The shock of hot water cleared her head, washing away the sweat, the rage and the frustration of the day. Training with Kruger had not gotten any easier, the act of stepping in a ring seemingly a trigger to vent her inability to deal with her personal life outside those boundaries. She had taken to bringing other people with her to help train Kruger, pacing the ring and calling out instructions from the safety of distance.
Icedancer was still embedded in the leather bracer she wore at all times, the weather proofing keeping it from sustaining damage when she showered, or the times she fought in the pool at the Outback. It hadn't spoken to her in weeks and that had been fine with her up until she realized that it was trying to slowly break her of the habit of using it as a replacement for the drug that she'd been addicted to until just recently. She knew that her body had ceased the need for the chemical, could feel the difference in her thoughts and the way she moved, but that didn't mean she didn't enjoy the sensation of what the Opal had to offer.
Once cleaned and dressed she made her way to the Elephant and the Umbrella, a British style pub down by the docks. The air was crisp but she didn't feel its bite, the cold had no hold on her while she possessed Icedancer. Stefan was there, in his usual spot by the bar and she approached, calling out her usual greeting. "Yo."
"Lilly, we were wondering if you would return this week. Gracing us with your presence too often will spoil the lot of us, I think." His words were laden by the accent of his native tongue, the structure of his sentences showed his foreign origin as starkly, if not as blatantly, as his appearance. His flesh had a blue tint, his eyes were flat amber disks, and his hair was nearly translucent strands that fell to his shoulders, they were soft to the touch and acted much the same way that fibre cable worked. His people were technologically advanced and his company was a comfort to Lilly in a sea of less scientifically minded species.
He was looking past her then, at one of the groups of sailors that was frequenting the place this week. "You look lost to thoughts, Stefan, perhaps I should come again another night?" There was a shade of disappointment in her tone, one that she tried to downplay. "I wouldn't want you to lose your internal debate." She knew him well enough to know he was probably brooding over some philosophical issue in his mind, at times he drew her into such debates but it was rare. She was not the type to give such things too much thought and he got frustrated with her seemingly simplistic attitudes toward things he believed were multifaceted and required more contemplation to come to a conclusion.
"Do you think that people are born evil, Lilly' Or is there a choice that they make at some point that sends them down that path?"
The question caused her to lose herself in memory, a memory of a child that had not yet reached five years of age but was already being packed up and sent to a training center. Her parents would go up in society, their caste increased because of the child they had produced, the second that was headed for one of the specialty schools. Lilly could not recall ever being referred to by name, her parents had always called her "girl" or "child" and always with an air of distance or perhaps it was indifference.
Her brother had been taken from their home when he was six, a prodigy that would go on to do great things, even if they were classified and their parents couldn't take direct pride in his accomplishments. The authorities had been watching her development closely and the moment they got confirmation that she would be exceptional she had been gathered and taken into the fold.
She had been five when the training started. Five when the indoctrination of thought and morals were dictated to her on a daily, an hourly basis. Everything she did, everything she read or heard or was given access to watch all told her what it meant to be a citizen of Seven and how she should behave.
"A choice" Life is not a book, Stefan. We make the choices we feel we must. I don't think anyone thinks, at the time of the choice, muh hah hah I will be evil from this point forward." Her tone had gone flat, the emotions guarded. Where had her choice been" Did she miss it' What kind of choice could such a child make given the available information"
"But really you missed a step before you can answer that one, Stefan."
"I think I did not. What are you believing I have forgotten?" He slid a drink over to Lilly, it wasn't something she recognized but he hadn't offered her anything that he hadn't sipped first, or that she'd found unpleasant in the past so she accepted it.
"What is evil??
Icedancer was still embedded in the leather bracer she wore at all times, the weather proofing keeping it from sustaining damage when she showered, or the times she fought in the pool at the Outback. It hadn't spoken to her in weeks and that had been fine with her up until she realized that it was trying to slowly break her of the habit of using it as a replacement for the drug that she'd been addicted to until just recently. She knew that her body had ceased the need for the chemical, could feel the difference in her thoughts and the way she moved, but that didn't mean she didn't enjoy the sensation of what the Opal had to offer.
Once cleaned and dressed she made her way to the Elephant and the Umbrella, a British style pub down by the docks. The air was crisp but she didn't feel its bite, the cold had no hold on her while she possessed Icedancer. Stefan was there, in his usual spot by the bar and she approached, calling out her usual greeting. "Yo."
"Lilly, we were wondering if you would return this week. Gracing us with your presence too often will spoil the lot of us, I think." His words were laden by the accent of his native tongue, the structure of his sentences showed his foreign origin as starkly, if not as blatantly, as his appearance. His flesh had a blue tint, his eyes were flat amber disks, and his hair was nearly translucent strands that fell to his shoulders, they were soft to the touch and acted much the same way that fibre cable worked. His people were technologically advanced and his company was a comfort to Lilly in a sea of less scientifically minded species.
He was looking past her then, at one of the groups of sailors that was frequenting the place this week. "You look lost to thoughts, Stefan, perhaps I should come again another night?" There was a shade of disappointment in her tone, one that she tried to downplay. "I wouldn't want you to lose your internal debate." She knew him well enough to know he was probably brooding over some philosophical issue in his mind, at times he drew her into such debates but it was rare. She was not the type to give such things too much thought and he got frustrated with her seemingly simplistic attitudes toward things he believed were multifaceted and required more contemplation to come to a conclusion.
"Do you think that people are born evil, Lilly' Or is there a choice that they make at some point that sends them down that path?"
The question caused her to lose herself in memory, a memory of a child that had not yet reached five years of age but was already being packed up and sent to a training center. Her parents would go up in society, their caste increased because of the child they had produced, the second that was headed for one of the specialty schools. Lilly could not recall ever being referred to by name, her parents had always called her "girl" or "child" and always with an air of distance or perhaps it was indifference.
Her brother had been taken from their home when he was six, a prodigy that would go on to do great things, even if they were classified and their parents couldn't take direct pride in his accomplishments. The authorities had been watching her development closely and the moment they got confirmation that she would be exceptional she had been gathered and taken into the fold.
She had been five when the training started. Five when the indoctrination of thought and morals were dictated to her on a daily, an hourly basis. Everything she did, everything she read or heard or was given access to watch all told her what it meant to be a citizen of Seven and how she should behave.
"A choice" Life is not a book, Stefan. We make the choices we feel we must. I don't think anyone thinks, at the time of the choice, muh hah hah I will be evil from this point forward." Her tone had gone flat, the emotions guarded. Where had her choice been" Did she miss it' What kind of choice could such a child make given the available information"
"But really you missed a step before you can answer that one, Stefan."
"I think I did not. What are you believing I have forgotten?" He slid a drink over to Lilly, it wasn't something she recognized but he hadn't offered her anything that he hadn't sipped first, or that she'd found unpleasant in the past so she accepted it.
"What is evil??