<span class="mu-g">Tensions, for now, have defused.</span> You help Kiara stand back up before you begin to head out of the building, though you turn back for a moment to ask Quincy a quick questions. "So. Question. Are, uh, girl versions of Drones any different?"
Quincy shrugs. "FEMALES ARE TALLER, BIGGER. MALES LIVE A BIT LONGER, SMALLER. NO REAL DIFFERENCE OTHERWISE." You're not sure if he's talking about their human forms or their true bug forms here. You didn't really pay attention during high school so any potential bug facts you would've known are lost to time. And by the time you're outside, you're more focused on making a fucking beeline towards the Barracks to really ponder too much on it.
Kiara is trailing behind and you know it's not because she's running out of energy. She offers you a weak smile when she notices you looking at her before returning her gaze back to the ground. <<span class="mu-b">"Shouldn't talk to her. I fucked up, she's probably already annoyed with me."</span>>
Naomi notices the robot's lack of energy. She trails behind and hovers a hand over Kiara's shoulder. Smart, probably not wise to touch Kiara given how hot the sun is. "Self pity leads only to stagnation." With that cryptic piece of advice said, Naomi heads over to meet up with you and Alexis.
Kiara seems to take this to heart and quickly catches up with the rest of you right as you manage to get to the barracks. You pull the door open with a bit of sneaky telekinesis (which your allies try not to acknowledge for their own sake) before piling into the Barracks.
https://youtu.be/_6qQ2hfYjrs - BARRACKS B
Along the left and right walls are towers of at least four or five beds stacked on top of each other in an attempt to get as many people into one place as possible and the smell of B.O tells you arrived right after the people living here came back from some intense training. Most of the space that isn't occupied by the beds or the metal boxes that rest at the foot of the beds for extra storage is taken up by cheap, shoddy plastic tables filled with bored soldiers playing games of cards.
<span class="mu-r">BANG!</span>
Alexis and Kiara immediately pin themselves to the nearby wall as a bullet whizzes right past your head. You're clear headed enough to not instantly panic but you won't lie, you damn near pissed yourself there. You nearly fall to your knees if it wasn't for Naomi catching you.
>-1 RESTRAINT! 7/8 LEFT![MILITARY EXPERIENCE] "Shoddy aim. Either that was from a novice or he was trying to scare you. I'd bet the latter." She snaps her fingers at you to help you regain focus. "Look alive."
[RASH NEGATED] Kiara, thankfully, doesn't do anything stupid after the sudden attack. She simply scans the area to see who the would-be-attacker is.
You follow in her lead and, huh, lucky you. A man in his mid-40s is laying on the top on one of the many bunk bed towers with a service pistol that's still pouring out smoke.
