The Birth of a Pod Pilot part 4:

It continued for the first few months of the semester. Some days were worse than others and she could barely stand after the training sessions. The instructors weren’t concerned. “You’ll either get used to it or fail the classes,” they said. The doctors gave her some medicine to control the nausea, but it didn’t help and she stopped taking it after the first week.Once again, Nora kept her from giving up. “You can’t give in,” she said. “You’ll get over this.”And once again, she was right. By the end of the semester, Cierra wasn’t getting sick any more. She still had some difficulty with the practical aspects of flying, but she was getting better. She was now at the average, not just barely passing by.The ship almost seemed to be catching up to what she was trying to get it to do.***Cierra was lucky enough to be one of the first to take her final in the piloting class. She did well enough and passed, then was dismissed early. She hurried home to share the good news with Nora.“Nora, I’m home! I passed the final and - ”Her jaw dropped. Nora was standing in the middle of the bedroom, her eyes wide, with the uniform of an Intaki Family Style Restaurant halfway off.“Nora, what are you wearing?”Nora sighed. “I didn’t think you’d be home so early,” she said, finishing stripping off the uniform.Cierra frowned. “What? Why? Are you working at an IFSR?”“Yes,” Nora said as she started dressing in normal clothes. “While you’ve been at classes, I work at the IFSR.”Cierra shook her head. “But, you have classes then too.”“No,” Nora answered. “I don’t. I haven’t had any classes in almost a year.”“What?” Cierra sat down on the bed and shook her head again. “Why? Are you out of money?” She nodded, to herself more than anything. “You couldn’t pay for your tuition so you started working at the IFSR to pay for it?”“No,” Nora said again, sitting beside Cierra. “I’m sorry Cierra. I dropped out. I quit.”“What? But… why?”“I couldn’t do it, Cierra. I wasn’t good enough. I wasn’t smart enough. I was failing my classes. So I dropped out. I’ve been working at the IFSR for six months now. Whenever you went to class, I went there. I guess you had to find out eventually.”Cierra bolted up. “You dropped out? But… But I saw you doing homework!”“I was lying to you. It was all a lie. I’m sorry. But I couldn’t stand to tell you the truth. I’m sorry.”“So, you gave up? All that stuff about sticking with it and not quitting, you were just lying to me?”“No!” Nora stood up too and took Cierra by the shoulders, but Cierra quickly shrugged her off. “No, Cierra, I wasn’t lying. You can make it! Just because I was failing doesn’t mean you will! You can do it. I believe in you. I mean, you made it this far, didn’t you?”Cierra shook her head. “I…” She wiped at her eyes and turned and walked out without another word.***Eventually, Cierra came back and found Nora seemingly asleep. Cierra lay down on the couch and tried to fall asleep herself.Neither of them actually slept a bit.***The next day, Cierra went in for her pod implant surgery. It was early. Normally, they would have waited until just before the next semester started, but they had an opening and she insisted on it. The surgery went well.Nora visited her as she recovered. “How are you doing?” she asked.“I’m fine,” Cierra said. “A little sore, but it’ll fade soon.”“That’s not what I meant, but I’m glad to hear it.”“I really need my rest.” Nora sighed and laid a hand on Cierra’s arm, but she cringed dramatically at the touch. “Don’t do that, I just told you I’m sore!”“Cierra, please.”“I need to get some sleep.” She rolled over and closed her eyes. Nora sat down in the chair and waited until the nurses told her visiting hours were over.
***Nora didn’t try to visit again. Cierra stayed until she was well enough to get her pod pilot test done, which was a week longer than most people stayed following the surgery. Luckily, they scheduled the tests year-round, to help meet the demand.“Are you sure you’re ready?” the instructor asked her.“Yes,” she said. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”The instructor nodded and she was hooked up to the pod interface. As the machine lifted her up, she slowly breathed in and out, just as she’d been taught in her classes. She tried to block out everything but herself. She barely felt it as she was lowered into the warm pod fluid.For a brief second, she was floating in nothingness, then reality flared around her. For a moment, she was dazed. Everything felt more real than it ever had. She could feel every little molecule of air, brushing against her skin, such as it was.“Oh my goodness,” she sighed.“Yes, it feels good,” the instructor said. “Congratulations. Now we need to run a few tests.”“Whatever you say,” she said. Her head was swimming. It was almost too much for her to bear. But she bore it and listened to the instructor’s commands.After a few minutes, he gave the ok. “You can come out. You passed all those tests with flying colors.”Her conscience was stolen from her and when it returned, it was lessened. But the memory of it was still there. She was placed back onto the floor and she took a deep breath.When she stood up, she saw Nora there. “I’m a pod pilot!” Cierra squealed. “I did it!” She ran and threw her arms around Nora.“Congratulations,” Nora said, hugging her tightly back.