Machine Vision [BlisteredBlood x TakodaVega]

[TakodaVega]

Naomi had seen things in her short life. A lot of things actually. The Federation had made sure their little pets would be able to handle the exposures of the rough and now barren Earth. Earth had become Homeworld to a third of the human population who had taken to space instead to instead of residing in what was once a beautiful planet. Wars and pollution had turned Homeworld into nothing more than a sparsely vegetated Mars.

This however was in the top five 'Oh shit' moments as she forced the outdated mech to move. If she got caught there was more at stake than just another life on the line, she was one of the experiments the Feds had tossed aside based on the comprehension of morals, of all things. She should have died had it not been for a lucky missle strike on the compound and a few fellow 'Rejects' breaking out those who would have been slaughter.

Mid way up her arm was a set of numbers. 7391. She always had thought of it as her prison number as she wheeled the mech around and raised one of her arms. The mech's following suit, pressing a button missiles shot from integrated weapons that slid out from the sheets of metal. Ice blue eyes looked through the shielded helmet on her head, the ear piece yelling at her loudly.

"Tucker, I heard you the first dozen times, I'm doing the best I fucking can with what I have. If you don't get your ass moving I really will turn you into my chew toy." She growled out as she saw another fighter jet come her way. She really hoped they finished the newer mechs soon, she wasn't even sure if this one would survive the fight as she watched out of the corner of her screen her convoy of fellow Projects move across the savanna plain. No place for them to hide in case shelter was needed. Thus why Naomi had gone.

She was one of the only ones who knew how to play decoy to the Feds while the real source of information they had always wanted went with the smaller convoy. The files they had managed to hijack from from one of the new facilities outside of what used to be the Congo were just the things they needed to keep themselves alive. Two months ago the Colonies had approached the Resistance with an offer. If they could get the information the Colonies wanted to break free from the Federation's control they would back the Resistance.

She was starting to feel like she was in a New World Revolutionary war when a mech came up behind her and grabbed her own mech's shoulder. And pulled. Gritting her teeth she used her free arm to grab the other mech's cockpit. Warnings flashed across her screen as sparks started to fly. This was not gonna be one of her good days, her feline ear flicking back as Tucker continued to yell at her to pull out. Tucker was their Captain on this escapade. She was starting to think he had a thing for her or something. Stupid dog. He was one of the few canine experiments that had even survived the first round.

Her hand tightened on the enemy cockpit until she finally saw what she had been looking for. "Gotcha." She growled as she twisted, a man's scream coming from within the metal. A scream that to human ears could never be heard. But for her? It was like hearing the pin drop. Grabbing the fallen Mech's blaster from the ground, she tried to move the damaged shoulder only to curse under her breath. "Everybody still okay?" She growled out, running after the convoy as they neared their destination. The cloaking mechanism on the base had served them well, the newer technology, thanks to the Colonies database, was proving to come quite in handy as her damaged mech went to the Bay. Cheers could be heard on the lower levels. Of course Naomi would make it. Damn males. She walked over to the empty slot for the mech, fingers flipping the switches as the steam started to rise from the hydrolic lifts.

Rising to stand, she stood on the terrace that had risen outside of her cockpit door. Freedom, god had it never felt so good as she finally pulled off her helmet. Ebony locks fell free, a hand reaching up to pull off the transmitter from her ear. A dark, rounded furred one with white spots on the backs. It was clear to see what sort of DNA she had gotten. Her white tiger-striped tail swished angrily behind her as the dock finally lowered to the floor. "Any word yet on when the new mechs will be done? I heard we get partners." She was still a little miffed about that. However she had heard that each partner had built the Mech to their partners expectations. Essentially they'd be their mechanic and training partner in the coming weeks.

Fun. More people. Exactly what Naomi wanted. Not. As if to signal a change in the tide the mech she had been chose at that point to collapse crashing to the floor. Growling softly, she fought the urge to not loose her temper, "This day just keeps getting better and better."

[BlisteredBlood]

When there was a loud crash of metal that was sent through the place, a young man was seen with a set of earbuds in his ears that was connected to a portable music player was blasting out a cover of Behind The Wall Of Sleep, a tune that was previously done by an old metal band that no one seemed to remember anymore but was covered by another group that no one still remembered. But still, it was something that Dante seemed to enjoy. Perhaps he had a flavor of listening to old and obscure music while everyone else on this forsaken dirtball of what was left of Earth had moved on to something else.

His moment of relaxation however was cut short the moment he heard a Mecha coming into the Bay area now, causing him to frown a bit in disappointment prior to lifting up his sunglasses from his eyes and peer a mismatched pair of irises; green for his right eye and brown for his left with a half opened glare. Oh joy. He knew whose mech that was. If he didn't know better, he could've sworn that thing was destined for the junk heap sooner or later and by god, did it ever finally happen. "I swear, she puts too much strain on that thing. No wonder her repair bills get so costly." He mused to himself before he shook his head disparagingly for a moment before he let out a sigh and a shake of his head then pushed himself off of the wall he was leaning on and stepped out a little further. Apparently, this was the female he was going to be teaming with amongst a few other pilots that they had thrown together. Some of them were some of the best pilots the group ever had and others... Not so much. They were average at best, but nothing spectacular. Oh well. Nothing that a few training regimens wouldn't work out.

Once he was out onto the catwalk, the young man named Dante McPhadden or Dead Eye as he was often called took his earbuds out of his ears for the moment and turned off the small music player before stuffing the whole ensemble into his jacket pocket before raising his shades up above his eyebrows and let them rest there before he continued to walk, his light boots giving off a cadence of leather on metal as he moved. From there, Dante placed his hands into the respective pockets of his jacket before heading over to the female and offered her a little wave of his hand towards her before he stopped in place.

"You know, I'd say you were handling that tin can of yours a little too roughly, but I guess that seems to be an understatement." He said to her in a slightly sarcastic tone of voice.

[TakodaVega]

Naomi had been reaching into one of the various pockets in her coat to pull out a cigarette that had needed her attention at that given moment, she seldom smoked unless under stressful situations - like now for instance. Yet, the voice made her feline ears perk, her icy blue eyes following the source of the voice her ears had already picked up. She narrowed them slightly as she pulled a lighter from the pocket and lit it carefully, letting the tip light up in an orange flare before returning the lighter and the pack to her respectful pocket.

"You would to if you were dealing with something that should have been decommissioned over five years ago and had a few invisible Feds swarming you. But who fucking died and made you king of the mech world?" She growled out as took another inhale of smoke before letting fall from her lips. "I'm not in the best of moods, so you'd best stay out of my way." She moved to sidestep away from the man as to make her way to the other levels. Though she had the nagging suspicion he'd stop her.

She had seen the guy around before, probably was one of those spectators that watched. Naomi had her fair share of those days, but then again the problem was with Naomi she was the best. Everyone said as much, though she had thoroughly decimated the mech had any other pilot been operating it they would have died. They all knew that somehow. It's why she was always on the field and not always around to see the progression of things to come. She only heard whispers of it, and though she wasn't thrilled about it she knew that eventually it had to be done. Otherwise the Resistance would truly be slaves, or dead. Though slavery was the darker of the two evils.

[BlisteredBlood]

Dante wasn't exactly surprised that she would react this way to him when he mentioned the poor condition of her mech, for he probably would've stated the same thing if he were in her shoes. Only a far bit more analytically with just the same amount of sarcasm. At her question however, Dante simply shrugged his shoulders with a bit of a sarcastic smirk on his face and shook his head for a moment. "I sure as hell didn't remotely ask for it, but since you put it so nicely, I'll be expecting my crown by the end of the week." Dante countered with a sly remark of his own before watching Naomi sidestep around him and then move onward.

Indeed, he had seen her around. Most times, he was a spectator to Naomi's catastrophic failures with her mech, but most times he was also sent out on sorties himself, usually with either few people or just by himself. Sometimes it was a retrieval mission, sometimes it was a recon job, then sometimes it turned out to be a garrison job here or there. Nothing that really put him to the test. It was almost as if they were treating him with kid gloves, something that he became somewhat irate with, but he understood their circumstances if they happened to have sent out one of their other better pilots out there. Of course, he was a little more miffed when he was given one of their standard issue Tank-type mechs that were suited for heavy combat but weren't built for a lot of speed. They always felt far too clunky to him for the most part, but he had to suffice until his own personalized machine would arrive here sometime within the next few days or so.

He wouldn't attempt to stop her as he watched her walk away from him, for he felt that perhaps a little space would probably do her some good. But before she got too far however, Dante looked over his shoulder and gave one last remark to her. "You know, you ain't the only one who's gonna be stuck on this god forsaken rock, missy. Some of us are also wanting to get outta here as well, but not before we handle a few things with those Fed assholes first. Perhaps you should try being a little more considerate of their feelings, too." He answered.

[TakodaVega]

Naomi stopped dead in her tracks, her feline ears perked and focused on him with the alertness of any feline who was on the hunt.  Her blue eyes closed as she took in a deep breath inhaling the smoke from her cigarette, the ember alight almost as pure as her need to proove this inexcuseable punk some manners. Releasing the smoke she finally breathed in a clear breath before whirling around to face him.

"The reason why I fight is not to get off of Homeworld. It is to return the favor they have done to my fellow people. Project Eden, to them, was their playground to change and corrupt the human genome so that they may become more and more powerful. They wished to control and create the perfect army. Eventually the perfect soldier was created through breeding and culling the castoffs. Until you know the full facts never, ever assume you know everything."

Her feline tail flicked behind her as she went back down her way further down into the inner workings of the base. She had never found someone so arrogant in her life, and she swore if she saw the punk again she would put him through the paces. If he wanted to be ruler of the mecha world in the Resistance he had a lot of work ahead of him. Including going through her. He would learn there was a reason why he had been through the kiddy ring. He had no idea what was in the real world just yet. He would though - soon enough.

[BlisteredBlood]

"Hey, I never said I was looking to get out of here," Dante answered with a stiff tone of voice. "If nothing else, your guys sent me the invite to come here through my place of employment over at Nerves Concord. They promised a big payday if I just sat back and chilled with you all here, go out on some jobs to make some money on the side and when the delivery shuttle arrives with a certain something of mine, that's when the real job begins. I've looked over the mission files so many times, studied up on the recent goings-on and all that other happy horseshit." He added, sounding genuinely aggravated.

"For your information, I always look over the mission notes as carefully as I can. Information does save lives, you know." He added with narrowed eyes, glaring at Naomi with that same aggravated expression on his face. "For you to say that I assume I know everything is a slap in my face and I do hope that one day soon you'll not only apologize for that remark, because if it's anything like how the old saying goes, you had better keep your words soft and sweet because you'll be eating them later." Dante concluded with a warning.

Soon enough, Dante was left by himself out on the catwalk now, emitting a slight scoff before he shook his head. If she only knew who it was she was talking to. Perhaps one of the most seasoned veterans of the Mars campaigns and one of the most distinguished Arena battlers of all time. He was heralded as the Nine Breaker back in New Los Angeles before there was a string of riots that ripped the city asunder. It bothered him a great deal to be among the many who had to do the unthinkable to restore order in that turbulent time. He claimed to have moved on from that time, but there were times when he appears to be somewhat shaken whenever he saw a mother and her children and the fathers coming home to meet them. Perhaps it was here that he became so cold, calculating and ruthless due to the fact that he had to force himself to block everything pertaining to that moment in time out.

[TakodaVega]

All Hands Report to the Command Deck. All Hands to the Command Deck. Came the resounding, female voice that seemed to be labeled in all the hardware. Naomi supposed it was to remind the stereotypical males who worked on the computer hardware that women did exist somewhere. Groaning however she pulled herself from the bed.  Since the interaction with the male almost as week ago she had scarcely seen him, and had almost virtually forgot about him till that morning during her morning run.

He hadn't changed, based on appearances. She half wondered if that smug look was plastered on his face, however Naomi ignored him that morning but his words came to bite at her. Her pride had taken a hit for some reason or another and she didn't like it. Pulling on a no-sleeve shirt and some cargo pants she glanced at herself in the mirror. Maybe he had been right about her destructive like treatment. However she couldn't think about that now as she pulled on her boots and made her way to the door.

The pants hung on her hips showing the ribbon of pale skin along her middle, disappearing to the blackness of the ebony stripes that ran down her spine. She was one of the last ones to enter the room, mainly due to the fact her room was one of the farthest from the command deck in general. Leaning against the wall in the back, she crossed her arms under her breasts appearing indifferent to everything.

Instead she was focusing why her image and the one who told her to eat her words later were labeled next to the same mech. Her feline ears flicked back and perked forward again as his name appeared beneath the picture. She mentally winced, his name was not one to be tangled with. As other mech displays appeared all of them had their image and that of another's but Dante's name nor image appeared on any of the other ones as the schematics for the mech's came into play.

She had the feeling today was going to end badly.

[BlisteredBlood]

In the week that passed, Dante had rarely been seen around the base, leading some to assume that he had just up and vanished like some sort of ghost, save for a few occasions where he was spotted - albeit briefly - at the cafeteria. Some have said that he was seen entirely by himself, but none could confirm nor deny his whereabouts for the entire time. But when he heard the order to report to the Command Deck, Dante was now seen stepping from his quarters and heading for it without question.

Upon arrival a short while later, Dante's expression was quite different, not to mention his attire was entirely different as well. He was seen wearing a brown leather bomber jacket and on the right breast pocket was a rather odd looking patch on it. The patch itself was of the planet Mars and a platinum colored number nine in front of it, but both it and the nine looked as though they were shattered. He wore a plain black t-shirt under the jacket which was somewhat tucked into a pair of gun-metal colored slacks which was looped with a brown leather belt, accented with a silver square buckle while at his feet were the same black combat boots as before. His expression, however, looked as though he was anticipating the arrival of something important due to the way his eyes were narrowed, but soon became somewhat vexed when he saw that his face and the female feline he spoke with a week ago were now going to be commandeering the same mech together. This put a bit of a bad taste in his mouth followed by shaking his head, but he instead decided to shrug it off and just go with it. Besides, he was anticipating the arrival of his personalized machine in about a day from now.

Dante emitted a sigh before he shook his head. This is gonna be another one of those days, isn't it? He thought before he looked back at the display with a small frown.

[TakodaVega]

The program that ran the basic mechanics of thing slowly lit up a beam of light from floor to ceiling to show another of Project Eden, it appeared he had been crossbred with something akin to a serpent as he slid his tongue out slowly before bringing it back in. "Asss you can sssee you all have partnersss with your mechsss basssed on your ssstrengthss and weaknessses." The man stated before fingers moved along an imaginary keyboard as he listed each and every mech in detail before saving Naomi and Drake's for last.

"Thisss model isss for the Leaders of our new Squad. Asss they are the best of each of their own specialties, Dante with hisss combat and reconissscence and Naomi with her weaponry and defensive group combat. Both, in contrary to the others listed, shall pilot and be the technical back-up for each other, thus both shall be present when the Mech is live." Murmurs went through the crowd as Naomi flicked her feline tail. This wasn't going to end well at all. She would have to share a mech not only with a legend, but someone who treated her like a general ass? This wasn't going to end well at all.

All Hands, save for Naomi and Dante may return to their stations. Came the over head voice, and the little serpent man didn't disappear from the hologram just yet, while some lingered for curiosity there was silence until all that was left was Naomi and Dante. The little serpent man continued, "You have a ssspecial mech asss such I have ssstrict orderss for both of you. While thisss meeting hasss been taking place, both of your thingsss have been moved to a new quarter which you ssshall sshare. Without trusssting each other outside of the mech you ssshall not be able to operate it properly."

Naomi's feline ear flicked back once before perking forward once more. They touched her personal things? She took in a deep breath before letting out slowly before glancing at Dante to see how he would take that new order. No touching their designated mech until they could trust each other? Seemed like they would have a hard lesson ahead of them.

[BlisteredBlood]

As Dante listened in, he did so with a good amount of apprehension on his face. He hadn't heard but five seconds of that person's briefing and already Dante was resisting the urge to slap a hand over his face, since he really didn't like anyone speaking of his abilities out loud. But when he saw the machine that he and Naomi were going to be using, he arched an eyebrow at it. From how it looked, it was better than those Tank-type mechs they had him driving around it. But from what he could make of it, it looked as though it would get convoluted and in a hurry. For someone of his style, he always preferred something that flowed together in such a way that it was damn near impossible for anyone to catch. Something that could pick off targets from a distance away, explosive high speeds and deliver a savage amount of damage up close.

But the fact remained. He would have to deal with someone who would undoubtedly interrupt his constant flowing movements, but also be an outright bitch. Dante didn't turn to look at Naomi when he felt her eyes on him, but instead crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head when he also heard that his things were moved to a room they would also have to share before looking away from the hologram. Not that it would matter much to him, since this was the norm in recent memories he had since left in limbo. One could assume that his reaction to this change was one of an apathetic form of acceptance.

There's not much that was there to move anyway. Dante thought before he now turned his eyes over to Naomi with a steely look aimed at her.

[TakodaVega]

"I'm aware the two of you have already met. You may each think you are better off alone but if you can work around your pride isssues, you will be unssstopable. Besidess, Naomi isss the only one who hass been able to detect the Federation's mechs with their Ssstealth activated. Sssomething for you to consssider." Came the serpentine hologram before it vanished leaving Naomi and Dante to stare at each other. The two would be quite a pair if their prides weren't in the way.

It was almost ironic that both took the same pose to boot. Taking in a deep breath Naomi's blue eyes focused on him before she shook her head, "This isn't going to be easy, but you heard what the Doc said." Came her voice a moment later, "So get used to it. I'm going for a run after I see our new place, if you would like to join me." It was a gentle offer but there was something in her voice that said that doing so cost her.

Naomi running alone had been her source to think and clear her head. If she was never going to be truly alone in the only other thing that gave her some peace it was going to end badly. That and no more personal space, that meant questions would be asked. She half wondered if there were ulterior motives behind forcing the two to room together. She hoped not, she couldn't see herself at the moment being attached to anyone again, especially since the ones she grew close to died on her.

[BlisteredBlood]

"Pride issues?" Dante questioned with an eyebrow arched. "What manner of pride issue do you think I have? What I do out there on the battlefield speaks for itself without having to go into bullshit details about it." He added, once again growing significantly aggravated that his skills were being taken so far out of context. Yes, he knew he was a highly skilled veteran, but there were certain things that no one should ever discuss according to him. But before his question was answered, the hologram fizzled out, leaving Dante to sigh with a look of disdain on his face.

Once again, Dante was resisting the urge to smack a hand over his face as he once again crossed his arms over his chest. When he heard Naomi speak now, he turned his eyes over to her once more with both brows arched. "That's an understatement. Somehow, I'm getting the feeling this isn't be much better than some of the things. As for heading out for that run, I'll think about it. Besides, I need to make sure everything of mine is in the new place and maybe hang there for a bit." Dante eventually answered.

Whenever Dante went out on his solo sorties, it allowed Dante to focus entirely on the mission and nothing else. Even in one on one battles, Dante was perhaps one of the most feared competitors to ever set foot in the Arena. Even if he had a wingman following him into the foray, Dante always seemed to push himself to the very limit, almost far beyond the normal threshold than what most mechs should be capable of producing. But some made claims that perhaps there was something different with Dante each and every time, but none could figure out how or why. Most that attempted to get close to that information would always find themselves immediately shoved away as a warning and that was the only warning they ever received. He would always keep that information to himself and no one should ever know.

[TakodaVega]

"I think that's what it meant by pride issues, Dante. We're both too stubborn to see that if we work together that things might work out better than they did alone." Of course the hologram, being cut off, wouldn't be able to answer Naomi's point. Naomi never denied being stubborn, however, she listened when she needed to and this was one of those times she really needed to. Like him needing to make sure all of his things were moved properly.

"I'll go with you,' she said. "At least to make sure none of our things got mixed together." She doubted they would. Naomi was never one to carry many items. Usually just the clothes on her back, a few books, and the random odd and end from her old life - which was sitting on top of the pile of things as they reached their new destination in the uneasy, at least for Naomi, silence. What she found in the room though didn't help much either. A bed, big enough for two, a couple of desks with workstations and monitors, as well as dressers for each of them.

She flicked her tail at the bed before glancing at Dante, "I'll take the floor. I sleep better there anyway." Which was a truth and a lie: Yes, she had slept on the floor most of her life, but it's not necessarily the better sleep. It usually brought with it dreams of her captivity as a science experiment. At that thought she rubbed the brand on her arm. To them all she had ever been a number. A defective one at that she would come to find out later on.

Yet she didn't know why the base had only given them the one bed. Did they expect the two to just turn into a happy couple or something? Probably, she mentally thought, since we're supposed to work so well together. Too bad she wouldn't be able tot rust him to that degree as far she could throw him. That just spelled disaster. Not that anything would come of such a thing; most of the females on Base were dosed monthly to make sure these things didn't happen. Children were the last thing that was needed in a time of war.

[BlisteredBlood]

Once again, Dante felt that familiar urge to just swat a hand over his face and groan with ever increasing disdain in regards to the amount of aggravation he had just heard from Naomi, but there was something in her statement that actually had a ring of truth to it. Even if there was a slightly minor one. There was one thing he disagreed on firmly, and this pertained to the pride issue once more. He never really prided himself in any of his work. More to the point, he did work well with others, but it all stemmed back to his original thought process in regards to how he would throw himself into the fray with seemingly unlimited aggression and never let up for a second. This would indeed generate a lot of flak with his teammates he used to work with, mainly because they felt as though that Dante would get far too aggressive, even if he was being methodical about it or if the situation was far too dire to attempt such strategies. As much as he wanted to tell her about this, he knew in his heart of hearts that he just couldn't. He hadn't known her for more than a week plus several minutes now and already, he felt that lecturing her about it wouldn't do any good. Furthermore, he barely knew her. And even if she did attempt to get to know him any better, she would find out rather quickly that there was certain layers that once pulled back could never be resealed.

Now in terms of them just being business partners, that was something he could get used to. For now.

When he was followed by Naomi, Dante eventually kept silent as he continued to walk to their new quarters, finding that they were... Not quite what he had thought. Granted, the workstations were a nice touch and all that, but when his eyes turned to the bed in the center of the room, Dante cringed mentally at this. Apparently, whoever came up with this bright idea must've been on some sort of psychedelic before throwing this together. Slowly, Dante lifted a hand up to his face and closed his eyelids for a moment before lightly pressing his fingertips over them and rubbed them with a slight bit of irritation.

Of course, his things were here after looking everything over with a keen eye as he began to discern what was his own personal property and what wasn't. There was mostly a few small war trophies here and there, a copy of a Chinese philosophy book no one ever reads nowadays that he kept near and dear to his heart called The Art of War and a few other personal items that were kept in tightly sealed containers. The rest of which was in the pile were just his clothes.

When Naomi stated she would take the floor, Dante at first frowned partially at this. Normally, he would considered to be best when it came to sleeping on flat surfaces, for he recalled times when he had been forced to sleep in some rather uncomfortable spots. But then again, a soldier should know what to do when faced with the concept of little to no luxuries. Anyone who was familiar with the term, "Any port in a storm" would be right at home.

"Nah. You go ahead and take it. I'm probably not gonna sleep much tonight anyways." Dante answered firmly in response before looking off to the side towards his workstation and walked over to it before sitting down at the chair in front of the desk.

[TakodaVega]

Naomi had moved with an almost stiffness as she went to the three boxes and bag that had her name across them. The bag she assumed had most of her clothes in it as she set to work claiming a dresser and putting away clothes in a neat and precise pattern. Pants on the bottom, shirts in the middle underthings and socks tossed into the same drawer at the top. Once it was emptied she rolled up the bag and tucked it, too, in the top drawer. This wasn't the first time she moved about was it?

Of course she had been tossed from base to base in her time, though it was nothing new. Next came the three boxes, which she pushed into her corner of the room. A clawed finger moved along the tape to glance inside, muttering something about being wasteful, before placing her few books against her work station, there was a big black book among them which appeared as though to be a sketch book. Another book where the numbers had been worn away but obviously looked to be a journal of some type, though judging by the pages it was far older than she was. A metronome completed the desk, though it currently wasn't moving. She'd fix that later when she needed it.

Breaking down boxes and adding what few other things were in them, though those seemed more modern compared to the first box - a laptop, a harddrive, music player, a customized headphone system that obviously had been crafted so they never left her feline ears. The laptop looked a little worse for wear with scratches along the plate metal backing as she hooked up the cords to their proper port. The last box seemed to contain her bath things which she placed on top of the dresser. The claws having made quick work of the other boxes and making them flat before they, too, were placed under the dresser.

It was coming obvious that she was methodical in her own ways. Though hers seemed to involve steps than impulse. Maybe there was more to that than met the eye? It was hard to tell. Though she ignored his offer about the bed, shaking her head before finding a bare spot to stretch. Still she held the patterns. Impulsive maybe was what made her lose her methods, reaching into the bathroom box to pull out a hair tie to pull up that long hair of hers before grabbing the music player which looked just as beat up as the laptop. and slipped on those head phones that clipped to part of each of her ears. "I'll be back later," she said considering he hadn't answered her about the run.

Then again most couldn't really tolerate her workout. Her feline genes dictated she needed to run for miles a day most days. The base itself was only two miles around. Not enough for her it seemed. It never seemed enough, so while the music pounded in her ears to the beat she would run her mind working on it's deconstruction of the most recent events. This was how she thought - with a clean slate much like the metronome, the music blocking out outside sounds to focus.

What the hell was she going to do?

[BlisteredBlood]

Dante perked an eyebrow at Naomi as she began to assemble that old music player of hers to her ears, which looked to be about as old as his own in retrospect. He hadn't figured her to be an audiophile much like himself, but then again, there was still not much he knew about her aside from the obvious differences based on their species.

He took his time in assembling everything. That dusty old Chinese philosophy book on the desk, bookmarked to where he had it left off, which looked as though he was about halfway through the thing. An aluminum attache case sat down next to the book second, one that was held shut by two hinge locks and a combination lock. His clothes would be placed within their proper drawers, shirts up on top folded as neatly as possible, underwear and socks in the middle, pants in the bottom, also taken care of nice and neat. Everything had to be methodical. A place for everything and everything in its place, as it was no doubt said.

Once everything was set out and tucked out of the way, Dante looked over his workspace, which was surprisingly sparse, save for his music player, the small but bulky looking attache case, the book and his .38 pistol which was in a holster along with a silencer, a parts box and a multitool. He would then ease himself into the chair, sighing in comfort once he sat down, picking up the .38 pistol and slipping it out of its holster, looking it over with the eye of a surgeon. He handled it with a loose grip as he leaned his head from left to right carefully, almost as if he was looking for anything out of place. a screw that wasn't tightened up all the way, the slider wasn't clicking into place, the hammer doesn't cock all the way back, he was looking for anything that didn't look or feel right. He turned it one way then the other nice and slow, feeling that it had the proper weight, the proper feel, the slider slid back smoothly with no catch, the hammer clicked perfectly, the trigger responded to the right amount of pressure, the empty clip slid out nicely and the iron sights lined up perfect to both eyes.

Some might say he was a total perfectionist, but everything had to be lined up properly. It was almost he could see a Third Dimensional image of anything he laid either his hands on or his eyes, especially that green one. People believed that that eye of his could pierce right through a person's soul if given the chance. This made him few enemies and fewer friends.

He continued holding the pistol in his hand for the moment, examining it over from top to bottom for a time before he set it down next to the holster. He contemplated on taking the thing apart and putting it back together again, but he remembered he needed to go out on that run soon. Gotta keep in tip-top shape, as they would say. Not that anyone would be brave enough to say it to his face, of course.

What was he to do, he wondered as he sat there, his eyes gazing towards that lone corner in the room.

What was he to do, indeed.

[TakodaVega]

The problem with being an experiment for Naomi had been one that had posed many barriers but the Resistance knew that with those weaknesses there were strengths. She was a product of her generation, both intelligent and strong, though what set her apart from others was that her cunning could get the better of her. Perhaps that was why she had those processes in place to keep in tune with herself.

Music was more for background noise as her feet went along the beaten path. In order to have access to their mech she was going to have to work with Dante, a task she didn't want to do entirely because he was arrogant and a prick. Though sleeping in the same quarters means she wasn't going to be able to hide parts of her. What if the night terrors came back? She had them in spurts, usually a memory would jog into them causing days or even weeks with them at night. Waking up frozen, or worse screaming from the memory. Naomi had scars that weren't easily seen unless she took off her shirt.

She preferred nobody but the medics knew about them, though she knew her files were all available to the public. Due to who and what she was there was no privatization of her medical history nor background that wasn't available within a few clicks of a keyboard. She dealt with it and the blowback that often came with it in due time. Right now she needed to focus on how to learn to be cooperative with Dante. Thoughts like that she was praying for a miracle to happen.

[BlisteredBlood]

Over time, Dante would soon pull one leg up over the other after he set the gun down, leaned back in the chair and rested the point of his elbow down on the armrest of the chair he sat in before setting his cheek on a closed fist, his eyes soon closing in thought. How did he wind up like this, was the first question he had asked himself as he sat there, picking apart all of these possibilities one by one trying to discern the real reason as to why he of all people was selected. Nerves Concord ran an extremely tight ship when it came to contracting their most highly skilled - and highly paid at that - pilots who have had their mettle tested in various environments from all across the globe, but very rarely do they ever put two pilots in the same vicinity, unless if the other pilot was bought out by a rival organization and in which case, it all came down to that old trope of "nothing personal, but it's just business." As such, this mentality forced them to take drastic measures in order to ensure that they found the one pilot who exceeded all expectations and was an equal blend of ruthlessness, intellect and knew their whereabouts like it was the back of their own hands.

And when it came time for those excessively high risk, exceedingly high reward jobs? There was only one mission prerogative. It was either you do it right the first time or don't you even dare come back. Your death will be memoralized in the annals of history, under the moniker of you having fucked the whole thing up just because you made one stupid and costly mistake. And if you fail, your name was immediately tarnished forevermore as your mech was blown to pieces, taking you within the explosion.

There were also rumors of the organization subjecting their own pilots to genetic manipulation in order to produce higher results within their pilots, but this was never confirmed nor denied, as Nerves Concord never disclosed this information publicly. But at the current moment, Dante had other problems. The current one being that he was forced to cooperate with Naomi. This would prove to be difficult, he thought as he sat there for a little while longer before he soon stood up from his seat, figuring it was high time to go out on that run. There would be time for thinking later.

Once he was up on his feet, Dante soon moved for the door, soon moving for the outdoor track.