The Optimum Project

Chapter 28

Acclimating

I woke up to the sound of someone knocking on the door, I looked around, I was in my bunk room... Man why do I always get knocked out?
'It seems this collection of events is due to situations that put your physiology at risk and have variables that are out of your control.'

I blinked, I had not expected an answer...
I asked a mental question while I got out of bed and walked towards the door, "and who are you?"
I got a simple reply, 'I am Tom'

I didn't have time to deal with this at the moment, I answered the door and found myself practically nose to nose with Sarah; and then I realized my shirt was off... Yeah, even I was curious to see how I could dig myself out of this one. Sarah stepped back and she too realized I was shirtless, which made her immediately become bright red. "I, uhh.. I just came over to see if you were here, uhh... Well. Bree and I were worried, and..." Her line of thought seemed to slow to a stop as her eyes fell upon my tattoo.

'I am not simply a tattoo, I am a complex machine with a nanite core that manifests its self on the surface of the skin, which allows it to be moved and changed freely.' Tom snapped

I blinked, that was actually rather fascinating...
'And for the record, I'm supposed to be a secret...' He added

I blinked again as I realized he was talking about Sarah so I quickly came up with something to distract her, "yeah, I just took a nap for a bit, sorry I stood you guys up; I'll grab a shirt and be right out."

Sarah gave a nod as my words seemed to pull her from her stupor. "Alright, and hurry it up or were going to miss the shuttle!" I gave her an assurance as I jogged back into my room, grabbing a clean, white tee and picking up the duffel bag I had packed before I had been called down to engineering.

'It seems that your aforementioned physiology is effective at distracting the females of your age group, Noah.' I could practically hear Tom snickering as he said this.

I shot a thought back, 'that physiology you keep talking bout is the result of rigorous training, I can't help it if I get a six pack on the process'

That seemed to silence him as he conceded to my argument, I was actually going to enjoy a few logical debates with him...

At this point Sarah and I had made our way to the elevator and she looked at me, the effects of seeing me shirtless having worn off. "Are you ok?" She asked,,"you seem a little quiet today."

I nodded, "yeah, I'm fine, just thinking."

She nodded, apparently satisfied with my answer, "is your family visiting?"

I nodded again, "yeah, my father" I let the statement hang there for a moment, bracing for the inevitable question...

"What about your mom?"

There it was, that question... "she died a long time ago..." I grabbed her pendant and rubbed my thumb gently across the gears, careful not to get the skin on my fingers pinched.

I looked at Sarah, who was gaping at me like a fish... "I... I didn't know, I'm so sorry..."

I shook my head and let my mom's pendant come to a rest back on my chest, "not your fault, happened a long time ago; and I didn't know her very well."

She nodded, and we rode in silence all the way to one of the launch points at the Tetrad. In all honesty the Tetrad could be called a triangular pyramid with all the corners chopped off, this left large, open landing pads that ships could use with ease.

As the doors opened we found ourselves in a hallway with rows upon rows of space suits, and kids in various stages of putting them on. Everyone had been shown how to use one the first week here, but the process was rather tricky and we had never practiced much after that.

I grabbed a suit that was my size and Sarah grabbed herself one before turning to me, "I'm going to tell Bree I found you and then she and I can find a shuttle and save you a seat, OK?"

I nodded, "Just make sure you message me the shuttle number."

She grinned and pranced off and around the corner, back to her old self already.

I sighed to myself and grabbed the suit, putting it on perfectly on the first try, like it was second nature... I mentally queried Tom on it.

'During mental integration I sorted through  your long term memory, cleansing it of... Static if you would.' He answered.

I thought about it, 'what, exactly are your technological limitations?' I asked.

He was quiet for a moment, and then came up with a very terrifying reply, 'I have none'