day two, and already tired (open

[Anonymous]

"Hey Princess!" a male candidate called to her, interrupting her thoughts.
"What did you call me?" Astrid asked trying to stay strong.
"You know, princess. Heard you we're spoiled where you came from" he said getting up into her face. She could smell the mustard on his breath. She than noticed the two other candidates behind him. They appeared to be at least stage 2.

"Brush your teeth coward" she retorted scared now.
He pushed her on to the ground with a sneer. "Now, now princess. No need to be nasty. We were just coming to bow down to your amazing powers." he replied bowing mockingly. The two from behind him pinned her arms down to the ground.

"Not so high and mighty now are you?" he said punching her in the stomach.
All the air went out of her and she attempted to struggle from the other boys hands. Her legs flailed up and down aimlessly, and managed to catch the leaders arm, bruising it.

He smiled at the growing bruise and with one hand pinned her legs against the pavement. "You shouldn't have done that. Should have took it and been grateful that I'm the one teaching you this lesson." he said punching her a couple more times in the stomach and kicking her legs.

They walked off laughing as she curled up into a ball, and not being able to help it, began to cry. Why can't my flames help me when I need them? she thought frustrated. The pavement was cool against her wounds and she lay there trying to get her breath back.

[Anonymous]

He pursed his blue lips and rested his left hand on his hip. While he’d taken on many candidates before becoming a Royal, becoming the Imperial even, he missed mooshing the little minds into Pilots. Xico didn’t mean to toot his own horn, but his candidates usually ended up being the very best.

The sound of a scuffle caught his attention, ah. Voices. A stage four and two stage two candidates. Two of them were simple psychics, telekinesis, telepathy. One of them seemed a little more talented, the stage four. Must have been why he was still in stage four, unable to control his unique ability. Xico watched passively as they beat up the girl, Astrid, the candidate he took an interest in. Put off work for.

When the other candidates left Xico walked over, standing by her head, his feet clicking against the ground. For a few moments he watched her cry, listened to her thoughts.

Today, Xico was wearing a dark maroon, the end of his coat trailing against the ground. “Your powers don’t work because you don’t know how to use them. You’re not a super hero, using them won’t simply work because you want them to.” He stood there and looked down at her, growing quite tired of her theatrics. She’d grow out of crying. He could feel the sadness and desperation radiating off of her.

He didn’t move to help her up. “I am Xiconocatzin. I am the Pilot Imperial. You are a stage one. You are the lowest of the low at the ATC and the Citadel. You are safe for six months until you either pass of fail, and failure is worse than death.” Xico took a step back, his voice was oddly soothing and it dropped into a whisper. “Now, get up and act like a soldier, Astrid. The first thing you will learn here is ‘If you don’t like it, don’t let it happen to you.’”

[Anonymous]

Astrid heard him and got up wincing in pain. She wiped her tears away with her sleeve and tried her best to look presentable.  Imperial....sounds important she thought not knowing the ranking method yet. Crap what if he can here my thoughts, oh god, that would not be good.

"But how can I not let it happen to me if I can't protect myself, sir ? " she asked. He was probably busy, he looked important. Just the feeling of power radiating from him. The same feeling that she use to radiate for everyone who wasn't physic. Karma, as she was finding out, was a bitch.

[Anonymous]

“The Imperial rules everything. I am the highest ranking Pilot and there is only one of me.” He rose an eyebrow and tilted his head to the side. This one. This one seemed like she needed the most help, the most guidance. Hopefully she would get it, or she would fail and be sold to TRIM. He smiled slightly at her thoughts, and he simply rose an eyebrow, his glowing blue irises glowing on his cheeks.

“I can read your thoughts. It’s likely many other candidates can. Surely anyone past stage 2.” He turned his head to the side, “We do not hurt you for what you think now, and as long as you control your physical actions you will not be hurt.” Another smile. Only a psychic would be able to recognise the ability, to non-psychics they were simply other people. Of course someone would notice another person rooting around in their head. Sense it, notice it, but unable to do anything.

Xico sighed and turned his head. “You’ve been here for a short time. I can’t imagine what you did to annoy other candidates so quickly. Do you run your mouth?” he smirked, “You’re not powerful enough to frighten them. If anything that will make them leave you alone, more Pilot attention for you and having been a candidate myself some thirty years ago a Pilots attention is never a good thing.”

“Pyrokinetic, yes? My own specialty is empathy - I can feel what you’re feeling -. Have you been learning by yourself at least?”

[Anonymous]

"Pyrokinetic, that's fire. I burnt the the guy that screened me" she said feeling slightly joyful at the memory, he had annoyed her and she felt as if he deserved it.

"So I'm being turned into a fighter for the government, efficient way to use people that would otherwise cause problems." she remarked, both in awe of the system and hating being caught in its web.

"So, since I'm a......what was the term they used?....oh yeah! Gracie, you probably won't be seeing much of me, least until I get to the stage that I'll have to fine tune my powers."

Mouthed off? she thought at his remark, and images of the previous day flickered through her brain. Complaining loudly that she didn't want to be there, and asking to go home. Refusing to run, because frankly she hated running. Trying to get her chip to work on the doors that led outside and, and failing all that, going to the cafeteria and boasting about how she burnt the guy that screened her.

Yes she was spoiled, almost like the celebrities, drunk on power, high on the attention from other people. This place, as she had found out yesterday was not a place that catered to her. The would not give into plea's and didn't care where she had come from before. She was going to, dare I say it, have to grow up. She would have to learn to survive, and while she wasn't paying that much attention to the tour yesterday she knew one thing.
TRIM would be worse.