Junebug

Chapter 4

The next day you went through your regular classes for the day, the professors seemingly droning on and on far longer than necessary. You struggled concentrating on your notes and the lessons, but you managed to the end of the school day. All that floated around in your head was ideas on what could happen next. What would happen when you got back in the game? You were excited to train with Soap to say the least.

There was a pep in your step as you made your way to the tech lab and when you arrived Professor Jones was already waiting at the doorway for you. She led you back, talking your ear off about updates and new instructions.

"So we've been developing an earpiece for you to wear so we can communicate back and forth," She started. "I believe Ben told you about it last night?"
You nodded.

"We're putting the final touches on it now so you'll be able to use it by tomorrow."
There were a few moments of silence as you two walked down the hallway towards the lab before she looked at you with a grin.

"So how was it?"

You beamed brightly as you thought about what to tell her first.
"It was great, actually. I got to see how everyone interacted with each other. It seemed so...organic. Realistic, I guess." You responded with a soft smile that she turned to mimic.

"I was into CoD back when I was your age," She explained. "I remember the excitement that came with playing new installments and how captivating the stories always were."

"Really? You don't seem like a gamer." You responded back. She looked like she was more into the nerd crowd, but that was just because she was a professor.

Professor Jones laughed softly.

"Yeah, my little brother was really into stuff like that." She sighed, a nostalgic smile on her face. "You wouldn't believe how worked up he got when he finally played through Modern Warfare 3."

Your conversation was cut short when the two of you reached the doors that led into the lab. Just like the night before, students were scrambling to and fro to get their shit done and honestly you respected that. You easily spotted Ben hunched over one of the tables scribbling something furious onto some papers. Next to him was an earpiece that looked like the Comms earpieces you often saw the soldiers wearing in CoD missions. It didn't take much to figure out that it was the piece he and Professor Jones both mentioned.

"Alright so before we get started I need to let you know that you need to make sure you're eating while you're in there." The professor started as the two of you approached the test chamber. Oh man that's an ominous name for it, but what else could you call it?

"The process is extremely taxing on the body so if you're not careful you can suffer permanent, real-world effects."

You remembered Ben saying something like that last night, about the vitamin hits.
"Yeah, so eat a bunch of fruit, right?" You questioned, trying to sum up the instructions the younger student had given you the night before. Professor Jones snickered slightly.
"So Ben already said something."
You nodded. "He said it messes with my vitamins, gave me an orange when I got out and it was honestly the best orange I've ever eaten." You and the professor laughed together.

"It's different for everyone, Ben says that oranges and peaches especially help him feel better, back when he was our guinea pig."

You looked at her curiously. "Why'd he stop? I mean testing."
Professor Jones spared a glance to Ben for a few moments, a frown forming on her face.

"I made him stop. He was spending several hours at a time in there, it was starting to mess with him mentally I think."

It was your turn to look back at Ben. There he sat, hunched over his workspace as he jotted information down and tinkered with the earpiece for a few moments before going back and editing whatever he wrote, adding new entries and erasing inaccurate observations. You never would've thought, with the way he showed so much passion for the project.