"There is no one here…" just as he reached the bridge, he found no one out there to his surprise, "I recall there were lots of big machines out there, but there is only one here."
John found a big machine with the number 'Thirteen' on it. It was his, the one he tried to get into before and ended up going to the infirmary.
"They left my ID card attached to it, fantastic!" As he took his time to cross the bridge, he found the card he received before to operate the machine, "aren't they afraid someone would steal it? Security here is sht! I can tell you that!"
He was trying to stall for time, as he stood in front of that big machine, playing with the card in hand, while weighing the risks in his mind.
He wasn't sure if the music theory he guessed was right or wrong, but he hesitated in trying it right now. "Screw it! What possibly can happen to me? Lose consciousness? Waking up with the hot doc? I will go with these chances…"
"Who is the hot doc?!"
Just before he would take a single step forward, he heard the last voice he expected in this place, Sophie's!
Her voice was sweet like a melody even if she was speaking in such icy cold tone. His body faintly trembled, not from anxiety or worry, but from longing!
"Ahem, hey doc, what are you doing here?!" As a professional he turned to welcome her without a single speck of worry on his face. He even added this broad smile over his face!
"I was walking down to the cafeteria to ask for something, yet found you standing here," Sophie gave him a thorough look from head to toe, "aren't you dizzy and hurt? Why are you here then?"
"Do you want the truth?" John laughed, trying to break the ice, "I wanted to check on my little boy here, I feel more relaxed in it."
"I see," Sophie adjusted her glasses, "yet you look hesitant to get onboard!"
"No way!" John chuckled, while he knew he had no choice but to hurriedly open the hatch and jump in it, "I'm going in, want to join?"
He even extended a hand to her, one that she slapped with hers in a fierce manner. "I'll wait on the side, perhaps you'll lose your consciousness again and need my assistance!"
"..." John knew he wouldn't get rid of her easily. He tried to push her away by crossing the line and inviting her into that thing with him. It felt like she was determined to stand on the side and watch.
'Is she suspecting something?' such thoughts flashed in John's mind for a brief moment. He couldn't tell if what she was doing stemmed out of concern or doubt.
"Welcome John," as the ladder descended from the opened hatch, the same soft voice came, and like before, a soft melody played with it!
"..."
"Aren't you going in?"
From the side, Sophie stood like a fearless lioness. She had some vague feeling, one that she always had when she was on the verge of discovering something huge!
Since the moment she noticed how John reacted to that screen, and she couldn't shake off this feeling. She tried to take a walk to calm herself but ended up walking past the training arena that was away from her usual regular tour. And there she spotted the soldier who started all this!
She stood on the side watching him daze into the machine as if he was waiting for something. 'No, he isn't waiting, he is fearing something to happen… Is it PTSD?' her thoughts ran fast while watching John freeze in his place, not moving a muscle!
"I'm… Good!" His voice came in an attempt to reassure her, instead his tone carried an unexplained sense of relief, as if something bad didn't happen. And that deepened her doubts even more!
John stood in his place as he expected to faint and enter into that bizarre world once the music started. Yet to his surprise, nothing happened! What awakened him from his daze was Sophie's voice, reminding him that she was there, and he needed to act normal and not arouse any suspicions.
"Are you sure you don't want to come in?" Once he knew nothing bad would happen, he climbed the stairs in a calm and confident way, while saying these words to her.
"No thanks, I'm busy right now," Sophie didn't stand in her spot any longer. By the time John landed into the hatch, she was already crossing the bridge in wide strides, as if she had something urgent that she just recalled.
"She is indeed quite fast," John watched her till she vanished from his sight. What he didn't know was that she was running away from him.
"What the hell was wrong with me back there? I'm busy right now? I should have scolded him for daring to cross the line!" She kept muttering to herself, while moving her fists in the air in a nervous way. If John could see her now, he would have laughed at how she looked and behaved.
"I never drove a plane before, but I'm pretty sure this looks the same!" when John got into the hatch, he found himself surrounded with big boards with lots of buttons and lights.
"There isn't a single screen for me to touch or give orders through, which means these two iron rods are the ones controlling this thing…" he found two long sticks, one on each side of his seat. The sticks were long cylindrical rods that extended from the bottom of the hatch all the way to the level of his hands.
He could tell they were designed for the soldiers to easily hold them with ease. The rods ended with a hand grip handle that he tried to press, squeeze, rotate, or push and yet nothing happened!
"I'm missing something for sure…" the machine felt dead cold as a scrap of metal to him, not the thing he expected before coming here.
The closest thing he could think of about this machine was the big Mecha he saw in many movies and comics. These were badass war machines, and he was partially excited to try one out.
"There must be a switch somewhere to turn this thing on…"
"Are you done with playing with me? Ready to let me run and you take off?!"
"Who the hell are you?!!!" Just as John was looking everywhere for that button, in the middle of all these buttons in front of him, a face suddenly appeared in front of him, giving him a scare!