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[warandpeace]

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I've not had the chance to bring it up. However, a while ago I added some competitive programs to the training simulation room. They're meant to give people another healthy outlet for conflict and hostile energy as well as improve skills as matched by an opponent.

There are several games as well as the option to customize your own. There are also two settings. One "honest" where cheating will absolutely not be tolerated. One "deceptive" where cheating is so long as the AI referees don't catch you and you don't cause serious harm to your opponent. Surprisingly, both have their merits.

This is also a reminder that you can get hurt in there. It is possible, so ask a Med Bay staff member if to come along if necessary.

That said, I'd like to speak to someone on the medical staff if you have the time. At least I'll have a better idea of who people can request aid from while I'm at it. But I understand with recent changes you might have to wait.

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[warandpeace]

[He's been in the same position as this man, years ago. With an arm around his throat, feeling his body slip towards unconsciousness. It happened many times, but that first time- with the demands that Big Boss made. "You're breaking my neck!" Kaz'd said. "Do you want to join me? Or do you want hari-kiri for real this time? I'll even be your kaishaku."]

[He probably shouldn't remember that fondly, should he? No. How stupid was he to think Snake would ever magically go from being the man that pinned him to the man that just understood he needed someone to be gentle with him, to help him out of helicopters, to pick him up off the ground when he stumbled. No, Big Boss would have kicked him until he stood, and offered no congratulations for the accomplishment afterwards.]

[Wandering minds and all that.]

You hold it until you feel their body start to go slack. [Miller calmly says, lowering the man down when he starts to go limp.] Not too long, and not too hard. You don't want the throat to swell. Just for them to lose consciousness. [As a doctor, he guesses she already knows what throat swelling means.]

[After he drops the simulated man, he rubs his own throat in a memory of a real pressure, a ghost of empathy, before he goes to start up another one.] I'll let you take the next one.

[cadeuces]

[ It may just be a simulation, but the moment she sees the man go limp and Miller is lowering him to the ground, Angela is reaching over to brush her fingertips over the man's temple and easing his head to the floor. Even for a man that doesn't truly exist, she's a gentle soul. And she gets the feeling they'll be getting a lot of use out of him before the day is done. Even his hair felt real when her fingertips scuff over his ear and it's all the harder to imagine that it's only a simulation, the minute shift of his expression almost something like pain (but not really, and her brain certainly knows better), and then she's straightening herself back up and offering Kaz a hand back to his feet.

For now she has to set those silly thoughts aside. She can't always be a bleeding heart. Still, she has to approach this calm and collected; specifically to avoid squeezing too tight and causing any damage to would-be attackers beyond the simple act of unconsciousness. Especially once she sees Kaz rubbing at his throat and she imagines he's had a similar experience. ]

I understand; I think I've got it.

[warandpeace]

[She's also probably one of those people that would restart a game from the last save if her character's pet died. He notes the empathy, the kindness, and so long as it doesn't make her hesitate, as long as it makes her more effective in saving lives and not a compromise in what she knows she might need to do, he doesn't mind. Unlike some other men he's worked with.]

[Having some sort of kindness or idealism is fine. Even if it's occasionally necessary to disregard it as an endgoal.]

Alright. I'll give you some space and reset the simulation.

[He dusts himself off and that poor man flashes out of existence. Next moment he's wandering around again, his back to her.]

[cadeuces]

[ YOU HIT THAT NAIL ON THE HEAD. Her compassion doesn't usually come between what needs to be done and her own desires, even if she may need some time after the fact. She's not so bright-eyed and naive to believe that violence could be completely avoided. That death could never be an option. She knew these things were necessary, but she didn't have to like it.

This, though. With Gabriel on board and what he'd already done to those dear to her... She would take all she could get. Even if the off chance came up she would run into him, at least she would know she'd done all she could to protect those around her.

There's a soft hum of acknowledgement and she's nodding to him, patting her hands together a few times to keep them dry, keep her grip clear. Their last iteration fades out only to be replaced by a dreamier version; same man, but he seemed to move slower. He wasn't as aggressive.

She's a bit thankful, really, because he's out of her reach and she has to take out his knee to knock him off-kilter before she can reach up and even attempt it, struggling for a moment as he'd tipped to the left almost violently as she'd kicked the back of his knee and used her weight on her foot to keep his shin pinned to the floor. He tries to get his hands up to his neck and fails before she can close an arm around him in a close replication of Kazuhira's hold, but her arms are thinner, too low at first until she can shift enough and get her other arm to lock about her wrist.

The real struggle is trying to hold onto him like one of those bucking broncos in the old western bars in Hollywood when he struggles and tries to hunch forward to drag her over him. She can't quite squeeze him tight enough for it to work as quickly. ]