More paperwork?! *twitch*

[Anonymous]

474.

The room was silent save for the rapid striking of keys. Her brow furrowed each time a file loaded, her eyes ratcheting back and forth when it finally did.

475.

Infinity Phoenix was not pleased, but she was focused. She had found that focusing the entirety of her effort on each form improved her completion time by several seconds. Using telekinesis to move the mouse shaved off another few.

476.

Most of the forms were for complications which had arisen as a result of her actions on her last glorious mission. The property damage was a joint effort, in a way, but she felt there was very little chance that any of the others involved would be able or willing to fill out any of the related forms any time soon.

477.

This was not the lifestyle she had envisioned when she had first set eyes on becoming a Pilot. It had been her fervent belief that a Pilot's life would be filled to the brim with training and missions and more training, not this slow descent into madness.

478.

Done. For now. Infinity Phoenix slammed the last set of forms into place. Stopping herself, she took several deep breaths and focused on calming herself and lowering her heart rate, as it was well outside of the acceptable target range for paperwork activities. Heart rate target achieved, she double-checked that all of the forms were aligned properly, moving several that were dislodged by her previous enthusiastic placement. Finally, she injected a mild muscle-relaxant into each of her forearms and was on her way.

Food was the next objective, so she headed in the direction of the dining area, attempting to calculate her nutritional intake requirements as she walked. Her focus was poor, however, as stray thoughts of paperwork kept inching to the forefront of her mind. Her mood worsened the further she walked. The temperature of the air around her raised as well, steaming a few of the windows she passed. When the sound of a nearby door opening broke through her angry haze, she instinctively dropped into a defensive stance and leapt backwards across the hall.

[Anonymous]

It had been a long, long day of mind numbing paperwork. Bart's eyes had started glazing over from reading through logs and logs of network activity. There had been hints and rumors of corruption in the ranks and Bart was digging through it all to see if there was anything valid.

But he had been working for over 12 hours straight and his eyes felt gritty and he needed food. Shutting things down, he stepped away from his desk and stretched, groaning slightly as he popped his back. He needed a new chair. One of those nice, fancy ones that massaged you and shit.

Opening the door, he was confronted with a twitchy girl, one of the newer Pilots who looked about ready to bite the face off something, "Uh...whater ya doin' darlin'?"

[Anonymous]

Quickly relaxing her stance, her face now red more from embarrassment than anger, she swallowed and unclenched her jaw, "Sorry, it's been a bit of a long day and I seem to have let it get the better of me. It wasn't my intent to incapacitate or kill you or anything of that nature, it was just a reflex from being distracted and angry. And now of course I have noradrenaline pumping through my system so it's nearly impossible to relax." The last was said with a rueful twist of her mouth.

The truth of her words was obvious, as she remained flushed, while her heart pounded out a swift beat in the flesh of her neck. And though her stance was relaxed, her muscles were taut, save for those in her forearms.

"As for my original intention, I was headed off to get something to eat." She then smiled, "Though now I'll probably add a depressant to the menu."

[Anonymous]

"Uh, whoa. Let's slow down darlin'. I think yer jumpy enough without addin' more drugs to the mix." Bart gave a small laugh, a little confused and more than a little taken aback by her intense attitude, "How about we just go get some fries instead? My treat."

Sure, the food was free, but that was besides the point.

[Anonymous]

"Fries? That... those are..." She sighed. High in calories. Saturated fats. Starchy, simple carbohydrates. Absolutely no way they would fit into her nutritional intake schedule. All that and her mouth was still watering at the thought of biting into one. Fuck it. "That actually sounds pretty amazing at the moment. Although that may just be the stress chemicals influencing my thought processes."

"Maybe a... hamburger too. And you haven't talked me out of that depressant yet." Pointing at him to emphasize the last, she started off towards the dining area once again.

[Anonymous]

"Fried foods are always good for problems. Now darlin;, I hate ta say it, but I'm not sure I recall yer name. 'M Bart. And let's see if I can't get ya ta relax a bit before resortin' ta drugs. Ain't good ta rely on them too much."

The girl was an experience, that was for sure. Bart gestured for her to take the lead.

[Anonymous]

"Bart, eh? Well Bart, I'm Infinity Phoenix, pleasure to meet you." In her mind Infinity Phoenix went over what little she knew of Bartolomeu, realizing quickly that it wasn't much more than his rank of Royal. Walking beside him down the hall, she continued, "And drugs really aren't that bad, as long as you pay attention to dosages, proper mixing, and intake safety thresholds. Of course this is assuming that we're talking about medicinal drugs and not the recreational sort." She pronounced the word 'recreational' almost exactly like one would pronounce 'goat-molester'.

[Anonymous]

Bart lifted an eyebrow at the girls obvious distaste for recreational drugs, a little curious about that. She seemed to be on full throttle the entire time and it was a little fascinating to watch, like a car speeding toward a cliff with no breaks. A crash was going to occur and no one wanted it to happen, but somehow, you couldn't bring yourself to tear your eyes away.

"Well, medicinal drugs can get ya in trouble just as fast darlin', if not faster. How about, instead of pumpin' ourselves full of any kind of drugs, we just have a nice sit down and relax a bit. Yer just graduated, yeah? How ya like bein' a Pilot so far?"

[Anonymous]

Rounding the corner into the dining hall, Infinity Phoenix grabbed a tray from the stack and headed to the fried food counter. "Could I have a two-patty burger with everything, cooked rare? And a large side of regular fries."

To Bart she said, "I suppose it goes without saying that the advantages we enjoy as pilots are a great improvement from living as a candidate. Although even that was a vast improvement on civilian life, with its lack of proper instructors and equipment."

"I have to say though, the best has to be the missions. Being allowed to work autonomously to achieve the desired goal as I see fit is exhilarating. The importance of the work involved is also a plus." Thanking the cook for the burger and fries, she continued on towards a free table.

"Excuse me just a second." Stopping at the shake stand, she asked, "What sizes of smoothie are available?"

"The small, medium, and large are 8, 12, and 16 ounces, respectively." The young blenderista cheerfully replied.

"That's not quite what I had in mind." Glancing across the room to the soda fountain, she whipped one of the 32 oz cups over using telekinesis. Turning back, she continued, "Would it be too much trouble to fill this with Fruit Energy Explosion and a cup of protein powder?"

With a look of concern the girl began blending fruit and adding supplements.

Infinity Phoenix turned her attention back to Bart. "Of course I had a taste of what missions could be like when I was a candidate, but the real thing is immeasurably better. Although I am growing a little concerned about one thing; the amount of paperwork I have to complete after each mission seems to be growing. Are there any special ways to reduce that amount, or am I going to be spending days after every mission dealing with ridiculous amounts of injury and property damage reports?"

[Anonymous]

Bart kept opening his mouth to try and respond to the girl, but she just seemed to keep on talking. The girl was just this endless stream of highly focused energy. He just trailed after her, ordering his own fries and a few slices of pizza. He was supposed to be watching his diet or some such shit, but he pretty much ignored that crap.

The smoothie had Bart's eyebrows raising. She was such a little slip of a girl and she was going to drink how much? And the talking was still going on! Bart didn't mind, it was just impressive. When she finally stopped, it actually took Bart a moment to realize he needed to reply, "Oh, right. Welp, uh....nope. Not really. Sweetheart, by the time ya get ta my level, yer mostly just picking and choosin' what is most important, cause there ain't time ta do it all. Sadly, most of yer time is gonna be spent behind a desk."

[Anonymous]

Infinity Phoenix seemed to deflate slightly at Bart's reply. She slumped into the padded comfort of a booth seat and took a drink of her smoothie. "Really? I had hoped..." She trailed off and took another sip. She calculated the average mission time to paperwork ratio based on the few missions she had completed so far and sighed. Her gaze wandered without much enthusiasm, finally landing on the fries in front of her.

Taking a single fry in hand, she stared at it for a few moments before shrugging and biting into it. The salt and oil combined on her tongue to form a perfect platform for the potato skin and flesh.

"Damn, that is good." She seemed to perk up a bit, and began eating in earnest.

[Anonymous]

"Awww, darlin'. Don't look so sad, ain't right. It's not all bad. When ya get ta be my rank, ya do get to go on the really cool missions." Bart munched on a few of his own fries, a steaming coffee cup near by, "Fries cure all."

[Anonymous]

The thought of even more intense missions was appealing, Infinity Phoenix had to admit. "I'm not sure if it would bother me as much if it wasn't just so... inefficient." Reaching suddenly downward, she used a burst of force to divide her burger into 8 equal slices. Before starting in she asked with a grin, "I don't suppose there's a rank we can attain where we could get someone else to do all the paperwork for us?"

[Anonymous]

"Darlin', if ya ever find out, let me know. I'll be in yer debt forever." It was something they all had to get used too. And the higher the rank, the more paperwork they got, "Well, ya thought about what ya wanted yer specialty to be? Some of 'um are a lot more paperwork than others."

[Anonymous]

"My specialty? I haven't quite decided on one, there are certain variables I haven't had the chance to evaluate as of yet." She paused to eat one of the burger wedges while she mulled it over. Taking another sip of her shake, she took a moment to carefully frame her reasoning before continuing, "I've been drawn toward the Seeker group since before I became a Pilot Candidate, mainly because of the impressive fieldwork involved. In the long term, however, I'd like to see what options are available in the area of genetic research and engineering."

"Of course if there were some extreme division dedicated to only the most dangerous of missions it would be ideal, but that's more of a schoolgirl fantasy." With a rueful look Infinity Phoenix popped the lid off her shake and dipped in a few fries. The combination was very tasty, and she made a mental note to experiment with other combinations in the future.

[Anonymous]

It was...strange to watch Infinity eat. In so many ways, she was so put together and focused, yet there kept being these moments where she sounded or acted like a kid her age should. Bart was half done with his food, an old habit from the war. Eat fast, never knew if something would interrupt a meal.

"Well, if we end up buttin' heads with Edanith again, ya might get yer wish. But in times of peace, yeah, ain't likely to happen. Seekers, well, their an alright choice. Some flashy action. Intrigue and all that."

[Anonymous]

"MmmmHmm" Infinity hummed in agreement around a mouthful of shake. She remained quiet, considering her position. Her thoughts drifted back to the years of training she had gone through, from the basic instruction received at a young age all the way to the harsh conditions of the candidate program. Eventually her mind turned to the fate of her older brother, and she grimaced.

Shaking herself from her reverie, she finally continued, "I suppose my main concern, rather than what specific function I'm performing, is making sure that none of my training or capabilities go to waste. I've dedicated my life to pushing my personal limits, and I'd hate to squander all of that."

[Anonymous]

"Now darlin' that ya don't gotta worry about. Sure, there is a mountain of paperwork you'll gotta get through, but yer talents ain't gonna get wasted." Bart smiled, settling back and lighting up a cigarette. There was technically no smoking, but that rule didn't apply to Bart, "You'll get pushed hard when ya do go out. And you'll gotta do some tough things. So don't ya worry none about that. If yer really gettin' antsy, I'll see what I can do about gettin' ya assigned to a good mission. Ya ever been down ta Midhaven?"

[Anonymous]

"The Midhaven?" Infinity Phoenix perked up, "No, I've never had the opportunity. I have to admit the very notion of the place intrigues me, people without the advantages of modern technology or civilization, fighting against nature and other 'packs'."

Her eyes blazed with the curiosity of a scientist intent on laying bare the secrets of the very foundations of reality, and she sat forward, her meal temporarily forgotten. "The Midhaven is mainly ignored in the upper castes, so I didn't even find out about it until I entered the candidate program."

"As for a mission there, I'd be very interested, and very thankful to you for any such opportunity. Not to mention that I wouldn't have to worry about things like collateral property damage." With a rueful twist of her mouth she added, "I'm pretty sure demolishing that EGIS director's car was a direct precursor to half of today's paperwork."

[Anonymous]

Bart made a small noise that could be taken as agreement if she wanted too. Midhaven wasn't really anything like that. It was dark and dangerous, with the tribes and the monsters there trying to eat you, with only one other Pilot generally with you. It was one of the worst places to have to go deep into.

"I heard 'bout that. They can get a bit testy when their stuff gets ruined. I used ta just give 'um the finger." Bart gave a low laugh, "I'll see what I can do 'bout gettin' ya a mission down inta Midhaven."