Remy drags the thick black mats out in between the two metal structures. The structures were meant to be tall storage in some kind of warehouse, but they're set up in the little courtyard behind the Compound and Remy and Sonya have been helping me practice when they're not on patrol. I've surprised myself with the way I've settled into life here. I still cry most nights, pouring over the hundreds and hundreds of pages in my book, but some part of me has finally let go and tried to just live my new life in the Spade sector. And some part of that new life means training. So, while Alice goes up to do target practice with birds off the roof, I stay in the back, trying to jump further and further distances. I stare down at the black mats below, the grimy surfaces stained with dirt and who knows what else. Although my clothes arrived two days ago, I've barely opened my suitcase. I've mostly been borrowing clothes from Sonya. They're a little big on me, she's a couple inches taller and much more toned than I am, but they work well enough. A few days ago, Sonya said something about getting me fit for a costume, but I never asked what she meant. 
"Quit stalling, Nova," Sonya shouts up at me from below. I take a deep breath, backing up to the furthest edge of the shelf, and steel myself. After I saw the girl in green soaring out of the crumbling building (the one that Remy blew up, even though apparently he was very much not supposed to - Felix didn't talk to him for a day), I realized that there was some way my talents could be used in the Spade sector. All my years of gymnastics and cheer don't have to go to waste. I could become what the people here called an acrobat. Sonya had explained it all to me. There were different groups of people, called Crews, that roamed the streets, each one claiming a different territory. And each Crew was made of little duos, two people who fought together and were named accordingly. So, in her crew (my crew), we had the Red Queen and the White Rabbit and Fire and Fury. I had asked what Felix's partner had been named, who went with his Smoke, but she shook her head and told me not to worry about it, moving on to explaining how every person was a specialist in something. Remy did demolitions. Alice was a sniper. Hugo manned the big guns they called turrets. Sonya and Felix were melee fighters. And I would be an acrobat. If I could ever make this jump. 
"C'mon, Greenie, I'm sure someone will catch you if you fall," someone shouts from below. I glance over the side, as if I didn't immediately recognize his voice. Hugo smirks up at me. Today he's wearing ripped, acid washed jeans and a mostly see through pink tank top. I feel my face flush despite myself, and turn back to the jump. I take a few steps back again, then make a running leap, pushing off the side of the shelf, arcing into the air. For a second, I'm flying soaring up higher and higher. And then I start to fall, gravity dragging me back into orbit. I loosen my arms and stretch out my fingertips the way I practiced, reaching for the ledge on the other side. I make contact, barely catching myself, hanging my just my fingertips. I pulled myself up, scrambling over the edge and glancing back. Fifteen feet. I was getting pretty good at this. I glance back over the side. Hugo is still smirking up at me. I roll over onto my back and try not to smile. 
"Again, Nova," Sonya says, and I let out a sigh. If the fighting doesn't kill me my first week here, Sonya certainly is going to. 

We practice for a few more hours, and I start to get pretty good at it. The job of an acrobat is pretty similar to what an acrobat is in the Diamond sector, only with more fighting. They're one of the only types of crew member that doesn't use a gun as their primary weapon. The primary weapon of an acrobat is their body. They're supposed to be able to throw themselves great distances, climb building faces with ease, and break into locked rooms. I make one last flying leap across, landing on my feet. before I climb down the metal structure. I'm getting really good at the fifteen foot jump, and it hasn't even been a week. I fell a lot when I first started practicing, but the mats would always catch me, even though it still hurt. I drag the mats into the shade so they don't get too hot and head inside for lunch. Normally, Sonya does most of the cooking, but since she was helping me train, Felix had taken charge. Food here is weird. It comes pre-sealed in little vacuum packed bags, and all you need to do it put it in water and over some kind of heat.  Of course, it never tastes very good, so the kitchen is filled with all kinds of dried spices and sauces. It's nothing like the food back home, but I like it anyways. I take a towel that Remy offers me and mop the sweat off my forehead. Despite the smoggy sky, some days the sun still gets through, turning the Spade sector into an oven. I turn the outdoor faucet, a little spigot that mostly runs oily and sometimes black, on, and stick my head underneath. The cool water soaking my thick blonde hair feels so good, even though when I stand up I'm dripping oily water everywhere. I don't care until I look up and see Hugo laughing at me through the window. I frown and turn away, wringing out my hair onto the cobblestones. Who cares what he thinks?