It was only after Finlay had finished collecting his dried clothes that he remembered something... "What the fuck did she mean Living or otherwise?" The list of threats replaying in his mind. It wasn't going to stop him from trying to get the job... Though he'll have some more homework to do now that he knew it was actually useful.

"Spec, tell me something... educational."

*"The mitochondria is the pow-"*

"About the Intergalactic Union... and the shared culture I guess, ya numpty."

*"The Intergalactic Union was formed approximately 123 Terran years ago. On H'Yutker 3 sapient species joined forces to explore the cosmos. The Sliit-ker, a Reptilian species known for their religious curiosity. The Living Slime colonies known as the OuZonn, Thirsty for knowledge. Lastly the long living Hibiyad, wanting to spread their seeds and grow their people."*

"Christians?" Gesturing to his ear in response to the questioning looks from the other bus goers.

*"No, In a literal sense. The Hybiyad are a race of living plants, Similar to what Terrans call 'Dryads'-"*

"Oh, flower people... awesome."

*"Many of the known species that have met report having images or depictions of other species in their history or fiction."* Giving Finlay a quick overview in his glasses of Dragons, Angels, Minotaurs and their living counterparts.

"Yooooo, that's... kind of weird, Really cool, but weird. Why is that a thing?"

*"Unknown. There are several theories being researched by the Sliit-ker, From a Precursor event to High-mind connection. No solid evidence has been found as of yet."*

"More questions for tomorrow... uh Alrighty, how about some of the I.U's deployment operations? like How do they decide who goes to down to the Surface of new planets?"

*"According to the safety standards of the I.U., only sapient races of the same HWS rating or higher may go down planet side for exploration. The only Exception was for Terra/Earth. Terra has sparked a debate Within the I.U., redefining their Hazard World definitions."*

"Why is that?"

*"When asked after initial contact, Chairman Juy'n'yuk stated. Terra was the first planet since joining the I'U. 50 years ago, where even the food tries to kill you... apparently he thought chili oil was meant cool something down."*

"... yeah I can see that being a mistake..."

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Finlay listened further during the bus ride taking some key points from the lesson. Especially when it came to food, it would seem that most species have a weakness to hard spice. Though when researching further, when properly cooked into the food, they will battle through the heat thanks to the flavors... apparently Earth is the Italy or France of the I.U. so far. Good in some ways, it gave Terran chefs a reputation and fame before they even got onboard. Bad in a way that, most likely, his expectations of Xeno-cuisine were more on the border of fantasy. All of this fancy alien tech and no glowing soup! The outrage! The Betrayal!

Once he was back at the restaurant, he was urged to go home by everyone! Looks like his test was already shown, and they all assumed correctly, that he was fucking BEAT! Flumping into the sweet embrace of his pillows, he near immediately passed out.

AHNK! AHNK! AHNK! AHNK! AHNK! AHNK! AHNK! ah... The good old 7 am alarm.

"Mrphm I'm awake...I'm up..."

"No you're not." Momma Roberts was here! Pushing his head back down into the pillows.

"....What are you doing in my apartment?"

"Telling you that you're off the schedule until you fail... and permanently if you succeed."

"This is the weirdest way I've ever been fired..."

"You're not fired, you're on leave... put that extra energy into kicking ass and getting into space."

"Ma! it's no big deal I can still cook."

"Well you're not going to... Unless you want to cook with that nice Melissa girl, she's covering for you today."

"I suddenly feel very sleepy, you have a great day."

Wanting that conversation to end as soon as possible he started to obnoxiously fake snore. Earning him a swat to the head before his mother left the apartment. As soon as he heard the door lock he sprang out from his bed to hit the showers, then it was back in the suit. Time to test these new limits. The panhandle isn't too far and he needs to go for a jog anyway.

It turned out he had gained some local fame from his actions yesterday. Starting out his test with a song callback was a good move, lent him some individuality among the thousands of examinees. Apparently another person did Hit me with your best shot... and got blown away. Taking a break at the beginning of the park with some light stretching and breathing exercises.

"Aight Spec... let's do it up." Moving the Holo-companion to his shoulder, that same shift in his uniform showing the change in the suit. "Let's go for an oldie... Harder." *"Better?"* "Faster." *"Stronger!"* Setting off into a sprint as the music played through his mind, already noticing a vast change in his speed. "WOO!" He was no Olympian before, but now? He felt like a God damn superhero!

"Hey... Spec!.. any other cool stuff we can do?" *"Try making a sharp turn, and don't fight me on this."* Perfect timing, there's a split in the path. Instead of slowing down to make the turn Finlay kept his mind set on making the turn. Half by his own instinct and half by Spec making the adjustments in the suit, he slid like he was trying to reach home in Baseball before shifting and sprinting in the new direction. Barely any speed lost by the entire maneuver. *"While we may not be able to Hover like a Hummingbird, their directional control is well within our reach... Jump."*

He had been preparing for another turn, but if Spec says jump, we're jumping! With a full force Bound he found himself a good 8ft away from the ground. *"Jump again before hitting the ground."* At first confused , he had braced for landing before kicking himself off a Holo foothold Spec had formed for him and landing back into his sprint. "FUCKING SWEET!" He had double jump, who the fuck else had double jump? doesn't matter! *"Try flipping over the next obstacle."* "On it!" Letting Spec handle the corrections in his form, he did his first front flip and then another, into a cartwheel and then a backflip. Landing and jumping in place he shouted into the mostly empty park. "I AM A PARKOUR GOD!"