Signing Off

Chapter 5

Elizabeth looked at the wooden door in front of her. Is it real wood? She thought, Wow NASA can really waste money on what ever it wants. She twisted the nob, just as she had seen in the movies. Gently she pushed open the door preparing herself for what was on the inside. She began to wonder why they had changed the room for the training. They had only had one unsuccessful lesson before this one.

"Look who is showing up late for once!" Exclaimed Adam as he sat down in one of the three couches sitting in the small room. Elizabeth glared at Adam and sat down on the couch farthest from him.

"Where is Sarah?" Elizabeth calmly asked.

"The administration decided that you two got along well enough. But unfortunately they had deemed our relationship 'unstable." Great I'm stuck with only Adam. She thought

"Well, what do we need to do to 'fix' that?"

"Well, first we need to ask and answer some questions." he said as he handed her white note cards he had pulled out of his pocket. Elizabeth quickly scanned the card at the top, What inspired you to become an astronaut? Elizabeth wanted to laugh at how cliche these cards were.

"After that," continued Adam,"We have to play a game that requires team work, then prepare meals for each other." Adam looked at Elizabeth like he expected her to question the last task but Elizabeth understood it immediately. Eating was mandatory to surviving, having someone else helping you do this would help build trust.

"Ok, lets get this over with."

***

A trumpet sounded as the last robot exploded, signifying the end of the game. Elizabeth sighed as she set down the controller. Their score showed on the screen showing that they had received one of the lowest scores ever even though that was their 43rd attempt.

"FINALLY!!" Adam exclaimed a little to loudly, but Elizabeth understood why. the game that they were playing was extremely difficult unless you worked well with your partner, and of course they didn't. It was them verses 10 other teams of two in a "king of the hill" sort of situation. Elizabeth leaned back in her chair and let out a breath that she hadn't realized that she had been holding in. Finally indeed. she thought.

She checked her smart watch and was surprised to see it was 22:34. So much for making food. Elizabeth's stomach growled as she pushed herself out of her chair. She looked over at Adam and found that he had fallen asleep. he looked almost peaceful

Well now I don't need to talk to the bastard. She thought happily. The entire time they had tried to work as a team, Adam had been trying and failing to be the leader. He directed her on what to to do and she wouldn't do it. To Elizabeth, his plans were always irrational and complicated, and when ever she came up with a better one he dismissed it. Of course, it didn't help that friendly fire was turned on and they were both terrible shots.

Not wanted to wake him up she quietly crept out of the small room and into the deserted hall ways. The sound of her steps echoed from wall to wall, giving the building an eerie feeling. Starting to feel spooked, Elizabeth started to rush through the halls. She practically burst though the front doors and rushed to her little dorm.

***

"Thank god!!!" Exclaimed Elizabeth when X-13 told her that she and Adam were excused from the third task.

"Yes, even thought it took you hours to finish the game, the question portion went extremely well." responded X-13. Elizabeth chuckled to herself thinking about how easy the questions had been. They must have not been monitoring the answers. she thought. Both of them had just answered the questions with the simplest of answers. The only thing she learned about Adam was that he had done extremely well through out his school career.

"Well.... do I have training today?" Elizabeth asked hopefully.

"Yes."

"Of course I do." she sighed