The training area was Jax's masterpiece.
It was a vast, open space in the back of the warehouse that had been reinforced with scavenged steel plates and soundproofed with what looked suspiciously like a thousand stolen mattresses.
In the center, a series of robotic training dummies stood at attention, their blank, plastic faces seeming to stare into the middle distance with a profound, existential dread.
"Behold!" Jax declared, his voice echoing in the cavernous room. "The 'Pain Palace'! The 'Hurt Locker'! The 'Room of Doom'!"
"I haven't decided on a name yet," he admitted.
Jinx, leaning against the far wall, just grunted. "How about 'The Place Where We All Get a Concussion'?"
"I like it!" Jax said. "It has a nice ring to it."
Chloe stood in the observation booth, a newly constructed, reinforced box of bulletproof glass that overlooked the training floor.
Her face was a mask of cold, professional composure, a datapad held firmly in her hand.
