Project Icarus

Testing: Part Two

HOLY CRAP GUYS!!! (author's note btw) THANK YOU FOR 20 VIEWS IN 17 HOURS!!
Even if a lot of you came because of my good friend Httpannabeth

Anyway, I won't keep you here for long. Enjoy!

I engaged the magnets.

There was a slight click, followed by a nearly inaudible hum.

"Come on! Show me your wings," the Instructor cried, impatient.

Very slowly, as I didn't want to harm the artwork that I was attached to, I raised my arms.

They were beautiful. And much bigger than I thought they would be. I turned to the mirrored wall and inspected them. At least 20 feet across, they took up the entire room. Almost every visible part of the exoskeleton and wings was black. Joints in the skeleton were a brass color, highlighting them against the rest. And the wings. They looked like they were taken directly off some enornous mechanical raven. There were no brass joints on this one, All moving parts were internal. The Scientists here did an amazing job on them, even including different types of feathers.

"Holy crap," the Instructor said.

"Yeah," I replied, as in awe as she was.

She put a finger to her right ear and spoke.

"Sir, we've got the wings attached. Ready for the first test," she monotoned. Taking her finger away from her ear, and with the same awe as before, she spoke again. "Move them around."

I quickly dropped my arms. The wings folded in. Hands out in front of me. Wings curved in and touched the mirror. I gave a few experimental flaps this way, and had a hard time staying on my feet.

"Dang," I said. These wings weren't only meant to be beautiful.

"Walk around," the Instructor instructed.

So that's where she got her title. She's here to help me fly.

I did as I was told. Disengage the magnets, run in laps around the room, jump at least three feet high without re-engaging. Her tests were pretty rigorous, but they got the exoskeleton fully tested out.

"Catch your breath. Your next test can't be done in here," she said, finally.

I disengaged the magnets and put my hands on my head to help myself breathe. She slid the door open and motioned for me to step through.

"Remember, flap and take off, let your feet lock, disengage, have the machine flap for you most of the way, re-engage, push the feet down, and descend for landing," she told me once again.

"I know," I said again.

Stepping into the hall, I immediately realized that this was a big event. There were people cramming every bit of empty space they could find.

"Make a path for the Angel," the Instructor said, forcibly.

With no argument, the crowd made a path multiple feet across. Walking slowly towards the long platform I was supposed to fly off of, I found some common sense.

What the hell am I doing? I'm about to jump off of a platform and supposedly I'll fly away! I'm going to die!

I suppressed the rational part of my brain for the little bit that remained.

It's not even that high.

But we could DIIIEEE.

We have wings.

WHAT IF THEY BREAK?

We jump into a pile of sand. Any more irrational arguments, sane part of my brain?

...

Good.

We reached the platform. I turned to the Instructor and she smiled.

"You know what to do," she reassured.

I turned to the part of the platform that was meant as a runway.

I engaged the wings, and heard almost everyone take in a breath. I gave them a quick move around to ensure nothing had changed from a minute ago, and got ready to run down the platform.

"You've got this, Angel," I barely heard the Instructor say. "Give it your best."

I closed my eyes and took in one last breath. I raised my wings and steadied myself. And I ran down the platform, doing as best I could to flap the wings as I ran. And I got to the end of the platform and jumped as high as I could off of it.

There was a tiny jolt as my legs were locked upwards. And the wings began to work on their own. Thirty feet off the sand below, fifteen feet above and forty feet out from the platform, I was flying.

That is, until the whole exoskeleton fell apart. At first, I just thought I accidentally pushed down on my legs, because they dropped. I looked down to try and reattach them and saw pieces falling out of my pant leg. Somehow, my adrenaline got even higher than it was and I went into overdrive trying not to hurt myself. In the end, I ended up flailing for a second before the wings detached and I fell straight down.

Like an idiot, I tried to land on my legs. That was a horribly wrong decision, because when I landed from thirty feet up, the sand was much harder than it should've been. I don't remember much after the wings broke off, but I remember the screaming.

Men and women alike, everyone who was standing and watching screamed as I fell.
I barely saw the Instructor 's face over the edge of the platform before I blacked out from pain.

I woke up back in my bedroom. I blinked a few times, and my vision focused on the Instructor's face, extremely close to my own. She smiled.

"You're awake," she said.

"Very much so," I replied, feebly.

"What do you remember?"

"The wings broke and I fell. I saw you over the edge of the platform. I woke up."

Her eyes went glassy. "You broke five bones."

With that statement, she finally let herself cry. I raised my arm to try and pat her on the back, to try and reassure her that I was fine, but I couldn't reach far enough over to her.

"Instructor," I said, gently. She looked up. "It's okay. You had no way of knowing it'd fall apart. You don't have to feel bad. That being said, I'm going to scream at those scientists."

She sniffled a second and said "don't call me that, 'Instructor,' It sounds like I'm above you or something. In reality, you're practically on top of the entire chain of command."

"What do you want me to call you then," I asked, confused. She paused for a second.

"When we're alone, you can call me Lindsay," she said quietly. I smiled, glad that she wanted me to know her name.

"Okay... Lindsay," I said. The name suited her perfectly. How, I'm not sure, but she just seemed like a Lindsay.

Wiping her eyes on her arm, Lindsay stood up. "I have to get going. Just shout if you need something, okay?" I nodded. She turned to go, but hesitated before walking away.

Turning back to the bed, the came over and kissed my forehead. After doing so, she promptly turned and began to walk away. "Don't hurt yourself more," she said before the door slid shut.

My forehead still tingles from that now, even after I wrote out all of today's drama.

What's up with that?

A/N: Thanks for reading! Sorry that it's shorter than yesterday, but I thought I'd end it there. Oh and fangirl_named_sona has helped me a bit with the 'Is that weird?' Section of it so thank you for that, Sona. Alright. I'll update tomorrow if I can, but that's an IF. Anyway.