The Vertigo Project (CRINGE-FEST 2K15)

Chapter 2 Meet The Kids

"Woah!!"Akio exclaimed, jumping back. The face began to cackle maniacally. Phillip chuckled, opening the metal door.

"April," Phillip scolded.

"Heheh, what?" The young girl smiled innocently. She had long, thick brown hair scraped into a ponytail with a bright blue streak going from the scalp to the ends. She had dark brown eyes, and a short height with clear skin. She was wearing a white hoodie, blue jeans and black combat boots. And her name was April.

"April, this is Akio." Phillip introduced.
"Hello Akio. I'm the ambassador, I run around giving orders from Phillip to the other kids." April raised her hand, then flung it back down to her side. Phillip nodded at her in approval. She began to speed-walk down the long corridor behind her. Phillip followed suit, being tailed by Akio.

April opened the simple wooden door at the end of the hallway. Once Akio exited, he was greeted by a large, low-ceilinged room with two long couches and a recliner, all of which were brown leather. Behind those couches was a pool table, a pole rack, and a file cabinet. Sitting on the furniture was a girl and a boy. The boy was blonde with bright baby blue eyes, and thin-rimmed glasses. He wore a blue shirt, and dark pants.

The girl had light chestnut-colored hair, with light brown eyes and light skin. She wore a dark green shirt, and a white, long-sleeved shirt underneath with a vine pattern crawling down the sleeves. She also wore black tights with a camouflage waistband. Both of their noses were buried deep inside of their books.

"Hey Joseph, Heidi." Phillip greeted, both of them looking up at the same time. The boy, Joseph, stood up and went to go shake the shorter boy's hand.

"Joseph." He said simply, then the smaller boy replied, "Akio."

The girl came from behind Joseph, and shook Akio's hand. They exchanged names also.

"Me and Heidi both work in pretty much the same field. We both keep everyone in check, and we conduct the experiments and designs if they're approved." Joseph informed, then looked to Phillip. Whom nodded in approval.

Suddenly, a dirty-blonde boy walked in. He had light green eyes, was wearing a Styx band shirt, a red plaid flannel over that, and jeans. He had long, curly hair that was about shoulder-length. He walked over, and shook Akio's hand. "Hey, name's Jackson. Chief design engineer." He greeted.

"Akio. Shaking peoples' hands." Akio replied. Jackson and the others laughed.

"Okay, Akio, let's go meet your partner, Marie. She should be in your office." Phillip said, leading the rest of the kids back down the hallway Akio was just led out of.

There was a doorway that was unseen, to the left of the exit from the elevator. Phillip opened the door, and directed Akio into the room. It was dimly lit, and there were large stations of computers and two desks in the corners. A dark-brown-haired girl was sitting at one of the desks, a thin phone held near her face. Her very dark eyes looked up to see Phillip and Akio standing in the doorway.

"Oh hey guys. I'm Marie, you?" The girl greeted.

"I'm Akio." Akio answered, Marie already paying her attention back to the phone.

"Marie, Akio, you guys will be working in the same office. Akio will be the technology director and chief hacker. Is that okay with you?" Phillip asked, looking at Akio.
'Not really. Not at all. I don't really like her.' Akio thought, lying, "Yeah, that's fine."
"Okay, good. Marie, we're going to go meet Toby and Jett." Phillip said, Marie murmuring something incoherent.

The two walked back down the corridor. They joined with the other kids, whom were waiting at the entrance to the main living area.
"How was Marie?" Jackson whispered to Akio.

"Meh, friendly-ish enough." Akio replied.

"You aren't gonna think that after the next week of working with her." Jackson responded, Akio sighing as they were greeted by another boy. He was wearing a white shirt, black jeans, tennis shoes and camouflage hoodie hanging over his shoulder. He had dark-brown hair, dark eyes, and a sweaty, red face. Toby.

"Hey, Akio, right? I'm Toby. I do about ninety percent of the welding and I'm also the co-design engineer." Toby greeted in a scratchy voice, then shook Akio's hand.

"Yeah, that's me. Apparently chief hacker and technology director." The shorter boy smirked a little, shaking back. So far, he liked these kids.

Toby nodded, then asked, "Cool, are you guys going in Jett's shop?"
"Yeah, why?" Phillip replied. Toby just raised his eyebrows and let out a breath. He said, "Good luck," Then let them pass. He followed shortly behind Jackson.

Muffled shouting and clanging was heard inside the workshop. Phillip put his hand on the metal handle to open the double doors. He sighed, closing his eyes. Obviously knowing what was going on inside.

Phillip opened the door, only to be greeted by a flying wrench. The metal tool hit the cement wall just by Akio's face, making a chip fly out of it. Then, curses and threats made their way into his ears.

A girl was seen on top of a platform about thirty feet in the air. She was wearing a gray jacket, jeans, and black converse, along with a dark green Marine Corps. hat, which was on backwards. She had deep burgundy hair, a freckled face and gray-blue eyes. Not to mention, there were grease and oil smears all over her clothes, hands and face. Jett.

Jett held a large gear above her head as she turned around, and just before another curse slipped from her lips, she paused.

"Well, it's about TIME WE GOT AN ASIAN! Welcome to the club!" She greeted, hiding the gear behind her back. "I'm Jett, the mechanic, you are?"

"Akio." He replied simply, feeling uncomfortable. Jett continued.

"Okay, nice to meet ya. Phillip!! You can thank me when this car doesn't work, 'cause it's engine is NOT working, and it NEVER WILL!!!" Jett shouted, kicking a box.

"Jett," Phillip's forehead was pinched between his thumb and forefinger, head down and eyes shut. "Are you sure you need another engine?" He asked, looking back up at the girl, who was now hanging upside-down.

The backside of her knees were latched on a pole, and her ankles were hitched to another pole behind that one. Jett's hat was held in her crossed arms, letting her maroon ponytail fall beneath her head. Her bangs were cascading down towards the floor.

One of her shaped eyebrows were cocked, and she asked, "How long have I been working on this? Maybe, oh I don't know, six months!"

"Jett, April's not going to get her pool in time if we buy you another engine." Phillip pointed out.

Jett swiftly stood back up on the platform, then put her hat on forwards, sighing, "April, I love you, okay? But, I just DON'T GIVE A SINGLE FLYING SHIT ABOUT YOUR POOL, OKAY?"

Phillip sighed, then turned to Akio. Whom looked very amused at the situation.

"See what I have to deal with?"

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Hey guys!! This is my first chapter of my first book. I hope you like it! If you have any questions or comments, please leave one, and I'll get to it right away!

Unless you're a serial killer or anything along those lines, Ilysm for reading this. Thanks a lot!

P.S. Okay so when Jett says something like, "Well it's about TIME WE GOT AN ASIAN!!" That wasn't meant to be racist. Sorry if it came out that way. Stereotypically, Asians are like, really smart so that's why I put that there.

See ya!