STAR MAP, aurora burning | f. de seel

□ Chapter Three

"I always hated physics," Scarlett mutters, confident gait turning to a shuffle as she preoccupied herself shifting the power armour plate around her chest.

"You what?" Tyler's voice crackled over comms.

"Nothing," Scarlett hums back.

I raise a brow at her from beneath the brim of my black cap. "Physics is fun though."

"Fun," Scarlett says as her and Zila glide through the Emerald City Docks in their GIA uniforms. "Is going out and partying and drinking until you forget your own name. How does physics rival that?"

I shrug, waving my hands. It proves a difficult feat with the magnet restraints slapped on around my wrists. "I think you and I led very different lives at the Academy."

"I think you're right."

I keep my head down, the hood of my jacket draped over the top of my cap. I'm sweating underneath it, probably because of the fact my arms feel as if they're pinned to my sides with these restraints on. Yet I can't help but let my gaze escape to Zila's uniglass.

She's studiously pouring over Adams' speech on her uniglass. He stands, a looming, powerful figure with his prosthetic arms crossed firmly across his chest. I, too, had been pouring over it while Aurora had been knocked out in the hotel until an annoyed glance from Tyler made me turn my uniglass off and tuck it into my pockets.

"Do you ever have this problem?" Scarlett crackles beneath her GIA helmet. She's fidgeting with her chestplate again, desperately trying to adjust it.

Zila's gloved finger taps mute and she turns to glance up at Scarlett. "Problem?"

I eye Scarlett's hands as they try to discreetly shift the solid boning of her chestplate again. "You know… size… fluctuation."

"Natural breast enlargement?" I rephrase.

"I'm trying to be discreet," Scarlett retorts plainly.

My gaze roves over both her and Zila before I respond. "You stick out like a casket at a baby shower."

The two are clad once again in the grey GIA robes, mirrormask helmets catching in the light overhead. The robes seem strangely soft, moving like smoke caught in a breeze. Death incarnate prowls the street, but beneath those empty masks, I know it's just my friends.

"Hormone changes during ovulation can lead to swelling. Estrogen production peaks just before mid-cycle, and this can cause enlar-" Zila begins.

"Um, Scarlett?" Finian's voice makes her fall silent.

"Yes, Finian?" She muses back.

"You three are still transmitting."

"...So?" Scarlett responds curtly. Her head tilts slightly, as if barely stopping herself from glancing over her shoulder. The rest of the squad tails us at a respectful distance.

"Um… Nevermind," He says finally.

"Good answer," Scarlett chimes back.

I'm unable to contain a small snicker. A grin which I quickly wipe off my face, trying to keep up the act of a disgruntled prisoner.

Although, my mind does wander briefly back to the power armour Scarlett wears. When I had been forced to don it, it hadn't exactly been comfortable. The frame was built for a taller person than me, and I definitely didn't experience the chestal pains Scarlett is. The only real trouble I had had with the outfit was the fact my legs were build in a manner that all of my weight seemed to go to my thighs and hips. I had the stretch marks to prove it.