Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Reminder: This is my NaNoWriMo 2012 story. I'm posting it 'as-is' with very minor exceptions/corrections. (fixing homophone errors (there, their, they're, etc.), tense errors (keep, kept, etc.) and punctuation errors (missing periods, quotes, etc.).). That means it will be rough in spots, especially towards the end when I ran out of NaNoWriMo writing time.

Word Count: 3,199 ( 6 of 18)

Coming out of the pod was always rough. Especially when it wasn't her choice. Her brain accepted the change in perspective better when it was her idea.

"What's going on?" Brittany asked, laying there as the goop disappeared back to wherever it came from.

"It is time," the AI told her. "You must go and prepare them to leave the training pods."

"I could have just stayed in," Brittany grumbled pointlessly. She might be able to communicate with the alien AI but it was still alien. It often made little sense to her. Like why pull her out when it could have talked to her in the pod and connected to the worlds the others were in.

"The second stage must begin now," it said, sounding slightly impatient, though she knew that was just her. "Go."

Grimacing, Brittany slapped the pod's activator, and impatiently waited for it to fill up again, glad that she didn't need to plug herself into anything. If she understood it correctly, the goop was the interface between her mind and the virtual reality of the learning pods.

She'd been thinking about this for a while, how she'd involve the others, but she didn't really have a plan. She wasn't going to lie to them. She didn't know what the alien's plans were once they were all trained. All indoctrinated like good little drones. Even herself.

She knew the training pod had been influencing her own actions even if she were, in theory, protected against such manipulation. But it was a lot more powerful than anything she'd experienced before. She could tell there were differences in the way she thought before the kidnapping, and now. She couldn't change it but she could feel the changes in her head.

The pod had shifted some things around. Some simple, like the language she used every day now being the alien one she'd learned. Now it took a conscious decision to use her native language, or any of the languages she'd grown up with. And there were other things. Things having to do with the alien's culture. She wasn't sure if it had been part of her intelligence training or just things she absorbed along the way. But there were also things she knew she was missing.

Once her mind had fully adjusted to the learning pod, which could take seconds or minutes, she found herself in a space that looked remarkably like the one she saw when she visited Santana. Except mostly empty. Hanging from a hook on the wall was a large, brightly colored woolen cape. Taking it down, she twirled it around for a minute, just enjoying the weight of it in her hands.

If it were just Santana, she wouldn't bother covering herself up, but Rachel and Quinn, not matter how much they might have absorbed the alien culture and its laxer views on clothing, were a different issue. She wanted to talk with them, not make them uncomfortable. So she wrapped herself up in it, buttoning it together so that it was more dress-like.

"Now what?" she grumbled. Without any prompting, a door silently slid open in one wall. Leaving the room, she found herself in a much larger room with a carpeted floor, and large piles of cushions scattered everywhere. She wondered whose mind the AI had found it in. She suspected Rachel if any of them, since she'd been to Santana and Quinn's houses and it was nothing like anything she'd seen there.

Looking around the room, she spotted three other doors, all closed. One opposite hers, and two perpendicular, like the points of a large cross.

Carefully making her way across the carpet to the room directly across from hers, Brittany looked at the door and grinned. Directly in the middle of it on a small square was a symbol she'd seen before, back when she spent days learning how the aliens organized their military. It was their symbol for 'Lord of the Air', an archaic title for the person who controlled the alien space fleets. That wasn't quite Santana's role, as far as she knew, but it was close to what they'd been pointing her at.

Normally, alien doors opened on their own if you stood in front of them, and you were allowed admittance. Even virtual ones like this. But this one didn't seem to want to open. She assumed whomever was behind it, hopefully Santana, was sleeping. So she pounded on it, hoping to get a response.

"San! Time to get up," she shouted. It would have been so much easier if they'd just popped her into the room. She wasn't sure Santana would know how to open it from the inside. So she pounded again.

"Hold your horses!" Santana shouted back from behind the door.

"San?" Brittany said loudly. "You have to open the door, I can't do it for you."

"Brit? What are you doing out there?" Santana shouted, sounding very puzzled. "How do I open it. I don't see a door."

"I need you out here so we can talk," Brittany said. "Just tell it to open."

Suddenly, the door silently slid open and a very naked Santana burst out of the room, tackling her to the ground.

"Brit! You're here!" Santana said, holding on tight. Not even pausing to let Brittany get a word in, she started kissing her.

"Santana!" Brittany said, pushing her away so they could talk. "We need to talk, and I can't do that if you keep kissing me."

"You don't like my sweet lady kisses?" Santana said, pouting. "I haven't seen you in months."

"Sorry," Brittany said. "We can do that later. And more I hope," she said under her breath. "But you need to get dressed."

"Why?" Santana said, pulling her tighter, and peppering her with more kisses, everywhere she could reach. "This needs to come off," she said, pulling on Brittany's cape.

"San, stop!" Brittany said, stepping back. "Now isn't the time."

"It's always the time for us to get our thing on," Santana said, stepping closer and tickling her.

"We need to talk," Brittany said, giggling.

"So talk. I'll be right here," Santana said, trying to burrow through Brittany's cape.

"We need to talk with Rachel and Quinn," Brittany said, trying to get her attention.

"They're not here," Santana said, ignoring her. "Talk with them later. More important things to do."

"They're right here," Brittany said. "Somewhere. I think."

"They can wait," Santana said, pulling Brittany into her room.

"We can do this later," Brittany protested, shivering as Santana ran her hands up and down her back while attempting to remove her cape.

"Don't wanna," Santana said, pulling Brittany onto her bed.

"We can do whatever you want later," Brittany said. "After we talk with the others."

"When did you get to be so stubborn," Santana said, huffily, looking up at her from her bed.

"I haven't changed," Brittany said, frowning. "Mostly."

"This mostly is why you're even hotter than the last time I saw you?" Santana said, trying to pull her onto the bed.

"You've changed too, San," Brittany said. "All that training looks good on you."

"Was there ever any doubt?" Santana said, smirking and flexing a bicep.

"Never," Brittany said, slipping out of her arms. "But we need to get Rachel and Quinn out here."

"How do you know where they are?" Santana said. "They could be on another planet."

"There are two more doors," Brittany said. "Two more people. Quinn and Rachel."

"If you say so," Santana said, grumbling.

"Absolutely," Brittany said, pulling Santana back to her feet and dragging her out of her room, pausing only long enough to grab a cloak for Santana to wear out of her closet. "Put this on," she told her girlfriend, throwing it over her head.

"Why?" Santana said, pulling the cape on.

"Because you'll scare Rachel," Brittany said.

"So?"

"Because I said so," Brittany said, kissing her.

"Okay," Santana said, reluctantly.

"Which one's which?" she wondered, pulling Santana over to one of the other doors. The door was a deep purple. She didn't recognize the symbol on the door. So she started knocking.

"That's the symbol for the Fleet Memory," Santana said. "I wonder why it's here."

"You're brilliant," Brittany said, picking her up, and twirled her around.

"I've been telling you that for years," Santana grumbled, struggling to get loose, "and now you believe me?"

"Memory, memory, who's got the Memory," Brittany sang. "Rachel does," she added.

"Rachel's the Memory?" Santana said, frowning. "That must suck."

"She's good at it," Brittany said. "They say she's a natural."

"She does have that annoying ability to keep talking no matter how many socks get stuffed down her throat," Santana said.

"Be nice!"

"I am. I'm just surprised. Why did they make her a Memory?" Santana asked.

"They haven't said yet," Brittany said, knocking on the door. "That's one of the things we need to talk about."

"Are they going to let us go?" Santana asked, trying to tickle Brittany.

"Who let us what?" Rachel said, poking her head out of her now opened door.

"Hi Rachel!" Brittany said, hugging her tightly.

"Hi Brittany," Rachel squeaked, trying to pry herself loose. "It's been a while."

"But you remember us, right?" Brittany asked.

"Of course I do," Rachel said. "Why would I forget?"

"See!" Brittany said to Santana. "That's why."

"I remember people too," Santana said. "That doesn't make me a Memory."

"No." Brittany turned back to Rachel. "We need to talk," she said.

"Okay," Rachel said. "Do I need to get dressed?" she said, tugging at the large blanket wrapped around her.

"If I have to, you have to, Smurf," Santana said.

"Just checking," Rachel said, running back into her room. "Be right back," she shouted over her shoulder.

"Now we just need Quinn," Brittany said. "You should probably stay here," she added.

"Did they fix Q's memory?" Santana asked, following her across the room to the remaining door.

"They didn't say," Brittany told her. "It'll be a lot easier if we don't have to tell her who we are."

Before they could reach the door, it slid open on its own.

"That's creepy," Santana said.

"It's the last one," Brittany said. "I think I should go first."

"No way, Brit," Santana said, putting herself between Brittany and the door. "What if she's totally got a screw loose since they've been mucking around in her head."

"They would have fixed it," Brittany said, stepping around her. "They need her not broken."

"What's going on," Rachel said, in a loud voice, joining them in front of the last door.

"Nothing," Santana grumbled.

"Be nice," Brittany said, lightly whopping Santana in the vain hope it would make her behave. She turned to Rachel before Santana could add her opinion. "Did you like learning all of those things?" she asked Rachel.

"Most of it," she said. "Some of it was depressing. But I learned many new songs."

"Well, Quinn didn't want to learn, so they made her forget everything," Brittany said. "And then put her through training."

"That's horrible," Rachel said. "And unfriendly."

"They aren't fluffy kittens," Santana said. "These are hard-core, take over the world Aliens," she said, keeping an eye on the now open door. "Just consider yourself lucky they didn't do the same thing to you."

"Santana, why are you still standing there?" Brittany asked.

"If Q-tip lost her marbles you're going to need protection," Santana said.

"I can handle Q," Brittany said. "Don't worry."

"Didn't they train her to be a gung-ho warrior of some sort?" Santana asked. "I think I'm the best one to deal with her craziness."

"Hello, Quinn," Rachel said, interrupting her. "You look well."

"Berry, Santana, Brittany," Quinn said, casually leaning against her doorway, draped in a brilliantly colored blanket. "What's going on?"

"Brittany wanted to talk with us," Rachel said, nervously looking at the floor. "She hasn't said why."

"Please come out here," Brittany said, backing away from Quinn's door. "It's more comfortable," she added, flopping down on a large cushion. Santana sat down next to her, pulling her tight.

Rachel grabbed another cushion and sat on it facing them from several yards away. Quinn sat down an equal distance from the others, not bothering with a cushion.

"So, Brit, what's the what," Santana asked.

"Your training is done," she said. "You each know everything you need to."

"How do you know that?" Quinn asked.

"They told me," Brittany said. "They want us to prepare for the next stage."

"Which is?" Quinn asked, her face blank.

"I don't know, but it requires a Memory," she pointed at Rachel, "the Hand," she then pointed at Quinn, "the Breath," she pointed at Santana, "and a Shadow," she finished tapping her own chest.

"What does all that mean?" Rachel asked. "The titles?" she said.

"There are other titles," Brittany said. "Those are just the ones I learned in my training."

"The Memory is sort of a historian slash bard person," Santana said. "Every fleet has one when they go on an expedition. It's the person who helps citizens understand their history and puts events into other forms. You must be ours? Which means..."

"Which means we're going to do something epic," Brittany said, clapping her hands excitedly.

"I see," Rachel said, frowning. "What's the Breath?"

"The person in charge of the fleet is the 'Lord of the Air', also called the Breath, but we don't have a fleet," Brittany said. "But if we did, San would be in charge of it."

"And the 'Shadow'?"

"Fleet Spy Master," Quinn said. "She'd be in charge of all intelligence gathering for the fleet."

"Spy?" Santana said, staring at her girlfriend.

"With sneaky alien ninja training," Brittany said, smiling deviously.

"That sounds awesome," Santana said, grinning. "What about the Q? What is she?"

"She runs the army," Brittany said. "The ground troops of the Fleet."

"More like Marines," Quinn said. "For when the fighting needs to be up close and personal."

"So, you all get to fight? And I just watch?" Rachel said, pouting.

"Do you want to fight?" Brittany asked. "Or be responsible for killing other people?"

"Um… no?" Rachel said. "But I bet you're all great at fighting. I bet they taught you all lots of things. I just know the history of the aliens and how to defend myself."

"You do?" Brittany said. "I learned how to spy and stuff, and use all sorts of cool spy toys, but they didn't tell me where they came from."

"I've got a lot of battles stuck up here," Quinn said, tapping her head, "and know more than I want to about leading people into battle but not a lot of background. I don't know why they were fighting."

"That's what a Memory is for," Santana told the others. "Someone needs to have perspective. Someone needs to understand why things happen the way they do. I wouldn't want that job myself," she said. "I'd rather be out there, flying."

"Flying?" Rachel asked.

"Spaceships," Santana said, grinning. "All sorts of them. I must know how to fly dozens of spaceships."

"Brittany? You said we were done? How do we get out of here?" Quinn asked.

"And do we get to go home?" Rachel asked. "I haven't seen my fathers in forever."

"It really hasn't been that long," Brittany said.

"It was at least two years," Rachel said.

"More for me," Santana said.

"I don't really know," Quinn said. "It was hard to keep track of time, I was so busy."

"Six months, in real time," Brittany said. "The learning pods can control subjective temporal learning time so things seem longer but in real time? Six months," Brittany said.

"Learning pods?" Rachel asked.

"This is all taking place in our heads," Brittany said, waving at the room. "None of this is real."

"I though that was only when we sat down in the training chairs," Santana said. "Like in the Matrix."

"How do you know that?" Quinn said.

"Brittany's been visiting me?" Santana said.

"Only you?" Rachel said, looking upset.

"I'm sorry Rachel, but San really needed me. You're used to being by yourself, and Quinn was sort of out of it," Brittany said. "Sorry Quinn, but I couldn't stop them." Quinn just nodded at her, an alien expression crossing her face before it was expressionless again..

"So, do we click our heels together three times?" Rachel asked.

"I left my ruby slippers in the car," Quinn said, winking at her.

"No, it's a lot simpler than that," Brittany said.

"If this isn't real, will we lose all of this?" Santana asked, slapping her legs and stomach.

"San, do you remember when I told you this wasn't exactly like the Matrix?" Brittany asked her girlfriend.

"Not really," Santana said. "I know you said it was six months but that was a long time ago in my head."

"Well, it's not. Any changes to you," she said, poking Santana in the ribs, "will stay."

"What about all of my notes?" Rachel said. "Will I get to keep them?"

"Yes, I think," Brittany said. "I'm not sure how that works but it's in your head because it has to be somewhere, but the things you learn won't go away. That would be dumb."

"So how?" Santana asked.

"Just say 'End Training'," Brittany said.

"Just like on the hola-deck?" Santana said.

"No, this isn't Star Trek," Brittany said. "Before you do, though, you need to let me finish."

"Go for it," Quinn said.

"Please," Rachel added. Santana just nodded.

"The learning pods are really weird the first time you use them," Brittany said. "There's all this goopy stuff and it feels like you're going to suffocate. But it goes away really quick, as long as you don't panic. Just wait until someone comes to get you."

"Do we get to keep our towel?" Quinn asked.

"I told you she would be crazy," Santana said, poking Brittany. "Let's leave her here in the Matrix."

"I'm not crazy," Quinn said.

"Don't worry Quinn, some of us understood that reference," Rachel said, giving her a small smile. "What about our rooms?" she asked.

"I don't really know," Brittany said. "There were so many things they wouldn't tell me."

"Well, that's not ominous," Santana grumbled. "This is all probably an elaborate prank, or a slasher flic. Fortunately, the blonde always gets it first, so that would be you, Q-tip."

"Be nice!" Brittany said. "They aren't letting us go home any time soon, so we need to get along."

"So you already have an escape plan?" Santana asked, smirking. "I knew you were smart."

"Yes, I'm smart," Brittany said, hugging her. "Smart enough to know whether or not we need an escape plan. I want to get out of the pod but I'm not ready to escape yet. There's too much we don't know yet."

"So, no escaping?" Quinn said.

"No escaping," Brittany said, nodding her head. "Don't worry," she said hugging Santana.

"When do we get out of here then," Rachel asked.

"Now?" Quinn asked.

"Now," Brittany said. "All together…"

"Training End," they all said at the same time.

Next: Back in the real world, Brittany herds cats. Figuratively speaking.