"Full test run...first attempt." Wu said, his hands raised up in the air as the eyes of the Illiol college students locked onto his signal, "Go."

"YAYAYAYA!" Fatera shouted, her body launching off and leaving behind a brief red trail in the air as her image flickered out of existence. The sounds of jets coming out from the interface between the Chariots and the track tore through the morning silence around the college as Fatera's loud cheers then became the loudest thing in the academy.

The echoing shouts boomed in the first loop, slowing ever so slightly towards the top before reaccelerating after going through the first loop and charging into the second loop with even more speed, thanks to additional strengthening Casts that gives the chariots constant boosts of speed. All of this was thanks to the project leads figuring out the support structure for the tracks.

Then, the chariots came around through a more gentle curve, reaching the starting point once more as Wu dropped the silent counting within his mind.

It was a whole week of work for a minute of ride time, but for those that never experienced something like this, it will also be an experience of a lifetime.

"HAHAHA! THIS SHIT IS AWESOME!" Fatera shouted, spinning over the chariots before pointing towards Wu, "I even gave it a boost at twice the prescribed maximum speed, and nothing's broken so far."

"What did you do?!" Lera's jaws dropped, and the two project leads nearly fainted as Wu let out a loud chuckle.

"Haha...you can't be our limit tester without pushing our limits." Wu said, looking over towards Lera and calming her with his soothing slow voice, "And I can't be the engineer without accounting for the safety margins."

"So...would you say it's ready?" Lily asked, still looking warily at the roller coaster with a mix of worry and excitement.

"Mathematically, it should be." Wu said, turning to look at the two project leads for the track and the pillars respectively, "Mechanically, it should be, so long as we always have someone watching over the Cast itself, and that we have safety measures in place. Not the most exciting topic, but...we are leaving the excitement in the ride itself."

"In that case, then we shall test ride it." Lily said, taking one of the four seats as Fatera volunteered and sat next to her. Wu nodded, turning over to Lera as her face turned blue and her throat jumped as she swallowed nervously.

"Lera?" Wu asked, blinking with confusion as Lera fought back the fear and clenched her fist tightly. Then, she forced herself to relax, reminding herself that this is nothing more than riding a chariot...

Except the two times where everything will be upside down at that speed!

When Wu was putting all of the ideas together, it all seemed rather simple and safe, but in reality...it was more than what Lera could handle. She was perfectly fine with piloting her Chariots at maximum speed and all, and she had done something like that on the first day of meeting Wu, but this...this is something else. Knowing that all control is yanked from her hands, and she was forced to believe in Wu's work. Believe in Wu's mathematics and science...

Lera burbled out something inaudible to Lily as she turned tail and ran, but before she could hide in the building, Wu leaped right over her, jets of Wave propelling his body. He reached out with both hands, catching her in his embrace as her momentum nearly dragged him to the ground.

"Ah! I...I just don't feel too well..." She lied, avoiding Wu's gaze as she felt guilty about this irrational fear coming from within her, "I..."

"Lera." Wu said, slowly massaging her tense shoulders before slightly pushing her away, "You don't have to ride if you don't want to. But if you want even though you are worried, I can..."

Wu leaned in and lowered his voice, "...hold your hand all the way through. And I will scream louder than you will."

"You will?" Lera blinked as she turned to face Wu, though her lips nearly scraped along his cheeks amid all this closeness.

"Yeah, on my world, that's totally a natural thing to do when riding roller coasters." Wu said, smiling and stepping back as he slowly let go of Lera's hand, "So, would you like to come?"

"...Only if you promise to be louder..." Lera said, chasing after him before taking a seat next to him.

"Alright! Second attempt...GO!" Shin said, standing next to the two project leads before slamming the start button. The surges of Wave flowed through the circuits before powering up the dozens of booster Casts along the flat track as the Chariot under Wu's butt rocked to life. Then, it started picking up more and more speed, the scenery of the Illiol college whizzing past by his face like a movie as wind rushed past his ears.

The morning chill brushed against his face, and forces him to squint his eyes ever so slightly. On Earth, he had always been a suppressed screamer, opting for controlled grunts rather than all out screams. But now, he knew that he's sitting next to another suppressed screamer, so he let it all go.

The chariot turned sharply around the bend and approached the first loop, and Wu opened his mouth, Lera's hands suddenly appearing in his before they locked their fingers together.

"AHHHHHH...OOOOH.....AHHHHHH!"

"You two sure are loud."

As the Chariots came to a halt on the other side of the ride and the college students chattered with excitement, forming a line as they anticipated riding the brand new structure Cast, Lily and Fatera both turned around and looked at Wu and Lera with smirks on their faces.

"But hey, it worked, didn't it?" Wu said, lying back in the seat with satisfaction before the seatbelt Casts dissolved around their bodies, "Science never lies."

Lera was good for one ride, and she made a beeline towards the sidelines recovering as Lily and Shin directed the rest of the excited students. To preserve the surprise for the roller coaster, Lera had been setting up a Sweep Darkness coupled with Bubble bubble around the entirety of Illiol for the past few days when they put everything together, and at last, the fruit of their labour was ripe for harvest.

"We did it, again." Wu said, sitting down next to Lera before he sat a plate of mixed snacks in between them, "Pretty cool, right?"

"Yeah..." Lera said, looking up at Wu as he devoured pieces of fruits on the plate, "It was a little too exciting for me..."

"And not exciting enough for me! HAHAHAH!" Fatera laughed from behind before flipping over the shared space between Wu and Lera, her hands playing with both Wu and Lera's hair.

"Don't listen to her." Lily interjected, "We are used to flying around and going all crazy, but not all students can move as fast as we do."

"That's what I like to hear." Wu said, shrugging, "Hey, you got the blueprints and the basic principles, so if you want to make this into a business, feel free."

"But...that's your idea, right?" Lily blinked a few times in confusion as she looked up at yet another chariot full of excited students dash overhead.

"Science is for everybody." Wu smiled, lying back, "Lera knows this."

"Yeah...he is not afraid of running out of ideas." Lera smiled, looking at Wu with warmth in her eyes, "Cause that's just how he is..."

Or really, that’s just how amazing engineers on Earth are. Wu thought, though he was also glad to have kept those engineering principles sharp in his mind.

Lily scratched her face with slight awkwardness before clearing her throat, "Any...anyway. Don't worry about operating the Roller Coaster when the Cultural Festival Starts. Go use this time to bond with your squad mates."

"Oh?" Wu sat up, his attention drawn towards the fire Manifester as she brushed back her flowing blonde hair, "But we are already friends?"

"No, bond further, bond deeper." Lily put up a finger and wagged it back and forth, "Mandatory Fun Time. We are doing it with our group too. We use a ballot, and you are to spend a whole day with each of your group mates through the first four days of the festival until the closing ceremony on day 5."

"Huh. Mandatory Fun Time..." Wu's eyebrows raised at such a strange idea, particularly coming from the always upright leader that is Lily. But perhaps the cultural festival is the yearly occasion when she could let loose a little bit...

"It's just a ballot right?" Lera sat up, "It's no big deal."

"Nope." Lily shrugged, "Just a nice excuse to have fun!"

A day later...

"And with that...let the CULTURAL FESTIVAL BEGIN!" Principal Khan's voice echoed through the countless floating stalls and structure Casts as the various exhibits became fully revealed to the roaring crowds, including the impressive display of Illiol college's roller coaster.

As sets of firework Casts filled the night sky with brilliants flowers of light, Principal Khan's voice slowly drowned out into the ambience, replaced by the excited chatter as countless chariots landed besides the semi-transparent roads connecting the various stalls. Then, the much anticipated TCOW roller coaster started off its first ride, carrying the passengers over the countless other stalls as the crowd gasped in awe of what Illiol was able to accomplish.

Sitting at the front row of the Chariot was a couple. The girl was bold with brown skin and crimson eyes, and she looked bored even as the Chariot slowly picked up speed. Right next to him sat a tired looking young man with short black hair, black eyes and a pair of powerfully thick eyebrows.

Yep. That's right.

Wu drew the ballot, and his first Mandatory Fun Time partner is Fatera, and they had to start in the Roller Coaster, with it running at 100% of its operational speed, which is 50% of the safety speed, which is 25% of Fatera's preferred speed.

As the students behind them screamed with excitement and elation, Wu and Fatera both yawned simultaneously before they glared at one another, ready to place the blame on the other person for starting their fun time at this particular attraction.