Created

Part 3: The Experiment, Chapter 8

Swipe

CHEFS base, classified

Swipe was in love. He couldn't help it. All of the night before he dreamed about June. When he first saw her enter into the room and sit in the circle, his heart jumped. His picking on her was just a knee jerk response. It was what he usually did when he was insecure about something.

I should probably apologize to her at breakfast. He thought. At that thought, he was wide awake, anxious for breakfast. He layed in his bed a little longer, then he couldn't stand it anymore. Trellis got out of bed and put on a black muscle shirt that, when he looked in the mirror, he noticed made his large biceps pop. Perfect.

He walked out of his room at the same time June did. She was in the room next to him. He made eye contact with her, and, in a moment of weakness, instantly walked back into the room and shut the door. What are you doing. Come on Trellis, come on Trellis. Man up and face her.

He opened the door and walked out again, only to see that she had waited for him.

"You're that scared of being punched by Carter huh?"

Swipe realized that June was making a joke. That was good. Jokes were good, and he was good at jokes. Icebreakers.

"No, I am not. That dude was just about as threatening as a teddy bear. And not the big kind."

"Oh sure. He shut you up so fast, and you turned blank white. For a second I thought that that tan would be gone forever."

Okay. It was back to being awkward. But at least she noticed him. Time for more conversation.

"I was about to head to breakfast." Swipe said.

"Me too. What are you planning on getting?"

"I don't actually know. I'm just going to have him surprise me."

"That sounds nice, I think I might do that too." Swipe noticed a bit of color in her cheeks. Was she blushing? Or was she just wearing makeup? Trellis would go with the latter.

"Alright, go ahead." He would be a gentleman today, but the only problem was that she said the same thing at the same time. He looked back at her. She was looking down, and definitely blushing now. This is good. That means attraction. I think. Swipe then realized that he knew nothing about girls, which was bad.

"So you want to go first, or should I?" He asked.

"You can go."

"So do you want to eat together or sit on the opposite side of the lunchroom like we did at dinner?"

"That was weird. That lunchroom is gigantic for only 6 people. There's like, 12 tables. It's insane!"

"I know right?" Short pause. "So, you didn't answer my question. Do you?"

"Sure. Why the heck not?" June replied.

They walked to the lunchroom, ordered a surprise, and Gertrude whipped up a full meal of pancakes, eggs, bacon(yum), and orange juice in a glass cup, and actual silverware. Fancy.

That was the nicest breakfast Swipe had had in literal forever. It was nicer to be able to apologize, and talk to June. She was the coolest lady Trellis had ever met. He learned that she was an artist, a homeless helper, a reader, and an inspirational speaker.

He would've liked to live in LA.

Swipe left breakfast feeling giddy and trying to hold back a stupid grin.

As he walked back to his room, he ran into Carter. Which was both a good thing, and a bad thing.

But it was mainly bad.

Swipe tried to make the atmosphere more comfortable. "Where you goin'"

"The gym." Of course he was. That kid spent at least six hours of the eight they spent at the base, in the gym. He was a big body builder. Swipe didn't like going to the gym. He just did a few push ups, some situps, and ran some laps in a typical exercise routine. Just enough to keep his body looking good.

"So no breakfast?" Trellis asked.

"I'll eat lunch after."

"Breakfast is the most important meal though."

"So is exercising." Then he walked away.

"That doesn't even make sense!" He called after Carter.

"I don't care!" He called back.

It's safe to say they had a rocky relationship.

About an hour later, an announcement over a loud speaker woke Trellis from his nap. "ATTENTION: PLEASE REPORT TO THE LAB IN THE NEXT FIVE MINUTES FOR THE PRETESTING PROCESS. THANK YOU."

That woke Swipe up completely. Grogginess and all. They were going to start testing today! He couldn't wait.

He put on some khakis and a black t-shirt, and walked towards the lab, and got there in exactly five minutes.

No one else was there. Hmm. That's weird. Glass walked out from behind a metal cylinder.

"Hello Trellis." He knew his real name.

"Hi." Swipe replied. He knows my name!

"You might be wondering where everybody else is."

"Yes, I was."

"The announcement you heard over the loud speakers was directed towards your room only. Everyone else are in things." He patted a metal container.

"Everyone are in these!? It's like in Aliens!"

"Yes. I guess it is. They are currently getting their powers. The reason we called you last is because your testing process is faster than theirs. Halfway through you get increased metabolism, which helps the testing process. So, let's get started. You ready?"

"Let's do it."

"This is your last chance to back out if you want."

"No way. I'm doing this." Swipe was all in. No doubt about it.

"All right." Glass clicked a button that was on a panel. The top came off of the container, and a retractable step ladder expanded off the side. Glass stood at the base of the ladder and put his arms to the side, gesturing that Trellis should climb up. He did. He noticed that the container was filled with a glowing blue liquid. Now Swipe was having second thoughts.

"So, do I just, like, jump in."

"Yep. The water should knock you out so you shouldn't feel a thing."

"That doesn't make me feel better."

Well, no turning back now. Swipe jumped in and felt a warm tingling sensation that started in his feet, and quickly moved up his body. He could somehow still breathe while in the liquid, but he didn't know how. What was he in, what was he doing? Swipe couldn't remember why he was there, but it didn't matter. Trellis was at peace as he slipped into the inky black darkness of sleep.