45. Learning to Walk

Through the camera display, I saw Alhannah rub her eyes and growl as I fell flat on my face for the seventh time.

When the Gem awakens to call a Hero, the world is ill prepared...and its fate is placed in the hands of a 17 year old boy, named Wendell. 

Some will say this is nothing but a tale of fiction.
Let them think as they may. 

After all...I can't fix stupid.

Previously: After barely managing to walk in the Gnolaum, Wendell’s training takes a turn for the worse—and leaves the team questioning whether he can compete at all. Alhannah drags him deep into Clockworks to lock in a slot for Trench Wars…and runs into old friends with big plans and even bigger warnings.

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Some people learn the moment they’re exposed to new information or experiences. Others may take hours, days, weeks, even years to grasp the same thing. The point is, when you’ve got…you got it.

It doesn’t matter how long it takes, so long as you keep trying until you make that knowledge your own.

“No, no, no!” Alhannah yelled.

I could hear her through the external speakers, frustration thick in her voice. My S.L.A.G. floundered again, landing hard on its back. The impact shook the cockpit, and my head smacked against the padded headrest. Outside, crates exploded into splinters as my flailing steel arms smashed against the concrete.

“Use your left foot with your right index finger, Wendell!” she hollered.

“I—I’m trying!” My voice crackled over the Gnolaum’s speakers. “Sorry.”

Through the exterior camera feed, I saw both Dax and Nat slap their hands over their faces. Lili, staying near the hangar door, cringed with every impact.

“Is he alright in there?” she asked.

“Yes,” Alhannah snapped, though she didn’t sound very convinced.

The team had stopped working altogether. The loud ringing of metal made it impossible to concentrate on anything else. One by one, Freak and the TNT crew drifted closer, watching me struggle to get up for the sixth time.

“Hasn’t he driven one of these before?” Freak asked.

“No,” Alhannah grumbled.

“And you entered him in the games, anyway?”

A sigh. “Yes.”

Freak folded his arms. “Doesn’t look like that was such a bright idea, now, does it?”

Alhannah sighed louder. “Not at the moment.”