Editing The Corrupted Heart (section)

===Chapter Two===
The following day, Astra was summoned to the Inquisitor’s office for a briefing with her fellow cell members. Wanting to leave a good first impression with her new “family,” she did her best to tame her red locks and overall appearance, even going so far as to shine her new boots. Though the incident from the day prior was still fresh in her mind, part of Astra was giddy about officially starting her new life. It was unheard of for an abomination like her to be given a chance like this, and she wasn’t going to let the intolerance that had followed her her entire life ruin it. 

As it turned out, Astra was the first one to arrive to the conference room. Taking a seat in the back, she waited patiently with her arms crossed beneath the sleeves of the robes. Though the room was far too bright for comfort, she felt it best not to hide beneath her cowl. After all, she was facing an uphill battle as it was, the last thing she needed to do was reinforce the notion that she was a hideous monster. Time seemed to crawl by, and soon Astra began worrying that she had somehow gotten the wrong room and possibly time. Her worries were alleviated when a pair of guardsmen entered, followed shortly thereafter by a scum and the tech priest from yesterday. 

All but the later avoided her eager gaze, taking seats as far away from her as possible. As for the tech priest, he waved at Astra with one of his mechadendrites before taking a seat somewhere between her and the rest of the group. In the end, he would be the only one to even show signs of acknowledging her presence, the remaining two cell members joining moments before the Inquisitor herself walked in. Cringing slightly as the adept’s malicious eyes roved over her, his arbitrator buddy close in tow, Astra found herself slowly placing the hood of her robes back over her face. Though the cloth barrier provided little comfort, it was enough to prevent the sinking feeling in her chest from growing further. “Positive thinking,” she thought, “after all, the Inquisitor stuck up for you before.”

The briefing was rather simple in nature, more of a formal introduction of the acolytes to one another than anything else. Still, Astra did learn a few things, ranging from the fact they were part of the Ordo Xenos  to their eventual destination. By the time the Inquisitor had drawn to a close, Astra had all but forgotten the earlier glares, and was feeling slightly happier before the adept’s hand shot up. The Inquisitor raised an eyebrow, calling on him, “Yes, Acolyte?” “Ma’am, I was just wondering why we’re letting a heretic hear all this.” An awkward silence fell over the room, punctuated only by the occasional snicker and glance back at Astra. 

Just as Astra was ready to say something in her own defense, the Inquisitor coughed, “Your fellow Acolyte is not a heretic, Kreff. You might try appreciating her unique skillset, rather than berating her for existing. You might *all* try it, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to play babysitter. Either get along, or I’ll see to it that you’re ‘reassigned.’” Following this statement, the Inquisitor left in a huff, leaving the acolytes muttering amongst themselves. In the back of the room, Astra was still frozen in fear, her mind yelling at her to leave while her body refused to move. Face firmly locked staring at the floor before her, it wasn’t until a gloved hand entered her field of view that Astra dared raising her head. 

It turned out that the hand belong to the tech priest, a warm sort of glee emanating from beneath his rebreather. “This one thought you might wish to take a walk. Clear your mind,” he offered. More laughter from those acolytes that were still present followed this, along with whispers of, “Look at Gaelos, trying to talk to it like it has feelings.” Neither seemed to bother him, as he stood there, patiently waiting for Astra’s reply. Stammering, she managed to squeak out, “Y..Yes. That w..would be nice.” After helping her stand, the warmth behind Gaelos’ eyes seemed to increase as he motioned for her to follow him. The pair made to leave, though not before Astra felt the sensation of something bouncing off her back. “See? It knows its’ place. Who needs to  pretend like it’s anything more than a bullet sponge?” boasted Kreff, more laughter from the rest following it. Astra paused for a moment, thinking of turning around and laying into him, but was stopped by Gaelos. “Let it go,” he whispered, “that one will come around, in time.”

Astra felt her anger subsiding as Gaelos led her through the corridors, only halfheartedly paying attention. She knew that Kreff and the others were just trying to get a rise out of her so they would have an excuse to put her down, but that didn’t make dealing with it any easier. Lost in a myriad of depressing thoughts, it wasn’t until she bumped into Gaelos’ back that Astra realized he had stopped. “We are here,” he stated, motioning towards the window. Outside, the twinkling stars punctuated the darkness of the void, causing Astra to momentarily forget her sorrows. She had never seen such a beautiful sight before, having lived in the underhive her entire life. 

“It’s…It’s pretty,” she mumbled, feeling slightly embarrassed at what felt like naivety. “Indeed,” came Gaelos’ reply, “It is rather aesthetically pleasing.” Astra blushed, if only for the fact that this was the longest conversation she had with a “normal” person that didn’t involve screaming, insults, rocks, or all three. Eventually, Gaelos made to leave, but not before adding, “How is Tom doing?” Surprised, Astra found herself only able to meekly reply, “He’s…nice. Thank you.” Again, the warmth increased, and Gaelos left her standing by the window with a pleasant goodbye. All Astra could think of was how awkward she was, her face nearly crimson in embarrassment as she stared out at the stars. 

Shortly thereafter, Astra wandered back to her room, where she remained for the rest of the day. Again, she took up the seemingly haphazard collection of knick-knacks that served as her dolls and began acting out scene after scene. Though she knew it was rather childish for a woman her age to still play pretend, doing so helped her relax and relieve some of the feelings that so often seemed to become trapped within her. After having Gaelos vanquish Kreff, she paused, her eyes falling upon Tom. Placing her dolls aside, she took up the stuffed grox, her tentacles wrapping around it gingerly as she hugged it close. The day hadn’t been the best start to her new life, but at least she had a friend now, and that was all that mattered to her.