The Optimum Project: Revised Edition

Chapter 14

Flash forward

I instantly woke up at the sound of the morning chime, my body swinging up out of bed almost of it's own volition as my eyes opened to the sound. After almost a year it was like second nature, a programmed response just as much as Pavlov's dogs salivating. I stretched and walked over to Peter, who unlike me, wasn't much of a morning person and needed some extra... motivation.

I shook him, "Yo, Pete, buddy! You really gonna sleep in on graduation day?"

He growled something about hoping I'd get a janitorial position, so I played off of that, "Well it's a bummer you won't see the look on my face if I do for some reason get assigned to there."

That seemed to get him to at least become more conscious, "Fine," he moaned, "I'm up. Man, I don't think I'm going to miss you waking me up in the mornings."

"You will once the next guy just dumps you on the floor." I chuckled as I pulled off the muscle shirt I slept in.

I caught a glance at myself in the mirror we were given a few months ago as part of a formal dress exercise. We needed one to ensure we maintained proper dressing standards when formal navy uniforms were required for events, and that one glance sent a sort of flashback of the past year through me. Gone was the scrawny mechanic kid that had scraped by on his father's ship, in his place was a well built muscular young man. By Alliance standards I needed a buzz cut, but I actually liked the length my hair was at, similar to when I was with my father it was the perfect length to spike. I eyed up my musculature, my six pack was well defined thanks to my high metabolism and lack of fat in the first place, my chest had grown out in the pectoral region from all the push ups, as did my biceps for the same reason. I was a different person physically than when I came here, that was for sure... But how had I changed mentally? I felt like my goals were the same, and yet I passed through this entire year without seemingly making progress. Every time I asked Clipper, it was always the same reaction, he'd sweep it under the rug with a simple, 'it's not up to me to tell you Noah, it'll come in time.'

I was sick of waiting, sick of not knowing. I would show up for my graduation and receive my assignment, but I wouldn't report to it. I'd done my research, I may have needed to be average as far as training scores go but I didn't work any less hard in my free time, I was confident if I hadn't held back I'd have been top of almost every class, right there next to Sarah and Brea. Not only that but I also took time to teach myself advanced techniques and skills, some of which I actually gained making up for my demerits.

Every weekend I went to one of the station's information and security desks and requested jobs to help offset the demerits on my record. Some of these meant I spent time helping the maintenance crews with repairs both inside and outside the station, cleaning the Station Security guns and other equipment, and once or twice helping correct programming issues in a few of the Alliance station's automated anti-ship turrets.

Any free time I had that wasn't devoted to negating demerits was constantly used up in the engineering bay working on ADAM. I enjoyed that a lot, especially since Pix was always close to provide me advice and suggestions, never over stepping his boundaries as advisor by trying to take over, and he was always challenging me to think outside the box and come up with my own solutions. ADAM was actually almost done now, the once limbless torso was now free standing on its own legs, it's arms assembled and ready to be attached. ADAM's head would be the most challenging part, the original plans that Pix had given me access to called for such a compact system of sensors and control systems that it was almost impossible for me to install without damaging any of the said systems, they would get in each other's way no matter what order I installed them in.

My mind worked its way over the problem as I put on my decorative Alliance Navy uniform, the deep blue of the suit contrasting from the gold and silver epaulets that rested lightly on my shoulders. I could make the head larger, but then I'd have to calibrate all of ADAM's systems to compensate, not to mention he'd look like a massive bobble head. I could try removing or downsizing some less necessary systems... But I'd rather keep him up to the original intended specifications...