LtJG Kayla Drex: Testing My Limits (NT)

[Kayla Drex]

((USS Eagle - Kayla's Quarters, 0430hrs the day after spa day))

::Kayla's eyes fluttered open. Like clockwork, she woke every morning at the same time with or without an alarm. She took a deep breath and sat up in bed. The covers slid away, and she felt the day waiting for her.

::She was still technically on shore leave, but she was nothing if not a creature of habit. She got up, did some light stretching, and dressed in her workout clothes. She made her way to holodeck 1::

Drex: Computer, load program Drex513, maximum difficulty.

Computer: ::beep of acknowledgement:: Program loaded. You may enter when ready.

::Kayla walked through the arch, and found herself on Caitian. This particular location was a cliff-side path overlooking the capital city. The ground was reddish and loose. Small pebbles mixed with a fine dust. Not great for getting a lot of traction while running. From the thinness of the air, she guessed she was half-way up the mountainside. That was something at least. There would still be some terrain she could use to her advantage.

::Directly in front of her stood Dev'ash, a striking, muscular, no-nonsense Caitian male with brindle-patterned hair, dressed only in green running shorts. He nodded in greeting as Kayla approached.::

Dev'ash: Are you prepared, Kayla?

Drex: Ready as I'll ever be.

::Dev'ash flexed his powerful hands, exposing a sharp claw at the end of each finger.::

Dev'ash: Then begin running. I will give you 30 seconds' head start.

::Kayla sprinted past him. The uneven terrain under her running shoes attempted to unfoot her with every step. She quickly found her stride though, but from the snarl she heard a way behind her, she knew her 30 seconds was up. She rounded a bend, and only barely managed to leap over the meter-long crack in the cliff's edge at the last second. That's what this simulation was for though - it wasn't just physical training, it was designed (by her) to challenge her ability to physically and mentally adapt to unpredictable situations. The Caitian chasing her now was the motivation. She'd never run the program on maximum difficulty though. She hoped as she ran that she hadn't made a mistake.

::The crunching sound of shifting gravel behind her snapped her mind back to her task: go fast, don't let him catch you. Pouring on a fresh burst of speed, Kayla raced headlong into the sparse copse of trees (mostly evergreen at this elevation), in the attempt to give Dev'ash something other than the ground to worry about. Her left foot slipped on a root, and before she knew she was falling, she felt her shoulder hit the ground. Rolling instinctively, she managed to dodge the claws that raked the ground where she'd fallen. She looked up as she rolled to her feet in a crouch.

::Dev'ash never hesitated or even slowed. He lashed out again, but this time, Kayla read his movements in advance. She knew it was pointless to attempt to grapple him. Even at lower difficulty levels, his strength and agility easily outstripped her own. She could however, take a calculated risk. Diving directly at his center of gravity, she heard his ribs crack and his breath rush from his lungs from the impact. Kayla hesitated for an instant when she heard the cracking sound. Mistake. The searing pain started at the base of her neck and continued to her right elbow.::

Dev'ash: ::stopping:: Why did you let up?

Drex: I thought I'd hurt you.

Dev'ash: ::smirking:: Hurt? I am a hologram, Kayla. There is nothing you can do to hurt me. I however, am capable of inflicting a great deal of pain on you.

::Kayla reached back to the bleeding gashes and touched them gingerly with her left hand. They weren't deep, but doggone it they hurt.::

Drex: Do you coat your claws with something to make them hurt more?

Dev'ash: You're the one who wanted maximum difficulty. Shall we reset?

Drex: Sometimes I think I made you too self-aware, Dev'ash.

Dev'ash: That is not an answer.

Drex: ::sighing:: fine. Yes. Let me just grab the epidermal regenerator real quick.

Dev'ash: No.

::The scene around her shimmered, and she saw Dev'ash standing, unharmed, in front of her.::

Dev'ash: 30, 29, 28, 27, 26, ...

Drex: WHAT!? No! Not fair!

Dev'ash: 23, 22, 21, ...

Drex: Dammit!

::She scrambled to her feet and ran toward the denser part of the woods. She'd have to try something different. As soon as she was out of sight of her pursuer, she scrambled up a particularly large spruce-like tree. Her shoulder throbbed with pain now, making climbing more difficult every time she pulled herself up to the next branch. She couldn't stop though. She'd heard him snarl, and now heard him leaping through the undergrowth.

::Freezing stock-still, Kayla barely breathed as she looked down to the forest floor where Dev'ash was sniffing, peering, and listening intently to detect anything that would give her position away. A seed cone with particularly bad (but not unexpected) timing fell from the tree in which Kayla was hiding. Dev'ash had turned and looked up - directly at her - before the cone ever hit the ground.

::His claws dug into the tree as he climbed, adding alarmingly to his speed. Kayla edged farther out on the branch she was perched atop. She really hoped this would work. Otherwise, she'd be paying Doctor Foster another visit too shortly after he'd patched her up the last time.

::As Dev'ash reached her branch, Kayla hooked her legs over the branch and swung backward and upside-down. Dev'ash lunged, sure-footed as ever, but his claws found only air this time. Kayla straightened her knees lashing out with her foot as she pinwheeled backward. She felt her shoe connect with the side of Dev'ash's head.::

Drex: oO so far, so good. Oo

::She didn't fall far. This was a good, dense tree, and as such, there were plenty of branches she could use to stop her free fall. Her shoulder screamed in pain as she held onto the smaller branch, allowing to sag under her weight and momentum for a moment, only to be released again half a second later. As she landed swaying on yet another branch, her arms flailing to establish her balance, she looked up to the branch where Dev'ash was. The branch she'd just released had snapped up, knocking into his branch. So shortly after the blunt force trauma to his head, his balance had not yet had a chance to adapt, and he slipped.

::He didn't fall though. The claws of his left forepaw dug into the branch while his other three limbs searched frantically for purchase. Kayla didn't hesitate this time. She crouched and leaped from the tree, hitting the ground 4 meters below in a perfect roll that turned her downward momentum into forward motion.

((timeskip))

::Two hours and nineteen resets later, Kayla sat on a rock, panting for breath, bleeding from a dozen more places, but beaming at the now placated Dev'ash.::

Drex: Well that certainly was a workout.

Dev'ash: If you will hold still, I can administer the epidermal regeneration.

Drex: See, now THAT was a good idea - including some emergency medical programming into your program.

Dev'ash: You push yourself too hard, Kayla Drex. If it wasn't for the safety protocols, you would not be alive right now.

Drex: Maybe, but how can I know my limits unless I test them? Would you rather I test them in here or out there?

::Dev'ash's response was to poke her with a barely-extended claw. She winced.::

Dev'ash: I may be a hologram, Kayla Drex, but you are not. You cannot be reset. Please be cautious.

Drex: Love you too, kitty.

Dev'ash: I was not making any romantic parlance. I merely cannot continue to hunt you if you are killed.

Drex: ::smirking:: Uh huh ... sweet. Computer, save program and end.

::The holodeck shifted to show its usual black with yellow grid. Kayla frowned slightly.::

Drex: ::quietly:: I have to be stronger.

::She exited the holodeck and headed back to her quarters the long way around, jogging at a cool down pace. What else could she get into today?::

NT

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Lieutenant JG Kayla Drex
Science Officer
USS Eagle, NCC-74659

Image Collective
Writer ID: E239510KD0

Science is life, art is soul, love is home
Wiki: Kayla Drex

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