The massive jerk caused by the acceleration was good for many things: losing your lunch, spilling your drink, embarrassing bathroom incidents and faceplanting after what would normally be a slight trip. For Rooney, it did much more than that, the sudden jerk and force sustained by the jump snapped him out of his self-pitying funk and brought a clarity to everything that he'd never felt before. Everything was hyper definite, with a cold edge that he couldn't quite describe. All the shaking in his limbs were gone. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his half-empty box of cigarettes. Even this humble paper box looked like it could slice into his flesh if he handled it incorrectly. He flipped open the box and noticed everything also seemed to move in slow motion even though he knew everything was traveling at speeds faster than light. Lighting up, Rooney took ahold of his controls and switched on the Command channel.

"Private Rooney signing in for Team Alpha. Ready to roll any time the rest of you are." He took in a drag of the cigarette, and noted that it didn't seem to affect him much right now. Really it did more as a piece of oral fixation rather than a stimulant of any kind, which was fine by him. Getting hyped up by nicotine would only dim his understanding.