Another year, another wave of Sunderer recruits. The young fighters, gathered from across the nation of Fidelis, were lined up in an orderly fashion in the grand main hall of the Institute of Sunderer Education. In front of them was a large wooden stage, and a podium in the center. The general interior was quite exquisite, steel beams consisting the bones of the structure decorated with bronze sculpture of warriors climbing them. The walls were painted in the combo of purple and yellow, with the letters ISE written on each one of them. Not to mention that the floor was lined with granite tiles cut to a set of perfect squares. There was no doubt there was a fortune put into building this facility.

A minute or two of waiting later, a man wearing a boonie hat emerged from the back of the stage. He marched up to the podium, placed his hands on each end of it, and cleared his throat. His staring eyes scanned the lined up students and momentarily wrinkled into a frown.
"Students. Welcome."
The man's voice boomed throughout the hall, boosted by the speakers attached to the walls.
"Welcome to the opening ceremony of this year's batch of Sunderer initiates' education. You have passed the perilous tests to prove your worth as a Sunderer initiate, and are now proudly standing in this hall among many others who have made it. From now on you will be the part of the Institute of Sunderer Education, the very forge of the legendary heroes that is Sunderers. As honorable as it is to prepare to fight the enemies of the nation, I must warn you that it comes with a responsibility. If you are treated with respect, then you shall behave like a respected individual. Remember that you represent the Institute as its pupils, and act as a fitting member when you are in and out of the Institute."
He paused shortly, clearing his throat once again.
"Do not take your position so lightly, as Sunderers are the only ones separating the innocent lives behind the wall of Fidelis and the Genocidal machines outside of it. Now, good luck to all of you. And Let Justice Be True!"

The man did not wait for a round of applause to come. He simply turned and marched back away like the way he came once his speech was over. Once he was out of the students' sight, a flickering humanoid figure in the color of bright blue materialized at the podium. Behind it formed a wide screen in thin air.
"Alright, that was our principal giving you the welcome speech. Don't mind his words too much, he's always like that. Now, I shall announce the classes that you will divide you and what teacher you must line up in front of. Make sure you don't mess up, that'll be an awkward sight."
With that the screen started to write names down by itself. There were portraits of teachers on the top, each getting a downward line of names marking classes and their homeroom teachers.
"No time to waste, chop-chop!"

Yumi Shimi was only half listening to the announcement but she instantly perked up when she heard the principal say 'genocidal machines' although Yumi wasn't quite sure what the first word meant.

"Smash robots?" Yumi tilted her head then pouted crossing her arms "Boring school" she huffed as she watched the fancy light show because in her mind that's what it was except in reality it was just their assigned homerooms.

With a crash loud enough to wake the dead, the blonde girl's enormous sword cut a furrow down the center of the grand hall like a chasm, splitting not just the floor but the earth below itself! After landing her awesome multi-flip out of the way, Sinmara rose with a flourish. “That the best you got!?” She cackled, brushing a mote of dust from her shoulders before she slammed the ground with the butt of her spear. The very air seemed to tense in anticipation as streams of flame surrounded her, and with raucous laughter she launched forward. Her blue-eyed adversary swung her titanic blade as if it were a ruler, launching forth crescents of cutting air, but Sinmara danced out of the way of them all. She blasted this way and that, bounding off the great steel beams, before falling on her foe like a blazing meteorite.

The impact of her clenched fist against the other girl's blocking flat rattled the building, and with a grunt the blonde slid backward across the smooth stone tiles. She plowed through chairs, the podium, and finally into the back wall, but never did she lose her feet. Cracks spread across the wall like a spiderweb, yet still she shook it off!

“You're not half bad!” Sinmara shouted, her voice filled with glee. “But how about this!?” She dashed between the brazen statues, melting through them with single strokes from Moloch, sending the pieces flying. A hailstorm of red-hot body parts pelted her foe but she blocked them all. Then, before her eyes, Sinmara appeared, having zoomed in under the cover of her fusillade. Before she could so much as react the horned spearfighter planted her fist straight into that exposed midriff of hers, popping her up into the air. “And it's a hooooooome....” Sinmara reeled back, swirling Moloch in a circle. “RUN!” With a single calamitous impact the girl soared upward, blasting into and through the ceiling, straight up into the vault of heaven until only a distant twinkle between the disturbed clouds marked her presence. Sinmara pumped her fist, posing dramatically. “And that's how ya do it!”

..At least, that's how she would have wanted to do it. A bright light startled Sinmara out of her trance, causing her legs to unlock and the rest of her to fall forward with a resounding plop, right in front of all her soon-to-be classmates and the staff. “Guh!” She writhed on the floor, the wind knocked out of her lungs, then managed to roll onto her back and lay there for a moment, her chest heaving. What...the hell...happened? Looking around, she could see an intact floor, beams unbent and uncut, statues without any missing parts, immaculate tiles and walls...oh. There had been no fight. No blood pumping, no heart racing, no wonderfully aching muscles, no feeling of having lived. Another daydream.

Drat.

Groaning, Sinmara wiped the drool from her cheek and picked herself up. With her sunglasses lying forgotten on the floor she shook her head to clear it, then tried to take stock of the situation. A bunch of people, all female, lined up neatly. Over there was that blonde girl she'd seen leaving that giant sword of hers where Sinmara left Moloch. Just the sight of such a formidable weapon had made her heart beat faster. The demon hoped dearly that her new acquaintance could fight half as well as she imagined, but people seldom ever did. Sinmara glanced around. Although some people were looking at that giant screen, a number seemed to be looking at her thanks to her little fall. Good! “What's up! I'm Sinmara. Want a piece of me?” she asked with zero hesitation, a wide smile on her face. Her eyes blazed with energy as she smacked one fist into her other hand. “Please say yes!”

@Lugubrious

It was either the girls equally badass giant sword or the oddness of her appearance that caused Yumi to stand and clap, oddly it wasn't the fall the demon girl Sinmara had made. Yumi smiled sweetly and smacked her dainty little hands together and with awe in her unfocussed eyes she said "Simara have big sword like Yumi?" the girl pointed over to her weapon "You will be friend!" she declared as if it were a challenge: a challenge of friendship.

Sinmara looked strong physically and quite odd looking but at least she wasn't a robot, Yumi hates robots but the demon girl looked cool and obviously they had to be friends now because they were big weapon basasses now or at least Yumi was but it wasn't out of the question thay Sinmara may also be exclusively a badass only. Now Yumi had a headache from thinking so hard but smiled at the demon girl Sinmara "We battle soon then friend" Yumi said like a kid choosing a delicious candy bar out of a selection of premium sweets.

---

Penny stood calmly during the announcement. Getting to this point was difficult, and at times was not sure if she would even be accepted, but despite her struggles, it looks like she had made it. She turned her head to look about the room. She couldn’t help but feel it a testament about humanities will to survive against the robots and to do so on their terms. Penny was not terribly offput by the principal’s speech. Her sister, Madeline, told her that he could be imposing but had a strong sense of justice. It was comforting that such a leader was so determined to protect the people of Fidelis from the robot threat.

Next to Penny floating close at hand was Gyro. For now, it had done most of the talking for her. Penny still had a hard time actually interacting with others, and that did make it hard to get through the preliminary tests. Having Gyro around helped a lot with that. Having a robotic companion like it was not without its criticisms, but most eventually saw how harmless it was. Communication might have been her weakness, but she liked to think her other skills and aptitude helped the overseers overlook that.

“Look there.” Gyro spoke with a lower male voice, “You have been assigned a class. We should line up with that group.” Penny faced the board and saw the picture of a woman with dark hair ending in blue. She was pretty. Penny moved through the crowd to find where they were gathering. Among them were a girl with dark skin and red horns staring into space. Penny moved past her and stood next to a blonde girl. Penny was sure this was where they should line up. Scratching behind the feathers that grew around her ears, Penny looked up the line to see the teacher ahead, appearing just like her portrait.

“She has fallen.” Penny looked over to Gyro, and then towards the direction he was looking. Down on the floor was the red horned girl. Why she was on the floor was a mystery, but it also seemed to have surprised that girl as well. She quickly stood and introduced herself as Sinmara. She was trying to pick a fight it looked like. Penny took a step back in case, but the blonde girl she stood next to spoke up. Penny didn’t want to judge, but she was already having second thoughts about the class based on Sinmara’s attitude, and Yumi’s grammar.

A short, slight, and suspiciously young looking girl with soft pink hair casually lined up with the rest of her new classmates, following the speech. She wore a slight, pleasant smile that could only be identified as forced if someone looked very closely. Most did not. Internally, Eve was both bored and irritated. The words were only so much bullshit, and worse than that, a waste of time. Eve hated both things but it wasn't like she could share those feelings, especially not when most of the students actually bought into that crap.

She ended up next to a brunette with feathers that caught her eye, and a presence about as imposing as Eve's physical stature. The passing curiosity was redirected and intensified by the floating, talking bot next to the girl. Feigning dumbstruck awe she leaned over to hesitantly poke the robot.

"What's this?"

She wasn't actually waiting for an answer, and she didn't care if she got one. Eve was already answering her own question via an undetectable use of her powers. Every secret held within was revealed to her, save for what the programing in its mechanical brain was. Every piece and the material making up those parts were mapped to her brain in that moment. Curiosity satisfied she pulled her finger away after the brief tap, she was impressed by the quality and care put into it's construction. Most tech like that was just cobbled together parts and not proper reverse engineering. It worked for most people but it all looked so ugly to Eve's power, and it was far more prone to disastrous failure than most realized. She was pleased to see the attention to detail, and now a bit more interested.

But before she could get into a good conversation about that, a sudden flurry of activity drew attention. One of her new classmates had inexplicably fallen over, making Eve wonder if other aspects of her power would be needed. But before she could move to touch the strange girl she was back on her feet and exploded with manic energy. As well as a literal challenge to no one in particular. Another girl was already responding to that and Eve couldn't help but feel exasperated. She hoped there were less classmates like that and more like the quiet brunette, though she didn't harbor much hope. It was hard not to let the tired disappointment show. Still, she wasn't going to stop them if it worked out the majority of that annoying energy.

"Probably a good idea not to spar right here. Ask an instructor where you can go."

@Jade Kiyo

Yumi looked at the two girls before her; one looked itty-bitty while the other appeared quiet as her orb speculated that the lights were actually names and assigned homerooms. Yumi flushed with embarrassment, even she should have known that because she wasn't illiterate but she was distracted easily by most things.

The young girl whose face seemed deceiving in Yumi's opinion but she didn't care enough about such a small detail but when the young girl spoke up and said fighting might not be a good idea at the moment. She closed her eyes thinking as hard as she could then opened her blue eyes and leant over to address the girl. "I think you right little one," she patted the girl on the head with a sweet smile "Yumi my name what yours little one?" Yumi asked the young looking girl.

Oof. Sinmara's face fell. Maybe she'd been wrong to get her hopes up. Just about every countenance drawn her way by her declaration of challenge held either apprehension or scorn. Such familiarly inhospitable expressions had routinely confronted her from the facility's staff since she'd been brought here. Almost every soul she met turned away at her approach, and fewer still indulged her. Would these classmates shrink from her as well? But...hadn't the staff told her, from the first day they brought her here, that she would be part of a team of special people like her? That they would fight together against the machines?

Of all the prospective Sunderers, a solitary girl greeted her with an air of amusement, if not cordiality. Glad for any attention, Sinmara turned her whole focus on Yumi. Without any sort of hesitation or delay she got the demon's name wrong, then mistakenly assumed she wielded a sword rather than the hyper-badass chainsaw spear Moloch, all of which the blonde expressed in broken English, but Sinmara hardly cared. She beamed at the prospect of an actual comrade. “Sort of! Want to find out?” Rather than accept her as an opponent, however, Yumi labeled her a friend. “Friend?” Sinmara repeated, running a hand through her hair as her fire died down. She didn't have any, so she didn't know if they were good for fighting, but it was a start, wasn't it? And Yumi seemed so eager—the demon girl could respect a little enthusiasm! “Sure thing! We'll be best darned friends that ever were!” she announced with gusto. It was hard not to return Yumi's infectious smile.

The others seemed to be making a point of minding their own business, more or less. One, who put rather little effort into masking her displeasure, suggested she do her fighting elsewhere. “No kidding!” Sinmara agreed with a sigh. If anything was obvious, it was that her daydream of trashing this place in an epic showdown would have to wait. Her newfound friend didn't want to brawl just yet, and the others were already treating her like the plague. Well, that was fine. How many friends had they made, after all? If she couldn't beat them up, she could at least beat them in this regard. Her bright gaze shifted toward the others, a girl with white hair and another with blue-horns. “Heya! What's your names...?” Wait, horns? Sinmara's eyes narrowed as her mind strained to piece together a half-remembered scene, fraught with horn-profuse folks gathered around her, uniform in their silence and piercing stare, watching and waiting. But she couldn't recall that hazy day, recent as it surely must have been. She looked away.

Eve had told her to ask an instructor where she could fight, but she already knew, having been shepherded there more than once already. She stifled a yawn. Nobody wanted to scrap, nobody wanted to talk. Nothing was happening. Sinmara could feel herself growing bored again. All the energy displayed a moment ago quickly decayed into a forlorn malaise. She exhaled heavily and drooped down into a sitting position, her long braid lying curled on the floor like a flagging serpent. At least down here she could drift off into another comforting daydream without having to worry about hitting the floor again.

---

Things were starting to calm down. Sinmara and Yumi seemed to be getting along, and though she still seemed a bit energetic she was socializing with some of the others who had lined up with them. Penny lowered her hand that she had closed over her chest. She didn’t know when she moved it there, but now that the tension was dissipated, she felt calm enough to realize she had. Besides her family, Penny was mainly used to the patron’s who visited her father’s shop, and even the sunderers who came by weren’t so vigorous. Sinmara’s actions caught her by surprise. It was almost like grade school, and somehow that was starting to be comforting. Penny shifted her weight and tugged at her skirt as it clung to her leggings.

Penny had changed her opinion of the two girls. Yumi might not speak perfect English, but she was polite, and easy to understand. Sinmara seemed easily excitable. Yumi addressed the girl next to Penny. Penny had not seen her there before, too distracted by Sinmara collapsing to the ground. She had pink hair, and one of the more interesting outfits. It wasn’t to say it was unpleasant, but the girl certainly stood out in it. It gave her a certain charm. Penny opened her mouth to comment, but quickly closed it again. She made a small peep, but otherwise remained quiet.

“We find your outfit attractive.” said Gyro. It floated in front of Penny at eye level with Eve. Penny quickly reached out and grabbed the floating metal ball and held it to her chest. Stuck in place, the robot spoke once more. “I apologize, that was not meant to be spoken aloud. Please allow me introductions. This young lady is Penny MacArthur. And I am Gyro, Ms. MacArthur’s aide.”

Penny let go of Gyro and it returned floating eye level with Eve. Penny bowed and smiled. Attractive might not have been the best word, but Penny couldn’t think of a better adjective at the time. Besides her young appearance, Eve showed more maturity than otherwise displayed by the others. It was a sort of professionalism expected from the sunderers. If anything, Sinmara and Yumi in contrast with Eve really made it feel like they were gathering together in grade school.

“Please, may we ask of your name as well?” Asked Gyro.

Little one, huh? Oh well, nothing I can do about that. Not.. within reason, anyway. Eve mused to herself, looking between Yumi and Sinmara. With her power, the form and composition was no mystery, but she had to figure people out the old fashioned way, piecing bits together through painstakingly slow observation. Red skinned girl an adrenaline junkie, maybe? Hopefully not just a junkie in general. Blonde speech is kinda broken or simplified. Undereducated or learning disability I'd guess. Straightforward and well meaning enough, I suppose. And judging by those weapons, no, more the attitudes, gotta be two of our class' front-liners. Gonna be putting them back together a lot. Great. Eve sighed and tried to keep up a smile.

"Eve. Evie or just V is fine, too." Behind Yumi Eve noticed Sinmara's dramatic shift in mood, and she inclined her head that way. "Your, ah, new friend looks a bit down, Yumi."

Eve didn't so much feel concerned, many people she knew were emotionally or mentally unstable like that, rather she hoped to redirect Yumi's energy away from herself. If she was being honest with herself she wanted the owlish girl all to herself for the moment. A bit underhanded and selfish, but Eve had long ago stopped trying to waste the energy on being a 'good' person. Other than the surface act she put on. Besides, that surprise comment from Penny's sphere demanded her full attention, having already pulled an amused smirk from her.

"You can be honest, it's a bit much. It's supposed to be." She chuckled lightly. "But I appreciate the compliment. I did at least try to make the colors and patterns coordinated. Even if it doesn't last through one fight it's nice to know I'll look good during."

She took a step closer, intruding into Penny's personal space a little, but her body language was relaxed, non aggressive. More like she was curious, which was true enough. She barely had to bend down to inspect the self proclaimed assistant, Gyro. Penny was not a giant like the others but she still had several inches on Eve. Her eyes were on the machine but she was also observing the other girl in her peripheral. She hoped Penny was Gyro's engineer, for a number of reasons, none of which she intended to reveal.

"Mm, Valentine. My surname. Pleasure to meet you, miss Macarthur." It wasn't a lie, to Eve's small credit. And even though Gyro asked, it was clearly Penny that Eve responded to. "Did you make it yourself?"

---

Penny reactively put a step back as if to take a step when Eve came really close. She brought her hands up. But slowly lowered them again as Eve seemed fixated on Gyro. It was still between them, but Eve had responded to Penny. Normally a person would respond to Gyro since it was the one to speak, but here Eve spoke to Penny. Eve seemed nice and perhaps someone Penny could become friends with outside of sunderer duties. Penny didn’t go out of her way to interact with others, but since they would be in a class together, it never hurt to know her colleagues.

“Eve Valentine. That is a nice name.” said Gyro. Despite being sandwiched between Penny and Eve, it had made no effort to move. The mechanisms behind single eye’s blue glass spun around the pupil readjusting its focus. Penny grabbed the floating orb and held it close almost like she was caressing it unlike before where she was smothering it. Her eyes widened when Eve questioned if Penny had built it. She let go of Gyro and shook her head. She opened her mouth to say something, but each time it looked like something had got caught in her throat and she stopped.

“I am afraid Ms. MacArthur was not the being of my creation. I was designed and constructed by her father, Mr. Henry MacArthur. I was designed to provide aid for Ms. MacArthur’s social development and interaction. However, I am equipped with instructions for Ms. MacArthur should I require maintenance or repair beyond my capability.” Gyro positioned itself so that it floated just to the side of Penny, near the right side of her head.

Dammit! Dammit! I'm such an idiot, getting my hopes up like that. The odds of a mechanical genius being in the Sunderer recruits is low. Anyone like that would probably be locked up in a lab already. Hell, I probably would be if they knew my true capabilities.

Eve's brow furrowed at the unfortunate news, eyes drifting down and looking through Penny's chest as she was momentarily lost in thought. It was a rapid dive from excitement to disappointment she hadn't been prepared for. A few seconds later she registered she was still being spoken to, and physically shook her head to ground herself in reality again.

"A-ah, sorry. Spaced out there for a sec. Th-thank you. Though I think Penny is a much cuter name."

She offered up an apologetic smile when she met the girl's eyes again. Eve realized that while she wouldn't be getting expert pointers like she briefly hoped, she could still get pointers from Penny. And who knew? Maybe she could meet her father one day. So for now she stepped back once, giving back the space she had invaded. But she also extended her right hand, the left coming to rest on her hip.

"Suppose learning how robots tick is part of our new job, anyway. Even if you didn't make it I'd love to bounce ideas off you. If you don't mind, that is."

Either she hadn't noticed or didn't care about Penny's struggle with speech, as her eyes never left the girl when she talked. Secretly she liked her quiet nature, even if it was involuntary shyness. Most people were just too damn noisy, so it was a refreshing change.

Hell, an actual friend or two wouldn't kill me, so long as they prove trustworthy. Trustworthy enough, anyway. And granted I don't drive them away on my own. Hm, yeah… forgot about that. Making friends isn't hard, me keeping them is the challenge. We'll see what happens I guess.

She smiled, a hint of sadness tainting her eyes, but the expression was perhaps the most honest so far.

@Randomness

As this commotion was going on a young unremarkable woman slipped into the line behind them. Elisabet was not at all surprised she had not been noticed and indeed held it as a rather good thing all things considered. All things considered these girls were not the sort of crowd she much cared to associate with. And to think this whole day started so well...

She got up early this morning as she usually did. Sleeping in even once being a habit incompatible with her views of excellence. Her parents were not there to greet her, having already left for work. But she didn't mind. She was used to it at this point. If anything it was a bit nostalgic. For two years now she had left for work pretty much when they did and being abandoned in the morning reminded her of the old days back in school. Fitting, considering where she was going today.

Still as she made her self breakfast Elisabet couldn't but wonder about what must have being going through their heads. Elisabet knew her mother and father both disapproved of her life choices. And she understood why. Having your daughter go out into the battlefield to risk life and limb against the unyielding mechanical horde was not something any sane parent took to gladly. And unlike most they had had a front row seat in just what sort of nightmares made those machines tick. Not to mention the stuff issued to their own troops.

Truth be told Elisabet had little doubt that the reason why they pushed her so hard during school and than into a job as their assistant was to share that view with her. To peel away that veil of youthful romance and reveal the dark sordid underbelly of the war. But if that really was their intent it had failed. Her standing here was proof enough of that.

Still, she could not begrudge them for trying. Just as she could not do so for them leaving early for work. Even if it did hurt, deep inside, just a little bit.

Moving swiftly along her arrival here was uneventful. The walk to school was nothing to speak off and her entry into the hall equally fraught with ambiguity. It all went down from there.

As the principal held his speech Elisabet could not help but wince internally. The old man was spouting the same sort of thing every parent and teacher did throughout her life, only with a tint of government propaganda. Not that she mind that in particular. A respectable institution like this academy obviously needed to keep and enforce standards of responsibility and discipline. She was all up for that. There was a place and a time for having fun and a place and time for being serious and respectable. But the way the others, even the teacher immediately after reacted was just cringe.

Really, did nobody here take this thing seriously? Anyone? Aaand that is where we return to the beginning and the butplanting demon girl.
*sigh* "Why do I even bother?" she thought to her self even as she had to consciously restrain her hand from slapping her face. "Of course they wouldn't."
When the posters at the recruitment office said everyone here would be "special" she dared hope for but a moment that it was the other kind of special, the good kind. Just comes to show that no matter how smart one is hope is a sure way to end up being wrong.

Still, things could be worse. The girls could be in her class.

...

Oh.

This flurry of thoughts which followed weren't pretty. Indeed they were unladylike enough that they bear not repeating here. Sufficed to say that as far as first impressions go this was not a good one. Maybe mother and father were right after all. Maybe war really wasn't a place for a smart girl like her self.

The whole thing distracted her for much of the time after that. So much so that she made an almost deliberate attempt not to pay attention to what was going on around her. She just had to get through this, settle in, go to class and than she would get to explode stuff. And all would be well with the world.

Fire... it always did relax her so.

---

Unfortunately for the cybernetically enhanced airhead she often had a short attention span so when Eve pointed out that Sinmara was looking unhappy she switched her full attention towards the demon girl and smiled widely to the bored as well as crestfallen looking Sinmara.

"Simara why look sad?" Yumi asked her new best-battle buddy with a tilt of her head and a puzzled expression on her face "Stop that you best-battle buddy of Yumi," playfully she hit the girl on the shoulder forgetting her strength and before the girl could stumble backwards Yumi steadied Sinmara and steped back with a look of embarrassment on her face "Forget my strength sometimes" Yumi giggled flexing her scrawny delicate arms.

Just as the blanket of sleep started to settle around Sinmara's mind, irresistible in its uncontested coziness, a voice jolted her awake. The blonde from earlier, her new best friend forever, had come to her rescue! This time however, the demon girl felt justified in offering a slight correction. Even just a little engagement perked her right up, so she cracked a smile of her own as she replied. “'Sinmara' actually, with the 'N'. And I'm not really sad, see-” Yumi remained unconvinced however, and after urging her pal to quit being sad at once, offered a friendly sock to the shoulder.

It landed a little harder than normal, striking Sinmara's purple sleeve almost strongly enough to bruise. If she had been standing she might have lost her balance, but while seated on the floor she could toss out an arm to support herself easily enough. She laughed as Yumi moved in to help, her embarrassment clearly written on her face. “Bahaha! You wanna scrap that bad too, huh? Well, we'll go nuts soon as we can, but I'll get yelled at again if I get the party started in here.” Relieved of the onset of numbing boredom, she jumped to her feet and rubbed her shoulder as her great braid swung behind her. Whether she meant it or not, Yumi had sparked her to life, with everything that getting Sinmara excited entailed. “Jeez, you've got some wallop for those spindly little noodles, hahaha! Must be a superpower or something right?” She took hold of Yumi's bicep and squeezed it a little, confirming the utter lack of muscle. “I'm super jealous! I pretty much live in the gym here, and I've gotta stuff myself fulla protein every meal or I'll burn faster'n I build.” She grinned proudly as she slapped her muscled stomach. “But I'm killin' it, right? There's no challenge I can't beat!”

Remembering Yumi's concern, she smacked her own head. “Oh, duh, I forgot. 'Preciate the help and all, but I wasn't 'sad', really. Just bored. I just can't sit around not doing somethin', or I just start shuttin' down. The doctors rattle off these long medical terms, say I'm hyperactive or some such. Well, I can't help it if there's fire in my veins!” She started hopping up and down, weaving from side to side as she punched the air with wild strength. “You'll see once I start meltin' through robots! I'm dynamite. I live for the thrill of the fight! I'm a rockstar, and the battlefield's my stage!” As she hyped herself up while shadowboxing, her fists began to glow, suffused with a fiery heat. “People wish I'd sit still. I can't! I'm a live wire. A tornado of fireworks! I can't live the way everyone else does. Makes me feel dead inside. The fight's all there is. Everything else is just...filler!”

Sinmara ended her drill with a massive revolving punch. Her red-hot fist released a brilliant plume of fire into the empty air. She aimed it away from everyone else, having already cleared an area around herself by shadowboxing, but in the heat of the moment she hadn't taken any extra care to make sure the flames wouldn't lick at her classmate's hair or clothes. For a moment she held the pose, breathing a little heavier, before she relaxed her stance. She wore a look of vague satisfaction on her face that suggested, rather than happiness, that she longed for more.

Sinmara became animated and excitable, her vivacious spirit as she punched the air causing sparks of brilliant light until finally she threw her knockout punch causing a spectacular burst of flame but it did little to improve Yumi's mood as she slowly adopted an expression that looked distraught.

Yumi was thinking about her new friends comment on scientists and remembered the scientists that raised her. Yet Yumi wasn't shown much affection by the scientists whom she recalled often refered to her as a thing rather than a person and she shuddered thumping against a wall and sitting down. "I no like scientist they hurt Yumi," she said looking rather scared from remembering her past "They say me monster" she told the girl with a shiver before casting her gaze at the laces of her shoes "Science people test on Yumi" she told Sinmara in a hushed voice.

---

Penny looked at Eve with some concern as she seemed to have lost interest in Penny. Perhaps by discovering that she didn’t build Gyro Eve had no reason to keep interest. While Penny wasn’t the best at reading people, she was able to notice changes in demeanor. Eve no long maintained eye contact, and for the few seconds it lasted bothered Penny. She stood tense remaining quiet as Gyro floated silently next to her. She was not sure how to strike up another conversation. If anything, this might be the end to their interaction all together.

Penny jumped a little when Eve suddenly shook her head and complimented Penny’s name. Whatever might have been on her mind seemed to have passed. Eve seemed to have a keen interest in Gyro. Penny didn’t mind that, it might be something the two of them might be able to bond over. Even though she was unable to make herself speak for the moment, Penny was starting to feel comfortable.

Penny slowly extended her right hand out as well to meet Eve’s. She smiled and began to relax. She nodded her head at the idea of being able to talk, even if about Gyro.

“We would love to be able to share ideas with you. If there is any information that Ms. MacArthur is unable to provide, I may be able to help.” Penny nodded again. If not friends, Penny was glad to at least have someone she could be able to talk to. Even if it’s through Gyro at the beginning. Penny’s smile dropped when erratic movement caught her eye from behind Eve.

“Our colleague, Sinmara, appears to be causing another commotion.” said Gyro. Penny looked over to get a better look. Sinmara was fired up, sparing the air in front of her. Her fists started glowing and the air started to feel warmer. “The temperature around her person has increased dramatically. I recommend we keep our distance until she has cooled.”

Penny was in awe at the power. Sinmara was ready to get into a fight and it was only orientation. What was to come for her and the rest of the class was unknown, but Sinmara was sure to be the one to get things going. The sound of chatter in the room was deafening, not just with the small part of the class here thought they sure have contributed. Penny almost felt out of place. Everyone had such extrovert personalities. SInmara was full of explosive energy. Yumi’s attention was easily grabbed, Eve had great interest in Gyro, and then there was a white-haired girl she had not met before.

Penny looked almost uncomfortably long. Gyro finally moved forward and floated eye level with the character.

“Greetings, please allow me introductions. My name is Gyro. I provide aide for Ms. Penny MacArthur, the young woman just behind me. We noticed that you had joined our class and would like to make acquaintances.”

'Sorry I'm late, claaass!'

Into the hall skidded a figure whose gothic aesthetic belied her cheery attitude: a black and blue combat skirt and top, black hair with near-bluenette highlights, and a wide-eyed grin as she examined the hall.

'I got a little caught up with something,' she declared out loud, 'but let's not let that get in the way of your bright futures! If you can see your names under my portrait, follow me to our homeroom!' She- Miss Violet Sapphire, as her portrait deemed her- would wait until the class members gathered up to her, both folks that had been spoken with and those who had yet to be talked to, before striding out in a flash, moving quickly through the halls and up a flight of stairs to a room signed as "E-14". Oddly enough, a hint of cigarette smoke lingered on her person, to those who came close enough to smell it, but she'd be amicable enough to answer any questions asked as they moved through the halls and into the class: a fairly standard classroom, it seemed, cream-painted and with various posters on the walls, of both incitement to Continue the Good Fight and Take on the Robot Menace and such, and more creative works indicating this room would normally be used for art and literature.

Livened up by her energetic but ultimately harmless display, Sinmara glanced around. Naturally she attracted a little intention, but if the others wanted nothing to do with her before, she couldn't expect them to now. Only Yumi continued looking her way, but the blonde girl's face bore neither appreciation nor vitality. If anything she looked haunted, as if something dark had reached her from the shadows cast by Sinmara's flames. The demon girl immediately went over to her new friend, putting a supportive hand on her shoulder. “Hey, you okay?”

She wasn't, and tentatively shed some light on the pain welling up from her history. Confused and a little alarmed by what exactly Yumi's initial statement, meant, Sinmara watched Yumi stare at her shoes. “Well...that sounds damn nefarious! You should tell the police or something.” she could only exclaim, her tone sympathetic. “How could anyone think you're a monster, anyway? You don't even have horns! A while ago, I'm pretty something made me go nuts. Made a big mess, so these people took me in.” She gestured broadly to the Sunderer facility. “For my own good. They've been helping me get better since. So if anything, I'm the monster.” That was one role Sinmara didn't mind fulfilling. She couldn't exactly go against her own nature, after all. Compared to what Yumi apparently went through, she found herself more grateful than ever that the doctors here were so dedicated to helping her get better.

Soon after, a woman appeared whose face Sinmara new from the board. This, it seemed, would be her instructor. Her dress and manner suggested a youthful wholeheartedness that persisted well into adulthood, and likely would for many years to come. She wasted no time in greeting her students and bidding them follow her to her room. Some of the girls seemed reluctant to get moving, but with a final pat on Yumi's back Sinmara jogged to the front of the procession. If Sapphire made a face upon recognizing her, she ignored it. “Heya, teach! I'm Sinmara. Maybe you heard of me? I've been around for a while, but they figured I ought to join an official class, even thought I'm a few years older than everyone else. How cool is that? I can't remember how old I am anyway, so it works out!” She spoke with a smile, clearly not registering that last point as a problem. On the way to the room she kept pace with Sapphire, only restraining herself from running ahead in excitement with the knowledge that she didn't know where to go. “So, what all are we gonna be learnin'? I mean, Doc said I'd be learnin' how to be a real Sunderer, but what does that mean exactly?”

---

Gyro remained floating silently awaiting an answer from the girl with white hair. Either she didn’t hear him in the commotion, or she just didn’t care Penny was not sure. She started to feel foolish for trying to socialize and felt like she might be better with the one person who she was able make acquaintances with. After a little bit longer when the silence was starting to get awkward, Gyro returned to Penny’s side. Just before Penny could move back near Eve, a person dressed in black and blue appeared suddenly.

She matched the picture on the screen, but her dress and her manner of speech did not match. For being dressed in all black and with a professional figure, she was not expecting her to be so…

Penny was not quite sure what she thought, but she expected something more akin to a drill instructor in both dress and demeanor. After a bit to affirm that they were in the presence of their teacher, she left out the room. Penny staggered a little, but caught up and managed to keep pace with the rest of the group. After a flight of stairs and down another hall, the teacher stopped in front of another class. Penny had many questions about what they were expected to learn, what was to come, but she wasn’t able to get close enough to the teacher to ask. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to be the one to ask. Gyro easily kept his place by her side.

Once they reached the class room, Penny’s expectations were once again put into question. Madeline made it sound like the Sunderers was a military core. Training and fighting robots, and the usual military things. Wile Madeline wasn’t specific with the kind of things she did during training, she mentioned that it could be hard and to be prepared to some hard work. But this class looked like it came out of her grade school. Decorations and everything.

“We should wait before we make any assumptions.” Said Gyro softly to Penny, “There may be more to what we see.”