wanted to alienate Raelyn, literally. They were all a family, even though Raelyn wasn't a blood relative. She was Isaac's daughter and Tommy's sister and that was never going to change.
  
  Tommy definitely didn't like the distinction. He seemed approving of Sylva before, but now he fixed her with a defensive glare. "She's my sister and that's that."
  
• 
  Isaac and Mara were leading the kids to Hangar Bay 016 when they bumped into Cal. Isaac was surprised to see him, and clearly Mara was too. Cal asked why she was so surprised, and then she exclaimed about how Pyro actually did her job. Isaac chuckled but knew Charlotte would be all fiery and defensive if she was here to hear Mara say that. "Well, I for one didn't doubt her." Isaac said in earnest.
  
  Cal looked at all the students that were trailing behind, calling them the infamous class. Well, maybe they were infamous for punching teachers in the gut. Mara said they'd all been good so far, which Isaac knew was a lie. Maybe not one intended by Mara, but he definitely wouldn't call his son's behavior good.
  
  Then Mara backtracked, talking about how Tommy had gotten in trouble, without naming him. But Cal would soon learn of that. Then the teachers diverged into work talk, specifically about working on the Tommy problem.
  
  Isaac walked next to Cal, matching his pace step for step while whispering to him so that the students couldn't overhear. "Ok, so my son's in this year's class, and he gut punched Charlotte a few minutes ago. He's always had some issues controlling his anger, and he gets pissed off easily. We were talking and we want to find some way to show him that brute force and anger won't always get him the win in every situation. Mara brought up the Kobayashi-Maru test, but she said we'd likely have to put my daughter, Raelyn, in danger. And I'd rather a controlled situation where neither one of them were in serious danger."
  
  "Which is where your brilliant mind comes into play. If anyone can think of an idea with those restrictions in place, it'll be you."
  

 

[Kumii]

• Sylva Greenfield
• Mara and Cal

• 
  
  Sylva GreenfieldLocation: On the way to Hangar 016
  Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
  Current Mood: Scared/Anxious
  Current Weather: None
  Current Time: August 5th, 3251. 7:37am
  "Oh, I see." Sylva said quietly, "I guess that explains what I felt earlier." Sylva kinda flinched a bit when Tommy suddenly got defensive, "I-I'm sorry. I-I didn't say she wasn't... I w-was j-just surprised is all, Tommy." Sylva slowed down a bit to create a little more distance between them. Despite seeing his more gentler side, Sylva still seemed to be a bit more scared of Tommy, "I-I didn't m-mean any harm by it." She said and was all she could muster at the moment.
  
  Unlike Raelyn at this time, Sylva didn't exactly have anyone to lean back on. The one person she could was currently near the person who was scaring her at the moment. She wanted to try and smooth things over but she was scared that anything she said further would only upset the big brother even more.
  
• 
  
  Cal & MaraLocation: On the way to Hangar 016
  Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
  Current Weather: None
  Current Time: August 5th, 3251. 7:37am
  Cal listened to Isaac explain the reason the called him out, "Teach him a lesson without putting him or anyone else in serious danger. The Kobayashi-Maru test was an option but you're against it for obvious reasons..." Cal thought, "What about a student vs. teacher laser tag match?" Cal shrugged, "Put him against my tactics and our most gifted combat teachers. He's sure to lose every time. Using Raelyn as 'bait' by creating a hostage situation in a safe, danger-free situation."
  
  Mara listened as Cal explained his idea. Laser tag. Of course, non-lethal weapons, supervised by the teachers with absolutely no risk of danger. Getting shot with a laser tag gun only makes the vest your wearing vibrate which tells you you're 'dead', "Of course, we'll do this for all the students and put them all in the same situation so as not raise any suspicion from Tommy... or Raelyn for that matter. We'll make it 'random' who the 'hostage' is." Cal looked at Isaac, "Well, that about does it for my idea, what do you think, Sandstorm? The only 'danger' is that if Tommy tries to brute force his way through, Raelyn will be shot and 'killed', which forces him to calm down and think things over before rushing in."
  

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

• Raelyn and Tommy Sanders
• Isaac Sanders

• 
  Raelyn was glad that Sylva didn't respond with disgust or question her relationship with Tommy and Isaac. She never liked when she was set apart from them because she was an alien. Or because she was adopted. Is Tommy an alien then? How can you be brother and sister if you're an alien and he's a human? She hated when she got those kinds of questions. It felt very demeaning to have those things come into question when they were very normal at home. But not everyone thought a human adopting an alien child, and vice versa, was normal. She realized though that Sylva had just been curious, because she had mentioned her powers, but Tommy took it the other way. That's exactly how the bullying used to start.
  
  "Surprised? What, you never seen an alien before or something?" Tommy scoffed. There seemed to be more humans among the students, but it still didn't make sense to him. Raelyn's unnaturally colored eyes and her elongated ears should give her away as an alien, and if she had her tail out it would be even easier to guess.
  
  Rae squeezed Tommy's hand, which got his attention. He turned his glare from Sylva and a softer expression washed over him. A few moments of Raelyn giving him the sister stare and he sighed. "Sorry." He muttered to no one in particular.
  
  Raelyn's elongated hers turned upwards from their drooping position and she looked back at Sylva. All this talk had almost made her forget about the team situation. Sylva had made her feel better, and now it was her turn. And the only thing she could really think of was to take her mind off it now that Tommy wasn't giving her his death glare. She let go of Tommy's hand and slowed down to match Sylva's pace. She gave a small smile and apologetic look. She didn't mind people being curious about what she could do. She just didn't like when it got into the family territory. But she knew Sylva didn't mean anything by it.
  
  "Wanna see it?" She asked. "I haven't totally figured out the extent of my powers yet. It's something we've been working on, so it might not be as cool as what others can do."
  
  She opted for showing Sylva her shadow powers, because her other ability was, well, dangerous. Spitting poison in this setting was dangerous with everyone around them, plus Raelyn thought poison coming out of her mouth would seem disgusting to Sylva. Or scare her further.
  
  Her form dissipated; her own shadow being used to cover her until no one could see her. She was in the same spot as before, but now Sylva and Tommy, nor any of the other students could see her. She was invisible now.
  
  After a few moments for affect Tommy got worried. "Rae, I think she gets it. You can come out now."
  
  Raelyn reappeared on the opposite side of Sylva. "So, what'd you think?"
  
• 
  Isaac brightened as he heard Cal's idea. Students vs. Teachers in a game of laser tag. There would be no danger in that setting. The students would be able to work on teamwork and combat skills. And his own son could learn not to be so brash. Raelyn would be the hostage, but it was just laser tag, so there was no real danger for her. Tommy and the rest of the students would go up against the instructors, who were the best minds of the academy. They had a strategist, and weapons specialist, so taking them down would be no easy feat. Tommy wouldn't be able to rush in and kill all of them, much like a real hostage situation. And there would always be the threat of someone killing Raelyn, so even if Tommy could bust into the room they held her in, one of them could just shoot Rae's vest. In a real-world situation, the objective of the mission would be lost because of Tommy's brash actions and he himself would've suffered greatly. Teaching him with this, bringing it close to home, would help him get it through his head. And if a situation like this came about in the field, he would learn that rushing in jeopardized the hostage and the mission.
  
  Isaac nodded, thinking it over with a smile. "I think its brilliant idea, which is what we were expecting with asking for your help. We can make it a lesson on hostage situations and start a course for them to learn techniques in battle. All the while, giving Tommy the lesson he needs. It's a win-win for everyone, and I don't have to be a worried parent over this."
  
  He turned his head to Mara. "What do you think? We'll be able to set it up by tomorrow, right?"
  

 

[Kumii]

• Sylva Greenfield
• Mara and Cal

• 
  
  Sylva GreenfieldLocation: On the way to Hangar 016
  Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
  Current Mood: Scared/Anxious
  Current Weather: None
  Current Time: August 5th, 3251. 7:38am
  Sylva continued looking away as Tommy 'berated' her, "That's not it... I--" Sylva sighed quietly and whispered just loud enough to be heard, "It just didn't cross my mind... we just... hit it off. I guess I forgot... s-sorry..."
  
  Sylva was a little surprised when Raelyn slowed down to meet her pace and asked if she wanted to see her powers, to which Sylva gave a tiny nod. Then Raelyn poofed, vanished. Sylva perked up a tiny bit and looked to where Raelyn was. She noticed Tommy getting worried and gave a small, unseen smile before jumping a bit when Raelyn appeared on the opposite side of her. It was an unintentional jump but because she was still scared/anxious, it still affected her.
  
  Sylva took a moment to recollect herself, "I-It's neat. U-Useful for s-stealth ops or wh-whatever." She glanced at Tommy and a look of worry hit her face, "U-Uh not th-that you sh-should... u-um..." She looked away, "S-Sorry, th-that was a dumb thing to s-say." She looked over to Raelyn, "I-It is cool though. I-I wish I-I could disappear." She sighed lightly, "I-I could run from so many o-of my problems.."
  
• 
  
  Cal & MaraLocation: On the way to Hangar 016
  Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
  Current Weather: None
  Current Time: August 5th, 3251. 7:38am
  Cal nodded when Isaac praised his idea, "Of course it's brilliant. It is my idea." He said in a prideful manner. Mara smiled lightly and shook her head, "Calm down, Sleepy." Isaac turned to Mara and asked if they set it up by tomorrow, "Of course--" Then she remembered something, "Oh, wait I have that thing to do at the end of the month." She was, of course, referring to the annual introduction mock battle between the students, "I'll be absent for the rest of the month."
  
  She looked at Isaac, "Sandstorm, You set up the team leaders. Sleepy, you work with Sandstorm to get that laser tag match setup. Call her if you need an extra pair of hands, tell her I sent you, she'll listen if they're my orders." Mara looked between them and nodded her head before heading off in a different direction from the students.
  

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

• Raelyn and Tommy Sanders
• Isaac Sanders
• Austin Fischer

• 
  Raelyn watched the expressions on both of their faces as she reappeared. Tommy looked relieved, while Sylva did a tiny jump in surprise. Tommy was used to her disappearing and reappearing, so she knew he could stay calm when she popped back into view. But for people who hadn't seen her do it, it was always surprising. She kind of liked it, because she could show off something cool that she could do. She gave a small smile as Sylva recollected herself.
  
  She said it was neat, useful in stealth operations. Rae had mostly used it for pranking Tommy and getting around the house unseen. She'd never thought about stealth operations. Ok, maybe not true. She'd used it one time to swipe the answer sheet off a teacher's desk for a test that she'd been super nervous about. It had been with Tommy's influence, and she felt really bad afterwards. She guessed maybe that was stealth ops, kind of.
  
  Sylva seemed to glance at Tommy, and backtracked. There was still that stutter in her voice, and she was still wary of Tommy. Rae hadn't accomplished her goal. But much like Sylva she wasn't used to comforting people.
  
  Sylva said she wished she could disappear, because it would help her run from problems. When Rae had been getting bullied, she'd used her powers for the same reason. She'd tried to disappear and run and hide till Tommy could get there and save the day.
  
  "Yeah, that's what I used it for too." She admitted. "But I'm trying not to do that anymore. Tommy was teaching me how to punch, to defend myself." She made loose fists and punched the air. Then gave a chuckle at how awkward the punches were. "One, two. Like that, I guess. Though I'm not too great at it. I'm super-fast, not like super speed or anything, just naturally faster. Disappearing and running away is more what I'm used to. And trust me, it doesn't always work. It never used to solve the problem, just delayed it a little."
  
  Tommy just let the girl's talk, leading them in the direction of where they were supposed to go.
  
  Rae started in a whisper. "You don't need to run from Tommy. He'd never hurt you, especially since we're like...y'know." Raelyn didn't know if she should call them friends. She wanted to, but she didn't want to jump the gun and assume so. "He just wants to protect me. He gets defensive when my being an alien is brought up, that's all. He doesn't hate you, and I promise he doesn't have a list of people he wants to gut punch. And even if he did, you wouldn't be on that list for sure. Tommy usually doesn't do things that he thinks will make me upset. Remember that he's a softie inside. And if you want, I can tell him to stop being mean."
  
• 
  Isaac watched as Mara's face lit up again with more realization, the woman remembering that she had a thing to do by the end of the month. He thought for a moment, then realized she was referring to the mock battle that took place among the students. She said she'd be absent for the rest of the month and gave him specifically the side quest of dishing out the team leader position among the teams. Sleepy and Isaac were to get the laser-tag match set up. No biggie.
  
  "Yes, ma'am." He said in that familiar, joking manner while giving her a mock salute. He smiled and gave a small chuckle.
  
  Mara told them that they should contact her if they needed an extra pair of hands. Isaac looked confused, but before he could ask for any sort of clarification, Mara was off once more. Isaac continued leading the kids to Hangar Bay 016. Almost there.
  
  "Alright, I think I'll wait till the laser tag battle to see about team leaders. Give the kids a chance to prove themselves and make a case. Of course, they won't know what's really at stake." Isaac murmured to himself, thinking about the plan. Then he turned towards Sleepy and asked, "Who was Mara referring to just now?"
  
• 
  A capuchin monkey ran through the ranks of students, no one seeming to pay attention because they all seemed buzzing with excitement about getting their training ships. The mischievous little creature knew she could lose the ones tailing her. The treats would be hers.
  
  She climbed up some kid's back and perched on his shoulder, making a low chittering sound right in his ears. She rustled with the small parcel in her palms while balancing on the shoulder of Pierce Eisenhower.
  
  "S'cuse me. Sorry." An accent pipped up from the crowd as a tall kid with blonde hair came rushing over to Pierce and Joo. "Sorry about that, mate. Come here you little bugger." He said as he took hold of the handle on the monkey's vest.
  
  She was a standard capuchin monkey, clutching a pouch, with a black vest covering her back. The vest had white lettering on it saying, 'Service Animal'. There were small patches on it, decorating the plain vest. One of the Australian flag as well as some different constellations.
  
  Another kid came up, this one a pretty girl with a dress on. She just gave a smirk at the situation and watched it unfold.
  
  "Give it here." The boy with the Australian accent said, holding out his other hand flat as he held the monkey suspended in the air by her vest. She gave some annoyed chittering upon instantly knowing what Austin was looking for. Her grip released and the pouch went to Austin. He pocketed it and then set her on his own shoulder. "Again, really sorry. This one can be quite cheeky."
  

 

[Kumii]

• Sylva Greenfield
• Cal

• 
  
  Sylva GreenfieldLocation: On the way to Hangar 016
  Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
  Current Mood: Relaxing...
  Current Weather: None
  Current Time: August 5th, 3251. 7:39am
  Sylva relaxed a bit when Raelyn went on to explain that she used to use her power to hide too then say that it never solved the problem, only delay it a little. Sylva looked a little dejected at that comment, 'Of course it wouldn't...' Then Raelyn began to whisper to Sylva about not being afraid of Tommy and that he's just a big softie, even offering to tell him to stop being mean.
  
  Sylva looked away for a moment in thought then looked back at Raelyn and said back, louder then Raelyn whispered, "It's not that I'm afraid of him as a person, sure he's intimidating at first but I'm more scared of the way he conducts himself. His aggression and my passiveness... well they don't mix all that well." Sylva knew she was speaking just loud enough for Tommy to hear, this was purposeful though, "All things considered... I like him..." Sylva realized how that sounded and her face flushed, "U-Uh, n-not like th-that!" She calmed down a bit, "No, I think he's cool. It's really sweet that he treats you like you're his world..."
  
  Sylva grabbed her mask and smiled under it, "It reminds me a lot of my brother. So I guess that's the aspect of him that I admire." Sylva mustered the confidence to take off her mask again and she smiled at Raelyn, "That being said though, I like you too, Rae!" Sylva paused for a moment and looked away, "Sorry.. w-was that... too far?"
  
• 
  
  CalLocation: On the way to Hangar 016
  Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
  Current Weather: None
  Current Time: August 5th, 3251. 7:39am
  Cal kind of had a knowing expression when Mara mentioned her. It's not that he hated her but she could be... a little extreme sometimes. Isaac then turned to Cal who proceeded to ask who it was Mara was referring to. Cal yawned before answering, "Oh, uh probably my sister. The 'she'd obey if it was my order' should've gave it away." Cal realized Isaac might not have known that... or the fact Cal had a sister, "Ah, forgive me, I just assumed you didn't know I had a sister."
  
  Cal put his hands in his pockets as they walked, "Her name is Kimberly, I call her Kim and she's a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy." Cal thought for a moment, "Come to think of it, I didn't know she was due back so soon."
  

 

[SharkBark]

• Pierce Eisenhower and Joo Mi-yeon

• 
  
  
  "Let's hope we can still see each other sometime outside of our groups, yeah?" Joo squeaked to Pierce. She didn't want to seem desperate to be friends with him, but she wanted to be near him at the same time. Maybe it was because he was her first friend here, but she already had herself emotionally attached to him.
  
  "Yeah, yeah, sure." Pierce responded without looking at her. "Maybe in the hallways or something."
  
  Pierce was too distracted by he eagerness to see Hangar 016 that he didn't even here Gigi coming up behind him to climb us his back. The capuchin monkey quickly made her way up Pierce's back and perched on his shoulder, and that's when he finally realized.
  
  "What the hell?" Pierce said as he slowly turned his head towards Gigi. He did his best not to make any sudden movements, and sweat rolled down his face as he fearfully stared at the monkey.
  
  He had read about monkeys before, and I was never any good. The books he read talked about how they could carry viruses and diseases in their fur, fleas, and that some of them had sharp teeth, so of course he was scared that one was on his shoulder right now.
  
  Pierce raised his left hand, prepared to swat at it, but before he could do so, a blonde haired boy approached the two and grabbed Gigi from his shoulder, apologizing while he did so.
  
  Joo caught a glance at the back of the monkeys vest as Austin took ahold of it. 'Service Animal', it read, which explained a lot. Joo didn't think that the academy would just let a monkey in unless she had a purpose.
  
  "Uhh..." Pierce brushed off his shoulder, trying to make sure no fur was attached to it. "Oi, don't even worry about it, man. As long as I didn't get killed."
  
  "Killed?" Joo asked. "By a monkey?"
  
  "Do you not read books, Joo? They always talk about how monkeys have sharp teeth and can be aggressive!"
  
  "Wh-" Joo shook her head. What kind of books was he reading? "It's a service animal, I'm sure the monkey I'd trained."
  
  "Service animal?" Pierce turned his gaze back to Austin and put up 4 fingers in front of the boys face. "How many fingers am I holding up?"
  
  "I don't think he's blind."
  
  Pierce put his fingers down and cupped his hands over his mouth.
  
  "Can! You! Hear! Me?!" Pierce yelled out. If he had a service monkey, that meant he had some sort of disability, and Pierce seemed to have found that out, just in the worst way possible.
  
  
  Spoiler: Pierce and Joo's Stats

  Health: Full
  Mood: Confused(Pierce) Disbelief(Joo)
  Injuries Sustained: None
  Mental Health: Full
  Status: Peak Condition
  
  

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

• Raelyn and Tommy Sanders
• Isaac Sanders
• Austin and Courtney

• 
  Turns out, Raelyn was wrong. Sylva wasn't scared of him, at least not his person. She was scared of the way he conducts himself, saying that his aggression and her passiveness did not mix. Sure they did. That was literally Tommy and Rae in a nutshell. One was aggressive, the other was passive, and they helped each other. Rae helped to keep Tommy straight and check him whenever he was being unnecessarily mean, and Tommy was there to defend her. He was the one who said when things were going too far and told Raelyn the scenarios where she had to stand up for herself. Rae had a tendency to put up with a lot of stuff that she shouldn't, and Tommy was there to say when the line was crossed. No one was going to take advantage of her with her big brother around.
  
  She said she liked him, like friends, and she said it was sweet how much Tommy treated her like she was his world. Yeah, he was a very doting big brother. So basically Isaac, but if he was her big brother and not her father. Their father liked to dote on her and baby her, so maybe that's where Tommy gets it from. But he'd been like that since they were first introduced when he was six and she was somewhere between ten months to one year old.
  
  Sylva said Tommy reminded her of her own brother, and they both thought back to Vincent who said something similar. Sylva said she liked Raelyn too, then asked if that was going too far, which Rae gave a strong shake of her head to.
  
  "Not at all. I really like you too!" Raelyn said with a warm smile, her invisible tail doing another sway that again clipped Sylva in the leg, brushing lightly against her. "But I think you're thinking of it the wrong way. You and I are similar, and I mix well with Tommy, so I think you would as well."
  
  "Not everyone is the same. Different people have different personalities, shouldn't that be obvious? Doesn't mean you can't get along." Tommy finally chimed in, after being so quiet. He snuck a quick glance at Sylva, and then fixed his vision back ahead. He knew exactly what Sylva was doing. "Besides, I wouldn't exactly call that move just now 'passive'. You're a mix, whether you think it or not."
  
  Ok, that may be a weird thing to say, but Tommy meant personality wise. She was a mix of passive and aggressive. That move she just pulled was totally passive-aggressive, not so much in the negative light. She was talking loud enough for him to hear so that she didn't have to actually address him. Tommy would rather people say what's on their mind to him, rather than making him have to decode their every move. It got annoying. But Tommy understood Sylva was like Raelyn, who was not at all good with confrontation unless it was with people she was comfortable with. She could argue or combat Tommy all day, but when there was someone from school saying something rude, she was silent. Sylva seemed that type, especially with the mask that he didn't at all understand.
  
  "Basically, Tommy likes you too." Raelyn summarized. "We both think it can work."
  
  "No, I don't like her. You two are like friends now so I have to put up with her for your sake." Tommy didn't look at them, but if you were looking at him close enough you could see the faint pink on his cheeks. That was embarrassing to him.
  
  Raelyn rolled her eyes, knowing full well the act that Tommy was trying to put on.
  
• 
  Isaac was a little surprised to hear from Sleepy that Mara was talking about his sister. He hadn't known Cal had a sister. They didn't get to talk much on account of Cal's narcolepsy. He was actually really glad he got paired with Sleepy for a little mission of their own, because maybe it would give him a chance to learn more about him. There was three people Isaac needed to grow closer with. Cal, Charlotte, and Vincent. Vincent was a temporary addition to their team, only for the year, but Isaac still felt the need to get closer with him on a professional level. He wanted to welcome Vincent to the team, help Charlotte to be comfortable and open with him, and learn more about Cal. On top of that, he needed to make sure his own kids weren't causing too much trouble in this class, while also growing closer with the students. And he'd thought this job was gonna be less demanding than his previous one.
  
  He nodded as Cal said he assumed Isaac knew about Cal having a sister. How he described her was quite impressive. Her name was Kimberly, but he called her Kim. She was a Lieutenant Commander in the navy, but Cal said he didn't know that she was supposed to be back so soon. Isaac shrugged.
  
  "Maybe she's not, and Mara's basically advising us to pull her away from naval duties. Maybe give her a call later, see if she's actually due back, and if she is then we can ask her about temporarily helping out at the academy if she's up for it. I wouldn't want to bother her if she's still doing important stuff in the navy." He smiled. "Besides, I think the two of us can set up laser tag just fine. Would be nice to have an extra hand since Mara's busy for the month, but I'm sure we can pull our weight. There's Charlotte and Vincent too, and Vincent would be able to help with all the technological stuff if we have any problems. So, we really shouldn't pull your sister away if we don't have to."
  
• 
  Austin smiled at Pierce's silly reaction. A capuchin monkey, killing a student for the best piloting academy in the country? Please. Sure, they could be temperamental like any other animal, but Gigi wasn't very hostile. She was more mischievous than hostile. She was raised in captivity, which meant they were trained at a young age to not be hostile. Ones that were born in the wild usually provided more challenge, as they were used to the lifestyle of the wild. Gigi carried no diseases, had all her shots to make sure, and was well groomed and cared for by Austin. The only way she would ever become hostile would be if she felt threatened, or if she was bored. Capuchin monkeys had a tendency to bite for attention if they weren't getting enough stimulation. Though, Gigi got plenty of attention, so he didn't think that would ever happen.
  
  Pierce's reaction to Gigi was funny with how uneducated he was. Joo was the one who had sense, noticing the vest and notifying Pierce that Gigi was a service animal and that she was probably trained. Austin was debating on correcting her. Gigi was mostly trained. Ok, half trained. She was trained on temperament, but they were still working on her duties as a service animal. Like Austin himself, she had a hard time listening. She wanted the treats but didn't want to work for them. Pierce would probably be more nervous if he learned Gigi was still training.
  
  Pierce put four fingers in front of his face and asked how many fingers he was holding up. Austin looked extremely amused at this boy. He was extremely insensitive, but also amusing with his ignorance.
  
  Joo once again was the sensible one, saying she didn't think he was blind. Which was good because even though he wasn't blind, he still had Dyscalculia. Even counting fingers was hell for him.
  
  Pierce cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted out if he could hear him. Austin simply stared at Pierce, then glanced back to Courtney who seemed less amused than Austin did. She had her arms crossed against her chest and rolled her eyes with an indignant huff. Austin pointed a finger towards Pierce and mouthed to his friend, "Can you believe this guy?"
  
  "I know, right?" She mouthed back.
  
  Austin cupped his prosthetic hands around his mouth, "Yes. I. can!" He shouted entirely too loud to prove a point to Pierce. It was unsavory to have someone shout at you when you weren't even hard of hearing, just because you had a service animal with you. It would be even ruder to someone who was actually deaf.
  
  "By the way, Gigi was born and raised in captivity. She's not aggressive unless she feels threatened, like all animals. Besides, we train them from an early age to have good temperaments." Gigi gave a tug on his hair, and he smiled. Ok, monkeys were a little different than say a dog or cat. But they were extremely intelligent, which is why they were sometimes easier to train. It's a shame more people didn't use them as service animals.
  
  Gigi jumped off his shoulder, and made an impressive bouncy arc for Courtney, who reached to catch her. Gigi caught her tail on Courney's arm and dangled from it, making an amused chittering sound as she did so. Courney brought her up and let Gigi mess around with her hair, which was a weird combination since Courtney totally looked like she should be at some rich prep school.
  

 

[Kumii]

• Sylva Greenfield
• Cal

• 
  
  Sylva GreenfieldLocation: On the way to Hangar 016
  Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
  Current Mood: Embarrassed...
  Current Weather: None
  Current Time: August 5th, 3251. 7:40am
  Raelyn said that she didn't go too far with her comment, which put Sylva's heart at ease a bit, 'Thank god...'. However, Tommy saw through Sylva's passive-aggressive action but he didn't seem angry at it, "Sorry..." she said quietly. Tommy's end comment seemed distant but Sylva knew by the fact Tommy wouldn't make eye contact with them, that it wasn't the case, "What? 'Put up with me'? I'm not THAT annoying." Sylva crossed her arms.
  
  Sylva felt a kind of warmness in heart though. She wondered why that was, she'll have to figure that out later. For now though, she began to wonder how far away exacty this next area was, "How long have we been walking? Feels like we've walking for like 5 minutes now."
  
• 
  
  CalLocation: On the way to Hangar 016
  Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
  Current Weather: None
  Current Time: August 5th, 3251. 7:40am
  Cal nodded as Isaac said to give her a call later, "Yeah..." Cal yawned, "...I haven't spoken to her since she deployed. Could be good for me." Then Isaac mentioned a bunch of stuff about the different people, Charlotte and Vincent and their specialties, "I think out of those two, we'll be using Vincent more than Charlotte."
  
  Isaac said they'd be likely able to handle it without having to involve Kim, "Yeah, sure..." Cal yawned again, "...but first I need a nap..."
  

 

[SharkBark]

• Pierce Eisenhower and Joo Mi-yeon

• 
  
  
  Pierce raised his eyebrows in surprise as Austin yelled back at him that he could hear just fine. The reason he raised his eyebrows was also because he caught a glimpse of Austin's prosthetic hands.
  
  That, Pierce thought. Must be the reason that monkey is with him.
  
  Austin went on to explain to Pierce and Joo that this capuchin monkey, Gigi, was raised in captivity. Meaning that she was a trained animal that didn't get aggressive unless threatened.
  
  Just then, Gigi leapt from Austin's shoulder and over to a preppy looking girl who actually reached out to catch her. But instead on landing in her arms, Gigi tangled from her hand using her tail. The girl lifted her hand to let the monkey play with her hair, which was totally unexpected for Pierce.
  
  "Sorry about him." Joo said, pushing past Pierce and going over to Austin. "I just met him, and I can already tell how weird he is." She outstretched her hand towards the boy. "I'm Joo Mi-Yeon, and my friend here is Pierce Eisendrachen."
  
  "Eisenhower." Pierce corrected.
  
  "Yeah, what he said. And you got my last name wrong too, so you can't be complaining." She looked back to Austin. "Nice to meet you."
  
  Pierce turned and looked over to the pretty girl letting Gigi play around with her hair and began to walk her way. Once he got to her, he moved his eyes up and down to size her up.
  
  "Are you like...Admiral's daughter or something?" he asked. "Everyone else here is dressed casually and, you look like a goddamn princess."
  
  Pierce shook his head as he realize he might have offended her.
  
  "I mean, respectfully. You look a little too pretty to be here. Respectfully."
  
  Pierce gazed fearfully at Gigi as he awaited Courtney's response.
  
  
  Spoiler: Pierce and Joo's Stats

  Health: Full
  Mood: Confused(Pierce) Friendly(Joo)
  Injuries Sustained: None
  Mental Health: Full
  Status: Peak Condition

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

• Raelyn and Tommy Sanders
• Isaac Sanders
• Austin Fischer
• Courtney Kess

• 
  Tommy heard the quiet sorry from Sylva but didn't say anything about it. But then she responded to his comment about him putting up with her. Indignance. He liked that. For some reason, being passive aggressive irritated him way more than if someone was just openly being a jerk. That wasn't Sylva's intent, but it felt better now that she was actually speaking to him again in a joking manner. The atmosphere became less tense, and less uncomfortable. Not that he cared if it had stayed that way.
  
  "Yeah, you are." Tommy argued back. "Almost as annoying as this one here. Just speak what's on your mind. There's no way you'll ever hurt my feelings." He said the hurt my feelings bit with air quotes, thinking those were stupid words.
  
  Raelyn shrugged with a smile, happy that everyone was calm again. "Have we? I didn't really notice." She looked around and then spotted blocky lettering. "I think we're here though."
  
  And just like that they walked into a room that was lined with the same type of ship. Some varied but they were all similar in shape and size. Same amount of gun points, same wingspan. She even bet they ran the same with speed and agility, and they looked to have similar plating as well. Tommy thought they were just the same ship copied and pasted, but Raelyn could tell all of the little differences. She'd spent a lot of time reading up on different companies and their ships. Each one built them a little different. She could see a few Core Dynamics ones, as well one or two Nebula ships and a lot from other companies that were lower on the ranking scale. It seemed a lot of engineering companies wanted to put their hat in the academy ring. Smart, really. If the students saw how their training ships performed smoothly, they would most likely buy from the company that ship was made by, as long as it was within their budget.
  
  Raelyn was dense with a lot of other things, but when it came to ships, she could see even the miniscule things like marketing strategies.
  
  As Raelyn gazed at the ships her violet eyes lit up and her invisible tail swayed wildly. This was exactly what she was here for. The thrill of riding through space in one of those babies. She bounced on the ball of her feet, pointing at ships and elbowing Tommy. "Yeah, I see them. I have eyes y'know." Tommy responded, though he smirked at the reaction from his baby sister. It brought him so much joy to see Rae that happy.
  
  Tommy rolled his eyes at their father's half assed explanation of the rules, who read the rules as if he were a child that was made to wash the dishes. He then referred to the man next to him, calling him Sleepy, and asking if he missed anything. Had that guy just gotten there? He hadn't given an introduction yet, so the class was left with questions as to who he was.
  
  "Who's that guy?" Raelyn asked, looking at both Sylva and Tommy.
  
  Tommy shrugged, "Probably just some random ass teacher. Don't really care. I'm tired of these teachers."
  
  "Dad's a teacher."
  
  "Yeah, like I said, I'm tired of them."
  
  After that Raelyn just shook her head and sighed.
  
• 
  Isaac just listened, hearing about how Cal hadn't talked to his sister since she deployed. Had things just been too busy for the both of them? Or were they on bad terms? He knew not all siblings were as close with each other as his children, and even Tommy and Raelyn fought once in a while. But he knew they would call each other every day if one of them got deployed. Maybe he was just looking too much into it, but he would definitely make sure Sleepy gave his sister that call. As he had said, it would be good for him.
  
  Cal yawned, saying that before they actually did anything he needed a nap. Isaac put a firm hand on his shoulder to anchor him to the waking world. And also, so that he didn't tumble backwards if he did fall asleep. Though Cal seemed like the sort of person who could sleep standing upright. "Don't leave me now. You can take that nap after the students are situated for the day. Look we're here."
  
  Isaac said, pointing to the big blocky lettering on the wall. Bay 016 it said, marking which hangar this was. They walked inside the bay to see rows of ships, all around the same size and design. The only difference between each were that they were of different companies, meaning some small things in the design were changed based on which company the training ship had been built by. Each had the academy logo painted on it, plus a number to mark which ship it was. They were all pretty basic fighters of the same size, but that was because the students would get the chance to personalize it. They had employed Vincent for a reason. He could take commissions to make the ships faster or more durable, and the students themselves could customize it with extra flare. Maybe paint on their codename when they got it or a symbol that represented them. The only thing that had to stay was the logo and number, otherwise the students really had free range. Isaac loved to see how each student ended up changing their ship to fit them each year.
  
  He led the students in and then raised his voice to address them all. "It's the moment you've all been waiting for! Probably the most exciting thing on this tour. Ships! I know you're all excited, but I'll be assigning you to your ships in a moment so stick with me until then." He waited for the voices to die down and then continued. "This is Hangar Bay 016, aka where all your ships will be stored. Again, just bear with me as we get the rule section out of the way. Its mandatory, so I have to do it."
  
  Isaac took out a crumpled-up piece of paper with the rules on it. He'd been doing this for a while, so of course he already knew the rules, but he was far too lazy. "One, you will all be responsible for the upkeep of your ships. Even if you are here to pilot it will be helpful for you to learn how to repair your own ship in case of an on the field emergency. Plus, you'll need to run a check before every flight. If you are to notice something you are to take it to the engineers as soon as possible. You will be barred from the exercise if your ship does not meet standards. So, make sure that you are running checks regularly. Two, your ships must be landed back in this hangar by the time training is done. The ships will be counted to make sure we have the correct number, so you sneaks out there won't be able to continue flying without us noticing. Let's see, three, you are to listen to our instructions exactly. Any funny business will earn you a strike. Well, that one shouldn't need to be said. That one is in place for safety reasons, as with this next one. Students who are actively trying to knock others out of the airspace or being unnecessarily aggressive because of some stupid grudge or dislike of a certain person will also be allotted a strike and will be told to land immediately. Man, that was a mouthful. That one should be way more condensed. But in all seriousness, you should listen to that last one. I know you can all get competitive with each other, but it's very important that you work together and don't compromise other students. You've all been separated into three person teams, but it is imperative to learn that you are all of the same team in the end. When all your training is over you may see these very same people on the field. They are your allies, and I'm sure Mara has made it very clear at this point that violence taken against your allies will not be tolerated."
  
  He looked up to the students. "Whew, excuse me. The stern lectures are usually the Admiral's domain." He heard a small laugh from some student. Success. "I tried to get through everything super-fast, for your benefit and mine. Sleepy? Did I miss anything?"
  
  He shook Cal in case the guy had been sleeping through the rules. And if that was the case then the question was pretty much useless.
  
• 
  To Austin's amusement, Pierce looked extremely surprised at him as he said he could hear him. Maybe it was the fact that he wasn't deaf that had surprised him, or maybe it was the fact that he'd seen his prosthetics. Either way, it got him to shut up. He really didn't know a thing. Monkeys were usually trained for people who couldn't use their limbs and were paralyzed. Usually used for people with paraplegia, aka him. After the accident he'd become quadriplegic, meaning all four limbs had been paralyzed. At first, he'd dealt with the paralysis, having a trained monkey before Gigi that had helped him with simple tasks that required his limbs. But when the doctors told him about prosthetics, he'd made the decision to get them, even though he'd be getting rid of his limbs for robotic ones. He kept a service monkey around now in case they got damaged or malfunctioned and he needed help once more. Monkeys weren't typically used for people who were blind or deaf. Their most common use as service animals was paraplegia, while dogs were usually for the blind and deaf. It just seemed silly for him to have a monkey if he were blind or deaf, because he knew what monkeys were used for. Pierce proved just how ignorant he was.
  
  Austin had explained about Gigi and Pierce was still quiet, with Joo now taking the lead. She apologized for Pierce, saying she just met him and could tell how weird he was. Austin could agree, though he found it amusing. She outstretched a hand, introducing herself as Joo Mi-Yeon. And then the ignorant boy as Pierce Eisendrachen, which he corrected to Eisenhower. She said he'd gotten her last name wrong too so he shouldn't be complaining, then looked back to him and said it was nice to meet him.
  
  He watched as Pierce made his way over to Courtney, and he gave the boy a look of pity. Big mistake, mate. Austin turned back to Joo, grasping her hand in his prosthetic one. For someone like her, who had a background in medical support, she'd immediately notice how cold his hand felt. As it was a prosthetic, there was no body heat coming from it. He just smiled at her and spoke in his Australian accent. "Nice to meet you too, mate. The name's Austin Fischer. That's one of my best mates over there, Courtney Kess. And you've already met my little helper, Gigi."
  
  He pointed to each in turn as he spoke about them. Courtney was currently slaying a bitch face as Pierce talked to her, which seemed to do extra damage given Gigi was currently sitting on her shoulders and messing around with her hair. Any other person would find it weird, but Pierce seemed extremely afraid of Gigi for some reason, so it was like a double whammy. You had the uncordial rich girl who was putting up a stone-faced front, mixed with a dangerous predator on her shoulders. In reality, that rich girl had an affinity for messed up jokes, taking nothing seriously, and was a master of tarot cards. The dangerous predator was just some mischievous capuchin monkey, who'd lived around humans her whole life and knew how to interact with them.
  
  Austin shook Joo's hand with care, knowing his prosthetics made him really strong. They walked a little farther and ended up coming to a new sector. Before they entered there were letters and numbers painted in bold font on the front wall. Austin looked up at it, reading the letters just fine but having a harder time with the numbers. Bay 016, it read. They were here, finally.
  
  He thought hard, putting his hand underneath his chin in a sort of Einstein pose. Then he thought of a constellation. "Courtney!" He yelled out to her, breaking her away from the conversation she was having with Pierce. He pointed up to the numbers. "Andromeda?" He asked.
  
  The constellation had sixteen main stars. Courtney had to count on her fingers for a second, not knowing the exact number of stars like Austin did. "Yeah." She replied. It seemed like a secret code, but they knew what each other meant. Since Austin had Dyscalculia, he used the one thing he knew all about to help him with numbers and math. Constellations. He knew the number of stars each had, so he just applied that to certain situations and asked Courtney to check him. Andromeda had sixteen stars, just like the bay was number sixteen.
  
• 
  Courtney watched the conversation from a distance. She was glad that the rude one had shut up and the girl, named Joo, had started talking. She seemed better than Pierce, and more respecting of Austin. She didn't push him for information on whatever disability he had that needed a service monkey. She simply apologized for the way Pierce acted and then introduced both of them. Better than the annoying asshole, Pierce, who was so demeaning about the way he talked to someone who was disabled. Her personal thoughts? He needed to wise up. He looked about as old as her and Austin, so it was time he started being mature and acted his age.
  
  But Courtney was done watching from a distance, because Pierce was walking right towards her. Great. "I'll give you a treat if you can shred that guy for me." She murmured to Gigi, though it was a hundred percent a joke. Gigi really only understood the treat part, as she was not trained to be aggressive. She had no idea what shredding meant in reference to a person. She knew how to take things in her mitts and pull it apart, because that was the definition of shred that she understood. Attack would've been easier, though Courtney knew what to say so that the monkey didn't take it as a serious command. "Or maybe just mess with him for a treat."
  
  He got over to her and sized her up, while she just gave him her best bitch face, which was pretty damn good. He immediately got on Courtney's nerves with his first sentence, asking if she was the Admiral's daughter. There was literally no resemblance between them, of course she wasn't! He exclaimed about how everyone was dressed pretty casually, while she looked like a goddamn princess. His words, not hers. She raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed.
  
  He started back tracking, which just made it worse. He said respectfully. She looked a little too pretty to be here. Respectfully. She couldn't tell if this guy was an absolute jerk, trying to flirt with her, or if he was just rude by nature. Either way, he was digging himself a grave. Courtney was putting on her front, so obviously she was someone you should watch your words around.
  
  Courtney hauled Gigi off her head and into her arms so that she was closer to Pierce, just to be a dick right back to him. He was obviously afraid of the service monkey for no good reason. Ok, yes, Gigi should've probably been on her leash. But she was strangely calmer now that things had gotten more lively. New people were always exciting for the monkey, which gave her more stimulation. Gigi chittered happily as she gazed up at Pierce while in Courtney's arms, her tail curling up and then releasing.
  
  "Oh yes, because I look so much like the Admiral. Respectfully, no." She said, with obvious hints of sarcasm. She rolled her eyes and sighed. "I just have a certain style, like everyone else here. If you'll look around for five seconds, you'll notice that the people around you aren't carbon copies. They have their own styles just like I have mine. If mine happens to make me look like 'a goddamn princess' then so be it."
  
  Yeah, so maybe she was the one who would become aggressive when threatened, not Gigi. It's not that this guy threatened her in the slightest, it's just that his actions concerning herself and Austin pissed her off. Could someone be anymore disrespectful? The other girl, Joo was her name, she seemed alright and was talking to Austin like he was a regular person rather than a freak show. She knew Austin had more patience when it came to this stuff, wanting to give people a chance to show their colors, but Pierce had been nothing but rude since they met him, and he was still being that way. Adding respectfully to a rude sentence didn't make it any less rude.
  
  "Listen, I'll give you one warning. I think it'd be wise if you actually used your brain before blurting out just anything. Do you even understand how acting like that would make someone who was actually deaf or blind feel? You literally could've just asked why he had a monkey and what disability he has, and he would've explained it. Asking someone respectfully isn't that hard of a thing to do y'know."
  
  Austin called for her and she switched her gaze to her Australian friend as he pointed to the letters painted up on the wall and asked if it was Andromeda. She counted on her fingers, trying to picture each star. Ok, so she was a math genius but there were so many stars and constellations that she would never remember all of them. Not like Austin could. "Yeah." She called back once she could confirm that it had sixteen stars. She watched him pump a fist into the air, the same way he always did whenever he'd gotten a question right that he'd work so hard for.
  
  Then Courtney turned back to Pierce to finish her little warning, hoping to smarten the guy up. "After the accident things were really hard on him. He's finally gotten back on his feet, and I don't need wise guys like you ruining that for him. So maybe learn to shut your trap, yeah? Or at least be smarter about what you say to people."
  
  She wandered back over to Austin, not saying another word to Pierce. "Take your monkey." She said, handing Gigi off to Austin who took her in his arms and started petting her as they walked into a room that had a lot of ships. Courtney realized the last time Austin was around ships was the accident. He looked kind of jittery, and not in the usual way he did when he couldn't sit still. He looked apprehensive and excited at the same time. And that culminated in him petting Gigi for the emotional support part of her job, which she was impeccable at. She chittered and wrapped her tail around Austin's arm like a furry bracelet.
  

 

[SharkBark]

• Pierce Eisenhower
• Joo Mi-yeon

• 
  
  
  Pierce cocked his head to the side at Courtney's brash and rude comments.
  
  "I mean, now that I think of it, you don't." Pierce responded to Courtney sarcastically saying she looked like the Admiral. Before he could react to her other words, things got disrespectful.
  
  Courtney began to verbally harass Pierce as she gave h what was some sort of 'warning'. She told him that it'd be smart he actually used his brain before saying the things he had said before. Courtney was causing a bit of a scene checking him like that, and Pierce's face felt hot as the eyes on him grew immensely. She continued on about how he could have just respectfully asked Austin about his disability and why he had a monkey, which Pierce shook his head at. To him, it just didn't seem natural. Changing your entire approach at things just to be 'respectful'. And he also didn't understand why she was the one that was pressed.
  
  If it was Austine scolding him, he would've quickly apologized for offending him and wouldn't do it again. But no, instead this prissy rich looking girl who stood off to the side reprimanded him. Strange.
  
  After agreeing about something to Austin again, Courtney turned her back on Pierce and continued to say something about an accident. Apparently an accident Austin had been in. She told him that he shouldnlearn to shut his trap, because he didn't need 'wise guys' like him messing up his newfound stability. And then, she walked off and handed Austin back hismonkey, leaving Pierce to stand alone, thinking about the rant.
  
  "Damn." he muttered to himself. "What has her panties in a bunch?"
  
  Pierce rubbed the back of his neck as he walked back over to Joo. He still didn't quite understand the harm behind his actions. To him, he was just talking. Not insulting anyone or being disrespectful, just talking. Guess his kinda talk isn't take well by the people here at the academy. What is this, the second person who's been angry at him for a reason he didn't understand? Gut Punch, and now Princess over here.
  
• 
  
  
  The boy with the service animal introduced himself as Austin Fischer, his friend nearby as Courtney Kess, and his monkey as Gigi.
  
  As he shook Joo's hand, something felt different. His hand wasn't warm, coarse, and clammy like a normal hand would be. Instead, his hand was cool to the touch, like, a deathly cool, as if he was dead. And, his hand felt metallic and smooth. It wasn't until Joo looked down that she found out why. It was a prosthetic. Which must be the real reason he had Gigi.
  
  "Well, nice to meet all three of you." Joo said, trying not to bring up his hand.
  
  Because the two of them were so close, Pierce and Courtney's conversation could be heard very clearly. Actually, not exactly a conversation. More of Courtney scolding Pierce. She might as well just called him braindead the way to talked to him.
  
  She made him look, sound, and feel stupid. Pierce's face was looking like a stop sign, and he remained silent for the duration of the conversation. He was embarrassed, which wasn't necessarily bad. He really did need to be humbled, and Courtney was doing that very well. Though, Joo couldn't help but think that she might have hurt his feelings. This was the most quiet she'd seen Pierce all day since their conversation on the bench.
  
  At some point in her rant, Austin asked Courtney about 'Andromeda', and this was as they entered a brand new sector of the academy. Around them were training ships, workers, and things Joo didn't even existed.
  
  But before Joo could take in the sight, Pierce and Courtney walked back over. And let's just say, Pierce was looking a little...distraught. his head was hung low and he rubbed the back of his neck as his face was returning to it's normal shade.
  
  "You okay?" Joo asked as he walked over. "I heard all of that. Pretty harsh."
  
  "Yeah." Pierce said, not making eye contact. "I still don't understand why she reacted like that though."
  
  Joo grabbed Pierce's arm and pulled him to the side for them to speak.
  
  "I mean, you were pretty disrespectful." she explained to him. "That's not exactly how you talk to a disabled person."
  
  "I'm not talking to him in any sort of way, I'm just-" Pierce sighed and shook his head. "Just being myself. Is that really so bad?"
  
  Joo placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a sympathetic face.
  
  "Sometimes, people aren't going to like you for yourself. And this is one of those times. So..change? Please?"
  
  Joo turned away from Pierce and went back to Austin, leaving him to think about what she had said.
  
  "So, where are you from?" Joo asked Austin.
  
  COLORING TOMORROW

 

[Kumii]

• Sylva Greenfield
• Cal

• 
  
  Sylva GreenfieldLocation: Hangar 016
  Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
  Current Mood: Calmed
  Current Weather: None
  Current Time: August 5th, 3251. 7:40am
  Skyla looked around as they entered the hangar. Making note of the different ships, Core Dynamics, Nebula etc. it really felt like they were trying to sell you on their ships. A parasitic yet brilliant business decision. Take advantage of the students and poison their minds on your brand of ships. She knew everyone did it, even Vincent did.
  
  Skyla noticed the awe on Rae's face then they both noticed the new teacher, "Sleepy?" Then the new teacher proceeded to introduce himself then it clicked as to why his nickname was Sleepy, the man really couldn't seem to stay awake.
  
  Cal Wyman was his name, introduced himself as the 'Advanced Tactics and Strategies' teacher. Wait, advanced?! There was basic Tactics and Strategies? Skyla sighed, "Advanced..." She dreaded.
  
• 
  
  CalLocation: Hangar 016
  Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf SharkBark
  Current Weather: None
  Current Time: August 5th, 3251. 7:40am
  Cal felt the firm hand from Isaac to keep him anchored to the living world as they arrived at the hangar. Isaac went through the basic rules then turned to Cal and caught him mid-yawn, "Eh?" Cal sighed heavily, "Yeah, the students..." he yawned, "...don't know who I am. To them, I'm just some random teacher."
  
  With that said, Cal proceeded to introduce himself, "My name's Cal Wyman. I'm an Advanced Tactics and Strategies teacher." He yawned again, "What Sandstorm said is..." he rubbed his eyes, "...basically it. Don't be stupid, I guess." He turned to Isaac, "Take it away, Sandstorm."
  

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

• Raelyn and Tommy Sanders
• Isaac Sanders
• Austin Fischer

• 
  Just as Tommy and Raelyn were finishing their exchange, Cal introduced himself. He was Cal Wyman, the advanced tactics and strategy teacher. Tommy raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed by Cal. He didn't look like much given his sleepy demeanor. Tommy was confident he could take the guy in a fight.
  
  Meanwhile, Raelyn was barely paying attention to Cal. She was preoccupied by the ships, really wanting to just be able to fly already. But it was only orientation, so they probably wouldn't get to fly. She heard Sylva mutter next to her. "It'll be fine." She tried to reassure her friend. "We're new so they'll go easy on us."
  
  Maybe that didn't really help, but Raelyn wasn't exactly a hundred percent on what Sylva was worried about since she'd been preoccupied.
  
  "Advanced my ass." Tommy muttered to them. "The guy looks like he's counting sheep. He shouldn't be much of a problem."
  
  Raelyn still wasn't paying much attention, so Tommy was safe from her. They both looked back towards their father as they heard his voice. He told them to watch out for their names, because they would all be getting a number. That number would be whatever ship they were assigned to. Suddenly, Raelyn's focus was trained on the teachers.
  
  He called out numbers to five, and then Raelyn heard her name on six. Her eyes wandered over to Jet 6. Then to Jet 7 as it was announced to be Tommy's. He held out a fist and she bumped it with hers. They were right next to each. Of course the siblings with the same last name would be right next to each other. Another two names and they heard Sylva's at ten.
  
  Raelyn smiled at Sylva. "We're close to each other."
  
  They heard a familiar name five later. Joo Mi-Yeon, one of Tommy's teammates. The next familiar one was Pierce Eisenhower, Raelyn and Sylva's third teammate. Then Lance Theodore, the last member of Tommy's team. Isaac told them to go check out their ships, which Raelyn was greatly appreciative of.
  
  Rae grabbed hold of Sylva's wrist and started dragging her in the direction of their ships. "C'mon, let's go!"
  
  Tommy had smirk on his face as he watched his little sister get so excited. "Rae, you're gonna end up pulling her arm out of its socket."
  
• 
  Isaac caught Cal mid-yawn. Afterwards he explained very sleepily that the students didn't know who he was and that basically he was just some random teacher to them. "Oh, right."
  
  Cal introduced himself, and for some reason there was no yawn mid-sentence. It was flawless. He even stated that he was the advanced tactics and strategy teacher. Then he broke the record, yawning and confirming that what Isaac said was basically all there was.
  
  "Alright. See? That wasn't so bad. Now we get to mess around with the toys." He smiled and took out another piece of paper. This one was folded neatly and looked much more pristine. He unfolded it and stared down at the words on the page. Each student was listed, as well as the numbers of their ship. He found his children's names and looked upon them fondly, then got back to the crux of the matter.
  
  "I'll be reading out each of your names, so listen carefully for your name and number. Whatever number you are assigned will be your training ship for the duration of your stay."
  
  He read out a few students, before hitting his own children. "Raelyn Sanders, Jet 6. Tommy Sanders, Jet 7.... Sylva Greenfield, Jet 10... Austin Fischer, Jet 12... Courtney Kess, Jet 14. Joo Mi-Yeon, Jet 15... Pierce Eisenhower, Jet 21... Lance Theodore, Jet 23."
  
  He started at one, various other students filling in the gaps between the names. He looked up when he was done and gestured to the ships. "You can all go over to your ships and get yourselves acquainted with them. No taking off though. There's nowhere to go anyways. Not yet at least."
  
• 
  Austin had caught the tail end of the conversation, no scolding, between Courtney and Pierce. He'd been preoccupied by the move in location that he hadn't even noticed his best friend getting defensive on his account. Austin sighed and rubbed the back of his neck with one of his metallic arms. Courtney was technically in the right here, but she could've handled it with a more delicate approach. He felt bad for Pierce, who was clearly embarrassed, despite him being so unpolite when talking about his disability. It didn't feel nice to have eyes trained on you. Austin just had a high tolerance for that kind of stuff. Pierce's attitude. There were people back home like that also. But he tried not to let any of that bother him. He'd gotten his mobility back, so who cares if he had to encounter some jerks? Besides, Pierce hadn't really seemed malicious when talking. Maybe the kid just had a big mouth or was just curious and didn't know how to go about it.
  
  Pierce's face was like a tomato. His normal color returned as he walked back over to Joo. Courtney was first, reaching Austin and handing him Gigi. He looked around at all the ships, the hangar bringing back memories of when Courtney and him were younger, touring a Kess Foundation facility in the Australian branch. That day had been amazing, until it wasn't. He looked to his metal arms, wrapped around Gigi and hugging her tight to his chest. Even though they weren't real arms, without body heat and real skin, Gigi still felt comfortable in his grasp.
  
  Courtney nudged his arm and he turned to look at her. He looked towards the two students they'd met, who were now off to the side in their own conversation. He looked back to Courtney. "Court, you didn't have to."
  
  "Oh, but I did. He was acting like a dick to you. You don't have to just sit there and take it y'know."
  
  "There's nothing to take. He wasn't being too bad anyways. He's not the worst I've experienced. He just seemed curious." He shrugged it off, but Courtney was having a difficult time doing so.
  
  She shook her head in disbelief. Then she started making donkey noises, low so that no one else could hear. Austin chuckled. "That's the only thing I heard when he was talking. I wouldn't be surprised if he transformed into a donkey on the spot, like those kids from Pinocchio. He's already got the jackass part down pat."
  
  "That's so mean." Austin said between laughs.
  
  "Mean but true." Then Courtney got serious again. "Sometimes people need to be checked. It's for his own good, and yours."
  
  Before Austin could reply, Joo walked back up to them, leaving Pierce off to the side who looked like he was thinking. Courtney didn't immediately scrunch up her face in a sneer when Joo walked over, which was a pretty good sign. She didn't look thrilled that Joo was here, but she didn't look like she was going to throw some harsh words at her at any second.
  
  Joo continued making small talk with Austin, coming up to him and asking where he was from.
  
  "Couldn't tell?" He said, pointing up to his mouth with a friendly expression on his face. He was referring to his accent. "Australia. It's actually my first time being in the U.S. Courtney was showing me around a bit before, but this place is pretty big. Didn't get to see much of it before the academy."
  

 

[Kumii]

• Sylva Greenfield
• Cal

• 
  
  Sylva GreenfieldLocation: Hangar 016
  Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
  Current Mood: Regretful/Sad
  Current Weather: None
  Current Time: August 5th, 3251. 7:42am
  Sylva glanced at Tommy as he made his sleep comment, "Well... you aren't wrong but... maybe it's not something he can control..." She said timidly. Before Tommy could answer her, she found herself dragged off by Raelyn towards the ships. SHe seemed excited, saying she and Raelyn were close. Sylva couldn't help but giggle a bit, "Yeah, yeah." Once they arrived at their ships, Sylva held her shoulder and referred back to Tommy's shoulder comment, "She already pulled it out of its socket." She joked as she rolled her shoulder.
  
  She looked at Raelyn's ship then down a few ships to hers, Jet 10, "I'm gonna go check mine out. I'll be back." Sylva departed to her ship. She approached it and a ramp lowered in a steamy, cinematic way. The ship looked beat-up but there was only so much you could do, especially with academy ships. Sylva placed her hand on a hydraulic, almost as if she was sensing its heartbeat, "You've been through a lot... haven't you?" She said quietly to the ship, as if it could hear her.
  
  She walked up the ramp and wandered around a bit, familiarizing herself with the ship's layout. It was spacious enough to walk around comfortably but small enough that it still was the size of a fighter spacecraft. Eventually Sylva found the cockpit and the Commander's chair. She sat in it and was immediately by her ship's onboard AI, "Greetings, Commander. Please state your full name." Sylva was surprised a bit, "Oh! U-Uh... S-Sylva Greenfield..." The ship was silent for a second, "Commander registered. Welcome Aboard, Miss Greenfield. Master Greenfield has left a surprise for his sister. Transmitting message." The ship's HUD suddenly morphed into a projected image of Vincent's face.
  
  "Hey, sis! I hoped you would get this ship, so if you're readin' this... uh... congrats! I left something for ya in the ship's computer." Sylva began to search the ship's computer and she found something. Something made her recoil back a bit, "Ya remember that promise we made to our mom before she died, right? This is me fullfillin' my end of the promise, sis." Sylva looked at the computer, her eyes were tearing up, "I promised mom that I would set ya for your future. So, if you've found it, in the encoded file labeled 'Mom's Promise'. My present to you is in there, thing is... ya have to decode it and I kiiiiinda forgot where I left the decoder stick. Sorry." The recording paused for a second, "I'll help you find it though. I will get that gift to you. I promise. I love you, sis. See ya." The recording ended and Sylva was left softly sobbing in her commander's chair, "Vincent... you idiot..." She said in between sobs, "I had... completely forgotten and you didn't... what kind of sister am I who forgets the promise they make to their mom..."
  
• 
  
  Lance TheodoreLocation: Hangar 016
  Mentions: AlphaBlueWolf SharkBark
  Current Weather: None
  Current Time: August 5th, 3251. 7:42am
  Lance was walking through the Hangars with his hands behind his head. He looked around and noticed a group of kids in Hangar 016, he continued walking, "Huh... wasn't there something I was to attending today?" Then he stopped in his tracks as he realized, "OH SHIT!" He rushed to the group just in time to hear his ship number called. 23. Cool.
  
  Though now he was out of breath, "Shit... I almost... missed it..." Lane sighed and caught his breath, "Now then... 23, eh? Let's see what I'm workin' with." He looked at his ship, neither a dumbfounded nor disappointed look, just a dead stare, "Eh?" Of course he'd get the most beat up one. Next time don't be late, Lance! "Eh, whatever." The ramp squeaked open and he went inside.
  

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

• Raelyn Sanders
• Tommy Sanders
• Milo Maximillion and Cinnabar
• Lucinda Ardell

• 
  Raelyn pulled Sylva all the way to her ship, then let go and looked starry eyed at it. Behind her, Sylva was joking with Tommy about how she had already pulled Sylva's arm out of its socket. Tommy chuckled like he was actually enjoying himself. It seemed oddly genuine for him. "Now you know to stay far away from Rae whenever she's in the zone." His tone wasn't serious at all, meaning his words were a joke at his sister's expense.
  
  Sylva said she'd be right back, to which Tommy had to put his hand on Raelyn's head and physically turn her around so she focused on something other than the ship. "Oh, you got it!" She waved to Sylva and then turned back to her own ship, with Tommy's right next to hers. They both walked up to their ships in unison and the ramp lowered down at the exact same time, as if they were twin ships, always doing everything in succession. They turned to one another, giving a grin to each other.
  
  "See you on the other side." Tommy said, which Rae gave a roll of her eyes to. Well, wasn't he being dramatic today. Another soft joke from Tommy.
  
  Raelyn practically ran up the walkway, leaving her older brother behind. Usually, she wasn't so quick to leave his side, feeling anxious when he wasn't there to protect her, but this was a whole other ball game. She immediately felt comfortable upon entering the ship. So comfortable that her invisible tail became visible. There was no need to hide it anymore, because it was just her and the ship. No one to comment about her being an alien, while the rest of her family were humans. Perfect.
  
  She immediately went to the cockpit, passing by all the other wonders of the ship. She felt giddy the second she saw the Commander's seat. Her dream was finally being realized. She sat in it, finding it cushy and nice. Though she had to wrap her tail around where it rested on her lap, so it didn't get crushed up against the seat.
  
  "Greetings, Commander. Please state your full name."
  
  Raelyn literally jumped in her seat with a yelp, arching backwards and jumping off it. The claws on her hands dug into the headboard, already damaging her fine ship. The fur on her tail puffed up dramatically, her violet eyes taking on slits. She instinctively went to dig in with the claws on her feet as well but realized a moment too late that she had shoes on. That wasn't happening. She thought fast, using her incredible agility and reflexes to wrap her legs around the chair, securing herself in place. She hid behind the headboard, slowly moving her head up so she could see that it was just the ships AI. Her pupils slowly dilated back to their normal position, and she let out a sigh.
  
  Rae let go and grimaced at the damage she'd caused to the headboard. Maybe it was something Vincent could fix, though she dreaded having to explain it to him. Maybe she could bring along Sylva, since they were brother and sister, and have an easier time with him. It just seemed embarrassing to have to admit that she'd clawed at the headboard because she'd been frightened, acting like a total cat. She imagined him laughing at her again. She hoped that Sylva didn't laugh if she ever told her. Honestly, she'd thought anyone would laugh at what she'd done, not just Vincent.
  
  She gingerly sat back into her seat and said with clear purpose. "Raelyn Sanders."
  
  A few moments passed, and this time she didn't get scared when the AI spoke. "Commander registered. Welcome Miss Sanders."
  
  "Uh, thanks." Was all she said. AIs seemed weird to her. She didn't say anything else, just familiarized herself with the controls on the panel. Then she went exploring on the ship. She already knew most of the basic layout of fighter jets from reviewing images online but being in the real thing was so much different. She toured around the ship, and eventually came back to the cockpit one last time. She stood, resting her hand over the control panel with a smile plastered to her face. The smile faltered as she felt something below the control panel. Scratches that definitely didn't come from her if anyone asked.
  
  She kneeled down and looked up, finding a single message engraved into bottom of the control panel. 'Sandstorm was here'
  
  "Dad?" She wondered. Then she thought to ask the AI on board, even though having a robot on the ship unnerved her. "Uh, robot person, did Isaac Sanders ever use this ship?"
  
  "Isaac Sanders is registered as a previous owner of Jet 6."
  
  "That's awesome!" Her tail wagged rapidly. "I wonder if Dad was the one who did that."
  
  Rae could not wait to tell Tommy.
  
• 
  Tommy stepped inside the ship and shifted his gaze about. Even for someone like him, who found less enthusiasm in piloting, he had to admit it was impressive. A little beat up, but not nearly as beat up as 23. He chuckled to himself. Sucks to be that kid. Maybe the academy should invest in some new ships. This one definitely had seen owners come and go. Though, it was somehow homey, which was not a feeling Tommy got often.
  
  He didn't wander for too long, just wanting to kill time. Raelyn would probably be in her ship for a while, and he didn't just want to be standing outside. So, he wandered with a slightly bored expression, trying to put names to the various things he saw in the ship. He'd gotten overloads of information from Rae, telling him all sorts of names, but never knew what they really were.
  
  He went down into where all the innerworkings of the ship were, just passing time. "Is that one the engine?" He murmured while staring at a machine. He shrugged and wandered off. "Why does Rae like this stuff? Seems pretty boring."
  
  Nothing was sparking his interest yet, which seemed typical. He hated just going with the flow, not really knowing what he wanted to do. All he knew was that he couldn't get stuck in some kind of management position, or work in retail. Or customer service. Worst jobs ever. He couldn't just sit still and do nothing. He wanted something on the field. He wanted to get his hands dirty and put his martial arts skills to good use. But he couldn't find anything he actually wanted. Rae liked all this stuff. The ships, space. She could have the crappiest job in the universe, the whole galaxy, but she'd still be happy if she was on a ship. Tommy didn't have that luxury, since he hadn't found his passion. And he'd never tell anyone that he was actually super bummed about that fact. Worried even. This was a time filler, a chance for him to figure himself out. A way to stall for time.
  
  Tommy walked into the cockpit, seeing the chair and the buttons. Suddenly, he felt a twinge of excitement come his way. You could probably fire weapons from here. Tommy would consider himself average when it came to his high school grades. Rae was the super smart one, while he was just going through the motions. He wasn't a genius, at least he wouldn't consider himself to be, so the idea of getting to be in his field was amazing. Maybe he wasn't exactly the best student, but he could fight like a demon. That was more his business which was pretty exciting. The cockpit was pretty much where all the action would happen.
  
  He scanned over the buttons, wondering how anyone could remember what they all did. There were lever-like things. Were you supposed to drive it like it was a stick shift? Tommy did have his license. For cars, not spaceships. His dad had an eye for relics of the past, and he kept a stick shift car in their driveway. Tommy had almost crashed that thing into a light pole, but he'd successfully mastered the art of stick shift with time. If it was stick shift, then it would be easy. For him, not the other students. And of course, he'd have to teach Rae, who didn't have a license for a regular vehicle, much less knew how to drive stick shift.
  
  He sat the in the fancy commander's chair that had seen better days as the ship's AI came on. "Greetings, Commander. Please state your full name."
  
  His grip tightened around the armrests for a second. If anyone asked, he wasn't surprised by that. It was a momentary feeling, his muscles tensing and then relaxing. He was used to instantly letting punches fly whenever something snuck up on him, so it took a lot of self-control for him not to immediately slam a fist into the controls.
  
  He recollected himself and then said, "Thomas Sanders."
  
  After a minute, the AI came on again, and this time Tommy was expecting it. "Commander registered. Welcome aboard, Mr. Sanders."
  
  Tommy clenched his teeth. Being called Mr. Sanders in any situation made him sound like an old man. He was Thomas to everyone else, and Tommy to his sister and father. And of course, whoever else caught on to that nickname. Aka Sylva, since that's how Rae had introduced him. Which he could live with, since it seemed like Sylva would be sticking around Raelyn, which was a massive relief. Tommy wouldn't be there to protect his little sister, so he would have to put some trust in Sylva that she would help Rae whenever she needed it. Which was hard to take a back seat, but Sylva seemed ok. And she knew what Tommy was capable of if she ever did anything to Rae. Little insurance just in case. There'd been a lot of dicks in Raelyn's past schools, so maybe his little show of strength would deter anyone. Not what he was going for, but a bonus. That was mostly just him getting pissed at Charlotte.
  
  He got out of the seat, supposing that's what his father had intended all of them to do. Get registered with their ships. So, he started heading back, glancing around at his surroundings. He noticed a glint and stopped. Tommy turned to see a compartment in the wall that was a quarter of the way open. He shrugged and went over to inspect it. Bending down, he gripped with a hand and yanked down hard. Halfway. Another yank and it was jammed free. Immediately a small piece of paper came out. No, it wasn't paper. It was a photo. A polaroid if you could believe it.
  
  He couldn't. Not really because it was a polaroid, he could suspend his disbelief, but the picture on it was what got him stunned. Two figures stood in front of two ships. And they were familiar. Both the ships and the people. The ships were the one's Tommy and Raelyn had. The Twin Ships, Jet 6 and 7. The figure standing in front of 6 was Isaac, his father. Standing next to him, in front of Jet 7, was his mother. Anna Sanders. It was a total blast from the past. Tommy didn't really like looking at pictures of his mother, because it reminded him too much of her in a hospital bed and his sadness as well as the fact that he couldn't remember her a whole lot. He was six when her illness had taken her. His memories of her not sick were faded at best, gone at worst. The only thing he could remember so vividly was her at the end. Suffering in a hospital bed.
  
  Tommy would've tried to deny it, except the name Anna Rivera was written on the white part at the bottom. His mother's maiden name. She posed in the picture like she was a soldier in the military, and even wore that type of style. Isaac did the same, but his looked like a joke. They both smiled at each other, but his mother's posture was perfect. Like she'd been perfecting it.
  
  He didn't understand. His mother had never been at the academy. His father always told him he'd met his mother while he was at the academy. Meaning maybe she was a normal citizen. She'd never graduated. He knew that for a fact. The surprise was that she was at the academy. A student. And in such a militant position as well. From what he could remember, she'd always been kind and soft spoken, the perfect image of a mother until she'd gotten sick. She couldn't do motherly things anymore, but Tommy had still put her up on a pedestal as the best mom in the world. Even when she was in a hospital bed, unable to take care of him. The image of her in such a militant pose just chafed against that idea.
  
  Tommy just stared at the photo in disbelief. Then looked towards the compartment. In it was a polaroid, an actual polaroid. He brought it out. You could tell it'd been owned at one point, but dust had settled over it. He left fingerprints in the dust wherever he touched. He shook off the dust, knowing it could get in and damage the inside components. Another little tidbit he'd learned from Raelyn. He turned it around, inspecting it. It was one with a small interface, the slit at the bottom for the photo to come out. The lens definitely looked like it needed a cleaning. There was a small black strap attached to it, so that you could wear it around your neck. No thanks. He thought he'd look like some tourist, then pushed the thought aside. What had his mother looked like while wearing this? Definitely not a greasy tourist look.
  
  He found the power button and pressed it. Nothing happened. No display popped up. He knocked on it lightly. Nothing again. What to do? He wasn't a mechanic. He didn't know about all this stuff. Only the people in engineering would. Rae knew about ships, not cameras. And he wasn't giving Isaac the satisfaction of him asking his father for help, because this whole thing had Isaac written all over it. His father knew him well, and how much he would treasure this. Maybe he didn't even know the camera had been stored in that compartment all these years. But the ship thing had been intentional. He'd given Raelyn his old training ship, while he'd assigned Tommy to his mother's ship. Well, apparent ship, since he'd never even knew she'd studied at the academy.
  
  What would Rae do? Or Isaac, since he was into this kind of stuff. Like a computer. Hold the power button. He did so, but again there was nothing. Maybe he'd take it down to engineering, see if one of them would entertain the idea of getting it fixed. And if they were dicks about working on something other than a ship, he'd just have to take it to a professional on a day off from classes. He just hoped none of the data was wiped. Did polaroid's have data? Or a cloud? Or anything technologically advanced? Probably not. These things were from like ages ago. It was hard to believe you could still get them.
  
  He put the compartment back into place, and then carefully stuffed the picture and camera in his pants pocket. He walked out and immediately looked to his father, who was still with Sleepy. Though he was watching the two ships like a hawk. He immediately saw Tommy and gave him a soft knowing smile. And he knew exactly what his father was up to. Did he want to make him suffer, giving him a ship that his mother used to walk on? Tommy's idea of coping was shoving it down, and Isaac knew that. This was for his own good, in his father's opinion. Getting to know his mother a bit better. Tommy just glared at him, and then turned as he saw Raelyn come out, her tail invisible once more as she seemed to slink out of the shadows. He'd talk about the old camera later.
  
  Rae gave a smile and wave to their father, who waved back with a grin. "Tommy! Tommy! My ship belongs to Dad! Or used to." She said excitedly. "Isn't that great?"
  
  "Yeah, Rae, great." Great except for the fact that Tommy knew their father was up to something. At least with him.
  
• 
  Milo had been sitting in a chair for what felt like hours. There was literally nothing to do to pass the time. All they could do was blink, turn their head a few degrees, and move their mouth. Oh, and also breath, and pump blood into their vital organs. What a relief! That was sarcasm, in case no one noticed. They weren't dumb. Ok, maybe they could've played the whole thing with Vincent better, but they hadn't been prepared for an all-out confrontation. They'd just wanted to get the damn ship and get out of dodge. Gazzy had been turned to passive mode permanently, and he was their defense. Without Gazzy, they were just a kid with two boomerang knives, and various other makeshift inventions. Now, they were a kid with no tools, no knives, and their dog had been turned into an absolute mush! Not that Gazzy hadn't been a mush before Vincent had done stuff to him, but he was at least able to defend Milo. Now all he would probably do was play fetch and tug of war.
  
  He could hear voices outside, probably guards for in case the paralysis wore off. It had been what, an hour? Because that's what it felt like. In reality, the paralysis wouldn't wear off in the time it had been administered, which was like fifteen minutes ago, give or take a couple minutes. Though, it felt like much, much longer to Milo.
  
  They couldn't just sit and do nothing. Whenever they were bored, they'd fiddle around with metal scraps and gears and make something. But they couldn't move their body one inch and were without their prized tool belt.
  
  "Yeah, this sucks." Milo repeated. They looked over to Gazzy, who gave a metallic whine. "I'm so putting back on your combat mode when I get my tool belt back."
  
  Gazzy laid by their feet and nudged them, and of course they barely felt anything due to the numbness. It was the only movement they'd had in ages, and they weren't even in control of the swinging of their legs.
  
  Suddenly, they heard a new voice. It was muffled, but it almost sounded like a voice a boy their age would have. They were talking to the agents outside the door to what seemed like Milo's interrogation room. Then, the door opened. Milo and Gazzy swiveled both their heads in rapid succession to see an actual fourteen-year-old voice, along with the same male agent that had picked them up before. The big guy sent them a menacing look, which they simply rolled their eyes to. Then he shut the door, leaving the boy in the room.
  
  Milo raised their eyebrow. He didn't look like much. Pale skin, blue eyes, and golden blonde hair. A literal golden boy right in front of them. He looked to be around their age, with a friendly expression to offset Milo's scowl. Was this the interrogation team? They were quaking in their boots. What? Was this kid going to bring out a lunch box filled with freshly baked cookies? Please.
  
  But Gazzy didn't seem to have his usual apprehension or hostility at a new face. He jumped up and bounded forward, jumping up on his hind legs and almost knocking the kid over. "Wow there!" Blonde Boy exclaimed. He started petting Gazzy's metal head like it had fur on it, which it didn't. He wasn't a regular dog. Did this kid need glasses? Gazzy was one of a kind, a stolen top secret government experiment, and he was acting like he was completely normal. Just your run of the mill dog. "Almost knocked me over. You're one strong pup, huh?"
  
  The kid managed to get Gazzy off him, with a look of delight plastered to his face, and then looked towards Milo with that same delight. "That's so awesome that you have a dog. I've always wanted one, but Mom always said that we didn't have the space or time for one."
  
  Well, ok then. Did they ask? No. Did they care? No.
  
  Blonde Boy came over to them and pulled up a seat right next to them. "They told me Vincent pulsed you, but I didn't think that meant it would affect your speech. Can you not talk?"
  
  The kid tilted his head like he was a Gazzy clone. It was kind of cute, though they'd never admit that. "Yes, I can." Milo responded bitterly. They had nothing better to do right now than entertain some probably lost kid. Why would the agents outside let in some random kid anyways?
  
  "That's great! My name's Cinnabar. It's nice to meet you!" The kid, Cinnabar, smiled like he was the sun. Was he for real? Milo was forcefully paralyzed and locked in some room that looked like it was for interrogations. And it was supposed to be a nice meeting? Oh, would he bring out the cocktails next? Maybe with little umbrellas and shrimp. They just couldn't believe it.
  
  When they didn't respond, Cinnabar took things into his own hands. "What's your name?"
  
  They were sure this was some new method of torture. They were going to have to make a fake name anyways, so why not do it now. But they blanked on names. 'What are some gender-neutral names? Uhhhh.' They thought, their mouth gaping a little. Cinnabar looked kind of concerned. 'Shit, gotta think of something and fast.'
  
  But they'd been so shocked by this kid that they couldn't think properly, which was about the only thing they'd been doing for fifteen or so minutes. Now, their brain was following their body's lead, short circuiting and becoming paralyzed. Then they realized that their fake last name, which they'd adopted as their new one, was a name. Maximillion.
  
  "Max."
  
  "Well, nice to meet you Max." Success. Cinnabar didn't suspect a thing, not that a kid their age would. He held out his hand, and then realized that 'Max' was still dealing with the effects of Vincent's stun gun. He gave a nervous chuckle, took Milo's limp hand with his other, and then made them shake his hand. It'd been the first thing they'd felt since getting stunned, besides the agents manhandling them. Milo was embarrassed and confused at the same time; their face covered in a light blush.
  
• 
  Lucinda really couldn't understand getting sent to the academy. She was one of the best interrogators the FBI had, and now she was working as head of security for the academy. The higher ups told her not to question it, using the whole 'everything happens for a reason' mumbo jumbo. Bullshit. To her, this was a clear demotion. They said they'd fill her in later, once she'd settled into the new role, but she'd wished she could just know. If she was undercover, it'd be better if she knew what she was supposed to do and her role. But she was regular old Lucinda here, because the FBI hadn't instructed her to put on a front. Meaning the staff here probably weren't the ones she was supposed to get information on, though she had been collecting files on each of the big guns in this place. No one ever told her she couldn't, so she did it. She wished they would just give her clearer instructions instead of being vague as hell.
  
  Working as the head of security wasn't so bad, because she'd started in security. She knew all the ins and outs and had learned leadership skills from her role in the FBI. She was the ideal choice for head of security, and if she ever got fired from the FBI, she knew where her next job would be. She was starting back at her roots, albeit in a higher position, which was tiring. The only criminal she got to detain was some fourteen-year-old boy, maybe a boy. They'd looked like a boy from the quick glance she'd gotten, viewing from the one-way glass they had down in the interrogation room back in the security sector. None of her agents knew either, and none were prepared to take a look. She didn't blame them.
  
  Speaking of the fourteen-year-old thief, Lucinda was off looking for Mara to report to her. She hated having to report to that woman. Not exactly the kind of boss she was used to. Her bosses in the FBI were better, more professional. She'd seen Mara with her fellow teachers, namely Isaac Sanders who seemed stuck to her like glue. Not surprising since they were partners in teaching, not crime. Mara wasn't exactly as stern as she would let you believe when around other stuff. Lucinda was used to the strict, militant rules of the FBI, despite being allowed to bring her child into work when she could never find babysitters.
  
  Last time she'd heard, Mara was with the students. She had no idea if she had a walkie with her, so it's not like she could talk to her through comms. It should be mandatory for all staff to have walkies for things like this. Maybe she'd try to implement that or enforce it if it was already a rule. Though, even if Mara did have one on her, Lucinda didn't want the message spreading to the students, who would spread it around like wildfire. She was glad her own boy hadn't gotten to the gossip stage yet.
  
  They were supposed to be in Bay 016, news she'd heard a couple minutes ago. Now she was on her way there, hoping to intercept Mara for instructions on how to proceed. It was a unique case, considering fourteen-year olds didn't usually try to steal ships from an academy. There was no protocol for an event like this, one pertaining to young minors. She'd just ordered to detain the child for questioning and that was that. They wouldn't let them go just like that, after trying to steal an academy ship. They had to find out the reason behind it, then bring the child back to a guardian if they had one. That was the plan Lucinda was going with, but she'd have to shake things up if Mara ordered differently.
  
  Lucinda brushed her suit down, which was a plain black tux with a white work shirt, and a tie. She didn't want to look like a mall cop, such uniforms were beneath her. Now, she was basically undercover. She didn't have a big blinky sign on her chest that said, 'Hey, look at me, head of security coming your way.' Which was much better for criminal cases. She still had a holster around her waist, containing her walkie and a standard pistol, as well as a key card in her jacket pocket so she could get into higher clearance areas of the building with ease. And, just out of habit, she also kept her FBI badge in the inner pocket of her vest. Her hair was tied back in a loose ponytail, and her features read human so well that you'd never be able to tell she was really an alien. Well, that was a Luminite, always playing other people's roles. Double whammy now that she was an FBI agent working as head of security for some training academy.
  
  Lucinda was still getting used to layout of the building, which was lucky for her considering she spotted Mara in the halls, completely unattended. To her understanding, orientation was supposed to go on for longer. It didn't make sense that she was unaccompanied, without students or any other staff members. She and Sandstorm were supposed to be showing around all the students. That curiosity didn't last though, considering it was perfect for her. She didn't question things like that if it worked in her favor. One of the reasons why she was able to follow orders so brilliantly.
  
  She approached Mara, caring with her an air of business. "Admiral, excuse my intrusion, but I have reports of a break in. The perpetrator has been detained by my agents and is waiting for interrogation. The intruder in question is... an unusual sort. They look to be a child, of unknown age, but certainly younger than any of the current students. Looks roughly preteen and scrawny, but we can't be sure at the moment. The child was caught by Mr. Greenfield and paralyzed by him for the time being. They were trying to steal one of the ships in Hangar 017. At the moment this is all the information we have. How would you like us to proceed?"
  

 

[Kumii]

• Sylva Greenfield
• Cal
• Mara Takemi
• Lucy Millis

• 
  
  Sylva GreenfieldLocation: Hangar 016
  Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
  Current Mood: Regretful/Sad
  Current Weather: None
  Current Time: August 5th, 3251. 7:43am
  Sylva grabbed the small tube that acted as little computer, it projected a screen in the air above it. Think of those mobile screen from Star Trek. She left her ship, wiping the tears from her eyes, she saw Tommy and Raelyn through the blur that was was tears. She saw Rae was having a great time but noticed something off in Tommy. She completely wiped her tears and pocketed the mini screen.
  
  Sylva walked up to the pair, electing to ignore it since she figured it was just Tommy being Tommy, "Hey, guys." Her voice was still a little shaky, "How'd everything go with your ships?" She asked.
  
• 
  
  Cal WymanLocation: Hangar 016
  Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
  Current Weather: None
  Current Time: August 5th, 3251. 7:43am
  Cal saw as Isaac was looking at his kids' ships, it was a rather intense stare. Cal suddenly got a call but it was a video call. Only one person he knew video called him, at the time, Cal was wearing glasses and glasses could project video calls if they were hooked up via bluetooth to a phone. WIth a tap of the side of the frame, a little screen popped up in Cal's right eye and a familiar mug made itself known. Evelyn, Lucina's bandmate.
  
  Evelyn had sideswept blue hair and a soft yet cute face. She had soft blue eyes and long eyelashes with black mascara, her nose was small but pronounced and her lips were mid-thickness and had a soft blue hue with her lipstick. This girl really liked the color blue apparently.
  
  Cal sighed before answering it, "Ugh, it's from Evelyn, one of Lucy's bandmates." He said that like Isaac was suppose to know, "I'll explain later." He answered it, "Yeah, Ev, what do y--"
  
  "Cal! Settle a dispute for us!" Evelyn said before Cal could finish his sentence, in background you could faintly her Lucina's voice, "He won't take your side, he's MY boyfriend after all." Evelyn interjected, "Shut up, Lucy. So, Cal, which do you think sounds better?" Oh great, another rhythm debate between the band's two guitarists, Cal sighed and a gave Isaac a look that said, 'Help me.' With that, Evelyn played a small riff which sounded more pop then punk-rock, which definitely wasn't the band's style.
  
  "Okay, that was Ev's riff, now listen to mine, honey." Lucy said before playing a riff of her own. Her riff was more heavy punk/hard rock and more refined then Evelyn's was.
  
  When that was done, "So, Cal... who do you think?" Cal thought for a moment, "Lucy's." Lucina bounced around in the background, "IN YOUR FACE, EV!" She said in Evelyn's face. She turned her attention to Cal over the call, "Thanks, baby. Love you." Then the call hung up after which, Cal let out a huge sigh.
  
• 
  
  Mara TakemiLocation: Hangar 018, Gunrange
  Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
  Current Weather: None
  Current Mood: Extremely Pissed
  Current Time: August 5th, 3251. 7:43am
  Mara was sat at her desk, with a mini screen in front of her as Lucinda walked up to her. She began to fill in Mara on the reports of a break in, "Break in?" Mara took off her reading glasses and she looked at Lucinda, her stare was hardened. She knew this was a serious matter. Mara's eyes got a bit wide at the mention at the age and build of the suspect. Even wider when she mentioned they attempted to steal an academy ship. Her face went from surprised to hardened again, "Fine." She stood up, "I'll deal with it personally." She looked at Lucinda, "I want you there with me. Just in case."
  
  Mara turned and began walking towards the security sector, standing outside of the room where Milo was being held. She adjusted her glove, her expression looked extremely pissed off. She barged the door open and saw two people but her face showed neither confusion nor interest as to why, "Which one of you attempted to steal one of MY ships?" she said in her strict and harsh tone.
  
• 
  
  Lucina Millis & the BandLocation: Hangar 020, The Band Hangar
  Current Weather: None
  Current Time: August 5th, 3251. 7:43am
  After getting off the phone with Cal, Lucina bounced around happily, like a bunny would. Evelyn, her bandmate and rhythm guitarist, shook her head, "What does he know? He's not even musically inclined, not like he could ever tell a good riff if it slapped him in the face." Lucina stopped bouncing and slowly turned her head towards Evelyn, "Watch what you say, Evelyn. That's my boyfriend you're talking about." Lucina's glare was intense and Evelyn immediately backed down, "S-Sorry, Lucy, I just meant, should we really be asking for an outside opinion? I mean, shouldn't we play what we want to?" Lucina's glare softened a bit, "You have a point but my love isn't one to steer us wrong, is he?"
  
  Evelyn sighed, "No, I guess not." The band's drummer, Matthews chimed in in the back, "Lucy has a point, Ev. Cal might be an outsider to band but he's Lucy's BF. We should treat him as if he were. I mean, I trust him." Lucina looked at Matthews and nodded, "Thank you, Matty." Evelyn sighed, defeated, "Alright, FINE. Let's just bring to band practice next time then and he can produce our next song." She joked but Lucina wholeheartedly agreed, "YES! I'd love that!" Evelyn looked at Lucina, surprised, "What? No, Lucy, Wha- I was joki--" Matthews leaned on his drum set, "Too late, Ev. You put the idea in her mind, now she's set on it and you know how she gets." Evelyn faceplamed, "I was just joking but fine... let's call him up tomorrow and ask him." Lucina bounced like a bunny with excitement. She was truly happy and excited to have Cal at their next band practice.
  

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

• Raelyn and Tommy Sanders
• Isaac Sanders
• Milo, Lucinda and Cinnabar

• 
  Sylva walked up a moment later asking how everything went. Tommy noticed the shake in her voice, but Raelyn didn't since she had ships on the brain. She never noticed anything when she was preoccupied with ships. Tommy had his hands in his pockets and shrugged, looking away. "Eh."
  
  Meanwhile, his hand was holding the small camera in his pocket tight. Raelyn was bursting with excitement. "What do you mean, eh?" She prodded. "It was amazing. I got to sit in the commander's seat, and then this voice came on. It was a little creepy to have some random robot ask for my name out of the blue. Guess that's what Dad wanted us to do, get registered. Though he could've told us." She pouted for a second, remembering how the AI had scared her. Then she brightened up. "I can't wait to fly it in space. It's gonna be so awesome."
  
  Then she remembered that the ship belonged to Isaac. "Oh, yeah, and guess what. Jet 6 was my dad's training ship when he was here! Isn't that cool?"
  
  Raelyn was bouncing, while Tommy wasn't looking as thrilled. Not even at the mention of their dad, and that Rae got his ship. "How was yours? Was there a creepy robot voice on yours too?"
  
• 
  Isaac watched his kids come out, seeing the glare from Tommy and knowing he'd figured it out. But how exactly? He just smiled and waved, and then gave the same to his daughter as she came out. Guess that lecture Isaac was planning to give Tommy would become more of an interrogation from his son. Still, he was planning to tell off Tommy.
  
  His gaze switched to Cal, who said something about one of Lucy's bandmates. Which Lucy was it again? Their head of security, or the one from the PROJECTS. Obviously the one who didn't threaten to shoot him whenever he called her Lucy, which would be the one from the band. Lucinda needed to chill sometimes, though Isaac did like to babysit Cinnabar. That kid was the cutest. Maybe not as cute as his own children when they were his age, but still a really cute kid.
  
  He knew of Lucina and her band briefly. Well, he certainly knew of them, but he'd never really spoken to them in person before. They were pretty busy with their work, as was he with his own children and his students. They'd just never really crossed paths before, but he knew they hunkered down in old Hangar 020 as their base of operations. And he knew Cal's personal connection to the band, Lucy being his girlfriend. Little staff gossip. It wouldn't be an academy without it, after all.
  
  Cal looked deep in thought, and Isaac figured he shouldn't bother him. Instead, he watched as Rae's new friend walked back up to them. That was Vincent's sister, if he wasn't mistaken. Something with an S. Silver? Sylvia? Then it popped into his head. He was close with the second one. It was Sylva. New faces, new names. It took him a bit to memorize the new roster each time. But he'd definitely remember her, as Raelyn's new friend and Vincent's sister. He wanted to keep a look out for her, as with that other young man. He was Jet 21. He looked back down at the roster. Pierce Eisenhower. One looked shy, the other outgoing. He'd definitely remember them and look out for them both.
  
  Isaac turned his attention back towards Cal as he spoke again, but not to him. Then the call hung up, and Cal sighed. He looked like he was done, but it was hard to tell since the call had been transmitted through the guy's glasses. His own mask was capable of that.
  
  Isaac decided to just ask. He tapped Cal on the shoulder and raised an eyebrow. "What was that about?"
  
• 
  "Yes, ma'am." Lucinda responded, then led the way to the security sector, showing Mara to the room they held Milo in. Basically, the only room that had agents standing guard. She nodded to the agents who moved off to the side to let the two enter.
  
  While Mara adjusted her glove, Lucinda was busy changing her appearance. A light swept across her features, and it left a different appearance behind. She now had curly brown hair, with a slight light brown tan. Her eyes were a chocolate brown. She gave off Hispanic mother vibes with her new wardrobe change.
  
  One agent came up to her. "Your son is warming you up." He whispered with a grin. The agents in the security sector already loved Cinnabar, it seemed. Her son knew exactly how to get what he wanted.
  
  "The next time he wants to 'warm me up', tell him no. You're lucky the one we detained was a kid. If it was an actual criminal, I'd have you detained instead."
  
  The agent looked taken aback. She had a point though. Cinnabar liked interacting with criminals for some reason, wanting to be like her. But if they'd detained an actual threat, and her son was in there with a risk of getting hurt, she wouldn't tolerate it.
  
  Mara barged the door open, and Lucinda came in after her. Cinnabar instantly knew it was her, being able to look past the disguise with any change and instantly know it was his mother. Mara asked which one of them had attempted to steal one of the ships, but it was pretty obvious. The kid on the left had a mass of messy black hair, dirty clothes, and looked like they hadn't had a proper meal in a while. Well, that and a bath. Their face morphed, their eyes narrowing in a very wild animal look. Instantly hostile.
  
  Meanwhile, the blonde-haired boy on the right looked like this was a completely normal occurrence. He hadn't been surprised at all by the sudden appearance of Mara and Lucinda. He was dressed in clean clothes, fit, and looked like the average height and weight for a fourteen-year-old. Not at all like Milo, who was so malnourished they looked like they could be twelve.
  
  "Cinnabar, out. Now." She instructed in a very no-nonsense voice. She wouldn't hear it from her son right now.
  
  "But-"
  
  "Now."
  
  Cinnabar gave a pouty lip, which seemed to distract the perp for a bit. The boy turned towards Milo. "See ya, Max." He whispered and waved, which Milo just watched. Lucinda held the door open, and Cinnabar popped out to talk with the agents. After, the door creaked shut. There was no way of escaping for Milo. And being trapped is not a feeling they dealt with well.
  
  But Milo tried to hide their unease behind a smirk and a lie of smug confidence. "You really think Mr. Sunshine out there could ever have the guts to steal anything?" They mocked. There was no use in denying it.
  
  "Why would a kid like you be trying to steal one in the first place?" Lucinda asked, getting down to business.
  
  Milo gave a glare to match their wild animal eyes. Calling them a kid and basically patronizing them was not the right way to go. They could engineer a bomb in a small window of time with the right materials. These people were lucky they'd only wanted a ship, and that they were not a terrorist. "Well wouldn't you like to know. But alas, the Q and A portion of this visit has already concluded. Such a shame." They said in mock sympathy, with a smirk plastered onto their face. Inside, they were absolutely freaking out. Would they be sent to juvie? Maybe even jail? Worse, would these guys find out they were a foster kid and put them back into the system? That was the worst punishment to them.
  
  Lucinda narrowed her eyes, already feeling the kid get on her nerves. She looked towards the pad one of her agents had given her. Basically paperwork, filling out anything the kid gave them information wise. "You know, I would give you the whole spiel about getting away with it, if it wasn't for you medaling kids. And your dog, but let's be honest here. I'm the medaling kid, with the dog." They nodded their head towards Gazzy who gave a small metallic bark in response. Lucinda was certainly taken aback by the thing. "If I would've gotten hold of that ship, I totally would've given it a Mystery Machine paint job."
  
  Their voice didn't betray them, but their body did. Their brow started beading with a few drops of sweat, the hair on their arms and the back of their neck standing up. The only thing they knew for certain was that they were royally screwed. Oh, and the fact that Cinnabar hadn't lied about himself. There was that which was nice they supposed.
  
  Lucinda nodded to Mara to take the lead. She said she'd deal with it personally, so she was most likely leading the interrogation here. Yes, just what Lucinda liked. Other people stepping on her toes and getting in the way of her interrogation. And this kid seemed like a piece of work for somebody who didn't perform interrogations on a weekly basis. But Lucinda was overlooking the fact that Mara dealt with children daily. Maybe not kids this young looking, but she certainly knew how to deal with minors, while Lucinda had less patience. She did have a kid of her own, but her parenting was... let's just say less conventional. And her boy never acted like this. He wasn't troubled, unlike this kid.
  

 

[Kumii]

• Sylva Greenfield
• Cal
• Mara Takemi
• Lucy Millis

• 
  
  Sylva GreenfieldLocation: Hangar 016
  Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
  Current Mood: Cheery
  Current Weather: None
  Current Time: August 5th, 3251. 7:44am
  Sylva tilted her head at Rae's odd question, "Y-Yeah, but that's standard on all ships. Did you not know that?" Sylva thought for a moment, "Yeah, I guess a little warning would've been nice, huh?" Sylva kinda tried delaying actually answering Raelyn's question but she eventually did, "Uh but yeah, mine went... okay, I guess. My brother tampered with mine, I guess it being a Core Dynamics ship, he'd have a little say in that." Sylva rubbed her arm softly, "He..." She shook her head, "Nevermind, that's not important. I hear tomorrow's an off day, maybe they'll let us fly our ships around the academy grounds. If not, that's fine but I don't have any plans for tomorrow."
  
• 
  
  Cal WymanLocation: Hangar 016
  Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
  Current Weather: None
  Current Time: August 5th, 3251. 7:44am
  Cal let out a big yawn as Isaac tapped his shoulder, "Hmm?" He turned to Isaac, "Oh... band drama I guess. Ev called and asked which guitar riff sounded better, her's or Lucy's." Cal took off the glasses, "Though, I have a feeling I'm in for a treat tomorrow." Cal said jokingly, "Usually these things end with Ev saying something dumb, Lucy getting mad at her then Ev suggesting something dumb like bringing me to their next practice or something then Lucy getting all excited at Ev's joke and that joke turning into reality." Cal spoke as if he spoke from experience. He did. It happened more often then you'd think.
  
  Cal looked at Isaac, "Say, Sandst-- uh Isaac, would you mind coming with me tomorrow if something like happens? We've got time before we gotta setup that thing for your troublemaker son. Plus tomorrow's an off day. That is, if you don't have plans. Of course, if nothing does happen, i'll call you over the phone and let you know." Cal was surprisingly keeping his narcolepsy under control right now, perhaps because of the excitement of the band drama.
  
• 
  
  Mara TakemiLocation: Interrogation Room
  Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
  Current Weather: None
  Current Mood: Extremely Pissed
  Current Time: August 5th, 3251. 7:44am
  Mara narrowed her eyes at Milo's comments, "You are right. The Q and A portion is over. So now, let me tell what exactly it is you've done and the ramifications it comes with because, believe me, it is far worse then juvie." Mara sat down, "To my knowledge, you are being charged with attempted theft of Academy property and, by extension, Imperial Navy property because, yes, these ships belong to the Imperial Navy. This is a military institution! Who would have thought, eh?" Giving Milo the same mocking tone they gave Lucinda and Mara, "Even for attempted theft, that lands you 30-50 years in a federal prison system. That's right, you'll be off-planet while locked up."
  
  Mara leaned up and over the table, closer to Milo, "You'll find that the Navy does not fuck around with their equipment." She said in a hushed tone. Mara sat back in the chair, "Even worse yet, that dog seems precious to you. Here's what'll happen to him, he'll be identified as a potential threat and then, from there, one of two things will happen. One, he gets melted down and turned into scrap for construction on weapons or a new ship for the benefit of the Navy. Two, he gets reprogrammed and used as an asset in battle."
  
  Mara glanced at Lucinda and nodded at her. Mara got up then turned to Milo, "So, we'll ask once again, why did you attempt to steal Academy property. Answer us, and we can work out a deal, yeah?"
  
• 
  
  Lucina Millis, Matthews Wes & Evelyn ParkersLocation: Hangar 020, The Band Hangar
  Current Weather: None
  Current Time: August 5th, 3251. 7:44am
  Matthews spun one of his drumsticks in his fingers like a drummer does, "Hey, Lucy?" Lucina stopped bouncing and looked at Matthews, "What is it, Matty?" Matthews continued spinning his drumstick, "What exactly IS the plan for tomorrow? We haven't practiced jack all week, I feel like I'm getting rusty." Lucina tilted her head, "Um, I guess let's write a new song? I dunno." Matthews stopped spinning the drumstick and looked at Lucina, "Wait, for real? A new song? And I get to write it?" His tone switched from slightly bored to mildly interested. Lucina nodded, "If ya wanna, Matty. You are the songwriter of the group."
  
  Evelyn sat on an amp, gently strumming her guitar, "Lucy's right, Matty. I can't write jack for songs and Lucy's only written one song. This one's all you, buddy." Matthews did that fist thing you do when you're excited you get to do something, "Yes!" Matthews seemed excited to write songs, grabbing a piece of paper and a pencil from seemingly nowhere. Lucina and Evelyn both looked at Matthews pull them out, "Wha- Matty, where did that pencil and paper come from??" Matthews waved his dismissively, "Don't worry about it. So let's get to writing and surprise Cal, shall we?" Lucina and Evelyn looked at each other and shrugged, "Okay then."
  

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

• Raelyn Sanders
• Isaac Sanders
• Milo Maximillion and Lucinda

• 
  Raelyn shrugged while giving a little pout. Of course she knew. She knew everything about ships. It just scared her, coming out of nowhere like that. "Yeah, I knew. Just wasn't expecting it as soon as I sat in the chair."
  
  Then Sylva answered, saying hers went ok, but she didn't sound too sure of that. She said her brother tampered with it, but Raelyn didn't know why that sounded like a bad thing to Sylva. Well, because the truth of what he'd done wasn't even a possibility in her mind. She had no way of knowing anything about that, because they'd just met and all.
  
  Rae was thinking more along the lines of ship modification. Vincent probably already gave his sister's ship a boost based on what she liked. But looking over to ship 10, it looked pretty much the same as the other ships. Only a little different considering it was a Core Dynamics ship, like Sylva said. But still like all the others. Raelyn tilted her head, her violet eyes as penetrating as a cat's. And she was just as curious as one too.
  
  "But what did he-" Rae began, but Tommy put a hand on her shoulder. He shook his head, saving Sylva from Rae's probing. She was clearly uncomfortable, and Raelyn was being insensitive with her one-track mind.
  
  With the check from Tommy, Raelyn dropped it, though she looked disappointed. Sylva switched topics, talking about how tomorrow was an off day, and that maybe they'd let them fly the ships around a bit. She already knew how to make Rae happy again. Sylva then explained about how she didn't have any plans for tomorrow.
  
  Rae gasped. "We should totally do something then! Well, if they don't let us fly the ships tomorrow, then we can make plans together. Maybe we could go see a movie or something. What do you think?"
  
  "Wasn't doing anything anyways."
  
  "I wasn't asking you Tommy." Raelyn said in a joking manner. Tommy lightly hit her arm. "So, what would you wanna do, Sylva?"
  
• 
  Isaac nodded at Cal. Band drama, huh? Well, it sounded like that, considering it had been Evelyn calling, who was one of Lucy's bandmates. It seemed like general stuff, Evelyn asking Cal to judge the guitar riffs of both her and Lucy. But Cal was convinced that he'd be pulled in tomorrow, with some convoluted notion to back that up. But Cal sounded so matter of fact that it seemed like he came from experience.
  
  Cal then looked at him, beginning to say his codename and then switching to his actual name, which made Isaac smile. Cal was younger than him, almost a twenty-year age gap, so it reminded him of having to look out for a little brother. Yes, Isaac knew Cal was a grown man, but compared to him Cal was young. And he thought Cal wanting his help was sweet.
  
  Isaac nodded. "Sure, Cal. Besides setting up the game, I'm free. Call me if they ask for you, and I'll come along with. Hope your girlfriend doesn't get mad that you guys won't have time alone with me there."
  
  Of course Isaac would jokingly tease Cal. He chuckled, knowing full well that it wouldn't be just Cal and Lucy, but the whole band. He was just being his usual chipper self, making jokes to lighten the mood. But he was sincere about coming with Cal, hoping to make it less of a headache for the guy.
  
• 
  Ok, when Mara took the reins, Milo was officially freaked. They felt all claustrophobic and sweaty, once they heard Mara get down to business. She said their punishment would be worse than juvie. Ok, the only thing worse than juvie was the foster system. You wanted to give them a punishment? Either stick them in a cell with their bastard father or give them some other abusive replacement family. That was usually the only way to get them freaked out about punishments. They were good at weaseling their way out of situations. Exactly how they avoided the cops when they infiltrated their old gang's hideout. The Undertakers, their gang, saw them run. They needed that ship to avoid the boys in blue, as well as the gang. Because they didn't like cowards or sellouts. Assuming they weren't behind bars, they'd probably come looking for Milo and Gazzy. They took a risk, but if they hadn't then things would've been ugly.
  
  Maybe going to jail would be better. Jail food was always crappy, but at least they'd be ensured three meals a day. They wouldn't have to run from the system anymore. Wouldn't be stuck in stupid homes. Wouldn't have to keep running away like a coward. But they wanted all that from a real home, not a jail cell.
  
  Milo couldn't believe stealing a ship was such a serious crime for a military that had thousands. They wouldn't notice one fucking ship. They weren't being used; they were just sitting there. Milo needed it, because running wasn't cutting it anymore
  
  They actually flinched when Mara leaned in closer. They didn't really care about the jail thing. They were a master of escaping. They'd run from a lot of homes and could engineer their way out of a floating can in space. They were sure of it. But once she started talking about their dog, that was it. No one fucking messed with their dog. Milo's muscles tensed, and they regained the wild expression that had turned to fear a moment ago. They looked absolutely pissed. Mara knew just what buttons to press, what to threaten, to get them talking.
  
  Both options were crap, but they'd rather Gazzy not get melted down. He knew what was going on, what was being threatened. And he whined like a real dog to show how scared he was. Milo had coded his AI brilliantly. They considered him to be real, and not just some robot. Gazzy had feelings, and he definitely didn't like those options.
  
  He tucked his tail between his legs and hid under Milo's chair. Meanwhile, Milo was really wishing they could throw a wrench at this woman. Give her some blunt force trauma to get her conscience running again.
  
  Mara got up, asking them again why they were trying to steal a ship. They rolled their eyes. "Please, they didn't want him even when they had the plans for him." They murmured. They'd rescued Gazzy from the military. They'd shut that project down, so the plans for him would just be sitting in a box somewhere if the Undertakers hadn't liberated it as a gift for Milo. The military couldn't get the project to work, not even caring after a while and shutting it down. Maybe they'd research Gazzy so they could bring it back, pull him apart piece by piece until they could recreate Milo's work. And if they still didn't care about the failed project, the first option would come to life, which made Milo sick to think about.
  
  They could barely feel their body, but their old favorite injury felt like it was pulsing, distributing their fear to all parts of their body. "Just felt like it." They did not. It was obvious they were lying, by the fact at how shaky their voice was. "Listen, lady, if this is some kind of plea deal, then I think you should tell me what exactly is on the table before I sign." They felt like they were hyperventilating, but they tried to keep themself calm. "I needed it, alright. Only one ship. If it really is military property, then you must have thousands where that came from. You'd just replace it anyways. I needed it more than any of you do."
  
  How did they know about plea deals? Court terms? Because they'd learned a lot from their father's trial. They had plenty of evidence to convict him of what he'd done, but Milo had heard a rumor about a plea deal. And when they asked what the word meant, they were not happy with the outcome.
  
  "You assholes happy now? I want out now, and you can't take him. I won't let you." Yeah, they were feeling cornered now. They could do nothing but talk and watch if they tried to take their loyal companion and best friend away from them.
  
  Lucinda had to admit, she was genuinely impressed. Mara had fucking terrified the kid in the span of a minute. They were still holding out, it was never that easy even if the perp was scared, but it was a nice start. A real nice start. She gave a nod back to Mara. She wasn't expecting that from her. She still liked FBI work better, but Mara had earned at least some respect from her. "I don't know if that's really enough. Too vague. We're not buying that bullshit, kid."
  
  "Forgot you were even here." Milo quipped through the rage and fear. "Who even are you, anyways?"
  
  Lucinda narrowed her eyes but kept her cool and pretended to tap notes on her pad. "Suspect.. not cooperating. Need transport to metalworkers."
  
  And Lucinda going along with the little play by Mara just wiped the smirk off Milo's face real fast. Gazzy gave another metallic whimper. The both of them didn't look like hardened criminals whatsoever. Milo had cracked in a minute, while Gazzy was without his combat mode. They were a kid after all. Yeah, maybe a child prodigy, but still a child. It wasn't even fair, what they were doing to them. They didn't have a chance the second Mara brought up Gazzy.
  
  "Look, I gave you everything. I needed a ship, thought this would be the fastest way. Now can't we work out that deal. One where you don't take my best friend and murder him for scrap metal." They managed to snarl out.
  

 

[Kumii]

• Sylva Greenfield
• Cal
• Mara Takemi

• 
  
  Sylva GreenfieldLocation: Hangar 016
  Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
  Current Mood: Cheery
  Current Weather: None
  Current Time: August 5th, 3251. 7:45am
  Sylva braced herself when Rae began to ask a question but was stopped by Tommy. She glanced at Tommy and gave him a nod as if saying 'Thank you.'
  
  Rae's tuned changed when Sylva mentioned the off day and whatnot, asking what she wanted to do. Tommy chimed in saying he wasn't doing anything but Rae joked back saying she wasn't asking him. Sylva giggled softly then going back to asking what Sylva wanted to do, "I dunno. If they let us fly tomorrow, I'd really like to get to now the controls on my ship better." Sylva said that, but she just liked to get a head start on things.
  
• 
  
  Cal WymanLocation: Hangar 016
  Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
  Current Weather: None
  Current Time: August 5th, 3251. 7:45am
  Cal sighed at Isaac's joke, he knew he was joking, "Well, Lucy would be mad regardless truthfully." Cal rubbed his hand behind his head, "She's always so angry. Matty, Ev and I try our best to keep her under wraps but it doesn't always work." Cal sighed and yawned, "Anyways, thanks for agreeing to tag along tomorrow, I'll call you if something comes up." Cal began to walk away, giving a wave as he did, "You have things under control here so I'm gonna head back to my room."
  
• 
  
  Mara TakemiLocation: Interrogation Room
  Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
  Current Weather: None
  Current Mood: Calmed/Gentle
  Current Time: August 5th, 3251. 7:45am
  Mara narrowed her eyes, "All this talk of 'need' this and 'need' that. You don't 'need' shit, let alone military property. You WANT our property." Mara crossed her arms, "...but let's assume you actually did need it. What did you plan to do about the auto-lock program for unauthorized users? Or the military-grade trackers our academy ships come equipped with? What about the academy defenses? A lot of 'what-ifs' for a plan that didn't seem that well thought-out." Mara paced side-to-side as she spoke, she was concerned about what've happened to not just the ship but to the kid as well if they did manage to pull it off. She looked at Gazzy and knelt down next to him. Gently patted him then opened the panel on his back and went to work.
  
  Mara didn't look like it, but she was a top-tier engineer like Vincent, she re-activated his combat programming... but it immediately became hostile towards Milo, getting inches from their face but doing nothing, "Is this the combat robot you remember?" It recognized Milo as an enemy and Mara and Lucinda as allies. Mara knelt down next to Gazzy, "Your answers... they don't... well they don't please me." Mara looked at Milo but instead of her intense stare, it was instead a gentle gaze, "Tell us why is it you feel you need a ship from us? Maybe we can help you?" Mara kept Gazzy at bay for a moment while she deactivated his combat programming once more and he became a passive puppy again.
  
  "Your uncooperative attitude is only making things harder then they need to be." Mara petted Gazzy a bit, "If you tell us, I'll reactivate it for you, under the condition I register everyone at the academy as allies in it's eyes so it doesn't cause any unwanted accidents on your behalf. Sound good?" Mara had dropped her stern tone and adopted a more gentle tone
  

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

• Raelyn and Tommy Sanders
• Isaac Sanders
• Milo Maximillion

• 
  Sylva said she'd like to learn the controls for her ship better, which got Rae starry eyed again. Her tail clipped Tommy's leg as it wagged, which prompted him to look towards her. It was still invisible, and still scared everyone it touched when it brushed against them.
  
  "I can teach you! Dad let me fly his ship around a bunch, so I know a lot of the controls already." Raelyn offered, feeling excited at just the prospect of being able to show her new friend how to fly a ship. It was something special, that she knew how to do early. People didn't usually depend on her, so it felt good when they did.
  
• 
  Despite the joke, Cal ended up confiding in him. He told him about how Lucy seemed to always be angry, and that him and the band usually did everything they could to try to calm her down. His immediate thought was how she sounded like Tommy. After his mother died, he'd been so brash and angry. Maybe it was something similar for Lucy. Maybe a painful memory she was holding onto that made her explode at the drop of a hat. Or maybe there was something that currently happened that she was dealing with.
  
  Sandstorm nodded as Cal said his thanks, then proceeded to leave, saying he had everything under control. Man, everyone was leaving him. Now all he had to do was wait for all the kids to come out of their ships, so he could corral them to the next location
  
• 
  Yeah, sure, Milo wanted it. They would kill to have the kind of resources the military had. To be able to work with grade A materials. The best they had had gone into Gazzy, which left nothing for them besides an awesome metal dog. Sure, yeah, having a ship to get around in would be awesome. Getting to learn about ships, especially military grade, was only something they had been able to dream of. Not really learn about ships, but the innerworkings of them. Yes, they wanted all that, and could never have it, but right now it wasn't about their wants. As they saw it, there had been no other way. They were getting trailed by the cops, and then they had to deal with the Undertakers if those guys actually went after them. And not to mention if they ever ran into any child welfare workers. They would be screwed, hence why they needed the ship. But what would military officers know about that? Cushy lifestyle, carefree existence. They'd dealt with these types before and knew they were all full of shit. No one had ever helped them. Just stuck them somewhere so no one would have to deal with them. And it was always, always their fault whenever it didn't work.
  
  They narrowed their eyes and clenched their teeth at Mara calling this a not that well thought out plan. But it was the truth. Milo hadn't even known of all that stuff. They were a prodigy with a wrench and a mechanical interface. They did not make plans. They were small and easy to use as a scout, but Milo didn't even know they'd have to look out for that stuff. Mara had ripped their plan about in a matter of seconds, revealing how it would've never worked even if Vincent hadn't caught them.
  
  Mara kneeled down beside Gazzy and gave him a little pet, which instantly set Milo off. Gazzy buried his head into her hand, inching close enough where she could access his back panel. And that's exactly what she did. "Hey! Get your grubby hands off him!" They yelled out, but all they could do was watch. Their mind immediately whirled, thinking Mara was taking away their best friend like she'd threatened.
  
  But before they knew it, Gazzy jumped onto the table and rattled like an angry radiator. Mara asked them if this was the combat robot they remembered. No, because Gazzy was a companion first, and their protector second. No, because Gazzy was their friend. "Gaz, c'mon."
  
  Milo had an impeccable amount of faith in Gazzy, and didn't seem scared at him turning against them. They were more pissed that Mara messed with him. But given enough time Gazzy could overcome the new programming. Milo was listed as an administrator in Gazzy's software. Only they could make changes to who Gazzy viewed as friend or foe. And, in turn, Milo would never be an enemy considering their high privileges. Mara may have been good at engineering, but she wouldn't be able to change that fact unless she hooked Gazzy up to a computer and did some high-level hacking into Milo's code. And that code had an amazing firewall backing it, built by some scrubby kid with a little help from a few others.
  
  Mara said their answers didn't please her, and what did Milo care? They glared at her and was shocked to see a gentle expression back at them. But that shock quickly faded as she gave the same spiel they'd heard about a million times. Tell us why you did it, and we can help. Yeah right.
  
  They just watched as Mara worked on Gazzy, who had sparks propelling off his body as he tried to make sense of the different coding. The sparks stopped as cyan light flooded back to the accents on his body, his little outburst now over as Mara closed the panel on his back. Gazzy looked around the room, confused on what had just happened. Mara started petting him again and he seemed to calm a little.
  
  Mara spoke again, saying things were only hard because of their uncooperative attitude. She said that if they told them, then she'd reactivate Gazzy on the condition that everyone at the academy be registered as allies in his eyes. Sure, but that wouldn't do shit if one of them tried to hurt Milo. Gazzy's prime directive was to protect Milo, so even if it was an ally trying to harm them, Gazzy would still bite.
  
  But besides that, Mara's soft tone totally freaked them out and got them immediately suspicious. One, they didn't want anyone messing around with Gazzy's controls and programming. Two, they weren't that naive.
  
  "First off, he's not an it." Milo started, still obviously hostile. "What do you take me for? A moron? Help my ass. You think I haven't heard that countless times before. It's always 'I'll call for help' or 'I'll speak to them' or 'I've already talked to them.' Everyone says that. But nothing ever changes. What the hell do you know? You're all the same, selling me that pathetic little line because it's easy. Because you all pity me. 'I wanna change things, I wanna make it better'. What does that do exactly? Giving me empty promises that things will get better. Those hollow words mean nothing. All any of you ever do is throw me in the trash so you don't have to deal with me. You're just like them. You just stick me in the exact same situation over and over and over again." Milo's voice was edged with hostility and bitterness, getting louder and louder with every word. "'Maybe we can help you'. Yeah, right. Just shut the hell up already! I'm tired of hearing it! No one ever does a damn thing to help, so stop selling me that bullshit!
  
  Their fingers managed to slowly curl into fists at their side, despite the rest of their body staying motionless from the paralysis. Gazzy came down from the table, getting worried, and stood on his hind legs so the he could rest his front ones on Milo's lap for support. But Milo barely even processed the action from Gazzy. They were seething angry, remembering how they'd ended up after the 'help' they'd gotten to get their father arrested. How it had been the same situation, moving into a new family that still didn't care about them, after their father had been convicted. Every time they ran away and every time the system had found them and put them back into the same sort of place. They failed them miserably, and yet somehow it was always their fault that things never worked out.