5293

At the cafeteria, Kaze sat all by himself as usual. What was different was that instead of eating his food at his usual pace he kept staring at the meal intently as if he was lost in deep thought. Ever since he heard about that spaceship he couldn't help but stop thinking about it. He needed to find a way to access it. Maybe repair the S-capsule assuming that the spaceship was an S-capsule itself, and escape.

When he asked ZIA for the confirmation she replied with, "I am sorry, I cannot access anything. Informations like these are protected by some kind of encrypted code and it would not only detect my presence there, but It can potentially ruin my software". Given it's risk Kaze decided that it would be for the best that he didn't force ZIA to do this.

He was sure that he wouldn't be given access to that room if he asked. Not to mention, using his powers to break in now is potentially life threatening. The only thing that he was sure of was that sitting here won't give him much clue. He needed to perform well enough in spaceship tests so that he could keep going to that building and figure out a way to break in.

Luckily, due to some issues, the few days they had to cancel the upcoming training sessions. Everyone seemed excited to get a desired break, but unfortunately, to compensate for it, IAEA decided to continue with the spaceship training. The progress of the cadets lacked severely and thus seemed like a perfect replacement.

Everyone except Kaze seemed devastated at the way things turned out. Kaze was thrilled to be presented with an opportunity to explore further. The next day they had another run with the simulation tests. The sextet performed better than the last time and thus they were allowed for the first trial run of the original ship.

Given how Team C performed the best, they were the first ones to give it a try. It would be lying to say Kane wasn't anxious at all, nevertheless she managed to put up a brave face. Kaze on the other hand had a ton of experience in situations like this, so he didn't mind at all. Not to mention he had a harder skin and much more resistance to injuries from free fall thus negating any potential life threats that height causes to a normal human.

The instructions for the first time were pretty simply. They have to raise above the ground level by at least 20 feet, maintain a steady height and complete a full circle and come back. Team C managed to maintain a proper level, but unfortunately they still failed at coordinating directions. With the other two teams, they kept jerking on the air like a ping pong ball.

The real experience was so much worse than the simulation. They were starting to get why they didn't begin with that. Once they were done with the first round, the same curious guy from the other day asked, "Why does this need two people. It would be so easier to work alone".

"Mr…" Their instructor took a look at the name tag and continued. "... Wilde, this is a ship that can do wonders. It's complexity makes it necessary to have another person on board. Having a copilot is definitely desired."

"What if something wrong happens to one of the pilots, what is the other one supposed to do then"? He asked back.

"Land". The instructor declared. "Emergency landing is the only thing that is possible. Or you know, get ejected and land with a parachute". He added.

"Wow" Wilde mumbled.

They tried several times that day but neither of them could manage to get it right. Finding a scope of escape when most of the eyes were busy on the misdirected ships, Kaze escaped to find the restricted room. There was a coded entry followed by a scan of biometrics to gain access to that room. H"e had neither of those.

He opened the panel next to numbers and fixed a chip that would allow ZIA to hijack the code. Before ZIA could finish her code he heard footsteps coming his way and closed the panel immediately. "Hey"! A masculine voice shouted at him. Turning around he found none other than the instructor looking at him.

"Sir", Kaze bowed slightly and didn't dare to make eye contact.

"What do you think you are doing here"? He asked in a stern voice.

"I was looking for the bathroom", without skipping a beat answered Kaze.

"I think I made it clear last time this wasn't it" He pointed at the door of the biohazard room.

"No, I meant, I was trying to decide which way to go since it's an intersection. I wasn't trying to get inside this room". Kaze explained,

After a thorough gaze of skepticism and suspicion he the instructor's expression softened. "Well you are in luck then. That's exactly where I was headed, follow me".

Kaze did as asked and tried his best to not come off as suspicious. While they were at the cubicle ZIA muttered the numbers, "5293". Having the code at his hand he needed another way to sneak out, but if he got caught the second time he wouldn't be able to find a suitable excuse. Not to mention he could since sense the suspicious eyes on his back.

Once they were done for the day he tried to get ZIA to access whose biometrics were registered in the system. If were to successfully enter the room he needed to figure this detail out. After a long time ZIA displayed the profile of a person named, [Dr. Karen Raymond], the woman who was head of the tech department and the one responsible for various technological advancements in IAEA.

The only time he had ever seen this woman was when he went to get the human life appearance for himself. She was there and according to her data she was the inventor of that device as well. He had no idea where to find this woman or where to find her, but he needed to find out about her as fast as he could.

The one person who knew best about IAEA in their team was Xander, and fortunately he was sort of Kaze's friend. He went to the cafeteria since it was lunch hour to look for his friend but he found everyone there except for him. Returning back to his room he realised that Xander was in the room the whole time, except his entire body was covered by a giant quilt.

Kaze tried to call him but when he received no answer Kaze pulled the quilt only to find Xander's lifeless form lying there on the bed. His entire face had paled as if he didn't have any life left in him. Kaze stood there confused as he ordered ZIA for the best protocol for this situation.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: APOLOGY

I am extremely sorry for this long long hiatus I took, that too without informing. I had my professional exams going on. Even though it's still not 100% over, most of it is. With the pandemic I really panicked with my syllabus and wrote lesser than usual. With my final year upcoming, my schedule will be packed even more, but I will make sure to inform my next date of release from now on.

-----------------

Special Author's note:

Guys, I did a tiny interview for my friends channel. In case you are curious about me, like my real name, how I look like and all, do check it out.

Also, don't forget to like, share and subscribe as her channel focuses mostly on books and reading. Do check out her videos as well

Here is the link :

https://youtu.be/7OvV5fs6O2U