New York City, 3057 / OPEN

“Well I was sent her with someone who said to wait for the others.” She shrugged

Eseme shuffled her feet nervously. Anxiety crawled up her spine and wrapped its claws around her neck. She gasped quietly. Shivers dripped down her arms.

Myah took a deep breath and fell backwards dramatically on her bed. "This is getting really stressful."

"I can go," Eseme said, turning to leave.

"No, no. Don't leave." Myah insisted.

Eseme hesitated, then turned around again, awkwardly shifting her weight from heel to toe.

Ileia sighed. "Well, I'm not giving my bed away again, but feel free to stay anyway." she tried to smile but it probably looked idiotic.

Eseme set her single bag down and began to rummage through it.

Ileia lay down on her bed and straed up at the ceiling. "What are we gonna do here?" she asked no one specific.

Eseme stopped and looked at Myah, who seemed to be the one in charge.

Myah sighed. "There's a lot of different things. We will be having classes, but they're not like your average classes. They're classes on leadership, coming up with solutions to problems on the fly, how to handle emergencies, and tons of other stuff."

Eseme panicked. Leadership? That was standing in front of people and not being afraid to talk to them. She could not do that.

Ileia didn't bother to sit up. "And when will the classes start? Please don't tell me I have to stand up early in the morning."

Myah shrugged. "Sorry. We're also a response team, so we could have to get up at any time. There about two hundred students here, so we won't always be the ones responding, but–" Suddenly there was a jolt as the Aerocarrier lifted off the ground.

Eseme tensed ducked into a corner, curling into a ball. Snippets of a memory flashed through her mind. "No no no, go away. Go away," she whispered .

Ileia sat up. "Hey, is everything okay with you?" she asked concerned.

Eseme breathed quickly and looked up. The sound was fading. "I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine." She wasn't sure who she was trying to convince - Ileia, or herself.

"Really? Because you don't seem to fine." she got up and sat beside Eseme. "It's okay to ask for help if you need some."

"I'm fine. Really," Eseme insisted, trying to smile to prove her point.

Ileia didn't buy it, but she knew how annoying it could be to be asked if you're okay all the time, so she gave up. "If you want to talk, just talk." then she got up again and sat back on her bed.

"My parents," she blurted. No no NO! Do not…

Ileia turned to face her again and smiled. She wanted to say something but she thought it might be better to just let her talk, so she just nodded encouraging.

"My mother, my father, and my little brother were taken by a government carrier. It… It sounded just like that," Eseme revealed, not willingly looking anyone in the eye.

(Is that okay, Nat?)

(Yup dat's fine)

Myah but her lip. "I'm so sorry Eseme."

"I tried to save them…" Eseme trailed off. She barely managed to speak at all. "But I couldn't. They're gone."

Myah silently walked over to Eseme and simply wrapped her into a tight hug.

Ileia didn't know what to say. Your own problems seem so small when you hear about others.

(I’m gonna leave this because idk what to do)

(Aww!)

Eseme flinched at first, but accepted Myah's squeezing embrace.