[The next day! Bright and early at 0700. The lights in Gottlieb's office are shining, and his door is slightly ajar. Start!] * Luana puts her hand on the doorknob to keep the door from moving and knocks. Come in! * Luana walks in. "Good morning, Dr Kerner." She's attempting to look professional, but she mostly just looks not-quite-awake. * Gottlieb is sitting on his chair, which he turns from the computer to the entryway to face her. The office is mostly still empty, although a coat and hat hang on the rack, and there are several boxes covered with tarps lining the bookshelves. "Good morning, Ms. Hall." * Gottlieb raises an eyebrow at her appearance. "You seem tired. Did you not sleep enough last night?" Ah, sorry, sir. I've been waking up a bit later than this most days. I'll change my sleep schedule to fit whatever you like. I see. Tell me about the daily routine you are accustomed to, please. * Luana seems startled. "Um, well, I've been waking up at nine and going to bed at midnight, and inbetween I just do whatever I'm told to, sir. If I have time to myself, I train or write computer programs. Describe your training habits. I spar if there's someone available or willing, and otherwise go to the firing range or practice creating fire and moving it. I'm unaccustomed to guns other than pistols, although I can use them. Sir? May I ask a question? * Gottlieb raises an eyebrow, and opens a large, square hand in permission. The early morning light glints from the large ring on the fourth finger of his left hand. Control told me, told us, that our guardians would dictate everything we did. If I could... could I please be allocated funds and time to create a computer? It's, it's my hobby, sir. * Luana is staring at the floor and blushing slightly, eyes wide. * Gottlieb rests his elbows on the armrests of his chair and steeples his fingers. "Hmm. Most likely. But I must first see just how much time we will have to spare for you." * Luana keeps looking down. "Yes, sir. Thank you." What sort of sparring do you practice? And how did you learn to use a gun? Zankuft trained me a bit before bringing me to this location, sir. I've been trying to learn as much as possible so I can be useful. I took some defense classes before Zankuft picked me up, and I've just been learning whatever anyone would teach since then. I'm afraid my combat knowledge is mostly bits and pieces, sir. I see. You were not told what styles you were practicing, if any? No. I didn't ask. Hm. * Gottlieb sits up more in his chair and turns to pick up a folder from the desk beside him. "Well. It just so happens that I have your file and your combat evaluation here. As I am a firm proponent of constructive criticism, this is what I was told about you:" According to Ms. Sohn next door, you are "obedient, but perhaps a little too eager to please." You are also "clever in the use of your abilities in combat." Do you feel this assessment is fair and complete? I... um, yes, sir. * Gottlieb raises an eyebrow. "Um?" * Luana is smiling a bit. "Being called clever is a pleasant surprise." * Gottlieb grins faintly in return, but continues. "Do you feel that your actions in the simulation deserved that modifier?" No, sir. I couldn't have been terribly clever if I was the first one down in the fight between Keiko, Ten, and myself. * Gottlieb raises his eyebrows, but leaves that for now. "In your own analysis of the events, what do you now think you should have done to alter them--cleverly?" * Gottlieb waves at a chair across from him. "You may sit, if you wish." * Luana does so. "Attacked Ten instead of Hotaru, I think. And taken the time to get rid of the squirrels instead of concentrating only on one opponent. " Would you have changed your mode of attack? I wouldn't have attacked Keiko with the fire, in hindsight, but I didn't know she could block it at the time. Other than that, no. * Gottlieb nods. "Hm." Please explain to me, if you can, the full extent of what you are capable of, and the level of control that you feel you have over your gifts. * Luana takes a deep breath. "I can create fire and move it. It doesn't always work, one or the other, which is why I practice. I'd say it works a little over half the time. I can also move fires that I haven't created. I used to have a problem where I started fires every time I got upset, but I now have it almost completely under control. I got very angry once and sparked a bit, but that's the most I've done accidentally since I started training. Fire doesn't hurt me. Also, I was... modified. I can change the way I look, to some degree. I like keeping my own appearance when I can, though. I'm not sure how it works, only that Zankuft did it in order to help me be more useful to the organization. That's everything, I believe. To what degree exactly can you change your appearance, and how quickly can you do it? * Luana changes in the space of a few seconds - one moment, she looks like herself, then next, she is a half a foot taller, looks to be of Middle Eastern decent, and male. * Gottlieb purses his lips and nods in approval. "Excellent. And this is a full physical change, rather than an illusion?" Yes, sir. (voice change as well?) (Lower from being male, but otherwise, no.) I can also look somewhat older or younger, by about eight years. Quite intriguing. You may return to your normal form now. * Luana changes back and smiles. "Thank you." What about your other abilities, the non-magical ones? (s/non-magical/natural) Um... the combat abilities are as I said previously. I'm good at tumbling, the acrobatical kind, and I've been taught how to move quietly. I'm very good with computers and other kinds of electronics, as well as programming. I speak German, English and French, I can decipher codes with some ability, and I can read lips. I can also drive normal cars as well as motorcycles. * Luana looks a bit nervous. "That's the extent of it, I think." Oh, I can also hear and see very well! I'm good at fighting in the dark. * Gottlieb nods thoughtfully, and remains silent for a few moments, looking back and forth from Luana to the file. Have you eaten this morning? No, sir. I woke up about fifteen minutes before I arrived here. * Gottlieb shakes his head. "Next time, make time for it. You had no idea what I had planned for today. I might have driven you until noon. That was poor tactics." * Luana winces. "Yes, sir." Always plan for the worst, if you do not know what lies ahead of you. Yes, I'm very sorry. * Gottlieb flips up a hand. "I don't require an apology. Your decision didn't harm *me* in any way. I merely gave a piece of advice to prevent you from making similar mistakes in the future; therefore a more appropriate response would be 'thank you.'" He grins slightly. "Though I do not force it. Forced manners are useless." * Luana smiles back. "Yes, sir. Thank you." * Gottlieb reaches down into his briefcase-bag-thing, beside his chair, and pulls out an orange and a bottle of water. He makes to put them on the desk, then suddenly whirls and tosses them at her. Quick! Does she dodge both, try to catch one, try to catch both? * Luana tries to catch the orange! And succeeds, unless you want her to roll? (Sure, go ahead, in #besm. Why not? XD) (And hopefully does not get smacked by the water. >.>) (I will just roll defense twice, then.) (Yeah, roll for that too, actually.) (Roll your orange at a +2 for the catch attempt) (Still made) (Haha. Cool.) * Luana catches the orange and dodges the water! She then blinks and bends down to pick up the water. "Do you... um, want these back, sir?" Good reflexes. * Gottlieb then shakes his head. "No, you can have them." But while you're eating, would you like to tell me why you chose to catch the orange and dodge the water? * Luana puts the bottle in her lap and starts peeling the orange. "Thank you." * Luana says absently, "The orange's round, easier to catch. And I didn't really want the water hitting me." * Gottlieb smiles, for real this time instead of just faintly, obviously proud. "Good work." * Luana sections the orange and says before popping a slice into her mouth, "Thank you." In the field, your choices may not be so easy, but it bodes well that even for the simple choices you have a power of self-analysis. * Luana swallows and grins at him. "Thank you, sir." * Gottlieb nods at her and turns to the computer, typing something up quickly while she eats and drinks. * Luana eats, looking much more comfortable than she did when she first came in. * Gottlieb turns back to her as she finishes up. "Do you feel better now?" Yes, much better. Good. Now, if I may ask you to assist me in organizing my office for a bit? * Luana stands. "Of course. Where would you like me to start?" * Gottlieb stands up and walks over to the tarp-covered boxes by the bookshelves and starts removing the tarps. "I brought up a minor portion of my books for use here, but there are still some that are in the stairwell, just inside the door. Could you bring those boxes in for me, please?" Yes, sir. * Luana trots off to go get them. (End, y/n?) (N) (Unless you're tired.) (Nah.) (Okay then.) * Luana comes back with one of the boxes, puts it down, and goes back to get more. She repeats this until she's done, or he stops her. [There are five boxes in the stairwell, two in one stack and three in the other. The top boxes are untarped. What does Luana do?] (Forget what I just said, then. ^^;) [They look like she could easily take two if she tried, and any tentative testing of weight supports that.] (^^) (Three is awkward?) (Depends on how she plans to hold them.) (In a single stack, presumably.) (Then yes, a little awkward, especially since she'll need to see. ) * Luana removes any tarps and takes those and two boxes back with her. * Gottlieb is busy stocking the shelves as she enters, but he nods to her and waves vaguely to a corner of the room. * Luana everything down and goes back for the top two boxes of the next stack. (*puts everything) (Then the last one on her third trip.) * Gottlieb has stocked half the shelves, and is now back in his seat. He waves Luana back to hers, the back of which is to the boxes she just carried. I trust that wasn't too strenuous for you? * Luana goes back to her seat. "No, sir. Is there anything else I can do to help?" Certainly. You can tell me if you know how many books you could see from which boxes. (Mind roll, you can use HA) (5x to get them all) (Made ALL of them. Luana's just very impressive today. ^^) (Indeed she is!) * Luana tells him her impressions of how many books are in which boxes. (Write answering them all correctly, varying levels of confidence depending on how much she made them by) (Oh, that works too) * Gottlieb nods. "Good, good. Did you anticipate that I might ask you?" I thought it might be a test, but I wasn't sure what you would ask, sir. I tried to pay attention to the area the books were in and the progress you made in the time it took for each trip, too. * Gottlieb smiled. "Fast learner." (s/d/s) Now. What do you feel you want to work on first? * Luana grins back. She seems to take the compliments extremely well. My control of fire, both creating and moving it, please. It's too easy to make a dangerous mistake with it. How necessary do you feel your fire-based powers to be? I'm not sure, since I don't know what I'll be doing. I just don't want to accidentally hurt anyone. * Gottlieb nods. What is your most important asset in battle, Ms. Hall? My mind, sir. * Gottlieb nods again, much more firmly. "Indeed. And it is with training your mind that we will begin." Yes, sir. * Gottlieb turns to his desk, where he has placed a tall stack of books. "I have pulled out several texts that you may find useful; a mix of history, philosophy, and military science. We will be working with these for the next week." Thank you. By tomorrow, I would like you to have looked through them and be able to tell me what, if anything, you have learned, and how applicable you think your lessons would be. (WRITE A TEN PAGE PAPER--waiiiit...) Yes, sir. There is also a small book of beginner tai chi exercises. You may wish to use these to guide you in your training. Speaking of which, I have some changes to make to your daily routine. (Wonder if I could write a program to write the paper for me... no, there's flawed logic in there somewhere, I'm sure.) * Luana nods. You must plan to have performed your morning ablutions and hydrated yourself by 0630; I suggest a wakeup time of 0600 to do that. At 0630, I will meet you downstairs in the gymnasium to go through your morning exercises. The morning exercise session will end at 7:30, whereupon you will have half an hour to clean up, if needed, and eat. At 0800 we meet in my office; from then till 1200, the schedule each day will differ depending on your training needs. You will have a short break at 1000, if necessary. Lunch will be at 1200. Depending on how quickly you eat, you may find you have spare time before 1300; you may spend that as you like. From 1300-1500, you will be studying your texts. At 1500, you will meet me here again, and we will go wherever is necessary to work on your focus training; your skills and the like. At 1700, we will adjourn to the gym again, where you will spar either with myself or with one of our colleagues. Your dinner break will be at 1800. At 1900, please meet me up here; I will give you a short, one-hour exam covering your study material for the past day. 2000-2100 will be your night exercise time; for this, you will be able to choose what set of exercises to go through. From 2100-2200 is your second block of scheduled free time. I expect you to have retired for the day by 2200. This schedule will be in place for one to two weeks, if it does not interfere with other Section 2 arrangements, and based on my evaluations. But either way, it will last no longer than two weeks. At the end of the period, I will give you another schedule to go by. Do you have any questions? (Yes, sir. At what time may I be allowed to breathe?) No, sir. (Oh, I forgot about that. Curses! Well, you'll just have to go without! 8D) (Blue is hopefully a good color on me. ;_;) * Gottlieb looks at Luana dead-on. "If you feel, during this period, that your physical health is greatly suffering, you must inform me. Do not complain, but do not conceal any extreme discomfort to put up a false front. Use your powers of analysis in this; it will exercise them as well." * Luana looks mildly relieved. "Yes, sir." You may feel rather exhausted for the first few days; this is normal. If it persists after five days, do tell me, and we will work something else out. Yes, sir. Thank you. The exercise sessions will not be unduly strenuous at first; I will begin by seeing where you stand currently, and slowly working up. If you require my assistance in interpreting your texts, you may request it. ...speaking of seeing where you stand currently, let's adjourn to the gymnasium for now, so I can see where you are on the physical end of things. * Luana stands. Then a more full breakfast for you, and then a more formal mental evaluation than what I have carried out today, then lunch, then perhaps a session in the simulation room. * Gottlieb stands as well. After that, I believe I will leave you to your own devices to get a leg up on your studying for tomorrow, and to make whatever other arrangements you must for your change in routine. * Luana nods. Is there any particular need you must tell me of, with which the given schedule interferes? Not that I can think of, sir. Very well. If something comes up, related or non-, you can of course always contact me. I will, thank you. * Gottlieb inclines his head towards the open door. "After you, Ms. Hall?" * Luana heads out, prepared to face a day of work without complaining out loud! (Psh, today is the lightest day in your immediate future. ;D) (I would've built myself up to this if I had known! x_x) (That's what today is for! And he is going to ease you into it. Except for the getting up at 6 thing. 8D) (Luana is possibly going to pass by Keiko at some point with a loud mental cry of, SAVE ME!) (XD) (So, that's all I really have. We can RP out the physical tests if you really want to, but they're mostly basic stuff; flexibility, strength, and most of all endurance. He just wants to see what he should start you off with tomorrow.) (Nah, I really ought to head to bed soon. At the very least, so Izzy will stop blaming me for the fact that she's still awake. XD) (Hee hee. He's probably going to let up after a week, maybe week and a half. And then the schedule won't be quite so ACK.) (And, of course, Brett/Ard/Ro's plans might make the schedule change too. ^^) (Okay, cool.) [END!]