Written Wonderland

((OOC: Woot! Second page!))

They can't change you unless you let them.

Anya's words echoed through XJ's mind, and she felt immense gratitude at the reminder. Yes, that was true; XJ knew it with every fiber of her being. That's the reason she had always fought back every time they...

No time to think about the before times, now, though. The magcuffs that XJ had so gratefully shed lit back up, and she knew they would start an alarm soon if she didn't put them on. Hearing other new prisoners clicking them into place, XJ obeyed this order, allowing herself to be led from the prison cell once more, grateful that, whenever she returned, she would have Anya's company to look forward to. XJ did really hope they would get along.

On the walk to the reeducation center, XJ took stock of the prison hallways, poorly lit as one might expect but with more activity now. XJ nodded at a few of the prisoners who looked the most scared, giving them some of the courage she felt building in her own chest. How bad could this really be? Whatever it was, XJ could take it.

But just as they were turning the last corner toward a big open room with a dozen headsets, a veteran prisoner--one of the blue-skinned Gloms--grabbed XJ's wrist and pulled her closer, even as the magcuffs started tugging and complaining at the resistance. XJ's wrists were pulled violently, but she resisted as well, listening.

"It will seem like forever, but it's only two hours. It'll be over in two hours. And remember to breathe!" The prisoner then nodded and released XJ, who had significantly more jitters than before, looking with trepidation toward the reeducation room.

((OOC: More to come, just felt like breaking here for a bit.))

All too quickly, a VR headset was lowered down over XJ's head, and the full immersion headphones circled her head, almost reminding her of the helmet in her spacesuit. Yeah, that had been a good day. But this... this was not.

XJ squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that, if she could at least block out the images, whatever they were going to try to do would be more bearable, but as soon as she did, a loud beeping sound drilled into her mind, making her cry out and open her eyes in the process.

Fuck, they're thorough, aren't they? But she was still committed to escaping. Eventually. There was no way she was going to sit quietly here. No way in hell. Nope, not a chance.

And yet... the images in the headset started with a warpspeed simulation accompanied by the sound of glass shattering one pane at a time in rapid succession, and XJ could feel her consciousness beginning to float just about an inch above her body, but still the images were the most real thing she could focus on. Had to focus on. Shit. XJ had heard about this technique, but she never thought anyone would be malicious enough to do it. This was not good.

An entity arrived on the scene, though the warpspeed flashes, accompanied by what looked like galactic lightning, flashed glaringly across the screen.

The entity shook her head, and XJ tried to take in her multidimensional form. Her hair, white and flowing out like the rest of her dress, was long and glittered if XJ looked at it directly. She didn't have a face, not exactly--it was too bright to look at--but XJ was certain that the entity was shaking her head. It was like something XJ almost remembered from a dream, but warped by someone else's intention. XJ knew it was wrong, that she was still in the prison, but this entity's disappointment in her made XJ's start to cry, though she willed herself to keep her mouth shut. No point in alerting the other prisoners to the fact that they were already getting to her. Though, if XJ was right about this technique, they wouldn't hear her anyway. They were just as gone as she was.

Had the corporations somehow imprisoned these entities here? Were they projections, hallucinations? XJ's subconscious? How much of this was real?

None of it, none of it, XJ thought over and over to herself, but she wasn't sure she wanted to believe that. Was there something her subconscious could communicate to her, even here? Something that would help her get out of this place?

Try as she might to find it, XJ found nothing as images of the prison--idealized and golden--shifted through her vision. She saw the prison as a grand piece of a great interconnected organism, each segment lending itself to the whole. Anytime XJ thought she might start believing the images, she closed her eyes just to hear the beeping and remind herself that she was, indeed, wearing a headset. But, after a while, even the beeping seemed to disappear into the ambient noise, and when XJ closed her eyes, she saw the same images as when her eyes were open. She was almost in awe at the audacity of manipulating this dreamspace, the fuckers. This was definitely an infringement of rights. If the Nostralomans knew...

But those thoughts disappeared, too, and XJ witnessed speech after speech of a multi-headed corporate chimera talk about how she was more than a gear in a machine. Gods, that thing was ugly. But, still, XJ could not look away.

It did feel like it was going to last forever. Whenever XJ felt her knees start to go out, she remembered to take a deep breath, though it shuddered through her chest every single time. How many breaths had she taken since this started? She should have been keeping count. But, after a while, it was too difficult to even consider the concept of numbers at all as her mind blazed over the known galaxies and their primary planets in the context of this psychedelic propaganda.

And then, when XJ had been thoroughly convinced that there was no other reality than the one in the headset, the images when dark, and the sound mercifully stopped. Finally, XJ's legs gave out as she collapsed to the floor, vaguely aware that she had been one of the last prisoners standing. Had they waited until each of them had been broken to shut off the machines? The bastards.

XJ felt deeply into the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed, blinking to clear the bright lights swimming in her vision. No... they had been dim before, right? After a few minutes of rest, the magcuffs blinked to life again and demanded that the prisoners stand.

iObey's voice rang out over the speakers.

Eat when you are told to eat. Sleep when you are told to sleep. Contribute what you need to contribute.

There was no response from the prisoners, but XJ could almost feel the blank abandonment of their stares. But they would come out of it, right? Wasn't XJ coming out of it? And yet, she still wasn't quite convinced the floor was real.

((OOC: Gonna pause there for now. The newbies will probably be taken to the mess hall after this if you want to pick up there? Or you can just talk about what Anya's work day is like. I think it makes more sense for showers to happen after the workday, actually? We can go back and change that, idk.))

((OOC: Agreed on showers. I edited my first post where I wrote that. I suppose it would make sense for them to do the 're-education' early and after the long journey, the mind would be vulnerable from the exhaustion. So other prisoners are still probably asleep. I think breakfast next does make the most sense.))

The smell of instant eggs mixed with synthetic maple predominantly filled the mess hall. Anya walked up to the screen on the wall and swiped her wrist across it. The screen detected her implanted ID chip, and the display updated. The basic vendor display showed her name in the top left. Various rectangles with food selections popped up where Anya could input her order. In the bottom right, 173 credits showed in green. Anya had been saving up for the day with new arrivals. The standard 100 credit per meal allowance was sufficient, but Anya had started saving credits over the past few days anticipating better food with the new arrivals. She was most excited about the imitation bacon. Meat-like foods were a rare treat here. There were even pancake bites available; small so they didn't have to give you a knife to cut them. Anya selected "Pancakes Bites with Syrup", "Potato Hash," and "Pair of im. Bacon". She pressed the bacon button three times. She would have gotten even more, but she hoped there would be more good food to come. She tapped the cart icon; 130 credits. Perfect. That left over 40 for later, and coffee was free to encourage laborers to energize themselves for the workday. She confirmed her order. A compartment under the screen popped open with a mechanical "Shoosh!" and a tray complete with her order was within. "Thanks, Oh-Bee." Anya said under her breath, half sarcastically.

Rows of tables filled the mess hall. After filling a mug with coffee, Anya looked around for and found her new friend...who almost didn't seem new anymore. It had only been two weeks, but those two weeks had seemed like an eternity. A completely new existence does that to the mind, warping it to try to find a sense of normality. Dolly had been even more of a mess than Anya upon arrival. Her straight blonde hair still showed some signs of the pink dye she arrived with. Her figure was made small more by her posture than by her frame. Dolly seemed to enjoy taking up as little space as possible.

"Hi, Dolly." Anya said with a slight sing-song tone in her voice. "I got a new roomie today." Dolly looked up and gave a gentle smile, but said nothing. Anya sat down and glanced at Dolly's tray. "How can you eat that shit? You're so lucky! I can't not taste the powder in those eggs. It's awful. They don't even give you enough syrup to drown out that plasticky flavor. Bleeeehhh!" She stuck her tongue out and closed an eye to express playful disgust. Dolly let out a small giggle, which was more than enough to please Anya. She loved making Dolly smile.

"I don't know, Anya, it just seemed like it'd be filling. I'll make due."

"You will now!" Anya tossed a strip of bacon onto Dolly's plate.

"N...no, I could've spent credits on those if I..."

Anya interrupted "But you didn't. And they only come in pairs, so I ended up with an extra one. And now it's yours. No giving it back!" Anya hadn't known Dolly for long, but she knew that if she gave her an order she'd obey.

Dolly looked down, slightly flushed. "O...okay, I won't give it back. Thank you."

Anya had just sat down when the newbies started filing in with their food selections. Anya saw XJ among them. "XJ! Hey!" Anya waved her hands in the air to catch her new cell mate's attention. She smiled excitedly at her before realizing that... well, Anya finally read the room and remembered. "Oh, uh...sorry, I forgot what you just went through. But you made it, and it's over! You can sit down here if you want. This is Dolly. Dolly, this is my new roomie."

Eat breakfast.

XJ wasn't sure whether she heard the voice inside or outside her head, but all at once, everyone around her starting shuffling toward the exit, their magcuffs less necessary now. Breathing through her mouth a few times, XJ tried to catch her breath and steady all the thoughts and images still swirling around in her mind.

Start with the basics. You're in prison. Yep. And you need to escape. Yep. And whatever hell they just put you through, it wasn't real. Nothing they told you in there was real.

Nothing? Really? XJ found herself wanting to believe it, that there was a grand design to all this misery. It would certainly make it all easier. She wouldn't have to fight this, wouldn't have to wonder what life would be like on the outside again, wouldn't need to take responsibility for her actions or, hell, her whole life. Giving up was wildly appealing. But, that's what it would be. Giving up. And XJ knew it, which made it impossible to really choose that for herself.

XJ shook her head slowly from side to side, partly to release the muscles in her neck, partly to clear her head. At least they were walking toward smells of food. Her stomach then loudly reminded her that she had had little except dehydrated garbage since being captured. Nix...

Before long, an automated voice was telling her how the food credits worked. One hundred credits per meal, extra opportunities for credits, good behavior, yadah yadah. Somehow, it was easier to dismiss the "divine goodness of the prison system" narrative when there was a screen with touchpad buttons. Just like the DJ days... now to remix some prison food. Of course it was all imitation nonsense, not that that was really the prison's fault. Almost everything had been made in a lab nowadays; it was more economical that way. And, you know, better for the animals. But, just then, even the abbreviation for "imitation" made XJ's stomach sink.

Bacon, pancake bites, OJ. Wait, that's too many credits. Bacon, pancake bites, banana muffin. Still too many credits. Ugh! How did they expect her to fill herself up on so little? Breakfast was the most important meal of the day! XJ remembered hearing Anya say that the prison fed everyone better when the newbies arrived. Which meant that this was the best the prison would have to offer. XJ's heart sank this time. Brutal.

XJ knew she was already holding up the line, but she had to try something to get more food. She was starving. But she was going to have to make it quick. Slyly, she leaned her hip against the machine, reached her hand up to block the dispensing mechanism, and pressed "enter" on bacon and pancakes bites. The machine choked a little and pushed against her hand but otherwise did nothing. After a moment, XJ said, "iObey? The machine's not working, and it ate my credits! I need to eat!" While the newbies behind her might have been frustrated that she was holding things up, they all still looked a little too dazed to care.

"The machine has been reset and your credits returned. Try again," iObey said in its mechanical way. XJ let off the mechanism and changed her selection to bacon and OJ before trying again. Sure enough, both orders came out. Yes! And now with credits to spare. Smiling widely, XJ handed the extra pair of bacon strips to the girl behind her with a smile and started walking away with her tray before she realized that she had no idea where to sit. There were some empty tables near the back, but did XJ really want to sit alone?

Luckily, she heard Anya call her name and was grateful for the timely invitation. Her cellmate was sitting with a girl that XJ had a hard time believing actually belonged there. She was teeny and timid by the looks of it, even if the pink dye in her hair was cute. What did she do to get here? But then Anya called XJ's attention back to the re-education experience, and XJ shivered, deciding now was a good time to sit.

"Nice to meet you, Dolly," XJ said out of habit. That sounded kind of stupid when you were in prison, huh? Oh, well. Then XJ turned her attention to Anya, "Girl, you really could have warned me about that. That was... awful." XJ looked down at her food and wondered how she was going to stomach it even though she was so hungry. She took a sip of her orange juice. "I hope that's the worst of it." After a beat, XJ remembered exactly how she had scored the orange juice and smiled, saying, "that trick isn't going to work every time, but hey, I scored." She lifted up her glass as though to offer cheers.

Anya raised her coffee to meet XJ's orange juice, and took a drink.

"You know, it would only have been worse if I had warned you. That thing takes all of your strengths and turns them into weaknesses. Warning you would have made you build your defenses up, and those crashing down on you would have just made the whole thing heavier. Besides, I knew you'd be fine. I could just tell. I bet you outlasted all the rest of those poor newbies." Anya flashed XJ a mischievous smile before noticing Dolly gripping the table in front of her tightly. She had stopped eating. Anya softened her voice and leaned over to catch Dolly's eyes. "Hey, it's all over now. For all of us. We just have to focus on staying true to who we are, right Dolly?"

"Y...Yes. Who...I am..."

"Eat your bacon. You'll feel better." Anya turned to XJ, sneaking a concerned smile that communicated sadness more than joy past Dolly's downward gaze before looking at XJ's food. "Oh! Good call. You got the good stuff too. The eggs taste like powdered garbage. That one I should have warned you about. And the OJ. Coffee is free, so you should save your credits from breakfast drinks...Huh...but you seem to have come out ahead. Lucky break?"

XJ watched the interaction between the two women closely and decided that, yeah, Dolly was definitely not okay. XJ wondered how long the girl had been there. If she had been there a long time, that didn't bode well for any of them. But if she only just arrived...

Still, it make XJ shiver when she realized Anya was giving Dolly commands. When Anya looked over and smiled sadly, XJ understand. Anya was replacing the locus of authority for Dolly, and the girl seemed appreciative of it, even if it did feel unfortunate.

XJ kept her face neutral, barely, until Anya started talking about why she didn't warn XJ about the reeducation. She supposed what Anya said was true, and Anya had helped her with plenty of other things. The prisoner thought fondly back to the handshake, silly as it was.

Lucky break? Anya's words pulled XJ back to the present, and XJ smiled widely.

"You could say that," XJ said with a wink, "I'm not afraid to get my fingers stuck in a machine." She hoped it wouldn't come across quite as lewdly as she very nearly meant it, but it was all in good fun. And so what if Anya and Dolly pegged her as a robosexual. It had been a while since that had been taboo, at least back on Nostraloma.

Wait, where was Dolly from? Maybe that was too invasive a question. "How long have you been here, Dolly?" XJ asked, smiling warmly at the girl.

Anya was surprised at the idea of blocking the machinery. She smiled, brimming with excitement that XJ had already outsmarted Oh-Bee; and just after re-education too. The best part was; this was her new cellmate. Anya was thrilled.

Dolly looked up, wide eyed and uncertain how to answer XJ at first. Hesitating briefly, she recognized that she first needed to swiftly swallow the bacon she had been working on, and she cleared her throat. This new person seemed friendly, and Anya seemed to like them. Still, a wave of anxiety washed over her. Maybe it was the fact that Dolly didn't expect XJ to be so...okay. Or maybe it was simply unexpectedly being expected to answer a question. Still, XJ must have a lot of confidence and resilience to already be messing with the station. Dolly thought that she could never do a thing like that, but she admired it in XJ.

"Oh, Um...I'm not..." Trying to count the days seemed impossible. Dolly's mind panicked, more at the prospect of failing to answer than at the idea of trying to figure it out. That made it even more difficult to make a guess. Her eyes then met Anya's for a moment and she found a way to answer. "Well, I got here the same day Anya did." Dolly stopped talking abruptly. She felt good about trying to answer the question, but wasn't sure if it was enough. What if more was expected of her? What if her answer wasn't sufficient? She looked from woman to woman hoping to not have disappointed them. She hoped that she didn't look how she felt; like prey cowering in a corner. Why do I feel this way? I'm not cornered, and I know Anya isn't going to hurt me. And Anya seems to like this person. Still, her anxiety continued to overwhelm her as her thoughts taunted her. But, she...she would have been upset. This situation hasn't been safe. Not at all.

"Two weeks exactly," Anya cut in. She smiled at Dolly before turning back to XJ and continuing. "But, I don't think they'll keep up that pace for new people for long, otherwise they'd need a bigger station. We met on our first day. Dolly's needed some time to adjust, but..." Anya turned to look Dolly in the eyes, "You're doing a really great job." Anya reached across the table and gave Dolly a slight pat on the head.

Dolly's taunting subconscious disappeared like mist in the wind. Her eyes watered just a bit, giving her eyes a slightly more glossy look; and she smiled. She appreciated the recognition. It made her feel good, and it did a lot to soothe her anxiety; but she also wondered if it was okay to still need this kind of support. Anya was right, it had been some time. Would she ever feel normal again? Was she really doing a good job? Of course, it wasn't just the prison: it actually wasn't so bad here. At least, not compared to before. Still, she knew it wasn't normal to cower at a mere question. She remembered that much. She pushed those thoughts away from her for now so that she could listen to the conversation with this new person.

"Anyway," Anya said, turning toward XJ, "As you probably know, we'll be mining precious metals out of the chunks of rocks the drones bring in. What they don't tell you is how tedious it is, especially since the system needs to verify and approve your target every time you fire any kind of laser tools. Try to time your checks out of sync with other workers around you. The requests go a little faster that way. If too many people are using laser tools, it's better to do manual tools for a while. I try to save cart hauling for times like that. If you do enough, you get a 25 credit bonus for dinner. I only get there sometimes, but Dolly seems to find it easy. She's really good with a pick-axe, it's not fair."

XJ watched patiently as Dolly choked on her words and tried to find a way to answer. If XJ had had to guess, she would have thought Dolly was the one who had just come out of re-education. Although, the dark swirling nonsense of the last few hours definitely threatened to overwhelm XJ's mind again, her recent victory over the machine and the food seemed to be helping, even if the food was something of a disappointment. At least it was better than that dehydrated garbage. XJ hoped she would not have to resort to eating the dehydrated noodles she had smuggled in with her.

Somehow, XJ had expected that the two women had been there longer. Anya at least had adapted pretty well and had a firm lay of the land, but maybe, based on what Anya said next, most of the prisoners were new arrivals. XJ supposed it made some cruel kind of sense to fill up a corporate prison all at once before building the next one. Ugh, this was awful. She took a bite of her bacon and some more swallows of orange juice to make herself feel better. The OJ was definitely worth it.

XJ's stomach started to sour, however, when Anya started talking about the work they would be doing, and her eyes started to glaze over. Numbers and names of tools swirled around in her head and started to make her feel nauseous. How was she supposed to keep all that straight? What would it mean if she couldn't get those extra credits? Gods be damned, maybe she should drink that free coffee, though even thinking about it made her head spin. Just a few sips? Surely that would be harmless. Though XJ was a dedicated person when she wanted to be, she often needed hands-on and individualized attention to understand a new task. Hopefully it wouldn't be as hard as it sounded. The physical labor she could probably handle, but timing everything with all the other prisoners? Ugh.

But... then again, if Dolly could do it...

The black swirl from the re-education started pressing in on XJ, and she wanted to cry. Instead, she pursed her lips and took a bite of her pancakes, hoping it would settle her stomach.

Just, you know, be part of the machine. No big.

"No way out of working, I suppose?" XJ said quietly. "Gods be damned."

The prison layout was one of efficiency, and practicality. At least ai assisted, the plans paid special attention to air compartments, making sure none of them were larger than absolutely necessary to minimize life support needs. Air was expensive in deep space, even when recycled. Water was less of a concern, especially for showers. Everything liquid would be quickly filtered and recycled with very little loss. Air, though, was much more costly to recycle in either money and tech, time, or usually both. There was not much space between the cells and the cafeteria. There were small rooms with toilets spread out every five cells or so, and showers half as often. All of these made up the living quarters for the prisoners; and everything was arranged to be tightly packed, and with ceilings as low as could be comfortable to account for less air space. The prisoners would have guessed that comfort was not on the minds of those designing a prison, however, ensuring a base level of comfort was important for two reasons. First, by providing at least some level of comfort, the prisoners were much less likely to revolt. If one is so uncomfortable that one prefers death, obeying orders simply doesn't make sense when considering one's hierarchy of needs. Second, if you provide some level of comfort, it gives you both the carrot and the stick. You can always coax prisoners with more comfort as reward, but you can also take away comfort as punishment. And so, the living quarters--while tightly packed and air-efficient--were necessarily comfortable; at least to some degree. Cramped ceilings and water rationing would be a thing for solitary confinement as punishment, and all of that would take place far removed from the living quarters and their subtle and finely tuned comfort levels.

Three sides of this level, then, were dedicated to running the living quarters of the prison, and its upkeep. The cafeteria being located on one side of the cells, and all its automation, machinery, and maintenance corridors beyond. Its adjacent sides held the automation, plumbing, filtration, and maintenance for cells and restrooms. The remaining side opposite the cafeteria, held the corridors to other locations on the space station. While the "re-education" room was on this level, along with a few other administrative rooms, most of everything else was located on other levels. While stairs would indeed be quicker, and on the surface more energy efficient; the air it would take to circulate the stairway and the increased breathing rate of those traversing it would far outweigh the energy costs of lifts--not to mention the labor of policing access to various locations. And so, a system of lifts carried prisoners and guards alike to their locations. As prisoners filed toward these lifts, the cramped hallways began to fill as a queue formed for the lifts to carry small groups of no more than nine at a time; though usually eight was enough to make the lift feel crowded.

Dolly's large frame would have been noticeable when she stood up from the table, but now in a cramped hallway next to two comparably smaller figures; that Dolly was a larger woman was axiomatic. Obviously conscious of this fact, Dolly's posture belied her discomfort with this. She would typically stand with one leg outstretched, bent at the knee which allowed her body to slump and rest at a lower level on the other hip. Aided by some subtle slouching, this posture diminished some of her height while still creating some appearance that she was standing up fully. When walking, however, this illusion would give way to her full height, and even while trying to make herself short she still towered over most of the prisoners. She tended to squish her shoulders toward one another too, attempting to take up as little space as possible, especially when in tighter quarters. These intentional posture decisions at least partially explained why one could be forgiven for not noticing this about her when she was seated at a table. She wasn't so tall as to necessitate crouching, even with the lower ceiling of the corridor, but it did make her full six foot three inch height all the more blatant.

Anya, if she had noticed before, was completely nonchalant about being followed by someone close to a foot taller than her. She walked toward the lifts trying to stay cheerful. If I can just stay positive, maybe XJ's first day--at the very least--can be a good one. I can at least do that. "So, you know...at least they give us something to do, right? After so long in the dark, I had been worried that it would be all boredom and seclusion. But then there are things to do and folks to keep us company too. It's not too bad." Anya's tail kept close to her body as she smiled for XJ. "We'll just wait for this next one, and then we're off. It's huge in there, biggest ceiling in the place!"

Dolly and Anya seemed ready to get moving, so XJ finished the last of her plate of food--still not enough, even with the extras--and stood up with the rest, failing to notice until exactly then that Dolly was... tall. Like, really tall. And clearly uncomfortable with that fact. For being so shy and struggling so much with the situation, XJ had not imagined that there would be such a height difference, but especially next to Anya and XJ, Dolly was practically a giant, essentially as tall and taller than the Gloms. XJ's eyes grew wide, but she tried to contain her reaction. No point in making Dolly feel more self-conscious. But XJ did wonder how someone who had been so tall all her life would also act so meek. Strange, but XJ didn't spare it much thought other than that it tugged at her heartstrings. No one should be ashamed of their body like that.

On the way out of the cafeteria, XJ watched the others get some of the free coffee, and XJ was really, really torn about whether that was a good idea. Back on Nostraloma, XJ had to be careful with coffee. With her energy levels, a little dose of caffeine could practically stop time. What about while confined in a low-oxygen prison survival tank? Woof, with all the anxiety she already had and the emotions still rolling through her from both her long journey and the re-education, maybe adding jitters to all of that wasn't a good idea. Plus, if she worked herself extra hard today, wouldn't they come to expect that from her? But those extra food credits...

After waffling for what seems like forever--and after a groan from her stomach--she decided on a compromise with half a cup of coffee. At least it was an appetite suppressant, and XJ imagined that she would soon be grateful for that.

Drinking it down in one gulp so she didn't need to carry the cup with her, XJ then followed her two new friends through the claustrophobic corridors and toward the lifts, listening to Anya talk. XJ guessed that, yes, having company and something to do probably was better than the boredom of sitting in a cell day in and day out, but she still didn't understand Anya's pep about the situation. Maybe Anya really was just that determined to be an optimist. XJ shrugged.

"I could certainly use a break from these cramped quarters. What I wouldn't give to see the sky!" A pang of homesickness hit XJ's chest, but she pushed it aside. Soon, there would be work to do.

After the next lift came and eight of them filed onto it, XJ braced herself for what she would find next. How hard was this labor going to be? Hadn't Anya said something about math and coordination? XJ didn't exactly have either of those skills in large supply. But Anya had also talked about laser tools, and those... those were XJ's jam. Some part of her, despite the absurdity of the situation, was actually getting excited.