Summary of Pre-chapter, Part I: After a dodgeball game during P.E. class, Dos and his friend Mauritius would head to the science sector for their science class, where they were going to fly their gliders in order to retrieve a special chemical from the clouds. In the science room they meet Cwelie, Victor, and Gwen, their science group project members, and they all walk towards the warehouse to initiate the next step of their science project, which is to fly their gliders for the first time.

As the group stood in the center of the warehouse, Dos took a look around. The inside of the building was big and hollow, so that when you walked, it gave off an echo. The colors here were plain and simple: gray concrete for the floors and silver metal support columns that reached towards a frame located near the top of the roof.

There were many science projects scattered about, such as a classic volcano project (with real magma) located on the right corner of the warehouse, or the metal catapult project located on the other corner.

The warehouse also, of course, had Dos’ group’s glider project as well. The gliders were light, colored white, and had a smooth fuselage with thin wings and tail. The wings were about 15 feet long in diameter and were made of aluminum, with a T-tail empennage and the school logo printed on the vertical stabilizer. The glider also had these cone-shaped water collecting devices on the wings of the glider. These devices would let Dos and his team collect the cloud water for their experiment as the aircraft goes through the clouds.

Right now, the gliders themselves were in their folded positions and were perched on the left end of the building, all of which were on top of a car transporter trailer modified to fit gliders instead of cars. They were in that perched state because the gliders had to be moved out by truck onto the airfield located a few miles away from here. It would be on that airfield where they would test their gliders.

 

And located next to the gliders were the virtual simulation pods. These pods were used to virtually test the gliders before they could take flight. It would help fix any errors or problems that the physical plane possibly had. This process would work by first copying all of the parts and functions of the physical glider and pasting them into the simulation, so that the exact same version of the physical glider appears as a virtual glider. Then, using the virtual glider, many simulation tests would be run, and if a problem occurs during the tests, Dos and his group could fix the physical glider and then test the virtual glider again to see if the fixes made on the physical glider worked well on the virtual glider. This connection between the physical glider and the virtual glider worked because they were electronically synced together, so that whatever was fixed on the physical glider is also fixed on the virtual glider. This was how Dos’ group “flew” the plane before they were allowed to fly the real glider.

As Dos looked at the simulation pods, Mr. Gov clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention. Once everyone focused on him, he talked about a few important things such as what to do and what not to do in the warehouse. Then he dismissed everyone to work on their projects. And so, Dos and his group huddled together to discuss.

“All right, who’s going to fly?” Cwelie asked.

 

“I call dibs,” said Gwen. She was an adventurous girl that always wore green jeans and a cap that said: “Lets do this.” She had blond hair, emerald green eyes, and a bright smile.

“Can I also fly?” Victor asked sheepishly.

“Sure, why not,” Cwelie replied. “Then that leaves one more spot. Dos, do you want to fly the last glider?”

“That would be great!” Dos said a little too enthusiastically. He felt good that Cwelie had asked if he wanted to fly it.

“All right then, this means that Mauritius and I will launch the gliders.” Cwelie said. “Now that we’re all set, let’s go.”

“Yep, let’s head to the airfield,” said Dos.

Dos’ group were about to board the trailer’s front truck when Mr. Gov approached them.

He was a teacher that always got things straight to the point. He wore a patterned polo shirt with jeans and square glasses. If one thought he wasn’t a teacher, he looked exactly like a dad about to go on a family trip to Las Vegas.

“Do you guys remember the rules?” he said as he walked up to them, arms crossed. His demeanor looked serious.

Dos recalled what Mr. Gov said in the previous week during a meeting. No flying above the restricted area. It was this huge patch of land near the airfield where flying was strictly prohibited. Dos didn’t know why it was restricted, but the government enforced this law, so it had to be followed.

“We understand all of the rules,” Cwelie replied.

“Good,” Mr. Gov said. “Make sure you guys return in an hour and a half.” And with that he left, heading towards some other science projects.

After a brief moment of silence, the group resumed what they were doing and headed to the truck.

* * * * *

As the truck driver pulled the vehicle onto the driveway, Dos thought about the things that he would be able to see when he piloted the glider. The sky. The clouds. The landscape. It would be wonderful. The runway where they were going to launch the gliders was just outside of the city of Giav, the city where Dos lived in. It would take around 10 minutes before they arrived at their destination.

And so Dos waited patiently as the truck drove steadily on the road.

 * * * * *

After around ten minutes of waiting, The truck carrying the car transporter trailer rolled onto the airfield. Once everyone got off, Dos and his team started to unload the gliders from the trailer and put them in specific positions on the airfield.

 

Eventually, the gliders were on the runway. But they needed the launcher, which was stored in a nearby hangar at the airfield. So Dos and Mauritius walked there to get it. Once inside, they saw the launcher at the back of the hangar. It was made up of a central metal piece with technological components extending from the front of the metal piece to the opposite side of it. Near the back of the metal piece were the controls of the launcher, an air pump, and other components that would help launch the plane.

Dos and Mauritus dragged the launcher onto the runway and placed it next to the gliders.

Once the launcher was in place, Dos and his teammates slid the gliders onto it via a ramp.

Then it was time for the group to fly the gliders. Victor went first, wearing his headgear and helmet. He climbed into the pilot seat and closed the canopy above him.

The windsock in the distance blew in the opposite direction of where the glider was facing, which was a good sign as that meant that there was headwind. Once everything was set, Victor gave a thumbs up to Mauritius. Cwelie then cranked the handle on the launcher, and the glider abruptly lurched forward and launched into the air like a rock being released from a slingshot.

The glider picked up speed as it rose in altitude, and then it disappeared into the distance.

“All right, that’s one down. Mauritius said. “Gwen, you’re up next.”

Gwen hopped onto the second glider and also took off within minutes.

After Gwen’s glider was launched, it was finally Dos’ turn. He steadied himself, a little nervous but excited.

“All right,” he told himself. “Let’s do this.”