It's just a few minutes longer. I can do this, no big deal. Just breathe in, and breathe out.
Anna gripped the sickness bag tighter when the aircraft lurched suddenly. Burning bitter liquid spilt onto her tongue. Anna scowled in disgust as she tried not to focus on putting her lunch back down into her stomach. The remnants of lettuce and sourdough burnt her tongue as she tried her best to remain composed. She glared across at the large blond man taking joy in her suffering.
"This better be worth it, Kristoff," Anna seethed, painfully swallowing down the contents of her stomach back down.
"Trust me it is, we aren't even there yet and I'm already enjoying myself," Kristoff said with a light chuckle, gesturing at her.
"You would think that after so many years, air travel could have improved," Anna muttered. As if on cue, the aircraft jolted sharply. Were aircraft not modeled after birds?
Just breathe in, and breathe o-ooh no.
"I think it's just you," Kristoff teased.
Anna was about to stick her tongue out at him when she realized that was a really bad idea. Instead she tried her best to ignore the big lug across of her.
By focusing on the aircraft, which was just one flying deathtrap.
Oh no…
The aircraft they were in was very quiet, unnervingly quiet. It was almost like there were no engines and the idea that it was impossible to hear the difference between the engines being on and off was unsettling to Anna. It was also unsettling that the aircraft had no windows. She might as well be in a room, a room that could move, and all of this was a just a sick prank by Kristoff.
Either way, she could read the headlines already: Aspiring mechanic, dies in tragic air accident.
Anna just wanted this ride to be over, the sooner the better.
A nudge to her side got her attention.
"You alright there?" a large man asked, concerned.
"Y-y-yea," Anna tried her best to stay composed. The man didn't seem convinced. Ralph was it?
"Are you sure?" the man pulled something out of his jeans, "Did they not give you one of these before boarding?"
In his hand were two blue pills, on them were printed "motion sickness".
Laughter from across her caught her attention, and she slowly turned her head to give Kristoff her best death stare. She should have known.
Anna relaxed as the monstrous contraption of an aircraft began to slow down, signaling their eventual landing. She could hear the whirs and hums of the landing gears coming to life. The aircraft rocked side to side but the prospect of being on solid ground kept her composed.
Eventually all was still. The group leader, Felix if she remembered correctly, stood up and cleared his throat.
"Alright crew, we have arrived! Please exit the ramp in two neat orderly lines," he instructed, but it ended up sounding like a desperate shout, "No running and oh, don't forget your belongings!"
Anna reached under her seat and pulled out her bags, an overly stuffed duffel bag and a well worn backpack. She was told to pack everything that she needed. This was everything she owned.
"C'mon then," Kristoff gestured to the exit ramp at the rear.
People were already on their way out, forming a massive exit out of the aircraft. Anna held her bags tightly as she slowly but surely made her to the ramp. Kristoff was right in front of her, and his huge frame blocked her view. She tried to peek around him but all she saw were more heads.
Eventually she reached the ramp, and as she descended, the docking bay slowly came into view.
Her jaw immediately dropped at the size of the place. The ceiling sat at a grand height far above her, bright neon lights dazzling, and the wall that marked the far end of the docking bay could barely be made out. All around her were a vast array of aircraft and people. The docking bay boasted a staggering collection of aircraft. Some of the crafts Anna had never seen before, or any civilian for that matter.
The docking bay was a bustle of activity. Aircraft were landing and taking off left and right. Ground crew, marked by their neon green vests, moved this way and that. Amidst all the activity, Anna noted it was in order. Everyone moved with purpose and with direction. Not a thing was out of place.
A snort broke Anna from her wonder. She looked around for Kristoff but found him further ahead, speaking with Felix. Anna heard the snort again, this time turning into a stifled giggle. Looking down at the source, a little girl with thick black hair tied into a messy ponytail stood smiling.
"Enjoyed your flight?" the little girl smirked. Her eyes sparkled mischievously.
"Oh hi…um," Anna eyed her curiously, "Who are you?"
"Your pilot, duh" the girl replied matter-of-factly, rolling her eyes at Anna. "Who do else do you think could fly this junk, huh?"
Anna stared at the girl in shock but was quickly interrupted by Kristoff dragging her off.
"Don't mind her," he said quickly as they went, "She's got a bit of an attitude."
"Attitude?" Anna asked in disbelief, "That little girl was our pilot?!"
"You're going to have to get used to a lot of things around here," Kristoff simply answered, "A lot of things."
Even with the enclosed area and large amount of people the air felt light and even chilly. Anna rubbed at her arms as the cold sank in.
This was it, the famous Arendelle Laboratories. Home to over a thousand of the greatest minds in the world, supported by many other specialists and crew. A project born from a coalition of all the divisions in pursuit of advancement and peace. It's reputation spread all across the globe. This was where all the biggest advances in technology of the twenty first century were made, from fusion technology to hexagonal wheels. But where there were greatness was sure to be flaws. Some of the rumors Anna heard sent shivers down her spine.
She hoped the mutant ducks weren't real.
Or the rogue muffins.
Those were stuff of nightmares.
It felt weird to actually be standing in here, even though it was only the docking bay. There was both a feeling of excitement and uncertainty. The combo of such feelings made her stomach really, really uneasy. Who would have thought a simple clumsy mechanic would end up here?
She, like many others have read so much of this place, heard so many great things. It became a stuff of fantasy, unreachable to any mere mortal man. Yet here she was, standing at the gates. She couldn't feel anymore out of place.
Anna was snapped back to reality when somebody stood right in front of her. When her eyes focused, she quickly realized that it was not a human, but rather a robot.
"Welcome to Arendelle Laboratories, Miss Summers," the robot greeted warmly. It had an animatronic face which too, was smiling warmly.
"Uh, why thank you," Anna responded uncertainly.
"For security reasons, we require a biometric profile of you," the robot said as its chest piece opened up to reveal a variety of equipment. Anna felt a little intimidated by this display.
"It's alright, it won't hurt, I promise," Kristoff assured her.
Anna hesitated for a moment before nodding her agreement tentatively. She handed her bags to Kristoff and turned to face the weird robot. The robot proceeded to extend its equipment closer towards her.
"Name?" The robot asked as it began to scan her.
"Anna, Anna Summers."
"Age?" The robot began attaching a few wires to her arm.
"18, hey-"
"Medical requirements? Allergies?"
"Uh, no?"
The robot began scanning her eyes in particular, different colored lights making their way to her retina.
"Are you sexually active Miss Summers," the robot asked way too cheerfully.
"W-what? I – Well, um – ah," Anna flushed, hard.
"That's a no," Kristoff filled in, fighting a laugh.
"That's it, all done!" The robot cheerfully proclaimed, "Thank you, Miss Summers."
Just like that, it withdrew all of its equipment in a flash and was off to the next person.
"What was that all about?" Anna asked as they continued on their way.
"Standard profiling of the people here in the facility. You know, information you can't really get through paper," Kristoff answered as he handed her bags back.
"That robot is pretty advanced," Anna noted as she watched the robot work away, "I've never seen anything like it."
Even from their distance she could hear the robot chatting away cheerfully. It's movements felt strangely alive.
"That's Olaf, the facility's assistance robot," Kristoff replied, "You'll see a lot of them around here."
"It seemed creepily happy, is that…normal?" Anna asked.
"That's part of Olaf's personality core," Kristoff rubbed the back of his head, "Don't ask me how it works though."
"I still think it's creepy," Anna quipped.
"Oh, hush you," Kristoff snorted, "I've seen weirder things from you."
"I take offense to that!" Anna feigned shock, giving a good blow to his shoulder.
Kristoff mumbled something about physical abuse while they continued to walk. Anna tried to process everything she saw around her as they transitioned from the docking bay into a hallway which was also incredibly spacious.
"So, this is where you've been the past couple of years," Anna noted.
Kristoff chuckled. "You got me, as you know back then I couldn't possibly tell you about this."
"Right, right," Anna continued, "Strictly confidential."
Kristoff nodded. It came to no surprise that a place as prestigious as this would have to keep quite a lot of things confidential. However the idea of such rigid secrecy did not sit quite well with Anna, especially when her friend was the one involved. Secrets were not her specialty, Anna preferred to be open and say whatever was on her mind.
"With all this confidentiality and secrecy, how does one like you get into here?" Anna asked, "I'm sure they don't put up application posters around town, do they?"
"They certainly don't," Kristoff replied lowly, "The recruitment here is based on word of mouth. We have to find and recruit people ourselves."
Anna stopped walking. A thought sparked in her mind, holding her in place.
"So was the whole friendship thing...fake?" Anna asked skeptically, "Just a plan to recruit me?"
Kristoff jerked to a halt and quickly spun around to face her. "What?" he exclaimed, "Of course not!"
Anna cocked an eyebrow.
"No it was nothing like that! When we first met I wasn't even working here yet!""
Anna continued to eye him suspiciously, unsure of whether Kristoff was lying and for how long. Was Sven in it too?
"Anna, please you gotta believe me," Kristoff pleaded, "I'll explain everything soon, but please don't think that I was using you."
Anna tried to keep up the skeptic look but her heart was not in it. No matter her doubts, she could always find it in her heart to forgive. Especially Kristoff, she knew he was not the manipulative type.
"Oh sure," Anna put on her best snobby impression, "Day one and somebody already tried to kill me on a plane."
"How appalling," Kristoff mono toned. He visibly relaxed.
Big hands suddenly swallowed her form and Anna found herself lifted off the ground.
"Sven!" Anna squealed as she was spun around.
"Sven is getting impatient with our pace," Kristoff laughed, "And also, he misses you."
Anna giggled as Sven hugged her close, she certainly missed him too.
"Here's your room," Kristoff announced proudly.
Anna gawked at the size of her room, it was way bigger than she expected. Which was becoming a trend around here. Bigger than her flat even. The room was well equipped and neutral yet welcoming in its décor. She even had her own shower.
As she walked through each section, Anna noticed that the lights would brighten where she was and dim where she wasn't.
Cool!
"Here's your PDA," Kristoff handed her what looked like a small wrist watch.
"This is a PDA?" Anna asked, turning the watch about in her hands. It looked pretty unassuming. The watch was nothing more than a small black square on a wrist strap. It looked similar to the stuff on display back home.
"You don't believe me? Here," Kristoff proceeded to fix the watch onto her wrist and tapped on the display. Suddenly, Anna's hand was encircled by a blue line which expanded out to make way for various displays and readouts.
"Whoa, this is some amazing hologram technology," Anna complimented. She moved her hand about and the displays followed, staying to their position around her arm.
"You work it like this," Kristoff continued, gently grabbing Anna's other hand, he placed it close to the hologram. He then swiped with her hand across to the left. The digital displays rotated anti-clockwise in response.
Anna just stared in shock. Kristoff couldn't help but grin, it was like watching a child on Christmas morning.
"No way!" Anna squealed, "This is so cool!"
Anna began swiping left and right, watching with avid fascination as the displays responded with their rotation. She was so transfixed that Kristoff could not even explain what the displays were for and how to use them.
"Earth to Anna?"
"Right, sorry," she put her arm away.
"And these are your visors" Kristoff handed her pair of simple clear glasses. Except this time she knew not to judge too quickly.
"Alright, hit me," Anna quickly put them on.
"They're just an accessory," he chuckled at her enthusiasm, "It allows you too see what's on your PDA while your hands are busy, handy for us."
Sure enough the same feed on her PDA began popping up on the visor.
"Anna?"
"Hm?"
"Catch some sleep yea? Need you bright and ready early tomorrow morning-"
"How early?" Anna interjected. She never really liked early starts. Sleep was invaluable to her.
"I wasn't finished you know," Kristoff replied, "Eight thirty sharp, engineering lobby. Eat your breakfast early in the mess hall if you want to avoid a crowd. All information and directions can be found on your PDA, have a little play around."
"All those people on the ship-"
"Yup, new intakes, you'll meet them at orientation tomorrow."
Anna nodded, taking it all in. "That's a lot to take in today," Anna joked.
"Hey, it's not that bad," Kristoff said, "It was a whole lot more confusing when I first got here."
"Heh, I think it might just be because you were always slow in the head," Anna teased.
"Alright, that's enough of you, little devil," Kristoff retorted, ruffling her hair, "See you in the morning."
Anna grinned and nodded as she saw Kristoff out. Her attention went back to the room, her room, and she felt a deep sense of excitement.
If only Mama and Papa could see me now. Anna Summers, Arendelle Laboratories.
Her smile grew wider.
Author's Notes:
Something that has been on the back burner for a while now. I'm uncertain whether this fic.
Feedback is greatly appreciated (needed)