U.A.U.

The caravan's shock's were clearly not up to stock, as every time the vehicle would run over some sort of bump or divot in the road, Matthew's entire body would be thrown in the air; tearing up his skin on his wrists, which were handcuffed together. His ankles were likewise shackled together, and attached to the floor of the caravan. Three men sat in front of his, and two more sat on either side. The caravan's canvas covering was shut, as it had been for several hours. Overall, it was an odd setup in Matthew's eyes. He was being drafted. Why the need to act like he was a prisoner? He could technically escape whenever he wanted.

Matthew tried to scratch an itch on his neck, underneath the military-issue camo uniform he had on.

“You boys come here often?” He joked to the man on the right. The private silently slammed the butt of his rifle into Matthew’s knee.

He yelped in pain. “Aw, come on, I’m just wondering!” He shouted.

---

The caravan drove on for another 3 hours until it finally parked. Matthew was escorted out into a dark room.

“Thanks for the lift...” He muttered; hearing his own echo move across the vast room. One by one, the lights cut back on, and--after blinking a few times--Matthew could see where he was.

It was a massive, massive barracks. The sheer size of it alone seemed to encompass an entire square mile. In the room was a large quantity of workout equipment, swimming pools, massive pathways to different hallways, rifle ranges, and more. Some equipment Matthew had never seen before; he could only assume it was custom-made for some of the other’s mutant power arriving.

”Private Webb!” Came a loud scream from Matthew’s left. Once he turned, he saw an older gentleman approaching fast. With his very basic knowledge of military training, he attempted to stand at attention.

“At ease, on the count that your version of attention is physically repulsive!” He screamed, nearly right into his face. On the count that the two were about the same height, Matthew was even more taken aback.

“You are the first of your team to arrive.”

“Wonderful,” He joked. The Colonel didn’t look too pleased with his attitude.

“You have only just arrived, and yet still you have managed to royally piss me off! On the count of your own personal safety, I recommend you shut the hell up and listen to me!”

Matthew made no more jokes.

“Private Webb, you are entering into the United States Military; this is the best military on the damn planet. You will act like you are in the best military on the damn planet. You will carry yourself with the weight of the millions that have died before you, protecting this great nation of ours. You will hold the constitution up to such a high standard, I want Washington himself to look down from heaven and say ‘Damn, he’s good!’ Do you hear me?”

“Yes, sir.” Matthew said, slightly sheepish.

“That will be SIR, YES, SIR, from now on! Understood?”

“Sir, yes, sir!” He shouted.

“Good. Now I have a meeting to attend to,” He said, much more calmly. “The rest of your team will arrive shortly. You will need to remind them for me why the hell they are here.”

The Colonel turned to the side, and spoke to an Officer. Only then, did Matthew notice the nametag on the colonel’s shirt: Matthews.

”Now this may get confusing. Matthew thought.

“Alright then,” Colonel Matthews said to Matthew. “The Officer here will escort you to your living quarters. Your team will be escorted, by the same Officer, to the same quarters. You take care of your quarters like you take care of your life; if I see a single speck of dust, I will personally move your ass over to the bunks. Everyone is to meet me back in here at the top of the hour. Got it?”

“Sir yes sir!”

---

After a minute of being led down a hallway, Matthew was quickly pointed into a room, labeled P. Webb on the door, and the officer that led him quickly disappeared.

Inside the room, Matthew found a stack of military-issue clothes, a pen and paper, a twin-sized bed, a sink, and a mirror. Nothing else seemed to be in the room besides basic soap and shaving equipment, and a closet. Matthew rubbed his hair, knowing most of it would probably be shaved off.

On the back of the door, Matthew found a map of the facilities; it seemed to be laid out quite simply; with the Barracks at the center, each of the other hubs were circled around it--the living quarters, mess hall, library, break room, armoury, store, leadership quarters, war room, and the garage; where he assumed he entered into. Other smaller rooms were littered throughout, but nothing else seemed to be needed for him.

Looking out his door, he saw that, even though the hallway extended on, only 3 doors had other names placed on them. He could only assume this was how small his unit would be.

Next to his room, on the right, were two unique doors, each labeled Bathroom - Men and Bathroom - Women.

Shrugging, Matthew laid down in his bed, leaving the door open. Glancing over to a clock on the wall, he saw he had about 40 minutes. Sitting up in his bed, Matthew wondered if he should make for the store and request more things for him room. Until then, he slid out of his pocket what was probably contraband--a bouncy ball--and began throwing at the wall, and catching it again. Sure, he had smuggled in other things, but this would work for now.

Bernie sat still for the duration of the ride, not opening his mouth, save to whistle and hum a few tunes before being rudely shut up by the armed guards. Though his days of getting demoted, he had dealt with rides like these quite a bit- though the trip for the higher ranks had been admittedly much nicer. Still he tried nit to think about those days too much, it only made him want to light up, which was never really a good idea.

Bernie looked to the guards now, actually taking the time to study them. Though armed with the regular weapons that one might expect on military personnel, their guns were tucked away. Instead, both held in their arms a single fire extinguisher, should there be an incident on the ride. Though he did feel a bit insulted, Bernie couldn't really blame them. After all, he doubted anyone had sprung on the offer to transport a man who lights on fire when agitated. One kept a stern expression- clearly experienced and professional, but the fear was plain to smell on the other one. A new recruit, obviously. The thought of toying with him danced around his mind for a moment, but was dismissed quickly. That would end only in regret and fire.

So, he maintained the stone cold stare he wore like a mask, until they hit a large bump, that sent him rocketing up to the roof, before a sturdy arm came down and restrained him. "I don't suppose they will let you talk to me, will they?" Bernie asked the sterner looking guard, only to be met with a steely silence. "I figured as much. You know, I think I remember you. Yeah, weren't you transporting me in one of the higher up facilities. Yeah, private... What is it again?" He asked, before remembering. "Private Burns! Yeah, that's right. Burns back on burn duty. Nice to catch up, see you're as warm and open as ever." Bernie said, keeping his voice a disturbing monotone. .

"We have been ordered to not interact with you in any way. Direct orders." The stern man said, breaking his iron gaze for the slightest moment as he looked over at Bernie. Bernie raised his hands before returning to the strict pose he usually sat in. Keeping himself disciplined had always helped with the fire predicament, and so he always practiced such actions.

In no time (about four hours) the car skidded to a rough stop. He was shoved out, though he didn't notice much. He was too busy looking around. Naturally, this wasn't impressive to him, he had seen much bigger in his days. Still, he made sure to get a good look around, in a way, he was casing the place, making sure he knew where to go. Before he could go out to find his way to someone who knew where he hell he was supposed to go, he was stopped by a man wearing a rather out of place reflective safety vest. The man handed him a few papers, and spent a couple of minutes detailing the locations of various fire alarms, smoke detectors, and fire extinguishers, so he would know exactly which way to run, should he have an 'incident'.

As the man began to walk away, Bernie took a good look at the papers. "Woah, woah, woah, man. Is this really necessary? Last time I checked, this is about twice of what standards call for! I get that I have a problem, but seriously?" he asked, a bit insulted.

"I don't make the rules, kid. If HQ says we need it, then we need it. Anyways, I would call lighting yourself on fire to be a bit more than just a problem." The man said, clearly on edge, before he began hurriedly limping away, clutching his clipboard tightly to his chest.

"Wait a minute! I wasn't done with- ah, whatever...", Bernie muttered, waving his hand in disgust. He looked down at his hands for a quick second. "I make one helluva monster..." He muttered, truly sad and disappointed in himself. Before any fiery thoughts crept into his mind, he took his mind off of the subject by thinking happy thoughts- puppies, lemonade, burning buildi- Oh dammit. He quickly dismissed that thought, and walked with a brisk pace towards the first guy who looked like he knew what was going on.

As he was about to confront the fine gentleman, he spied from the corner of his eye a door. Normally, this wouldn't have caught his eye, but this was quite the special door. On the door, He could read the name Baha, and really, who else had that name? So, he turned abruptly, heading that way, to save himself the embarrassment of having to ask some stranger about it. He quickly slipped through the doors, taking note of the other names, before silently sliding the door closed again.

Once more, he had been left rather unimpressed by the place, a simple room with no surprises. He took note of the large pile of identical uniforms that lay piled neatly, something he guessed had not been provided to the others. Hilarious. Without dwelling on it, he stepped into the bathroom to take care of long overdue business, only to be met with a wall lined with fire extinguishers. He took a minute, staring at the red cylindars, before he turned away, taking a deep breath. They had to be messing with him now. With a heavy sigh, he walked out of the room, not wanting to waste time thinking about that blunt jab. He remembered seeing one of the living quarters doors open, so thought he would check there.

Bernie looked in, leaning on the doorframe. He scanned through the room, spotting no one but the man sitting on the bed, tossing a bouncy ball. Bernie cleated his throat to catch his attention. "Hey kid, how's it goin'?" I get the feeling that you and me are going to have to get real close, real quick. The names Bernie. You?" He asked simply. Though he was still young, his voice was gruff and aged. Years of smoke inhalation had given his voice the gritty flavor that it carried, making him sound far more intimidating that he tried.

Ellie sat in silence for the duration of the ride to the UAU barracks. She looked miserable. She was miserable. Her hands were not only cuffed, but secured tightly to a chain around her waist. She wouldn't have been able to scratch an itch, let alone set off one of her shockwaves. But despite the precautions, her hands stayed balled into tight fists. It was her own safeguard, in addition to being virtually immobilized from the waist up. She didn't want to hurt anyone. Not herself, not the guards supervising her, not the driver of the vehicle, not anyone else on the road.

Her mind drifted, travelling back to when she'd first been drafted into the Beta Abilities Unit. Then, she'd been transported as fast as possible by a private jet. She'd been excited. Terrified at the thrill of the unknown, but excited. Then, she had been treated as a valuable asset. Now, she was a prisoner and a danger.

The caravan hit a hard bump in the road, tossing her briefly into the air above her seat. Immediately, the guards had their hands on their weapons, ready to subdue Ellie if she decided that a bump was reason enough to set off a shockwave. She sighed quietly, her gaze drifting back towards the ground, and the tense atmosphere dissipated slightly. It was going to be a long ride.

---

By the time they arrived at the barracks, Ellie's miserable attitude had only worsened. She'd had to put up with the guards not-so-subtly reaching for their weapons seven more times over the course of the ride. Anytime she so much as twitched, it was like they expected her to explode on them. She'd eventually resigned herself to sitting as still as was possible, and had avoided eye contact.

She was now escorted into the building, her hands still cuffed and pinned to the chain at her waist. It was only once they were inside the barracks that she finally took the chance to exchange words with the officer escorting her. She cleared her throat, then spoke up. "Could I...um, the cuffs really aren't necessary. I'm usually really careful with the whole shockwave thing," she attempted to explain.

The man looked down at her before nodding and grabbing the key. "It was a precaution for the ride here. Now that you're at UAU...well," he shrugged, undoing the chain around her waist and then proceeding to remove the cuffs. "You're someone else's problem now."

She rubbed her wrists, slightly sore from the never-ending drive here, and listened as he gave a quick tour of the facility. It was hardly a tour. Really, they just stood in one place and Ellie watched as he pointed in various directions. Living quarters. Mess hall. Armoury. The list went on. Over the past few months, she'd begun to know the drill. The UAU barracks were set up similar to the other facilities she had been demoted from. Of course, not quite as nice. But that was to be expected. Here, the recruits were the lowest of the low. There was no way she could be demoted any farther. Ellie was left with a map and directions to her quarters.

She started to make her way towards the living quarters, but stopped short as her eyes fell on a structure at the edge of the barracks. A part of the room had been sanctioned off into a small room. It was clear that the room was not a part of the original layout of the facilities. It was a recent construction, probably built as soon as they realized Ellie was on her way. Each wall of the room was roughly two feet thick, and Ellie was familiar enough with it to know what it was constructed from. Cinder blocks, cement, and steel rebar. The door was heavy iron, at least a half a foot thick. She wouldn't have been able to blast through it if she tried - not without killing herself. But precautions were precautions. That was the room where she would be allowed to practice her seismic shockwaves without endangering anyone else. Looking at it, it was almost as if the omnipresent ringing in her ears worsened.

Ellie gave a quiet sigh and continued walking.

Turning down the hallway towards the living quarters, she saw that someone was already there. A younger man, dark-haired, was leaning on the doorframe of one of the rooms. As Ellie approached, she was able to catch the last of his introduction. Bernie. She walked up behind him, looking past his shoulder into the room, and saw another man sitting on the bed. Quietly, she cleared her throat, and spoke a quiet, "Hello," to the two of them, accompanying the words with a small wave.

Bernie turned abruptly, a bit surprised at the person behind him, raising his hands in a furious flail of fake Kung fu. After he got a good look at her, he lowered his hands, crossing them behind his back. He felt a bit ashamed of this beautiful display of his trained reactions, especially considering how much military training he had. Running his fingers through his hair, a bit embarrassed, he began to speak.

"Hey there. I'm not -" he managed to stutter out, before violently coughing. He was fairly certain that he saw some black smoke come or that time. "Sorry about that. Anyways, I'm not really sure how much of that you caught. The name's Bernie. You must be in the same boat as us, then?" He guessed, his voice still retaining the zombie-like raspiness. "That is to say, 'useless'." He muttered, voice laced with a deadly dose of sarcasm. "Well. At least that's what they're calling us these days." He continiued, voice ridden with an emotion somewhere between anger and sadness. "Well, let's hope you guys aren't as useless as I am." He said, turning to look back at the solitary man in his room.

Ellie quickly stepped back as she realized she'd managed to sneak up on the man, her hands clenching into motionless fists at her side to avoid accidental confrontation. It was an instinctive reaction - having spent the past few months being exposed to mutants of all varieties, you never knew how much control someone had over their powers. But aside from the flailing pseudo-Kung-fu, Bernie seemed to be all right. He looks like he's in control. Not too volatile, she thought as he began to speak, but that train of thought stopped short when the man coughed. Was that smoke?

She chewed quietly at her lip as she continued to listen to Bernie speak. His voice was quiet and raspy. The near-constant ringing in her ears was refusing to let up, and she had to strain to hear him over the tinnitus. A few too many shockwaves tended to damage one's hearing. It was comforting, in some strange way, to know that she wasn't the only one who felt wounded at being labelled 'useless'. "No, I pretty much deserve the 'useless' title," she confirmed. She gave an off-hand shrug, forcing herself to speak lightly about her own unfortunate abilities. "I knock myself unconscious every time I try to use my powers."

After a second's hesitation, Ellie offered a friendly smile to Bernie. Surely his abilities had to have some merit. "What is it that you can do? It can't be completely useless," she reasoned, trying to make light of the situation.