A deep breath in. Kaoru felt the familiar weight of the bokken in her hands, felt the weave of the tatami mats under her feet. One more breath and she began a graceful, complex kata, reveling in the feel of power and control in her body.

Crack.

"Shit."

Kaoru pulled off her headset, blinking at the adjustment. The light and airy dojo dissolved into a dark industrial space with multicolor brown synthetic carpeting and a bank of high power computers.

"I could have sworn that I adjusted the warning grid to prevent players from actually whacking the crap out of real objects" she muttered.

Kaoru peeled off the haptic feedback gloves and examines the damage created by her wooden practice sword. A slight dent in the casing of one of the workhorse computers and some of the reflective tracking tape on the sword had scraped off. Not too bad, considering. At least this time she didn't knock over any of the tracking beacons.

She rubbed her wrists lightly.

"I suppose that I should improve my grip as well. I really need a bigger space."

Kaoru pushed open the heavy double doors and stepped out into the hallway of a large office building. The lack of windows, bright fluorescent lighting, and gray walls made it feel more like a bunker than an office space. She walked to the far end of the building to an office that was larger than most and boasted one of the building's few windows.

The office was comfortably if simply furnished with some small decorative ceramic pieces and a coat stand in the corner from which hung the long white doctoral robes used at the university's graduation functions. A large man sat at a desk, placidly typing on an older model laptop.

Kaoru tapped lightly on the open door.

"Professor Hiko?"

"Yes. Come in."

Kaoru pulled out a slightly worn office chair and sat across from the man, his broad form still bent slightly over his laptop screen. He paused from typing and turned his eyes on Kaoru.

"Professor, I need a larger space. The lab is too narrow to really test the protective grid algorithm. Also, the motion capture data that I'm gathering is noisy. And, even though my Kamiya Kasshin-ryū program is nearly complete, I would like to add some additional martial arts programs that can be used without the sword for physical fitness applications and to give us a wider range of motion for potential physical therapy applications."

"Aa. A new space then." Hiko grunted.

"Perhaps my worthless doc student will be able to accommodate you. You'll receive an email by 5." Hiko waved his hand to shoo Kaoru out of his office.

-–-

The seven story Unity building ostensibly was designed to foster research relationships between the university and industrial partners in the community. In reality, it was a fortress. Students and the public were not allowed past the first floor where the educational and healthcare research labs were located. The higher floors of the building were reserved for military research and were restricted. The higher the floor, the tighter the access.

Kaoru stopped at the reception desk and smiled at Okon who managed visitors, conference room bookings, holiday parties, and security access to the higher floors. Reminded of how exceedingly pleasant Okon was, Kaoru wondered anew why Professor Hiko tended to give her desk a wide berth. Then again, it might have been related to the large quantities of sake that Professor Hiko tended to drink at office parties.

"Ah Kaoru. I have your new badge and key card for the second floor." Okon chirped. "You'll be in room 234 with Himura."

"Thank you." Kaoru smiled politely, accepting the badge and key card.

"Remember to keep the badge on when you're up there. Wouldn't want you to be arrested." Okon smiled at Kaoru's brief look of alarm.

One swipe access elevator, a long hallway, and a fingerprint lock keypad later, Kaoru stepped into room 234. It was glorious. A wide open space, tall ceilings, even a smooth wooden floor. No windows, but stacked along the far wall was a bank of top of the line computers. Also on the wall, a wooden rack.

"That would be perfect for storing my bokken. I wonder what it is used for, perhaps other equipment. " Kaoru murmured to herself.

Kaoru looked around the room to greet the doc student that she would be sharing the space with, but there was no one in the room.

Walking over to the corner of the room she found two workstations set up sharing a large desk space. On one of the workstations rested an envelope with her name on it.

"Ms. Kamiya,

My apologies that I am not here to greet you.

I'll be attending a conference for the next several days, but I've set up a computer for you and had your network access transferred.

Please make yourself at home.

Kenshin Himura"

"This must be my computer then." Kaoru whispered.

She looked across to the opposite workspace. There were no family photos, no mugs, no plants, no papers, nothing that would indicate that another person used this desk. No clues about the man that had graciously offered, or perhaps been told by Professor Hiko, to share his lab space. Kaoru shrugged. No matter. There was work to do.

-–-

AN: My hope as an author is to improve my writing. Constructive critical comments are most welcome and requested. Thank you for taking the time to read. :)