The space preparation begin as the two remaining hour starts to roll away. And as for the time being, Mr. Matt and his team separated with the group to re-orient themselves with their own accorded space training. While Dr. Holly on the other hand, cuddles the poor Cat, Mr. North, going straight to the infirmary section to tend his wounds.
Quickly, the concerned doctor took the seldomly used elevator emergency exit to bring Mr. North fast to the clinic. Specifically, this bullet elevator was designed like an ivory egg stuck inside a transparent hose with a spherical opening in the front. And unto which, a highly secured translucent door tinted in pink was attached.
So as soon Dr. Holly entered, she then pressed the <49th> floor that leads to the clinic. Eventually, the doors shut and the elevator was pulled upwards. And while waiting inside the lift, Dr. Holly suddenly remembered that they have a floating portable stretcher inside the elevator.
Remembering this, immediately she looks back at the elevator's tab control and finds the
"Hang on there Mr. North. We will be there soonest at the clinic." Dr. Holly reassured him as he rest on the bed.
"Oh why is this happening to me? I've been through a lot of dire situations but this~ is nothing alike. I was stabbed deep into the core, crushed into the bone and slandered straight to the heart. All I had was glory and never once felt shame in my life. But now I'm so flustered that I'm gonna blast off to Bermuda! It was all because of that sorcerer who crushed my balls, Dr. Holly." Noirren dramatically started a monologue.
"You mean, Kingsleigh?"
"Yes. That king slayer witch. She defeated me when it's not even heroic at all." Noirren continued.
"Oh, I'm so sorry about your balls, Mr. North." Dr. Holly consoles with his pain.
"No, you shouldn't be Dr. Holly. But that witch should be. And I demand it!" Noirren vigorously demanded.
--GAKKER!—
Noirren's speech was interrupted when the penguin suddenly squawked beside them. Instinctively, they followed the voice and saw an emperor penguin standing at the opposite corner of the elevator.
"Ahh..! You filthy animal, how the hell did you get in here? We already defeated you on the surface bird! Now, accept your defeat and scram back to your flock!" Noirren screamed and hopped onto Dr. Holly's head as he hissed at the emperor penguin.
"GAKKER!" the emperor penguin continued.
"Dr. Holly..! Do something..!" Noirren cried aloud to Dr. Holly beneath him.
"Um… easy birdie… we don't want to hurt you… Ahh..!" Dr. Holly tried to tame the bird as she dodges its vicious pecking.
"Shoo bird! Shoo! Go back to your babies you flightless chicken!" Noirren added.
"GAKKER?" the emperor penguin paused a bit.
"Oh oh, I think you pissed him Mr. North," Dr. Holly nervously told him.
--GAKKER!!!—
And in a loud prolonged squawk, the emperor penguin then bravely attack Dr. Holly and Noirren with a vicious pecking and belly bumbing.
AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
"Oh you forsaken flightless amphibian, get away..! Ahh..!" Noirren exclaimed.
Meanwhile, going back to Dwaine's point of view, Dr. Chan led her out of the assembly room and took the vest to float back down to the deepest part of the underground to begin their training. Shortly, they reached the bottom floor and Dr. Chan handed her out a piece of clothing.
"Go, change your clothes over there and be back in five minutes. Understood?" Dr. Chan instructed Dwaine as he pointed her to the ladies restroom.
"Oh, ok…" Dwaine replied.
"Now hurry up, junior! And remember, just five minutes ok?" Dr. Chan rushed her.
"Yeah, five minutes Dr. Chan…" Dwaine responded as she quickly run to the restroom.
The moment she reaches the restroom, Dwaine then immediately locked the door to secure her privacy. Then right away, she took off her clothes to change into a new set of uniform. And while she's changing, suddenly a shining clock trinket fell down from her jean's pocket.
Dwaine noticed this and took the trinket from the floor. It was a gold necklace locket with a broken clock on the center. She opened the locket and eventually a sad melody perforated the room. This stopped her from changing and subconsciously she rest herself on the bench.
---REMINISCING---
"Mommy, Daddy! Look! It's the Red Queen!!!"
--Gasped—
BEEP!!! BEEP!!!
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!!!
--Thud—
---PRESENT---
The dire memories are haunting her back, as she closes her eyes and a bitter tear fell from her cheeks. She tightly grasped to her chest, catches her breath, and quietly cried to herself. She wanted to stop but her emotions were uncontrollable and the tears are an expression of her deep regret.
"I'm sorry, it's all my fault … I'm sorry… I'm sorry…I-I shouldn't have-" Dwaine repeatedly apologized as she silently cried.
By and by, a loud knock bang on the door. This disrupted her emotional struggle and despite it was still too hard for her to cease, she tried determinedly to regain her stable consciousness. So quickly, she washed her face, finished her changing, and went out of the restroom immediately.
"Sorry." Dwaine apologized to the next user as she hurriedly run towards her instructor.
"Hey wait! You forgot something!" The woman tried to call out for her but she's already too far away.
Shortly, Dwaine went back to Dr. Chan who was standing beside a tunnel. He was impatiently waiting for her and finally went out a relief to see that she was back exactly five minutes. Dr. Chan was about to start a conversation when he suddenly noticed that there was something wrong with Dwaine.
"Hey… what happened kid..? Are you alright? Is there something the matter?" Dr. Chan sympathetically asked.
"Nothing… why..?" Dwaine covered up.
"Hmm… nevermind… Ok then, let's get down to business." Dr. Chan understood and decided to let it be.
Right away, Dr. Chan led her inside into the bright lit tunnel as Dwaine followed behind him. Not long, and they've reached a large dome filled with amazing technological training equipments. There was an Olympic-sized pool, an immense oval marathon ground, a full set of weight lifting materials, and more of space training tools.
"Now, let's see… you have lived yourself in Iran for almost ten years… served to volunteer in the U.S. army dispatched in Iran… assassinated the extremist Koussaffa of the ISIS pact… and, rescued 20 children all by yourself… (Exhales sharply) Amazing, I'm impressed... but you must have also gone through a lot, right young lady? And your childhood was ruined by it." Dr. Chan briefly reviewed her history files as he awed in disbelief.
"It doesn't matter anymore Dr. Chan. Everything in this world means self-preservation and survival. You wanna live? then play by the rules of the jungle. And to be weak means nothing but becoming a prey. I did not try to be heroic Dr. Chan, I was only left with the choice to fight." Dwaine sadly confessed.
"(Sighs) come on, don't give me that look. Wear your smile kid! Let the dirty adults fall to their ruin, they help nothing but to destroy. Well, suck them! And you want my advice? Leave your yesterday begone, and set a new chapter today. You are the mirror of your fate Ms. Kingsleigh. And currently, you are making a small reflection of it. I am happy to have a student like you. You were brimming in courage, wisdom, and compassion, but you lack one more thing…" Dr. Chan tried to cheer her up.
"(Scoffs) oh come on Dr. Chan, am I hearing one of your Chinese proverbs again? Because that won't work on me, trust me." Dwaine finds the conversation a little too philosophical.
"You had a deep regret in your past, right Ms. Kingsleigh?" Dr. Chan continued.
Dwaine was struck by the words of Dr. Chan and left her silent in trance. Her heart ached and all of a sudden, a tear fell from her eyes. Noticing this, right away she wiped it off and covered her face. She was so embarrassed that she almost ran away. But instead she chose to stay and pretended to hurt her eyes.
"Ugh… sh*t, something stuck to my eyes…" Dwaine covered up.
"I know... because it was all written all over your face." Dr. Chan tried to catch Dwaine's inner thoughts.
"No! There really is something that stuck into my eyes Dr. Chan. You can even take a look at it for yourself. Look!" Dwaine insisted to defend herself.
"(Sighs) it's hopeless. Now, come on! Let us start our extreme training so we could fly off to space then." Dr. Chan changes the topic.
"Alright..! So, where do I begin shifou?" Dwaine cheerfully replied.
"Good. That's the spirit. Now, you'll gonna start by properly executing the basic physical exercises that you'll gonna need in space. First off, is a one thousand meter sprint within only twenty minutes. You think you can do that?" Dr. Chan gave her the first instruction.
"(Snorts)Of course, how hard could it be?" Dwaine confidently replied.
"Well, best of luck young lady. I hope you were still alive after this. Now go!"
Dr. Chan gave her the signal and Dwaine immediately dash the oval marathon ground as fast as she could while managing her breathing to extend her endurance. She was full of energy and quite consistent with her speed. And all the years of running away from her bullies have finally been put to use.
The twenty minutes passed quickly and successfully she made it to the allotted time and distance. Dr. Chan praised her for this and gave her another set of physical training. And this time, she is to execute the fifteen minute full speed cycling, one hundred pushups, one hundred pull-ups, and a hundred set of squats.
Upon hearing this, Dwaine began to doubt if she could even survive after this. But because she doesn't have a choice, determinedly she properly executed all the drills and finished all of it successively. An hour passed and at last it ended. She was soaking in sweat and her body starts to ache.
"So, how's your space exercise lasso?" Dr. Chan asked as he gave Dwaine a bottle of water.
"It was exhausting...! Thanks," Dwaine tiredly replied as she took the water.
"Drink slowly." Dr. Chan reminded her.
"(Drinks water slowly) Ah..! So, are we done now?" Dwaine curiously asked.
"Nope, this is just the beginning. You'll gonna need two more set of training for your psychological well-being and emotional stability to adapt to the unusual environment of space. And next step is diving." Dr. Chan replied.
"Oh please… you're going to kill me…" Dwaine complained as Dr. Chan helped her to get up.
"You're doing great young lady. So, stop doubting about it and change yourself in swimming attire. That's one minute and your one minute starts now."
"Can I have one more minute please...?" Dwaine pleaded.
"Tic-toc-tic-toc Ms. Kingsleigh, we're running out of time. So, what are you waiting for? Get going lass!"
Dr. Chan rushed her as Dwaine followed his gesture to where she could change herself in swimming attire. Shortly, she got the instruction and went in, in a blurred capsule that automatically changes her uniform into a swimming attire. Then right away, she went back to Dr. Chan and went down into the pool.
The diving session began and Dr. Chan instructed Dwaine to hold her breath under the water to as long as she could resist. Right away, they started the drill and Dr. Chan likewise began his stopwatch. Dwaine dived down and initiated her training. A minute later, Dwaine went out of the water and catch her breath.
"Excellent! That's one minute and you met my expectations. Now next, to the aerotrim machine," Dr. Chan gladly commented.
"Aerotrim..? What is that?" Dwaine inquired.
"You'll know soon when we get there."
Dr. Chan led her to a Multi-Axis Trainer machine, which is a 3-axis spherical gimbal, large enough to contain a person. Dwaine saw this and began to feel frightened, because she completely knows that this machine will spun her violently around. She started to feel nauseated and tried determinedly not to get obvious.
Immediately, Dr. Chan assisted her to the aerotrim and secured her safety. And as soon everything was already settled, they then started the spun drill. At first, the initial spin was slow but as the spinning goes on, the speed likewise increases. Until such time that it reached its maximum and finally it ended.
Dwaine released herself from the aerotrim and slowly she helped herself to stand up despite still exhausted by the spinning. Her eyes were rotating and she was very dizzy. At last, the preparations are complete and Dr. Chan congratulated her.
"Congratulations, Ms. Kingsleigh! It's not enough training but I believe you are now ready to go to space."
"Alright..!" Dwaine cheerfully exclaimed as she was almost losing out of balance.
The training ended and the final preparation commenced. All of the members were called and informed to ready right away. Quickly, all of them responded and shortly, everyone then assembled. Matt's team was complete, Dr. Holly and Noirren were already there, and Dwaine and Dr. Chan likewise arrived. Everyone went on board and each took their seats respectively.
GOOD DAY! I AM AI ELSA. AND I'LL BE OPERATING YOUR RELEASE. NOW BUCKLE UP YOUR SEATBEALTS FOR WE ARE ABOUT TO TAKE OFF, IN TEN… NINE… EIGHT… SEVEN… SIX… FIVE… FOUR… THREE… TWO… ONE… BLAST OFF.
"Space, here we come…" Dwaine muttered.