Once again, Thane woke before the light turned on. He had set up a series of alarms throughout the morning to keep him on track until his new schedule became habitual.
Dressing quickly, Thane walked to the mess hall, and much like Charles said, Thane was required to scan with his PRD before the machines in the unstaffed kitchen began to prepare his meal.
Looking around the room, Thane smiled when he spotted a coffee station pushing into the far corner of the room. It was a little crazy how much humans before the Unveiling relied on the plant to the point where they had nearly one thousand pounds of coffee beans stored away to plant once they came out of hibernation.
Coffee was one of the few plants grown naturally in hydroponic facilities. Most foods in Bastion were either made in a lab through cell replication to create an infinite source of meat or a heavily modified vegetable that could go from a seed to harvestable in a week.
It was a common fact that most in Bastion were used to and ignored, but Thane had heard that the BAF supplied meat from Dread Beast to those who could pay for it. While Thane had never been close to anyone of a high enough status to afford the luxury, the rumor wasn't so far-fetched.
Thane knew that the BAF did sell rare materials like wood, metals, and hides from Dread Beasts. Everyday items before the Unveiling were now few and far between, and the BAF controlled who had access to them and the going price.
'Thinking about it now, I bet that cuts down on a lot of corruption from private funders pushing their agenda on the military. Or not, I am really out of my depths regarding this stuff.' Thane thought to himself as he absently made a cup of coffee.
By the time Thane was about to sit down with his mug, there was a beep, and he looked over to see a meal tray waiting for him.
Thane's mouth watered as he walked over to grab his tray, staring at the large bowl of fresh greens with a small loaf of bread waiting for him. His hunger was forgotten momentarily as Thane intermittently saw the dark purple cubes decorating the salad.
Picking one up cautiously, Thane pinched it firmly and watched as the cube was squished between his fingers and juice. The same deep purple began to coat his hand.
Hesitating briefly, Thane tentatively licked at the juice, and his eyes widened as the sweet liquid began to spread through his mouth. Thane grabbed the bowl and a seat before shoveling the salad into his mouth, trying to get a purple cube in each bite.
The salad was only dressed with a light vinaigrette to help undercut the sharpness of the greens and complement the sweet, tangy flavor from the strange purple cubes.
In a matter of moments, Thane finished the salad and began to lick the bowl, trying to get any lingering juice from the cubes. After nearly cleaning the bowl, Thane sat back in his chair as what he felt like was pure energy coursed through him.
"Okay, that was something different." Thane mused as he tore off a piece from the loaf of bread and popped it in his mouth, "Maybe I'll ask Charles later."
Finishing the rest of his meal quickly, Thane put away his tray and looked at the time, he had a few minutes, but the rush of energy from the salad had awoken a strange desire to run around in circles.
Thane started to walk towards the training room, leaving the mess hall before he began to pick up speed, "I might as well test my new mask." In a matter of seconds, Thane was jogging down the hallways, steam trailing from his mask as the filters began to heat up.
'This is amazing. It's almost as if I'm not wearing anything at all.' Thane thought as he slid around a corner, almost losing his footing. But that didn't stop Thane at all. He felt like a new person as each breath seemed to come easier than the last.
His running high was short-lived; however, even with his mask, Thane wasn't superhuman. His body used to sit for long periods, bringing Thane's wild running to a grinding halt.
Gritting his teeth, Thane forced himself to jog instead of collapsing into a pool of jelly on the floor, "At least I won't be late for training."
Stopping by the locker rooms, Thane changed into his training uniform and was surprised when the previously freezing metal was now pleasantly cool as it sapped away the extra head radiating off his body.
After what seemed like a lifetime since he woke up, Thane entered the training room, calling it a room however didn't do the space justice. The sheer size was closer to a warehouse used to deconstruct freight lifts. The training facility was capped with a dome glass roof, allowing what now passed as natural light to illuminate the room.
Around the room's circumference was a track with individual lanes highlighted with white markings. Surrounded by the track were sparring rings of different sizes, several of which were occupied by humanoid robots with padded exteriors.
Thane let out an appreciative whistle at the facility, "I wonder how many people they have moving through here a month?"
"Close to a thousand trainees, but this room can house up to twice that number. Most of the equipment is stashed away too." A rather timid voice spoke up behind Thane, causing him to turn around.
Thane took a large step back from Naomie when he saw who it was: "If you're here to murder me, you should know that there are five cameras with a direct line of sight on us."
Naomie blinked as a flush spread across her cheeks, "I-I'm not….. I'm not here to murder you!" She exclaimed before taking a shaky breath, "I'm here to apologize."
Naomie sounded as if each syllable pained her to say as she spoke in a hushed tone, "I wanted to apologize for how I acted yesterday. Charles talked to me after you said something about me being a psychopath."
"A beautiful psychopath, more specifically, but continue," Thane commented with a straight face, making Naomie pause, trying to prevent the blush from spreading through her whole face.
"S-stop making fun of me! I just came here to apologize. Why are you being such an asshole?!" Naomie suddenly felt her embarrassment turn into anger.
Thane shrugged, "Sorry, I was just telling the truth. Sorry if it made you uncomfortable, but I did mean it. Well, maybe not the psychopath part. They normally don't blush and get flustered, I would know. I had a few of them as clients, surprisingly not hard to work with if you don't set them off."
Naomie was now wholly lost. She had expected Thane to accept her apology, run away screaming, or completely shut her down. Instead, he openly admitted to him finding her attractive and explained how he worked with psychopaths.
"Are you alright? You look a little spaced out." Naomie looked down at Thane, who was a good four or three inches shorter than her, "I-I'm just a little confused. Do you forgive me or not?"
Thane shrugged as he brushed his dreadlocks aside, "Clearly, you feel guilty about it, I don't know what caused your initial reaction to me, but I hope you can move past it."
"Why? Why do you hope I don't hate you?" Naomie hesitantly asked, still very unsure about how to judge Thane.
"Because I haven't had a friend in a long time, it would be nice to have one again. Also, I have a feeling making you blush is going to become a favorite pastime of mine. You turn a very nice shade of red. It makes your skin glow," Thane said with a completely straight face as his eyes bored into Naomie.
Unable to help herself, Naomie could feel a wave of heat spread through her whole face, "I-I I-I I-I."
"Oh god, you're both already here. Am I interrupting something?" Charles interrupted Naomie and Thane, his broad shoulders filling up the doorway he was standing in.
Naomie jumped as Thane smiled at the big man, "Nothing important, good morning Charles, I have to ask. I ate some peculiar food this morning. They were dark purple cubes that I could squish between my fingers and were very…well, I've never had anything like it before."
Charles grinned, "After you ate them, you felt like you could do anything, right?" Thane nodded, widening Charles' smile, "They're a type of fruit that comes from the surface. The trees they grow on take years to produce and don't do well with the light from the artificial sun."
"A fr-oo-t, never heard of it before. Are they all naturally so sweet?" Thane was now craving the rush of energy that came from the fruit and wanted more, 'Is this what addiction feels like? No, I could stop myself If I wanted to. Isn't that what addicts tell themselves to lessen the guilt they feel.'
"Some more than others, but yes, they contain a much higher glucose level than you would get from most foods. The meal you ate was designed to give your body an easier energy source to break down. Your dinner will consist of things high in fats and protein to help you bulk up." Charles continued on, not realizing Thane's inner dilemma, "That's enough talk for now. We should get an early warmup in. I already considered pushing back when we started, so this will be a good test run. Okay, a quick stretch, then twenty laps around the track, Thane. I want you to focus on keeping a consistent pace. We need to work on your endurance. Naomie, I don't need to tell you anything."
Both teens nodded before they walked over to the track and started to stretch. Thane, however, was at a bit of a loss for what to do. Seeing this, Naomie began to instruct him through basic stretches, primarily targeting his legs and butt.
Watching from afar, Charles couldn't help the smile forming on his face. He hadn't expected Naomie to bridge the gap so quickly, 'This might be easier than I thought.'
After stretching, Thane and Naomie began on their twenty laps. At first, Naomie kept pace with Thane before speeding up and pulling ahead.
Watching her go, Thane shook his head, 'Just space out, focus on your breathing and nothing else. Let it all pass by.' Repeating this mantra in his head Thane eventually entered a fugue as a warmth spread through his lungs.
Before he even realized it, Charles and Naomie were standing on the track waiting for him. Slowing down, Thane walked the last few feet, his face glistening with sweat and chest heaving.
"That wasn't so bad. It was actually kind of nice. Though I didn't like how slow I was going, I couldn't keep at a steady pace when I tried to run any faster." Thane complained as he grabbed an offered bottle of water from Naome and muttered a quick thanks.
After a short rest, Charles moved the both of them into a side room which fit more of the stereotypical gym look than Thane was expecting. Since it was his first time using many machines, Charles had Naomie demonstrate how to use each before he spotted Thane correcting his technique when needed.
When he was at least comfortable with each machine and how to use them, Charles moved him onto free and bodyweight exercises. Again going over technique but also allowing Thane to find his limit for each exercise.
Needless to say, they were abysmally low though Thane was surprised to find that he could do a pushup and chin-up as well as most of the many variations of the two exercises.