Sandstone: Distort

Chapter 2

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Show Your Worth

"Don't reveal your emotions. Just keep on walking."

<< Omniscient >>

Year 6971

Charla sniffed, stretching her muscles one more time before she bent herself, touching her toes with her fingertips.

"You're surprisingly flexible. And you've got back most of your strength in a surprising amount of time." Dr Jack Rellends looked at her straight in the eyes as Charla rose, rolling her neck and shoulders to ease the growing ache.

She knew she was in no way close to the way her body worked 6 years ago. That was a different life when she'd been more easy-going, flexible and strong. If 13 year old she saw her now, she would be ashamed at how thin she was, how easily a simple stretching exercise left her panting and muscles trembling. Charla told herself it was because of her years confined in chains or chairs or metal platforms, cuffs a permanent feature practically melded into her forearms and ankles, that she was weak now.

No matter. She would build up that strength again. She was taller now and had more potential for her muscles to tighten and strengthen under proper training. Charla chose to ignore Jack's next few comments as he jotted away at the floating blue holo-platform that served as a modern clipboard.

Her fingers itched to snatch at the holograms that surrounded him, the blue 3D scan of her body that copied her movements, the blue hovering square that had lines racing across it, rising and dipping with every thud of her heart. In fact, there were so many holographs that were about her, Charla nearly found it dizzying.

She really needed to take some time off physio to sneak into some tech room and catch up.

2 hours later, and Charla found herself back in her cells. She was no longer restrained but small, black floating balls followed after her, the cameras embedded in them carefully tracking her movements. She wasn't quite sure if she was amused that they left the cameras in full view or that she was insulted that they didn't think she was quite the threat she once used to be and no longer bothered hiding their tech from her.

No matter. She would be getting her hands on their tech sooner or later. She hoped it would be the former.

Charla saw little of Alisabeth and Coltrane but she did meet another young man on their team: Sebastian Rochlinger.
She thought she rather liked him because he seemed keen on poking fun at everything and everyone, jabbing at people's buttons in hope of finding the one that would send them into a flustered flurry or triggered tantrum.

While Coltrane was polite - that was all he was. Cold hearted at best, an immovable pillar of flesh that made her jokes hard to go through or have any effect. Charla found him boring.

Alisabeth was constantly biting back, her words filled with acidic filth that did nothing much other than scald Charla's pride, which would make the younger woman lash back with even hotter burning fire.

Sebastian, however, was a quirky young man with black hair cropped short at the sides, his hair curled at the ends and was split down the centre. He had more hair parted to the left, sometimes falling over his left brow which he loved to raise in amusement.