(A/N: Holy shit, it's been over a year since I've been able to update this again. Sorry about that, the usual stuff just came up and I completely forgot about this. Could I be any slower? Probably. I just ended up getting caught up in a bunch of other stuff.

I know everyone's angry with me and has every right to be, but I can at least try to make it up by writing a new chapter, don't expect it to be very long though. Please enjoy it and I'm very sorry for such a long wait.)

I-U-I-*Y*-I-U-I

It had been nearly two weeks since Layla and her adoptive father Patelliday had visited with the Tennysons for Max's birthday, and everything had been the same ever since then. It became a routine for them, he would leave early in the morning, sometimes before she woke up, and she would receive meals from Bai-Obi and wait for him to return.

It was boring, and she had little to keep herself occupied while she waited for her adoptive father. Bai-Obi didn't stay long when he came to give her food, typically only a maximum of five minutes.

This day was no exception, she woke up just before he was about to leave and he gave her a hug before quickly leaving. That left her alone to take a shower and wait for Bai-Obi.

When he arrived with the same tray of packaged food as he always did, she decided to ask him a question while she still could, "What is it like being a Plumber?"

She had asked the same question with Patelliday, but wanted to be given a different perspective from someone who was younger, closer to her age. She hoped he would give her an answer, no matter how short or lengthy it may be.

Fortunately, he did, "Well, it's a challenge every day, but that's what I and others enlisted for."

She decided to ask him another question, "What rank are you? I don't think I ever asked."

"You never did," he replied. "To answer your question, I am not an actual Plumber yet, not until I finish my training." She raised her eyebrows when he told her that, intrigued. "I am a senior Plumber-in-training. I will finish my training once I finish the final exams in thirty days from today. I will train and study as much as I can until then."

She had never heard him speak so much, he was typically very quiet around her, only saying "Hello" or "How are you?" most of the time. It was nice to hear him more, she wondered if that meant he was comfortable enough around her to speak to her more often.

"Is my father the one who trains you? Or someone else?" she asked him again.

He shook his head as he unhooked the thermos from his belt and gave it to her, "I am trained by a different Magister. Magister Patelliday trains the recent arrivals, teaching them basic techniques. I am taught techniques more advanced than theirs."

His response didn't surprise her, he did mention that he was a senior student and Patelliday did once tell her that he trained recruits. She didn't think that he was the only teacher, but she had no idea that the students were evidently trained by time and experience, with teachers who taught them even more advanced techniques.

That meant that if, theoretically, she enlisted for Plumber training, it would be her adoptive father who trained her, or another teacher of the same responsibilities. Briefly, she wondered how many high ranking Plumbers, like Patelliday, were teachers for the newly recruited students.

Bai-Obi began to leave, his job to bring her food finished. He had already overstayed his visit, it was supposed to be quick, a maximum of less than a minute, but he had been there for over twice that time.

"Wait," she spoke up, and he stopped in front of the house and turned his head back to look at her. "Um," she paused for a moment as she felt her throat inadvertently swallow nothing, "do you think we could talk a little more tomorrow?"

He had training and studying to do before the exams came, and he wasn't allowed to stay and talk with her any longer than it would take for a bathroom break. Still, he had to admit that he didn't dislike talking with her, but he couldn't take time away from his schedule in order to do that.

He opened his mouth slightly for a brief moment before closing it. She frowned, thinking that meant that they wouldn't be able to converse anymore than what they had already done.

Then, he gave her an answer, "Yes, I think that could be a possibility."

She had to smile when she heard him say that, she couldn't stop herself. She hardly spoke to anyone since the last time she saw the Tennysons, besides her adoptive father; it was truthfully reassuring to her that she would have another person to talk to, even if only for a minute.

For the next few long hours, she waited for Patelliday to finish with the recruits he was training. She spent much of her time watching holograms on a flat square-shaped device with a lens in the center for the projections.

It was something she asked for after she saw a couple of the young Plumbers watching them in the mess hall after Patelliday took her to see Dr. Uril when she first arrived at the base. It kept her occupied, at least to some degree.

Whenever she wasn't watching the holograms, she was snacking on the food Bai-Obi brought her. She quickly found out that there was so much of it because it was a field ration. It was probably the only food on the base that she could eat, everything else resembled the food that Max would cook.

She heard the door open and opened hers to see Patelliday. He was removing his breathing apparatus and white Plumber armor, leading her to believe that he was finished for the day.

"Hi, how did it go?" she asked.

He turned his head to look at her, "Another busy day showing those newbies how it's done."

She smiled when he said that, he made her smile even when he wasn't trying. Sometimes, she wondered if he was trying on purpose, and if the training he said he did was really difficult.

"I talked with Bai-Obi today," she told him. She had told him about the young Plumber who brought her food on a daily basis.

"Quiet one, isn't he?" he replied, removing more of his armor.

"He never stays for long," she mentioned.

He hummed, "Trainees don't get long breaks. Believe me."

She believed him, she didn't know too much about the Plumbers, but she had to assume they were similar to the military on Earth. She didn't know much about that either, just what she had seen on television. What little she did know was that both of them trained their new recruits vigorously.

"He said that we could talk some more tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it," she stated.

He playfully pushed her shoulder, "Making new friends, I see?"

She shrugged with a small smile, "I guess I am."

"Well, good," he rubbed her shoulder. "I'm proud of you."

She went into her room for a moment to grab one of the packages Bai-Obi brought her. It had small sausage-like morsels inside of it that were gray in color. She wasn't sure what they were, but they didn't taste the greatest to her, it was bitter in flavor and left an odd tart feeling in the back of her throat when she swallowed.

She held the package up to him, "Here, you can have it if you want it."

She found out that his species, the Piscciss Volann, were not particularly picky when it came to their diets. It was honestly not much of a surprise to her, with their metal-bending jaws.

He took it from her and started to eat the gray morsels hungrily, obviously not as affected by the taste as she was. "Not a fan of blanched Corcoran Highland goat livers. I'll be sure to tell your friend about that."

She thought she could feel her cheeks warm up slightly when he said that, even if he only referred to him as her friend and nothing more. She suddenly found herself hoping it wasn't very noticeable against her fair skin.

"You see anything interesting in those holograms of yours?" he asked, biting into another morsel.

"Not really," she answered. "I did see something about the Necrofriggian life cycle."

"Well, tomorrow's not gonna be a busy day, maybe I can see if you can come with me for a little bit," he told her.

She smiled at his suggestion and the thought of being able to go with him for the first time. "That'd be great."

Early the next morning, Patelliday woke her up after he did and told her to get ready. She went into her bathroom for a shower, cleaning every section of her body, not a spot was missed.

Once she was finished with her shower, she began to get dressed. She put on her tri-colored flannel jacket, periwinkle shirt, and black pants. She put her shoes on and proceeded to brush her hair and teeth.

Meanwhile, Patelliday was moisturizing his scaly body to keep his skin hydrated for at least a few hours. He knew it wouldn't be needed with the shorter shift he was taking, it was simply a habit he had for years.

He put on his Plumber suit, first the black under sheathing, then the white outer armor. He then began to hook his breathing apparatus around his neck.

When he was done, he knocked on his adoptive daughter's door, "Are you ready yet?"

The door opened a couple of moments later and she was standing in the doorway, "Yes, I'm ready."

He gestured at the door with his head, "Let's get going then."

They left their quarters and he led her down the numerous and seemingly endless halls that made up the base. They passed by a lot of Plumbers, some young and others as old as Patelliday himself. Many of them showed their respect by giving a greeting of some kind, usually a salute yet some were odd gestures with their hands or other parts of their bodies.

Eventually, they arrived at their destination, it was definitely not something she was expecting. They were standing on a platform similar to a balcony that stood above a large room full of Plumbers.

She looked down, a cold feeling in her feet and hands appeared as soon as did. She ignored it briefly to gaze down at the various shapes and colors of the different species.

"What's happening here?" she asked him curiously.

"The newbies are moving on up," he responded. "This is a simulation to see if they're ready to begin the next phase of training."

"Simulation?" she repeated, cocking her head to the side slightly.

"You know the holograms you like to watch?" he asked. She nodded. "This is similar, except it's third dimensional instead of the two dimensional you have. Don't worry, you'll see."

She looked down again and saw teams of two people wearing red armor standing on either side of the room. They weren't standing with the other students, and she wondered why they were there and who they were.

"Who are those people in the red armor?" she questioned.

"Those are senior recruits, they're a part of the Alpha Squad, an elite group of Plumbers," he explained. "They're here to make sure everything goes smoothly with no issues."

She continued to look down at the students below, trying her best to ignore the nervousness that was gradually making her entire body feel cold. While she looked down at them, she wondered what she would see once the simulation began, and what she would learn.

I-U-I-*Y*-I-U-I

(A/N: How's this for fast? I completed this in less than twenty-four hours with only four hours of sleep. So, I don't want to hear that it's not long enough or not very well written.

The Corcoran Highland goat Patelliday was eating is taken from the comic book "Alien: Bloodlines", where they're used as cattle for the Xenomorphs. I have a few stories on "Predator" but nothing for "Alien" (despite how much I love Xenomorphs). Feel free to check them out if you want to.

I'm sorry it took me over a year to get to this. I honestly completely forgot about this because I was so caught up in all of my other stuff. This time, I promise it won't take me over a year to find time for this. Don't believe me if you don't want to, but I do feel bad and I will update sooner in the future.

Well, I'm really tired, I wasn't kidding about not getting much sleep, so I'm gonna wrap this up. I hope to see you guys soon.)