1x1 with scmarshtacky

[Lailic]

Lailic looked up at the building. She felt a strong sense of awe last time she was here she had come in unconscious. The whiteness of it was blinding. She looked at Alan. "Whatever floats your boat. But if I get yelled at I'll smother you in your sleep." She grinned. Half joking. She didn't want to get yelled at but she wouldn't go that far as to smother him. Besides maybe she can come up with some other plan. She was nervous to see what she would have to do today. She feared it would be too hard and she would humiliate herself.

[scmarshtacky]

"Oh don't worry," Alan said, letting a crooked smile crack across his face. "You won't be the one yelled at, it'll be me." It almost always seemed as though the commander enjoyed chewing him out, even over the tiniest of things. Alan strode in through the door he'd brought Lailic in the night before, and lead her down the hallways until they reached the treatment center.

As soon as Alan opened the door, Marilyn's head popped up from a stack of papers she'd been glancing at. "There you are!" she exclaimed standing up. She first shoved an empty plastic cup into Alan's hand before bustling around to fine tune the equipment she had set out. It only occurred to Alan now, when it was a bit too late, that a medical examination in front of a girl he'd really only met yesterday was a bit awkward. "I'll be back," Alan mumbled heading into the bathroom off to the side to get a urine sample in the empty cup.

"How have you been dear?" Marilyn addressed Lailic when Alan had gone. "You haven't had any lasting problems from the Daitya blood have you?"

[Lailic]

Lailic watched Alan leave and rolled her eyes. She felt somewhat embarrassed for him but was also still upset. She looked at Marilyn and shook her head "I don't think so." She looked at her arm. She had completely forgotten about the Daitya blood on her arm. Today's events had wiped away all thoughts about the creature. That's usually what happened she rolled with the days events forgetting the past days in the heat of the usual events. Her life usually consisted of running and hiding.

[scmarshtacky]

Marilyn nodded happily. "That's very good. I'm glad that your body handled it well. Such strong resilience to the blood is extremely beneficial to us." Marilyn was prevented from saying more by Alan's reappearance. He set the cup on the counter and moved over to the bed where the standard medical devices were set out on a tray. Marilyn moved over to him, pulling out a device that appeared somewhat similar to an IV holder; however, instead of injecting fluids, this device drew them out.

"You know the procedure 2-5-5-6, come on, hurry up. Oh and Lailic, you can just sit down wherever. This won't take too terribly long." Alan pulled off his shirt, as per standard procedure, and tried his very best not to let the self-consciousness show on his face. He was suddenly very aware of the thin scars crossing across his back and torso. While Alan's thoughts were preoccupied, Marilyn had set up the machine to draw blood, and stuck the needle into Alan's arm. Then she set to work on analyzing the rest of him. She counted his heartbeat, and respiration rate, studied his eyes, ears, and mouth. Lastly, she switched to palpating his muscles, which was the part Alan despised the most.

A minute later, she was moving back to the counter to analyze the urine sample. The blood-drawing device beeped and Alan removed the needle from his arm before hastily grabbing for his shirt and pulling it back on. "Sorry," he said, glancing at Lailic. "It's sort of awkward for you isn't it?" his voice was thick as he spoke, and he had to try desperately to keep the anxiety out of his eyes. He could fight Daitya all day long without a problem, but these examinations always told him the last thing he wanted to know: the amount of time he had left.

[Lailic]

Lailic shrugged and leaned against the wall. Her arms crossed. She fell silent and watched with little interest for a moment before looking around the room. She avoided looking at Alan. When he spoke she shrugged. "We have other places to be. I'd like to get there as soon as possible. How long until we're done here?" She asked flatly. Ignoring what he said. She wasn't a fan of nurses or doctors and hated the hospital scene. It didn't matter what was going on inside the doctors office she didn't like it and wanted to be out.

[scmarshtacky]

"Yeah...." Alan replied. "Shouldn't be much longer." As soon as he'd finished speaking, Marilyn spun around in her chair to face in their direction. Holding up a clipboard she read, "Blood and pressure, cholesterol levels, erythrocyte and thrombocyte counts normal. Muscular and Skeletal systems have a degeneration rate of 5%. Immune system has a degeneration of 7%. Urinary system, specifically your Kidneys, have a degeneration rate of 12%. In addition, your blood glucose levels are relatively high."

Marilyn lifted her gaze from her notes and gave Alan a hard stare. "I believe I told you to lay off the soda Alan? In the past two weeks the denervation rate has jumped up 3%. Your body can't handle the soda. Stop drinking it."

"Right..." Alan said with a long sigh as he stood up. Turning to Lailic, he said, "Well are you ready then?" though he tried to put a bit of cheer in his voice, it turned out rather flat. Without waiting for a reply, he exited the room and began the journey through the winding hallways.

[Lailic]

Lailic felt a surge of shock shoot through her. He was really dying, slowly but surely and there was little he could do. She felt sick. Closing her eyes she nodded to his question. She smiled at the nurse and followed him. "I'm sorry." She said quietly. The words felt odd in her mouth. She never said them. She never had a reason to. But she was sorry. She felt like it was all her fault. Even though it clearly wasn't.

[scmarshtacky]

(Poor Alan! I'm about to break apart over here. >.< Why did I do this?? Also, I tried to explain this obstacle course as best I could. I also made a but if you don't understand how something is suppose to look or function, just let me know and I'll explain it better. Also, the very last challenge is supposed to test strategy. It's impossible to climb the platform. )

"Well… I wish I could say I don't mind it, that I'm not worried, but that would be a lie." Even as he spoke, he felt oddly detached from the whole ordeal. Something about it had always seemed like a bad dream. "But, today isn't about me. It's about you," he said, with a light smile and a significantly more cheerful voice.

Alan stopped a second later at a large pair of white metal doors. He swung them open to reveal a large gym-like area. It had a huge perimeter, long enough to fit a half-mile track around the area, and had an incredibly high ceiling. There were no bleachers like a normal gym would have; the only adornment was what looked like a box seat at a football game. Standing at the bottom of the stairs that lead to the watch area, was the commander. He turned when he saw them enter.

"This will be your first initiation test," he said to Lailic, not wasting time on pleasantries. "You're goal is to get from the entry gate, he nodded at a small entry way to their right which separated the small spectator area from the arena, to the small white flag on the other end. His gaze shifted to indicate the flag on a rectangular thirty-foot platform. Naturally it won't be as easy as simply running in a straight line." The commander waved his hand in the direction of the glass watch area, and the whole area suddenly filled with the sound of metal grinding against metal. The metal panels that covered the floor opened, and slowly, different platforms and obstacles rose up from the ground.

"You must first get over the rock climb. It may look like an amusement park game, but I assure you that it's more difficult that it looks. Secondly, you must use the rope to get from the rock climbing platform, to the one ten feet away. From there, you will jump down via smaller platforms placed irregularly along the wall. There will be an open space after, from which metal rods will pop-up randomly from the ground - be warned a hit in the head or abdomen could be fatal. After that you must maneuver through a dense area of logs crossed in a way that provides very little space. You will then be provided with a weapon of your choice before facing a few holograms designed to fight like the Daitya. Just because they are not real, does not mean that you can take them lightly. And lastly, you must find a way to get the flag from the ground. All the while, your performance will be timed. Now go." The commander turned on his heel and proceeded to climb the stairs to the watch tower.

"Good luck," Alan said softly, giving her a quick nod of encouragement. "And don't worry if you don't get it in the first round. It is a pretty hard test." With that, he stepped back to watch.

[Lailic]

Lailic looked at the course with determination and slight fear. She looked at Alan for a moment before taking a deep breath and starting the course. She scaled the rock wall with a rocky ease. Pulling herself up to the top she looked around. Striding over to the rope she clutched it tightly. She stepped back and then shot forward. The moment her feet left the ground she was hit by a flash back.

The factory around her was a blaze. Smoke filled her lungs and she coughed violently. She could hear the screams of others around her. One that stood out among all others was that of her mothers. She heard her fathers laughter and knew it was his fault. His sickly harsh laughter made her stomach churn. She fell to the ground and after what felt like an eternity someone picked her up and carried her away.

She hit the other platform and it brought her to the present. Tears streamed down her face and her lips twisted into a look of disgust and anger. She tried to balance herself on the platform, however she didn't succeed and fell over the edge. Some how she caught herself. She dangled over the edge for a long moment before she pulled herself up. She stood up slowly shaking her head. "I need to focus" she thought bitterly. Leaping down into the first ledge she managed to leap and swing her way down. Her hands ached by the end and she faced the field with a certain uneasiness. She didn't know if she could make it through. She scanned the open area with hope to find some pattern or something that would tell her how to get through.

[scmarshtacky]

Alan unconsciously took a step forward as he saw her nearly fall off of the second platform. He didn't care if the commander did skin him alive, he wouldn't sit idly by and watch her take a nearly fatal fall. However, he was saved from having to intervene when she caught herself.

He couldn't help the memories that resurfaced from his own running of this course. "You will master the art of fighting the Daitya or you will die trying," the commander had said as he landed a solid punch to Alan's abdomen after his third consecutive failure. "You were built only to fight, so you'd best shape up if you want food and a roof over your head." That was his punishment for failure, a brutal beat down and threats of being abandoned on the street. It had taken him a week to complete the most basic course with fear as his motivator. Sometimes, even now, it was all he could do not to flinch away under the commander's hard gaze.

With a rough shake of his head, Alan returned his thoughts to Lailic as he watched to face the next obstacle.