By this time, most of Squad Sigma were well aware of Roger and his hyper-industrious work drive. He spent practically every moment working on something, whether that be piloting simulations, practicing martial arts, studying up on the theory and more technical aspects of Framewerks, or just cleaning his quarters (everything in and surrounding there were practically spotless). His mental state seemed to physically degrade if he wasn't preoccupied with something productive, as if the guilt of not contributing was too much for him to handle.

	However, for the past several days, there had been no indication that he still existed on the base outside of the mandatory events everyone took part in daily. The pod he usually used for VR training remained empty. Nobody had caught sight of him in the gym or library. Hell, there weren't even any run-ins at the mess hall or during a trip to the men's room. The moment the pilots were given any amount of free time he just seemed to be erased from existence.

	The truth of the matter is that he holed himself in solitude as much as possible. The problem is all the new pilots. There were so many girls in the Squad now, and they weren't just kids this time either. Every moment he spent around them his mind went around nit-picking every single thing it could find wrong with him. Even something as minor as a passing glance he caught from one of the new squad mates was interpreted as a judging eye, to which he was always deemed unworthy. 

	He could just barely hold himself together during the day, but any more was too much. Rooney had to get himself alone just so he could feel like he could breathe again. It really was a miserable experience, ping-ponging from a state of mind-searing self consciousness and terror to guilty self loathing, but he told himself that as soon as they had any real mission together, he would at least be able to exist within the same space as them without being on the verge of an existential breakdown. 

	The worst part of it all was that he ran out of cigarettes two days ago and kept forgetting to pick up more before he returned to his quarters. In one ear he had a voice continually whispering [color=slategray][i]Hey, know what you really need right now? A smoke. You haven't had any in way too long. It's really not doing us any good man. If you keep up like this you're going to go crazy.[/i][/color] In the other [color=pink][i]What if you run into Valeria or Elizabeth on the way? What are you going to do? Piss your pants and babble like a dumbass before turning and running tail? How would they react to something like that? Would you be able to work with somebody who can't even hold a normal conversation? Better to just stay here where you can't mess up.[/i][/color] So he was kept pinned in place, but pulled in opposite directions, all the while his sense of duty barked at him to stop being a dumbass, get back out there and do something.