Tim is capable of wearing fancy heavy-duty earmuffs!  They’re really not that bad overall.  Just kinda bulky.  And finicky.

Carol’s worn ‘em before.  Hers are self-fitted within forty-five seconds.

Great! In that case, they can go to the range to get their zeros and so that they can familiarize themselves with the weapon. And to test the earmuffs.

Conrad will start teaching the basic dungeoneering sign language. Stuff like 'stop', 'go ahead', 'follow me', and so on. There's variation between countries but it's generally standardized worldwide because, while DRT officers and support staff are local, espers often travel, especially during confluences. What he understands of the history is that the international mixing caused the military and by extension dungeoneering sign to converge. He will tell them these Fun History Facts Speculations if they seem interested.

Tim is interested!!  He also pulls up a “cheat sheet” for signs online and asks if they’re correct before he bothers saving it.

He looks it over. "Yes, this is fine."

After spending some time with the weapons, he will lead them back to the armory.

"It's typical to wear body armor including face protection even for mundane dungeons for the sake of safety. It's not absolutely required since I don't plan to do any mock combat where you get hit — only target shooting. Still, if you want to get the full DRT experience, I recommend it." He can help them put it on, if so. He himself will do so. It consists of a kevlar vest and helmet with transparent visor, and reinforced boots. There are also arm and leg sleeves in the case they're wearing less than full coverage clothing.

“Er.  Is that easily replaceable?  I have enhanced strength and I don’t want to startle and accidentally break something.”

Helmet is fine, boots are fine, vest is on net probably fine?

Carol is perfectly happy to wear armor!  Some of the fittings are a little different, and she’s happy to get an assist in tightening everything up.

"Hm, my understanding was that you wanted to learn and experience the DRT dungeoneering experience. So it seems like it would be better if you refrain from power use. They aren't fragile — they're armor, after all — and they aren't that expensive but if they break I'll have explaining to do." Pursed lips.

"It's kind of hypocritical for me to say that, though, ha. I have my power on right now but it gives me enhanced durability, not strength. I still wear armor though, because it's smart. Saves on backlash."

Conrad will help Sinkhole put on armor in a brisk and efficient manner!

“I uh.  I don’t mean to, sometimes.  Accidents happen?”  He smiles a little weakly.

“Thank you, Ferrer.  P, ah, Tim, don’t worry about it too much.  Just don’t secure everything as tightly as normal, we’re not getting shot at today.”

Okay, sure. He can help put it on and strike a balance between "not so tight it rips if Aumento moves" and "not so loose that it falls off or rattles".

Additionally, he's going to take out three action cameras plus one camera on a stick.

"We use action cameras to record ourselves. Like police bodycams. It keeps us honest. And in the event there are...disagreements or complains...from rescuees afterward, it's good to have documentation. It also lets us look at our past performance so we can improve. We'll do this later. Not to worry, I'll delete any footage after our training concludes." Unless there are objections, he'll put these on each of their helmets.

No objections, your honor.  It’s not like he’s about to hit on his DRT instructor doing him a favor or something.

They can finally go to the main training area! It has obstacle courses and various movable barriers and platforms to mimic dungeon conditions.

"The first thing in a dungeon response is actually knowing that a dungeon is there. Once we get a call, we note its location and whatever other information we can get from it from the caller. Dungeon size and strength tends to correlate with the portal size, so we try to know that too. Then, we assemble a DRT team and a support team to go to the area.

Once we actually get there, the first step is getting a first look at the dungeon. We use cameras on a stick to look at the dungeon without actually having to enter it. Let me demonstrate." The camera on a stick is basically one of the action cameras they have on their heads, just on a stick, which he will stick  into the fake dungeon portal (it's a large plastic hoop with an opaque curtain covering the interior) and then take back out.

"The most important part of DRT operations is minimizing risk to ourselves. It's not actually about rescuing people, though that is very close in importance. I say that because, if you go into a dungeon heedless of the danger and get hurt, then you yourself will become one of the dungeon victims that need to be rescued. If the dungeon seems too dangerous or if we are unprepared with our current equipment to deal with it, then we stop and call for relevant esper backup.

In this case, the dungeon seems safe enough, so we can enter." He goes through the hoop!

A lot of this is pretty familiar to Tim!  It generalizes from his paramedic certs, which include “don’t become the next victim!” as part of the coursework.  He can dutifully pay attention to the camera onna stick, though.

And then they can hop through!  It’s easy. Almost as easy as tuning out the parts of the training she’s heard eighty times before.

"These action cameras have the full sensor suite so they have air, temperature, and radiation sensors too. It's important to check those too and not just look at the video feed before entering — just because the video doesn't show lava doesn't mean it's not hot inside, for example. It also has a light, by the way." He demonstrates by pressing a button, causing an LED light to activate, then turns it off.

"Now that we have entered, we have another opportunity to abort. Areas around the dungeon entrance are typically safe, but best not to assume. There might be some psychic phenomena that the camera didn't capture and which we could be subject to, now.

You should do one last check on your gear and equipment and your physical and mental state. Do you feel unusually tired, antsy, angry, sad, or just weird in general? Dungeons can exert these effects on people. I'll give you the official checklist for dungeon conditions that warrant retreating and calling in appropriate esper support later for you to memorize."

Do I feel antsy.  Or angry.  Hah.  Hahahahhaha. Carol gives a cheeky smile and shake of the head while she pats down her kit for issues.

Tim takes it more seriously.  He takes a breath, holds.  Lets it go. How do I feel?  Nervous.  Not unusually nervous, though.  That’s pretty much it. “I think I feel good about this dungeon.”

He will teach some more dungeon sign including 'all clear'. He makes that sign and asks everyone to repeat it before continuing.

"You should remember that dungeons are inherently hostile places. Even if the dungeon seems outwardly safe, like, if it looks like a bouncy castle or something, you should remember that dungeons kidnap people. Don't let your guard down while inside. Don't joke, don't get distracted, don't play. Lives are on the line.

That being said, don't take your performance on this training too seriously. The purpose of training is to allow error without consequence. Better to get all the mistakes out of your system now rather than in a real life situation."

All clear!  He’s good!  “Sweat in here, so we don’t bleed out there.  Got it.”

"One of the simplest hazards in a dungeon is getting lost. A dungeon with shifting layout is one that will require sensor esper support, but dungeons don't necessarily show off this ability immediately. And even in a regular dungeon, its layout can just simply be confusing in a regular way so as to disorient. Like with dungeon sign, there's a mostly-but-imperfectly standardized scheme for giving directions to the exit within a dungeon.

Often we use spray paint for this but it's harder to remove, so right now, we have chalk."

Conrad will write the symbols on the floor and have Aumento copy.

"For each room we go to, I'll ask you to write the correct note on the wall of each one. Don't worry, for today you can freely refer to this."

Tim is reasonably capable of graffiti-ing.  He does take a few seconds for each to see if he can make up a funny mnemonic for each symbol, but most of them he can’t.  Still, graffiti!  Successfully written!

He's doing well. Probably he should express that. For encouragement.

"You're doing well. If the marking fails for some reason — it doesn't have to be anything like the dungeon shifting, it could just be you making a mistake or the chalk or paint getting washed away — a fallback is your camera. You can play it in reverse and backtrack."

Next, he will explain room-clearing techniques. It functions similar to how it is in the military. The principle is to maximize the area 'covered by their guns' and to sweep the entire area of the room with them, coordinating with the squad to do so. Supposing that the entrance to the room is in the middle of the wall, for example. The first man could turn to the right, go to the right corner, and as they do so, turn to the left, thus allowing their area to sweep the entire room. The second man could do the same for the left corner, and so on. You almost always want to be next to a wall because it maximizes the area you cover. He can demonstrate this by entering the next room! Then Aumento can go second and Sinkhole third.

Tim gets a little flustered about being second, because he’s overly concerned about putting Ferrer in his line of fire.  Can he do this once more as first, then a second time as second in line again?

Sure! Conrad assures him: he has his durability power right now, so even if Tim shot him, he'd be fine. Also, they aren't doing target practice right now, so his safety should be on.