The Ear. That’s how they were going to get out of Nemo City and back into the Outside. Apparently, the Ear was a basic transportation system for cells in and out of the various cities, but getting a visa there was pretty hectic and you really had have a candid reason for travelling to another City or the authorities there would not allow you.
Fortunately, Cornie had a cousin in the Ear who had made some ‘connections’ and got Cornie four good visas out of Nemo City.
So that was where they were now, the waiting room of the Ear, huddled together on one bench as they waited for Cornie to get them their ‘traveling kit’. She said that, them being human, they probably didn’t need it but they had to throw any suspicion off themselves. Apparently, something bad happened to cells who flew out of the Ear’s Transportation System without wearing their kit. Cornie didn’t know what exactly, but she knew it was bad enough to pay heed to.
She returned with an elder gray bearded man who carried in his arms several yellow costumes that looked like space suits, complete with helmets the thickness of tungsten. The man helped each of them to wear their suits (they were difficult to wear as it turned out) and politely led them out of the room to the Departure Room.
Cornie held James back and hugged him tightly. James returned the hug. After a few seconds, they broke apart, with Cornie looking like she was holding gallons of tears back.
“You;ve been a beacon of hope to the City, James. That’s why Macrophage Hark didn’t shoot you down back in the Lung. Everyone trusts you and believes in you now, including me.”
“You’re flattering me, Cornie,-“James said.
Cornie only laughed and continued. “And you’ve been a really great friend and partner…” She hugged James even tighter this time, well, as tightly as she could with those moon suits bulging from James’ body.
The elderly cell poked his head round the door and impatiently told them that the others were about to depart.
“I hope you’ll visit again!” Cornie called after him as he turned to follow the man.
“I will!” he shouted back, though he knew there was next to zero possibility that he would ever see Cornie again. H pushed it out of his mind.
They passed the Ear Drum, a great round board which’s surface was made of something like plastic film or aluminum foil or a thin stretch of water. The film rippled slightly like a drop in water as sounds from Nemo’s surroundings were picked up by his ears. The red bulb on the top of the Ear Drum beeped and flashed with each ripple, sending sound waves to the Brain to be processed into meaningful information through the audio nerves.
After the Ear Drum, they entered a large vast room. There were stairs all over the circular wall where many workers stood manning and controlling dials, levers and computers.
Leo, Seli and Jones were standing in front of a gigantic metal chute with green bulbs all over it.
There was a fat woman lecturing them on their Departure 101.
“Now, if this is the first time you’re travelling through here, which I suspect, know that it’s nothing to fear, and that the more you panic, the more you are likely to be crushed by the pressure that would threaten you as soon as you jump over this chute. Oh and there might be some vomiting and nausea. Nothing major to worry about, though.”
She clicked her fat fingers upwards and a worker pulled a lever down all the way. The green lights around the chutes blinked and flashed rapidly as the metal gate broke into two, one part going up and the other down.
The woman hurried out of the way. She probably did not want to sucked out of the room like a giant sucking on an empty bottle.
Three minutes later, the gates were fully opened. Wind roared inside the room and carried the four teenagers as the woman held on to a metal handle attached to a wall to keep herself from unwillingly following the travelers.
The woman was right. As soon as they had been let out of the chute, pressure increased in James’ lungs and reduced the volume of oxygen entering. Fresh air at last, he thought. He was breathing fresh Outside air in a long time.
Leo screamed something with all his might. James didn’t hear it since the rushing wind snatched the words away, but he thought he could guess the question.
Now what?!
It seemed as if he had known the answer and the solution all along. He concentrated, and he felt the Transformat heat wildly. It connected to the other’s Transformats.
James laughed, and the wind punished his insolence by choking him.