Training was so much better than protocol. Training was about being stronger and faster despite having gone through protocol. Training was about making agents out of children. Over the course of three weeks, all of us had improved at astonishing records. All we did was train, rest, train, rest. Ingrid even seemed to be enjoying herself, I hadn't seen her smile this much since we were young, before she was a trainer. Hugh and Cierra were sparring, Jackson was working on using all of his weapons with his non-dominant hand, Sala and Hunter were working on getting Mark out of bonds as fast and efficiently as possible, Ingrid and I were also sparring. Fists wrapped up all the way down to mid forearms in fabric, the mat slippery beneath our feet. I swung a left hook, and Ingrid parried, she twisted and her leg came up to strike me against the head and I deflected it with my arm. We went back and forth, dodging and serving blows as fast as we could.

"Ya know? We should go eat- Watch it! No boob hits! We should go eat lunch after this," I was panting, how could she talk and fight so well? I spend just as much time here as she does. "I was thinking maybe protein and veggie bowls? Marion is working in the kitchen this week and he makes the best-" I got her right under the ribcage, she fell down. "Owwwww," I laughed and extended a hand to help her up. She glared at me and then went over to the bench to drink some water. She pointed the bottle towards me, but I just shook my head. I was too excited to drink anything, this was the first sparr had I had won against Ingrid for over a year. I finally had gotten my opening. We sat in perfect silence for a little bit while the others were finishing up, Jackson and Mark had started juggling decoy stunner back and forth and were trying to see how long they could go before someone fucked up. Sala and Cierra snuck up behind Mark and after a slight glance they jumped him, Sala covered Mark's eyes while Cierra wrapped her arms around him, pinning his arms to his chest. Mark's high pitched shriek filled the room, accompanied by everyone's laughter. Mark tried to fight off the girls, but he ended up on the floor with both of them on top of him. Hunter walked over to me, holding Hugh's hand.

"You still wanna try and watch that movie in my room tonight?" I shook my head no. The war between us and the Electi was only growing more intense, they were sending agents over our walls and trying to infiltrate the compound, killing the civilians. Training made us stronger, more able to fight back, more able to protect the poor children lost in the line of fire. "Come' on Red! All you've been doing is training, and you know that they won't let us outside unless it is an absolute emergency. We're too valuable to lose to stupid playground fights," I shot up from my seat on the bench, I could feel the hot anger rising up my neck.

"Playground fights? You think that little kids being left to die in the streets because they couldn't move after they were stunned is playground fighting? You think that soldiers on the wall being stabbed to death so that more fucking Electi can hop over and run about the city is playground fighting?" Hunter had let go of Hugh's hand, anger rising up in his face as well.

"I'm saying that if it was that important, we would have been sent out already. Who cares if a few kids get stunned for a little while, it wears off and isn't lethal,"

"Being stomped on while being fucking paralyzed is!"

"Why do you even care? There haven't been any reports of kids dying, where are you getting your shitty statics from?" I grabbed his shirt collar and brought his face close to mine.

"Can't you hear them outside, you idiot?!" Hunter shoved me back, my legs hit the bench and I almost tripped over the edge.

"I think that you're just acting like a lunatic again, maybe you did get a concussion while you blew our mission a few weeks back." Ingrid cleared her throat.

"I believe that everyone needs to calm the fuck down. If you two get physci-"

"Agents, front and center!" General Smith came storming into the training room, the wild glint of a mad fury in his eyes that softened just the slightest when he saw the confusion in Ingrid's face. "Physical disputes between fellow agents that are not for structured training are strictly prohibited, I see that Ingrid hasn't been following her produces completely," The glare the two of them held in that split second had more anger than Hunter and I just directed at each other. "Now, I am feeling generous today, who started the fight?" Hunter began to step forward when I stopped him, it was my fault, I was the one who snapped. Hugh tried to pull the both of us back, but he only managed to get Hunter. Everyone else was standing around us, Sala and Cierra each holding one of Mark's hands. Jackson squinted at the General, this couldn't end well for me. "Agent Red, of course. At least we chose an appropriate color for you," he gestured to my long hair, I had dyed the ends of it a bright red; Hunter said that it matched my personality, so I just rolled with it. I nodded in response. "We can go through the protocol for starting unneeded conflict, or you can spar with me. The choice is yours," Smith had already started to take off his coat by the time Ingrid interjected.

"Agent Red has been here since the 0400 hours, I know for a fact that she hasn't eaten since lunch yesterday. Sparring right now could end very badly, I do not suggest that these be her only options, they didn't even tou-"

"Let's sparr."