Despite her best efforts at shaking her head, Lin can't seem to shake off the dull headache. Desperately, Lin moves her mouth and manages a moan before uttering a word.
"Coffee!"
A few seconds later, a gentle wind blows on her face as a small drone descends along with a steaming cup of coffee onto the coffee table in front of her. Lin's nostrils flare up as she takes in the familiar scent and with a sudden burst of energy, she sits up with a straight back, eyes still closed, and a line of dried drool on her cheek matching the dried patch of drool on the coffee table. With the dexterity of a master, her hand reaches for the coffee and brings it up to her slightly open mouth. After blowing the surface gently, she takes a sip. The familiar bitterness flows down her throat warming her up entirely, waking her up finally from her stupor. Remembering the prior night's events, a feeling of something amiss appears as she squints her large eyes.
Hmm.... What am I forgetting.... My ship! Quickly realizing what they forgot, Lin gently places her cup back onto the coffee table and stands up from her cross legged position in one swift motion before looking around.
"Euri! You have to fix my ship before we head out!" She shouts after not seeing Euri in the room. Seeing the bathroom door open, she heads towards the bedroom swiftly, but Euri cannot be seen in there either. Finally, she presses on the button to open the door to the garage. As the door slide open, a scent of lubricants and coolants erupt from the entry along with some classical music. Lin quickly pinches her nose before walking into the dark garage turning her head left and right looking for Euri.
Why isn't the light on? Lin wonders.
"Almost done." A slightly irritated voice drifts out from under a beat up, grey HT-550 4 sedan.
"What ... did you do to your ship Lin?" Euri questions as she slides out from beneath the ship on a small padded board holding what looks to be dry seaweed.
"... Research" Lin answers as she scratches the back of her head. "I parked it on a small island in the Frasier Delta while I went to retrieve an underwater recorder. By the time I pulled up my recorder, it was already sliding towards the water. I barely managed to hop inside and close the hatch before it was already halfway in the water. At least the intake vents weren't completely blocked yet... Hehehe." Lin laughs sheepishly.
Euri's face turns more and more deadpan as she listens to the story.
"Well..." Euri sighs as she walks towards the sink to clean herself up. "Good news is your ship can still fly."
Upon hearing this news, Lin beams and immediately steps behind Euri and gives her a hug from behind. "Oh Euri you're the best!" She exclaims with joy. However she hears Euri's voice continue in the same monotonous voice.
"Bad news is, we will have to replace the air filter and intake. It is much too mangled to continue its work." Euri finishes and dries her hands. With Lin now embracing her from behind, a smirk appears on Euri's face. She reaches down behind her and hooks her hands around Lin's thighs and lifts her up into a piggy back.
"H-how much will that cost?" Lin questions, clearly worried the repairs will cost more than what she had.
"What are you worried about?" Euri reassures her as she carries Lin towards the hallway. "Didn't we just hit the jackpot yesterday? Also, I don't think we'll need a second ship from tomorrow on anyway. Why don't we sell it?"
Lin rests her chin on top of Euri's slightly damp, dark hair and thinks for a while, considering the suggestion. Noticing this, Euri continues down the hallway into the bathroom before depositing Lin onto the ground.
"Go take a bath while you think about it. The water's already drawn."
Lin nods and closes the bathroom door. Soon after, the sound of water can be heard from inside.
Unlike her condo, Lin's home is a rented unit on the east side of the Residential Island. After instructing the home AI to clean up last night's mess, she heads towards the balcony. Stepping into the shadow of the surrounding high rises, Euri takes in a deep breath, filling her lungs with the warm exhausts of the traffic above and below her.
Since I woke up from that strange... Whatever that was last night, all of my senses have become sharper. Euri summarises to herself. Lin is also bigger. I wonder what she's been eating. She remarks, remembering the feeling of Lin on her back. All of a sudden, a feeling of danger spreads across her skin causing her hairs to stand on end. As if in slow motion, Euri quickly drops into a crouch with a hand on the door frame, and spins herself into the apartment before sliding the balcony door and curtain closed before opening a slit to look outside.
Eyes darting around, Euri tries to figure out the source of her premonition while taking measured breaths. As if on cue, a couple of familiar black hovercrafts flying in unusual altitudes passes by the airspace outside.
Sh*t. Euri swears to herself as she quickly retrieves Lin's bags to store in her ship. "Lin get dressed! We need to leave!"
Water splashes can be heard in response to Euri's shout, following which the bathroom door slides open to reveal a wet haired young woman in large shirt tucked into tight shorts and leggings accentuating her curves. With worry clearly on her face, Lin grabs another large bag and a small white curved gun from the bathroom to join Euri in the garage.
"What's going on Euri?" Lin asks while throwing her bag to Euri's extended arms.
"Get in the ship! I just saw the same ships that chased me last night fly by." Euri explains as she puts Lin's bag in the front storage. She then hops into the pilot seat. Pulling up the ship's dashboard, her fingers fly across the menues and options. Soon, the ship's signature red turns to a gunmetal Grey.
"Tina, set destination, CMA." Euri commands as she begins to tie up her hair and pulls out a berret from the glovebox along with a pair of large round glasses.
"Is that miss four-eyes?" Lin remarks, prompted by the sudden change in appearance. "I haven't seen that look since you studied for your Journeyman Mechanics license three years ago."
Unwilling to risk being discovered, Euri puts on a face mask before glancing at Lin and whispering. "Lin. This isn't the time. We need to stay low until we get to the academy."
Noting the nervousness in her companion's tone, Lin quickly nods and selects a white wide rimmed hat with a green bow along with similarly round aviator sunglasses before donning them. "Hehehe, it feels like we're in a spy holo." She jokes, unable to help herself.
The now grey Red Devil slowly launches itself from the rails off the 22nd story garage and accelerates with only the default two small thrusters to join the usual city traffic.
"We'll take the South exit, detour at the Mt. Rainier Metropolitan area, then head towards the CMA. If all goes well, we should arrive by noon, giving us two hours to prepare for the exam." The young woman with the berret says as she looks at a map on the dashboard in front of her.
Unable to hold back the worry, now displayed clearly on Lin's face, she puts a hand on Euri's shoulder while trying to think of helpful advice. "Euri, remember what your dad would tell us whenever we got into any kind of trouble."
"'There's nothing a calm mind can't solve.' I know." Euri answers looking back at Lin with a reassuring smile. A calm mind. Right. Deep breaths. Dad would often meditate. I usually use classical music, but maybe I can try meditating. Feeling inspired, Euri changes her posture to a cross legged position and straightens her back. After closing her eyes, she begins to slowly breathe in and out like the father in her memories.
After a few breaths, a strange coolness begins to swirl within her core. As the feeling becomes clearer and clearer, even with her eyes closed, Euri begins to see outlines of her surroundings. Motes of light also become clearer, permeating the dark world, but congregating around certain areas.
Soon, the the swirls within her begin to expand slightly as the motes of light near her are pulled into the swirling energy, as if sucked in by some unknown force.
This is just like when I touched that strange gate... Euri considers. Is this what's making my senses sharper? After hypothesizing this matter, she slowly opened her eyes while remaining focused on her breathing. As she did so, it took all she had to continue the slow breathing. Her vision seemed to be even sharper than in the morning.
Noticing her friend's focused state, Lin decides to pull up some test review content to prepare for the upcoming exams.
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Central Military Academy
"Principal Sharma, as requested, I have put together a list of candidates for the L1 Mechanics training school."