A few minutes later, Abby found herself stumbling out of the upgrade room feeling more than a little worse for wear. She didn't expect the process to be pleasant from how she knew the book described it, but she really would rather not be having to deal with the fact that she felt woozy and achy, not to metion the strange almost buzzing feeling in her body. Reading the experience was one thing, but actually going through it was a whole different ball game. She felt like the room even may possibly be spinning slightly around her.
She saw Ms. Deprankova appear out of the observation door, quickly making her way over with Brand a couple feet behind her.
"Abby! Are you alright? How are you feeling?" She asked quickly. Abby shook her head slightly, rubbing at her temples and blinking to clear away some of the effects.
"Uh, I'm alright. I think. Just a little achy. And dizzy." She answered. The woman gave her a sympathetic look, patting her on the back slightly.
"Don't worry about it. That's normal. But we can't talk much. We need to move quickly, or we may just end up loosing our fight. And you know what that would mean." Brand interrupted as he finally stepped behind the two, face taunt and hard. Abby swallowed awkwardly, her eyes darting down to avoid his as she shuffled slightly.
"Uh, yeah. We should probably focus on saving the world first." She said. Brand nodded as he turned, gesturing for the two to follow him.
"We will be dropping you off right next to the base, so you need to be ready. We should be able to communicate with you through the implant we are going to give you, that is if they haven't set up any more EMP devices. That way we can lead you through the base and inform you of a plan of action. Understand?" He informed Abby. She nodded, her hands fidgeting at her sides.
"Yeah. But like, I don't actually know what my upgrades are yet. Shouldn't I know that before I go in?" She asked, laughing awkwardly. She saw Ms. Deprankova blink, beating Brand to the explanation.
"According to our computers, paint and pigment control. Although that's just a constrictive term for what you can do. You're going to need to experiment a bit, since paints aren't the only thing you're going to be able to use, but we can't explain it all now since we're in a hurry, as you know." She explained as the three hurried into the room where the school bus sat, already beginning to be fueled up and checked over.
Abby continued following behind the adults in front of her, her hands already beginning to fidget furiously in front of her. Her nerves were beginning to get to her. She was seriously about to be invading the base of a supervillain that could very well kill her, or worse. How was she even going to do it? Going in guns blazing or what? She didn't exactly trust in her skill to dodge around cameras and guards. She may be sneaky, but she held no chance against those. She just hoped that whatever it was she had to do, Brand and Deprankova would be leading her through it. She wished she had a pencil and some papers so she could draw. Or her meds. Both would easily help her calm down one way or another. But unfortunately, she had neither. So she forced down every instinct that told her to curl into a ball and cry, and pushed forward.
The three reached the bus, and a scientist came forward with a small container of something yellow and grey in his hand. Abby supposed it was the infamous creamed corn from the first book.
"Sir! We have it." The scientist said, thrusting the container forward. Brand opened his mouth to explain what it was, but Abby was already grabbing it.
"Communication thing. I know it." She said before shoveling down a few bites. Like she expected, she felt something catch the back of her throat and make it's way up her nose, making her gag slightly. A moment later, a voice rang in her head.
"Welcome, Scribble." It said. Abby grinned slightly as it did.
"Cool name." She giggled, bouncing on her heels and temporarily forgetting her fears for the moment.
"Do you wish to join the NERDS, Scribble? Please confirm." The voice said again.
"Heck yeah!" Abby said excitedly. She was suddenly nudged forward by Brand into the school bus, obviously impatient.
"Confirmed. Communication testing imminent." The voice said. There was suddenly a loud screeching in Abby's ears, causing her to yelp loudly and jump. She shook her head slightly as the ringing finally died down, and she slid into one of the seats. There then was a slight tickling in her nose, causing her to sneeze a few times. After a moment, the voice came one last time.
"Implant in proper condition. Welcome to the NERDS, Scribble." It said. And with that, it disappeared. Abby shook her head, glancing out the window to see they had already taken off. How she missed that, she had no idea. She took a moment before looking back at Brand and Deprankova, tapping her finger on her leg slightly.
"Uh, it's over." She said. The two looked over at her from their positions, nodding in confirmation.
"Good. Now before anything else, are you sure you want to do this? You will be in severe danger, and you've never been in a mission before. Usually we will have our new recruits sent out on training missions to get them used to being in the field before even assigning them onto a team. You don't have that." Brand said, his eyes boring into her. Abby swallowed, looking into her lap and shifting uncomfortably. After a moment, she took a deep breath and looked up, gathering her courage before nodding.
"I'm as ready as I'll ever be."
