Chương 20: Visit to Team Nuke

Jayce had finally made his way home last night. He had never been drunk before but guessed that how he had felt last night was pretty close. He awoke by slowly stretching himself out of his covers as he leaned to the side and unplugged his watch from the port next to his bed. He opened the Ripple app and scanned through it again. Now that the news had spread completely through the human safe zone his follower count was well over 11,000. He was momentarily confused before everything that had happened last night came flooding back to him. Kicking the covers into the corner of his bed Jayce sprinted into the kitchen to see if his mom was still home.

Seeing her preparing his breakfast Jayce slid across their wooden floor and wrapped his arms around her. "Mom I think I'm famous now..." She was surprised by the display of affection by Jayce. Ever since she had explained how his father wasn't coming back Jayce had been bottling emotions inside himself. She often worried about him and knew his pranks in class were side effects of this emotional repression. Smiling because she imagined him being that carefree child she had known so well back on Earth she hugged him back and laughed. "Well, it's not every day that a human team earns third place in the capability exam!"

She set down the dish towel she had been using to wipe off their counter. Jayce let go and stepped back, "Is this going to affect your job in any way?" He looked concerned and Jane quickly shook her head. "Don't you worry about your mom for one minute. I've been taking care of myself since you got accepted into Chiron's." She gave him a thumbs up and wiped her hands off on her jeans. "Now I do have to go, but we got a message from the capability exam. I didn't want to open it in case it was private but it's sitting in our family message folder." She kissed the top of his head and then grabbed her keys and hurried out the door.

Jayce slipped his watch under their family safe and it clicked open. Inside was the digital packages that he was so used to receiving from his mom on birthdays, holidays and whenever she had a few extra credits to spare. Smiling at the memory he quickly grabbed the package and pressed the open tab on it. Typed out was a message that informed him that a taxi chartered by the Capability exam would be taking his team to Team Nuke due to the danger of them taking public transportation. It also listed that it would be arriving at 9:15 am HST to pick him up.

Jayce glanced at his watch and jumped in panic. It was already 8:54 and he was still in his pajamas. Sprinting to the shower he dove in and washed faster than he ever had before in his life. Zooming into his room he gave thanks that his mom had kept his closet cleaner than he had. Choosing his nicest orange jacket and a pair of sleek black jeans Jayce brushed his hair to the side and did a double check in the mirror before grabbing a few granola bars and stuffing one into his mouth. He looked at his watch, 9:13. He breathed a sigh of relief and then jogged outside to stand on the nearest corner to his apartment building.

A sleek black taxi coasted slowly to a stop in front of him. The thrusters were so strong they hardly made a sound so close to the ground and Jayce thought this was probably the nicest car he had ever been in. Opening the door he climbed in to see his friends were already inside. Each of them had some orange and black on as well and it was obvious they had all prepared for today with a little research on team Nukes colors. Ralnas gestured for him to sit next to him and the taxi driver robot tipped it's hat to Jayce before lifting off.

"We had a bet that you would miss the taxi." Ralnas teased Jayce. Jayce turned and punched his friend on the arm. "Don't you know I never miss important things like this?" Jayce then laughed at how close he had come to actually missing the taxi. Ralnas continued to tease him the rest of the way. Micu and Jenira were sharing their watches projectors to watch highlights of team Nuke from last season. The taxi zoomed through the sky bobbing and weaving with ease through the normally clustered early morning traffic.

"Young masters this robot respectfully informs you that we are five minutes from landing at team Nuke. You will not be part of the main tour, as team Nuke has requested you be led on a special tour by one of their senior members." The robot buzzed.

Jayce glanced at Ralnas before turning to look at Jenira and Micu. They all raised their hands in an "I don't know" gesture and he turned to face the front again. Jayce felt like the last day had been crazy but now they were about to meet one of the top members of team Nuke? Not for the first time he thought that this can't be real.

They zoomed past the buildings that made up major hub three. A mixture of styles, colors, and eras, major hub three was the newest of the three main hubs and it was by far the most diverse. The Overwatchers had made it last when they realized that two hubs were simply not big enough to hold all the hundreds of races that they had collected here. Thus major hub three was born and with it a land rush that turned the city center into a war of architecture, style, and function. It now housed some of the most renowned artists in the simulation and was known for being slightly more extreme in every way compared to the other two hubs.

Jayce pointed to a particularly strange building. "What is that?" Ralnas leaned over, "I have no idea it looks like it was built upside down and then someone just gave up halfway through." Jenira was sitting on Jayce's side of the taxi and glanced down at the building. "Guys that is the famous church for the followers of the Oracle of Balance." Jayce cranked his neck to look back at Jenira. "And how exactly do you know about that?" Jenira blushed slightly, "I like the religions here. They have such interesting ideologies compared to Earth." She then pointed to a building not far from the church. "That's the hall where the Sect of Origins is based from. They have some crazy ideas but they kind of make sense when you think about them."

"How come you've never brought any of this up before?" Jayce looked into her eyes with a searching gaze. She smiled shyly at him, "I didn't think you would care..." Jayce was about to reply when the taxi drivers voice buzzed in again.

"Thank you for taking my taxi today, if you would like to rate my driving performance I have sent my ID number to your watches. I will return later to deliver you to the Human Daily news station." The doors to the taxi then opened silently and the four climbed out. Jayce quickly wrote himself a note to bring religion up again with Jenira and put it in his calendar app.

Before them was a large desert that seemed to never end. Glancing to his left and right Jayce noticed that the other two teams that had been shown on last nights show had been dropped off at the adjacent landing pads. The Ogrium team turned to the humans and waved their large stone hands at them. Jayce nudged Micu and the two returned the wave with smiles on their face. The Ogrium then turned to the Yuhru and waved to them as well. The one with the fiery feathers glanced at them before turning and walking the other way. His team followed quickly after him.

"Well, that was a jerk thing to do," Jayce said and then looked around for their guide to arrive. A cargo elevator began climbing on the left side of their building and Jayce glanced over the edge before turning around with a pale face. "Jayce what! What's coming up the elevator?" Ralnas saw his friend and briefly panicked before Jayce grabbed his shoulders. "Do not freak out Ralnas. Go into that monk world you did during the graduation ceremony. Do whatever you have to do." "Huh? What are you talking about Jay?"

The elevator stopped and Ralnas glanced past Jayce. The color drained from his face. "Is that, is that... is that team Nuke's Nitro?" Jayce quickly moved his hands to under Ralnas' arms in case he collapsed. Ralnas stood stock still with bulging eyes. Jenira watched her brothers reaction with bemusement on her face. She was just as familiar with the elite team's members as her brother but didn't fanboy nearly as hard as he did. Micu quickly slapped Ralnas' back and whispered in his ear, "Don't embarrass your sister." The color instantly returned to Ralnas' face and he smiled before nodding at Jayce that he was okay.

The four turned to face the large alien approaching them and bowed. A voice that sounded like it could destroy buildings simply through its magnitude addressed them. "Hey, now there is no need to bow for me. I'm still a teenager in my races years!" The four looked up with smiles on their faces. This was the young genius Nitro.

Although he was young by the standards of his race Nitro was still well over three hundred years old. His purple skin was stretched against his well-muscled torso. Four bulging arms sprouted from his chest and two thick legs supported a body that was decidedly top heavy. His two large purple eyes scanned them before he flashed a toothy grin. "So I get the quiet group eh? That's okay I don't like to talk either." He gestured for them to follow him before proceeding back to the control panel of the cargo elevator.

Quickly stepping to follow him Ralnas was the first to speak. "Mr. Nitro, sir, could we get an autograph of yours later?" Nitro's laugh sounded like grenades exploding. "If that's really all you want at the end of my tour then of course Ralnas." Ralnas beamed both from Nitro agreeing to an autograph and for knowing his first name. Jayce was pretty sure Ralnas was in heaven right now. He glanced over at Jenira who was rolling her eyes at her brother but still had a smile playing around her lips.

Nitro pressed the button to have the elevator descend. "Now," he said shattering Jayce from his thoughts, "who can tell me what the style of team Nuke is?" Micu was about to answer when he saw Ralnas hand shoot into the air. "We're not in school anymore Ralnas, you can just say your answer." Nitro laughed heartily and Ralnas blushed profusely. Micu then continued with what he was about to say. "Team Nuke is known for loud explosions, big battles, and explosive personalities." Micu smiled to himself. He had anticipated that they would get a question of this type and he had practiced different lines in the mirror until he found one that he liked.

Nitro clapped with all four of his hands. "Very good Micu, I don't think I've ever had a visitor give such a succinct answer to that question." Nitro was laying the charm on thick to impress these four young humans and by all accounts, he was being quite successful. Even Jenira found herself wanting to earn his praise. Jayce smiled seeing the enraptured looks on his friend's faces. He then looked to Nitro, "So Mr. Nitro, why exactly are you our guide today?"