"Alright... I got this... I can do this."
Once again within 17's cafeteria, Katarina was struggling to eat her meal.
Although it was supposed to be dinner, the meal in front of her was the exact same as what she got for breakfast and lunch.
That.
Fucking.
M.R.E.
Although it looked harmless and rather plain on the outside, that damn thing was the work of the devil himself.
Honestly speaking, she was surprised that no one suffered from stomach ulcers or anything of the like from digesting the damn thing.
Yet, she knew what she had to do.
What surprised her more than the fact that such a harmless looking meal would have such a horrid taste was the fact that she hasn't gotten used to it yet.
While no one agreed that the damned thing tasted anything near good, Katarina felt as if she was the only person who has yet to get used to the taste, or at the very least develop the will to stomach it down her throat easily.
But she felt that something was different about today. She felt that this time, she could do it as long as she reassured herself well enough.
Perhaps that was what she was missing, faith in her herself.
"Alright! I can do this. I can do this! I can-"
"H-hey ummm... K-Katarina?.."
However, as Katarina's voice grew louder as she encouraged herself, she was instead interrupted by a stuttering and meek yet audible voice. With a questioning tone, Katarina faced the person who interrupted her before speaking up.
"Yes? What is it Molly?"
Molly hesitated for a short moment before she managed to respond.
"W-well... y-you were being awfully loud… b-but that's just my observation though."
Molly fiddled with her light aqua-green coloured hair while her eyes sporadically broke eye contact and glanced elsewhere as she spoke. On the other hand, Katarina felt a slight blush appear on her cheeks before she replied in a slightly abashed manner.
"O-oh right. Sorry about that."
It didn't take long for Katarina regain her bearings before chuckling and then speaking in a more confident manner.
"I think that I just got a little ahead of myself. It should be alright now."
"R-right!"
And with Molly's reply, Katarina was able to confirm that the issue was resolved.
However, just as Katarina thought that she no longer had anything to worry about, another problem showed up in the form of another voice.
"I'm honestly surprised, seeing you collect yourself after such a blunder and then responding with dignity."
The voice came from the person sitting on the seat directly opposite Molly on the other side of the table; Alicia. Like always, she had her hair tied up into that single simplistic bun with a visor in front of her eyes.
The expression on her face could only be described as 'reserved yet dignified,' completely unlike Molly who would often let her insecurities show on her face. Although Alicia didn't smile, Katarina was able to spot a slight glint of glee in her eyes.
Obviously Alicia took some pleasure from witnessing Katarina's misfortune.
Alicia's remark was something that Katarina could not let Alicia get away with. Fortunately, Katarina knew an effective method to get her vengeance.
"I'm honestly surprised as well Alicia."
Alicia's expression darkened slightly at Katarina's words, as if she sensed that something was off.
"Where are you going with thi-"
"I'm surprised that you still rely on that visor of yours. Why not just get some cybernetic implants for your eyes and ditch those ancient things?"
While Alicia was generally down-to-earth and pragmatic, for some reason she had a deathly fear of needles and surgeries in general.
So Katarina just thought that she would make fun of Alicia's belonephobia. However much to her dismay, things developed in a rather unexpected manner.
A deathly silence pervaded their table the moment Katarina finished speaking. Everyone present at the table, including the people who weren't part of the conversation quietened down, as if they were anticipating the end of the world.
Of course, Alicia was one of those silent people but unlike the others, her presence appeared more dangerous. Her eyes became sharp while her expression turned cold with a single faint frown on her face.
Only a few seconds passed and Katarina was already regretting her decision.
Although the rest of the cafeteria continued on as usual, the deathly atmosphere still continued to envelop the table.
After letting the silence linger for a few moments, Alicia finally spoke up.
"Seeing that you reflected on your second blunder, I'm going to let this slide... but please..."
Alicia's eyes glowed a soft yet threatening white colour as she finished her sentence.
"Don't let it happen again."
"Ah yes... Of course!"
Internally, Katarina was repeatedly thanking and praising herself for quickly regaining her composure and replying promptly and properly.
As the tension in the atmosphere dissipated and the table returned to normal, Katarina caught someone leave their table after seemingly finishing their meal out of the corner of her eyes.
In fact, Katarina was surprised that no one else noticed that person's presence.
Especially since this person was 'high profile' to say the least.
It was that frightening girl with emerald eyes; Cynthia.
...
After finishing her dinner and watching an amusing 'show,' Cynthia returned to her private dormroom within 17 while giving a 'friendly greeting' to everyone she passed by.
Only slightly more than half of those people mustered up the courage to return the friendly greeting and only around half of them were able to pull a convincing one.
Granted this was only to be expected.
Ever since the incident with that idiotic Zackary at the cafeteria around a week ago, Cynthia found that people rarely actively approached her anymore. Nowadays, most of the other fresh recruits did their best avoid her while the others remained at most cautious around her.
Even the psionics who were supposed to be her mentors and teachers were somewhat wary of her.
The crimson marines didn't change much, they simply carried on with their duties and treated Cynthia like every other psionic within 17. Perhaps they were sweating bullets inside that exo-helmet of theirs but Cynthia didn't really care.
Unlike the crimson marines that 'saved' her at the Eden who donned predominantly dark gleamy black coloured exo-suits, the exo-suits worn by the crimson marines stationed at 17 were a bright pristine white.
Other than the colour, the two 'different' exo-suits were actually pretty much the same. They were still the full exo-suit; 'NM-3360 Combat 'blood' suit,' which covered their bodies from head to toe in protective neo-steel plates and also enhanced their bodies capabilities.
Of course there were also their signature streaks of blood-red lights that ran across their suit which earned them their 'crimson' namesake.
Apparently these crimson marines were exclusively deployed as security forces. Which explained why she never saw white crimson marines outside of military bases and installations or military convoys.
On the other hand, the suits worn by Cynthia and the other psionic P.A.I.N. operatives were also predominantly black with running lines of red lights but was instead only a light exo-suit rather than a full one.
As such, their exo-suits only composed of a chestpiece, shoulder pads, boots, greaves and gauntlets, exposing the black skin-tight suit underneath.
Cynthia was also told that all of the aforementioned exo-suits were recently developed models that were more advanced than the older models from five years ago, but this didn't betray her expectations. Human engineers were always eager to improve their designs and create new epochal technological breakthroughs.
However, while she has found that the forces of the Confederation did experience advancements in the past five years, to her pleasant surprise, they weren't all that different from the Confederation she knew from the past.
From what Cynthia knew and was told, their overall military doctrine and policy remained largely the same.
P.A.I.N. psionics excluding special exceptions were still denied the ability to equip the full exo-suit armour worn by D.R.E.A.D.'s crimson marines and the two military organisations, P.A.I.N. and D.R.E.A.D. still worked closely together to handle most of their strike operations.
Other aspects of their military doctrine such as the chain of command, the conduct of military personnel and officials, and their typical style of fighting open battles also remained either the same as or similar to how Cynthia remembered it in her past life.
Even their general attitude towards psionically gifted individuals was still the same.
So far, the only real 'new things' were more advanced models of pre-existing technology, especially those developed by largely private companies that only sought profit such as the Maxim Weapons and Equipment Corporation or the Jie Jie Gun Manufacturers.
That meant that excluding secrets known only to the highest levels of government, Cynthia really didn't have anything to worry about.
As long as she played her cards right and kept a low enough profile, everything should be fine.
Even though she did make quite a scene at the cafeteria, it wasn't that much of a big deal.
Psionics like her weren't too uncommon especially within P.A.I.N. so she believed that it should be fine.
As long as she kept pretending to be that extremely powerfully and talented yet clueless and naive psionic child, Cynthia believed that there shouldn't be any problems.
Of course there was a balance to her 'act' that she had to maintain, but she has literally been acting her entire 'life' so she saw no potential problems.
But now that she was in the privacy of her room, she allowed herself to relax as she opened up her private laptop granted to her by P.A.I.N. before she engrossed herself in her own private research.
What was she researching?
Why she was looking for the method of achieving her one and only dream of course.
The method of transcending the flesh and placing her 'soul' into an unbreakable body of steel.
Although such a dream seemed inconceivable and impossible with no recent and relevant evidence to back up, Cynthia had evidence which proved that her dream was possible.
It was her very existence.
Her very existence was proof that her dream was a possibility and not a delusion.
If her soul can exchange bodies of flesh, doesn't that mean that it can be exchanged into a body of steel?
As long as the new body can house her mental thought processes then shouldn't it be no different to a human body?
After all, the brain is only an organ which fires synapses to give commands, although that is also a gross oversimplification.
In other words, she would only need to discover the method of transferring her 'soul' and find the way to make a processing system that can replicate the processes' of a humanoid brain.
Theoretically, it was possible.
No, Cynthia knew it was possible.
Because it already happened.
All she would have to do is find the right history records and make up an appropriate excuse as to why she was researching this time period of humanity.
However, she also knew that in the end, she ultimately couldn't get what she wanted just like that just by looking through a few history records.
But she still had to start somewhere.
And while it was weak, the human body still had a relatively long lifetime.
She didn't mind dedicating her entire life to her research even if there was only less than a one percent chance of succeeding.
As long as she didn't experience 'real' death again, then she had no qualms.
Soon, Cynthia felt a slight smile form on her face as she delved into articles and records referring to a period of time seldom mentioned by human citizens today.
At a time before humanity discovered the secrets of warp technology and travelled beyond the bounds of their original solar system.
During the 'Age of the Synths;' when the synthetic species 'synths;' an artificial species created by humanity, ironically nearly drove their creators to extinction.
The era known only as 'The Second Dark Age.'