Second training session

[Shade]

Gambit had promised another training session and it was not too long after the first one that Shade found herself taking the elevator down to the basement with him. She knew what there was to be expected about absolutely realistic holograms, still she felt exited as he had talked about doing something rather different this time. She wondered if he was referring to teaching her how to react against weapons or something completely different. She turned to smile at him while the elevator went down.

[Gambit]

"Ya look like an excited kid," Gambit told her.

[Shade]

Shade´s smile widened into a grin. "Well that´s because I am." she said. "Last time was fun."

[Gambit]

"It won't be dis time," Gambit replied. "But ya might as well get your positive stuff out of it while ya can."

[Shade]

That sounded rather gloomy and Shade wondered what he had planned for this session. Maybe there was more the Danger Room could do than project lifeless cities? She had no idea. "Oh I will." she said, not feeling less excited but more curious now.

[Gambit]

They walked into the control room, and Gambit sat down in one of the chairs and activated the controls, looking for some archive data on training sessions with Sentinels. "Ya ever heard of Project Wideawake?" he asked Shade.

[Shade]

His question made her shudder inwardly. Shade didn´t know much about it, but what she had grown to know had scared her quite a bit. "Yes." she said, remembering. "I don´t know much, but when I was still in the Brotherhood, Magneto told me about it. He never revealed much of his plans back then but he said something about giant robots that were in the planning. Robots to hunt down mutants."

Recalling that conversation that had briefly turned towards this gruesome topic back at the lake on the grounds with Erik and Rogue made her feel slightly uneasy.

[Gambit]

"Here dey are," Gambit said, starting the video of a Sentinel session with some student. "Dey're not so fast in reaction, but dey learn quickly an' use deir knowledge against ya, considerin' your powers, your weaknesses and your combat or defense style."

[Shade]

Shade followed Gambit´s explanations while looking at the screen. She narrowed her eyes but was not sure whether she could identify the student - might be Twitch, but she couldn´t tell for certain. The whole scenery looked sureal, almost too sureal to be considered an actual threat and maybe it was that which made it look all the more terrifying. She felt disgust for the people who would design such things. No species crueller than the human one she thought with another inward shudder.

Then she nodded. "Do they have any weak points?" she asked, a question which she found necessary but uttering it rather useless on her part. Her powers, as she had gotten to know early, were defensive ones.

[Gambit]

"Not for Shade," Gambit said. "Dey are machines. How much ya can do t' a machine? You can only run an' hide."

[Shade]

Not that this would be new, Shade thought to herself, the thought bearing a hint of bitterness. Again she nodded. "Run and hide is it then." she said.

[Gambit]

"Alors, we could equip ya wit' some guns," Gambit said, "but it wouldn't be de spirit of Danger Room trainin' 'cause we're tryina be as close to de real life as possible. But last time ya received some basic knowledge of what actual run-an'-hide look like, so ya gonna use it here an' now."

[Shade]

He was right. Especially about the real life situation. She had never even so much as held a gun, so of course she would not have one if such a thing ever attacked her.
"Okay." Shade said, then thinking of something. The holograms were so real. "So, how dangerous can that actually get in a training session?" she asked. "The walls and houses and all that feel solid. Can that thing actually do me harm when training?"

[Gambit]

"It can," Gambit nodded, "dey can't burn ya or anything, but dey're pretty much physical and a blow can be just as real. But since ya're not an X-Man an' it's basically your first attack simulation, I'm gonna adjust 'em a bit. And of course I'll be your cover, so I won't let ya get any broken bones if it comes to it."

He noticed that the recorded session used Sentinel Mark IV; these were not as dangerous as Mark II, and even though he himself was itching for some demanding action, he couldn't let Shade face Mark II.

[Shade]

Shade had expected an answer that went somewhere along these lines and she trusted Gambit to protect her and get things back under control should they get out of hand. Still she could feel that her raised heartbeat did no longer only result from excitement alone but was now also partly nervousness.
"Good." she said feeling that she was courageous at least now. She wouldn´t be able to tell if they waited another 10 minutes. "Let´s see how I´ll do then."