Night 54: Soccer/Recreational Field
[from here]Though the night felt the same as any other, Brook felt that something was a little different than the usual. It was as though he could sense something about the place - like where things were dangerous and where they wouldn't be. Usually he knew that pretty well without the strange feeling. The Sun Room was always a big no-entry, and
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The small android was busy trying to follow her teacher's commands when the shove caught her off guard. Taura moved with a speed Aigis had not imagined possible for someone of her great size and Taura's strength was telling. Aigis stumbled back a bit, righted herself and worked to find that centered sweet spot. Easier said than done.
Within minutes Aigis was panting for breath. Keeping her footing had never been hard back at home when stability came with the familiar weight of her chassis. But she took the woman's words to heart. She could not afford to lose later just because she failed to acquaint herself with her current tools, and that included her body.
During one evasive maneuver one of Aigis' legs caught against the other and she fell to her hands and knees to the ground. The earth under her was unforgiving and scratched her palms but she couldn't afford to stay down. She pushed herself up, hissing a bit at the unfamiliar sensation of pain. Human pain. But this would be nothing, she told herself as she returned to an evasive stance. Compared to a real heat and grit of battle this was a breeze on a sunny day. She could not afford to quite. She still had much to learn.
"Please, let us continue."
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By pushing herself back up and doing the best she could to ignore the pain. Good. "No problem." The other woman was still finding her balance, but she was improving on each move. The pain would likely help. Ground her, tie her to the nerves connecting hands and mind. Pain, hunger -- or their flip sides -- winning, sex, a four-star restaurant and a credit chit as bottomless as her stomach. Anything physical would help.
"On this next set, keep your hands loose. Try to hit me with your nails. Don't worry if you draw blood; even in this fragile version I have a high pain tolerance."
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She wasn't entirely sure what keeping one's hands "loose" meant as they seemed to be situated firmly on her wrists, but she assumed it would become clear as she practiced. She raised her arms and gauged her opponent for weak points. She no longer reached inside trying to trigger her analysis capabilities; she had been in the institute long enough to know those were disabled beyond her reach. Spotting weaknesses with these flawed eyes was not at all efficient but it was all she had.
Taura did not seem to hold any weak points. If anything, her height and superior strength placed Aigis at a disadvantage. It didn't seem fair. But no monster here was going to care if she had the strength to topple it. It was fight or die, no exceptions.
Aigis took a breath and rushed forward, trying to emulate her teacher's confidence with her strikes. It would not do to give up here. Even if she failed to make even one blow it would all rack up as experience and that was one thing she knew she lacked in here. At first her steps were shaky and her swings imbalanced her, but developing a rhythm would come later. For now, she just attacked.
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She sidestepped the attack, and then struck herself. A little demonstration might be in order, though she did have to be careful. Her painted nails brushed Aigis's throat in what could almost be mistaken for a caress, and then abruptly slid her hands into both of Aigis's armpits and picked her up like it was nothing. Her arms were shorte -- the difference wasn't quite as drastic as Taura was used to, but it was enough.
"You can't move like you're just battle armor without anything inside of it. You're so tense that if those strikes connected, you'd hurt yourself more than you'd hurt me." She smiled, trying to blunt the critique. "Human bodies can take more than you think. Relax. Every muscle, starting with your feet. Go completely limp, and I'll put you down."
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She took in Taura's words, trying to sort out her own feelings in the process. Could she think outside her previous line of thinking? She knew how she held herself before coming here. She had been an android and she felt that though this body was different she was still very much the same. It was difficult, to put it simply, but so much more than just that.
"Relax. Alright, I shall try," she responded after a moment and did as she was told. Or tried. Some parts of her body, her shoulders and jaw particularly, could not rest as easily as she wanted though most of her body complied. Was that normal?
She took a deep breath and tried again, with greater success, but now she was unsure as to weather she was relaxed enough for Taura's standards. She would let her down if it were so, but if not the other woman might offer a new tip or give Aigis a different objective for now. Either way, it was the other's call and Aigis could only do her best to obey.
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Wait. What was that noise?
"Shh." Taura unconsciously demonstrated the advantage she was trying to teach; she held Aigis at an even height as she turned her face towards the shed, and shot a glance some might call lazy at the darkness beyond it. "I heard something. Did you?" Then she was silent another moment, listening. There it was again, a faint scrabbling. Like rats. She opened her grasp, abruptly, and went for her bag.
"Get your claws on. You're about to get that hands-on practice you wanted." Taura was tightening her own claw as she spoke -- she had to remember to drill with it more, especially if she was going to carry it rather than wear it all the time. Aigis likely wouldn't notice, but she still felt slow. Big-fingered, clumsy Taura, even if she'd been assured -- and assured herself -- a hundred times, it was hard to break. Especially when doing something so strange as putting on what should have been genetically engineered in. Now she had the hands she'd despaired at never having, and here she was.
No. Here Taura was, ready to do what she did best. She smiled into the dark, even if it was a little forced. "I'll let you lead. Trust me, trust yourself, and we'll be just fine." The final piece of advice might be the least reassuring, so she'd left it for last, but it was also key. "And if I say run, we run." Practice wasn't worth dying for.
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Taura abrupt release caused Aigis to stumble a bit, falling. Normally she would have been fine, but tonight she seemed to have knees and ankles made of rusted tin. She struggled back to her feet, doing as commanded and grasping her claws in her hands. The pain on her knees wasn't enough to keep her down and only served to rally her hunger for this fight. She could do this, just as Taura assured her. She had to do this.
Relax everything! Aigis reminded herself of Taura's previous instructions as she prepared to move. She would not fail here. She could not. And if it came to retreating, then she would not fail there either.
"Let us strike," she said, then took off into the darkness, ready to meet their foe head-on.
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