Sang the Stray (Completed)

36. Revelation

I found out what Tsee Blackbourne meant when he said, "Two Kasse," the other day in the training room. The boys woke up early and even dragged me along to the Stairs Room. I was told to go at my own pace, but at the end of the time frame all of Fourth Squad was sweating profusely. They had run through the course several times, but also added various exercises in-between laps, like pushups and sit-ups. The most impressive part was that they all did it perfectly in-sync, too, moving as one complete unit. Okay, I might have stopped a couple times just to watch. I mean, you know, to learn the proper techniques on performing those exercises. Certainly, not to ogle all that straining muscle. 

"A few First Squad members are taking Eleventh through Orbs Rotation. Instead, we will be taking Miss Sorenson on one of the training missions to Unara's near-space," Tsee Blackbourne explained to us when we finished showering and reassembled. Gabriel was eyeing the clip in my wet hair with disdain, but he wouldn't dare interrupt Tsee Blackbourne to grab it from me. "Everyone take the rest of this shift and second shift to rest and replenish energy reserves with a high protein content meal. Then meet at the Gate Lock on Level 34 Third Shift First Hour. Tset Korba and Tset Morgan, take Miss Sorenson to Supply Storage to equip and train her on the mission pack equipment. No activities are scheduled for the Commons, you should be able to make use of it as needed. Dismissed." 

Silas and Victor whisked me away, but not before Gabriel could snag my clip with telekinesis. Ha! If he only knew I'd now figured out how to make my nanosuit replicate one, which I did as soon as we were out of sight and bundled my hair back up. In Supply, Silas asked a KOTIS staff member for an extra mission pack. It had a little food and water, a tiny medical pack with anti-venom and a breather for any flooded zones. 

"Are all the spaces okay to breathe?" I asked.

"Usually," said Victor. "Sometimes it doesn't smell very good, but we have not encountered any that were toxic. The leading green-suits have two main theories. Either, only certain atmosphere types create a truly living world."

"Or that we are not actually breathing," Silas added. Huh, weird. The staff member handed him the pack.

"Why this a training mission?" I asked as we left and headed back to the elevator which brought us down to this level. It was the lowest I had been on, only a few floors above Konna's surface.

"It is short, there's nothing smart living in it, and it never changes," Silas answered.

Victor said, "It also leads to Unara, as at least a quarter of all rotations do, so there's usually not much going on in near-space either. This rotation is four spaces. The first is always bare. The second is Gabriel's least favorite. It's full of insects that are small and tend to swarm. If one strikes you, use the antidote to their poison in your med-pack.

Silas said, "Then we will be in the near-space of Unara's airway tunnels. My father sometimes works in actual space there. I am glad that is consistently cleared, so I don't worry about him on those assignments." 

Was it wrong that I had never worried about my father when he went on business trips? I realized this was one of the few times that any of the guys mentioned their families. "What your father do?" I asked.

"He does design and maintenance of different systems, but mostly the cleansing nanocyte recycling depots. The air tunnels have to be cleaned to prevent air-borne illness and disease. Same for sewage and water tunnel systems. You've heard a little bit about the residential areas being cleaned by specifically programmed nanocytes.  All the tunnels and tubes have to be designed and maintained for the nanocytes to do the cleansing properly. He inspects the areas to make sure everything is working, too."