circle7 | let's see you get yourself out of this one

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let's see you get yourself out of this one

There were certain things to be said about the advance of technology. Viana keyed a few specifications into the holographic touch screen and watched as the room past the glass window began to rearrange and shift itself. Platforms came out of and withdrew into walls. Stairs and surfaces grew out of the ground, obstacles grew in from the ceiling, and block by block, a randomly-generated city took shape in the training room.

The gears that powered the entire ever-changing structure rumbled underneath her feet as the massive pieces of the puzzle were jumbled about, but it was a familiar and almost welcoming feeling by now. She shifted her weight back and forth from the heel of her feet to the toes, stretching the tendons and the muscles. It would take a few minutes to assemble, but she had the time.

Still undergoing repairs and intelligence-gathering, the First Circle was largely in stasis. No new missions had been dealt out for days, and that was no good for restless people like Viana, who lived to move. She got antsy when she stayed in one place for so long. Her wanderlust always got the better of her. She had no idea how her brother could handle it - Evan spent a large portion of their rare days off curled up with some book or another, fingers drumming an inaudible tune in his head, always a few beats short, as he read.

Viana reached her arms high over her head, locking her fingers together and reaching towards the sky. That was the best thing about moving like this - sometimes, you could close your eyes and imagine you were flying, for that one split second in an arch where gravity had yet to get the better of you, that one instant before vertigo kicked in, that weightlessness, that weight. She jumped a little where she stood, impatient as always. "C'mon, c'mon, hurry up."

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Finally, something the two had in common - only Bentley moved to satiate curiosity, not because it was something he felt made his bones ache. In fact, in a comfortable setting, he'd probably be much like Evan, sitting back with a book. (Or maybe a good TV medical or cooking show.) As it is, though, the Circle Seven space station is still vastly unexplored for Bentley, and on his days off, wandering became his pastime. He had found a good number of other races (though he'd get glared at for staring), odd pets, wandered into quite a few restricted areas, and tasted some literally out-of-this-world food. This was yet another adventure to be had.

The commotion was actually easy to miss from outside, though. The room was carefully sound-proofed, and if Bentley hadn't been reading the room titles sign-by-sign, he would've missed the subtle rumbling of the ground. Eyebrow raised, he wandered to the source. The window in the door was dimmed, so he settled for reading the touch screen.

"Training Room 1-B: Currently In Use," he read out loud to himself. Of course, that wasn't about to stop Bentley. How could training rooms make that much noise? He had to know.

Testing the button (hardly any handles in this day and age), it gave easily; unlocked. It whirred as it slid open, disappearing into the wall. The noise got much louder as it creaked open, making the doctor wince, but the sight before him was much too amazing for him to be quiet. He completely missed Viana and her bright purple hair standing just a few feet away.

"A-amazing! Who in the world's idea was this? They must be brilliant! To program such a complex-" And off he rambled.

It might have been a little more difficult to miss the small fist that suddenly jammed its way right between Bentley's shoulder blades, with enough force to make him stumble, but probably not enough to knock over a man of his size and weight (the magnitude of force had always been Viana's weakness in combat). "What are you doing here?" she barked out fiercely, disapproval written all over her face. She wasn't a difficult person to read, after all, infinitely more expressive than someone like...say, Calibri, or even her brother, with his smiling poker face.

"Didn't it say I was using it outside?" The rumbling stopped all at once, as the final blocks shifted and locked into place. The view from the glass window now showed a fairly intricate city, built of array after array of small building blocks. Yes, there was definitely something to be said about technology, to be able to build a small city block in the expanse of mere minutes.

"Oof!" Bentley fell forward a step, glaring over his shoulder - that was, until he noticed just who is was. That made him whirl around, backing up another step.

"I-it didn't say who," he scoffed, half-defensive, half... well, only a little scared, all right? Bentley definitely wouldn't have come in if it said Viana's name on the door. As the ruckus stopped, though, he looked elsewhere - at the small faux city before them. It was hard to mask the look of awe on his face, even in her presence.

"If it was in use," she sniffed haughtily, "Then you shouldn't have come in either way." Withdrawing her hand (a good sign, by any means), Viana sidestepped him, heading towards the side door that would lead to the flight of stairs to take them down into that vast artificial training area. As she put her hand on the knob, she turned back, chin raised (it always was, as if she were challenging everyone, as if she were challenging the world), slanting a look back his way. "You better scram and get outta here, doc, before you lose another arm."

Tact? Check.

"Well it wasn't locked," he combated, making sure to stay a good five feet out of her radius. Bentley was prideful enough about challenges to hold his ground, crossing his arms. (Or maybe it was just a Viana thing - a certain air to her challenges that made you unable to refuse.) "Not until I find out just what you need half a city for."

Viana smirked, swinging the door open with a turn of the knob and a kick of the tip of her boot. The inside of the training area, if it wasn't obvious before, clearly resembled the top of a normal city skyline - higher buildings, lower buildings, railings, fences, balconies, and even the occasional laundry line and flagpole. The accuracy was stunning, truly a feat of the programmers, but unlike the good doctor, Viana was a girl who saw such things only in terms of their practicality, and not their execution. "It's a training area, so it's for training," she said, before the door closed behind her, muffling but not drowning out the sound of her footsteps as she made her way down the stairs.

Closer up like this, the attention to detail was much more exquisite. The programmers had a definite role, and so did the builders. What a team these people must've made.

Actually, what a fortune it must've cost the mafia to get this, the doctor thought to himself, before realizing that maybe they coerced people into making it. People like himself, whisked away from home without a choice. He smiled bitterly to himself, where Viana couldn't see.

"I gathered that much," he said. "Just wondering as to how someone trains using a city." The thought crossed his mind to stick behind and watch from the stairs, or even the upper level, but his curiosity drove him further, up to the very building blocks themselves. He reached out and ran his fingers down the corner of a false cafe. The displayed brick texture didn't wince for a second, but it was impressively deceiving to the eyes - the surface under his fingers was smooth, not rough like it would lead you to believe.

"What would you use?" came a voice from above Bentley. Viana was standing at the edge of a particularly high platform, the tip of her right foot already half-off the ledge as she looked down, bent over and talked to him as if she couldn't just teeter over the edge and break her neck or something (she could). There had never been a sense of discomfort for her when it came to heights - that was obvious enough, considering her carelessness, or rather, her simple nonchalance about her position.

Disappearing back, the echo of her footsteps reached even the ground as she took a running start and leapt, clean off the end of the ground, and it seemed, to any passing onlooker, that she might've just committed her suicide rite.

"I'm a doctor. Our training is different. We use things like bodies." Maybe a grotesque image, but it was true - although, exaggerated. Nowadays, simulated human bodies was almost as good as using the old fashioned methods.

Wait a second, how did she even get up there? Bentley must've missed something, he realized, just watching with wide eyes. "A-are you sure it's safe to be up there? You could fall and-"

Too late.

To his credit, his reflexes were certainly in check. The doctor rushed over, just below the building she had been standing, prepared to catch Viana. (Sheesh, was everyone in Circle Seven suicidal?)

With a laugh, Viana reached her arms out, and just when it seemed like she would surely plummet to her death (at that height, any fall would be fatal, cushion or not), she seemed to stop in a moment of sheer defiance of gravity, and hang there in the sky. Then, with a small, "Hup," she swung her legs out and then together, creating the momentum needed to swing her back and forth on that flagpole she had grabbed onto. It was almost like watching those archaic gymnasts, who, with a simple but amazing strength and grace, maneuvered themselves in the air on poles just like that.

Like a pendulum, she swung, and at the highest point of her forward motion, she let go, sailing a small distance in the air until she grabbed onto a small window ledge. Despite her small frame, Viana managed to pull herself up it, and maneuver around until she was sitting on the thing, feet swinging in the air, looking down at Bentley from between her knees, expression smug. "No, es equivocado, doc. That's the point, you know. To fall."

Bentley's eyes followed her through the air, clearly both in shock and awe. His arms were still held up, as though carrying a princess, until gradually, they fell to his sides.

"N-no comprehende," the doc muttered. (That was about the extent of his bilingual-ness.) "So, it's... practically your own obstacle course." He paused a moment, taking in the idea. It was a brilliant practice, really. Exercise equipment was not always readily available, after all, and this form of activity depended completely on one's own strength, as well as training you to be nimble. Even if it was a little dangerous. A smile spread across Bentley's face as he began to understand - almost like that of a kid. "I think I get it."

She waggled a finger at him, and to do it, she leaned over, to the point where it almost looked like she was going to fall. "Comprendo," Viana said, before pulling herself to her feet with hands to either side of the window inset, as if trapped in a box. Maneuvering around the wall, she managed to pull herself onto a steel fire escape balcony. Here, she rested her elbows, looking down. An expression of confusion crossed her face when she saw Bentley, like she hadn't been expecting him to still be there.

"If you get it, you should get outta here." She made a vague gesture at her surroundings. "This kind of playground ain't for kids like you." That almost sounded like a challenge.

"Who's playing?" he laughed. "I'm just a spectator. Surely I'm not the obstacle here." The challenge wasn't lost on Bentley, but if she was suggesting he give it a try, well... He wasn't exactly in the condition for that. Viana had seen his, well, lack of stamina before. A harder push though, and he might just have to ignore that.

"If you stand around like one, then you will be, won't you, deadweight?" She replied, crouching so that her head was poking out from between two of the wider-spaced poles holding up the railing.

He shrugged a shoulder, glancing away. "I'm not as well-versed in acrobatics, I'm afraid."

Then, one of those bright smiles, and Bentley looked back up at the younger girl. "But I'm willing to learn." In actuality, he doubted Viana would have the patience to teach him anything, except how to get kicked in the face.

Viana stared impassively back at him. Maybe it was the distance...or did her face seem a little more pinched than usual? "Oh? Who's teaching you, old man?"

"You, of course," he said, still beaming right up at her.

She cupped a hand to her ear. "What's that? I can't hear you from all the way down there!"

Bentley gave her a flat look. One story up wasn't enough to not hear him, and he knew it.

"I said, you!"

Shaking her head at him, she cupped a hand over her mouth, as if they were a great distance apart. "No good, doc!" Viana said, with a sympathetic look. "You're gonna have to come up here!"

It was important, after all, that the man had no problem with heights. ...Yeah, that was it.

Fists on his hips, Bentley was the very image of a scoffy old man. Oddly enough, though, this wasn't a challenge he wanted to pass up. Surveying the building Viana was perched on, he looked for best route to get up there. But unlike most buildings, going inside and up the stairs or elevator was not an option - and so it was the fire escape route after all. A heavy sigh, but he made his way over. The doctor was amazed to find that the stairway actually was steel. Very impressive, he thought, hoisting one foot up, starting to climb up. Unlike Viana's swift, cat-like movements, Bentley walks in stride, taking his time, step by step. It doesn't take him long, but probably long enough to push Viana's patience.

Definitely long enough, considering that by the time the doctor got up there, she was nowhere to be found. There was a small scuff of dirt on the floor grating of the fire escape though that was evidence that she definitely had been there (at least Bentley hadn't climbed up the fire escape of some completely unrelated building). This pseudo-city might as well have been a jungle; a small girl like her could be anywhere.

"Oh," came a voice, only mildly surprised. Viana's head poked out from over the top of the building, electric purple hair and all, cradled in the palm of one gloved hand. "You actually hauled yourself up here."

"It's not that hard to climb steps, you know," he retorted with a sigh. Was he being underestimated, or just teased? Bentley crossed his arms as he stepped closer, looking up at Viana. (But outside of arm's reach. You never knew with her.) "So, are you going to teach me?"

"I'll show you," she said, standing up and brushing out the imaginary dirt from her knees and front. It was a pointless gesture, probably just one born out of habit - the training area was kept spotless, probably by the same self-ionizing dust-collection filters that were found all over the ship. "If you want to follow-" Viana rolled one shoulder in an easy shrug. "Then you can. It's not my fault if you fall and break your neck, though - it was your decision to try it. Free running isn't exactly something you can learn just by-"

Holding up her hand, she closed her four fingers and thumb together to imitate the opening and closing of a mouth. "Talking about it, anyway." With the same hand, she beckoned him up. There were no actual stairs inside the building (just the hollow shell of the structure had been built), but the top ledge of the roof was close enough that a grown man could easily jump up and reach it. Hauling oneself up...was another matter, but that mechanical arm of Bentley's probably did him a few favors.

Was this how she did things on a regular basis? All this jumping, and hoisting up, and... Well, differences aside, this might actually be a good chance to get to know his 'mafia-mates', so to speak. Quite honestly, he hadn't thought he'd see Viana or Evan again after they parted ways on the space station, unless it was for some kind of medical emergency. (Those were pretty common though, he found - they were a mafia, after all.)

Bracing himself with a slight bend in his knees, Bentley jumped up, fingers gripping the edge of the roof. The metal of his left arm creaked as his elbows bent outward, heaving himself up. It wasn't difficult, but Bentley still made a face as he lifted his upper half over the edge, throwing his leg up to get footing before he finally stood with a sigh of exertion.

"That wasn't so bad."

oh JOY

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