Issue 1 Downtime

Natalya eyed the suit the Danger Room had reproduced for her, dealing with old memories. But the doctor had insisted that if she was going to get into more 'vigorous' exercise that she wear something like it at least for a little while. This was modeled after the one she had first worn when she started working for SHIELD after her release from prison. It was designed to regulate her temperature, provide her with some protection, and, if what she was suspected was correct, allow SHIELD to completely lock her down if she got out of hand. She'd made sure the Danger Room included no such function in this suit and it was a lot leaner than the suit she'd originally worn having incorporated some advances that technology had made since then. She stepped back into the suit, feeling the confines close around her and the internal cooling kick in.

She frowned as she decided what to do next. "Computer, ice field. Uninhabited." The computer complied, creating the requested scene. She bent down, touching the surface even though she couldn't feel it through the suit. The ice rumbled and her hair faded as she closed her eyes. A giant serpent of ice slithered out of the ice ahead of her. As it came, it grew legs. It's scales slowly became more defined and it began developing a ridge down its back.

((Open))

A figure sat down in the observation room...observing.

The ice construct stopped in front of Natalya and she began walking around it, inspecting it. "If it's not too cold for you," she said without looking at the observation deck, "you're more than welcome to come in."

"I would not be interrupting? Then I shall come," she decided, heading down the stairs.

"Much nicer weather in here, da?"

"Indeed," she said, tapping one of the construct's forelegs before using her hands to make an adjustment. "Things still going well for you?"

"A bit quiet, but yes. Beginning to adjust well and all."

"So this is what you do?"

"I can just make it really cold, but animating ice is more fun."

"I can understand that. Nature takes care of the cold for you anyway, da?"

"Oh nature isn't capable of getting as cold as I can make things, but yes, usually nature takes care of most of it."

"I take it you do not just make ice sculpture for art though."

"It has other uses, yes," she said and the dragon construct scraped the ground with one foot, its claws creating small furrows.

"Very impressive. Why is it, then, we do not have an army of snowmen as our security here?"

"Because they require some of my attention to control and they don't really see on their own. I could keep an army of snowmen working the grounds, but I wouldn't be able to do anything else."

"Ahh. Well, that IS too bad. It would be a waste of your many talents."

"I appreciate..." The ice dragon stamped the ground in an impatient gesture and 'glared' at Natalya. She frowned back at it, "This... is new."

"Bad ice?"

"I don't know," she said. She clenched a fist and the dragon went back to a rigid statue. She stepped closer to it to give it a good look. "Like I said, they're not supposed to be undirected."

"Well, what is 'supposed' to happen rarely is so."

"Preaching to the..." That was the moment that the dragon back-handed her. The blow sent her tumbling across the surface. Thankfully the safeties were engaged, so it didn't actually hurt her, but it was still a surprise.

Anastasiya quickly moved to put herself between Natalya and the Ice Sculpture.

"Are you quite alright!?"

Natalya was slowly picking herself up, "Yeah, I'm alright. Nothing broken." She stared at the construct. "Did it do what I think it did?"

"That highly depends on what you think it did. If you think it just attacked you, than yes."

Natalya growled and gestured. Cracks appeared all over the construct and it crumbled into tiny pieces. "Just what I needed. More crap going wrong."

"More? What else are has gone wrong?"

"What hasn't lately?" She sighed, "I've only been doing this job for a little bit and I already feel like I need a vacation."

"Perhaps you need assistance?"

"It's possible. My skill set's rather unique though, and it isn't something you just throw in the want-ads."

"Feel you have to do it alone, da?"

"Not precisely that either. It's..." She took a deep breath. "... complicated."

"Things often are.

I won't tell."

"I appreciate it. The last thing I need is people hearing that my own powers are rebelling."

"Is this the first time this has happened to you?"

"Like this? Never," she said. "In high school they used to mimic my movements sometimes, but they've never turned on me."

"Hrm. Could it be something subconcious?"

"I don't think so, but I don't know. Things have been weird since I froze myself..." She, for lack of a better term, froze as she contemplated what she was saying.

"Froze yourself?"

"Another long story. Put myself in stasis with a hard freeze so that I could survive some nasty injuries."

"And you think that affected your constructs some how?"

"Don't know. Never done it before and it's not something the human body's supposed to be able to handle. It's possible I damaged something."

"In that case, you should see a doctor."