Ellie sat in silence for the duration of the ride to the UAU barracks. She looked miserable. She [i]was[/i] miserable. Her hands were not only cuffed, but secured tightly to a chain around her waist. She wouldn't have been able to scratch an itch, let alone set off one of her shockwaves. But despite the precautions, her hands stayed balled into tight fists. It was her own safeguard, in addition to being virtually immobilized from the waist up. She didn't want to hurt anyone. Not herself, not the guards supervising her, not the driver of the vehicle, not anyone else on the road.

Her mind drifted, travelling back to when she'd first been drafted into the Beta Abilities Unit. Then, she'd been transported as fast as possible by a private jet. She'd been excited. Terrified at the thrill of the unknown, but excited. Then, she had been treated as a valuable asset. Now, she was a prisoner and a danger. 

The caravan hit a hard bump in the road, tossing her briefly into the air above her seat. Immediately, the guards had their hands on their weapons, ready to subdue Ellie if she decided that a bump was reason enough to set off a shockwave. She sighed quietly, her gaze drifting back towards the ground, and the tense atmosphere dissipated slightly. It was going to be a long ride. 

----------------------------

By the time they arrived at the barracks, Ellie's miserable attitude had only worsened. She'd had to put up with the guards not-so-subtly reaching for their weapons seven more times over the course of the ride. Anytime she so much as twitched, it was like they expected her to explode on them. She'd eventually resigned herself to sitting as still as was possible, and had avoided eye contact. 

She was now escorted into the building, her hands still cuffed and pinned to the chain at her waist. It was only once they were inside the barracks that she finally took the chance to exchange words with the officer escorting her. She cleared her throat, then spoke up. "Could I...um, the cuffs really aren't necessary. I'm usually really careful with the whole shockwave thing," she attempted to explain. 

The man looked down at her before nodding and grabbing the key. "It was a precaution for the ride here. Now that you're at UAU...well," he shrugged, undoing the chain around her waist and then proceeding to remove the cuffs. "You're someone else's problem now." 

She rubbed her wrists, slightly sore from the never-ending drive here, and listened as he gave a quick tour of the facility. It was hardly a tour. Really, they just stood in one place and Ellie watched as he pointed in various directions. Living quarters. Mess hall. Armoury. The list went on. Over the past few months, she'd begun to know the drill. The UAU barracks were set up similar to the other facilities she had been demoted from. Of course, not quite as nice. But that was to be expected. Here, the recruits were the lowest of the low. There was no way she could be demoted any farther. Ellie was left with a map and directions to her quarters. 

She started to make her way towards the living quarters, but stopped short as her eyes fell on a structure at the edge of the barracks. A part of the room had been sanctioned off into a small room. It was clear that the room was not a part of the original layout of the facilities. It was a recent construction, probably built as soon as they realized Ellie was on her way. Each wall of the room was roughly two feet thick, and Ellie was familiar enough with it to know what it was constructed from. Cinder blocks, cement, and steel rebar. The door was heavy iron, at least a half a foot thick. She wouldn't have been able to blast through it if she tried - not without killing herself. But precautions were precautions. That was the room where she would be allowed to practice her seismic shockwaves without endangering anyone else. Looking at it, it was almost as if the omnipresent ringing in her ears worsened. 

Ellie gave a quiet sigh and continued walking. 

Turning down the hallway towards the living quarters, she saw that someone was already there. A younger man, dark-haired, was leaning on the doorframe of one of the rooms. As Ellie approached, she was able to catch the last of his introduction. Bernie. She walked up behind him, looking past his shoulder into the room, and saw another man sitting on the bed. Quietly, she cleared her throat, and spoke a quiet, "Hello," to the two of them, accompanying the words with a small wave.