Chronicles of The Omniverse Archived The Core Worlds

[Tiko]

as written by Ottoman and Knosis

Landwächter Psykorps Central Academy,
Striegis IV, the Imperial Core

The halls of the central academy were a sterile place, though they were as gothic as any other state institution. They were kept spartan and simple for the sake of those who dwelled within these walls, the masses of citizens who never asked to serve this role for the Supremacy, who more often than not held some resentment for their positions. The captain had felt it, at times, in his younger years, but had come to develop a far more understanding approach to the Korps and their ways, even though his brethren might disagree with him.

Before they proved themselves the psykers enjoyed a humble, almost monastic, experience in one of the academies, a time meant to mold their character as much as their power. To pair what they wielded with the base, selfish desires of the commons - the average folk - was beyond dangerous. He didn't simply believe that the quarantine of psychics, especially the youth, was in everyone's best interests, he knew.

How he knew.

Perhaps that was why he was moving to greet this new arrival instead of letting them come to him - the last thing that the man wanted to do was defer to the precedent, though he doubted that anyone of the like would ever happen again. Upstairs had gotten what they'd wanted, the rest be damned. It would be good to start in a new manner, a fresh manner, especially considering the brief, and alarming, dossier that they already had on the young woman.

A practiced step and clicking heels brought the Austran around a corner, into the common atria of the Academy, away from the steps that lead to the instructors' quarters and towards processing. With the folder tucked under arm, the officer looked over the new arrivals for soon-to-be Anwärter Acker, keeping the photograph from the file clear in his mind, his charcoal uniform a stark contrast in the small sea of civilian clothing.

The past couple of days had been a whirlwind of events for the young girl. Not that she seemed to care. After she had been extracted from that house, and cleaned up, she was then handed off to yet more strangers and told she was given the option of working for them or waiving her rights to live.

'You sure you want to live?'

She scratched at her arm anxiously, incisively, as she had done from the time the accident happened.

'You're a monster, you know that right?'

'Freak!'

"Shut it.." She whispered.

There were more voices in her head than normal. Conflicting emotions hit her like a sack of bricks, and she was all at once angry, wanting to scream, to frightened and wanting to cry. Why was it she was here again? All she wanted was--

'You're going to kill again.'

She stood in the crowd of other civilians that apparently been gathered for some reason or another. A few were muttering to themselves, others seemed just as frightened as she felt occasionally. She wore a simple shirt and pants, her old ones ruined.

A thought crossed her mind, and it felt like a tug as she looked up to the man in the uniform as he came close, somehow knowing he was looking for her.

'Trip him. Hehehehe...'

Thus, she attempted. She was tiny enough to hide behind someone and stick her leg out at the last second to attempt to trip the man as he passed.

It was the sort of search that Matthias felt at a disadvantage in, relying only on his eyes as he wouldn't know the girl's thoughts if he put them in her head, but he continued regardless. The twenty years or so he'd spent in uniform had given him practice, time, to hone his blocks, to put up his walls and keep the noise out - were it that he didn't touch anyone, he wouldn't hear them unless they stripped his resolve bare, or unless he wanted to.

He had been trained, as they had all been trained, to be courteous in regards to one's telepathic capabilities - to intrude in another's mind is just as severe as intruding in their home, violating perhaps the most private space anyone had - and so he didn't try to keep track of the maelstrom of emotion and thought that was processing. Thus he didn't see Sid's trick coming, at least not with the mind's eye.

It caught him off-guard, though it didn't send him down properly, the officer catching himself before he could fall properly. Quick eyes darted to his flank to look for who did it, catching sight of the young woman from the dossier easily enough. Acker, wasn't that her name? Righting himself that he stood properly, Matthias offered her a smirk, not expecting this sort of playfulness from anyone in processing. These people were usually afraid, unsure or distraught, not mischievous.

"... miss Acker?" Came the brief inquiry, very certain that was who he was looking at as it matched the photograph from her file almost to a tee. Her hair laid differently now than on the reference he carried, but that was of little concern. "I'm Hauptsturmführer Rüger," The Austran offered her a gloved hand to shake, "I'm to be one of your instructors here at the academy."

She made a face, obviously displeased by the formality of 'Miss'. "Sid." She said. "I'm Sid." She gave him a incredulous look, starting from his gloved hand, to the uniform, then to his face. After a few awkward moments of her silent inspection, she offered her hand out to the man, taking his in her own. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Hop-Storm-Farter." She said, saying the 'name' in what she thought he pronounced it as.

'His mother must of hated him.'

"So uh, I've never been to an academy before. Its really noisy in here. Can I have my music player back?"

Matthias didn't give her a look so much as his eyebrows climbed slightly, not expecting something quite along these lines. Sid, then? Just Sid? Well, he'd called others stranger things, and was found that he was content to simply get a handshake out of her. That was an amiable enough start. "Things like that are usually investigated by processing. Once it's vetted, it'll be sent to your room." Once it had been cleared of any sort of paranormal influence or capability to induce any sort of stressed emotional state - paranoid precautions, but their whole organization was born from paranoia.

"If you have your bag, we can see to getting your things to your quarters and getting your issued accouterments." The man offered, gesturing over his shoulder, back out of processing. "It's far more quiet away from here." It might give him a better opportunity to gauge just what management had dropped in his lap as well, which he regarded with some trepidation.

Making a gesture for her to follow, Matthias started on his way towards the dormitories.

Bag? She immediately looked down the ground and found that mentioned item was missing. Where was it?

"Oh."

She ran back to where she had left it, bumping into another person along the way before grabbing it and rushing after Matthias. "So, Hop-Storm-Farter.." She said. "How long does it normally take to get your things back..? I really really need that music player.." She scratched at her arm again, red marks already dug into her skin.

Gradually the Austran escorted the young woman away from processing and crowded areas of the atria out towards one of the primary staircases. "It depends, it varies from case to case. Yours... might take a while. Within the week, I can say that much." The man didn't want to alarm her unnecessarily, or give her any more reason to fear what had happened with her, but considering the evidence his superiors weren't willing to take the chance of anything going wrong.

With a sigh he rolled his eyes at her intentional mispronunciation of his name, unperturbed for the most part though he could already feel it starting to pick at his patience. "... you can just call me Matthias, if you'd rather." A breach of social protocol but, this was the academy - the social habits and etiquette of the outside world didn't always apply to them.

"What sort of music do you listen to?"

"I like Matthias better than Hop-Storm-Farter." She admitted.

'Liar.'

"I.. Don't have a particular genera. Lately, classical." She stated, her words catching at first, as though she were listening to something else and it interrupted her thought process.

The further away they got from the previous room, the less crowded her head became, but the more prominent the voices spoke.

'You could always go kill them and get your stuff---'

"Guess you're just going to have to sing to me. How's your singing, hm? If its bad, then you're going to have to get--"

'Stop ignoring me.'

"Will you leave me alone?!" She shouted.

Well, that was an unexpected answer, on both accounts, Matthias blinking in surprise as the bold-haired youth said she'd been listening to classical of late. He'd surely pegged her for something more electronic, but different strokes for different folks, wasn't that what they said back in the Local Region? The captain gave a light shrug on the note of singing, he supposed he was alright, though he was a far harsher critic of his talent than his family was. He'd have answered her, were it not for her outburst.

"... who, Sid?" Matthias asked mere moments after she'd spoken as others in the atria and on the stars stilled momentarily to glance in the direction of the commotion. That sort of slip alone put the man on edge, a spare hand moving immediately to his hand, ready to strip his glove if need be.

He had undergone whatever training that command had offered after that mission to the Expanse, but he didn't know how well it prepared him to face that sort of challenge again. Already he reached out, across the short distance between them, to probe her mind and listen in, dipping his proverbial toes in the water.

The girl was unnerved. She scratched harder on her arm and her jaw clenched in an anxious habit that seemed to have been in place long before she arrived here.

"Her. The other Sid. Or I think she's Sid." She refused to look up again. "Don't listen to her. I'm not suppose to listen to her. But sometimes I've no choice."

'I guess I just like us to be treated differently and the only way to do--' The more prominent voice would fade in intermingle with the rest of the voices, none of them understandable. More like a low drone. The girl swallowed hard. "Sometimes I can make her go away.. But the last couple of days.. Since I woke up to.." She stopped abruptly, looking a bit pale.

"So, yeah. Classical lately." She swiftly changed the subject, unwilling to talk further on the subject. "But I mix a lot of different stuff in depending on what I feel like." She said, though her voice still a bit shaken. Finally lifting her gaze inquisitively, she seemed to calm down a bit. "You seem to be the opera type."

'I hate opera.'

"Shush, you."

The other Sid. That didn't sit well with the officer, considering the last time he dealt with 'someone else' inside of another person's head. Matthias' eyes narrowed on the young woman, though as she seemingly regained control of her senses he relaxed, hand slipping away from his glove once she returned to the topic of music. "I used to do that myself." He murmured, eager to continue on their way, though the man was on his guard from here on out - his shoulders tensed, his arms no longer left to swing aimlessly.

"TekOpera, really." He mused in response, shrugging. In truth he really didn't care for it, but he'd certainly heard his fair share of it over the past few years - it came with the job. "My girls love the Diva's music." Thus, that was what he listened to most often, though he did earnestly prefer something classical - Volkist metal was something he enjoyed in his youth.

Perhaps he shouldn't have mentioned his family, but they had already dealt with enough of one of those things chasing him. By now he was over the shock value - if another one wanted to try, it was welcome to it.

"At least you'll be rooming by yourself. No hot-bunking." He offered in a positive tone.

The girl seemed honestly relieved at the notion. "Okay. But you'll be there alot, right?" She asked. "I mean.. I'm use to being alone... Well, besides the other Sid. But other people are okay. They normally shy away from me though. Call me weird."

She looked up at the officer and shifted the bag over to her other shoulder. Once the bag was settled and she had a firm grasp on it with the other hand, she tentatively reached out, meaning to hold his hand like a child.

"I think you're the first person that hasn't just decided to up and leave in a while." She said. "It may be your job to talk to me, but you didn't have to."

'If you want, we can slit his throat last--'

"I think I can like you eventually, Matthias." She gave him a silly look. "Even if you like Opera and you have weird name like Hop-Storm-Farter."

'We don't need anyone. Him especially. You can destroy him like--'

"I really want my music player though.."

"Of course," He murmured, nodding in reply. "It's my job." In fact he'd been pulled off of teaching an entire class to see to her, thanks to his experience with her potential condition. It made things easier, at least on the logistical level, as far as Matthias was concerned. Less time writing lesson plans and grading assessments and tests and papers and more time with his family, at least when he wasn't seeing to Sid's education.

The Austran didn't quite expect her to take his hand, and it surprised him at first, though he didn't recoil from it. It was progress at the very least, when half, if not more, of the students that came here despised them for ripping them from their families. Rüger offered Sid a genuine smile, a rare thing seen outside of his own quarters, "Likewise, given the chance." He'd only been teaching here for two years, a relative newcomer, but it was a welcome change of pace from field work.

Far more personable.

"I'll see what I can do to expedite its release, Sid."

His smile was infectious, as she smiled as well.

'Remember how everyone just left you and I was the only one who was around to keep you company? You listened to me then.'

Her smile faded quickly.

'He's going to do the same thing. He's just worse, though. He's going to get close to you, and you're going to get your hopes up that finally someone will be your friend and one day he's just going to not show up, and you're going to be alone.'

"No." She stated firmly.

'We can take care of each other. We don't need him, or anyone.'

"Shut up." She stated.

'I can feel his pulse. Thump thump. Thump thump. You know all it would take. Are you really willing to sacrifice freedom so that you're no longer alone? Just let me loose and I can give you back your freedom.'

"..."

'Thump. Thump.'

"Will you be QUIET?!" She let go of the man's hand and the bag, grabbing her head and squatting down. Blood oozed from where she had been scratching earlier, just tiny droplets that dripped down her arm. The cuts hadn't been deep enough to bleed normally yet. Sid began to hum to herself, half sounding frantic. The tune was one of the lesser known classicals, if one listened to it properly.

Matthias had made the odd glance to her at her slip, the words that had managed to get past her lips, though he recoiled genuinely at her collapse. The former operative had fallen into a fighting stance, though that was obviously not necessary - a thing born out of instinct, reflex. After a moment or two, realizing that the girl was doing her best to control herself, Rüger relaxed, approaching her once more.

A careful hand shed one of his gloves, hesitating for a moment before he went on and placed it at the nape of her neck - a firm but not harsh sort of hold, the man looking to calm her more than control her in any manner. It was a gentle sort of thing that he gave her, the warm, if quiet, sort of feeling that he felt defined protection, security. It was the same sort of thing that he hoped Sidonia would come to associate the Academy with, what he could feel when his daughters fell asleep on him.

The same sort of feeling Ilsa felt, when she-

"... I'll get the music player for you. I promise."

 

[Tiko]

as written by Ottoman and Knosis

The grip she had on her head lessened slightly, calming just a little. The blood stopped oozing from her arm, although what had already oozed dripped to the floor. The frantic nature of humming became less so, more broken and scattered-minded. She felt safe with him there, and it had helped to calm the situation. But it wasn't fear of herself being hurt that had caused her to start to panic in the first place.

After a bit, she finally stopped humming and let go of her head completely, scratching at her arm again. "She can get scary.. I use to be able to just ignore her and she couldn't hurt me or anyone.." She murmured. She reached for her bag and picked it up, standing up if he allowed. She looked up at him, seemingly very tired now. "I'd appreciate it.. Don't go out of your way if it’s trouble.. Just.. I need it eventually.."

'Like a crutch.'

Matthias stepped back and let go of her, seeing that it had mostly passed, a concerned look evident on his features as he regarded her. The man nodded, knowing that different psykers coped in different ways with their talents - their curses, or blessings, depending on who you asked. It seemed to him like she needed it now, though they might not give it to him right away. Explaining the situation might drive it along a bit further, a bit quicker. "It's hard to go out of my way when you're my assignment." He might get called in to speak in a class or two but otherwise, command had been quite clear.

She was his responsibility now.

"Come on, let me show you your room. We'll see the rest of the Academy when you're feeling up to it."

Her eyes widened slightly. "I-I wanna see it now, though. You get me all excited at this place and you're gonna dip out? Lame." She pouted, although he could see she was back to her playful self.

"You're suppose show a girl a good time, or so they say." She folded her arms behind her back, her bag hitting the side of her leg in the process, but she continued to follow him none the less. "Come on, pleeeeaaassseeee?" She gave her best 'puppy-eye' look.

The Austran paid her another glance at that, shaking his head slightly as the two rounded a corner, in the dormitory halls soon enough. "All you have to do is ask - but you'll have to do better than that to get dinner out of me." The officer wasn't sure if he should take her to every part of the place, but could give her a brief overview of where she'd find herself most often, at least for the foreseeable future. "... do you want a bandage for that, before we go?" He inquired, a finger gesturing to her arm.

It was the sort of thing that could get infected, or so it seemed, if one let it go.

She grinned a impish little smile. "Oh, give it time. Sooner or later, you'll be begging me to go to dinner with you."

Her attention was brought to her arm and she looked honestly shocked. "How'd I do that?" She asked muttered. "Yeah.. I think it might be best." Her cheeks turned a bit pale at the sight of the blood.

"Anyway, so what am I going to be doing here anyway? I don't think anyone's really explained that one to me anyway. Or if they did, I wasn't listening to them."

The captain smiled himself, rolling his eyes as he looked to opening her door when they came to it. It revealed a relatively small room, though she was granted more space than the others by grace of not having to share the quarters. Matthias stepped inside, pondering for a moment where they would have stuck the first aid kit before checking her desk's drawers, eventually placing the thing on top of it.

"Learning, hopefully, a great many things." He offered as he scrounged through the kit, eventually coming across the disinfectant swabs and the gauze. Only when the roll of tape fell on the table with a slight 'clack' did he continue, "What you're good at, how to do it, control the other Sid." The man offered her the medical materials, figuring she could see to that herself. For a moment he wondered if it was simply because he considered it her business, or if he didn't want to get any blood on his uniform.

A distant sort of look came over him for a moment before he shook it off, wearing an amiable sort of half-smile soon enough.

"That sort of thing."

She placed the bag on the desk and took the medical supplies he had found and got to work, cleaning the scratches first. "Controlling her would be.. A good idea." She admitted idly. It didn't take long, 5 minutes or so and the cuts were wrapped.

So gazed around the small room and smiled. "Nice digs at least. Needs some paint, maybe a few pictures and it will be a nice place to call home at least--."

'You mean your cage--..

"Anyway, lets get going. So when will I start learning these things? I'm guessing you'll be teaching me, right? Or will there be others?"

The officer stepped back outside of the door, waiting on Sid to follow before starting on their way. "Some things, though you'll have to attend quite a few classes." Ones that weren't taught by him, thankfully. The man wouldn't know what to do with himself if he was to be her sole instructor - more than anything he was an observer, though as an instructor at the academy he was certified to teach her how to groom her telepathic abilities, which it seemed she possessed.

"But, just about everywhere you go in public, I'll be there." A handler, for lack of a better term. Someone to watch her and see what they could find out before calling in the exterminator - something he hoped wouldn't have to be done.

"We can drop by the classrooms, the cafeteria, the grounds - anywhere call out to you?"

She trotted out behind him, keeping as close as she could without it being awkward. Taking his hand again, she continued the conversation. "Hmm. I hope they're alright." She said. "The other Sid doesn't like you, but it seems she can tolerate you for a while. If she hates someone.. She gets really hard to control.." She frowned, shivering at the thought.

"Why am I learning these things? I reckon nothing's for free so there has to be some reason as to why you guys brought me into this awesome place. Oh, and.. Uhmmm. I'd like to see... The grounds first? Then wherever you feel like taking me afterward. I'd like to see it all, but I know old people get tired easily." She teased.

"They're mostly good people." One or two was a bit more eccentric than the others, but by and large they didn't keep the violent or vindictive ones as instructors - it was counter-productive. He supposed that it was a good thing that the 'other' Sid didn't hate him, though he wasn't certain yet just what he was dealing with in regards to it.

Once they'd started towards the exterior of the place, he answered her question. "Because you possess natural talents that most people don't. We help you get everything under control, help you hone your talent and skills, and you repay it with service." To the Empire, and to the populace, in whatever field that fit them the best. Some went into civil work, others into martial service.

"At least twenty years before you can retire." Into a monitored and regulated existence, but a comfortable one, at that.

She listened, although she seemed half distracted.

"Hm. Means, depending on how fast I learn, I'm going to be really old by that time." She said idly. "I guess its fine though."

Most people may see the academy as a forced enslavement with the only option being death. Those people were normally bitter about the forced education, but it didn't seem to bother the girl. Outwardly anyway.

'You had no purpose anyway.' The voice echoed her own thoughts. "So what will you be teaching me?" She asked.

It seemed to keep her calm, the constant conversation with him. It replaced the lack of music for now. However, she froze for a moment, seemingly distant. She shook her head to clear the fog that had begun to fill her head with the buzzing. "Do you have er.. Talents too?"

"If by old you mean twenty-five or thirty, then... maybe. If that's how long it takes." There had been others who studied longer, and some who had spent less time than a decade in the academy, but they rarely, if ever, let anyone past who could not handle themselves or their abilities. Thirty years still left a long road ahead, and fortunately enough it was one that they tread with many others of their kind.

"Control, and calm." At least for now, beyond that they could work up to. "I do. I am a telepath, mostly. A bit of telekinesis here and there but nothing extraordinary." Getting plates down off of a high shelf or whatever he dropped on the floor was the extent of such telekinetic capabilities he possessed. "I hear thoughts, feel feelings. I can plant them in others, if the need arises."

"Twenty-five or thirty?" She asked, seemingly confused by his statement. "Even if I managed to learn all you had to teach me in one day and start my service tomorrow, I'll be 35 at the minimum before I can retire." She pouted in a mocking angry face. "Its cause I'm short isn't it?!" She asked accusingly. "I'm 15! I'm not some kid." Folding her arms over her chest and 'hrmph'ed softly.

"So you can hear my deepest, darkest secrets eh?!" She smirked, unable to keep the facade up any longer. "That's an unfair advantage to any relationship, you know."

'So he'll know what you did.'

The girl frowned and her gaze fell to the floor. "He probably already knows." She spoke to herself. "Besides, it was your fault anyway."

'Our fault.'

She squeezed the man's hand tightly. "I don't even know how you did that.." She muttered, again to herself. "How much further, then?" She asked Matthias.

'I'm pretty sure you know. If not, then it was a glorious fluke. Either way, you'll learn, and you'll be forced to use it again. Its a talent you have. You heard him. They'll make you use it as payment to them teaching you. What do you think they'll make you use it for? I doubt it will be to put out fires or to draw water from the carpet..' The color left Sid's face, and she looked as though she were going to faint.

"Of course, that's exactly why." He teased, rolling his eyes again, as he supposed that he should be pleased that he had someone to police who at least had a sense of humor. The others were either sullen over their lot in life, with the Academy, or were pecuiliar in their habits or mood, somehow.

At least in his experience.

"Only if I want to." He offered, on the note of her secrets, as the man policed himself heavily when it came to other minds - as all good psychics did - and only bothered with surface thoughts if they pertained to him. "Beyond that, only if you want me to. That's another thing we'll teach you." Blocks and voids, things to keep others from reading your mind, or giving them things to read that were otherwise unrelated.

The elder Austran regarded his charge with a curious look, a concerned angle to his brow as he watched and listened to her, leaving the young woman to herself before she asked him another question. "Not far, though the Academy is quite large. Six square miles, as I last heard it, for all the various facilities here." At least half of it was simply support structures, as he knew it.

"Plenty of open space and ground to see to, if you'd like to get out of the halls for a while." He offered as they made their way outside. "I think it's supposed to rain this weekend so, it might be best to take advantage of the grounds while it's still nice out." Matthias shielded his eyes for a moment from the sun, letting them adjust as he stepped into the daylight.

She shrugged off his talk about listening in to her thoughts. "Just let me know when you're listening in so I can hide the dirty laundry.." She teased, although her heart wasn't in it this time.

As they walked outside, the girl winced at the harshness of the daylight, taking longer to adjust to the sun than her caretaker. She blinked as her eyes finally adjusted and stood frozen to her spot, staring up at the sky.

At first, it was as if she wasn't sure what she was seeing, then she spun around looking in another direction. Her home world of Rienzi, the sky had never been clear. She had never seen the sun, nor the fabled stars in the sky that took the place of the sun at night. Dirty, she had heard someone call it once. This place was nothing like Rienzi. Tears welled up in her eyes and for once, her mind was quiet as she took in the awe-inspiring beauty of the sky above her.

"You know.." She started after a moment. "Everyone that was in that room where you found me? They were either sad.. Or angry.. Or fearful.. I felt them. I felt all of that and I wondered why." She said quietly. "The short time you've known me, you've spoken to me and shown me kindness, given me a room and a future, and I'm able to see the sun now! I still question why those people still felt that way. I've been taken from a nightmare and and put into a dream." She looked up at Austran. "I just hope I'm not the monster that turns that dream into a nightmare." She smiled, tears spilling out on her cheek for a brief moment. She scowled and wiped them away.

Her reaction was similar to that of a lot of students, if they came from a place like Rienzi or Neu-Lumen, though she did have the insight to not resent the Academy as so many others did. It elicited a pang of pity in the man as he considered it, and considered what her life had to be like before she came here. Matthias did smile though, glad that he could give her these comforts, even if they were small ones. "You're not a monster, Sid." He replied after moment or two, his words earnest, though they were tinged with something, something that he wasn't keen on revealing.

He'd seen real monsters, and she was not one, not by a longshot.

"Come on, I'll take you by the gardens - you might like fountains." The officer offered, smiling to the young woman, hoping to get her mind off of whatever it was that haunted her so.

"I'll do my best to not disappoint you." She said, the smile fading slightly.

It didn't stay faded for long though. Sid dashed over and grabbed his hand, excitedly. "Fountains? What are those? Never mind. I'll find out shortly." She said, tugging playfully at his arm. "Come on, slowpoke."

"That you will." He offered, more to himself than to the young woman as he lead them through one of the almost-winding paths to another entrance to the Academy - this one lined, flanked at times, by a great many fountains. The powers that be realized that their PsyKorps was an incredible asset, one that they shouldn't squander, and one that could appreciate pleasant or calming aesthetics.

While nothing so magnificent as the fountains outside of the Gotteshalle or the Adlerhorst, these were still nothing shabby, with simple geometric designs in lieu of more complex statues. "There's another such arrangement," Matthias mused, concerning the fountains, "On the opposite side of the facility, near the classrooms."

The Psyker glanced to his charge and wondered just what sort of life this girl had lead on Rienzi before coming here, that she didn't know what a fountain was.

The girl managed to keep her wits together and contain the urge to run up to the fountains and jump in. Instead, she walked over(albeit it rather quickly..), and gazed up at it in wonder. "Wow, its pretty." She said.

She sat on the edge of the fountain, letting her fingers touch the cool water, swirling it playfully. "So how long have you been here? Do you like it here?" She asked.

The man allowed himself another smile at seeing her partake in the fountains, hoping that they might calm her, were it that she ever needed such a thing, when she was near them. With a thoughtful look and a relaxed gait the officer made his way over to lean on a nearby wall. When had he gotten here? The man asked himself a few questions, checking himself to make sure he was certain before he answered.

"... twenty-six years, give or take, though not always here, exactly." He'd been on assignment out and about, to places that he couldn't have imagined before, beyond the Veil and across the Garden, even into the depths of the Local Region. "It's a nice place, a safe place." The latter made it all the more important, though command hadn't given him much of a choice.

"It... all starts to blur together, if you give it enough time."

"I'm not worried about my own safety. I can take care of myself. Always have." She admitted, stressing a few of her words. "I guess you gotta like your job though. I guess you could have retired a bit ago." She shrugged slightly. "Unless you're a slow learner. Would go with that slow poke mode you're in." She grinned.

"I don't know what all you know about me." She admitted. "Is there anything you want to ask? I'm an open book, feel free to flip through the pages if you want."

'Idiot.'

The girl physically flinched as the voices started again.

Rüger nodded at that, agreeing with the young woman. "We usually can, but sometimes it's not about you." The man wasn't terribly concerned with his own well-being - as long as he had food and a bunk he was set - but his family was an entirely different matter. That was why he had taken up the position as an instructor, as a glorified dousing rod, here at the primary academy. It was the most agreeable deal.

The man grinned. "I still have five years to go. I was a slow sort here, in my day. Still am, if you're judging." But slow and steady won the race, or something like. He didn't turn out too bad for taking as long as he did, a PIX telepath, enough to teach here, were he inclined to do so. "Fourteen years. I bet you could beat me."

With a sigh he shrugged, uncertain really what to ask her. He'd read over her profile, her dossier, on her way in, and though it wasn't exactly a lot of information it was about all he'd feel polite asking about now. "Tell me about Rienzi." He murmured, genuinely curious. He'd never been to the place, despite the role it had played in his life.

The girl bit her lip. "Nothing like here." She explained. "I can't speak for everyone or everywhere, as I grew up in a really bad part." She looked up at the sky again. "The sky isn't like it is here. Its.. Well, it looks dirty compared. Cloudy. They say its 'cause of the factories that the sky is like that. Or at least, that's what the old lady said."

She looked back down at the fountain and continued to play with it idly. "People are always fighting where I came from. I don't know what about. People disappear often and most of the time, they never come back. That's what the old lady said happened to my mom at least."

"I got bullied a lot by the other kids all the time." She continued. "They liked pulling my hair, or knocking me down, pushing me around.. They use to like stealing my stuff and hiding it all over the place. At least until the other Sid hurt this one boy really badly a few months ago. Broke his arm, I think. Then no one wanted to be near me. Even the old lady looked at me different from then on, like she was scared. In a way, I was glad, but it got lonely." She said.

He'd heard a great many stories about the place - so many of their students, even his old classmates - came from there, but they all seemed to corroborate some core details. It was a dark, dank place, dominated by the industrial capacity that gave the world its relevance, and it seemed that Sid had to experience the rougher side of it. "Well, you'll have to come out this evening and see the stars then." He offered, thinking little of it, but knowing it meant something to the people from the metropoli - the places like Rienzi, or Neu-Lumen. They might not have been the stars of their homeworld, but they were stars all the same.

"There might be a fight or two here but... nothing serious." He shrugged at that thought, uncertain whether he had underestimated the student body or not. Considering the powers at work here, it could get serious quite quickly, but that's why PIXs and higher taught - to keep the others in line, if they got too rowdy. "I guess you'd never been off-world until recently, then? I hadn't, until I was enrolled."

"I think I'll try to. I think the sky is so pretty here, if I could just gaze at it for the rest of my life, I'd be happy." She then grinned teasingly. "But alas, my stomach has needs that requires me to go inside occasionally."

She shook her head at the man's next question. "I never thought I was ever going to leave my home, honestly. Thought I'd end up working in the factories or something."

'Or dead. You often wondered if you were going to end up dead ,too.'

She shivered slightly recalling her recent low moments of her life. A thought crossed her mind of splashing her caretaker, and an impish grin spread across her lips again. But before she could move to do so, about a half bucket full of water sped past her alarmed face towards Matthias.

 

[Tiko]

as written by Ottoman and Knosis

"Well, it isn't always this nice." He offered, a spare glance up at the sky upon speaking of it. There were storms, more often than not, that blew in from the north and the west, though they too were, in a way, beautiful. Matthias was pondering just what the other had said for a moment before the water came hurtling towards him - he hadn't the time to properly respond, or properly understand what was even happening, before it struck him, sending the man over onto his side.

Maybe letting them come to his office and rearrange it wasn't such a bad thought, in retrospect.

"Scatter's breath," He cursed under his own, his arm and side sore from where the mass of water had struck him, pushing himself up off of the ground with the unstruck arm. "It seems the assumption of hydrokinesis wasn't too far off the mark." Rüger managed, more concerned that he was mostly unharmed than that he was sopping wet.

"I'm sorry!" She said as jumped up, her hands covering her mouth, her expression horrified at what had just occurred.

'Hm. Perhaps that was enough to make him look at you like the others.'

"I don't know how.. I didn't mean.." She stammered. She looked as though she was about to rush to him to help him, but then hesitated and backed away slowly. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry.." Sid repeated, her voice cracking the second time. She was shaken.

'Looks like you may lose your new friend a lot quicker than you thought. All on your own, too. You can't blame me this time.'

"I know!!" She shouted. "I don't need you telling me that!"

'Perhaps they'll send you back home, now. Figure you're too much trouble to keep here, not worth the effort.'

The girl dug her fingernails into her palm. "Perhaps you're right.." She muttered.

"It's okay." He offered, grasping at his side once he sat on his knees, leaning back, feeling to make sure nothing was too badly hurt. Just bruising it felt like, and were that the case he'd consider himself lucky. Matthias winced as he stood, a mouthed 'Shit.' silent as he rose, soon looking to Sid with a nod and an understanding look. She had talent, but it was in the raw, and there were complications.

But that was no reason to give up.

"Franz Seidel will help you with that." Control, water, all those things. It wasn't his area of expertise by any means. "I... uh, take it that was the other Sid that did that?" He offered once she'd finished shouting, grimacing slighlty as he did his best to straighten himself.

The girl bit her lip again, wincing at his question. She wanted to lie, tell him he was right in assuming it was the other Sid. But she was sure it wasn't, and if he could read her thoughts, he'd find out sooner or later.

She finally shook her head. "I-.. I don't think so.. Normally when.. When she does things.. Its different.. Like, I am aware its happening, but I can't stop her.. No matter how much I want to.. Like someone stronger making you punch yourself or something.." She admitted. "I was going to splash you with the water, like I use to do the old lady when washing things in the sink or in the bathtub.. Thought it would be a little silly, but then that happened.."

"I've hurt you pretty bad.." She said, wilting quite a bit. She backed away from both him and the fountain another couple of steps.

The officer nodded his head at her reasoning, listening as she explained why she felt what had happened had happened. Then it seemed to be a case of a lack of control, an unfamiliarity wit the depth of her capabilities and power. "An honest mistake then. Nothing that time won't fix." He offered, starting towards the Academy once more. "Come, we've got more ground to cover - it... might be best to stay away from the fountains until you've gotten some practice under your belt."

It was something delivered with a smile, if one that occasionally dipped into wincing pain. She wasn't the only clumsy student to come to the Academy, the only psyker he'd met who wasn't the most socially graceful.

Sid seemed hesitant, reluctant to risk another accident. "Y-you'll catch cold if you don't get into something dry first, though.." She murmured. "Probably best if you get a change of clothes or something.." She shuffled her feet where she stood. "Not to mention, you look as if that hurts pretty badly.. I don't want to trot you across the campus if you're in pain."

'I do.'

"Its okay if just want to call in a rain check.."

'I shouldn't be reminding you why you don't need anyone. Or perhaps this is a good reminder already? You're dangerous to everyone. He's no exception. You nearly killed him, and that was all on you.' Sid paled and finally looked back up at soggy man across the way from her. 'Are you sure it was me all along? I'm pretty sure I feel a flare of destruction inside you. Perhaps you lost control of your anger..'

"No.."

'You did want to someone to hurt like you did..'

"Stop it, please.." She whimpered.

'I'll only stop when you realize what you are and stop lying to yourself.. Once you free yourself from the burden and the lies you keep telling yourself, you'll finally be free of the pain and the suffering. No one will hurt us anymore, no one will make us suffer, and we can make those who have suffer for their slight.'

"... I'm not like you.." She murmured, slowly walking towards the man, reaching for his hand tentatively. "L-let's go get you dried up.."

'You're more like me than you like to admit.'

He was in pain, though he wouldn't admit that. He'd been through worse, and to complain now might insult the young woman. "It'll give us something to put out minds on, though... it probably would be best to get into something dry." Matthias gestured for Sid to follow as he started up the stairs, back into the Academy proper. It was something of a walk back to his apartment, across much of the Academy which he stopped in, at times, to point out certain things to his charge.

Luckily enough his children were still in the charge of their tutors, the man able to slip inside without being accosted by the two girls as soon as he did. "Come in," He offered Sid, gesturing to a nearby couch. "Make yourself at home, I won't be too long." With that he stepped back into his quarters, seeing to changing out his uniform for a spare dry one.

The place was quiet, filled with small trinkets and toys that might entertain a telekinetic, and sparsely decorated with pictures of the man's family, those of his parents, his wife, and his children, though never all in the same photograph.

The girl had considered the couch, but as soon as the man went into his room, she idly walked around to the pictures on the walls. She gazed up at each, taking in the faces of the people in the pictures, deciding which ones were directly related to Matthias. His children were easy enough to guess and she assumed the elderly pair were his parents. It only left the one individual to be his wife.

'Such a nice looking family. Too bad you'll break them.'

Sid shook her head and quietly moved about. The quiet was bothering her. The voices were loud in her head now, and it was nearly impossible to ignore them now. She muttered lyrics to a more modern song under her breath.

It didn't take Matthias long to finish changing, decades of getting in and out of the same uniform had that sort of effect, though he was still fiddling with his tie as he came back into the living room. A brief glance between Sid, whose back was to him, and the photographs gave him a moment of pause before he spoke, hearing her hushed voice easily enough.

"Is everything alright?"

She had been listening in on some of the voices when he spoke. The girl jumped and spun around as if she had been caught doing something wrong. "N-no.. Nothing.. I mean.. Yeah, everything is alright." She said, giving him a quick nervous smile.

'Liar.'

The short female looked him over with concern. She walked over to him and reached to poke him in the side gently. "You sure you want to be walking around..?" She asked quietly. "I think I can remember how to go back to my room if you just want to take it easy.."

Matthias offered her a concerned nod, though he took it in stride as she dismissed the concerns, figuring if something was, she'd tell him. Or not, he likely hadn't earned that sort of trust yet - but trust was one of those concepts that he struggled with, at times. Being practically raised in the Academy had that effect. The man winced once more as she poked him in the side, a hand coming down to shield that spot once she'd done it.

"I should be fine, so long as you don't think of splashing me again, unless you'd rather I not."

"I am having a lot of fun.. But I'm worr-.." Her eyes glossed over, and she fell quiet for a moment. She looked lost in thought.

In her head, the voices were arguing again. "Things have been weird since.. Since the accident.." She said, although mostly toneless and airheaded, as if she weren't paying attention to what she was saying.

She shook her head to clear the fog that had come over her, but hadn't fully pulled herself to full concentration again. "Plus, its only the first date and I've already hurt you. Even if it was an accident that's like.. The biggest no-no in all relationships ever." She swayed slightly and she caught herself on him by grabbing his arm lightly. "Do you think so?" She asked, although it was obviously not intended for him. "Dunno. Perhaps you should ask him." She went on muttering to herself.

The officer sighed at that, using his arm to brace her as she needed, looking to the young woman with concern plain on his face. Was she possessed? If she was, it was a bold sort of thing, far more so than what he'd run into before. "It might be for the best if we both retire." Matthias offered, "I can speak to processing, see if I can get your music player to you this evening."

Hopefully that would help her relax, and put at ease this 'other' Sid.

She shook her head again, the gloss clearing from her eyes. Standing on her own again, she pulled away slightly, giving him an apologetic smile. "Having my music player would help things.." She admitted. "But.. As much as I don't want to stop the tour, I think.. It may be best for everyone.."

'You mean for him.'

"And I'm really worried about your side hurting you. Warm compresses should help with any bruising and help ease any stiffness there may be. Being kicked around a lot, you learn how to make it easy to sleep at night, heh.." She rubbed the back of her head. She was using his injury as an excuse, it was obvious at this point. She sighed and wilted again. "Truth is? I'm terrified. Not of this academy, not of you, not of anyone here. I only hurt you, but it could have been so much worse, you know? In fact, it has been." She said quietly. "I don't know how she did it. I don't know how I did what I did earlier, but I really don't understand what Sid did. I also don't think she knows either, though. Which is a good thing.." It looked like she wanted to tell him more, but reluctant at the same time. "Do your talents.. You can hear thoughts right? Can you see things in people's head? Like.. Memories, or images or something?" She asked. "Like in the books I read, some people can.."

Rüger nodded, both in reply to how she felt and at the inquiry regarding his capabilities. At least it wasn't the Academy, or him or his colleagues, that she feared - it would make working with her that much easier - but it didn't help that she feared herself, and her talents. "That is why you're here." He murmured, concerning that she didn't know how she did what she did, to learn how to use it, and how to control it.

He was just here to ascertain how much of a threat she was.

"I can see inside of someone's mind, if I need to." More often he preferred it if they wanted to but, the man had demonstrated a proficiency at cutting through blocks, and maneuvering around walls thrown up to keep prying eyes out. Matthias felt that such a thing was wrong, even when it was required of him, and found that he only felt comfortable in the mind of another if they had invited him in.

"Thoughts, feelings, memories." He confirmed, only thinking to tack on his certification once he'd said it. "PIX telepath, it's why I'm able to teach."

She nodded and then rocked back and forward and backward on her feet for a moment, as if trying to decide something. "Well.." She said quietly. "If you're going to treat me any differently, I might as well get use to that now, than get close to you the way you act around me now and then you see it.." She murmured quietly. She bit her lip, but nodded firmly in her decision. "I want you to see what happened, okay..? But I can't.. I can't tell you.. I'll chicken out if I try. I have to show you."

She frowned slightly. "Also, I think it might help if you're occasionally in my head anyway.. May give you some warning.." To what, she left that to his imagination.

She scratched at the bandage on her arm. "I just.. Just know I never ever wanted to hurt someone or anything.. Not really.."

It seemed a fair enough arrangement, Matthias pondering it for just a moment before one of his hands was stripped free of its protecting glove. The Austran offered it to the young woman, figuring that it was the easiest thing to do, to simply take her hand and have her show him just what it was that had perturbed her so.

He understood that it was a grisly thing, unpleasant in its very nature, but it wouldn't be the first such vision he had to endure. "Whenever you're ready, Sid." Came his murmur, not wanting to rush the young woman. It was a delicate affair, and one he should handle carefully.

 

[Tiko]

as written by Ottoman and Knosis

The girl swallowed hard, seemingly nervous. She fidgeted, looking at his ungloved hand, knowing what it meant when she would take it this time. It was trust she was placing on him. "Thank you, though. It really has been a nice day." She smiled slightly. She finally took in a deep breath, trembling as she took his hand.

Inside her head was.. chaotic only touched part of it. Voices bounced around in her head. 'Get out.' A voice hissed before a memory began to play. He would see a dark alley, smell the stench of the polluted air of her home planet. The girl was sitting on the ground with her back against a wall, listening to the old music player she held. It had seen better days, being held together with tape and a prayer, but it still worked. Most the time. The music played loudly, muffling out the voices in her head. It wasn't until she realized that a couple of the voices weren't the normal ones, did she stop the music and pulled the buds from her ears and stuffed the pair into her pocket. Two men were speaking loudly, though she still couldn't make out what they were saying. Arguing more like it. She slowly stood up and walked towards the source. It didn't take long to find them, but they didn't seem to like seeing her there.

The next bit was a rush. A strange smelling cloth was held over her mouth by a third person that had come up behind her. Fear. Pain. Darkness.

She woke to the other 'Sid' shouting in her head about her being an idiot. She groaned and found herself tied up in a corner of a storage buildings. Easy enough to slip the rope, someone sucked at tying. It had to be one of the factory sheds, as there were boxes and crates that said something she didn't pay attention to. She ducked behind crates and boxes, trying to find an exit. A man shouts, and Matthias could feel her fear rising again. She speeds through, only to run straight into one of the men she had seen.

Sid kicking and screaming, he dragged her back towards where she had been tied as if he didn't care if anyone heard her. His companions joined him up at the corner, and words were exchanged. The voices were growing chaotic again.

She began pleading to be let go, she just wanted to go home. The man tossed her down with a laugh. The wind was knocked out of her as a swift kick to her stomach silenced her.

One voice in her head became clearer above the rest. 'I'll handle it.' The other 'Sid'. The girl felt as though she were dreaming as her body began to act on its own. The fear left her, and she pulled herself to a sitting position. She began to chuckle, a slight grin on her face. The men looked confused and even more angry, and the one who had kicked her picked her up by her throat and squeezed.

Her vision swam. He was going to kill her. She knew it. So did the other Sid, as she struggled against the grip. 'I don't want to die..' She remembered thinking.

Blood spewed from the man's eyes and he began screaming, letting go of the girl. Both Sid's gasped in as air reached their lungs. The other two men looked horrified, one ran off. The girl grinned again and chuckled airily, an eerie twisted sound. Anger rose in her chest. Thoughts rushed to her head, and Sid tried her best to stop them. She tried her best to take over again. But the other Sid had made up her mind.

"You die now."

The two men who remained, froze in place. Slowly, the began to be pulled apart, screaming in agony. And soon, the girl lost control and the two bodies just simply.. Exploded into a million gooey pieces and blood spattered everywhere. The walls, the boxes, on her. The warmth made the girl sick to her stomach and the other Sid released hold, and she wretched what little contents had been in her stomach. Thoughts raced through her head, and fear gripped her chest. "What have you done..?" She asked herself. 'Only what we needed to do, and you were too weak to see.'

The memory ended there, and the chaos of voices had calmed down some. 'Did you not hear me the first time? GET OUT!' A voice shouted at him.

Rüger did his best to remain an objective observer, watching the memory, feeling it, as Sidonia had lived it, taking things into account as it went, comparing them to his own experiences. Some parts were similar, but there were gaps - questions that he had - that he wasn't certain were due to his own inexperience with the subject or with any misremembering on the part of Sid. Could she have been creating images to fill spaces her mind had intentionally forgotten?

But it seemed to flow all too well, the sensory experience was acute and accurate, and had measured effects on her, physically and emotionally. At least upstairs would be pleased to learn they were right about her hydrokinesis, of her manipulation of the blood and fluids of her assailants, alongside that 'splash' he'd taken back at the fountains.

The officer took it in stride as well, or better even, than one might imagine - it wasn't the first time he'd been covered in gore, in reality or otherwise, and it wasn't the first time he'd heard someone's screams as they were ripped apart - though this was the first time he'd heard it when it was done from within. If anything shook him it was the noise, but with what he had seen he was, oddly, emboldened.

The voice barely warranted a response from the man, who offered what amounted to a sideways glance, inside the girl's mind. "Make me."

He could feel a hint of anger. He had struck a cord, and the voices responded in kind. 'Leave him alone..' Another voice sounded in the girl's mind. 'I invit-' 'You're an idiot in doing so.' The other voice interrupted. 'Look, I'd love to kick you out of our melon, but as long as she's in control, I can't do a damned thing to you. But know this.. She won't be awake forever. And as soon as she slips up.. Well, you and I will tango.' He could feel that smile the girl had given the men before she had murdered them. 'You can count on it.'

He could feel fear from the girl. Tears had been streaming down her cheeks as she recalled the entire memory. She wiped them with her free hand, but they wouldn't stop this time.

The officer looked, if one could 'look' inside the mind of another, genuinely to this 'other' at such bold words, eyes narrowed in examination. "Is that so? You can't do a thing to me, here?" Wasn't that an intriguing little hint. Matthias knew he'd struck a chord, and pushed on that offensive, if what this voice had said was true. "You think you're really something, don't you? Something I should fear?"

There were things he feared, and this, whatever this was, paled in comparison to them.

The connection between the two of them worked both ways, and with barely a thought the man upended the other's mental existence, pulling her and her voices into his own mind, out of the chaotic realm of her own. It was a sharp contrast to Sidonia's - a quiet, orderly realm where everything had its place. Otherwise silent footfalls echoed in this sparse place only because of the heelirons on his boots, the 'avatar' that Matthias used moved down a manor's hallway, stopping briefly at a floral arrangement, the vase that held it decorated with a single, sable ribbon.

His hand, still bare, moved to hold it gently, his thumb running across the silken fabric, sharing the feeling with Sidonia. The silence of the place, the sharp concentration that Matthias forced on everything, had a way of enhancing all sensation here - a clarity that would only come to drive his point. "I have seen the face of the First Night." He mused, to himself. He didn't truly know what the First Night was in all honesty, beyond a concept, a name, the moment that had set what he had touched those years ago on the path that it had followed. It stuck out in Rüger's mind because it was strange, or perhaps not so strange at all, that something that lived - no, existed - to incite terror and fear in others was, itself, terrified.

And how it had roared when he found that out.

"I have looked into the same eyes that saw Paradise razed," The officer murmured, fingers falling away from the mourning ribbon as he did, looking to Sidonia and whatever he'd pulled out of her mind with her, though these words were meant more for the 'other' than the true Sid. "Should I show you what real carnage looks like?"

The girl's 'avatar' stood stunned as her surroundings changed. The voice echos had left, and there was true silence. He could feel her physically shiver at the relief and even feel the weariness wash over her. Everything here, she noted, felt real, seemed real. For the first time in perhaps her life, she thought she could escape what was in her head.

That thought quickly faded as she heard the voice of the other girl.

The 'other' Sid stood as a shadow. There were no details to her form, except she was shaped like herself. Her eyes were detailed, and they looked like her own except wild, delirious, and even angry. And that same smile...

"Please." The shadowy girl said simply. "Show me what I must aspire to go beyond. Show me what you think true carnage is, so that I can surpass it in time."

Sid shook her head frantically. "N-no no, she doesn't mean that."

"Shut up idiot. The adults are talking."

So he did.

Flame, endless, unyielding flame that spread across all existence - destruction and misery unrivaled, for it was the inception of such things - greeted the shadow-girl and Sid, were it that she dared to look. Pain and suffering the likes of which Matthias could not comprehend, both on the part of the inflictor and the inflicted, echoing across the cosmos. But for all of this noise, this cacophony of hate, it came crashing down in a mere moment, reduced to something that Matthias had long lost sleep over.

It was darkness - supreme and absolute, where the slightest light refused to shine, where the smallest noise refused to sound. It was a memory, a fragment for lack of a better term, that he had cut himself on in that monster's mind, of a moment before the end of their everything, and the beginning of what mortals knew - the silence, the echo that accompanied the death of an age, all consumed by something, something that the entity had feared. It was a rushed, hurried sort of fear, the fear of the quarry, of the prey.

"A pity," Matthias spoke, pulling the both of them from the sight before they could see or hear any more, "That you will never wreak such havoc, child." Rüger clasped his hands behind his back there, once more in the halls of his mind, away from the memories of the thing that had hunted him. "You'd need to be real to even try." He played a dangerous game, but he felt he held the better hand. The other was something, that he didn't doubt, she was inside of Sid's mind, but she wasn't a tangible thing, a definite, separate entity.

If she was, no doubt she'd already have tried something by now.

Sid couldn't look away once the vision had begun. Fear gripped her chest. She trembled, frozen where stood, her eyes wide as she experienced. As the monster's fragmented memory consumed the vision, her knees buckled and she fell to them. She wished for it to end. She cursed the other girl for even asking for this, for wanting to strive for this. She tore her gaze away for a moment to gleam a look on the shadow of herself.

And it was still smiling. Looking as though it was giggling silently to itself as it watched on with excitement.

The Shadow's grin widened at the man's accusation. "Tell me. What do you define as real? A reality that you can see? Feel? Touch?" The shadow gestured down to Sid. "You can do so with this idiot. But does that mean her mind isn't real? What she thinks? Is that not real? What if it was a very real possibility that the concept of two minds in one body, broken and fragmented due to.. Some scenario, we'll say. Does that make that second mind any less real than the girl you can touch? What happens if that second mind grows stronger than the primary?"

He would feel a pull on his hand, as if his muscles were trying to will themselves to open on their own.

"Fragmented as I may be, I'm slowly gaining the upper hand, Matthias. And once I do, I'll bring you that eternal damnation that you fear so much."

"It means you can only pray to be a fraction of what I pulled that out of." Matthias stated plainly, looking to this 'second mind' with a look that spoke of understanding, that lacked apprehension. The officer moved to spread his arms, welcoming the other's bold words, unflinching in the face of whatever spite it could muster. "Please, try - I've faced things infinitely your better, and you'll perish far more easily."

But the man released Sid, true and otherwise, from his grasp, both mental and physical, electing not to go to war with the mind of one he was assigned to protect - not yet, not while she could still be saved. It wasn't a tangible threat - an otherworldly one, as command had theorized - but instead was one that seemed to be intertwined with Sidonia herself. An unsettling prospect, one that he would have to report.

But one that could have him pulled from this assignment.

Back in the living room of his apartment the man looked to Sid, an apologetic look on his face as he regarded her, waiting to see if it was Sidonia Acker he was with, or the secondary, murderous thing he had encountered. "I am sorry you had to see that, Sid. I had to be certain."

As he released her, she fell back into her chaos and it hit her like a ton of bricks. Her knees buckled again, falling to the floor, pale and trembling. Between still trying to comprehend what horror she had seen just moments before and the voices returning and wrecking her sanity again, it was close to breaking her. Luckily, she hadn't eaten that day or she would have wretched on his floor. She couldn't even will herself to hum to try to drown out the voices.

'Pitiful.'

Sid curled up on the floor, staring out in the space in front of her, afraid if she even blinked, the visions would come back to haunt her.

With a guilty sigh Rüger knelt as he could by her, no matter how his side pained him as he did, his hand soon finding hers once more, and though he neither entered her mind or brought her to his, did his best to still her turmoil. "Do I need to see you back to your room, Sid?" He asked, his voice measured, his mind retreating back into the method and structure that kept him from feeling too upset about what he did, or what he had to do.

As she felt his hand wrap around her own, she clung to it with a grip that seemed almost desperate, as if she was holding on to the only thing that held her in place. "M-moment.." She managed to say. It took many moments, but she finally quelled the chaos in her mind enough she could function again. She was still trembling, however, as she pushed herself up to a sitting position, refusing to let go of his hand.

"W-wh.." Her voice cracked. "W-what was that..?" She asked quietly. "You've.. You've actually seen that.. That thing?"

The man helped her up as she needed, and supported her once she'd righted herself somewhat. Matthias gave her all the time that she needed, and only answered her question after a moment of thought. "The demon, or its memories?" He asked in reply, only realizing after the fact that it might not be the best to answer questions with questions at the moment.

"Yes, on both accounts, though I only saw bits and pieces of the latter. It... wasn't a forthcoming sort." And it moved in strange directions, alien twists and turns that he wasn't used to, in the minds of man. As to her first question, he didn't entirely know the answer, and so refrained from giving her one.

She nodded, understanding his answer, and lack of. "And she.. She wants to find that thing now.." She sighed, grabbing her head with her free hand and closing her eyes. "What can I call a thing that stares into the very definition of fear, and merely laughs.. Only to find its a shadow of myself..?"

'Your true self.' The shadow answered for her.

"Matthias..?" She called softly. "..Are you going to leave me..?" There was a slight tinge of fear in the tone of her voice. "I-if you want to, its fine. There are probably b-better assignments a man like you can be assigned to, less hazardous to your health, eh heh.."

"I'm not certain," He offered at first, pondering that for a moment, doing his best to think of an answer that didn't sound like simple placation. That was easier said than done, and instead simply did his best to rise to his feet, groaning as he might, offering Sid his hand once he had. "But we can find out, together."

Of course, there had been a moment or two where he was considering what reporting the truth might cause, in regards to command's decisions. Would they pull him from this case, hand her over to the psychologists and such to be analyzed and treated? It was likely for the best, and were it that the man could find a way to remain on as they did, he would.

"I feel that this... this is where I'm needed." He murmured, speaking what he felt was the truth. It was all eerily similar in a way, and again Matthias felt himself wondering whether he was truly the master of his life, or if fate guided its path.

She took his hand, although she tried not to pull on him too hard. She swayed slightly, once on her feet and kept hold of his hand even afterward. "I.. I don't want you to go.." She murmured quietly. She knew it was selfish for her to say such, but it was what she felt at this point. For one, the man had been kind to her and even now, treated her no differently after knowing what bothered her. Two, she felt safer with him around. Without him realizing, he was the first person she had opened up so quickly to.

The young girl leaned close and buried her face into his uniform, wrapping her arms about him in a hug. "I don't want another caretaker. They won't understand me like you do now. I don't want to show anyone else her.. Not willingly.." She murmured into his uniform.

The officer sighed at that, looking down to the young woman and returning the hug, surprised that he could provide such comfort to the girl so quickly - but he had forgotten, momentarily, the kind of world that she had come from. It was a good first step, he supposed, on the road to drawing her into the Korps properly. They were like a family, even if martially-structured and a paramilitary. "I'll do what I can to stay." He offered, planning to, for as long as he could.

Command could always say otherwise, and he would have to heed their word, but that had yet to be seen. "Let's see to getting your music player, Sid." He offered, hoping that moving with an objective might take their minds off of things.

She nodded quietly and pulled away. "Alright.." She murmured, managing a small smile as she looked up at him. "Well, slowpoke.. You better get going. We'll get there next year at your rate."

"No thanks to you." He returned, leading her out of his quarters soon enough, though it seemed the both of them needed the other to stand upright at this rate.

 

[Tiko]

as written by Knosis and Ottoman

Landwächter Psykorps Central Academy,
Striegis IV, the Imperial Core

The morning ritual had gone about as well as it always had, Matthias getting up a good hour before the little ones and making sure that their breakfast as well as their lunch was fixed, packing the latter while serving the former that it was ready for them when he roused them from their beds. Within thirty minutes they were dressed, fed and off to their own classes, or rather glorified day-care at this point, as he was off himself to oversee his singular charge.

His side had healed well, barely a stiffness remained in his movement now as he took the final steps towards Acker's door and knocked on it briefly. He escorted her to class more often than he simply met her in it, more as a courtesy than any sort of necessity.

The girl was usually prompt at answering the door when Matthias came to pick her up for classes. However, this morning the girl seemed to be running late as she did not answer the door at the call of her caretaker.

Matthias waited for a few moment, not wanting to press or seem rude in the slightest, knocking once more to see if there was any reply, Given that there wasn't, the officer moved to swipe his wrist over the datapad for the door, opening it with the authority granted to him as an instructor and looking in, doing his best not to intrude unless bidden.

"Sid? Everything alright?"

"Will you shut up for once.." She muttered frantically to herself.

Sid was sitting on her bed, fully dressed and looked ready for classes, except she was fiddling with something. "Come on, dammit.." She muttered under her breath, lightly tapping her badly beaten-to-death music player on its side. Used tape laid in strips on her blanket as well a few broken bits of the music player's casing.

She blinked and looked up at the door, realizing for the first time that Matthias had let himself in. "Uh.. Oh." She said. "Hi."

She sighed and put the pieces of the device on her bed, coming to the conclusion it would just have to wait until later.

"Sorry.. I didn't realize the time, and I guess I didn't hear you knock.." She gave a nervous chuckle.

The Austran's brow climbed for a moment, eyeing the small situation that the young woman found herself in on the bed, eyes moving from the music player to its parts, then to Sid. "It's fine - are you alright?" He couldn't tell if the battered music player had simply reached the end of its life, or had somehow been inadvertently broken.

"Is there anything I can do?"

The girl's jaw clenched slightly. "I'm fine." She lied. "I'll fix it tonight, I think. Hopefully.." Her fingers dug into her palm. The bags under her eyes had gotten pretty dark, and it was obvious she hadn't been sleeping well.

"So, let's go.."

It wasn't, the man could see that, but it was the sort of thing that was best not to press. "Alright," The man stepped back from the door, giving the young woman the space she needed, walking alongside her once they were on their way. "Seidel says you're doing quite well in hydro class." Matthias offered, hoping that the change of topic might bring a change in her mood.

That did seem to perk the youth up a bit. "Really?" She asked. "I didn't think I was doing as well. I'm crap compared to Fru-Fru." She said, grinning again at the nickname she had given her other teacher for the past week or so. "He's all.." She started spinning and waving her hands. "Pew pew pew pwsshhh. And I'm all like.." She made a simple finger flick. "Plink."

She grabbed her ears and closed her eyes, although she continued to follow Matthias. "She's being really aggravating this morning.."

Rüger chuckled at that, shaking his head slightly at her dramatization of the action, though he wondered how far off of the mark it might have been. "Get the plinking down," He mused, "And you'll be whipping water around properly in no time." Practice, repeated practice, of even the slightest action or use of her powers was progress, was working in a positive direction. Every instance would grant her more familiarity, and through that familiarity, control.

"... because of the music player?" Or lack thereof at this point.

The girl shook her head. "Something else.." She muttered, sounding as if she knew the answer why. She winced. "Either way, today's going to be a tough day to concentrate.." She murmured. "And under that kind of pressure, my plinking is going to be unstable at best." She sighed and rubbed her temple. "Fru-Fru is going to give me an earful, I think."

If she didn't want to speak of it then Matthias wouldn't press, he'd learned that lesson before, with others. "Let me know if I can help." He murmured, not knowing how he could but making the offer regardless. "He gives everyone an earful, first chance he gets." It was just the way he was.

Though that might not help that much, considering Sid's state this morning.

"Do the best you can, no one mastered everything in a week."

"Yeah, but with someone who's got a timeline like yours, I've got a goal to keep. I gotta make sure that I take like... One millionth the time you did in order to achieve my goal." She grinned in her teasing way.

She grabbed her ears again, even though the sound was in her head. "Stop that, right now." She growled. "Sorry.. Anyway.. Are you staying for the class today..? I kinda wanna show you what I've learned so far."

The man chuckled, shaking his head at that. She likely could beat his record for graduation, though he didn't know by how much. "I can, if you'd like for me to. I've nothing to pressing to see to today, aside from some paperwork." Busy work, regular reports on the status of Sid and her condition, as well as that of his own children.

Nothing that couldn't wait a few hours. "What all should I be expecting?"

"Well, I can't exactly guarantee I won't plink your side again.. But it is less likely?" She gave a sheepish grin. "After that, it depends on what Fru-Fru wants me to work on. Usually it involves a lot of making water move. But if you have more important thing--" Her expression grew blank and she looked as though she were going to fall, but caught herself at the last moment.

She shook her head and paused for a moment. "That was weird.. W-what was I saying..?"

It was a grin returned, though Matthias was a deal more concerned once she nearly keeled over, his own hand coming quickly to her shoulder, were it that he needed to catch her. "... are you sure you're alright for class, Sid?" Came concerned words, though they were paired with an intense, objective gaze.

Rüger was looking for ticks, for tell-tale signs on her features of just what might have happened. "I can speak to Seidel, if you're not feeling up to it."

The girl paused for a minute or two. "I'm fine.." She said quietly, scratching at her arm as she did when she got anxious. "I guess I'm just tired is all." She smiled and patted his hand. "Come on, or I'm pinning the blame of why I'm late on you. And then Fru-Fru's going to give YOU the earful of how you're suppose to be responsible and everything."

A reserved smile, a friendly nod, accompanied Matthias' acceptance of this, figuring it was likely for the best that Seidel berate him this morning than Sid. He could take it - Seidel was all bluster as it was. "Alright, but I'll remember this." He offered in a tone that mocked severity, coming along at her flank until they reached the classroom, Matthias slipping in without half a thought.

"... think she could just take half the morning off?" Came Seidel's words from behind his desk, looking up from whatever he'd busied himself with once he saw the pair of them.

"My apologies, Seidel. There was a moment or two for concern but it's been seen to now."

The other Austran narrowed his eyes, uncertain but deferring to the other's judgement. "Mhmm. Well, Anwärter Acker, I'd suggest you step up, you've lost time to cover."

The girl nodded. "Alright, Fru-Fru." She said, walking towards her other teacher, looking back and smiling apologetically to Matthias. "What do you want me to start on today?"

"A sphere for now." He murmured, eyes narrowing further at the moniker but otherwise ignoring it. The elder psyker drew one from a nearby basic, pulling it towards him with nary a hint of effort, encapsulating it in his hand as he did. "Just make one and hold it. We're working on concentration today, we might move it about before long."

It seemed that size was of little concern to the instructor, whose own sphere barely held the girth of a walnut, examining it with an idle eye. Matthias moved to a nearby desk, taking the chance to recline and observe.

She nodded and held out her hand, palm away from herself. It was not necessary, but it did help her concentrate most days. The water from the basin rippled for a bit before a small drop of water rose from the rest and dropped back into the basin again.

This would continue for a few more minutes, and finally a droplet the size of a marble rippled in her palm, and finally it stayed steady. She bit her lip in concentration, her brows furrowed. "I think.. I got it.."

"Take your time." The instructor offered, still holding his own in front of him, though he moved to cross his arms soon enough. "There's no hurry." Matthias sighed lightly nearby, but it was a thing more born of his fatigue than any sort of judgement on the part of what he watched.

"Keep your focus on the water." Seidel mused, voice light.

She nodded softly silently, her eyes never leaving the little droplet. She finally got it to stay steady and held it there for a few minutes. Sid looked up at Matthias with a nervous grin for the briefest of seconds before lowering them back to her task.

A few more minutes and the droplet dropped to the floor just a moment before Sid unconsciously collapsed as well.

Both Seidel and Rüger watched the young woman work the water for a time, the latter offering her a friendly smile when she paid him her brief one, only for it to vanish once she fell to the floor. Matthias was slower to rouse than Seidel was, who tossed his water back into the basin and came to kneel near Sid, looking to her with a concerned eye.

"Is everything alright, Anwärter?"

The girl didn't respond for a long moment. Finally, her eyes opened with slow blinks, seemingly confused and distorted. "H-how.. Did I end up down here..?" She asked, slowly sitting up and grabbing her head. Her gaze rose up to Matthias, the look of her own concern.

"I'm s-sorry, Fru-Fru.. I'm fine now.." Her brows knitted together. "I'll continue the lesson, then." She slowly stood and brushed herself off.

Seidel nodded at that, though the glance he paid to Matthias spoke of his concern silently, stepping back and letting the girl have her space that she might try once more. Matthias stood nearby, leaning on the wall, ready to assist should it be needed.

"Are you sure, Sid?" He asked from where he stood, looking to her and then the water. "You might simply need rest."

She gave a quick cold glare towards Matthias before her expression softened to a small smile. "I'll be fine, Matthias. But if you're really worried about me, I'll go ahead and finish this class and take it easy the rest of the day, alright?"

She turned towards the basin once again and pulled a small droplet of water from it again much easier than she had before, holding it in her palm with some difficulty, but steady enough. She grinned, although she didn't meet her teachers' gazes. "I think I have it now, Fru-Fru."

That glare put the man on edge as he debated on whether or not he should simply render the girl unconscious, her behavior thus far having not put him at ease, but Matthias let it go. There was a chance that things were normal - perhaps this would turn out to be just another day.

"Good, practice with the sphere again, if you might."

The girl nodded and continued, but instead of dropping the sphere, she pulled another with her less dominate hand just as easily as she had before and still holding the first sphere just as steady. She gave a cocky grin.

"Hey this is pretty easy." Sid said. "Fru-Fru.. So hydrokinesis is the control of a fluid, no matter what, right?" She asked, the small little spheres wavering slightly. "This means, if one concentrates hard enough, you may be able to pull water from the air around you, particularly in humid climates, yes?" She seemed more confident that she had been.

The smile that Seidel wore was not echoed by Rüger, the hydrokinetic instructor nodding at the young woman's observations. "Yes, and you should always make sure to be doubly careful where there is less water vapor in the air, you will lack the same degree of power than many of our colleagues will still possess."

She tilted her head. "So in a dual between two hydrokinesis users, essentially you want to be able to control the water in the air in order to gain the upper hand.." She looked up at him innocently enough. "Right?" The two spheres remained steady in her palms throughout her questioning. "But that also means a hydrokinetic user can also try to control the fluids in lets say.. A person's body. Meaning if you truly wanted to stop someone or even control someone, you could, although not as well as someone with mind control."

"You could, though you'd have to know what to do - what to aim for." Seidel replied, a curious look coming to his brow as he considered her questions, eying her spheres as he did. "If you have any water at hand, in a body or container, it would be far more efficient than drawing it out of the air, though water vapor can always do in a pinch."

She nodded quietly. "Naturally." Sid moved both hands together and combined the two spheres into one. She played with the sphere, trying to bounce it between hand and hand, as if testing something. In her mind, she was testing her current limit of how much control she could produce right now. It rippled a bit between bounces, but more or less remained in shape. She nodded, as confirming something to herself and then grinned widely towards Seidel. "What do you think?" She held it out for the man to look at. "What's next?"

The instructor took it from the young woman's psychic grasp and brought it over to himself to inspect, doing his best to keep it in the shape that it had been. "... very nice, Acker." He mused, letting his eyes linger on the shape for a few moments longer before it evaporated into a momentarily-dense cloud of vapor, the instructor having seen all he needed to of that for now. "Remember to keep practicing on that, whenever you have a moment or two."

The man moved to lean against his desk for a moment, crossing his arms as he did, waiting for something until he spoke, almost suddenly. "Draw it back out of the air now."

Sid blinked as the water evaporated. So there was the possibility of breaking it apart to near gaseous material as well. She nodded slightly. Before she had been able to just stare and concentrate on the sphere, but now there was nothing physically seen.

Her gaze fell to the floor, and it appeared as though she was giving up. She bit her lip, remembering how she had thought about splashing Matthias and nearly breaking his ribs.

She barely hid the grin of thinking of doing so again.

Sid concentrated on what the sphere would look like and slowly, little droplets would start raining from the air above her instructor's head. It wasn't the sphere, but it was an attempt at least. Progress.

Progress was better than nothing, Seidel giving an unimpressed sort of look up at the drops, from the air from whence they came, blinking as he did. "Better than nothing." He murmured, eyeing the air still before his gaze fell to the young woman. "You've been practicing in your time off, right?" It was more to check and make sure that she was keeping up with her studies than any sort of judgement on her capability.

She nodded quietly. "Yes." She answered. She had been practicing, although not as much as one might have liked her to during her off periods. The drops stopped as she stopped focusing on them.

Seidel returned her nod, "Good, make sure you keep at it. You'll have it all down in no time." He murmured his words, moving to wipe the water from his shaved brow after a moment or two. "Thirty minutes, if you could - sphere to line, then back to sphere." The veteran hydrokinetic moved to take a seat behind his desk at that, paying a glance up to her once he had.

"Just routine practice, it's alright if you mess up."

The girl nodded again, and went back to concentrating it seemed. However, instead of pulling the water from the air, it seemed she was trying to draw it from her professor. Whether or not it was accidental or not, it was not positive.

Seidel could feel it easily enough, and knew the feeling - after all, he'd done it to other's before. In just a moment or two the instructor immediately moved against her, a direct pinch here, some pressure there, restricting blood flow to Sid's brain, looking to force her to black out.

The look the man wore, paid between Sidonia and Matthias, spoke far more than any words he could utter.

A moment after, things started growing dark around her. She immediately lost concentration and she stumbled to the side. A moment more, and Sid collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

"What was that?" Seidel inquired immediately of Matthias the moment the girl went down, Rüger moving immediately to her side as he sought to help her, if he could. "She was going to draw it out of me, Matthias. Out of me." Or at least she was going to try.

Matthias was just as alarmed at this, though his initial shock of seeing Sid go down didn't wane for a moment or two. "I... you know she's a special case, Seidel."

"I know we should just have them draw it out of her and kill it."

"I don't think it will be that easy."

"I hope you're not going to marry this one too-"

"Do not bring her into this." The captain nearly whirled about that that, eyes narrowed on Seidel and boring into the elder man, silencing the instructor for a moment or two. "... let's give Sid a moment to wake up. If she tries it again we'll put her under house arrest." Given a moment or two Matthias had helped prop Sidonia up against a desk where she sat on the floor. He waited until she came to to speak.

"... doing alright, Sid?"

Darkness. Silence. She would shout, and her voice was drowned out by the overwhelming entity. She felt her chest tighten in fear, wondering if some how she was facing the very thing Matthias had shown the other Sid. As the realization came to her, she felt the panic rush over her.

She woke up with a start, her eyes dilated to mere pencil points. It was only Matthias holding her down that kept her from running. However, all the water in the basin reacted to her sudden jolt, sloshing over the side ineffectively in a weak attempt to shield herself. Trembling hard and taking in huge gulps of air as if she had been running an age, and took her a long moment to realize where she was.

"Wh.. What happened..?" She asked urgently, still trying to get over the effects of the dream.

"You blacked out, Sid." Matthias murmured, holding her there for a few moments longer as he looked to her, seeing the emotion played across her face. If this wasn't the real Sid, he wasn't sure what could be. "Everything's alright now - do you remember what you were doing before?" Came the simple, if blunt, question.

The girl's brow furrowed as her mind raced to try to block the thoughts of the dream and struggled to pull memories from the fog that had appeared due to the adrenaline rush. She was still flustered when she answered, although less so than she had been when she first woke up. "I uhm.. I had just started class... Fru-Fru wanted me to practice pulling water spheres.. I think I finally got one.. But then I woke up here.."

If the girl could lose anymore color, she would have done so. She looked into Matthias' eyes fearfully, a silent question within them where her words were failing her at that moment.

The man would've sighed at that point, were he willing to rest, looking insteadto the young woman for a moment or two longer before he informed Seidel, rather curtly, "This class is over." The both of them had creeping suspicions - Seidel no doubt more than himself - but this was confirmation, at least to Rüger.

"By all means." Seidel murmured, looking neither pleased or disappointed at this point.

Matthias helped the young woman up as she needed, leading her into the hallway outside once he had done so. "... are you getting enough rest, Sid?" Came the question, once they were out of earshot from Seidel.

Sid followed in silence, her jaw clenched as the unanswered question answered itself. Even after hearing the question, she didn't respond to it right away. She scratched anxiously at her arm, almost wishing she would go back to the nightmare and face that creature in person.

Almost.

"I've tried.." She admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. "The nights.. I either fear the monster you showed me, or I fear the thing in me.. And so I don't sleep.." She looked to the side. "That's what happened to the music player this morning.. I had drifted off to sleep.. And I woke to it smashed and me standing, and her shouting angrily.." She fell silent for a moment.

"... Did I hurt anyone.."

Matthias felt guilt stab at him for that, for having done such a thing to her only to test and see what it was afflicted her - something which, it seemed, only worsened her condition. "No, Sid." He murmured too, his own voice muted. "You didn't hurt anyone, Seidel stopped you before y-... she, could."

The officer brought a hand to his chin in thought, in musing as to how he could help fix this, even temporarily. "... is there anything I can do for you Sid? Anything the Academy can do?"

If his answer brought relief, it wasn't evident on the young one's face. Her fingers dug into her skin, and it was evident she was kicking herself hard.

"Help me either control her or find some way to kill her." She stated quietly, her voice sounding odd to herself. "She wants nothing but destruction and harm on others.. If neither can be done.." She fell silent, realizing what she was asking.

"I would rather others not be hurt because of my selfish desire to live.." She added after an awkward moment or two. "Its not like anyone cared for me or wants me around anyway, so it wouldn't mean much in the long run, I don't think." She gave a small, nervous laugh, as if she were trying to convince herself of her explanation.

The man moved to place his hands on her shoulders at such fatalistic talk, his brow knitted in concern that she'd think such a thing. "No, Sid. It will not come to that." The officer would do almost anything to keep that from being the case - no one deserved death for something they didn't choose, regardless of the dangers posed. "You have my word."

If one gave up on someone like Sid, then what hope could his own daughters have?

But wouldn't this necessitate informing command that it wasn't any sort of possession? That she was simply unstable? Would he be kept as her handler then, or would she be tossed in with the general student population, medicated and forgotten?

The man sighed, eyes falling to the floor. Control her, or kill her. He'd rather the latter if he could, but didn't know what implications that would have with the rest of her. "The best thing we can do now is see to you getting some rest, I think." He murmured, "Is there anything that might make things easier?"

She gazed up into the man's face. Even with his assurance, she wasn't so sure herself that it wouldn't be the case. Her normal chipper personality had been replaced with near defeatism, and because of that, hope was dimming.

Sid placed a delicate hand on Matthias' arm. "Yeah.. I guess you're right.." She sighed. "I don't know." She answered honestly. "Either way, I sleep restlessly, or I'm so dead to the world that when she wakes up, she'll have full access to do whatever. I think if I could ensure that she can't get out and do harm to someone, I can at least sleep without that fear on my mind.." She shivered. "The nightmares are just my own fears I have to face eventually and find a way to face on my own."

Matthias felt his shoudlers sink somewhat, sorry that the young woman in front of him had become so defeated in so short a time. Gradually enough he lead her away from the classroom, figuring it for the best if she didn't stress herself any more today. "There's medication, if not to suppress her than at least to help you sleep."

He wasn't sure how to go about 'killing' something that wasn't a separate entity from Sid herself. Control was possible, or so he suspsected, but he had to consider the danger that everything he taught Sid, the other would know as well.

"But that would require a visit to the physician."

"Hey, old man." She poked his side. "I'm the one allowed to be depressed here. Not you." She tried to tease. She had seen what her mood had started to do to the man and tried to perk up, if for him. "You know, raging hormones, teenage bipolarness. The whole nine-yards." She rolled her eyes, but couldn't hide the small smile that crept up on her face.

She sighed again. "As long as I have you as a friend, I'm sure anything is possible. I'll get over moping over the doom-and-gloom soon enough."

"But no doctors." She said, shivering. "Just.. Lock me in a room or tie me to a pole or something. I can sleep through her, just don't want her roaming around willy-nilly and go explode someone by accident.."

She took his hand in hers. "Just.. Make sure to be my friend until we see how this plays out, alright?"

"Hmm, don't remind me what's in store for me." His twins were still at the age where everything was amazing and papa knew best, he wasn't looking forward to any of the imbalances or misadventures puberty would bring. Lightly did Matthias squeeze her hand, nodding as he did, finding it an easy promise to make, and one he intended to keep.

"Of course." He offered, smiling at that, glad that the girl wasn't without hope - though still, in the back of his mind, he ran through the scenario of her nature coming out to his superiors. That she wasn't possessed but was certainly troubled. "If I can ever help, let me know."

"Hey, but that's only part of the course that I'm suppose to be teaching you. If you can survive through me, you can survive through any crazy female teenage encounter that you may have." She thrusted her free hand's thumb to her chest with a silly grin on her face.

"You can only do so much, I'm afraid. You can't fix what you can't see, and my lovely shadow-self, you only see when she's trying to murder people.." She bit her lip. "I think I'm going to need parts to fix my player.. A few of the bits are too smashed to be useful anymore. If I give you a part list, could you see what you could do to find them?" She took a deep breath and added the next bit in a rush. "I don't have any money to pay for parts, but I'll work it off if I have to, to pay you back.."

Matthias smiled at that, shaking his head at the prospect. He supposed it was true enough - if he could survive her, then he could survive his own, twins or not. "Well, we could see about finding the parts themselves." The man offered, an almost incredulous look on his face as thought of just what kind of work it might take to repair a thing in that manner.

"... or we could just see about getting a new one." Less muss, less fuss, no worry about parts wearing out for some time - the only thing that might be something of a challenge is finding new music, but that wasn't terribly hard. "Save us the trouble of fixing the old one."

Rüger dismissed her claim to repay him with a wave, "Pssh. You don't owe me anything. I barely spend any of my salary as it is." Almost everything was provided here in the Academy, between him and his children their food, their utilities, their quarters, all provided.

The girl scratched at her arm again. "I.. It's a lot of money to get a new one, its why I've had the used one for so long. Are you sure? I mean, it could be that you could get your kids something nice.." She shrugged slightly. "I'd be extremely appreciative but I think that's going above and beyond, and you hadn't even taken me on a second date yet."

She spun around to walk backwards, a devilish grin on her face. "And after the awesome first date, I'd imgaine you'll have to go overboard to impress a lady on the second one. Can't be an underachiever."

"It's all relative." He mused, shrugging himself as he continued alongside her. His daughters wanted for little to nothing right now as it was, and his salary was just going to sit in his account regardless. "And it could, but they already have plenty. What they don't is mostly a case of want..." And not a case of need, as in Sid's situation.

"I haven't even taken you anywhere nice yet." He jested in return, "I don't think it'd be too hard to top."

"I guess I'll have to be the judge of that." She said. She winced silently. "Guess who's awake now.." She grumbled.

"I suppose you will." He murmured, shrugging again, though her next statement was enough to warrant a genuine sigh from him. "... I'd rather not." His mind turned once more to how it was he could help Sid, beyond simply getting her a new music player, drawing another, if far more muted, sigh.

"I can probably get you some sleeping pills, if that'd help."

The girl thought about it for a moment and nodded. "It very well may." She said. "At the very least, it will knock us both out at the same time, although not sure about the same amount of time. That will have to be experimented on, but its worth a shot."

Sid's brows knitted together and her eyes flared with anger. "You did WHAT?!" She growled at the voice in her head.

It was a thought that seemed worth considering then, the man would look into what he could for Sid in regards to that slight medication. If anything else it could get the poor girl some rest at night. Matthias' mind was already wandering to which ones he might pick up when her outburst rang out beside him, drawing his eyes and a concerned hand, moving to Sid's shoulder.

"... what's the matter, Sid?"

The girl shook her head quietly. "..Bragging about what she was attempting to do.." She muttered quietly, anger clear still in the tone of her voice. A new field of determination came to her when she looked up to Matthias next. "Teach me how to make my head quiet like yours."

The officer nodded at that. "Of course." He would be happy to teach her what he could, though she suffered from different sorts of problems than he had. "It might take a while, but I'll show you how."

Matthias blinked at that thought, a quizzical look coming over him for a moment before he asked, "Have you eaten yet?" It wouldn't do to start anything on an empty stomach, and Matthias didn't know if she'd been more concerned with her music player than her breakfast.

"I don't care how long it will take me, if it makes her shut up, or at least isolate her where I can lock her down.." She murmured. The girl blinked in realization of the answer to his question. "Er.. No.. Last thing I ate was lunch yesterday, I think..?" She rubbed the back of her neck. "I had um.. Bigger problems this morning, I think.." She added meekly.

"Well, you have nothing if not time." Rüger murmured, smiling as he beckoned for her to follow. "Let's get you fed and then we'll get started properly." The man called over his shoulder, hoping to do some very light training, if they bothered with training proper today, considering her exhausted state.