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The Hunters might not be able to make up their minds if this was a military operation or not, but that didn't stop Davey from treating it like one. He got up early; he trained every day; he darned his own socks okay, he couldn't do that last one anymore, bit hard with only one hand. He lived on crappy, crappy sludge that someone further up the chain of command had decided to mis-label 'coffee'. He really had to talk to someone about importing some tea instead. Surely that would be harder to screw up.

On days following missions that hadn't gone well (ie. every single mission ever), Davey trained twice as hard. Rising with the sun, he'd gone on a long jog around the complex. It was still early morning when he returned, sweaty and thankfully missing his usual Hunter uniform - he'd have died trying to run for an hour or more in that thing. Davey wasn't done, though, and decided to head for the training grounds and do some work with Azrael.

For once, Azrael had no opinion on this, still happily snoozing away in Davey's head. (Just because the stupid human got up at ******** didn't mean Azrael had to.)

Approaching the grounds, Davey heard a voice. He almost turned around, not much a socialiser, but there didn't seem to be a spoken response. Just a single Hunter training early, Davey decided, not one of the larger groups. He could deal with that.

To see Evie as he entered was a surprise. "I'd thought you'd be resting," he said, mouth ahead of his brain, just as he so often despaired of Before for doing. At least it wasn't offensive - he thought. It had been Evie's first mission, after all. He would have thought the newest of the trainees would all be recovering slowly, not jumping straight back into things. Apparently not so, at least not for Evie. Davey respected that.

"How are you holding up?" he asked. "I lost track of you during the mission."

Any hint of censure in Davey's voice was actually directed at himself. He was the one with more experience, who was meant to be looking out for one of the new trainees. He should have kept a better eye on her.

Davey nodded along in the right places. It sounded like Evie and her weapon, Chara, had settled into a good partnership and a good training routine. Davey those both of those were important and boded well for Evie's success here.

"I'm fine," he reassured the girl. "I should have been the one keeping an eye on you, not that other way around. That's why we were paired up that way." One experienced trainee and one very-new trainee - despite Davey's concerns over the task the unknown Hunter had set then, at least she'd had some sense in pairing them up.

Considering the question took a minute. Better or worse from here? Who know, really. "I guess that depends," he eventually replied. "Like I said, I thought it was the worst mission we'd had so far. But others might disgaree. They might prefer it over having to fight monsters who can look close to human and try talking back to make you stop."

The mission into the haunted house had been an eye-opener for many of them, Davey knew. It was one thing to know that monsters were out there, and another thing entirely to have the monsters in front of you, calling you the horrific ones. No one wanted to die, Davey thought, not even monsters. Their thin veneer of humanity was just that - a trick designed to make the Hunters hesitate - but he wouldn't be surprised if it had worked on some of them.

Evie might find it harder to fight something that begged her to stop. No one would know until they faced it for themselves.

"I think time will help," he added. "The more you see out here, the more you realise that what we're doing is important. That we're doing the right thing for everyone. That can take a while to sink in properly." Even though they'd all had the recruitment spiel from Caelius back in their normal lives, it had all been theory at that point, even if they'd had proof. They hadn't had to face the darkness, to fight it one on one. But now they had their proof. And they had each other. That counted for a lot.

Davey shrugged. "That's just some people's fighting styles," he said. A few of the others had speed attacks, he remembered from weapons training and the large battles. Not to mention that when the enemy came at you, you did your best to dodge even if that meant you leapt and rolled all over the battlefield. "As long as you come out of it alive and without endangering your teammates, it's all fine."

Easy was the wrong word, Eva had that part right. "More used it, then. And some parts are easier than others, in comparison, even if they wouldn't be considered 'easy' on their own."

The first round of trainees were slowly growing used to the job. Some things still shocked and horrified them - the pit of corpses had turned everyone's stomach, Davey thought - but they were far from the wide-eyed children most of them had been when first recruited. And some of them were just plain crazy and seemed to enjoy the weirder stuff (Candace, anytime she looked at Caelius' scythe, like she was debating offing him and looting the corpse for the weapon - and, yeah, Davey could admit he was probably in the crazy camp, too, at least if you asked the others).

Davey gave Evie a faint half-smile. "It's good that you don't regret it. And yeah, I agree with you completely on that one." It was why Davey had become a soldier in the first place. And say what you like about the psychopaths running this place and all the crazy s**t they put the trainees through, but at least they were still letting Davey serve a higher purpose when his country would have sent him home on a disability pension if he'd lost his arm in basic training. There were worse places to be than the Hunters' island (even if it was very hard to think of any some days).

Davey balked at the mention of the island. He didn't know why he was surprised - it was the most common question the trainees asked each other, trying to find old alliances, or at least a familiar presence. That connection wasn't something Davey had with the others. Dead too soon, and then working on testing the remaining candidates. It hadn't made him many friends on the island, and likely wouldn't back here in 'real life', either.

"Ah, yeah," he answered eventually. "First one awake. And yeah, I was on the island. Originally Delta 7." He didn't expect any recognition, but paused a moment just to check. "And then I was a fake-Reaper, working for Caelius."

Hopefully no one was holding a grudge for that. Oh well, it had worked out well for Davey (apart from the arm).

As for their superiors... Davey took a moment to collect his thoughts. "Neither seem to be well thought-of. At least, not by the trainees, I don't know about the full-ranked Hunters. Caelius... He seems to have a temper. Very no-nonsense sort of guy. Most of the trainees you ask will probably either hate him or just not like. But following his orders without question is what got me through the island. So I'm grateful for that, and I'm willing to do the same here."

Not to mention, Davey could appreciate the Death Hunter's all-business outlook. There were certainly times he'd wanted to hit his fellow trainees for shooting off their mouths or for juvenile behaviour. Caelius got to actually do it, and Davey didn't blame him for doing so.

Davey's voice turned flat as he contemplated the other staff member. "Dr H is probably the bane of my existance. The man is sadistic, plain and simple. He also seems to have warped his assistant, Clarice, to share some of those traits, so I wouldn't spend too much time near him in case it's catching. All Caelius cares about is the mission, but all the doctor cares for is his next experiment, and there's no telling if that's for the good of anyone."

A blue scythe and a green whip flashed across his mind's eye. "They're both deadly, of course. And, as you said, our superiors. We follow their orders no matter what we think of them personally." Davey shrugged. It was like the army. Pray your CO wasn't a douche, but there was nothing you could do if he was except make the most of things and hope that one of you was eventually transferred.

Davey ran a hand through his hair. His lips twisted to one side as he wryly said, "And that was probably not in the least bit reassuring, right?"

Davey's mouth quirked. He wasn't sure he'd say 'recruited' that soon. It hadn't felt like there was any kind of guarantee back then. "Just another test, I think. Maybe I 'died' before they knew what to make of me."

And he still couldn't be sure just what he had shown that Caelius had approved of. Davey's seriousness? His willingness to follow any order, even if it was 'kill yourself right now'? ... His utterly annoying and slightly sadistic games to award the Hunter pendant? The world would never know.

"I don't think he's that kind of doctor," Davey looked alarmed at the very idea of Dr H treating their normal wounds and illnesses. You'd be more likely to come away injured from visiting the doctor. "I don't know if he made the bandages we use, or where they came from, but thankfully they seem powerful enough to fix most injuries." They couldn't grow back an arm, but nothing was perfect.

Davey shrugged his good shoulder at Evie's question. "I'm up early most days, to train. I haven't eaten yet, no." He could always take his run later, if Evie was heading for breakfast and wanted company. The first days here had been confusing for Davey, so he didn't mind trying to make it less so for someone else.

"No, not everyone wakes up." It was a sobering topic. There were still a lot of people left in the VR chamber. Maybe that number was growing, if Caelius or someone else was recruiting potential trainees from the normal world again. (Despite Hunter Island being a very real, human place, it was too weird to be considered part of the 'normal' world, in Davey's mind.)

"There were eight teams of twelve people," Davey found himself explaining as they walked. He almost missed a step when Evie linked her arm though his, but carried on and didn't break free. Between them, his mother and Sarah had trained him right. "And only nineteen of us woke up, that first time."

More had joined them over time. Jerry, the rude, weird guy had shown up at no particular time, just finally woken, either 'chosen' or 'won' whatever strange test came after death in the VR. Harrison at the same time. Then a break before the next round, of which Evie was a member.

But that left a lot still stuck in the strange pods.

"You were training to be a nurse? Nice." Davey could appreciate wanting a job that helped others. He'd done the same himself, though in the complete opposite direction. "I spent four years in the army. Was a Captain, and only a matter of time until the next promotion. So yeah, I know what you mean about leaving things unfinished."

Still, even a half-trained nurse was more than they'd had before. At least among the trainees, which were really the only other people they could trust here. No one wanted to take an injury to Dr H. Clarice was almost as suspect, through her association with the doctor. Caelius? Well, he'd probably just make any injuries worse, if someone complained to him about them. Aria had been the closest they'd had to someone vaguely approachable and it had turned out that she was the enemy. So the trainees were pretty much on their own.

Philosophy wasn't Davey's strong point, so he just shrugged. "That must be part of what they tested us for - who'd be able to stand living like we do now. The ones who'd regret it and wish to still be asleep... they're probably the ones still sleeping."

He'd be surprised if the Hunters didn't calculate and plan for that happening. Surely it had been a problem in the past - someone becoming aware of the monsters and saying they wanted to fight, but changing their mind once they experienced the reality of it. No wonder they'd taken the tests in golems: the full experience with none of the reality. People who didn't pass just kept dreaming. Some might consider it cruel, but to Davey's mind it wasd better than having to kill off anyone who wanted to leave (because no way would the upper eschelon of Hunters let people who knew any of their secrets leave).

Talking about the lives they'd left behind was actually a less depressing topic. At least they didn't regret their choices. "British Army, of course," he said, in case his accent hadn't made it obvious. He didn't volunteer the story of how he'd left the army. Time hadn't healed that wound, anymore than it did for his missing arm.

"So, since you're probably the person with the most medical training on the island, I guess we come to you if we have any problems?" he asked, only half teasing.