Mei listened somewhat absentmindedly as the captain gave a little speech and told them to rest for four hours and then report back for the debriefing. She had left her hand on Emile’s shoulder, where he had placed his atop hers, until after the Captain had finished. Before she could remove her hand, he gently pushed it off, shoving his hands into his pockets as he walked away. She wondered if he would be alright, but guessed that he would be, in time. Losing people was never easy, and for those losses to come along with such a completely devastating defeat only made it more difficult to process.<br/><br/>This was not the first time she had lost people, nor would it be the last, she guessed. This was precisely why she generally tried not to get too attached to people. Inevitably, one way or another, they would leave her. Some people probably thought that was a hard way to live, but in moments like these, she wondered if they still felt that way. That was not to say that she felt nothing at the death of her squad mates or other comrades. She was human and not an actual monster, after all. But she was at least more equipped to cope with those losses than some others.<br/><br/>As those gathered scattered, Mei shoved her hands into her own pockets and headed into the halls, back towards her quarters. She knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep right now, so rather than wasting time trying, she decided to blow off some steam. She changed into a pair of loose shorts, a fitted sleeveless top, and a pair of athletic shoes and headed for the training room to get in a workout.<br/><br/>She ran into a few people along the way, each saying the same thing about how she was supposed to be resting, but she waved off each of their concerns and continued on her way. They all had their own ways of coping, and this was hers. Her nerves were still on edge and as she had suspected, she was still on alert, unable to allow herself to relax. She would have a better chance to sleeping if she could exhaust her body a little first and burn off this excess adrenaline.<br/><br/>She spent at least the first hour of the four hours in the training room, wearing herself out until she truly felt like she had burned off her energy. Then, after a shower to rinse off the sweat, she’d changed into something light and comfortable and fell into her bed, where she fought sleep for only a few minutes before it finally tugged her under. She slept the better part of the remaining two and a half hours, until her alarm when off.<br/><br/>She groaned as she rolled over and hit the button to turn it off. She laid there, staring at the ceiling for only a moment before she got up and quickly dressed in her uniform. Once dressed, she headed for the deck, where they would soon start the debriefing. When she arrived, most of the people had already gathered. She found herself a nice spot on the outskirts of the group and leaned against the wall with her left foot propped up and her arms crossed loosely across her chest, where she waited for the briefing to begin.