06-13-2016, 10:36 PM
There’s a rustling at the mouth of the tent from the white cat who has lingered as she overhears Ara’s speech. She frowns to herself, glances at a bracelet on her wrist and walks back in, moving to face the four recruits.
“I don’t believe I ever properly introduced myself. People call me Artemis… Artemis /Silver/. I’m the wife of Doctor Garret Silver.” Her tail flicks a little but those deep green eyes of hers don't give much of a hint of her emotion despite hearing what sounds to her like several unfair judgements towards her spouse. “And I might end up catching hell from Steele for speaking about things you need to figure out on your own, but this needs to stop.”
She folds her arms and shrugs. “Recruit Ara, this is military. It’s a professional organization with different behavior protocols than family or school. It’s expected that one comes into it knowing how to show respect to a superior officer. I don’t even hug Silver in front of anybody here at the camp because it’s unprofessional, despite being married to him.”
“And I can explain why Silver dismissed you when you went to him for treatment. It’s because he could get into serious trouble for handling you and he could be accused of going over Captain Cobalt’s head and disrespecting his authority. So you need to stop taking rejection personally.” Artemis flicks one of the long plumes of bangs out of her face with a gentle motion. “In boot camp and the Lair you’re expected to be capable of standing on your own. That means we can’t stop and answer every little question. We can't stop to explain every little mistake. We can't stop and hold you up during every little failure. There are things to learn here but that isn’t the point. The point is that this is the place where you start to do things with what you’ve learned.”
Artemis shakes her head. “As of right now I see someone who is a nervous wreck after being asked to step outside their comfort zone. But the Lair is very uncomfortable and is a lot more harsh compared to Boot camp. If this is how you are after one day then I doubt being in R&D would have changed your outlook.”
She nudges one of the beds with her digitigrade foot. “My advice is to consider if this is what you really want and if you’re capable of functioning in a situation like this professionally. Come morning I will return with the new assignment. If you still feel the way you do now then I suggest you go to the ferry and head back to your professors and your family and spare yourself the anguish that boot camp seems to be putting you through. Because this is actually the easy part.”
The cat meets the eyes of the three other recruits in turn. “This goes for all of you. Just because the fighting that was occurring on Aukate has quieted down does not mean that it is safe and calm. You will be required to think independently and sometimes autonomously. You will be given harsh deadlines that could cost lives if you fail them. This is work, hard work. That’s why you are tested here. Boot camp isn’t meant to be a punishment or a trap or someone’s game. It’s a test, and you either pass or fail. And when we pass someone who makes a mistake or failure that costs lives, then the burden falls on the people who passed them and they will have to answer for it. Fox will have to answer for it.”
Artemis finally smiles a little. “But we’ll try to be fair. The downside to that is that we will also try to be fair. That means that none of this is personal even if some might be convinced it is. In the end all of this is to see if you can do what you are brought in to do, if you will be more asset than burden, and if you are someone we can trust to put our lives in your hands.”
She dips her head. “Hopefully you understand our perspective a bit better. My apologies for eavesdropping. I’ll leave you to your lunch now.”
“I don’t believe I ever properly introduced myself. People call me Artemis… Artemis /Silver/. I’m the wife of Doctor Garret Silver.” Her tail flicks a little but those deep green eyes of hers don't give much of a hint of her emotion despite hearing what sounds to her like several unfair judgements towards her spouse. “And I might end up catching hell from Steele for speaking about things you need to figure out on your own, but this needs to stop.”
She folds her arms and shrugs. “Recruit Ara, this is military. It’s a professional organization with different behavior protocols than family or school. It’s expected that one comes into it knowing how to show respect to a superior officer. I don’t even hug Silver in front of anybody here at the camp because it’s unprofessional, despite being married to him.”
“And I can explain why Silver dismissed you when you went to him for treatment. It’s because he could get into serious trouble for handling you and he could be accused of going over Captain Cobalt’s head and disrespecting his authority. So you need to stop taking rejection personally.” Artemis flicks one of the long plumes of bangs out of her face with a gentle motion. “In boot camp and the Lair you’re expected to be capable of standing on your own. That means we can’t stop and answer every little question. We can't stop to explain every little mistake. We can't stop and hold you up during every little failure. There are things to learn here but that isn’t the point. The point is that this is the place where you start to do things with what you’ve learned.”
Artemis shakes her head. “As of right now I see someone who is a nervous wreck after being asked to step outside their comfort zone. But the Lair is very uncomfortable and is a lot more harsh compared to Boot camp. If this is how you are after one day then I doubt being in R&D would have changed your outlook.”
She nudges one of the beds with her digitigrade foot. “My advice is to consider if this is what you really want and if you’re capable of functioning in a situation like this professionally. Come morning I will return with the new assignment. If you still feel the way you do now then I suggest you go to the ferry and head back to your professors and your family and spare yourself the anguish that boot camp seems to be putting you through. Because this is actually the easy part.”
The cat meets the eyes of the three other recruits in turn. “This goes for all of you. Just because the fighting that was occurring on Aukate has quieted down does not mean that it is safe and calm. You will be required to think independently and sometimes autonomously. You will be given harsh deadlines that could cost lives if you fail them. This is work, hard work. That’s why you are tested here. Boot camp isn’t meant to be a punishment or a trap or someone’s game. It’s a test, and you either pass or fail. And when we pass someone who makes a mistake or failure that costs lives, then the burden falls on the people who passed them and they will have to answer for it. Fox will have to answer for it.”
Artemis finally smiles a little. “But we’ll try to be fair. The downside to that is that we will also try to be fair. That means that none of this is personal even if some might be convinced it is. In the end all of this is to see if you can do what you are brought in to do, if you will be more asset than burden, and if you are someone we can trust to put our lives in your hands.”
She dips her head. “Hopefully you understand our perspective a bit better. My apologies for eavesdropping. I’ll leave you to your lunch now.”