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    [i] Main Hexcode || [color=#E46B63]#E46B63[/color] ||| Secondary Hexcode || [color=#875FC1]#875FC1[/color][/i]
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She had a new job to do.

After all, that was the only reason why she'd be awake right now. A jolt ran down her spine, engines whirring beneath her skin and carbon "muscle" fibers tightening to bring her upright as her implants powered back online, fully charged and ready for operation. Aster rubbed her eyes as the daze of her sedatives started wearing off and a new awareness rushed into her, bringing to her notice the faint stinging in her left elbow as the injection needle that had administered her dose of stimulant retracted into the clinical bed she'd been lying upon.

The room was empty, as always. Featureless white walls on all sides, with a featureless white floor below and a featureless white ceiling above, the latter marked only by a few dim lights. She clambered down from the bed, still rubbing at her stinging arm as the pain brought her rapidly to her senses. There was a dull throb in the back of her head, but it wasn't as bad as it usually was. It would go away with time.

The comm terminal on the wall was buzzing, a red light flashing to show she had an incoming signal. She pressed "accept," and a video feed was established, solidifying into the image of a bespectacled, middle-aged man in a suit, his graying blonde hair cut short and kept slicked back from his high, furrowed brow.

[color=#E46B63]"Doctor Rosenberg,"[/color] She greeted respectfully, lowing her head in deference. [color=#E46B63]"What can I do for you today, sir?"[/color]

"Subject Alecto," He began sternly, speaking with the air of a man reading from a script, or reciting some formal decree. "The project's advisory board has deemed you ready to begin field testing operations under real combat conditions. We've secured you a mission contract with the local Outcast's Guild branch. Be ready for deployment and in the hangar within fifteen minutes. You'll receive briefing en route to the site. That is all."

[color=#E46B63]"Y-yessir!"[/color] She responded hastily, giving a quick salute before the video feed cut out. What was all this? A real mission, and so suddenly? She was going to be... She was going to be fighting a real battle? An old fear began to steadily arise in her heart, but along with it, an old desire took root as well...

There was no time to lose.