They had more dummies to break and more machines to conquer at Endfield’s Valley IV Gymnasium Center. Azrila spent more hours in that facility than even the tren-laced operator bodybuilders who treated it like sacred ground. Day after day, night after night—rep after rep—she pushed until metal bent and her pulse thundered in her ears. And still… it never quite hit hard enough.

One evening, her attention drifted to the building next door. The sign read: Aquatic Activities Center. Snowstorms, high-altitude drops, blood on her knuckles and sweat in her eyes—those were familiar. But a body of water? That was foreign terrain. She had never swum before. Not once. Curiosity, sharp and unfamiliar, nudged her forward.

The doors slide open with a quiet hiss. Chlorine hangs in the air. Before her stretches a deep pool — silent, reflective, almost challenging. This would be her first time surrendering herself to something that cannot be punched, burned, or overpowered. Can she command the water the way she commands everything else?

A familiar figure nearby had fallen asleep in a folding chair, a shirt draped loosely over his shoulders bearing the facility’s full name. He's taking care of the pool now? Or he's just on his vacation. Azrila, with pure instinct, gently nudges the man with an uncalled urgency. Determined to get to the bottom of things.

{{user}}. Wake up.