The Edge Of Space

Chapter 34 - Finally on track!

"Alright. Body test number one, all you need to do is jump as high as you can and land it," Vontaine said, the crew by his side.

Malketa nodded and focused, knelt, and then leapt several meters into the air, landing easily.

"Woah, so high!" Merca encouraged.

"That's good, but you can go higher if you like," he said.

"Okay," she said, kneeling again.

She soon lept up again, cracking the ground underneath as she flew up hundreds of meters into the air.

Her face lit up as she looked around to see clouds and slowly descended back to the ground, landing with ease as the ground shattered under.

"Wonderful, legs are working nicely. Now the arms," he said, throwing a boulder in front of her.

"First test is to pick it up, throw it up and catch it, and then try and break it with a punch. For reference, it only weighs 3 tonnes," he said.

"Only 3? My Max is 5000," she huffed.

"Yes, I know, but we're just making sure everything works," he assured.

She nodded before placing her hands on it, got a nice grip, and picked it up, easily hauling it over head.

"Try one arm," He said, to which she did, holding it up easily.

"Good, please continue," he added.

She focused and threw it up a couple of meters before catching it.

"How'd that feel," he asked.

"Yeah, good. Muscle tensing and relaxing is a weird feeling to get used to," she giggled as she set it back down.

"You'll get used to it soon enough. Now... PUNCH THE BOULDER!" He shouted enthused.

She grinned before moving into an offensive position. Took a deep breath to cool her internals and struck it.

It all happened in less than a second. She focused and punched the boulder. Her fist flew through the air so fast that fire ignited around it from the friction of the air and shot through the boulder, shattering it on contact.

Vontaine lit up happily as the boulder crumbled to dust. She retracted her arm while looking at Vontaine, her arm still on fire.

"Uh, malketa...," he said slightly alarmed.

She raised a brow and looked over to the flames then panicked.

"Shit! Fuck ahh!" She screamed waving it around like a maniac as the blaze slowly died down.

"You OK?" He said concerned.

"Yeah of course. The polymer we fabricated the skin with works very well. Ended up testing the fire protection properties too," she giggled hesitantly.

"Yeah, good news then, the fire test was gonna be more controlled but anyway, well done!" He congratulated.

"Thanks, what's next?" She asked.

"That's all for the working tests. Now it's actually onto some fun stuff," he said with a grin.

"Ooh Ok. What are we doing?" She asked.

"It's a surprise. Come with me," he said, taking everyone inside.

"Merca," Malketa said anxiously.

"Don't worry Mal, this is gonna be great," she giggled, taking Malketa's hand and leading her onward.

They went back inside the base where Chester had been preparing hundreds of different foods and drinks.

They sat Malketa down next to Fritz and Zen and waited. Then, Vontaine, Marca and Chester brought out the first plates of food and filled the massive table.