Zima: Strong Meets Stronger

Operator Record Strong Meets Stronger
Don't think too hard about it, just go and have some fun. Unlock conditions Raise Zima to Elite 2 Level 1. Have at least 50% Trust with Zima.

Characters
Dur-nar Leto Zima Infected Girl Infected Children
Backgrounds
1 2 3

“

An intense showdown is about to take place in Rhodes Island's training rooms. Who's going to land the title of knucklebones champion?!

”

<Background 1>
Dur-nar	Oh, good! Zima, Leto, over here!
[Zima and Leto runs toward Dur-nar.]
Dur-nar	Quick! No lollygagging!
Zima	What, you need me to beat someone up?
Leto	A fight? I'm in, I'm in!
Dur-nar	No, listen to me– I don't know what dimwit decided to flash the snacks in front of Dobermann, but I've got that, plus a bunch of the Infected kids in for introductory fitness extracurriculars! You take care of them for me, pretty please–
Leto	Ooh, Snack Network stuff!
Zima	You want me... to take care of kids?
Dur-nar	I wrote everything down for you here–!
[Dur-nar runs off.]
Dur-nar	Pretty pretty please–I'll promise I'll make it up to you with a nice meal–!
Leto	Wow, Instructor Dur-nar runs fast. Is she a Kuranta?
Zima	Why ask us to look after some kids?
Leto	Wait... yeah, why us? Do we look like babysitters? And it's teaching a bunch of little ones who just got to Rhodes? Uhh...
Zima	Agh. Pain in my ass.
[Zima settles down.]
Zima	Pssh... it's just for a day. We'll grit our teeth and bear it. Let's go.
Leto	Haha... yeah, uh... All praise to the indomitable General Zima, the only woman for the job...
[Leto runs off.]
Zima	Huh? Where are you going?
Leto	I'll leave you some honey! Not like I'm teaching a bunch of kids, they're all yours now! Yeah? Cool, we're cool? You've got this–
Zima	Hey! Kakovo khuya!
Zima	......
<Background 2>
[Zima stands before the classroom's door.]
Zima	(Just the thought of teaching a class gives me a headache.) (Oh... sounds pretty chill?) (Okay, lucky me.) ......
[Zima opens the classroom's door, only to be greeted by...]
Infected Girl	Hey, hey, hey, look over here, I'm giving the orders! You thought you could act the big boy here? I beat you in one hit! But you're alright, you're goon #1 from today! And you're #2, and you're #3! This is my turf now!
Zima	......
Infected Girl	Hey, new girl! You came in last, so you're the last of the goons!
Zima	......?
Infected Girl	I'm the boss now, you hear? That's what you're calling me!
Zima	(Uh-huh? She beat all these kids into submission. She's pretty solid.) (Wait, no, I've gotta turn that part of my brain off. This is my class to manage.) Who died and made this scrawny brat king, huh? (Maybe she'll behave if I beat her up?) (Ugh, I can't do that. I'm an educator now.) Hey, listen up, little punks! Your instructor's kind of tied up, so I'm filling in for today. Shape up! Memo... here we go. Hey, you, with the mouth, get down from the bunker! I don't wanna hear you crying when you fall off, I'm no medic.
Infected Girl	You don't talk to your boss like that, you goon! Cry, my butt! As if I'd ever fall off!
Infected Children	Yeah! Yeah!
Zima	(Argh. Hold it in. Don't hit her. Don't hit her.) "Make sure they stay safe while you teach them the names of the machines and how to use them. You can also let them try training with them. But it's all about safety first!" (Seriously, Dur-nar writes like her pen's trying to get away.) Hey, get over here. Instructor Dur-nar left you some homework... Why are you standing around up there? Pain in the... Listen to me, okay? Get down!
Infected Girl	No! I'm the only one allowed up here, because I'm the boss!
Infected Children	Yeah, yeah!
Zima	...... (I'm this close to going up there and slamming her face onto the deck!) The instructor asked me to help watch you guys. You can't be up there, it's dangerous! Get down, now!
Infected Girl	Hmph, who cares?
Zima	I said, get down!
Infected Girl	You're my goon, I don't listen to you! I'm your boss! You should be listening to me!
Infected Children	She's the boss! Do what she says!
Zima	Huh? You think I'm gonna do what you say? Do I seriously have to beat you up?
Infected Girl	You can't beat me~ I'll use my Arts on you! I don't see any rocks on you, so you can't use Arts~
Zima	(Argh, this kid! How am I supposed to fight the urge to slug her?! Ugh, I oughta drag Leto back here and make her suffer–)
Infected Girl	And I'm really strong! I don't need you to look after me! I want the Instructor!
Zima	Yeah, and your instructor told me to watch you!
Infected Girl	You're my goon, I don't need you!
Zima	...... (The harder I push her, the more obnoxious she gets?) (Wish Rosa was here. I can't do goody-two-shoes model student like she can. If that girl doesn't behave, the rest of these brats won't either...) (This is never gonna end... I need to get her under control.) You're strong, huh? I don't think so. If your instructor called me in, then I'm stronger than you, and that makes me the boss.
Infected Girl	Don't try to lie to us! I'm the boss!
Zima	Not if I don't listen to you. What do you say we have a little contest?
Infected Children	Contest! Contest!
Zima	If you lose, you have to do whatever I say. If you win, I'll be your goon!
Infected Girl	You're my goon anyway. I don't need to do any contests.
Zima	Oh, right, I'm already your goon, I... huh? (Did I just get duped? Ugh! This sucks!) If you don't accept my challenge, you're a coward, the lowest goon ever. You're just scared you'll lose. You're not fit to be the boss!
Infected Girl	Huh? I'm the boss, you're just a goon! Let's do it, we'll have a contest!
Zima	What are you good at?!
Infected Girl	Knucklebones! I'm the super-duper-best at knucklebones! I'll show you who's the boss!
Zima	Yeah, sure, we're on.
Infected Children	Fight! Fight!
<Background fades out and in>
Zima	I'm gonna show you what a real boss looks like, you're just a wannabe! (I've played knucklebones a billion times. This punk's never gonna beat me...) Alright, my turn! (Grab, toss, catch... flip, then catch, then toss, one, two, three, one...) Done.
Infected Girl	Hmph! Anyone can do the first round.
Zima	Alright, second round then~ (Toss, catch two, toss, grab one catch one, toss, then catch...)
Infected Girl	Drop, drop, drop!
Zima	(Like I would! Is this girl for real...? Oh?) (One, two, three, one... cool, cool, round 2 done.) Okay, round 3. Toss, grab, two, three, one...
Infected Girl	Drop! Drop! C'mon, drop!!
Zima	Read 'em and weep~ Check it out, I'm going for the last round now.
Infected Girl	Hmph, anyone could do that~ Like me!
Zima	(Phew–okay, stay cool.) (Alright, go! Grab seven, toss! Catch, toss four, then grab, then toss, catch, three, two, one, done!) Here goes the last move, kid~
Infected Girl	......
Zima	(Eight, flip, catch!)
Infected Girl	You dropped two you dropped two!
Infected Children	Two drops! Two drops!
Zima	Oh, man, lost it there. Pretty decent showing, though. Your turn. C'mon, punk, show me how you knucklebone.
Infected Girl	Hmph, I know, I know. Watch me. And don't call me punk. You have to call me boss.
Zima	Sure, Boss. Show me!
Infected Girl	...... ............
Zima	(Ooooh, she's got skills... pretty slick movement, no wonder she's so sure of herself... definitely pretty up there. Almost done, here goes...) Oh! You dropped three! You lose!
Infected Girl	......
Zima	Alright, get over here and listen up. Also, don't ever climb on the bunker again.
Infected Girl	Y–You cheated! That one didn't count!
Zima	What are you talking about? You're the one trying to cheat here! Sore loser!
Infected Girl	I'm not a sore loser! I'm not! I'm the boss, I can't be a sore loser!
Infected Children	She's not! She's not!
Zima	Hahahahaha! We can go again if you want!
<Background fades out and in>
Zima	One two three four five six seven... You grabbed seven. Progress, huh? But I got eight, so you lose again.
Infected Girl	......
Zima	Alright, now it's time to shape up.
Infected Girl	...Hmph.
Zima	Hm? (What? I busted my ass coming up with this and she's not even gonna keep up her end of the deal?) (Are all kids like this now?) If you don't make good on your word, then your, uh... goons #1 and #2 won't respect you as a boss, right?
Infected Girl	...... Fine. What do you want me to do?
Zima	Learn the names of the machines and how to use them, and if you want, you can try them out a bit.
Infected Girl	Alright, fine. Let's go.
Infected Children	You got it, Boss!
Infected Girl	......
Zima	...... (She looks beat. Is she depressed now? Yeah, okay, kids really are a pain in the ass!) You, uh, you're actually pretty good at knucklebones. I've just been at it longer than you, that's all. I got more practice. Shake your wrist on the last toss, and the stones turn out like this–makes a little forward-backward separation. Scatters less if you use the back of your hand to catch, lets you catch even more. Give it a shot.
Infected Girl	...... One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight... Huh, it does. ♪~
Zima	Real handy, right? All cheered up now? Let's get going, then. Learning time! Be good until Instructor Dur-nar gets back, and then I'll teach you the ultimate trick to knucklebones. You learn that, and you can beat anyone, anywhere.
Infected Girl	Really?
Zima	Don't see why I'd lie to you.
Infected Girl	Alright! You're the best, Miss!
Infected Children	She's the best! She's the best!
Zima	I'm not even teaching you, the hell are you chanting for? Listen up, class is in session! (Hah. Now I'm getting some respect.)
<Background fades out and in>
Zima	Alright, here we go. Pay attention. This is a barbell, this rack over here's called a 'Smith machine.' You fix the barbell inside these rails here. Why do you think we do that?
Infected Girl	So you can't take the barbell away?
Zima	Huh? No, the Smith machine restricts how the barbell slides, so it won't swing forwards or backwards while you train. That keeps your waist or knees from getting hurt. This way, you can do squats... just hold it like this, then make sure your knees don't go over your feet, breathe out and crouch, breathe in and lift. You can lie down here too, do presses, and buff up your arm strength. But you gotta watch out when you're training. Make your barbell too heavy and you can't lift it, and then if it crushes you, you're, uh. (Crosses throat and croaks) So be careful as you can. Got it?
Infected Children	Got it! If we make the barbell too heavy, it's gonna snap us in half!
Zima	Huh? Uh... I mean, yeah, it will if it's too heavy, so, real dangerous. Gotta watch out for that when you train. Then this thing's a pull-up machine, horizontal and parallel bars. Back to the brace, both hands firm on the handles, then rest your arms on the beams, lift your body into the air, and do crunches like this. Works out your abs. Uh... pretty hard to get injured on this. Anyone wanna try?
Infected Girl	Yeah, I wanna try!
Zima	Little high for you. Lemme lift you up.
[Zima gives the Infected girl a boost.]
Zima	Hup!
Infected Girl	I hold on here?
Zima	Yep, then elbows up, support your own body... You got it?
Infected Girl	Yep!
Zima	Keep your upper body fixed, back and waist straight, put pressure into your abs. Okay, legs straight, then lift them up with just your abdominal strength, breathe in, out... good.
Infected Girl	(Shaking heavily)
Zima	Oh, damn. You have Originium growing on your arms here. Don't chip it... does it hurt here?
Infected Girl	Don't touch me!
Zima	Don't panic on the rack! What are you gonna do if you hurt yourself?
Infected Girl	You don't grow stones, right, Miss?
Zima	No... I don't. What's up?
Infected Girl	Then you've gotta keep away from me.
Zima	C'mon, get down off the rack first. Why do I have to keep away from you?
Infected Girl	Because I'm sick, and people keep avoiding me, and hitting me with rocks. You're not growing stones, so why aren't you keeping away?
Zima	...... Forget that. There's a million people growing stones here, didn't Instructor Dur-nar tell you? Focus on your training! ...... ...... When they hit you with rocks, did you fight back?
Infected Girl	I did! Really hard!
Zima	Attagirl! Uh... but fighting's bad, still, so don't get into dumb fights anymore.
Infected Girl	Why?
Zima	Um... it's just bad. Listen, okay? No more random fighting from now on.
Infected Girl	Okay.
Zima	Alright, that's enough training on this machine. Instructor Dur-nar's gonna teach you the standard stuff to do some other time, so lemme show you around the rest of the machines.
Infected Girl	...... Miss, what's your name?
Zima	Huh? It's... Zima. My codename's, uh, Zima.
Infected Girl	Codename?
Zima	Yeah, I'm called Zima now. How about you?
Infected Girl	I don't have a codename yet... I'll tell you once I think of one!
Zima	Haha, sure.
<Background fades out and in>
Zima	Cool! Lessons over. You remember all that?
Infected Girl	Obviously! I'm really smart!
Infected Children	We remember! We remember!
Zima	You can keep doing this course with Instructor Dur-nar, if you want. Not bad to learn how to train a little. There's more than Instructor Dur-nar too. Other ops do some intro extracurriculars. You can go check them out, if you're into it. Also, Rhodes Island has a bunch of other kids around your age. Go play with them, it's no sweat. We're done. Just waiting for Instructor Dur-nar to come back now. Let me teach you that ultimate trick for knucklebones!
Infected Girl	The ultimate trick!
Infected Children	Me too! Me too!
Zima	Sure, get over here, all of you. Watch this. But you gotta pay attention...
<Background fades out and in>
Dur-nar	Heeey, I'm back! Got it all taken care of! No skin off my back!
Zima	Hi, Instructor.
Infected Children	Hi, Instructor.
Dur-nar	Oh, Zima, thanks for your help. I'll take you out to dinner in a minute~... uh, where's Leto?
Zima	Hah. She bolted as soon as she heard anything about kids.
Dur-nar	Hahaha, no dinner for her tonight then~ Talk to me, how did the classes go?
Zima	I taught them the names of all the machines and how to use them. They gave training a decent shot too. Great work all around.
Dur-nar	Solid. I can take it from here, so you go unwind.
Infected Girl	......
Zima	Sure, I'll put the machines away and stuff.
Dur-nar	Kids, gather 'round. Let me check what you've learned, and then class is out for the day.
Infected Children	Umm... This is a barbell, you put it on this rack, and you fix it, so you can train your leg muscles. If you lie down here and do presses, you train your arms. This is... That one's...
Dur-nar	Nice, you've learned a lot. Does anywhere hurt after training?
Infected Children	Nope!
Dur-nar	Come here, let me just make sure now.
[Dur-nar checks the Infected children.]
Dur-nar	...... Mm-hm, no injuries. Good work~ That's it for today, then. Everyone, back to your dorms, get some proper rest. You can head to the cafeteria tonight for some of your favorites. Take a walk around, too. Alrighty~, dismissed!
Infected Children	Bye, Instructor, bye, Miss Zima~
Dur-nar	Bye~
Zima	Yeah, see you.
Infected Girl	...... Is Miss Zima gonna leave now?
Dur-nar	Yep~ Today was a little special. Zima's done her duty. I'll be the one teaching you from now on.
Infected Girl	But... can Miss Zima come take the course with me?
Dur-nar	Oh? This kiddo's gotten surprisingly attached to you, hasn't she?
Zima	Sure... huh?
Infected Girl	You're not coming back again, Miss Zima?
Zima	Uh. Yeah, I was just kinda helping out here today, this stuff's all too basic for me. So I guess I... um... I won't be back. You listen to what your instructors tell you, get used to life at Rhodes. You'll have a good time.
Infected Girl	Oh...
Dur-nar	Haha, isn't that funny? I never expected this. Kiddo, what did she do that got you liking her so much?
Infected Girl	Miss Zima told me not to get into fights anymore, fighting is bad!
Dur-nar	?
Zima	......
Dur-nar	Mm-hm... oh-hoh... Zima says no fighting... pfff, okay, off you go, back to your dorm to rest~
Infected Girl	Okay... bye, Instructor, bye, Miss Zima... Miss Zima... I have class in this training room the day after tomorrow too.
[The Infected girl runs off.]
Zima	Mmwuh?
Dur-nar	Oh, there she goes. If I had to guess, you have no idea what she was getting at? She means she wants you to come see her, silly, hahaha! Just what did you do to make her fall in love with you like that? Why don't I get that kind of treatment...? Am I too scary or something?
Zima	......
[Dur-nar's phone rings.]
Dur-nar	Ehhh? Someone's calling me... I'd better get going. Here's my meal card. Go get yourself dinner. Just slip it under my door on your way back. Treat yourself!
[Dur-nar leaves.]
Zima	Sure. Thanks, Instructor! See you later!
<Background 3>
Leto	Haha! Found you! I've been looking all over! I got us a very special honey drink!
Zima	Gah! You've got some nerve, you know that?
Leto	Ah, knock it off! I've had this in my collection forever! Za nashu druzhba~
Zima	Hmph! You ran and left me with a pack of kids all day!
Leto	Hahahahahaha, that's our General Zima, friend to children everywhere~ Hahaha!
Zima	Yeah, if only I was as good as you at retreating, General Leto!
Leto	Okay, okay, no bickering in front of the honey... drink up, come on! If this isn't an apology, I don't know what is. Good, right? I told you it was from my private reserve!
Zima	Mm... it's pretty good.
Leto	Come on! Tell me what babysitting capers you got up to today.
Zima	What are you expecting? I just ran their class. But... the weird thing is, there was this little girl who kind of took to me, I think...
Leto	A little girl who approves of you? I don't suppose you beat up her friends and scared her into submission, did you?
Zima	Do YOU want a beating?!
Leto	Hey hey hey, no no, keep going keep going, I'm listening.
Zima	Thing is... she didn't want me to leave when class was over. Said she wanted me to go to the next one with her... I'm sure as hell not going, I already know all that stuff, but... ......
Leto	What's wrong? Swallow your tongue?
Zima	I can't figure out why.
Leto	Why what?
Zima	She actually seems to like me...? Why? I thought I was real strict, plus I embarrassed her by beating her in a game. Dunno about hate, but I didn't think she'd like me all that much... but then she wanted me to go to class with her? And I feel like I was sort of like, all, uh... you know. But she doesn't really seem to care, she just wants me to go again...
Leto	Glug, glug, glug... phaaah! Wanna know what I think? I think you're reading too much into it, and she thinks you're great and that's why she likes you, duh! And besides, why would she not?
Zima	...... ............
Leto	And that's why she likes you!!!!
Zima	We're in the cafeteria, keep it down!
Leto	Ulp! Quit shaking me! I'm drinking... I'm all d–d-d-dizzy, I'm gonna buy a water bottle and take my sweet time... Y–Y–You wait here for me...
[The wasted Leto leaves.]
Zima	Gah, you honey drunk gopnitsa. I'll be looking the other way the day you fall off the landship. ......
[Zima starts to get honeydrunk.]
Zima	Rrngh... specialty honey drink, seriously... Ulk. Head kind of spinning... ...... Oh, yeah... why wouldn't she like me? Honestly, not like I should care... those... those... that punk sure doesn't mind, so... ...I don't mind... Heheh.
<Background 2>
Two days later...
Dur-nar	Alright, our course begins today~
Infected Girl	Hi, Instructor.
Dur-nar	Why so gloomy?
Infected Girl	Um... no reason.
???	Guess who's here–!
[Zima enters the classroom.]
Zima	Hahah! It's your big girl, Zima!!
Infected Girl	??? –Yay!!!

See also

• Burning on a Winter Night