[sub]"[color=lightblue]Quinn. Quinn, darling.[/color]"[/sub]

She stared, eye slightly crossed, at Doctor Follen. His image was hazy, she was dizzy, and her face felt like ice, as though all the blood had drained out of it.

"[color=lightblue]I know, Quinn, but if you don't do this, they will send you home. Right back to your mother and father. Don't let them do that to Besca. Don't let them do that to [i]you.[/i].[/color]"

She clenched her teeth together, blinked her eye to focus, forced the chattering to stop. She glanced to the side, to Besca, looking at her with such worry on her face. She needed to do this. Doctor Follen was right. It was the only way she could stay here instead of—of—[i]she didn't want to think about it.[/i]

"[color=FFE63D]Okay,[/color]" she rasped out. The back of her head hurt where she'd hit it into the wall. Then, every step harder, she slowly walked towards the behemoth in front of her. Her hands were clenched into tight fists by her sides to stop them from shaking. She could feel eyes on her. So many eyes. Everyone was looking at her. They were all looking to see if she did it right. She [i]needed[/i] to do it right. She just had to. 

After all, she was going to be a pilot. 

She was...she was going to pilot that thing. 

So she needed to do it right.

A uniformed woman with close-cropped hair showed her to a small platform of corrugated metal around the back of [i]it[/i]. She was close enough to touch the [i]thing[/i] now, and being so near it brought her such a feeling of unease that her stomach was hurting. And for some reason, that just made it all worse. She stepped on, concentrating on the gentle [i]clang[/i] of her new boots, and looked up. It was so, so high.

Then the floor dropped away along with her stomach, and she was shooting skyward. Her whole body tensed up. If she hadn't been wearing gloves, her nails would have been digging into her palms hard enough to draw blood now. If she hadn't been wound up so tight, she would probably have yelped. But Doctor Follen called her brave and strong. And what was it Deelie had said?

[i][color=skyblue]It’s okay to be scared. Being strong doesn’t mean you’re never afraid of anything, sometimes it means being afraid of something and doing it anyway.[/color][/i] 

She hadn't seen her down there, but she'd been distracted. She'd said she was coming, so she would be there. She was cheering her on, right? She and Besca and Doctor Follen were all cheering her on. She needed to—[i]could[/i] do this. She could. She swore she could. Otherwise she—

The thought was cut off but the platform coming to a sudden stop at the head of the back of the head, into which was embedded a—

A—

A [i]door.[/i]

Again, she nearly screamed right there. Opening it wouldn't be too hard here. But then she would need to [i]close it behind herself.[/i]

She unclenched her right hand, and though it immediately started shaking again, she reached out and took hold of the door. It was heavy. So heavy, and the trembling didn't help. 

After nearly half a minute of fruitless effort as she strained against the door, it finally slid open and a waft of [i]freezing[/i] air s seeped out. She gasped as it blew over her face. Now she understood why the suit was heated. It wasn't to be nice. It was to stop her freezing to death. 

She stopped. The only light in there came from the hangar lights that leaked through the door in front of her, illuminating a long, recumbent chair. For just a moment she forgot herself and clawed at her upper arms, eye wide. She knew that as soon as she closed it, it would be pitch black with no light. 

The cockpit was tiny, so the question wasn't whether she'd be able to find the chair. It was whether or not she'd be able to get into it before she broke down.

Another moment of hesitation. She was scared. She was so, so scared.

[i][color=skyblue]It’s okay to be scared.[/color][/i]

She dove in, and before she could think, she slammed the door behind her and was plunged into utter blackness.

It was even worse than she'd thought, and her breath immediately began to heave. She didn't have time. She needed to [i]needed to[/i] go now NOW NOW. 

Fumbling around in the dark, she found the chair and lay down in it as fast as she could. It was contoured enough that she could find where to position herself, and she let out a shrill squeak as little nodes slid into her plugs. They she lay there hyperventilating. Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. Nobody told her what to do now. She closed her eyes. [i]Please work. Please, please, please work.[/i]

Then she fell into a dark that was darker than black.