“Wait, as intheGallowood family?” their dark-skinned teammate said.
Hawk grinned. “Yep. It’ll be nice to see my parents again when I get to Oranos.”
Gemma cringed.Of course he’s a Gallowood.
The Gallowoods were known for their immense legacy of family members who’d made it to Oranos. Six generations in a row had passed, and Hawk could be the seventh. It seemed almost unfair, in a way. As if strings were being pulled to get them through.
“Is it true y’all knock up some chicks before you go off to Oranos?” Imara asked, flashing Hawk a taunting look.
“Okay, first, she’s my girlfriend,” Hawk replied. “But, yes. We do leave a piece of our legacy behind to carry on the Gallowood tradition.”
Gemma almost snorted.A piece of our legacy?
Was it tradition to father children who never saw their parents after they were only a little over a year old? Gemma had heard the rumors, how the Gallowoods would have a child at eighteen, and that child would be raised by a nanny. In her opinion, it was disgusting.
“Well, I’m Alfie,” the male with the dark skin said. His smile reached his eyes. “It’s nice to meet everyone.”
Gemma and Christian continued the introductions until Imara begrudgingly obliged, and their pink-haired teammate rolled his eyes before saying, “Colton.Isso é tão porra de idiota.”
Alfie jumped right into asking Hawk more about the Gallowood family. Gemma couldn’t stop the chuckle that escaped when Imara caught her glance and made a gagging expression.
Minutes later, the android stopped outside a set of double doors. “Welcome to the first test you will be taking as a team,” it said. “Please enter.”
A beep sounded from the doors seconds before they slid open.
Gemma’s nerves ignited.
The room was small this time, and almost dark except for a bright-blue chamber in the center. It glowed like Reva’s sun, neon and blinding. Connected via tubes and wires to this chamber were six boxes that reminded Gemma of coffins.
But unlike coffins, these had lids and sides made of electroglass, and they were framed by the same white metal that made up the strongest spaceships. The same white metal from which Zion was created.
The lids of the “coffins” popped open with a hiss. Several of them jumped.
“Please lie down in a sleep chamber,” the android instructed.
“Oh, no,” Alfie said. “Nope. That’s not happening.”
“You have to,” Colton said. “You don’t, and we all go back to Perileos.”
“Come on, man,” Hawk encouraged Alfie. “We got this.”
Alfie bounced like he had to urinate. “Oh, blast it all.” He climbed into one of the chambers with a squeal. A slight pause. “This is actually kind of comfy.”
Gemma smiled as she and the rest of her team clambered into their own sleep chambers. The insides were plush, and the fabric was incredibly soft, but it didn’t take long for her to notice all the monitors and technological devices inside the machine.
Sleep was definitely not on the agenda.
The lids of their chambers lowered as suddenly as they’d opened.
On the other side of the room, someone shrieked as an optic of a beautiful, dark-skinned woman appeared on the inside of their chambers’ lids.
“Hello, and welcome to your first simulated test of your Oranos Trials!” The optic smiled. “I am here to show you how to enter your simulated landscape so that your first test may begin. All tests are run by an advanced operating system controlled by the android in your room. This android monitors all of your vitals and brainwaves to ensure optimal design.”
Gemma glanced out the side of her sleep chamber. The android had, in fact, remained in the room with them. It stood off to the side, the blue orbs of its eyes now straight blue lines.
“Next to you are two pieces of equipment that you will need to connect to your body so that you may perceive the entire experience as if it were really happening,” the optic continued.
“Uh-uh,” Alfie yelled from his chamber. “Let me out of this thing!”
