Stretching, Alex opened his eyes and looked around. His room was already bright with the morning light. Oh no! He thought to himself, what time is it?! He reached for his phone but it didnt turn on. Shit! I forgot to plug it in. He ran to the kitchen nook where he left his backpack and dug out his charger. Finding an outlet, he plugged it in and connected his phone. He rubbed his face while waiting for the phone to boot up. 6:33 it read when it finally powered up. Oh thank goodness, he thought, flooded with relief. Hate to be late on my first official day!

  Alex stretched again and grabbed his clothes out of his backpack. He laid them out on his bed and headed into the shower. He dressed, grabbed his phone, and his scooter and headed out the door. Humm it is 6:50 I should be able to grab a quick snack before heading to the lab. He hopped on the scooter and headed to the recreation center and went inside. As he opened the door he was met by the roar of chatter. He looked around and saw groups of people walking and talking or sitting at tables and eating. Wow, so lively for this time in the morning, he thought.

  “Alex! Hey!” said a familiar voice.

  “Oh good morning Siddiq!” Alex replied.

  “Are you ready for today?” he asked as he bit into a burrito.

  “Oh ya, just grabbing some breakfast before heading there.” Alex answered.

  “The breakfast bar had killer burritos! Come on, this way,” Siddiq said as he led Alex towards the food court. Alex ordered his food and Siddiq ordered another. “They are just so good!” he laughed. After grabbing their orders Siddiq led Alex to the exit. “Nice thing about the campus is it’s quick to get where you need to go! Come on before Reshma kills us.” he laughed. He had his own scooter and they both rode towards Lab Five.

  “Ah there you two are.” Reshma said “it is 7:03.”

  “Sorry boss, we needed some morning sustenance! Got you one too!” Siddiq said smoothly as he handed Reshma the Burrito he had just ordered.

  Reshma sighed, “Thanks, lucky for you two you aren’t the only ones late. Evalyn isn’t here yet either.”

  “That isn't like her,” Siddiq said.

  Just then the doors opened and Evalyn stepped in, “So sorry to keep you waiting, my alarm didn't go off and I had such a bad sleep.” she said, breathing heavily.

  “We were just wondering about you,” Reshma said. “Glad it was nothing more than that. So let's go over the boards one more time then get the test setup!” he said excitedly. Walking towards the boards he motioned for everyone to follow him. “So, what we know is that across the planet there are numerous disasters happening. We scientists believe that it is something to do with the Tectonic plates softening. Yesterday, for our project, we determined that if we can force a way to get the loose sediment or ground material to harden into the sedimentary stage or even the metamorphic stage near the plate boundaries we may be able to help stabilize them. Which, in turn, will help to stop the events that are happening,” Reshma concluded.

  “So we need to come up with ways to force Lithification basically,” said Alex.

  “Yes.” Reshma nodded.

  “First we need to be able to do the compaction stage,” Zayd said thoughtfully.

  “We would need super high pressure for that,” Evalyn added.

  “We could build something for that,” Siddiq said.

  “We also have to think on a large scale. Sure we can do bits here but we need to be able to do this for miles on the surface,” Alex commented.

  “Correct, but if we can find a way to complete lithification even on a small scale faster than millions of years, we can take this forward and everyone can help with the bigger side,” Reshma added.

  “Fair enough,” said Alex. “Where do we begin?”

  “I say lasers!” Siddiq smiled, his eyes bright.

  “I say a press,” said Evalyn.

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  “Okay, I think both are viable options, let’s do the press first. Then we will try the laser,” Reshma said. The team nodded and got to work. Clearing the boards they began the design on the press and the calculations for the amount of pressure it would need to work.

  “I will put in the order for these parts that we need. In the meantime let's try and get everything else ready and start putting this thing together,” Reshma said, looking at his watch he yawned. “Maybe after some lunch though.”

  The team looked at each other and nodded in agreement. They all headed to the door still talking about the press they were going to work on. Alex smiled to himself. He had never felt like he belonged anywhere, especially after his parents had died. Being here and walking with this group though he felt accepted, and it was nice.

  “What are you smiling about?” Siddiq asked as he bumped Alex on the shoulder.

  “Oh nothing, just excited to get to work on this press,” Alex replied.

  “Ya, the press is fine, but a laser is so much cooler,” Siddiq said, as his glasses slipped down his nose. He ran his hand through his wavy black hair and sighed. “They never take my ideas seriously though, just because I’m younger than them, but now that you are here I'm not the youngest anymore,” he laughed.

  “Well I don't know about that since we are working on one of my theories…” Alex said slowly.

  “Oh man, so true. I forgot you are a young genius.” He sighed again, hanging his head. Alex laughed as they continued towards the food court. After grabbing their food, they sat together at one of the outdoor tables. No one really talked as they all hurried to eat, excited to get back to the lab to start building the press. The afternoon flew by as they worked on the diagrams. Once they all agreed the team broke up and scattered across the campus to collect the needed materials. Reshma, true to his word, put in an order for the parts that were not available to them on the campus.

  “The other parts should be here tomorrow afternoon,” he said to everyone. “In the meantime let's build what we can.” The team nodded and started working on putting the pieces together. The hours flew by and it was Zayd that called it for the evening.

  “I am beat and hungry,” he said, stifling a yawn.

  “Oh my, it is 10pm!” exclaimed Evalyn.

  “Wow, let’s call it here.” Reshma said. “ The rest of the parts won't be here until the afternoon so no need to come in too early.”

  “Sounds good,” Siddiq said as he stretched.

  They all gathered their things and headed to the apartments. Alex noted that only he and Siddiq had scooters. The others opting to walk.

  “Race?” Siddiq asked, looking over at Alex.

  Alex smiled, “Sure.”

  “On go. On your mark, get set, GO!” Siddiq yelled. They both took off laughing and speeding towards the apartments. “I WIN!” Siddiq called hopping off the scooter at the apartments.

  “Well you kinda started before go,” Alex laughed.

  “Hey, you win some, you lose some!” Siddiq exclaimed. “Good night!” he called, riding towards a different building.

  “Night!” Alex yelled as he headed into his building. Alex opened his door and set the scooter against it. Man, I can't wait to try out the press. I hope we can get it finished tomorrow, he thought. “Might need to take the morning to do some shopping though.” He said out loud as he looked at his clothes.

  As his head hit the pillow his room began to shake. He jumped up and ran to his doorway. Is this a freaking earthquake? he thought. He looked around and saw the wall cracking. What the hell. As he walked towards it, he fell through the floor, a sinkhole swallowing his room. He screamed as he fell towards a magma filled bottom. When suddenly, he was yanked up towards the sky. “Who are you?” a voice filled his mind. Alex jumped up sweating, his heart racing. “What just happened?” he said out loud. He laid back down to sleep, but his mind was racing until he fell into a restless slumber.

  The next morning he woke up tired. “What terrible sleep, my dreams were all over the place” he yawned. He made his way to the bathroom, brushed his teeth and hair and headed to the door. The prospect of getting the press done brightened his mood. “Let’s go scooter, we need to shop,” he said as he headed out the door.

  He walked around the stores getting a couple outfits and a bit of groceries so he could make himself some food. After he dropped everything off he looked at the time. It's only 9am, he thought, I will just head to the lab and start working on the press some more. Pulling the tags off his new clothes he took a quick shower, changed and headed to the lab.

  As he walked in he was surprised to see that everyone else was already there and working.

  “There is the sleepy head,” Siddiq said.

  “Man, I’m sorry! I had to buy some things this morning, but I thought I would still be early.” Alex said heat rising to his cheeks.

  “No problem,” Reshma smiled. “Everyone is just eager to get going. The parts should be delivered soon too.” The team continued the construction of the press and were able to finish it once the last parts were delivered.

  “Beautiful,” Evalyn said as they all stood back and admired the press they created.

  “It’s alright,” Siddiq sighed, “Laser would be cooler.”

  “Siddiq,” Reshma said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Alright let's reconvene in the morning and start running some tests.”

  They all nodded and headed out the lab. Alex hopped on his scooter and headed to his apartment. I Feel like this is too easy, he thought, frowning to himself. He opened his door and headed to his room. I guess we will find out tomorrow. He stretched out across his bed and stared at the ceiling until an uneasy sleep took him.