[center][h2][color=6ecff6]ELI[/color][/h2][b]Simulation Room, New Anchorage[/b][/center]
[hr]
The voice telling her to go to her room was still loud, and still right, but she ignored it all the same. The Commander would be expecting productivity, and if she just vanished after they'd gotten the outline for their test, well, it likely wouldn't have looked good no matter how she performed. 

Eli had wasted little time in leaving the hangar as soon as they were released. The firearms portion of the upcoming test was undeniably concerning. There really wasn't any other way to put it: she had no experience. They didn't have the money for guns, they had wooden planks and a carpenter friend of the family to whittle them into swords. With a blade it was simple, over time it became an extension of her arm, but she didn't know how to handle recoil, she didn't know how to aim properly, what stance to take or how to breath. 

She arrived, alone. It didn't surprise her that Vera had decided to remain behind, Eli assured her she was alright, though she hadn't apologized for snapping. [color=6ecff6]Later,[/color] she promised herself. [color=6ecff6]All of it can wait, all of it [i]has[/i] to wait.[/color]

Hands still shoved into her jacket to hide the trembling, Eli set her sights immediately on the simulation pods. 

[color=6ecff6]"Lofgren,"[/color] she said, a cursory glance shot towards the doctor. 
 
[color=306754]“Eli. It’s been a few days.”[/color] The voice of Doctor James Lofgren came from the behind her desk, her eyes glued to the monitor. [color=306754]“Is there something I could help you with?”[/color]

[color=6ecff6]"Put a simulation on loop. Which pod?"[/color] 

[color=306754]“That would require me to know what kind of simulation you need to practice with. VR? NC pod's? What kind of situation?”[/color]

Eli instinctively wanted to ask for the NC simulation, perhaps in an effort to redeem herself, despite the fact that perhaps three people were aware of the last run. But then, the opportunity to knock out two birds with one stone was both tempting and objectively the smarter choice. She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, once, twice. [color=6ecff6]"Start with VR."[/color]

[color=306754]“Scenario? Difficulty?”[/color]

[color=6ecff6]"Invasion, defense, surprise me."[/color] A twinge of regret sparked through her when she said it, but it was too late to back out. She didn't need a handholding, she needed to pass the test without humiliating herself.

There was a few strokes of the blue-haired woman’s mechanical keyboard as Eli told her the variables she wanted— though given the last time she “surprised” Eli it ended up pretty poorly for her. She didn’t protest the pilot’s pseudo-masochism in choosing Lofgren’s own need to test the mental brink of her subjects. [color=306754]“Prefrence for your starting equipment?”[/color]

[color=6ecff6]"Kukri, make the blade forearm length, a serrated bowie, and..."[/color] Eli's brow went low, she tried to run through the list of firearms she knew off the top of her head, and found it disappointingly short. [color=6ecff6]"A SAP...handgun. Fourteen."[/color]

[color=306754]“I’ll warm up the VR room, I’ll sync your neural plug into the program.”[/color] More strokes on the keyboard, [color=306754]“Ever been in VR before?”[/color]

[color=6ecff6]"Does it matter?"[/color]

[color=306754]“Interesting. VR is very vivid, but you’ve been in pods so you might adapt well enough. Much more organic— feels like you are actually moving. The injuries sustained are recieved at a threshold that is [i]double[/i] your sync rate; as the pain receptors go directly to your central neural plug to simulate real-time. Commaner Graham nearly spent half of his personal cashflow into New Anchorage to make it up to date. It makes our NC pods seems two-hundred years old. Which... well, they are. But that is besides my point,, Eli.”[/color]

She paused for a moment as she looked away from the computer to Eli. [color=306754]“In short, it will hurt like hell.”[/color]

Eli matched eyes with the doctor, clicked her tongue again. She hadn't forgotten their last exchange, the doctor's snide remarks were fresh in her mind, alongside every justifiable criticism she'd ever recieved. [color=6ecff6]"If I get hit."[/color]

[color=306754]“Indeed.”[/color] She looked back down at her computer, [color=306754]“It is ready— large door at the back of the lab. You can’t miss it. Good luck.”[/color]

[color=6ecff6]Good luck,[/color] Eli didn't need luck, she didn't [i]want[/i] luck, luck wouldn't protect the people in New Anchorage. Luck was a handicap for the untrained, if she succeeded, it would not be at the hand of some cosmic fluke. Her victories were hers, earned, [i]taken[/i].

With that, Eli shed her coat and scarf, pushing her hands into her pockets and making her way into the room.