My Dad actually came around to the idea a lot easier than I expected. Not that a strong disapproval from him would have changed my decision. This was a massive opportunity and one that I would never been able to realise without a lot of luck and the right place, right time. I was offered the invite on the back of my bar altercation where I dropped the guy with one knee to the balls. Hanna got the invite on the back of being my mate. It also massively helped that we are generally seen as "cute" and girls next door. Pure luck, a scout was in, saw it and the wheels were in motion.
My Dad was well aware of what it meant for me to follow this path. No one escapes this career unscathed, no matter how good they are. Even if you get to the very top there is always someone who is up and coming who is better than you, hungrier or just younger. At some stage in my career, I am going to get my ass kicked. I am going to get the shit beaten out of me. Fucked by the winner and then passed around an audience of 50 people like a sex doll. No father wants that for their daughter and none want to watch the process and then be able to relive it whenever they want in ultra HD glory. I am not sure where he stole the quote from, but his general sentiment was, "I would be a poor father if I stood in the way of a dream or opportunity for the selfish reason of not wanting you to risk getting hurt."
The training was a militaristic setup. I lived on site and it was very regimental. I was given leave when I could return home, but other than that I was on a schedule. Deviating from this schedule could result in anything from a slap on the wrist to dismissal. Depending on the severity of the breach. It was generally a bad idea to push your luck though. Some of the schedule was 'free time' but any actual freedom was dictated by the training program. The money was awesome as the majority was spending money. My accommodation and food were deducted from my salary, but it was 400 credits a month, which I challenge anyone to live and eat anywhere for that much a month. All I needed to do was turn up and do as I was told. Yes sir, no sir, how high should I jump, sir?
The rooms were bunk rooms for two, and so I bunked with Hanna. 50 rooms were in each living pod and those were your classmates for the duration of training. You would train with them, eat with them and socialise with them. There were 50 guys and 50 girls in each intake of fresh 'talent'. To give you an idea of progression it was expected that of the 100 fighters between zero and ten would progress beyond the six months training period. After that would be where serious combat training would take place. We would be honed and crafted into boxers. We would live breathe and sleep our career, if you didn't then you would be cut from the program. Hard work was the bare minimum to succeed, you needed to be good as well as being committed.
The number that would actually break into the higher leagues was statistically less than one of us, and the chances of making it big were depressingly tiny. Of the 100 around half would be good enough to continue as an amateur if they wanted, but this was rarely taken up as it was basically getting your ass kicked, and fucked for less than I got as a flat wage at a bar job. Most amateur fighters did two or three fights, realised that the training system was correct and they were really not good enough. Of course, sometimes the system got it wrong and an amateur made it into the big leagues, but this was infinitesimally small numbers. The system was designed to identify, pluck out talent and then nurture it to fruition. Money underwrote every decision, I was on 25,000 credits a year, they needed to see results from their investment and if it was unlikely, I was of no use to them so I would be cut free. Throughout the process, people would be picked out for management roles and various other branches within the system. The schedule was brutal and the attrition rate was eye-watering. If half of the stories were true about the training system then I was in for one hell of a ride.
Day 1 was being processed and settling in. It was a conveyor belt of people, sitting in rows in a waiting room that was eerily white and clinical. There was no decoration, it was just brilliant white and plain. No pictures, no colour at all, it was weird. Names were called and people got up and went into whichever door they were told to. "Sophie Lloyd, room eight please." I appreciated the please. Only a few of the announcers afforded such basic manners.
I got up and went into room eight. I knocked first and went in when invited. It was another fairly bland room, brilliant white, no pictures or colour and maybe just a few too many lumens being emitted. A guy in his 50s was accompanied by a younger guy as well. The younger guy was probably mid to late twenties. The older guy looked at me as someone who was buying a product off the shelf. His look carried the expression of someone who did not approve of what was on the shelf and I nearly sniped at him. Almost, but I bit my tongue. These places were notoriously harsh and dangerous if you stepped out of line. Dangerous to your career that is, no one was going to beat you to death for stepping out of line, but humiliation and just outright dismissal were likely outcomes to excessive sass.
"Miss? Mrs? Ms? Other?" he asked.
"Miss," I replied, "But, Sophie is fine."
"Sophie," he began, his tone one of someone who had done this process thousands of times already that day and he didn't get any enjoyment out of the first one, never mind whatever number I was today. It was an inconvenience me being there, he did not come across as someone happy in his work. "Age?" he asked.
"18."
He eyed me up and down. "I assume green is not your natural hair colour?" It was not as stupid a question as it sounded. You could get cosmetic gene treatment that could change your hair colour and that does then count as your natural colour. That costs a lot though, mine was bleach and then old-fashioned hair dye. I shook my head in reply and he nodded his head. "You will have to go natural."
"Okay."
"What is your natural hair colour?"
"Brunette," I said.
All the while his assistant was making notes. "Weight?" he asked.
"Oh, er, dunno, 50kg ish, I guess," I said. My hesitation was due to being asked my weight outright.
"Over 50 or under 50?" he asked. "If you had to guess?"
"Over," I said, "51, 52 maybe," I added. I was going to ask why, but he didn't come across as the sort of guy who welcomed questions.