The final lab test
(Language: English)
“You can do this.” Luna whispered, looking at her reflection on the bathroom mirror. “You passed all the tests with flying colours. You can pass this one.” she added. She nodded and walked out of the bathroom.
“There she is.” Kara exclaimed when her daughter finally appeared in the living room. “Ready to go?” she asked with a smile.
“Yeah.” she replied but looked around. “I will just go grab something from my bedroom real quick.” she added and rushed to her bedroom.
She quietly opened and close the door and headed to the bunk bed. She climbed the small ladder and pushed her sister’s shoulder. “Dawn.” she whispered. Her sister mumbled, but she was still asleep. “Dawn, please wake up.” Luna tried again, her voice thick as she was close to tears.
Her sister’s eyes slowly opened, two identical blue eyes connecting. Suddenly, Dawn grabbed her sister’s hands with a worried expression. “What happened?” she asked.
“I’m scared.” The older twin whispered, a tear finally breaking free.
“No.” Dawn stated and pulled her sister on the bed. “No-no-no. I do not accept this. You are too smart to fall victim of teen stressyness.” she declared, making Luna laugh.
“It doesn’t matter how smart you are, you can still have teen 'stressyness'.” Luna replied. "Which by the way, not a real word"
“I do not care. You are going to do the final test, nail it, officially get into the science guild and in a couple years, you will become the guild leader. You put it on your vision board and it will happen.” she stated while hugging her sister.
“Okay.” Luna whispered.
“That wasn’t confident enough.” the younger twin said and sat on the bed. She pulled Luna to a sitting position and held her hands. “Repeat after me. I, say your name.”
“I, Luna Luthor-Danvers Zor-El.” Luna followed her sister’s example.
Dawn continued, looking into her sister’s eyes. “Promise that I will give my all in this test.”
“Promise that I will give my all in this test.”
“That I won’t think of myself less than the others nor will I question how far ahead the others are.”
Luna took a deep breath. “That I won’t think of myself less than the others nor will I question how far ahead the others are.”
“And I know, no matter what the results will be, my mothers, brothers, sister and the rest of the family will be proud of me.”
Luna sniffed and cleared her throat, “And I know, no matter what the results will be, my mothers, brothers, sister and the rest of the family will be proud of me.”
Dawn grinned and Luna copied her. “I also promise that Dawn has an ‘IOU’ card from me” The younger added with a smirk making her sister laugh.
“I also promise that Dawn has an ‘IOU’ card from me” Luna repeated with a smile and an eye roll.
“Are you feeling better?” Dawn asked.
“Yeah.” Luna sighed and hugged her sister. “But I think my clothes need ironing again.” she added looking at her dress.
“Why are you even wearing a dress?” Dawn asked and pushed past her sister to climb down the ladder.
“I thought I should dress more professional or whatever.” Luna mumbled and followed her sister.
Dawn opened the closet and grabbed a light blue button-up and a pair of slacks that match. “You rarely wear a dress, and never in a lab.” She placed the clothes on Luna’s bed then pushed her on a chair. “You also should put your hair in a bun. Out of your face so they won’t bother you while working.” she added and started working on Luna’s hair. She paused and placed her hands on her sister's shoulders. Their eyes connected at the mirror. “Are you sure you want to do this? I’ve never seen you like this.” she asked with a worried voice.
“Yes.” Luna replied with confidence and her sister nodded before continuing with the hair. “This is my second…. Breakdown, I guess. Although this was mild... or whatever” she whispered and bit her lip. “You weren’t there the first one and moms helped me through it. But I don’t know, this time.” she sighed and motioned to her chest. “I just felt like I needed your help instead of theirs.” she shrugged.
“I get it.” Dawn shrugged. “I had a small breakdown before my first show as the leader and I didn’t want to talk to moms. I was actually whispering ‘Everything is fine, moms’ while trying to slow down my heartbeat. Somehow Alex found me and he helped me through it.”
“Oh, I didn’t know about that. How did Alex find you?” Luna asked.
Dawn chuckled. “He got lost on his way to the bathroom.”
“Interesting.” The older twin hummed. Dawn frowned and looked at her sister who raised her eyebrows with a small smirk.
“You don’t think moms send him, do you?”
“They woke me one hour earlier than I told them. I have a feeling they knew something would happen.” Luna stated.
Dawn finished her sister's hair and looked at her in shock. “How do they always know?” she whisper-yelled.
“I have absolutely no idea.” Luna whisper-yelled back.
“It’s called mother instinct.” Lena said from the doorway, making her daughters jump in surprise. “You got 30 minutes before it’s time to leave.” she added with a wink and closed the door behind her.
Luna put on her backpack and looked behind her at the huge science guild building.
“Okay, this is all.” Kara said while placing her daughter’s travel bag on the ground. “Are you ready?”
“I was born ready.” Luna said with confidence.
“Actually you were born two weeks early.” Lena stated.
“What can I say, I got bored in there.” Luna shrugged with a small smile.
“Of course you did.” Lena smiled. The two mothers wish they could show more affection but they were in public and they are supposed to be nobles that don’t show feelings. Which was the reason they got all the hugs before stepping out of the house.
“Remember what I told you.” Kara said with a sharp nod and Luna copied her.
“Before you enter, make sure you can take HOPE with you. I don’t want you to fail because of her.” Lena said with a small smile.
“I will.” Luna replied. “I should go.” she stated and picked up all her stuff.
“We love you.” the two mothers said.
“I love you too.” she replied before turning around to walk towards the building.
(Language: Kryptonese, English)
Luna stood in front of the lab door, waiting for the small lamp to go green. All her bags were inside, along with all the research she did in advance when the headmasters gave them the topic of the lab. Participants have up to seven days to complete the project and can take in all the research they did outside the lab. What they didn’t know is how long is appropriate to stay in the lab for the project.
The project should be complete in a specific amount of days set by the science council. There are two scores. One for the final product and one based on how long they stay in the lab. It’s like any other test but the best grade is how close your time is to the one set by the headmasters. She heard that the previous year had ten days in the lab but the ‘average’ to pass was five days, so anyone that finished the project after five days failed. The year before, they had five days to finish the project and the ‘average’ to pass was four days and 15 hours. Then there are the participants who thought leaving earlier would help them get in, but that led to their final product being a failure.
Luna took a deep breath. She should not think of all the ways she could fail. She should focus on how she will pass. She glanced to the right, at the seventeen-year-old who was laser-focused on the door. This was his third and final attempt. After this, he had no choice than to go back to the Lawmakers Guild. He would be lucky if they accepted him after leaving, but miserable of failing to become a scientist.
She looked back at the locked lab door. The lamp is still red. As soon as the lamp turns green, they can enter the lab and cannot leave until they are done. The guild members confirmed that there will be a small bathroom where no cameras will be able to see inside and a corner with a bed. Meals will be delivered three times a day but they were allowed to bring their own snacks, as long as they were approved by the guards. Which was the reason one of her bags was filled with snacks.
She looked at the time over her lab door. It said ‘-2:03’, one minute away before the door opens. They will have 1 minute to enter the lab before the door locks behind them on 0 and officially starting the lab. Repeating the steps in her head helped. She glanced at the timer again.‘-1:54’. Less than a minute before the lab opens. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
I, Luna Luthor-Danvers Zor-El, promise that I will give my all in this test. That I won’t think of myself less than the others nor will I question how far ahead the others are. And I know, no matter what the results will be, my mothers, brothers, sister and the rest of the family will be proud of me. I also promise that Dawn has an ‘IOU’ card from me.
She repeated in her head, smiling at the last part. She opened her eyes, it was ‘-1:06’ and she gulped.
-1:05
Dried her hands on her slacks.
-1:04
Glanced at the nervous guy a few feet away from her.
-1:03
Her eyes were now stuck on the red light, above the doorknob.
-1:02
Took a deep breath.
-1:01
And then exhale
A loud buzz was heard and the light turned green, her hand flying to the doorknob, opening the door with no fear or hesitation. The door closed behind her with a thud and locked. She looked at the lit-up lab, a small smile appearing on her face.
“Tar-Cron had not entered the lab. They failed. You may now start.” A deep voice came out of the speaker.
Luna quickly moved to her bags. She packed everything herself, so she knew exactly where everything was. First, she opened her snack bag and grabbed an energy bar since she skipped breakfast because of nerves. Then she opened her equipment bag, glad that she filled all the necessary forms to bring her items in the lab. This was supposed to show how scientists work in a lab under real circumstances. Or as real it gets when you are working on your own on a project. Which meant they could bring their own software as long as they fill the right forms and get approved by the council.
She found HOPE's base and set it up on the closest table. “ HOPE ?”
The base came to life, a small hourglass floating over it. “ Hello, Miss Luna. How can I help you ?” The digital assistant’s voice echoed in the empty lab.
“Please set language to Kryptonese. Also, transfer my notes to the main interface of the lab.” Luna said while grabbing more equipment and notes from her bags.
“The transfer will be complete in two minutes. Anything else I can help you with until it’s complete?”
The scientist placed another folder on the table and looked around. She glanced at the camera and then back at the empty room. They want to see how she works alone and her mothers told her to be herself. She nodded. “Yes, please put on my ‘Getting Started’ playlist .” she answered.
“ Dr Kieran wanted me to inform you there is something in your clothes bag for you. I cannot start the song until you open the bag.” HOPE announced and Luna moved to her bag with a frown.
She opened the bag and gasped. A white lab coat was on top of her clothes. ‘Luna Luthor-Danvers Zor-El’ was sewn on it. Underneath was the word ‘L-Corp’ and on the pocket the house of El insignia. She smiled as the song started playing.
She stood up and wore the lab coat while nodding along, tapping her foot too. She sang along as she prepared her station. “We will, we will rock you!”
It’s been four days and Luna finally finished the final test. She stretched and stood up. “ HOPE , please bring up my submission checklist.” She said while grabbing a folder with notes. She managed to finish the project in three days, but no project was truly finished if you don’t do multiple tests. At least that’s what her mom told her.
The lab was extended in a small open space where she will place all items that should be submitted. Then she will press the big red button on the wall, ending her time and unlocking the door. This will give her time to collect all her items at her own pace, without worrying about delaying her project submission.
She placed multiple folders, papers, small devices and the main project on the table and took a step back. “ HOPE , did I place everything from the checklist?”
“Yes, Miss Luna .” The assistant said.
“Well, this is it.” she said and pressed the button. The glass door closed quickly, separating the lab with the submission area.
“ Luna Zor-El, your project is submitted. You may now collect your items and leave.” A deep voice said from the speaker and she let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding.
“ HOPE , play my ‘ Clean up Jam’ ” Luna said and started collecting her items.
She was done within an hour, HOPE the last item placed in her bag. She opened the door and saw a man waiting for her.
“Hello, I am here to take the bags downstairs.” he said. “You have to go to the med bay on this floor to confirm you are healthy enough to leave.” he added and pointed at the end of the hallway.
Luna nodded and gave her stuff to the man with a small smile. She heard of past participants passing out of excursion or because they did not take care of themselves. The thing is, Argo has longer days than earth. Where Earth has 24 hours in a day, Argo had 30, thus Luna created a schedule where she worked for 20 hours a day and slept for 10 hours. She found it quite helpful sleeping for 5 hours then waking up and working for 10 hours until she will sleep for five more hours. It was better than her Earth schedule.
She walked down the hallway and stopped in front of the open door of the lab next to hers. She smiled at the time. Der managed to finish his project an hour before her. This could mean that he finally made it into the Science Guild.
She continued walking down the hallway, looking at the times the other people did. Multiple finished within three days, others were still in, and a few had failed. The failure could be for multiple reasons. From participants leaving in the middle of the project to people who fainted because they chose to not eat or sleep and only work.
“Luna!” She heard someone call her when she finally arrived at the med bay. She waved at Der and walked close to him. “Did you just finish?” He asked.
“Yes. I saw that you finished an hour before me.” She replied and took a seat next to him. He was laying on the bed, his leg on a cast. “What happened?”
“I finished my project 10 hours ago.” He said. “But my button got stuck. It didn’t stop the time nor did the submission door close. The Headmaster informed me that they have noted down my time but if I walked into the submission room I would fail. So I just collected my items and headed to the exit door.” he explained.
“And the cast?” Luna asked with a frown, looking at the cast that was fixing Der’s bones as they spoke.
“The door was still locked.” Der sighed. “It was locked for 10 hours. At some point, I got a bit frustrated and kicked it. As you can tell, it was a big mistake.” he chuckled and pointed at his leg.
A nurse walked close to them and checked Luna over while the two of them talked. They avoided talking about their projects in fear of someone overhearing and failing them or worse, telling them they were wrong. So they talked about the snacks they took in the lab, how they split their schedule and meals they had, Luna’s lab coat and what it was since Kryptonians did not have them.
“It’s time to remove the cast.” At some point the nurse said. Luna didn’t notice it but she stayed an hour there talking with her friend.
“Thank you for staying with me.” Der said while they walked to the elevator that would take them to the lobby. “You didn’t have to.”
Luna shrugged. “We are friends and I got to talk about my lab coat with someone who actually finds it interesting and not weird.”
“Do you think I passed?” Der whispered after a few minutes.
“I believe you did. It will be cool to have another person in the labs that isn’t a science know-it-all that does not listen to other people's opinions.” She said with an eye roll and Der laughed, knowing about who Luna was talking about.
“I hope I passed too. I love science and I do not think I can go back to the Lawmaking Guild.” Der replied as the doors opened.
“Even though I know you passed, I can ask my mom if she needs any scientist in L-Corp.” Luna shrugged.
“You would really do that?” Her friend whispered and she nodded.
“Thank you Luna.” he replied with a huge smile.
“Luna!” The ravenette heard her sister call her and turned around with a smile. Dawn walked to her as fast as she could, not wanting to attract attention from the adults around her. She had a huge smile on her face. “Hi” her sister exhaled when she finally reached her and Luna could tell she wanted to hug her by the way she squeezed her hands.
“Hi.” Luna replied with a laugh. “Oh, this is my friend Der-Po.”
“It is nice to meet you, Der.” Dawn replied and shooked his hand.
“You did not lie, you two do look identical.” He exlaimed making the two girls chuckle.
“ Mom is preparing a meal for you so we should go.” Dawn told her sister. “You can join us if you want.” she added while looking at Der.
His eyes went wide. “Really?” he asked and Dawn nodded. “My parents told me to go home as soon as I finish, but if they find out I declined an invitation from someone from the House of El they will disown me on the spot.” He stated with a small chuckle. “It will be an honor.” he said and slightly bowed his head.
Dawn and Luna noticed that a few of the usual busy adults around them overheard and now they were looking at them, whispering among themselves.
“We should go pick up our stuff.” Luna mumbled, trying to ignore the people around her.
“Yeah, I will come help you.” Dawn added and followed the two scientists.
A few days later
“Hi.” Luna greeted when she spotted Der.
“Hello.” the tall boy greeted. The man behind him cleared his throat and Der quickly turned around. “Luna,” Der started and the man’s eyes went wide. “This is my father, Der-Po and my mother Jul-Po.” he introduced.
“It is nice to meet you.” Luna replied and shook their hands.
“It is an honour to meet you, daughter of Kara Zor-El.” The man said. “I apologize for my son. He obviously forgot his manners.” he declared and looked at the guilty brunette.
“It’s alright, I told him to call me by my first name.” Luna explained. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around to see her mom. “This is my mom Lena Zor-El.” she introduced.
The couple shook Lena’s hand although they didn’t look as excited as Luna expected. Then the couple straightened their backs as Kara and Alura walked closer to them.
“This is my mom Kara Zor-El and my grandmother Alura Zor-El.” Luna added and the couple slightly bowed to the two women.
“It is an honour to meet you Kara Zor-El.” the man said. “Councilor Alura.” he then greeted his boss.
Alura nodded in acknowledgement before speaking. “I should go. They will soon start announcing the new members.” She was here not only as Luna’s grandmother, but to officiate the new members of the science guild. “I will see you up there.” she told her granddaughter before leaving.
“We should go take our seats.” Kara said and Lena nodded.
Lena placed a kiss on her daughter's head, enjoying the scandalous look on the couple across her, before following her wife.
“Wish I could do that too.” Kara said when they were a bit further away. If one of them could be affectionate to their kids in public, it was Lena as everyone expected more from Kara.
“Don’t worry, she knows it’s from both of us.” The ravenette said with a smile and squeezed her wife’s hand.
The ceremony was quite long as it involved saying goodbye to the members who retired and officiating the new position of some members. But finally, it was time for the new members.
One of the science guild’s headmaster started by explaining the process of the final test and then what the project was and the general result, which already revealed some people failed as they got different results.
“...we gave the participants seven days to complete it, but anyone that passed three days, has failed .” the deep voice of the headmaster announced and suddenly Luna stopped breathing. She couldn’t listen to what the man said on the stage anymore and tried really hard to steady her heartbeat, but she couldn’t breathe .
She felt a hand on her own and a squeeze. “Breath. There are always exceptions.” Der said next to her. He didn’t know what to do to help her, so he just squeezed her hand in the rhythm of his heartbeat. It helped her to slowly find the right rhythm to calm down. During all this time, the new members walked on stage, getting officiated by her grandmother.
“Son of Der-Po, submitted his project in two days and 28 hours. The results of the project score a 65 out of 100. Der-Po, please come to the stage.” the headmaster said and Der squeezed her hand one more time before standing.
Luna might have lost her spot in the science guild, but her friend not only managed to get into the guild but he got a 65 on his project. Over the years, the average highest score was around 70, and this year was no different. Once, though, she overheard that four years ago someone managed to not only finish on time but also get a 100.
The headmaster continued calling names and new members got officiated but Luna wasn’t paying a lot of attention. She listened to how people succeeded and the crowd applauded for them or how others failed and the headmaster moved on to the next person as nothing happened.
“Daughter of Kara Zor-El,” the headmaster started and silence fell over the room. Luna looked around how interested everyone was. All of them expecting so much from the young El. “Submitted her project in three days” gasped were heard “and 9 hours. While we would fail her for the late submission, after seeing the results of the project and reviewing the footage we are accepting her into the science guild.” Luna gasped, but there was no applause yet. The people needed an explanation.
“Unlike the others, she did more than one test. She could submit her project in two days and 24 hours but chose to spend 15 hours in testing. According to the footage, no changes were made the last 10 hours of her testing, thus her project could be submitted in two days and 29 hours.”
“That’s still not fair.” The leader of the science guild yelled and stood from his seat. “The rest of the new members submitted their projects on time.” he added with anger. Of course, he would try to fail her.
“That is true but” he turned and looked at the crowd. Most of them had the same feeling about Luna’s acceptance. “She scored 90 out of 100.” the headmaster declared and gasps were heard in the room. She couldn't even believe that she scored this high. “Luna Zor-El, please come to the stage.” the man said and Luna stood as the people applauded for her. She heard someone whistling and she didn’t have to look to know it was Alex.
After the ceremony, the new members had to be assigned with a senior member who would become their mentor. She was excited, but she tried to hide it as it wasn't 'appropriate". When her name was called, she stood up confidently and walked into the room.
As she entered the room, she passed rows of senior members of the Science Guild who were there to be assigned to a new member. The leader and several headmasters sat at the end of the room, looking down at the members of the guild.
A man stood up and spoke, "Daughter of Kara Zor-El." he greeted. "I am Zenn-Nall, your headmaster. I have assigned my prodigy to you." He said and she heard a movement behind her. A figure stood beside her, and out of the corner of her eye, she noticed with surprise that it was a teenager and not an adult. "This is Narla Noh-Den. She will be your mentor for the next three weeks. You can leave now." the man said, taking a seat.
The two girls bowed slightly before Luna followed the shorter girl to an exit on the side of the room.
"I'm so glad they pair me with another girl." Luna said once they were alone. "I have always wanted someone the same age as me to be in a lab with me. We can be friends and have sleepovers or talk about movies or trade our lunches." Luna began to talk more freely to the other girl. She thought about all the things she had not done in school because she had skipped so many grades. She asked several questions, talked about future plans, and marvelled at the labs she now had access to. "Though I'm quite surprised you are a senior member. How old are yo-"
The girl stopped abruptly, and Luna nearly tripped over her. "I do not have time for childishness," she spoke, tired of Luna's nonstop talking and exuberance. "The Headmaster took a risk when he accepted you in. I took a risk when I accepted to be your mentor." she spoke, still with her back to Luna. "You should be serious, follow the rules, and leave all your childish human ideas out of this building. Neither I nor you have a chance to fail."
"I am half-human. Have you forgotten that?" Luna asked.
The girl scoffed and crossed her arms. "Impossible. I can not forget things."
"So let me guess. You saw that I am an El and that's why you want to teach me." Luna explained.
"While I admire House El for their scientific abilities, that was not it." Said Narla.
"Then why did you accept to be my mentor?" Luna asked with a frown.
"Because you are the only one who managed to get anywhere near my score at the final lab. I'd appreciate someone who could actually understand what I'm saying while working together. But it seems like they gave me a kid to babysit instead." the brunette sighed in disappointment.
Luna frowned. How dare this girl, who looked younger than her, tell her she was being childish. But then she thought back to what she had said in the last few minutes of the tour. How she had been more excited about making a new friend than she had been about the awesome things in the labs. She acted how all the kids in high school expected her to act when she was a freshman. Like a child. An over-excited child.
The ravenette sighed, "You are right. I am sorry. I should not be acting childish in this building. Can we please start over?"
Narla did not move for a few minutes. "Very well." she said, turning to finally look at Luna. The girl froze as her brown eyes connected with Luna's blue ones. She swallowed. "I am going to be fifteen soon." she said, clearing her throat. "Now we can start over." She turned on her heel and started walking, Luna following her with a small smile.
2 months later
Luna just said goodbye to Der and walked back to the lab she was assigned to grab her stuff. She loved the past 2 months but she had to go back home and get ready for MIT. She spotted Narla and grabbed her stuff before walking closer to the young scientist.
“Hello.” she greeted with a smile.
“Luna?” Narla asked, surprised. “I thought you left.”
“I’m about to.” Luna said and motioned behind her. “But I had to say goodbye.” she replied with a smile and placed her hands in her lab coat’s pockets.
Narla hummed. “I will miss this.” Narla said and pointed at the lab coat. “It was so easy to find you in the lab.” she added.
“And here I thought you would miss me because I can actually keep up with what you are saying.” Luna joked and proudly grinned.
“I was wondering.” Narla started, surprisingly nervous. “We worked together a lot the past two months and I do find your company pleasant. I was wondering.” the girl paused and cleared her throat. “I was wondering if you would like to be my partner.” she asked.
“Wait really?” Luna gasped.
She always heard how Narla never had lab partners unless the headmaster forced her to. For the genius to ask her to become her lab partner it means she made a really good impression on her. But she sighed. “Did you forget that I’m leaving?” she asked.
“ Impossible. You know I can’t forget things.” Narla scoffed. “Did you forget that the headmaster gave you a communication device so you could update him from Earth?” she asked.
“The headmaster said that only three of those devices exist.” Luna mumbled. “Okay, I can see I’m missing something. What is it?” she added after noting the way Narla was looking at her.
“I helped him creating the device. I have one of my own.” Narla declared and Luna gasped.
“So we can talk while I’m on Earth?”
“How did you get in the science guild?” Narla sighed with disappointment but Luna could hear the small tease.
“With hard work.” Luna replied. “It will be an honour to be your partner.” she added and Narla’s eyes went wide.
“It will be an honour for you?” the brunette whispered. “You are an El.”
“And you are smarter than me and currently the youngest member that joined the science guild.” Luna said, and just to prove it she slightly bowed like most people do for her mother.
“Thank you.” Narla whispered with a smile, the biggest Luna ever witnessed from the girl so far.
“Just so you know, I will be more childish now that I will be lightyears away.” The ravenette said and grabbed her stuff.
“Can’t be more childish than last week.” Narla said, the memory of Luna using her braid as a moustache in an attempt to make her laugh playing in her head.
“Oh, I will be so much more childish.” Luna states with a smirk while walking backwards. She gave the younger girl a small wave and turned around.
“What did I get myself into?” Narla whispered as her brown eyes followed her partner till she disappeared behind the door. She placed her hand on her fast-beating heart and thought ‘ What did my heart get me into?’