Had it not been for that memento, it might have been easy to imagine he’d never left the hidden base, and that his visit to the training arena had happened on another day completely. It was a bit like walking out from the dark of a cinema into broad daylight, the world of the film instantly banished to memory. In a way it was a mercy, as it meant he could also instantly stop feeling bad about the foul mood he’d inflicted upon the Reaper by mantelpiecing the poor guy ten-scud. What could he do? He was in a hurry. Time had evidently passed here though, as Sergeant Steel was no longer the only marine present. A small audience had been taking in the combat, one of whom caught his eye, immediately distinct not merely by standing separate from the others, slouched against the wall in a demonstrably unmilitary stance, but far more by being the only woman he had seen since before the scan. He recalled that there was a female player model among the options for customising your in-game avatar, but there were no women in the single-player campaign, and this one clearly wasn’t just another interchangeable NPC.
