One Night

Chapter Thirty Six

Alara

My shoes are barely visible, sunken deep beneath wet sand. We went east of Aleamiq and the heat is so intense here that I no longer miss the sun.

It feels like I have been going through empty deserts for seven years with no food or water—which I know is not technically possible, but that is how it feels.

The heat burns my skin, but I keep working, putting together a mix of all the ingredients that I need.

For todays competition, we're working on developing science.

Even though my body feels drained, my mind feels alive like it has been connected to the blue algae that creates lights here. Everything is buzzing and alight. We have access to everything here—all we have to do is open some kind of black technology device, find the product and place and order and they'll bring it right here.

So I decided to make a pill, combining different superfoods and vitamins that they have available to order. The things we put into our body have the biggest effect on us. So I'm making a happy pill.

I'd been up the whole night, stressed and not knowing what I will do. I didn't want to ask Zayen for help with brainstorming, because I could see he was lost in his own head about what he would do.

The people here have all the advantage of having time to prepare and being familiar with the land and what does it does not exist her. What is needed and what is not.

I had to think about what I needed, and what the people I have met above land needed; what my mom might have needed, to not end up sad and unmoving on a couch in a house with a bucket for a shower and a mat for a bed.

Happiness. A lot of it relating to not having enough, including in terms of health and nutrition. We ate what we could, not what we needed.

The technology they have developed here is amazing. They even have a pressing machine to combine all the ingredients together. It can make six pills at a time.

A positive aspect is that for these trails, they're looking for ideas to develop and not necessarily a whole and final product. Thank goodness, because if this isn't tested then I fear my non-educated, non-sciencey self might kill someone.

Something about the activity of combining ingredients at the correct measurements, mixing it all together and pressing it into a pill, makes the world fall away. There is no my world and their world, there is no above or below the ocean. There is just the task right in front of me, and something about focusing on something that I have control over helps me to let go and enjoy.

The air hums with anticipation as the deadline looms. There is a timer counting down the time we have left. One minute and then this competition is over.

Clinking tools, whispered conversations, and the occasional whir of machinery only make it feel even more tense.

A team of men delicately manoeuvre through rows of vivacious plants, meticulously studying their reactions to an array of stimuli. Each leaf and petal seemed to dance with life, responding to the scientists' gentle touch. It was a mesmerising ballet of nature and curiosity.

Across the space, a few others huddle around a web of interconnected screens, their faces illuminated by cascading lines of code. With every button pressed, they seem to light up with excitement, building sculpted, immersive realms where imagination moulds seamlessly with technology.

I shouldn't be focusing on them—especially with only seconds left, but the more I look the more I can't look away; the more I know that I don't stand a chance.