Skye, still chained, shackled, and with a guard on each of her flanks, walked down a near endless corridor. Footsteps clanging against the concrete floor. The walls a dull and aged white. Light only from slightly sparse halogen bulbs, with no windows along the wall's length. Eventually reaching the end of the corridor, The guard on Skye's right started to move faster, gaining a lead on her and the other guard, He stopped at a door, a large, flat, glossy black door with a single key hole and handle. Jingling the keys, the guards cycled through his key ring, eventually finding the right key and unlocking the door.
The other side of the door was a massive contrast to what Skye had just been walking through. An almost unbelievably large hall layed in front of her eyes. In the centre was a white painted square, along one of its edges was a flagpole, complete with an ensign of the Time Factory. The side of the hall Skye and her guards entered from was decorated with various gym equipment that spanned the length of the wall, along the left of them stood an obstacle course of slowly increasing difficulty and danger, to their right, Skye noticed the wall was a lot closer; along it was a large pane of glass, showing a mock-up battle arena that was in use, complete with time monsters, and on the farthest wall stood an armory of sorts, holding countless amounts of firearms, equipment, and the like.
With both guards covering Skye's sides, the three walked to the square in the centre of the hall. Inside the square stood a flight of sweepers in file, all wearing a set of dark green camouflage uniforms. At their front, stood one who looked the same, and in front of that one stood a sweeper in a more sophisticated and decorated officer's uniform, designed for administrative purpose rather than combat. The guards stopped, along with Skye, at the side of the white square, waiting to be spoken to by the officer, the three stood and watched as the flight are dismissed from their formation. With the flight of sweepers walking from the square to a door in the far corner of the hall, the officer walked towards Skye from the inside of the square. The officer stood stiff, tall, and walked with distinct purpose. Once within a suitable distance to Skye and the guards, he spoke, in a clear, concise, and seemingly level headed tone. 'Uncuff her. She isn't dangerous to us yet' He nonchalantly urged, making eye contact with Skye.
One of the guards stuttered, 'Wouldn't you like to at least-'
The officer cut off the guard, without raising his voice, or even lifting his hand. He maintained eye contact with Skye, and she did the same, although her posture was more slumped, more uncontrolled. 'I have read her file, her strength is admirable... but brutish force does not substitute refinement. She will crumble if she dared to strike. Uncuff her' The guards both looked at each other before one started to undo her cuffs, and unwrapping the chains around her. Once the restraints were removed, the officer smiled a little. 'That's better, now I can find out what we're dealing with. Do bear in mind, missy, your life here will be hellish if you refuse to accept it entirely, okay?' Skye stood still and quiet in response. The officer moved his head a slight amount, keeping eye contact. 'You two are dismissed, now' The guards both slowly started to walk away, with a cautious aura around them as they left the hall and locked the door behind them.
'Okay, Miss Justice. Start by dropping and giving me five pushups' The officer ordered, voice calm and controlled. Skye rolled her eyes in return and slowly moved to the floor for the pushups, the first three all happened without incident. The officer counting them as she did them, on the fourth, he started to speak. 'This is the start of your new life...' He started, counting the fourth out loud. Skye moved through the down-stroke of the push up, when the officer stood entirely on her back, and continued to stand on her, each foot on each of her shoulder blades. 'Hold it there' He kept her holding his weight on her pushup, arms still curled and slowly started to hurt. 'If you can hold me up, you'll have a bed and a meal tonight. If not, I advise you should keep laying here, you'll need the rest, and my floors are not very well fit to sleep on' Skye started to really feel the strain, her arms slowly starting to shake, her breathes getting harsher. 'Can you feel it, Justice? your arms burning and wanting, nay, begging for reprieve. There's an inate urge to give in, just know what you lose out on if you do' Skye started to groan in pain, her arms ricketting and wobbling uncontrollably, yet she kept both him and her off of the floor. Tears of pain slowly built up under her squinting eyes. She gnashed her teeth, and the groans turned to growled screams. 'I am Lieutenant Hefftridge, but you will call me 'Sir'. I rule your life now, understood?'
'yes' Skye quietly replied, between her painful screams.
'Yes, what?' He asked, waiting for the answer he needs.
'Yes...Sir' Skye finally replied. She started to yelp, body jerking and lurching, trying to break away from the torturous exercise. Yet Skye kept herself up.
'Finish your five, Justice' Hefftridge ordered, in a cold, detached voice. Skye growled as her shaking arms started to creak open, her collar slowly and surely lifting upwards. Finally, her elbows locked open. Hefftridge counted the final pushup, and Skye flopped over to her side. Grunting as she hit the floor, and quietly starting to sob as the pain seared through her wrists, upper arms, and shoulders. Hefftridge watched, keeping his posture fixed and proper. 'There's hope for you yet, Justice. You have ten minutes to recover before you have your admin to sort' Hefftridge said, as her turned and left her alone, on the hard floor, wettened by the tears of slowly breaking defiance within Skye.
After the ten minutes to recover, Skye, being under the tow of lieutenant Hefftridge, silently walked through the door in the far corner of the hall, on the other end was another large room, with bunk beds along one side, and a canteen on the other. Hefftridge lead her to the furthest bunk and stopped at its foot, turning to face Skye; whose stoic look had long melted to that of quiet sadness. 'You will sleep on the bottom bunk, your uniform is in the foot locker under your bed and you are to change before eating, so hurry before you lose out on your chance at lunch' Hefftridge, after informing Skye, started to walk past her and back to the door into the hall. Skye looked at him leave before checking her locker, and finding her uniform. Still quiet, she scooped her set of clothes up and walked them over to the nearest rest rooms.
She thanked her luck that she could change without incident. The new uniform was ill fitting through its lack of wear, with creases in all sorts of places she had not expected. Skye found her way to the back of the canteen's queue where she pulled a tray through the path of a few food servers, who unemotionally poured food onto plates that they would then pass over to her. The food seemed a little devoid of nutrients to the untrained eye, yet all of the fellow sweepers who sat at the tables were all of a muscular build. More so than Skye. She found herself a space alone at the end of a table, and started to eat. Thoughtless, just trying to make it through the moment. With about half of her food left, Lieutenant Hefftridge stood in the doorway of the entrance and called out an order with cold, harsh tones. 'Lunch is over, five minutes until training exercise' Skye sighed at the leftover food she would have to waste.
The day ended with Skye stiffened from the day of hard physical training. Walking at a slowed pace to her bunk, she noticed how the males, who outnumbered the women in the same flight by a vast majority, payed no mind to her. Their were too busy messing with themselves, playfighting, bantering, and even playing cards with each other. Soon enough, at her bunk, the male company was replaced with the females. Five females, all of which in their own group and all gossiping whilst sat on a couple of bottom bunks, all facing each other. They looked at Skye with a slight disdain as she walked past and slumped onto the bed. Skye's joints ached, her mind numb. She quickly fell asleep, fighting the urge to shed more tears as she did so. Her mind ticked over about how this place really seemed to be out to break her, and rebuild her in its own image. The helplessness of the situation dawned on her, and she realised how badly she needed to adapt if she was to stay sane.