Chapter 6A: Survive

Many teenagers going through their lives feel restricted. Whether it’s through their parents or other authority figures, they are always bound by their social ranks. For our teens in this bright neon city, that restriction was real and blatant after a week of living there.

Many things were unavailable to them as they have not finished their registration to the ARK program. It really showed just how integrated it was to everyday life on the ship.

After an entire week of preparation, Alex and her friends were finally ready to register. Although her professor is negligent, her friend’s had better luck in that department. They learned that the first part of registration is to stand before the Mother AI to get your assessment. This will give you a specific grade which you will bring along into the second part, a week-long survival exercise in their Agraria world. This test will vary significantly as each person’s Agraria world is different. If you were lucky, you might just get a lush, comfortable forest. Unlucky, you may end up in the middle of a mesa or a desert. The students could only pray and hope.

Thankfully, Dr. Ptah didn’t leave Alex and her fellow students empty-handed. The book was detailed in the steps they must take to survive most terrain. Even the near impossible desert had methods of survival. Mr. Cipolla must have traveled far and wide before his untimely demise in a submarine.

Due to the requirement of surviving at least a week inside the program, their bodies must be placed inside a life support system. The welcome center has several of them, but it’s still a limited number of spots per week. Alex and her friends were second. Thus this week they had to wait.

The morning of their registration, Alex woke up with a sort of numb feeling. Mr. Gerald explained that many who first arrive on Gaia might feel culture shock. Perhaps it will take a while before she can behave normally again. Her excitement, however, kept her mind from grinding to a halt. She glanced through the book and her notes one last time before meeting up with her friends by the elevator.

“You guys ready?” Kurt asked with determination in his eyes.

“As ready as ever,” Nell replied with a sigh, “Physical exercise was never my strong point.”

“I-it will be OK! I heard that if we fail the second part, we can retake it after a month,” Ruri said.

“Yea, but they also say that our Agraria world may deteriorate with each attempt. If we already start with a desert, would we end up in a volcanic hellscape?” Alex replied.

“I really don’t want to imagine that…,” Nell shuttered.

They headed towards the DIVE chamber by following the signs. Once they arrived, they saw a friendly face. It was the receptionist from the front desk.

“Good morning,” Nell said. Regardless of who they were, common courtesy was deeply ingrained into her by her new muscle mountain of a professor.

Kurt followed with up a rigid salute. His eyes in a daze as it seemed he was traumatized to do so automatically.

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Alex looked at the two in amusement. It seems their professors have started to shape their behaviors. Meanwhile, her professor is still a no-show. Other than answering a few questions through online messages, he hasn’t really shown his face anywhere.

“Morning you guys!” The receptionist smiled. “Today is your big day huh?”

Alex suddenly had the urge to ask a question.

“Do you work in all the areas?”

“Oh, I am an advanced android, so I take care of all front-line administrative work here at the welcoming center,” She smiled.

“An android?” Alex was shocked. She really couldn’t tell.

“Yes, my consciousness travels to multiple bodies throughout the building, so I can be anywhere I want anytime.”

“T-that’s amazing,” Alex was flabbergasted. The quality of Gaia’s androids was far superior to the ones on the seed ships.

“It gets tedious at times, but at least it’s fun playing tennis with yourself,” The receptionist smiled.

The teens were led into a dimly lit room with six pods lined up against the wall. Two of the pods had their lid closed and was humming with a dull drone.

“The four open pods are reserved for you four, go into the dressing room to the right and suit up!” The receptionist said.

Nell pushed Alex into the dressing room while Kurt dragged Ruri to their side.

Stepping into the dressing room, they were met with a large chamber. Instructions labeled on the side said to wear nothing before standing in the center of the chamber.

Nell squirreled out of her clothes faster than humanly possible and stood in the middle. Alex couldn’t take her eyes off her. Her naked body stood proudly as the chamber made a humming noise and the door closed. About a minute later, Nell walked out in a full pink bodysuit with several wires attached.

“That wasn’t so bad!” She exclaimed as she hurried Alex.

Reluctantly, Alex took her clothes off as well and placed it in the locker to the side. She shivered as she felt a cold breeze blow gently on her naked body. But with determination, she also walked to the center of the chamber and waited.

The door closed in front her eyes as the room got dark. She felt a cool liquid flow from the ceiling. It enveloped her body but left her head alone. Slowly, it began to take the form of a skin-tight bodysuit.

“Nanotechnology…” She couldn’t help but gasp in her mind.

The small machines inside the liquid formed the suit and wires that stuck out of it. It was a fantastic feeling as the liquid maneuvered all over her body.

The door suddenly opened as the light shined in. Alex squinted as she walked out.

“Looking good!” Nell gave a thumbs up.

“Thanks.”

The two walked out to see Kurt and Ruri already waiting for them.

Kurt looked confused while Ruri was blushing a deep shade of red.

“What happened?” Nell couldn’t help but be curious.

“N-nothing!” Ruri quickly yelled.

“Hmm,” Kurt just made noises.

The receptionist clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention.

“Now lie down in the pods and wait for me to connect the wires,” She commanded.

The teens nodded as they laid down in their pods. It felt like a very soft and encased bed.

The receptionist hurried over. Alex was shocked as her hands became a multi-tool and screwed the wires to their connection on the pods.

“So she really is an android…” She thought with amusement.

Alex turned her head to face Nell on her right, then Ruri on her left.

Once the receptionist finished connecting all the wires, she left the room for the monitor room and told them just to lie still and await the dive.

“Good luck everyone!” Nell said.

“Yea, good luck!” Kurt replied.

“Y-you too!” Ruri stuttered.

Alex couldn’t help but feel warm inside. To finally have friends is a blessing.

“Good luck!” She joined as the pod lid closed.

Darkness filled the small pod, and the only sound she could hear was her breathing and a faint dull drone. Suddenly, drowsiness hit her as she struggled to keep her eyes open. The pod started to fill with fluid as soon as she fell asleep.

Alex felt a slight tug as her consciousness was dragged out of her body. She felt herself mind enter through an endless tunnel of moving light particles as she dove into the ARK program.

With determination in her eyes, the registration began.