As Vaulent Capital enters nighttime and training at the Academy ends, Eva walks through the sterile, grey corridors of the building with a stack of hard drives in her hands. She can feel her leg muscles burn from running through the obstacle course and jumping from platform to platform in The Well. She completed The Well outside the top three and thus lost, just reaching the top as last. Only Roslin managed to get into the top three, and all the others finished later.

Eva feels disappointed in herself that she failed, but she knows her training had just started. Soon enough she will have mastered the techniques she lacks, but she feels the pressure starting to build up, the pressure to become better. She already knows her shooting abilities are lacking, and now she can add her motoric skills to the list.

As Eva walks through the corridor, she hears somebody walking towards her from behind. She turns around and sees Peyton catching up with her.

''You're finished already?'' asks Eva surprised by how quickly Peyton is done.

''Yeah,'' replies Peyton. ''Let me help you with this,'' and she grabs the upper half of the stack of hard drives.

''That training didn't go as we planned, did it?'' asks Eva with a smile.

''Oh no it definitely didn't,'' giggles Peyton. ''Only one of us made it to the top three, but it was our first exercise in The Well, so I'm not surprised almost none of us made it.''

''True,'' replies Eva. ''I'm still a bit disappointed in myself that I didn't make it. Now I have to do boring tasks.''

As they walk on, three girls of the squad they competed against in The Well enter the corridor.

''Look at the losers doing the punishment tasks,'' says one of them with blond hair, making fun of them as they walk past Eva and Peyton.

''Stop it, Lexa,'' she hears one giggling. ''I have to do it too.''

Eva looks back as the group of girls walk away, giggling with each other.

''Next time, we'll get them,'' says Peyton with a smile.

''That's for sure,'' giggles Eva.

They walk on through the corridor and arrive at the administrative sector of the academy, and Eva and Peyton hand over the hard drives to an officer.

''Let's get back to the barracks,'' says Eva as they turn around.

As Eva walks on, Peyton then tilts her head to her. Eva sees the uncertainty as she sees Peyton struggling to find the right words.

''Something wrong?'' asks Eva.

''Kind of,'' replies Peyton. ''I have a question, um, how-, how did your parents die?''

Peyton's question caught Eva off guard. How did your parents die? What is that kind of a question?

''Is it a serious question?'' she asks.

Peyton hesitates but nods eventually.

Eva swallows heavily as she struggles to answer. ''My-, my dad was at BlasTech. I don't know what got him,'' she says, trying to hold back the tears while she stares into the distance, seeing the scene of the smoke rising into the sky before her eyes. ''My mom died in a B-Wing crash. My younger sister, b-, barely survived it.''

Peyton nods.

''W-, why are you asking?'' asks Eva, holding back the tears.

''It might sound morbid,'' says Peyton, ''but my dad was directly hit by a proton torpedo, and my mom was evaporated in the blast.''

Eva notices the lack of emotion in Peyton's answer. Eva burst into tears when she processed the fact that her parents died, and she still feels the urge to cry, but she sees that Peyton has no problem with her emotions.

''Doesn't it make you feel upset?'' asks Eva, her voice cracking. ''Doesn't it make you cry that the Rebels killed your parents?''

Peyton sighs. ''No, not really,'' she replies.

Peyton's answer catches Eva off guard. She wonders why Peyton doesn't feel upset, but she struggles to form a question.

''Why not?'' she blurts out.

''I guess that not every parent deserves a kid,'' replies Peyton, letting out a big sigh.

Then Eva understands why Peyton doesn't show any emotion when she told her about the death of her parents.

''Oh,'' Eva replies, struggling to find the right words to answer. ''I'm sorry. Was it sexually?''

''Verbally,'' replies Peyton. ''They started to abuse me when they found out I was pro-Empire.''

She feels like it's wrong to ask, but Eva feels intrigued by Peyton's history with her parents, and she wonders how badly they treated her. She swallows with a bit of unease in her chest.

''How were they?'' Eva asks.

Peyton glances away and lets out a shivering sigh. Eva can hear the nervousness building up within her like a storm whirling within her.

''Horrible,'' Peyton stammers. ''On Empire Day, I came home with a hydro-tattoo of a Stormtrooper on my wrist. I wanted to walk directly to my bedroom, but my mother caught me and saw the Stormtrooper on my arm. She smacked me in my face and shouted at me that I shouldn't be a filthy Imp. My father was kind of the same, though he was more of a lazy person who didn't care much about me. I could usually walk past him, but not when I interfered with something he was doing and yelled at me too.''

Eva shifts her eyes to the floor, feeling terribly sorry for what Peyton had to endure at home, and she realises not everyone on Vaulent 6 is as allegiant to the Empire as her own parents. She realises that even the most allegiant worlds have sour apples, and Eva feels sorry that Peyton had two rotten apples to live with.

''I'm sorry. Were they Rebels?'' Eva asks.

Peyton scoffs, shifting her eyes to her. ''They wished they were.''

Eva nods. ''How did you even live with them? I mean, I wouldn't be able to.''

''School made me endure it,'' Peyton replies. ''Had a science teacher who was very nice to me and taught me everything about technology and stuff. Most of the day I stayed at school, being with teachers I liked and learned from them, even when their workdays were already over, and so I apparently became the squad's tech goddess.''

School isn't maybe all too bad, Eva realises. For her and many others, it was just a usual annoyance, but for Peyton, it was a safe haven, a place where she could rest from her abusive parents and manage to live on.

''I'm not sure if I should feel anything,'' says Peyton.

''Does it bother you?''

''Yeah, it does. I mean, when I walked into the barracks for the first time, I saw the pain in everyone's eyes. Even Ecklund who never said a thing had pain, and I feel nothing.''

''Well, your parents were abusers.''

''But I don't know if I should feel emotionless. I mean, without them, I wouldn't exist. Should I feel upset for someone who raised me, but later abused me?''

''I'm not sure, I'm sorry. Do you have good memories from before the abuse?''

''I don't know. The whole abuse made me forget most of them.''

''I'm sure they did good things with you?''

''They probably did, but I can't remember them.''

''Well then, let's make some good memories here, together with the squad.''

Peyton smiles and together they walk back to their dorm. Hearing her story, Eva suddenly feels relieved that the way her parents despised her Stormtrooper dream was nothing compared to Peyton's home situation. She recalls the moment in when her mother dropped the fork on the plate at the dining table, and she became frustrated. Eva's parents were never abusive when they talked about her future military career in the Army, but Peyton's parents straight-up scolded her. It makes her feel bad for Peyton.

.