CD & EA 1.26 - Learning to Fall (Patreon)

A little more training time for Juliet. Happy to hear your thoughts! :)

Regarding the cover/title: Looks like it's back to the old drawing board for me. Between the poll with you all and the one on RR, it's clear that my new version was not the fix people think the story needs!

Thanks for all the comments, suggestions, and ideas in the comments for the poll, though :)

Cheers,

Plum

“What do you mean by dangerous?” Angel asked Juliet. The ride to the dojo was a quick one, so Juliet sighed and tried to be more direct.

“I mean, I think it’s great how you can help me, and I want you to keep it up, but when I’m learning new things, maybe I shouldn’t get them perfect on the first try. Let me struggle a little, get at least partially right before you start stepping in, and then I want you to slowly help me improve—like maybe my tenth try could be perfect.” Juliet laughed at the absurdity of her statement.

“I think I understand, Juliet. You’d like your improvement to be more believable.”

“That, and I want to have to work for it a little. I want to feel like I’ve earned some of the skills I’m bound to pick up. Like with the shotgun and how I hold the pistol, you told me what to do. You didn’t just take over for me.”

“I hadn’t unpacked my training protocols at that point, Juliet. Having seen your teammates in combat, I could help you to perfect your weapon stance even more now that I’ve activated the requisite algorithms and synaptic connections.”

“Yeah, that’s fine, but, like I said, let me do some stuff on my own along the way. As I start to improve, dial back how much you help me, too. I think you already do that, right?”

“Yes, my protocols are designed such that as you gain mastery, I automatically reduce my assistance.”

Juliet sighed and nodded, letting her mind wander a bit. She was nervous and excited about the class, and she couldn’t really figure out why. She knew why she was excited—it was going to be fun to learn to defend herself with the knowledge in the back of her mind that she’d pick things up quickly. She supposed she was nervous because she’d liked the vibe of the dojo, and didn’t want to do something wrong, didn’t want to be stuck with her “outsider” status.

When the AutoCab pulled up outside the old strip mall, Juliet hopped out, her gi clutched under her arm, and hurried through the parking lot and into the building. She was ten minutes early, and her apprehension melted away when she saw that Honey was inside the door waiting for her. “You came!” Honey said with a bright smile, little lines crinkling around her eyes. Juliet absently mused that she’d end up with the same lines as her uncle, Temo.

“Of course!” she responded, smiling back. She held up the gi and said, “I need to change, though!”

“C’mon, we still have time,” Honey said, turning toward the locker room door. Juliet followed her, noticing ten or fifteen people were already on the mats performing stretches. “Don’t worry; Sensei will have one of us lead the class through some stretches before we start.”

“Cool,” Juliet said, and then they were through the door and in a short hallway with swinging doors on the left and right. Honey walked through the door on the left, and Juliet followed.

“Most of the men use the locker room through the other door. This good for you?”

“Yeah, this is good.” Juliet walked over to a bank of plasteel lockers along one wall and asked, “Can I use any of ‘em?”

“Yeah, just stare at the little lock after you close it, and it’ll set to your retina. It resets every time you open it, so be sure to relock it if you forget something.” Juliet nodded and started to undress. Honey sat on a bench and made a show of looking at something in her AUI, but Juliet didn’t care—Fred was cheap and only provided one locker room at the salvage yard, and she’d grown used to people seeing her in her underwear on the infrequent occasions she’d made an effort to bring a change of clothes to work.

After she’d stowed her clothes and gear and stood before Honey in her gi, she held up the belt and said, “I take it there’s more to this than just tying it in a bow?”

Honey stood up and laughed, “Yeah, unless you want Sensei to have a fit.” She took Juliet’s belt, folded it in half, and walked behind her. “It’s really easy once you’ve practiced it a couple of times. Watch my hands,” she said, and then, standing behind Juliet, she went through the motions, putting the belt fold right at the center of her waist, looping it behind her and back to the front, then slowly showing her how to make the knot through the belt layers. “See? Easy!”

“It sure looked easy, but you might have to help me one or two more times,” Juliet laughed, tugging on the ends of the belt, making sure it was tight.

“‘Course I will,” Honey said, wrapping an arm over her shoulder. “Let’s get out there and start stretching, partner!”

Juliet was surprised by how the class started that day. She thought she’d be relegated to learning some fundamental things that everyone else knew, that she’d be separated out and taught some basic principles. It didn’t seem to go that way, though. Sensei wasn’t even on the mat when class began.

The class started with one of the students, a lanky woman in her thirties, leading them all through some stretches, something Juliet was very grateful for because she still had many stiff muscles from her work at the gym and, likely, from sprinting around, crouching to avoid gunfire the night before. The woman would say the stretch name, everyone would drop into it, and then they’d all count down aloud with her, usually starting at ten. Juliet simply mimicked Honey and the people around her.

After stretching, Sensei came into the room and split them into partners. Juliet had wanted to work with Honey, but Sensei wagged his finger at her and put her with a stocky, bearded man named Grant. Grant looked to be a decade or two older than Juliet, had a very realistic cybernetic hand, and a bulky, complicated-looking data terminal built into his forearm. By way of greeting, he said, “Try not to punch my rig—it’s hard as fuck.”

“Your rig?” Juliet asked, like a dummy.

“Yeah, my jack-deck.” He tapped the bulky plastic screen protruding from his arm.

“Oh, you’re a netjacker?”

“Yeah,” he said, but he turned away from her to listen to Sensei.

“We work on throws today. Slow and steady is the winner of the race today! Perfect and slow is better than sloppy and fast. You get faster with practice, yes?”

“Yes, Sensei!” most of the students immediately responded. Sensei then modeled the throw he wanted them to work on. Apparently, his dojo didn’t refer to throws by names that Juliet could recognize; they were all colorful adaptations that Sensei’s father had created and taught to his son and other students.

The first throw they practiced, Sensei called “Tsunami’s Grip.” He beckoned for an older man, easily the largest in the dojo, to come forward as a demonstration partner. Before he did anything, though, he took the student’s wrist, holding it above his head, and turned around in a slow circle, making eye contact with all the students.

“You see Thomas? You see how his arm is over my head? You see that he makes Sensei look very small?”

“Yes, Sensei!” most of the students replied, and Juliet tried to join in but barely caught on in time to quickly mumble, “Sensei!”

“Size helps in a fight, but form helps more. Watch as Thomas tries to stop the Tsunami’s Grip!” Sensei let go of Thomas’s arm and nodded. Thomas took a fighting stance, crouching low, hands up, and faced Sensei. Sensei nodded, and then like flowing water, he stepped into Thomas and grabbed onto his gi collar. Thomas reached an arm out to return the grip, but Sensei, faster than a snake’s strike, grabbed him behind the reaching arm, pivoted, so his hip bumped Thomas off balance, and then he rotated. A fraction of a second later, Thomas flopped onto the mat with a thunderous slap.

“Did you see? Did you see the mongoose move through my limbs? Even a big snake will fall to the mongoose!” He reached out a hand and helped Thomas to his feet. “Go now with your partner. Today we will perfect this throw.”

Juliet backed away from the circle of students along with everyone else and moved toward a corner of the mat, following Grant. He turned and said, “I’ll go first.” Juliet, palms sweaty with nerves, nodded and faced him, trying to imitate the stance she’d seen Thomas take. Grant stepped forward but then straightened up and bowed. Juliet turned to see that Sensei had approached from behind her.

“One minute, Grant. Juliet is new today; let’s review a thing or two.”

“Yes, Sensei!” Grant said.

“Juliet, do you know how to fall?”

“Fall?” Juliet asked, wondering if this was a trick question.

“Yes, fall! Show me, fall to the mat.” He gestured to the ground and backed up a step. Juliet looked from Grant to Sensei nervously, then shrugged and sort of collapsed, bending her knees and falling down onto her butt. “Not bad! Good instinct! I didn’t see you try to catch yourself, breaking your wrist and escaping classes for a week!”

“Uh, thanks?”

“Stand now, and watch Grant.”

Juliet grunted, climbing to her feet, and then Sensei nodded to Grant. The big man sort of collapsed backward, tucking his chin forward and letting his body flop so his right arm was stretched out over his head, and the last thing to hit the mat was that hand with a loud slap. “You see?” Sensei asked.

“Yes, I saw,” Juliet said, nodding. “It looked like he distributed the force of the fall . . . does that make sense?”

“Yes! Good, Juliet. When you fall, take control of it. Don’t allow small bony parts to strike the hard floor. Protect your skull and weak joints. Let the meaty parts of your body hit the ground, and send the force away from you by spreading the surface and rolling toward the final impact. Now you try again!”

Juliet nodded her head and said, “Yes, Sensei!” Then she tried to mimic Grant’s performance. It went okay, but she stuck her hand out too soon and felt a jarring impact in her elbow and shoulder.

“Better, but the arm isn’t to catch you; it’s to send the force away from you. Roll into it! Let your hand slap the mat. Show her again, Grant!”

After Juliet had shown the Sensei that she could fall without shattering her wrist, he allowed them to proceed with the throwing practice, and though he wandered around the room, giving advice and help to all the students, Juliet felt like he spent quite a lot of time with her and Grant. She refused to let Angel help her with the throws until she’d almost gotten one right.

After that, though, she was happy to let Angel help guide her foot, hip, and torso movements because she’d really struggled to get the much larger man to flop over the way she was meant to. Grant had been rather smug in his superiority, and he’d sent Juliet sailing over his shoulder several times, and she grew to understand Sensei’s insistence that she knew how to fall. As it was, even with the proper falling technique, her hips, butt and shoulders were sore, and she knew she’d carry away quite a few bruises.

The first time Angel stepped in to help, Juliet recognized immediately what she’d been doing wrong—her foot hadn’t gone deep enough, she hadn’t lowered her center of gravity enough, and she hadn’t performed the hip pop at the right moment. With those little corrections, though, she got a satisfying grunt out of Grant, and when he flopped onto the mat, his slapping arm resounded through the dojo.

“Yes! Like this!” Sensei said, meeting her eyes and pumping his fist from the other side of the mat. That encouragement brought a wicked smile to Juliet’s lips, and she turned to hold out a hand, helping Grant to stand.

“C’mon, Grant, buddy. We only have twenty minutes left in class, and I wanna get this perfected!”

“Right,” Grant said, clambering to his feet. “You really launched me that time.”

“Well,” Juliet said, smiling and clapping his shoulder, “it’s your turn!”

“Juliet, I haven’t helped you with your falling yet, and you’ve been doing a good job, but I think I could help you even more,” Angel said as she and Grant squared off.

“Okay,” Juliet said, happy for the help as long as she made a reasonable effort first. Grant stepped in, snatched her gi, and threw her over his hip. Juliet went with the motion as she'd been doing, and when she started to fall toward the mat, she felt Angel’s guidance and flexed her core, really going with the momentum. This time, instead of slapping her arm down, she fully rolled over the flopping shoulder, and a second later, she was standing on the mat, smiling at Grant.

“That’s not . . .” Grant started to say, but then Sensei spoke up from right behind her.

“Good break-fall, Juliet, but we don’t roll through in class. You almost rolled into Tina’s throw.” He tugged on her shoulder, turning her so she could see where she was standing, very close to another pair of students. “You can practice that in open-dojo hours if you want. There’s more room on the mat, then.”

“Okay,” Juliet said, then turned to the two students and added, “I’m sorry about that!”

“No worries,” the short, dark-haired woman said, and her partner, a beautiful, athletic woman with modded, wavy pink hair, gave her a thumbs up and winked.

“When can I come to open-dojo?” she asked, turning back to Sensei.

“Come tonight at nine. You should watch Honey with sword class, and then open-dojo is afterward.” He nodded like the decision was made, and Juliet found herself growing more and more fond of his strange affect.

“All right, I will! Thank you, Sensei.”

“Yes. Now, practice ten more throws with Grant, then I will have a break before next class.” He nodded to himself and turned away, instantly shouting at another student, “No, Dennis! I said lower your center, not fall on your knees!”

After class, Juliet and Honey had breakfast again, and while they sat, waiting for their food, Honey said, “Well? Did you have any luck with Temo?”

“He didn’t tell you?” Juliet asked, sipping her coffee.

“No, he called me yesterday to see if you were really my friend, and I told him he better be good to you. That’s all I know.”

“Well, he sent me on a job last night—said it would be a good opportunity to prove I was legit or something like that.”

“Really?” Honey leaned forward earnestly. “That jerk didn’t take my word for it?”

“I don’t think it was like that,” Juliet said hastily. “I think he had an opportunity come up, and I was a good fit. I think he was just killing two birds with one stone and making some money while he was at it.”

“So I take it the job went okay?”

“Oh yeah! We got a bonus and everything. I wish you coulda been there,” Juliet said, shrugging. “Temo put the team together, though.”

Honey’s response was put on hold while Carol dropped off their plates. Juliet had opted for eggs and toast with jam—Benji hadn’t been able to get any bacon that day. As she dug into her pile of scrambled eggs, Honey continued the conversation. “So not only did he put you through some kind of test, but he cut me out of a good payday? I’m going to talk to mama about this! He needs a talking to!” She laughed as she spoke, making it clear she was mostly teasing.

“Speaking of paydays, Honey, you know a good cyber doc that doesn’t run his clients through some corpo database? I mean, someone who’ll do some work for me based on my operator ID?”

“You hiding from someone?” Honey asked.

“Not exactly, but I’ve got no love for corpos. You know what I mean?” Juliet frowned, uncomfortable with how quickly the lie had come to her lips.

“Oh hell yes, I know what you mean,” Honey said, shoving a huge forkful of pancakes into her mouth. Juliet watched her chew for a minute, holding her hand in front of her mouth to stifle a laugh as the other woman’s cheeks bulged with the enormous bite. After an exaggerated swallow, Honey said, “Temo knows a good doc. I’ve never met her, but I’ll have him send you the info.”

“Sweet! Thanks, Honey.”

“No worries. Hey, so you were serious earlier? You’re really coming to sword class tonight?”

“Yes, but only to watch!” Juliet said, holding up her hands. “I mean it, Honey! If sensei tries to put a sword in my hands and push me onto the mat, I’m leaving!”

“Oh gosh, Juliet! He wouldn’t do that. He’s very serious about the sword. I bet he’s trying to get you interested. You know, he only has a handful of students for that class.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Way too easy to blast people with all the modern gizmos the corpos keep coming up with. If you can’t tell, I’m biased against guns,” she laughed and took another bite, then said, mouth half-full, “I suppose there’s a good balance—Temo keeps telling me I need to learn to shoot better, but so far, I’ve been doing pretty well with the sword.”

“You don’t bring a gun on your gigs?”

“Oh yeah, I do. Only if I think I’m going to need it, though. I should probably get something small like you wear—then I can walk around with my sword and still have a ranged option if it becomes necessary. As it is, I usually bring my rifle or my sword, depending on the job, and I try to pick jobs where the sword is enough. A girl can have her preferences, can’t she?”

“Just be honest,” Juliet said, grinning. “You like to bring the sword because it makes you look cool.”

“Oh! You got me, Juliet!” Honey laughed, reaching over the table to playfully punch Juliet’s shoulder.

“Ow! Oh, God! I didn’t realize how sore I was! I’m going to be black and blue tomorrow from all those falls!” Juliet rubbed at her shoulder, then at her hip. She wasn't exaggerating—she felt sore all over.

“You’ll be okay!” Honey laughed. “Buy some ice packs after open-dojo, though.”

Juliet opened her eyes wide and slapped herself on the forehead. “I can’t believe I agreed to that!”