In one of the Stalker barracks, a man gave a protesting groan as he was nudged awake by one of his dogs. Reaching out with one arm, the man blindly groped around in the dark until he found the switch to the battery-powered light hanging from the bunk above him. The light flickered on, and he had to squint his eyes to adjust to the sudden change in light before taking in his surroundings.<br/><br/>The room was the inside of what was once a shipping container, one hunk of the wall carved open to open to a wooden addition to the room to allow for more space for the three beds inside. Maps covered corrugated metal walls and furs covered the floor. Flat pieces of scrap metal was welded to the walls to form makeshift shelves. There were two dogs from his vantage point, one on his bed with him and another curled up on the floor. The third was out of his sight, but likely in its favorite spot under his bed. The dog that had woken him up looked at him expectantly.<br/><br/>Giving a sigh, Nikita pushed off his covers, revealing folds of excess skin that started to wrap themselves around his body as he got out of bed, neatly getting out of the way. He side-stepped a dog and reached for the upper bunk, where he had been keeping food for his dogs ever since his roommate had gone off on a year long expedition three months ago. He fetched a couple of cans, opened them, and set them on the ground.<br/><br/>Nikita sat back down on his bed. He'd gotten back a couple days ago from a three day trip where he'd barely slept, and any time not spent eating the last two days had been spent catching on lost sleep. His room didn't have any windows to tell the time of day, but his other roommate appeared to have already gotten up. Might as well follow suit. There was at least five days of gossip to catch up on.<br/><br/>After loosely binding his skin in cloth and putting more warm clothing on top, the mutant exited the small room and headed towards the main base. The faint glow of the sun could be seen from behind the clouds. One of his dogs, Napoleon, followed him. He moved past the hydroponics greenhouse and fumbled with the lock to a side door, slipping in. After a few turns, he was in the lounge.<br/><br/>There were a few people in the room, who all gave him a friendly nod of acknowledgement. Nikita was about to plop himself down and start chatting, when the commotion out front caught his eye. He opened the door to take a look. Not one of them seemed familiar. New people? How exciting.<br/><br/>It was just so then he noticed a rather pointy woman making her way to the door. She had a scar over her eyebrow and this rather harsh look to her. Nikita couldn't wait to meet her.<br/><br/>"Hello!" he called out to her, the corners of his mouth disappearing up into folds of skin. "What's your name?"