The rest of the week's training had passed Miho and Erika by in a blur. If asked, both would have said, "Well, I definitely did another battle, but don't remember anything about it." On Thursday, the team once again had another scrimmage but unlike the first one Miho had not done well in the second one, having been knocked out within the first fifteen minutes. She had expected some comments being made, but her crew and the rest of the team seemed content with the results. Mari had pulled her aside and advised "You went down fighting. That looks good on your record." and moved along. Erika, for her part, had managed to help her crew get two kills in the match, but a mistake in reading the map had caused her to roll her tank trying to navigate some hills. Other than some bruises and scratches everyone was alright… but it had led to Erika being hit with a new nickname that was quickly being adopted by everyone: Flipper.

Over the week there were other changes. On Wednesday two of the women on tryouts had been released. She didn't know them well but the two now empty stalls were a daily reminder that nothing was guaranteed; one of the cuts walked out with her head held high. The other left in tears. From what Miho had heard, the former had signed a contract with another team across the Atlantic in France while the other had turned up a training camp in a much lower league in South America somewhere

On top of the on-field exhibition matches, both Miho and Erika were also working with a fitness trainer in the gym. While both thought they were in decent enough physical shape they both learned that their idea of fitness and the team's idea of fitness were very different. Miho had actually thrown up on Thursday after having to perform the Beep test, that she now referred to as 'torture'. Erika hadn't fared much better, having collapsed in a pile after testing her cardio endurance. Their first experiences in the gym had left them sore in the days afterwards, but in some way it felt rewarding to them; even with the limited time spent they thought they felt better. The exercise and meal regime given to them, tailored to each young woman individually, had taken some of that rewarding feeling away. Miho needed to increase her core strength and conditioning, whereas Erika needed to work on her cardio and upper body strength.

Friday Morning of the first week had consisted of classroom instruction covering movements and lane coverages. While Miho and Erika found the tactical approach quite interesting and they were learning a whole new style of tankery, it would have been a lie to say that they were excited to be in lecture; indeed, the rest of the team had much the same look about them. While they listened and contributed when prompted, the general air around the team was a quietly simmering boredom, the wish to be in their tanks rather than talking about them.

Well, one week down, Miho thought to herself as she left the morning's lecture, more to come. The mantra of 'One Week, One Day, One Hour at a time' had been repeated over and over by everyone around the team and she felt that she understood it by this point. From conversations with her teammates she learned to not look too far ahead; it was better to live in the here and now, and focus her attention and energy on the task at hand.

After leaving the lecture, the team ate together in the lounge for lunch. Miho learned that on Fridays (and on all match days or road trips) the team's nutritionists had devised various meals to be prepared by the team chefs, consisting of steak or chicken with steamed veggies and rice or a potato. While much heavier than she was used to, Miho found the first team meal quite enjoyable, and the smoothie bar was also well stocked with fresh fruit and other ingredients. Miho had put two and two together that, while they were all operating vehicles and spent their actual time as tankery athletes seated and stationary, the team took both their tank and technical crew's physical health quite seriously.

Friday afternoon was free-time but had to be spent at the team's facilities. Some of her teammates simply hangout in the lounge, others spend their time in the gym or training simulators. Miho soon found what she expected to be her typical Friday afternoon activity: a massage and 'maintenance'. The team employed a few massage therapists and to Miho the idea of a professional massage was too good to pass up. During the first session the therapist had found stresses and tightness Miho didn't even know she had, and after the hour was up she felt more relaxed than she could remember. After the massage came 'maintenance': using the team's hot tub and sauna to continue to unwind and relax. Even with the massage and sauna, she found that she still had some free time.

Deciding to just explore the compound Miho put on some boots and walked from the Den to the tank shed. Entering through the door Miho looked around. This was her first time in the shed proper; for all the practice matches this week the team's vehicles had been in the lot waiting for them to use. It looked no different than any other tank shed, other than it was far cleaner than any other she had seen. Against the back wall were tool cribs, machinery, and other items she assumed were the things used by the maintenance teams to get the tanks ready for them to use. Above the two rows of tanks were the cranes used to move engines and turrets around as well as various wires, cables, and hoses for the tools to be connected to.

Noting that there was a sign stating HARD HAT AREA Miho put on one of the hard hats by the door and, spotting her tank in the row, made her way to it. She noticed on the way that a few tanks had wheeled computer rigs beside them, which she didn't know the purpose for. There were technical crew members using the computer systems. She assumed these were electrical teams as their coveralls were far cleaner than the teams she saw moving ammunition or parts around before a match, and they all seemed to be holding tablets and books that had titles that referenced computers and electrical equipment.

Approaching her tank there was one single technician standing on the top of the turret reviewing something on his tablet. All the hatches were open, and cables were running from the computer rig to various parts of the tank. He was quite tall with a heavier build and a thin beard, messy hair, and a smirk plastered on his face. He glanced over his tablet at Miho, and his smirk changed to a genuine smile. He slid down the face of the turret and climbed down to the floor over the side of the tank and leaned sideways into it, lowering his tablet.

"You must be Nishizumi." The man stated plainly. From looking at him further, Miho surmised that he was only a few years older than her.

"I.. uh… Yes! I am Miho Nishizumi! Nice to meet you!" Miho blurted out as she bowed.

The man in front of her extended his hand to her. "I'm Mattias. Call me Matt. I'm your ballistic computer engineer. Well, the team's engineer."

"Oh. I didn't think these tanks had computers."

"Well the tanks themselves don't. Not normally. I work on the tankery impact and ballistic computers."

It occurred to Miho that she didn't really know how the tanks worked for tankery; it was never something that she ever really thought about.

"How do those work? I've never understood that."

The man smiled then gestured with his head towards the computer system.

"Lemme show you. It's actually kinda cool."

After leaving the front doors of the main building Miho saw a group of tankery and technical crew milling about, Erika among them. One of the group looked over at Miho and waved her over.

"We're gonna go out to dinner, interested?"

Miho glanced over at Erika, who was having a conversation with a dark-skinned woman wearing a team sweater with the number 201 stitched into the sleeve. Erika caught her eye and gave her a look that said 'I'm in'.

Miho looked back at her teammate.

"Sure!"

"... and so she moved her foot so the shell wouldn't land on it, which made the shell bounce back up and the tip hit her knee. This made her jump upwards and she cracked her head off the turret roof. Now that her knee is hurt and she hit her head, her next dance move was to try to put her foot down… right on top of the now rolling shell. This made her foot shoot straight out forward and she came crashing down. I swear it was the funniest thing you've ever seen. The absolute best dance moves all to happen within, like, 2 seconds. And we're all laughing at this dumbass, then we get hit. But that dance…"

Erika smiled as the people seated around her roared laughing. The party that was ongoing, arranged by the captain Mari and some of the older team members, had taken them to Da Maurizio, a nice Italian restaurant in the heart of the waterfront of the city. With the restaurant completely booked for them the tables had been pushed together into groups, and the meal was proceeding at a relatively slow, but comfortable, pace. Both the tankery and technical crews were spread out, and at around 40 the din of the conversation made it the ideal situation for animated story telling by the veterans on both crews.

Erika found herself sitting around some of the most veteran members of the team, and the stories they were recounting were equally hilarious and riveting. From previous matches and tournaments to tales of crew mishaps and misadventure Erika felt comfortable just sitting it back and getting to know her teammates.

Erika glanced down the table and spotted Miho talking with a man with a beard and messy hair about something that involved him with his index fingers stuck out and being waved back and forth, with Miho and some of the other tankery crew around him making expressions that yelled 'Really? That's interesting'. Something else Erika noted, somewhat interested, was that as the man was explaining… whatever it was, he kept glancing at Miho. Very interesting glances. Glances that are judging something. Almost like he's… intrigued? Gauging her reaction?

Her teammate seated to her right, a woman who identified herself as Erinn, leaned over and looked in the same direction as Erika and smiled.

"Keeping an eye out are ya?"

Erika turned to look at her.

"Just looking around really."

"Hmm? See that?"

"See what?"

"Matt. The guy down there. Team's computer engineer. Real friendly guy, always super the most socially apt guy, but a bit of a sweetheart, even if he looks like a lumberjack. He's checking our young little Miho out, and she has no clue. It's kinda funny really; that guy has never expressed much interest in anyone else like that."

"... checking out?"

"Ah. He's interested. Y'know. Like, interested."

"... you mean, like interested like she's interesting, or interested like interested?" While some people may have thought of Erika as an emotionless tanking unit, she was still a young woman with... romantic interests.

"Interested."

"Who's interested in who, now?"

Both Erika and Erinn started. With her head also looking down the table in the same way, Danielle was crouched behind them.

"Matt. With Miho."

A pause, then a single chuckle.

"Yup. That's interesting. Well anyways, care for a top-up?"

Erika was about to speak then was cut off by the much older woman.

"Yeah, no chance. I was talking to Erinn."

"C'mon, you know me."

"So another glass then. You lush."

As the group filtered out of the restaurant and out into the night they all made various plans for the weekend and the following week. Erika caught up to Miho who was walking with Eva and Shelby towards a team van.

"Have a good time?"

Miho spotted Erika and slowed down to walk beside her, asking her her thoughts on the evening.

"Very much so. Heard some great stories. You?"

"Oh, we learned a lot about how the league, and tankery in general, works in regards to the safety and hit detection systems. Also heard some great stories about the team over the last few years."

"From.. Matt, right?"

"Oh, you've met him? He's a pretty good story teller, and knows a lot of things about tankery. When did you meet him?"

"Oh, I... uh… met him yesterday…"

"Cool. Yeah, he's pretty smart. Funny, too."

As Erika and Miho got into the van, Erika had another thing to add to the list of the man's Points of Interest.

And an idiot falling in love.