Victoria panted, racing up the hill to the institute and praying she wouldn't be late. She'd set her alarm to go off two hours before she needed to clock in, but forgot to account for the time difference and woke up with a little over thirty minutes to figure out the hideous uniform, and navigate her way to the grounds.<br/><br/>Oh that uniform, she cried when it had been handed her. It, like the institute was streamlined, and functional, but unlike the nearly blinding building, was dark and muted. She was convinced some pervert designed these things, since it was tight and fitted perfectly to what little curves she had. The strange matching collar, while pretty and functional to track her movements on the grounds, was still as constrictive as the rest of the uniform, and that stupid little pouch... She hated it. All of it.<br/><br/>Normally she'd wear a set of pastel scrubs, maybe pink or mint, and toss on her tent of a lab coat and go back to being part of the wood work. This uniform clung to her, almost to tight, and made her entirely to self conscious for words. She wasn't even allowed her messenger bag, or to keep her hair in a pony tail!<br/><br/>"Unprofessional" is what she was told about her former uniform and appearance. She could wear whatever she wanted at home, but at work...She paused her running to catch her breath, and shudder at the thought of wearing this outfit day in and day out. Her eyes drifted up the hill to the institute, the building all sleek and modern, glittering in the morning light.<br/><br/>Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly, checking her watch and nodding to herself as she started walking towards the almost ominous doors. Her cheeks were flushed with exertion and nervousness, shoulder length hair unruly from her run. She opened the pouch at her hip, pulling out a small compact and checked her appearance, sighing at what she saw, running her fingers through her hair in a last ditch effort to tame it. Shaking her head, she put the small mirror away and pulled out her ID card, trying to ignore the picture* (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s73/Scarlytte/V2-1.jpg) and slid it through the reader, desperate to remember what her code was as she stared at the blinking pad in growing frustration.<br/><br/>She hoped she wouldn't make a terrible impression with her tardiness on her first day, and looked around, hoping someone might happen by to let her in, "How in the hell did I ever get hired to THIS place?"<br/><br/>((*Note- I asked a friend of mine to put together a picture of Victoria for me. I have permission to post it here.))