All the ducks were swimming in the water, black silhouettes against the blue and orange contrasting backgrounds of sky and lake below. Orange was the setting sun, blue was the water. Sometimes, the two were reversed, reflections of each other. Lenna didn't quite get it. It was there, all the same. A cool wind swept through her hair. Suddenly, one of the fowl black silhouettes took flight, wings extending to catch the breeze. A shot rang out. The silhouette dropped into the suddenly-orange with a splash. The duck flickered out of focus, reappearing a second later as a mugshot poster hovering in the air in front of her, with where she'd hit the bird outlined in red. Lenna took note.

The image dismissed itself. Lenna's gun-hand dropped. She mimed reloading, and the gun reloaded itself. She still wasn't used to the methods this room utilized to simulate environments and objects. It was disconcerting.

It had been a while since her first adventure in this training area. Aimless wandering had brought her here, to scope it out before she took any others. She wanted to be knowledgeable, so she wouldn't make a fool of herself. She'd made a fool of herself, nonetheless. She'd come on a Thursday. Mondragon Labs secretaries were practicing Judo.

It is important to note, here, Mondragon Labs secretaries are both skilled in Judo, and Evil. Lenna happened to be skilled in various forms of self defense. Those skills failed to prevent her rear from contacting the mat. She'd taken it upon herself to make training with them a weekly thing, some time after that. What better way to remove the rust on her own skills than to train with those more skilled than her in a specific style? She'd also started training in marksmanship, and exercising in the Mondragon Labs training facilities, secretively.

That's what she was up to, today. One benefit, she'd discovered early on, was the lack of need for actual ammunition. The room somehow replicated both environment, and the objects within. It also cut down on the need for wall repairs.

Lenna's eyes focused on the line of silhouettes again, through the goggles. Another shot rang out, muffled by earphones.

Replicated down to the exact sound of the gun... Definitely freaky.

((OOC: Timeframe: After Romania, before Drug Plot kidnapping of Henrietta.))

Today’s goal was fairly simple. Deliver information. It was only the second day Alexandra Kettler spent back to America and with her return being almost a secret for the Mansion Residents the molecule manipulator had decided to pay a visit to Slate and update him on the situation in Romania. Luckily, she had good news to deliver.

The red and black Audi R8 stopped in front of Mondragon Labs Medical and moments later, the figure of Alexandra Kettler emerged from the car. Closing the door behind her, she walked away from the car, behind her, a beep signaling that her precious was locked and safe.

Less than a minute later the girl was inside the Labs, stopping in front of the reception. The secretary interrupted her business to look up at Alexandra, a smile that her job probably required lingering on her lips. “Good afternoon. How may I help you?”

“I am here to see Slate. Tell him that..” Alexandra paused for a few moments before speaking again. “… Circe is here.” She didn’t use her codename much in America but considering the past encounters with her boss, she preferred to give that name. The secretary turned to the computer after nodding slightly in the molecule manipulator’s direction – Alexandra wasn’t sure if presenting yourself by your codename made the secretary not ask any other questions or if Slate had given a list of the Kabal members to the receptionist but she didn’t care. She preferred to just enjoy the efficiency.

Seconds later, the secretary was looking back at her. “Mr. Slate is currently training. Room Three. Do you know where the training area is or should I ask someone to accompany you there?” Did Alexandra know where the training area was? She was fairly certain she remembered the way there from the only time she had trained on Kabal territory. “Yes. Thank you.” And Alexandra spun on her heels, ready to re-explore the Labs on her way toward the Training Area.

Little did she know that after she had left the room, the secretary had called her, the woman herself having a new piece of information to deliver. Mr. Slate wasn’t in Room Three.

The trip to the Training Area proved to be uneventful. Surprisingly, Alexandra remembered correctly the turns and corridors that leaded toward her target and soon she was standing in front of a door labeled with a ‘3’. The said door opened in front of the molecule manipulator and Alexandra stepped in.

BANG!

Unlike the more fortunate occupant of the room, Alexandra did not have earphones on. Her ears didn’t enjoy the sound. With a frown and a desire to rub her ears to at least try to get rid of the creepy sensation, Alexandra searched for the other occupant of the room.

Well…

In case Slate hadn’t decided to let his hair grow and develop a feminine figure in the months Alexandra hadn’t seen him then she was in the wrong room. Or Slate was in the wrong room. Anyway. Giving another glance to the back of the female inside the room, Alexandra decided it was time to leave.

That was the last one, Lenna noted, as she lowered her gun.

She repeated the line one of the people had taught her to end the session. "Simulation, end." The shooting range vanished, as did the headphones, goggles, gun.

The sound of footsteps suddenly caught Lenna's attention, and told her something important. She was not alone. Lenna glanced towards the entrance. A woman stood there. Lenna arched an eyebrow.

"Hello? Can I help you?" Something about the woman's face seemed familiar, but she couldn't instantly place it. Lenna wondered who would interrupt her training session, and why.

Her plan of getting out of the room and exploring further the training rooms to find Slate or simply get into the car and mind other business for the day – she hadn’t decided yet – was … interrupted. Alexandra spun on her heels, just in time to see the scenery fade away into nothingness. Also, the face of the woman that was standing in the room. She wasn’t very surprised when her mind did come up with a name that could be associated with the said face. “Lenna?” It was more of a statement than a real question. She was pretty sure that her skill of assigning a name to a face didn’t get too rusty just yet.

>>“Lenna?”

"Alexandra." Name statement met name statement. A familiar face from Romania she wasn't expecting to see today. What a surprise.

"The last I saw you, we completed our mission. What happened? Did you get thrown into the camps with Slate?"

Alexandra had been her partner. She'd vanished after one mission. Lenna had checked the woman's room. She'd been absent. Otherwise, Lenna would have contacted her to aid them in Sebastian's plan. She looked healthy. Lenna supposed any scarring left by the Romanian camps was, perhaps, invisible to the naked eye. Or maybe, she was looking in the wrong places.

Lenna crossed her arms. "What's up?"

“Unfortunately, yes.” A short answer. And Alexandra left it like that. Camps were a sore subject.

Oh well. Since she actually knew the woman in the room, no point in standing in the door. She took a step forward, allowing the doors to close behind her. “I was looking for Slate. Have to keep him updated on what’s happening in Romania.” Her lips shifted to form a smile. “I was told he’d be here.” Maybe she was quick to judge when it came to the efficiency of the Mondragon Labs’ receptionist.

“How are you?” The smile changed into a smirk. “Having fun with the simulators?”

So, her suspicion had been confirmed. Her dear old consort had been locked away in the same prison their boss had made his home. The same tomb Lenna sprung him from. That meant she'd released Alexandra as well. Alexandra owed her, and she didn't even know it yet.

That wasn't the kind of thing one brought up in idle talk, though, however amusing the thought.

"Sorry. I don't know Slate's current location," Lenna replied. "Perhaps he's training with the secretary squad? I took a break from that today. Tired of falling," She made a face. "Figured I'd practice my marksmanship instead."

"The simulators are interesting. Very good for training... though, I could do without the excess special effects... it's like an acid trip with water fowl..." She sighed.

Which brought her to her next statement. "I'm curious. Do you shoot?"

So Slate was training with the secretaries… falling too? Another thing on her ‘to see’ list. Alexandra chuckled lightly. A short nod followed at Lenna’s comment about the simulators. Too bad she’d never seen the Danger Room. She inclined to believe that it was slightly more impressive than any other training room out there. But then again, the Mondragon Lab’s training facilities weren’t too far behind. Alexandra briefly remembered the one time she’d trained here. And ended up with a nice laser burn, too.

"I'm curious. Do you shoot?"

Alexandra’s attention was shifted back to Lena. “Uhhh, no.” Shrug. “I’ve always considered that having my mutation is enough.” Tilting her head to the side, she smirked slightly. “But after finding out that people with your talents exist and that my mutation doesn’t prevent a shock bracelet from doing its magic, I’ve started to change my mind.”

Alexandra looked around the room thoughtfully before letting her eyes rest back on Lenna. She’d been training in self-defense arts for a while now… Maybe… Oh, what the hell, it didn’t hurt to know how to shoot a gun too. And Lenna did look like someone that was skilled with guns.“So. I’m already here… and not in the mood to go look for Slate. Maybe you can show me a thing or two?”

She didn't, but she wanted to learn. That was what Lenna got from Alexandra. "It's a handy skill, to be sure." Lenna noted. It certainly helped to have something to fall back on, when and if your main method of fighting became unusable.

Plus, guns. They were cool.

>>“So. I’m already here… and not in the mood to go look for Slate. Maybe you can show me a thing or two?”

And there she went, agreeing with her. Guns were cool. It couldn't hurt to increase one's skills in them. "Certainly," Lenna replied. "But before we begin, you need to understand three basic starting rules. Number 1. Be careful where you point. Don't point it at anything or anyone you wouldn't want to shoot." She looked Alexandra in the eye. It was a self-explanatory rule.

"Number 2, always keep your finger off the trigger until you're ready to shoot. This is important. You might have to spend a bit of time practicing where you put your finger. I know it took me a little time getting finger placement right. The finger has to rest just above the trigger and trigger guard..."

"And number 3, always keep the gun unloaded until ready to use. At least, starting out." Lenna stated. "Once you're good enough to handle it, maybe you'll get to carry one around concealed. In that case, you'd be carrying it for protection, and ready to use as soon as you left your home. Until then," She donned a serious face. "I don't want to hear about you playing with guns outside this training room." If she was going to take on the role of teacher here, she ought to wear the teacher's attitude.

Lenna walked over to the holodeck's panel, and ordered up an unloaded training gun. It was heavy, fake, yellow, and made of plastic. Lenna looked to Alexandra. "If you've got all those rules, we can go over the parts of the handgun... do you?"

Alexandra nodded when Lenna mentioned the rules. And while listening she also moved away from the door, close to Lenna. Okay. Rules.

Rule number 1. She got it. Really, self-explanatory and it didn’t apply to guns only. Alexandra didn’t use her mutation offensively on someone she didn’t want to hurt or something she didn’t want to destroy either.

Rule number 2. Almost got it. Uhmmm, trigger, she could recognize. Trigger guard? Maybe when she got a gun in her hand she could actually guess where that was. Somewhere next to the trigger, she assumed.

Rule number 3. Heh. Maybe she’ll get to practice with guns in some sort of other training room, with others skilled in guns. Would Lenna mind that? Actually, would Lenna find out about that? Anyway, Alexandra nodded.

“Got it.”

She glanced at the gun in Lenna’s hand. Yellow. And plastic. It looked horrible. Well, fortunately, when she’d be skilled enough, she could get herself a cool looking one. Till then, she was guessing which part was the trigger guard.

"Alright, first off." She walked over to Alexandra, and placed the yellow gun in the woman's hand. Lenna tapped the guard over the trigger with her index finger. "Guard. Guarded by guard, trigger."

She went on from there, explaining each and every part of the handgun. The muzzle, the barrel, the grip. Finally, she showed Alexandra the action. The action was important. It contained the hammer, trigger, and cylinder.

Once she was done describing the basic parts, Lenna smiled. "Now, show me how you think you should hold it."

((OOC: The next scene can be Lenna correcting Alexandra's holding of the gun, with thumb and finger placement. After that, we could time skip a little bit Lenna's going to describe to Alexandra the parts of the cartridge - case, bullet or projectile, power, and primer. Then, we can teach her how to load and unload bullets. I'll want to show her for revolvers and semi-automatics.

They can practice the safe carry methods, and a good stance for aiming and shooting. Fun stuff.))

Like a good student she was, Alexandra paid attention. Apparently, the trigger guard was where she suspected it would be. Slightly proud of herself, she repeated each part mentally as Lenna named each of them, letting her eyes rest for a few moment on every part.

"Now, show me how you think you should hold it."

Alexandra nodded. She’d seen a few movies. So she recalled one that had lots of guns in it – not a very difficult task since most of them had. She also guessed that movies weren’t the most accurate source of information she had but that was why Lenna was there. To correct her if she was wrong.

Three fingers were wrapped around the gun. Her thumb, slightly tensed was bent until it almost touched her middle finger. The index finger rested just above the trigger and the trigger guard like Lenna had said. Checking the position of her fingers once more, Alexandra looked up at Lenna. “Like this?”

For each type of gun, there were suggested grips. Some people preferred one over another. Lenna was much the same. She watched Alexandra demonstrate the grip she thought was correct. Andrea was close, but...

"Let me demonstrate the different kinds of grips. Some are better than others, depending on what kind of gun you use. The key thing in handgun grips is to find something that feels right. It needs to be comfortable. It also must allow access to key controls, let you pull the trigger, and prevents movement of the gun during recoil."

"First things, first." She held up her index finger on her right hand. "You want to engage the face of the trigger with either the first pad or the joint on your index finger. You want to be able to apply an even amount of pressure, pulling the trigger all the way so that the hammer or striker releases."

Lenna looked up towards the ceiling. "Computer. Give me a revolver." She held out her hand. A revolver appeared within. This one had a black grip and polished chrome. "You grip a revolver with the strong hand, web of the hand high on the backstrap just below the hump. The barrel should be in line with the axis of the forearm." She demonstrated. "You hold the trigger like I said, with the first pad, the or joint. For single-action shooting, the thumb should be placed high on the frame alongside the hammer. In this position it can also be used to cock the hammer."

"For double action, change the thumb placement. Lock it down," She pressed it against the side of the grip, "Like so, to provide maximum leverage for the index to control the long, heavy trigger pull."

"For a two-handed revolver grip, don't change anything up. Cup the supporting hand around the strong hand, keeping it in place with a good grip. That helps provide you with a steady platform for trigger control. The thumb of the supporting hand can either be placed on top of the strong one, or laid across the back of the wrist, just like this." Lenna said, showing Alexandra as she spoke. "From either position the supporting hand thumb can be used to cock the hammer for single-action fire."

"With the auto pistol grip," Lenna looked to the ceiling. "Computer, replace revolver with auto pistol. Thank you." She continued, with the new gun. "You take the gun up in the strong hand the same way, with the web of the hand placed high into the tang of the backstrap with the fingers wrapped firmly around the frontstrap. Engage the pistol the same way, first pad, or joint, to apply strong pressure. Use a high thumb position, like this."

Again, she showed the proper grip.

"With double-action pistols, a lower thumb hold can be used to help control the heavy, long trigger pull. And with the two-handed hold, the supporting hand is cupped over the strong hand, with fingers laid over those gripping the pistol to form a platform under the trigger guard. Place the thumb of the supporting hand over, or alongside, the thumb of the strong hand... and make certain," She looked Alexandra in the eye, "The supporting hand's thumb isn't placed across the back of the wrist of the strong hand... because, therein lies trouble. When you hold it that way, the thumb can get hit by the cycling of the slide during firing. And we do not want that. Got all that?"

She waited for an answer.

Alexandra paid attention to the demonstrations Lenna provided more than anything. Position of fingers, hands, arms, shoulders, body. Also, memorized the things she shouldn’t do and the tips on what she should do. When Lenna was done with explaining the grips, Alexandra nodded.

“Got that. But, explain single-action, double-action. She glanced at the gun in Lenna’s hand for a moment before talking again. “Also, what do you suggest me to use? Revolver or auto pistol? What are the advantages and disadvantages of both?”

"Good questions," Lenna stated. She lowered the gun to rest at her side. "Single-action guns refers to the trigger. In single-action triggers, the trigger performs a single action. They release the hammer to discharge the gun when they're pulled. Double-actions cock the hammer, then release it. With revolvers, the trigger also rotates the cylinder."

"Single-action semi-automatic pistols require that the hammer be cocked before the first round can be fired. This can be accomplished by insertion of the magazine, and operating the slide mechanism to chamber the first round. One the first round's fired, the recoil of the slide cocks the hammer for subsequent shots. Once it's ready to fire, shots can be fired one after another until the magazine is empty. An example of a single-action pistol that works this way is the M1911. I'd recommend something like that. Semi-autos are nice. Single-action revolvers require the hammer to be hand-cocked every time."

"The difference between Semi-automatics and revolvers is that, while revolvers use multiple chambers and barrels to accomplish the act of firing one cartridge to each pull of the trigger, the semi-auto accomplishes the same feat with one chamber, and one barrel. Reload is done semi-automatically, via the recoil. As far as advantages, I dunno." Lenna looked to Alexandra. "But semi-autos are way cooler. More modern. I'd go with the sleek panther modern over the old school, any day."