Kairo pushed the food around on his tray absentmindedly, resting his head on his hand and staring off into space. The Blank girl was back in her cell, his punishment had been over for a while, and nothing of interest had happened in the past few weeks. His teammates' idle chatter melded together as background noise while he was slowly disassociating. Though he hated to admit it, he was bored and wanted something big to happen. Clovis was being tight lipped about most of the outside situations, so it was clear that something had happened that he didn't want them knowing about. But what was new at that point. Kairo always saw Clovis as a cowardly type who only acted tough to feign some sort of control. To him, the fact that Clovis was still sticking around was the only indication that the whole world hadn't fallen apart just yet. Kairo subconsciously gripped his fork tighter. What was he even doing here, wasting his life away? Twenty-one years spent living down in this basement, feeling like his life hadn't even begun yet. For all he knew, the base could be overrun like the one in the Northern sector and he could die right then and there, having done nothing for the cause he was supposedly fighting for.

"Should I say something to him?" Yves whispered to the others, eyeing Kairo with an amused look.

"Ah, well, I wouldn't wanna snap him out of whatever he's fantasizing," Akilah chuckled.

"By the look on his face, it looks like he's fantasizing about murder," Slade murmured.

"Now, the question is, who's on the chopping block?"

"Alright, place your bets everyone," Calix announced, laughing. "Who is he pissed at this time?

"Pryce or Tycho again?" Slade suggested.

Yves shook her head. "No, it's definitely Inara bugging him."

"What about Caris?" Akilah suggested.

Calix smirked. "I bet a million bucks it's Clovis."

"You don't have a million bucks."

"Yeah, but I know that I'm right."

"Alright smartass, we'll see," Akilah snorted. "Yo, Kairo!"

No answer.

"Yoo-hoo, Kai-Kai!"

No answer.

"Kairo-ro-row your boat!"

No answer.

Calix slapped the daydreaming boy on the back of the head, knowing that was a sure fire way get his attention. Kairo snapped out of his thoughts and shot his best friend a questioning and half annoyed look. "What the hell, dude?"

"Bruh, we've been calling you, but you've just been zoning us out."

Kairo pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sorry about that. Lost in thought, I guess."

"About who?"

He raised an eyebrow, confused, as four pairs of eyes were glued on him. "What now?"

"Who were you thinking about? 'Cause the way you seemed to glare into space and how you gripped your fork seemed like you wanted to murder someone."

Kairo scoffed. "Oh, I'm just bored with everything right now. And annoyed at Clovis as always."

"HA!" Calix yelled suddenly, making Kairo jump. "Told you so!"

The others all rolled their eyes. "Aye, shut up, lucky bastard." Akilah mumbled.

Kairo chuckled. "Yeah, he's an absolute pain. Especially since he never tells us anything."

"Oh, you just reminded me," Yves piped up. "I overheard something you may want to know."

His eyes widened. "Oh gosh, what happened now?"

"Don't worry, it's not too bad."

"Okay, spill then."

"Apparently, some of the best Insurgent soldiers were able to successfully take down a group of Sentinels with no casualties. They even managed to take control of one of the armored vehicles which could be very useful in the future."

"Goddamn, how many of them were there?"

"It was like 6 vs. 3 I think? So there was more Insurgents than of Sentinels. Well, obviously. Quite frankly, I don't think they would have survived if the Sentinels outnumbered them."

Kairo ran a hand through his hair. "Huh. Nice to know we're not wholly incompetent. Now if only we could be actually involved in things like that."

"I'd much rather not be involved in things like that," Slade cut in meekly, picking at his fingers.

"My issue is that we're no where near the level of "best" when it comes fighting skills," Akilah added. "We got our asses kicked last time."

"Hey," Calix interjected. "The more encounters we have, the better we'll get. That is, if we survive it all."

Akilah scoffed. "In your dreams, boys. We all know it's never gonna happen." She exhaled loudly. "Anyways, I'll be going now. We've been sitting around for quite a while."

"What's the rush? It's not like we have anything important to do."

She shrugged. "I was just planning to hit the weight room again. Same as always."

Slowly, the team dispersed, heading off to whatever tasks they had to do, leaving only Kairo and Calix alone at the table. Kairo slumped over on the table groaning loudly. Calix chuckled, patting his friend on the back. "Wanna take the bikes out for a ride after you chat with the Blank girl again?"

"Eh," he shrugged. "We've been doing that for the past few days now, and they'll probably notice that someone is burning through the fuel supply."

"What do you want to do then?"

Kairo shrugged again. "I'd train some more, but I really don't see the point of it anymore, really. I mean, it's not like we'll ever be deployed anywhere. I'll probably just end up lounging in my room again."

"Ugghhhh, you're boringgg," Calix teased. "I don't know about you, but I feel like stirring up some trouble today."

Kairo smirked. "What do you have planned?"

***

"Am...am I rambling?" she asked timidly, fidgeting with her fingers.

"Hm?" he replied, shifting his gaze back to her after staring into space for who knows how long. "Oh, no, you're not. I just a got a little distracted I guess."

"Alright," she said slowly. "Um... do you have an education system here too?"

He blew out a puff of air. "If you could even call it that. We learn basics of reading and writing and math, but that's basically it. We don't waste time on learning things we don't really need and instead just mainly focus on whatever is our area of expertise. For example, Doc's is medicine and Tycho's is munitions, but it's not like they had like a specialized schools for it. We mainly just learn through experience or someone who's been doing it for a while just teaches us personally."

She nodded slowly. "Interesting method. What's your specialty?"

"Me?" he chuckled, running a hand through his dark hair. "Interrogations, communications, shit like that."

Noticing he seemed off, she simply nodded in response, afraid she would say or do something that would annoy him further. They sat in silence for an uncomfortably long time, her waiting for him to ask the next question and him obviously not caring in the slightest. Pulling her knees up to her chest, she curled up into a ball, resting her chin on the tops of her knees while taking furtive glances at him. His eyes were fixed on the wall, his eyebrows furrowed and his jaw clenched. It seemed like anger was just boiling up inside him and one touch would make it explode. She felt herself shrink back a little further, not wanting to have to face the brunt of his repressed rage. Maybe if she stayed quiet, he'd have nothing else to say and would eventually leave. So she did, hiding in her little corner, peeking at him sporadically. More long minutes passed by, the ticking of the old clock sounding loud in her ears. His eyes had fluttered shut as he leaned against the wall, but he still hadn't said a word. Since his eyes were closed, she allowed herself to keep her gaze on him longer, studying the troubled expression against his soft features. She saw the tenseness in his muscles, the way he seemed so tired yet unable to rest. Even though he was older than her by a few years, she couldn't help but discern a strange sort of innocence to his face, almost like that of a child exploring the world for the first time, that she had not really noticed in any of her schoolmates, much less in herself. She had no idea about the kinds of things he had experienced as an Insurgent, but cracks began to form and grow in the all her prior knowledge about him and the other rebels, slowly fragmenting into broken lies and shattered preconceptions.

Feeling the burn of her gaze on him, he kept his eyes shut for a few minutes longer, knowing fully well that she'd look away once he opened them again. She was obviously still scared of him even though he tried his best to appear as unthreatening as possible. Yes, she was talking to him, but her guarded air had barely dispersed, hiding her true self in a dense cloud of mystery. He knew he had to take it slow, and she was making good progress objectively, but that didn't take away from the fact that it was a tedious process. But oddly, he felt himself getting drawn to her, desiring know more, not more about the government, but more about her. He wasn't entirely sure what it was about her that was so enticing. Maybe it was her quiet confidence, likely suppressed by previous abuse or fear, but still clamoring to get out and show itself. Maybe it was her compassion, even to those she may not even know, and her apparent care for their well being, despite all that she had been told, a valuable quality in their dehumanizing world. Maybe it merely stemmed from that deep look in her eyes, those dark pools of emotion in which seemed to lie a plethora of past trauma and pain behind her quiet, cold exterior. He wanted to know, but at the same time, he knew she would not let him in that easily.

He finally opened his eyes, allowing his gaze to fall on her. To his surprise, she maintained eye contact for a few moments longer, her gaze soft and slightly concerned. He couldn't help but smile slightly at her which she tentatively returned before darting her eyes away again.

"Are...are you alright?" she asked quietly, fiddling nervously with her fingers.

He shrugged. "Eh, could be better."

"What's going on?"

"I could ask you the same thing. I don't know anything about what's going on or what we're doing or what's gonna happen to us," he exhaled loudly. "I just want to do something that matters, you know?"

She nodded. "That's normal. I think that everyone to some degree desires that their life have some kind of meaning. That is, if they value their life at all."

"Do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Value your life?"

She looked up at him. "Of course. If I didn't, I'd probably be dead by now, would I not?"

He shrugged. "I guess. So you're probably not the type of person to want to take risks?"

"Not typically. But sometimes when I'm not thinking straight, I end up doing things that I wouldn't normally do."

"Hm, so you probably won't be willing to try something crazy with me?"

She tilted her head, confused. "Do I have a choice?"

"Well, I'm not gonna make you do something you don't want to, so yes, it's up to you."

"Well, what do you have in mind?"