Celeste Academy - Launch Day with Agatha

Taking a plaid handkerchief from her pocket, Carida took a great sneeze while striding through the gloriously vivid campus grounds.

The spring this year had been a harsh one for hay fever, the brilliantly flowering gardens all about her spreading their pollen on the cool breeze. Even the proud statue of the academy's founder seemed to shimmer in the springtime sun as she passed it, the darkened bronze of his head and shoulders reflecting the cheerful sun. Carida wished she could appreciate it more, blowing her nose once again while scurrying by students who peacefully admired the scenery.

 Her destination finally came into view, with the engineering building looming some way ahead. The newest on campus, it took a more modern and minimalist style to the rest of the structures on campus. This had proved a topic of tense discussion among some of the students; some saw the need to modernize and get with the times, while others thought it a blight on the otherwise traditional and conservative architecture of the academy. Carida - to the annoyance of her friends on either side - saw the merits of both approaches. Besides, she thought; what point was there in worrying about a building she'd rarely see, and never set foot in?

 With little patience for enduring the almost mockingly cheerful scene outside any longer than necessary, Carida rushed to open the building door, closing it shut just as quickly behind her. Taking immediate comfort in the rush of fresh air washing over her, Carida's eyes swept over the room she found herself in. The door opened into a large workshop area, a variety of monitors and unknown machines sitting on the large metal table in its center. Cabinets lined the walls, with various cylinders beneath labelled with concerning-looking warning stickers. As modern inside as it was out, Carida found herself a little impressed at how high-tech the small engineering department was.

 Having been preoccupied indulging her curiosity over this previously unknown world, Carida was startled when a couple of figures suddenly peered out from the far side of the table. Having been hidden behind various instruments, the two looked over to her with tired eyes and steaming coffee in their hands, curious about the strange visitor. The as-yet uncombed bright orange hair worn by one of the young men caught her eye first, a thick brown bomber jacket worn over his broad shoulders. His companion almost appeared elegant in his smartly-fitting cardigan, and wore a flat cap for warmth over his dark, shaved head. Carida mused how they both looked somehow out of time, yet not intentionally so. Neither could've been over their mid twenties to her mind, and both appeared quite hung-over.

 "Oh, sorry," Carida quickly forced out, unsure if she was interrupting the rather nonplussed two. "I was looking for Agatha?"

 The man in with a flat cap jerks his head toward a nondescript door some way behind them. "She's in the office at the back," comes his gravelly voice. "Door's unlocked, feel free to wake her."

 Carida had hurried to the building after Agatha's invitation to meet, wanting to make the most of her surprising initiative. Given this, she hesitated for a moment before heading towards the room; why would the woman who had invited her out of the blue, now be napping? Had she simply forgotten about the invitation? Ever the optimist, Carida quickly brushed such doubts aside. Agatha had simply had a similarly rough night, she thought, easily replacing more troublesome ideas. Gingerly opening the door and peering about, Carida's mind conjured ideas of the quiet bookworm sprawled over her books, peacefully slumbering in her arms amidst her research.

 The sight of Agatha napping on her desk soon put that image to rest, Carida's shoulders slumping as she quietly moves towards her. Sitting upright in her cushioned seat, Agatha's head lolls backwards over its back.  An opened book rests over her face, shielding her eyes as she sleeps deeply. Carida noted how haphazard it all looked while taking care not to wake her, all earlier romantic notions quickly dispelled. If nothing else, Carida thought, the moment allowed her some rare time to take measure of her companion in peace.

 While Agatha might be wearing same black turtleneck as their first date - a solemn look compared to the vibrant world outside - her eye was drawn to a sleeve which hung oddly loose. The reason for her prosthetic not being worn today eluded her, Carida attempting to put it out of mind by looking elsewhere. The notebooks on the desk before her appeared full of equations and notes, Carida unable to make heads or tails of the material beyond likely being related to some sort of mechanical or magical theory.

 As Agatha finally stirred, Carida sought to file away her memory of the oddly slumbering woman, as if a child pocketing a sweet for later. Pulling the book from her face and resting it on the desk before her, Agatha took a few weary blinks to finally register the patiently waiting Carida's presence, quickly taking her glasses from the table to confirm the sight. Her reaction would be one of extreme embarrassment, if not for her clear lack of sleep tempering any motion she might show.

 "Carida!" she breathlessly exclaimed, her soft voice almost squeaking when raised. "Sorry! I invited you, but..."

 "Rough night?" Carida asked, doing her best to allay Agatha's concern. She was hardly put off, finding herself a little thankful for the memory she'd inadvertently received.

 "More like no night. We didn't have any sleep, so we were catching up."

 "Looking forward to something?"

 "A bit. It's more that we only have a permit for today. I hope this all works, because it's now or never."

 At this, Carida remembered the odd-looking crates in the main room. Agatha picked up on her curiosity as she looked out the door towards them.

 "You seemed interested in magical engineering when we met, so I wondered if you'd like to join us on an outing. There's space for you to come along."

 "Just for the day, right?"

 "If everything goes well, we should be back by dinner."

 "Then sure!" came the excited response, encouraged by Agatha's proactive thinking. "If we're held up, my roommates will survive without me making dinner for a day. Not that you'd know if you asked them..."

 "What's the outing for, anyway?" Carida shyly inquired afterwards, realizing she perhaps should have asked that first.

 "The rocketry club. Today's launch day."

 The lush green of the countryside made for a cheerful scene, Carida savoring the surroundings while peering through the heavily-scuffed window before her. Unfortunately, far less pleasant than the view was the truck which she and the others rode in. Sandwiched between Agatha to her right and the scruffy orange-haired man to her left, Carida tried her best to make the most of things in the tightly-packed cabin.

 She'd noticed the dusty old truck in the campus car park from time to time, passing it off as yet another school oddity among many. The tired olive-green vehicle appeared to her as perhaps being army surplus. That is, fifty year old army surplus. A loud and painful groan issues from the transmission as the gear stick is pulled into place by the scruffy-haired driver. Her suspicions of its age only grow as the truck loudly complains at still being forced to work after all these years.

 Despite this, Carida did her best to hide her discomfort at the unpleasant, shuddering ride. Not only out of politeness, but also in deference to Agatha's stoic acceptance of her lot; bunched up in the corner and taller than any of the others, her position necessitated craning her neck downward and leaning to the side in what must make for a far worse experience. Unfortunately, Carida's thoughts still showed despite her best efforts.

 "Sorry for the ride," the driver explained, glancing sideways to Carida. "And for the space. Well... sorry for everything about this. She's old."

 "It's alright, uh..."

 "Oh, sorry. I'm William, but Will's fine. The grump taking his own car is Vincent."

 "By the way," he adds. "That's 'Vincent', not 'Vince'. He's touchy about that." Carida nods, though suspects the detail isn't so much for her benefit as it is a subtle jab at his friend.

 "I'm Carida. Pleased to meet the both of you."

The two men seemed nice enough, if a little guarded around the newcomer. She felt more at ease with them than her companion, not knowing what to make of her silence. Perhaps this was normal for Agatha, she thought; Carida had come to realize warming the quiet woman to her would be a long-term project, rather than a simple matter of an outing or so. Despite this, she couldn't shake the feeling that Agatha was holding back.

 "Pleasure's ours; nice to have someone new along for once," explained Will. "You're Agatha's friend, right?"

 Carida and Agatha exchange brief glances, neither entirely sure of how to quickly explain their relationship. Agatha simply didn't know, lacking any past experience to call on for describing a romantic relationship's stages. For her part, Carida remained ill at ease over their vast difference in personality, caught up in her thoughts of how to deal with a woman who would go so far as inviting her on a trip, yet not find herself able to speak.The half-hearted agreement mumbled by Carida is missed, largely due to the racket of the truck echoing about them.

 "So today's launch day?" asked Carida, feeling more along for the ride than truly understanding the day's events. Will quickly nods in response, happy for her curiosity.

 "I handle most of the field work, Agatha did most of the schematics and design, and Vincent deals with the computer stuff for logging flight data. We've done a few now, but today's an especially big day for us."

 Will leans over, his voice brimming with enthusiasm.

 "We're aiming for this thing to reach supersonic - Mach 1. It'd be a record if we manage it."

 Carida steels herself as she sees Will's hand reach for the gear stick, forcing herself to hold a smile through the profoundly disturbing screech of metal on metal. Agatha almost manages to hide her own displeasure, save for the involuntary twitch of an eye.

 "Sorry again for the ride," Agatha sullenly explained. "This was the best we could afford. Losing our equipment every other launch burns through the club's money."

 "Hey," came the sharp response from Carida's other side. "It's not like I'm the one who makes those sketchy GPS units fail on us."

 "What do you need GPS for?"

 "When the rocket goes up, it takes our cameras and data logging equipment along," Will explains, now in his element. "When it starts coming back down, the capsule detaches and parachutes to the ground nice and gently, so we can collect the data and reuse the gear once we locate its GPS unit."

 A slow, monotone voice pipes up from Agatha at the comment. "In theory, anyway."

 She delivers the remark in such a deadpan tone that Will simply twists his face in displeasure. Agatha simply lets her eyes slowly shift away and looks out the side window, her point made. While Carida was taken off guard by her snark, she was left a little amused at the sharp tongue her quiet companion could wield.

 The ride goes from uncomfortable to abominable as the large wheel is hauled from one side to the other, Carida grabbing at the dashboard to steady herself as the truck pulls off the country road and onto unpaved gravel. If the others had wanted to carry on any further conversation, the chance was long gone for the cacophony of the rough surface below.

 Having finally arrived at their destination, the trio - to the relief of all three - pile out of the truck.

While the other two may easily hop out from the large vehicle, the shorter Carida finds herself needing to hang for a moment before dropping a couple of feet to the ground. She was struck by the odd beauty of the largely featureless plain before them, glancing about the unfamiliar area while the others got to work. Framed by shallow hills in the far distance, the area lies perfectly flat, as if a still lake but cloaked in green. Given how long the drive was, Carida contemplated that the group must be well past the city outskirts and into the surrounding country by now.

 "This looks like the middle of nowhere," Carida mused, more to herself than anyone in particular.

 "That's because it is," Will remarks as he walks toward the back of the truck to begin unloading equipment. "Can't let a rocket off next to someone's house, you know; these things come back down. If things went wrong, it could even shoot off sideways."

 "See that ditch? When we're launching, we're all going in there. Make sure you follow what we say; these things are dangerous."

 Will's tone felt all the more serious coming from someone as affable as he, Carida nodding with appropriate sincerity. She'd seen plenty of rocket launches on television before, and dimly-remembered documentaries covered how it all worked. While Will busies himself with the crates in the back and Agatha soothes her neck after the ride, the rumble of tires on gravel heralds Vincent's little hatchback gently pulling up behind the group. Carida noted how well-practiced the routine appeared, with Will hauling crates over his broad shoulders and into the field, while Vincent now leaned into his opened car trunk to fiddle with a laptop little sooner than he'd even arrived.

 "Anything I can do to help?" a guilt-stricken Carida asked, noting afterwards that her nose was breathing far easier. With little to be seen but for grass and a handful of old oak trees, the fresh, crisp air of the country proved a relief from the gardens and flowerbeds in town.

 "Could you help me with setting up the tripod?" asked Agatha. "I can deal with the camera once it's on there."

 "Oh, sure!"

 Bouncing around to the back of the bed of the truck, Carida eagerly snatched the well-used tripod from the corner. With Agatha already heading towards the center of the field with the camera case in hand, she quickly slung the tripod under her arm and she fell in alongside. As they walked side by side - at a pace just slightly too quick for Carida's stature - she noticed how she'd become a little more used to Agatha's missing arm by now, hardly thinking of it since noticing the lack of prosthetic. It pleased her that she'd put it out of mind so soon, the two now working around it together.

 "I never would've guessed you were in a rocketry club. Is it just the three of you? Even as a hobby, this all seems like a lot of work."

 "There's a couple more of us in the club, but winter got to them." Agatha explained. "Just the usual things that go around."

 Looking over to the two setting up the launch area, Vincent was now helping Will erect the launch tower with a mallet providing liberal assistance. Carida searched her mind for the proper word, 'gantry' eventually surfacing to mind. Their industriousness made her think back to her first date with Agatha, and her lectures about combining engineering with magic.

 "Wait, is that rocket powered by...?"

 Carida was sure she noticed a momentary smile flicker on Agatha's face, but it faded as soon as it appeared."

 "I was wondering if you'd make that connection. Conventional rockets with chemical fuel are a commodity now, but using magic for rockets is a new area."

 As so often happened when discussing her personal interests, some of Agatha's timid nature ebbed as she began to talk at length. "Rocketry really came of age in the 1930s, thanks to von Braun; that's where the rockets which took us to the moon all started. Trying to pull this off with magic instead... You could say we're trying to start that learning process all over again."

 Carida nodded, before the two began to set up their equipment. While fiddling with the uncooperative legs, she remembered what Agatha said about making physical systems work with magical power. "Oh, and because of how magic isn't consistent, you have to design everything around dealing with that."

 "Exactly. The engine, nozzles; everything has to be rethought. It's a useful hobby for an engineer, since it's good practice in applying the theory we learn in school."

 The two jump at the loud shout coming from the launch side, William interjecting in the discussion. "And making stuff go fast is cool!"

 "Shut up, Will," barks Vincent. A disgruntled look is his only response as Carida awkwardly smiles at the two.

 Slowly but surely, Carida managed to make the tripod behave itself. She felt a little chastened at the effort it took, unused to physical work in the way the others were. Agatha thought it best to remain silent in response, letting Carida use her intuition to finish the job rather than risk talking down to her. The work finally done, Carida takes the camera from Agatha and screws it onto the tripod's top, lining it up with the launch area as best she can. Agatha nods approvingly, leaning down and fiddling with the settings.

 "Camera's good!" came Agatha's shout, her partner idly noting how quiet even her exclamations were. The men give a thumbs-up as they pull the rocket vertical, now making their final checks. Carida was impressed by the organization, each step executed with military precision as everyone finished their tasks. Once again they would remind her of old memories, this time about documentaries around rockets used in war.

 "Hey, wouldn't the SDF be interested in this kind of thing, too?" she earnestly asked. "Using magical power for missiles and stuff?"

 Agatha abruptly stops, her face becoming exquisitely awkward. Carida knew she'd stepped on a landmine as soon as she'd said it, but could do little except wait for Agatha to respond.

 "Let's not ask questions nobody wants to deal with," she drearily warned.

Their work done, Will and Vincent regroup with Agatha and Carida, everyone looking to the rocket now proudly pointing towards its skyward destination. The size was a surprise to Carida, having only seen the crates in which it had been unassembled; now erected, it stood a good six feet to her mind, the black and yellow-striped tube standing oddly alone in the lush, green plain. It all felt oddly old-fashioned; something physical in the age of digital, which took sweat and industry to construct. She admired them a little for the effort, having thought engineering more a matter of calculations and book work.

 "Well... this is it," comes a shaky voice from Vincent. "Let's head to the bunker, everyone."

 "Good luck!" Carida squeaked. She now noticed the barely-hidden anxiety from everyone. Even Vincent - striking Carida as a rather dour figure - gives a long and shaky breath to try and settle his nerves. She wondered how much money and work went into each launch, realizing afterwards that they'd all studiously avoided mentioning that detail to her.

 Everyone files into the dirt-covered ditch but Will, the man standing straight and tall at the launchpad. With practiced motions, he scans about the area around them before surveying the skies above.

 "Range is clear. Sky is clear. Launching!" comes the practiced line, enunciated clearly and precisely in a way ill-fitting the scruffy man.

 With every effort put into hiding his nerves, he steps up to the rocket. Silence reigns from the others as he kneels and places his right hand on the lower half, eyes closing as he concentrates. Vast energy flows through him, precisely funneled into the thus far inert object.

 The penultimate job is complete after a precious few seconds, Will abruptly turning and half-jogging, half-running towards the group as his jacket flaps about. Sliding - or perhaps slipping - into the ditch at its crest, he quickly regathers his mind, pats down his clothing, and heaves a large breath.

 "Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven!" came the countdown's beginning from Will.

 Carida looked to the rocket and back to Agatha, her attention becoming focused on the woman. Staring intently at the launchpad, she absentmindedly holds her thumbnail in her teeth. Carida had never seen such tension in a person, Agatha's eyes transfixed and body entirely still.

 "Six! Five! Four!"

 The typically reserved Agatha showing such plain emotion finally proved the significance of the event to Carida. Everything could go so wrong, in so many ways. So much energy was in that engine, so much money and time invested, yet the whole endeavor was a project by a few engineering students.

 "Three! Two!"

 The final countdown makes Carida's heart stop. All stood motionless, on tenterhooks as their gazes remained fixed to the plain ahead.

 "One! ...Launch!"

 Complete silence falls. Carida gulps at the choking atmosphere. Time itself feels to stop.

 A dull pop issues from the base, a puff of smoke lazily flowing from the bottom and unfurling outward onto the grass below. "Was that it? Did it fail?" Carida thought to herself.

 All doubts were erased as a strange fizzing began to erupt from the tube. Everything appears to happen once as the tremendous energy wound like a spring suddenly found an outlet. Unimaginable energy releasing in a fraction of a second, every ounce directed to pushing the rocket upwards. The sound alone frightened Carida, an otherworldly whining roar echoing about the field. She missed some seconds from the launch, simply not looking upwards quickly enough to track the object now spearing the sky. Following the smoking trail upwards, she stares in disbelief as the rocket effortlessly pierces the cloud above, echoes of its whine reverberating around the landscape as it disappears into the sky.

 "That's incredible!" she exclaimed, unable to muster a further word.

 A dull thump issues from the unseen sky above the clouds, a sound unlike anything Carida had ever heard. She assumed it was a bad omen, before Will looked back to the group with a beaming face.

 "That was a boom!" Will excitedly yells, all the pent-up tension in his body letting go at once as he jumps about. "That was a sonic boom! We did it, that's Mach 1! We did it!"

 He continues whooping with his mouth stretched from a beaming grin, elated beyond measure. For his part, Vincent gives a small chuckle at their success - and perhaps a little at Will's overflowing emotions - while taking off his hat in disbelief. He gives Agatha a light pat on the shoulder with his free hand, reminding the woman of her part in the journey which lead here. She simply smiles in response, shoulders slumping in relief. Carida realized there was more written to her expression than that; there was accomplishment. Agatha had set herself to do something, and proved to herself that she could achieve it.

 As the climax of the event passes, a strange serenity comes over the once-chaotic field. Weeks of effort and anxiety had built up to one burst of wild excitement, and now falls to relief and calm. Their work is done, and done well. As if to see off the party, a light blanket of smoke now rolls across the pastoral landscape, connected to the thin grey thread reaching into the sky and through the clouds above. Ethereal purple sparks flicker inside the rocket's trail as it hangs in the air, residual energy arcing within. The group gaze for a moment at the hauntingly beautiful sight, before noticing a dark shape falling through the cloud layer.

 "Hey, the capsule's coming down!" noted Will. "The parachute deployed, at least!"

 "Alright, lets see where this thing's going."

 As Carida watches the small chute sway this way and that as it peacefully floats down, she noticed how far away it seemed to be drifting on the breeze. She thought this was normal, before seeing Vincent's face collapse as he stares into his phone. The others pick up on Vincent's concern, their faces soon mirroring his own.

 "So..." came Vincent's sullen voice. "Who's the technical support for that GPS system?"

 "That's us," replies Will, his tone caught between trying to lighten the situation and admitting defeat. Vincent heaves a long sigh, replacing the flat cap on his head and straightening it. This appears to be a waltz they've danced before.

 "...Let's start walking."

 With that, Vincent and Will sidle away toward the hill which the chute slowly disappears behind. The two banter lightly as they go, voices slowly fading as they become smaller and smaller in the distance.

 With little warning, Agatha suddenly drops down to the back edge of the ditch, taking a seat with her arm out behind her for stability. Concerned for her partner in the endeavor, Carida quickly drops beside her onto the grass."

 "Are you okay!?"

 "Just... exhausted," comes a weary Agatha. "I didn't realize how intense that would feel. I'm not used to so much excitement."

 Carida smiles a little at Agatha's slight self-deprecation. "I'm happy for you; it all worked out."

 "Well, mostly," she clarifies. "You're not going to search with them?"

 "I wouldn't be much use; my eyesight's not good. Besides, it's bonding time for them."

 Carida decided to trust in Agatha's assessment of her friends, despite traces of their bickering carrying on the air. Savoring the peace after all the excitement, the two idly sit and watch the smoking trail dissipate and drift, the arcing within fading to a faint shimmer, and then a once-more cloudy sky. It was the first time that day the two had been alone, which now weighed on Carida's mind.

 "If you don't mind me asking," comes a tepid voice. "You seem a bit off today."

 Carida had expected to be waved off, and would've understood well if she had. Agatha had begun the day tired, only to pile a date on top of the stress of launching. Agatha instead gave the question serious thought - as she so often did, for better or worse - before carefully forming an answer. Even as she spoke, she gazed forward rather than at the woman beside her.

 "When I look at you, it's like looking at the sun; I don't understand how you can be so bright and social all the time. Even today, I... found it amazing how you get along with everyone from the club. You make it look so easy to deal with others and do new things."

 Ever since they'd first met at the coffee shop, Carida had suspected how hard Agatha had been pushing herself to manage their date. Her first, most likely. Agatha continued after the slight pause.

 "I suppose I was worried that you'd find all this a bit boring, given that."

 It would be so easy to take the compliment, and perhaps turn it into a lesson for Agatha. Yet, Carida disliked the fact that she thought so. Her silence caught Agatha off guard, Carida finally speaking as she found the words she wished to use.

 "I owe you an apology, Agatha."

 "You were so shy when we first met, that I was worried you might not have friends. That I should maybe try to pull you out of your shell, and make you live how I thought you should. I was conceited, just because you're different to me."

 As she spoke, Carida gained confidence in her thoughts. "I mean, look at all this; you have the club, and a bunch of nice friends. It's amazing how you worked together, and built something so amazing. I couldn't do anything like this."

 With this, she turns to Agatha and gives a sincere, toothy grin. "Your world is really cool, Agatha. I want to see more of it!"

 Agatha looked a little confused for a time, hardly expecting what she'd just heard. Then, slowly, the corners of her mouth tug upwards in spite of her reserved nature, a rosy blush coming to brighten her ashen cheeks. While her companion's eyes may have bashfully looked away, Carida was glad to see her apology was received just as she'd hoped it would be.

 Then, that faint smile of Agatha's faded.

 "Agatha?" Carida gingerly asked.

 "I don't really know about this kind of thing, so can I ask a weird question?" Agatha timidly spluttered out, her throat tightening all the while.

 Carida gave a long breath, goosebumps forming in anticipation of Agatha's next words. The lingering hesitation only made Carida's heart race all the more at the thought of what was to come, her eyes glancing to Agatha's lips.

 "Can I... hug you?"

 "She really is an odd one," Carida thought to herself, frantically stopping herself from laughing at the relieved tension. In response to Agatha's nonplussed reaction at the response, Carida quickly leans over and wraps her arms around the tall woman next to her.

 Agatha initially froze at the gesture, so unused was she to physical intimacy. As Carida buried her wide smile into her chest though, another sensation ran through her. A wonderful warmth, beyond Carida's own. As her worries disappeared as if into the air, her cheek came to Carida's hair, the two silently holding each other. Perhaps it was for seconds, perhaps for longer. Neither worried about such things, not for now.

 "Thank you," Agatha thought to herself. "Maybe one day, I'll be able to look at that bright sun."

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