[training log] we are the champions

[onemind]

CHARACTERS: All
WHERE: Station 72
WHEN: Day :44
SUMMARY: 1988 Crystal Light National Aerobic Championship.
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary. Need a warning added? PM this account please!

DAY 44 begins without ceremony, the station quiet and still, the murmur of host's minds distant. Even with all of the current new hosts returned from their mission the station is too large to ever really feel lived in. It is almost peaceful, when the call comes.

The voice is nothing like Cathaway's, who is so often in the young Host's minds, but then again Prince was rarely so warm or inviting, and in the days he has had to recover from the Station's recent jumps he has returned to his more stable state, his tone perfectly matched to his speech, seeming as near as if he is speaking just over their shoulders.

'Good morning. I would like to encourage all hosts, most especially those fresh to the station, to join us today in the Training Wing. This resource is not to be underestimated, as it will not be available to you when you are on assignment. Attendance is recommended.'

With that simple message he is again gone from their minds, leaving them alone with their own thoughts- and anyone else who shares them. Left behind is the impression of how to reach the Training Wing, in case anyone is unaware.




FOR THOSE WHO CHOSE to follow the call and make their way to the Training wing, they will find Prince, once again adorned in his traditional uniform. He has beside him a small stack of charcoal grey jumpsuits identical to it beside him, for any host who had not previously made their way to the wing.

For those who are familiar with the space he simply nods to them and leaves them to their own devices, unless they should chose to approach him for more than simple encouragement. For those who are new, he will direct them to the lockers and give them the honeycomb textured jumpsuits, which will fit them perfectly. He will also give a brief explanation of Iota and Rho symbiotic types for those who need it ((as outlined in the setting)) and go into the basics of the specialized abilities all hosts develop. He will not divulge the exact ability that a host possesses at that time, but may be persuaded to with some difficulty. He will then suggest that they set their mind to learning what they can aboard the station, and let each host know that he only teaches the willing.

After that, the space is theirs.

---

((OOC Notes: Welcome to the second training log! Below you will find some information from the first log, which is now also available in the setting section!

The Training Wing is large- bigger than the biggest gym, and it contains a number of specialized spaces for Host’s use. What follows is an (incomplete) list of amenities. Have an idea for another space? Drop us a line in the questions section of the most recent calendar post! The training wing itself is a central hub-type area with a number of hallways that branch out in a vaguely spiraling fashion spanning multiple levels. Below are a list of locations key to this log:

• Lockers - Featuring rows of open cubbies, shower spaces, a bathroom, towels, and sets of shoes for those of you without proper footwear. Hosts visiting the lockers for the first time will receive their station-standard charcoal grey suits, which are tailor fit to their exact measurements. These suits are flexible, strong, and surprisingly breathable, and are comfortable enough to wear all day.

• Track - Centrally located there is a large running track that is multiple lanes wide, the ground of which is coated in some sort of slightly rubbery, gripping substance.

• Gym - Located not far from the lockers is an almost traditional gym space, with a number of pieces of exercise equipment, some of which is familiar and some of which is not. There are instructions that will read in a pleasant voice if you seem lost. You will find both strength and cardio equipment arranged in a somewhat sensible manner.

• Training Hall - A large open space with a number of pads on the floors and walls and a wide variety of dummies and protective gear. This is the space where you will find melee practice weapons ranging from swords and pikes to slightly more exotic weaponry- all blunted or dulled- as well as room for most forms of martial arts.

• Range - Lying closest to the Flight Hangar, this room features a number of targets and projectile training weapons. Here you will find everything from bows and arrows to laser guns. Nothing is capable of doing real damage, but it feels and reacts in a way that’s very real. Handy readouts will tell you exactly how accurate (or inaccurate) you are.

• Pool - It’s a pool, there are lanes, so swim free. Please don’t drown. There is no sauna. There are two styles of suits available, a simple charcoal one-piece with white piping, and an equally simple charcoal swim briefs with matching white piping.

We're in control, body and soul,
We push ourselves to the maximum!!))

NAVIGATION • SETTING • FAQ • MOD CONTACT • GLOSSARY

( CODE BY WHAMBAM )

Comments

training hall

[huntsmachines]

[ Aloy arrives, seeming a bit more chipper than the last time she'd seen Lexa. For one thing, she's slowly getting more comfortable here. For another, she's going to see someone she actually likes. She raises a hand in greeting and pauses to survey the practice gear. ]

Of course. Normally I don't worry too much, since I have to do these things every day. Here,there's no absolute need for it. I need to practice to stay sharp.

[ Like a well-honed blade, she needs care and maintenance to stay at that knife's edge. Training will just be part of it. ]

[adamance]

It's easy to grow lax when there is no impending threat hanging over our heads. I wouldn't be surprised if many of us forget why we are here. [The Station is not without its comforts. Yes, they are inside of each other's minds at any given moment, but they are not left in a position where they truly need to fear one another. There are those that Lexa doesn't trust, but she knows that they're all limited in what they can do to one another.

And fortunately, most of her threats have fallen away.]

Have you come to adapt despite the differences here? [She had been wondering. It's difficult not to, with someone from so similar a world to her own.]

[huntsmachines]

Not having an impending threat would be kind of a relief.

[ Aloy begins to limber up, stretching out arms and legs with deliberate movements. From her spot on the floor (gotta stretch out the legs) she peers up at Lexa and nods. ]

I'm managing, I guess. It's still very strange to me.

[ She pauses for a moment, trying to figure out her next words as she pops back up to her feet. ]

I'm happy you're here. It's making adjusting a little easier.

[adamance]

I'm pleased to hear that. Though there is always the chance that we may be at odds someday. Especially when the tensions among us return. [That typically happens on missions. She easily recalls Aloy's immediate fondness for her, but Lexa isn't often the same in return.

Her own shoulders roll back, as if to release some tension that might be here.]

After all ... you may be among the first to be comforted by my presence.

[huntsmachines]

Can it really be that contentious? Especially when we can all... feel each other this way.

[ Her confusion comes across loud and clear. Wouldn't that make cooperating easier? She takes a breath stretches again, glancing towards the practice weaponry. Her eyes light up at the sight of spears and other polearms--just her sort of thing. ]

Really? You don't... Hm. I guess it's different if you're from a city or you haven't lived like we have. Do they think you're too harsh?

[adamance]

Harsh. Controlling. That I expect too much of others. That I don't cater to their feelings or their egos. Not all of them are the same. Many who have "suffered" for our interactions have gone comatose. [Lexa is oddly confident and comfortable as she says this. While she has chosen to adapt to these responses to her, that doesn't change her belief in herself.

In some ways, she refuses to be shaken in that. It would almost be like giving up.]

[huntsmachines]

We don't really have time to worry about people's egos. We have a mission.

[ Aloy frowns. She's agreeing with Lexa mostly because she knows what it's like to be in a situation that demands everyone stop worrying about their feelings and their personal desires and get to work. ]

Comatose? Why?

[adamance]

Things are not so fast paced as you might expect. We might train, but we have enough time to linger in each other's minds. [It's a problem, and an unavoidable one. There's nothing Lexa can do about the matter.]

But that's only if we're awake. You'll find soon enough that a number of us ... slip away. Not to die, but to be nothing more than faded remnants until they're allowed to return to us. There's no explanation for it.

[Aside from the symbiote, from some weakness of bond.

It's something that unsettles her, to say the least.]

[huntsmachines]

Hm. Alright. I'm not sure I really like it.

[ That comes with its own frustrations. Feelings of being caged in and pent up with nothing productive to show for it. She's used to filling her day with a thousand little things (checking traps, gathering herbs, hunting, fishing, maintaining her weapons and more) just to survive and now... none of that is important here. ]

That's awful. And we don't know they just... go? Ugh. I hope that never happens to me.

[ She makes a face, bends to pick up a practice spear. She hefts it in her hands and tests the balance. Not as good as her own, but it works. ]

[adamance]

Sometimes it's brief. A few days or a week at most. Others have been gone since days after they first awakened. [That's the case for several people's broodmates. It seems that broods themselves take some time to stabilize. And others are stable for so long that it seems unlikely that they might fall apart.

Until they finally do.]

It's ... disquieting, to say the least. You have no control over when it might happen.

[For Lexa, it's why she's managed to reinforce what control she has in her waking hours.

What more can she do? She has no brood to lean upon to pick up her slack. Not anymore. And she does fear that it may not be long until she's swept away, gone, erasing all signs that her brood ever existed in the first place.

Perhaps some might return, but she doesn't have high hopes about the matter.]

[huntsmachines]

That's horrible.

[ The sensation of others in her mind is strange, but she's already gotten used to the comforting buzz of her fellow broodmates. It's like a security blanket, a closeness that promises to protect her and keep her safe. ]

This place is strange.

[ It feels like she's that a lot over the past few days, but it doesn't stop it from being true. She goes through a few movements with her practice spear, stretching herself and warming her muscles. ]

[adamance]

You'll come to accept the way things are, even if that doesn't mean that you like the status quo. [It's simple enough. She watches Aloy warm up, and her hands grasp the nearest pole arm to test its weight and grip. Good enough for what is likely to come, at least in time.]

Assuming you're not lost to us. I would prefer that you aren't.

[huntsmachines]

We can accept things as they are, but does that mean we shouldn't try to make it better?

[ Aloy is still a hopeful girl at the heart of it. With her heritage how can she not be? She stretches out a little more, then pauses to look at Lexa. She's quiet for a long, long moment, as if trying to let some words settle or to understand what feelings are coming and going across the link. ]

I'd like you to stick around, too.

[adamance]

[Lexa sits for a moment, examining the emotions. Perhaps she is letting this girl grow too close, too dependent on her. But at the same time, there's no real harm in it. They haven't disagreed. Yet. Though Lexa does worry that the harshness of her ways will eventually bring a divide between them.

Through the link, there is a feeling of acknowledgement, of understanding. Lexa doesn't realize that she craves that in return to some degree, especially after so long. (It's unlikely that this will change for her anytime soon.)]

I doubt that we're the first hosts to want to change our circumstances. Or the circumstances of those we lose. It's not so simple as wanting a thing to occur.

[huntsmachines]

[ Oh the other hand, Aloy grasps that feeling of acceptance and understanding and holds tight to it. It is water put before someone traversing a desert. All her life, acceptance and understanding is what she has wanted and here she has it in some small measure. Aloy understand harshness, certainly but her heart is also a deep well of compassion.

That understanding and acknowledgement are returned. A fondness that buzzes between the two of them faintly, like a noise just out of hearing. Aoy shifts her grip on her practice weapons and smiles. It is a sad, rueful gesture. ]

No, you're right. It's not that simple. We have to work and even then, we might not make it.

[adamance]

I believe that it's important to keep sight of what you can accomplish, rather than what you never can. [It's not so different from the conversation that she had with Bellamy in the training wing. Lexa understands the desire to want to accomplish everything that would make circumstances better for all of them. But setting that as a goal is one way to see failure.

It's not giving up. But knowing limits is key. That way, someone doesn't diminish themselves in the process.]

[huntsmachines]

That's true, too. But I think we need to keep ourselves open to possibilities. To aim higher.

[ Aloy thinks of Doctor Sobeck. What she did shouldn't have been possible, but they had done it anyway. There's a spark of hope and enthusiasm, a spark of belief in doing the impossible somewhere inside Aloy. Aloy slides into a fighting stance, lance held loosely in both hands. ]

Let me know when you're ready to begin.

[adamance]

We'll begin now. [Lexa shifts from where she's resting into a more immediate stance, taking up a similar weapon in her hands. Her eyes pass over Aloy's form, curious about how she might hold herself.]

Don't restrain yourself. We all have our limits here. [Though she doubts Aloy could bring herself to bring her any real harm. It's a statement she still makes.]

[huntsmachines]

[ Aloy settles herself into a ready stance. Lance held lightly in both hands, the tip pointed towards her opponent in a ready guard. It's not any form of formal martial arts, more years of training and using the weapon against both people and machines. She takes a breath. Despite her youth, she's got a firm stance, though there is perhaps more tension than an older or more experienced fighter might have. ]

Alright.

[ Aloy waits for a moment, then springs forward into a long armed lunge, using the unexpected reach of the weapon in fully extended arms to reach out towards Lexa. She's aiming to tap the other girl in the sternum with a firm movement, enough to knock the air out of her if Aloy hits. ]