The welcome message from the presidents was finally over after what felt like hours but had only been a couple of minutes. Most of the things they had said was that everyone was proud of them and grateful to them and wished them luck in finding out if Planet Z was fit for human habitation.
They had also told them that people from the ASM and scientists from different research institutes would contact the spaceship every two weeks to check up on them and review whatever progress they had made in their research. They could also speak with their family members at those times and Hiro had been more than glad to hear that.
They had said a couple of other things too but Hiro had tuned them out at one point and thought of what his sister could be doing on Earth at that moment and if she was really okay like the doctor had said. He was already looking forward to speaking with her in two weeks from now.
The crew members were now leaving the hall to go on a tour of the ship. A person could tour the ship on their own or tour it with a group, they didn't even have to go on a tour if they didn't want to because everyone already had a watch and a foldable tablet... well everyone except the angry looking man that came into the hall last. He still looked angry by the way.
"Hiro," Ashley called out as she stepped in front of Hiro, blocking his sight of the hundredth crew member, and Hiro looked up at her with raised eyebrows, muttering an 'huh'. "We're going on a group tour. Wanna join?" she asked as she gestured at Thaniel, Nikki and Bethany standing on the stairs behind her.
"Uh, sure," he replied as he picked up his tablet and backpack before getting up from the seat, turning to face James and Elyas who were leaning over the seat in front of themselves, talking to a couple of in the next row. "James..."
"Yeah," James said as he raised his head up and Elyas faced Hiro too along with the people they were talking to, making him cringe inwardly. He didn't like being the sole subject of more than four people's attention.
He pressed his lips together and cleared his throat. "We're going on a tour? Do you wanna come with?" he asked and James nodded as he faced the people he had been talking to and patted the arm of the chair he was leaning on.
"You guys wanna come with?"
Hiro raised his brows in surprise because James had only been talking to them for no more than five minutes and then remembered that James didn't even know he, Nikki, Ashley and the rest before today but he already made them a group so he shrugged.
"Sure," they all said in unison as they gathered their stuffs and got up from their seats. They were six in number, four women and two men.
Hiro and Ashley made their way out of the row as James and Elyas got up from their seats too. "Hiro and I are leading the tour," Ashley said after they got to where Nikki, Bethany and Thaniel were standing and the corner of Hiro's mouth twitched at being voluntold while she grabbed his hand, intertwining their fingers.
The rest of them shrugged and turned on their foldable tablets just as James, Elyas and the new people got to them. "Okay, where are we going first?" Nikki asked before lifting her eyes from the device to see the people standing next to James and Elyas. "... Hi?"
"Yeah guys, new members of our group," James stated and Bethany hmmed before he started to introduce them.
Sheldon Fischer and Erick Morrow were the names of the two men and they were both scientists. The names of the women were Ars Halette, Aislinn Hendrix, Mae Smith and Hanel Baker. Ars and Aislinn were also scientists while Mae was an engineer and Hanel was an astronaut.
"Guys, Hiro and Bethany are also scientists. Ashley is an astronaut and Thaniel is a mechanic," James said, ending the introduction, and the newcomers smiled at them.
"Nice to meet you guys," Ars and Aislinn said and the rest of them replied with the same while Hiro felt like it was the first day of high school again.
"Since we have more scientists in the group, we should go to the lab, right?" Ashley asked as she looked at everyone's faces for approval and most of them nodded in agreement.
Some people began to make their way out of the wall in groups of different numbers to start their tours. The remaining crew members that were still seated were still making friends and probably forming groups too and they didn't look like they would be leaving here anytime soon.
"Okay then," Ashley said as she let go of Hiro's hand to search for the location of the lab on her foldable tablet and the result came up almost immediately. "There are labs and they're spread out but the first one we're going to is in on the left part of the ship. It's close to the medical bay," she announced as she smiled at Nikki. "We'll check that out next."
"Oh, we should get another doctor since Nikki is the only doctor here," James said as he glanced around the hall and Hiro wondered if he thought he was going to see someone with doctor plastered on his forehead.
"Eh, no need," Nikki replied as she crossed her arms over her chest and glanced around the hall too. "There are only five doctors on board and there's a high chance all of them are already in other groups."
James shrugged as he faced her. "I'm not immune to poaching from another group."
Ashley rolled her eyes while grabbing Hiro's hands again and started pulling him down the stairs. "You're ridiculous James. Let's go guys."