trans_9 | I don't know what you're going to do, but I have work to do.

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I don't know what you're going to do, but I have work to do.

People dealt with things in different ways. In Mindy's case, she had continued severing people in the cafe. The hours were rough, her sleep patterns shifted, and she had told herself to take it easy after the ejecting from the Sensoriums by Overlord Zetta. Much like a bartender though, working in the kitchens meant hearing people's conversations, and that led to the topic most people were talking about: the Daligig, the former crew and the inevitable fight for the ship. This wasn't just gossip: it was legit information, and while she could skim over Howard's really long summary, it was Allenby's that hit home. Sure, she had that dumb phobia about tech that was irritating, but she was truthful.

And that meant training time had to happen. NOW.

She didn't waste any time either. Quick to the Sensoriums, Hit Girl costume on and the simulation began ten minutes after intense push ups, stretching and a little running.

She learned something in the past few weeks: the only way to really train yourself was to push, and that push had to keep going and going and make you better. So now she was back again against the Daleks, testing her ability to dodge and run and make things fall on them. Then came that duel with Aqua, where she got much, MUCH better with a blade. Then she was back to attacking SAINTS and the hark robots, making sure there were twice as many.

But the grand finale? Shadow Zetta, unstoppable, merciless, and constantly coming at her. Even in the aftermath of broken robots and a beaten Aqua, she couldn't come close to landing a hit on shadow Zetta that mattered. Yet here she was, going at it again and again, and somehow, the audience were smug looking members of the Daligig, looking like Ceasars at a lion feeding.

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"How I caught it? Well, knives get thrown at me all the time: kinda have to be aware of any projectile at a moment's notice there. Then catching it, well, you have to hold at just the right way, otherwise your finger sinks into the blade and you cut yourself. It's all about reflexes and knowing yourself."

"Reflexes are unconscious by definition," Morgan said. "They don't allow for things like careful positioning of your fingers."

"No, but you have to think quick anyway. Once I saw the flash and knew what was being tossed at me, I figured it was a knife, It moves slow enough that I have half a second to think. It's not something you can think about anyway."

"Exactly," Morgan said, nodding. "That's the beginning of it. Thought and action become identical. Your decision to catch it was conscious, intentional, and immediately acted upon. The same for dr -" ...right, she wouldn't exactly have learned to drive yet. "For firing a gun; when you first start learning, you have to think about what you're doing. Holding it steady, aiming it, deliberately pulling the trigger. With time and practice, though, the process of firing a gun becomes as innate as, say, taking a step."

"Were you going to say driving?" Hit Girl asked. "Yeah, I guess that is a fair comparison. I haven't driven a car in awhile though. Now that you mention it, it might be a good idea to surprise someone."

Yup, when she met up with Ruffnut, it was time they went on a ride. Back to Morgan though.

"Ok, now I see what you mean. So doing what you do takes thought, but once you actually get it down, you never forget it."

Morgan made a mental note to keep the Infinity safe and out of the way for a while. "That's pretty much it. The mind commands, the body does, and there is no separation between the two. To master that, you learn to live all life like that. There's training to be found in every single thing that you do."

Yeah, that might be a good idea, although she wasn't exactly a reckless driver, it was just that it was her, really.

"Like to say I knew that much, but I really only do in theory. Actually applying all of that is still something I need to learn to do. I'm starting to get it though, I know that: its just that there's something in my head that still clings to the shit I know to be the real, you know?"

"That's why you work up to it. Unity of mind and body is only the first part, after all. And it's the easiest part, even if it's a process that you'll likely never perfect. There's always more to learn."

"That I can believe," Hit Girl said, sighing. "And it was sort of something that Negi was trying to teach me too. I kinda feel bad I didn't pay more attention, or I wouldn't have to be learning this the hard way."

"This part? You'll do just fine with. It's the next part you're going to have trouble with, and I don't say that meanly. Finding harmony between your mind and your heart is a royal bitch," he said.

There was a lot of stuff that Hit Girl was more than willing to do, and he had watched her go through training her body, failing and trying again and again without question. About the last thing she expected was to hear anything about her heart pop up.

"Harmony between your mind and heart? How does...what does yoiur heart have to do with that stuff?"

"You wouldn't understand anyway. You'll never reach that level," he said, with a deliberately casual shrug as he watched her from the corner of his eyes. Morgan didn't like lying to her, especially not to be deliberately hurtful, but this -- he knew very, very clearly -- only came from tempered experience.

"Wait a minute!" Hit Girl didn't like this implication at all, and had she been really paying attention, she might have realized that Morgan was saying that to her on purpose. But as adult as she sometimes acted, Hit Girl was still susceptible to being played. "Why the hell wouldn't I reach that level? Why wouldn't I understand?"

Exactly.

Morgan lifted an eyebrow, gave her a moment, and then smiled. "Was that really a remark at all in keeping with how I've treated you thus far?"

Crap, that caught her off guard. Granted, she should have seen it coming, but still.

"No, but I actually take what you says seriously, fucker!" She hgave him a shoulder punch, a standard I'm not mad at you gesture from Hit Girl. "But most people don't really compliment me on my strength of heart."

"Your head knew better than to take what I was saying at face value," he said, tapping her forehead. "But your heart didn't, it only heard an insult, and your heart is what reacted. You see?"

"I wasn't that bothered," hit girl mumbled, but even she knew that was a lie. Morgan was someone who's opinion she valued as much as the Overlord's or Lash's. "The idea that you thought I wasn't able to do it just struck a chord, ok?"

"You were so." If she wanted to understand this, then hell yes, Morgan was going to call her on it. "That's the point. You don't have that level of internal harmony yet."

"All right, fine," Hit Girl said. "I actually thought for a moment that you doubted what I could do.I don't think that proves it, but I know that I don't have that harmony though. I feel like my heart and my head say different things, and usually my head wins out."

Usually? Well... let's not go there.

"There you go. That's exactly the sort of division you need to learn to overcome."

That Hit Girl even admitted it was a step in the right direction.

"Well in that case, how do you think I'm going to be able to do that?"

"Time, experience, patience, reflection, and self-examination." The fact that she couldn't just achieve it with some level of training or study, he suspected, would gall her... but that itself was a lesson.

"That not even a time ta-nevermind," she said, shaking her head. "If I wasn't used to this kind of answer from you, I might still get pissed off. But obviously I'm not gonna get anywhere without leveling up on my own, am I?"

"It's fundamental personal growth and maturity, you can't exactly schedule that," Morgan said with a bemused smile.

"No, I guess not," she sighed. "Although I think my body would beg to differ. This puberty shit is getting old real fast."

She leaned against a post. "What a work out."

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