In this chapter, we get our first interaction with X-COM's resident Psychopath. I've learned some stuff about Psychopath's from my psychology lessons. So I've tried to represent it as accurately as I can, but any tips you can give will be appreciated. I'm not very good at schedules so there probably won't be any schedule that I'll stick to, but I'll try to get out at least a couple a week.

Maxim sat in his room in X-COM HQ. He still couldn't believe he was here. His room was much like his apartment, a bed in one corner, a T.V on the wall (which he had brought), a small toilet through a door on the side wall. The walls were plain metal, much like he imagined a room in a space ship would look like, there was a stack of games in another corner (also brought by him), there was a poster on the wall opposite his bed, one of those cat posters, a cat hanging off a wire, with the caption 'Hang in there', this was not brought by him, it was in there when he walked in, he assumed it was put there by the Commander, he seemed to have that sense of humour. He held up his hand, it was shaking. He needed to calm himself down. "O.K, calm game, calm game" He began looking through his game stack for half a second before remembering "There's no calm games in here". What calmed him down then, talking to people? Hell no. Working out? Yeah right. What could he do. The he remembered, that Keith guy had given him a brief tour, there was a bar wasn't there. Yep, that'd have to do. He looked at the clock next to his bed, 1:45 AM... "I guess sleeping is just something i don't do anymore". Maxim left his room, and began walking.

15 Minutes later, Maxim was completely lost. "I should have got a map" Maxim complained to himself, as he walked past yet another stretch of wall, that looked exactly the same as the one he passed 5 minutes ago, "I swear I've seen that dent before".

"At least I'm not thinking about what I'm doing- Damn it!" Maxim shouted as he brought his mind back to what was making him freak out

"What are you damning?" A voice said from behind him. Maxim spun around, and saw a woman standing there, she had black hair, cut short, and swept down one side, she looked at him with a quizzical expression on her face

"I, uh..."

"Are you lost?"

"No, I'm just... Yes, I'm completely lost"

"Don't worry, I got lost the first time I was here too. Where are you trying to get to?" She didn't have much emotion in her voice, almost speaking in monotone.

"Uh, I was looking for the Bar"

"follow me, I was heading there myself" She began walking down the corridor

"I'm Maxim. What's your name?" Maxim asked as they walked

"I'm Aya"

"That's a nice name"

"Thank you" She replied, still no emotion in her voice

"What do you do here"

"I'm an Assault specialist, I use a shotgun and run at the aliens, it's fun" She smiled slightly, and there was actually some happiness in her voice this time "What do you do?"

"I'm going to be the sniper"

"So, sit about a mile in the back and shoot the aliens?"

"Well, pulling off a shot from a mile is almost impossible, but a good distance, yes"

"Boring" She seemed to be done with the conversation, so they walked on in silence for a while

"Wait a minute. Why are you awake at 2 in the morning"

She raised an eyebrow "Why are you"

"I couldn't sleep. But i asked you first"

She shrugged, "I don't tend to sleep much"

"That's not a very good answer"

She didn't respond, and continued walking

A few minutes later they arrived at the bar. It was a small place. A counter on one side, no bartender currently behind it, and some tables scattered around the room, also currently empty. Aya hopped over the counter, grabbed 2 pint glasses, and turned to him. "What do you drink?"

"Uh, any soda's back there?"

"Soda?"

"You know, Cola, Lemonade"

She raised an eyebrow, but went over and put a glass under a machine, and pressed a button, it began dispenses a dark liquid, Maxim hoped it was Cola, he didn't think alcohol came out of machines like that. Aya turned and began filling her own drink from a tap. She placed the drinks on the counter, hopped back over, picked up her drink, and sat down on one of the stools. Maxim grabbed his drink, and sat down as well, leaving a few stools in between them, still uncomfortable, and unnerved by her monotone voice. They sat and drank their drinks in silence for a while before Maxim noticed a T.V in the corner, and saw a remote on the counter. He picked up the remote, and turned on the T.V. It turned on to a news reporter sitting in a news studio "We have reports coming in of another attack by the aliens. Reports have been coming in from Tokyo Japan, Ottawa Canada, and Birmingham England"

Birmingham. Maxim paled. That's where his parents lived. Aya looked at him "You look like a Vampire"

"What"

"You're really pale"

"My... My parents live in Birmingham"

"Oh... And?"

"Didn't you hear, the news man just said it has been attacked"

"That's interesting"

"What?"

"That's interesting"

"But... But... But" Maxim stuttered

"Don't be bothered by her" A voice called from the doorway "She doesn't understand emotions too well"

Maxim turned, a man with a short blonde Mohawk was standing in the doorway, he recognised him as the man who gave him the test to join X-COM, Keith.

Aya finished her pint, jumped back over the counter and turned to Keith "I'm guessing it's a scotch?"

Keith shook his head "No drink's, i came down here to collect you two"

"What?" Keith asked

"We're going on an operation. You, Aya, Me, and William"

Aya hoped back over the counter "Come on Vampire" she said as she walked past Keith out the door

"Vampire?" Keith asked

"He's pale" Aya stated just before she turned a corner

"Where are we going?" Maxim asked

"Birmingham"

"Let's go then" Maxim shot up out of his seat and ran off.

"Other way" Keith called

Maxim turned around, and ran the other way, chasing after Aya.

"Hey. New guy" William, a tall, bulky man, with slicked back black hair. He spoke with a very thick American accent. "What's your name?"

"I'm Maxim. Maxim Popov"

"You're our sniper aren't you"

"Yes"

"Great. Well, I'm William. I'm the explosives expert. I you see the aliens grouped up, give me a shout. Aya over there is our assault specialist. She'll be running right for them with a shotgun, it'll be your job to take out any aliens that get behind her. And Keith is our medic, if you get shot, give him a shout. I'm the unofficall leader on the field, so i'll probably be shouting over the coms alot"

"Gotcha"

"You nervous?"

"... Yeah"

"Don't worry about it, when you get in the field, theres so much adrenaline, you don't really feel much"

"I guess" Maxim heard Keith's voice from behind him

"Come on guys, lets get on the skyranger, the alien's aren't going to wait for us"

They all got into the skyranger. Maxim kept figeting, he was unused to the armour, and it was getting uncomfortable

"Stop fidgeting, it's getting annoying" Aya said from her seat across from him

"Just sit still, the armour will settle on it's own" William said from next to him "My armour does it, and it's a lot thicker than yours"

Maxim tried to stit still, but his hands began moving around, a clear nervous twitch

"The wait's killing you isn't it" Keith said from next to Aya "Don't worry, it's always worse in your imagination than when we actually get there. Just stay calm, you need a steady hand for this. I learned some breathing exercises that calm me down. Just take deep breaths and hold them for a couple seconds each, just imagine the worry flowing out through your boots"

Maxim tried it, and actually found himself calming down "Thank's. That helps"

"Oh hey, I just remembered. You don't know the call signs" William called

"What. Call signs?" Maxim asked

"Just nicknames we use in the field" Keith explained "Aya is Psycho... For obvious reasons. William is crash... Also for pretty obvious reasons. I'm scotch. After my favourite drink from the bar."

"He's Vampire" Aya stated

"Wait. What?"

"You're pale"

"We got that"

"Sorry kid. Looks like you've got you call sign" William laughed