It is said that time heals all wounds. While the sentiment might be true in regards to many things, it does not always heal the human heart. How then can it be expected to heal the heart of the inhuman?

Electra sat alone in her room, a frequent occurrence of late. Training was only vaguely helpful when it came to the alleviation of her situation. There was no chance that she would not make selection. Only another incident such as the one at meal time would disqualify her.

The mirror on the wall reflected the image of a girl who did not know what to do. Her so-called husband was pleasant toward her, but he did not make any effort to be near her outside of the minimum requirements. It was he who initiated the meal time acquaintanceship scenario, but the teachers made it official.

She fell back onto her bed, the back of her hand to her forehead. "Stupid hormones..."

Everything about the current situation was wrong. Worse, now that her internal chemistry began to settle properly, she realized something quite profound. "I was such a bitch to him."

A loud groan echoed through the room. Electra rolled onto her side then bit her lower lip. "What can I do, though?"

An apology seemed to be in order. It was the human custom to admit fault. However, that did not change the other issues with her situation. The customs of her people were to be considered as well. If a wife and husband are at odds, it is the husband's responsibility to assert dominance. Only in that way can the herd remain strong.

She took a deep breath then slowly released it. "If I apologize for how I acted when I came out of heat, truly apologized for choosing him, it would be a slap in the face to my ancestors. It's an offense to the very nature of my people."

Electra grabbed her pillow then pressed it to her face and screamed. It was frustrating. If Scott was much of a bull, he would simply take charge and make her feel like a wife. Unfortunately, he was still a bit scrawny and underdeveloped. She doubted that he could currently take charge of doing her laundry, much less her conflicted body and soul.

"How much longer do I have to wait?" she grumbled. The agreed upon two years for actual coupling was one thing, but how in the name of the gods of the labyrinth would she be able to abide a husband who does not regularly assert his dominance in other matters?

It took a while before she came to a decision. Electra sat up then smacked her fist into her palm. "Tomorrow we start partner dives, and soon the final test will be upon us."

She nodded her head then said, "There's only one option, and it's high time that I exercised it."

**

Morning came for the remaining student candidates. Over the course of the last few days, a few more students were eliminated from the selection process. Only twelve candidates remained. Those remnants were now set to embark on the next phase of training.

"Alright, candidates," said Alice while looking over the final remnants of the selection process. "We are entering the last phase of selection for this quarter. You will spend the next week training for team dives, and then you will experience the final test. If you have not completed your secondary selection requirements by that point, you will be disqualified."

Maxine spoke up next. "You will need to choose teams of four for training purposes. This team will be assigned one trainer as their handler, and judge, during the final test. If you cannot decide on your team structure, your teammates will be chosen for you."

She looked to Scott and Jerry. "The boys will need to be on different teams to maximize their opportunity for success."

The small crowd of students became electric with discussion. Several girls made a bee-line for Jerry. The snob-squad made a mad dash for Electra. Scott and a few remaining girls sort of milled around the area for a moment.

The blue haired would-be superhero looked to the two girls who chose not to mob either Jerry or Electra. He went over to them, one of them was the laughing red haired girl from the dinner incident. The other was the white haired girl who asked useful questions early on.

"So, do either of you want to be on a team with me?" asked Scott with a smile.

The girls glanced toward each other then back to him. Neither of them had an issue with that. It wasn't like they wanted to feel like left overs.

"Cool. Now we just need to find a fourth," said Scott.

"Yeah, but who?" asked the red head. "Jerry and the girls who went toward him are already a team, and I really don't like most of the talent over there," she said while gesturing rudely toward the girls flocking around Electra.

"Well, most of them aren't my favorite people either, but we need at least one of them," said the white haired girl.

Scott was mildly confused by the open dislike of the girls. It made sense that he held little use for them, but to think that other girls didn't like the mean girl clique either was surprising. What was even more confusing, however, was the fact that Electra looked over to him then casually dismissed the girls surrounding her.

Electra walked over to Scott then looked him in the eyes. "May I join your team, husband?"

He eyed her critically for a moment then glanced at the other two members of his party. They were not particularly shy about their nods of encouragement. Electra's presence would drastically improve their chances of passing selection during the final test.

"Seriously?" asked the leader of the forsaken girls. "Lunch is one thing, but why go to that tiny bastard?"

The minotyran girl ignored them completely. Instead, she looked steadily into Scott's eyes.

He extended his hand out to her. "Good to have you aboard, Electra."

She nodded to him then took his hand. She squeezed it with a bit more force than necessary when they shook hands, but otherwise she maintained a mildly pleasant demeanor.

"Seems that the teams are chosen. The training room has been upgraded already. You will be on your own for team training time. Make the best use of it. Solo training time is no longer authorized," said Alice.

The pink haired woman looked to Scott. "After hours training is still authorized, but not through the usage of dive equipment."

Scott inclined his head slightly. He knew her meaning. She spent a lot of time after hours working with him to help develop his charisma and intimidation. Now that he could access them, he would need to continue training in real world applications.

A green haired trainer who had yet to speak, chose that moment to make an announcement. "I'm Marybeth, I will be the trainer assigned to team Gamma." She pointed to Jerry's group, and then walked over to them.

Maxine spoke up. "While I will primarily act as the medic in case of emergencies, I am also the trainer assigned to team Beta." She walked over to Scott's group while swinging her hips in an overly exaggerated manner. All eyes were soon on her wiggle as she walked.

Alice glanced at her then snorted at her booty-motion related shenanigans. She then looked over to the mean girl clique. "You four are with me in team Alpha."

"Hellz yeah, we're alphas," said the leader of their little group.

Scott's spine tingled a little as he looked to Alice and then back to those girls. For a brief instant he almost pitied them. Almost.

"Alright, my adorable little students," said Maxine before she looked each of them in the eyes one at a time. "We need to convene at our briefing room. Follow me."

They separated from the other two groups and went to a small room with a table in the center. It was Spartan in nature, no excessive decoration on the walls. The perfect place for cozy group meetings.

Maxine closed and locked the door, then bid the others to sit down. "All of you know me. I'm Maxine. However, we need to introduce the rest of you to each other in case you have not formally met."

Introductions were started from the far right. The red haired girl spoke up first. "Hi. My name is Jessica Randall. Some people call me Randy, but I tend to punch those people in the face."

"Hi Randy," said everyone in response, and at almost the same time. Electra said it last, after looking at the others briefly to see if it was proper.

Jessica's left eyebrow quirked upward and she sighed. "Never fails."

"If you don't want people to say things, don't bring them up," said Maxine lightly.

Next was Scott. He looked to the others then nodded. "Hi. My name is Scott Hennessey. I'm not as tiny, or as much of a bastard, as you might have heard."

Jessica snickered a little then reached over and patted him on the shoulder. "Sure. Sure."

He eyed her for a moment then smiled. She did not seem to want to insult him, which was a rarity in this place.

Electra spoke up next. "I am Electra of the House Hennessey. I am first wife to Scott Hennessey."

"So, that whole thing is true?" asked the white haired girl in a curious tone.

The Minotyran girl looked to her new teammate. "Yes."

There was a certain expectation of further explanation, but none was offered. After a few minutes, the white haired girl said, "I see," in a slow and uncertain voice. She nodded her head for emphasis.

"Well, I'm Cassidy Skarsgard. I've been training for the chance to go to IDEA since I was a child," said the white haired girl.

The team spent another few minutes meeting and greeting before Maxine got down to business. The true briefing began with an announcement that none of the selection candidates expected.

"So, you're the top candidates for the selection process," said Maxine.

"What? We are?" asked Jessica.

"Yep. We suspected that it would end up with at least two or three of you together in a team, but no one expected all four of you." Maxine smiled at them pleasantly then nodded.

"So, what does that mean?" asked Scott.

Maxine nodded to him. "As you know, the last week of basic training begins now. Originally, we were slated to allow you to take more time, but so many of you washed out that there was no need to wait."

It was true, more than half of the candidates were wash outs already. However, the blond golden elf was not done. There were more tidbits of strange and unusual briefing information to be offered.

"Since you four joined together as a group, there's no real reason to drag out the situation. If you wish to do so, you are authorized training acceleration," said Maxine.

"Training acceleration?" asked Cassidy. "How so?"

"Simple," said Maxine. She reached into her cleavage and fished out a device that looked similar to a remote control. The sudden action caused the gathered students to blink stupidly. That certainly came as a surprise.

"This is a Portable Landscape Optimization Tool, or as some call it, the PLOT Device." Maxine showed off her plot device to the group.

"So, you... Keep a plot device in your—" began Jessica.

Maxine laughed cheerfully. "Of course. I can't possible lose it in there. I keep it in a specially designed hole just for its storage."

Scott had not stopped blinking the entire time. His brain was attempting to restart, reboot, or re-something. All he knew was that he witnessed something disturbingly awesome.

"During the day, you'll train normally. After hours, if you are all in agreement, you may train in the mountains," said Maxine.

"Train in the mountains? Is there a dungeon there?" asked Electra.

"We can use this to create a landscape conducive to training your resonance, so that you'll be able to tackle the final test with greater ease." Maxine put the device back into her plot hole.

Scott finally snapped out of the beautiful trance. He shook his head then asked, "So, we'll train as a team during the day and do some sort of special resonance training at night?"

"Exactly, but only if you are all up for it."

The four candidates looked to each other. They reached an agreement then nodded. Electra spoke up, "We'll do it."

"Excellent," said Maxine. "As you know, the final test will be quite stressful compared to simply using the ID. I suggest that once you get the general idea of working as a team, you should focus on one dungeon program."

"Which one?" asked Scott.

"It will be pre-loaded into your personal training cradles. Now that the candidates have been reduced to twelve hopefuls, you'll each have a VR-Cradle personally assigned to you," said Maxine.

Cassidy leaned forward with her elbows on the table, and propped her chin up on her hands. "Seems like you're grooming us to be prepared for the final selection test... The program, is it a dungeon we will have to visit for real?"

Maxine nodded to her. "Most of the preparatory work was not really designed to get you ready for IDEA classes. It was designed to get you used to the idea of being in a dungeon. The only selection criteria that actually matters is the final test."

"So, we're going to do a team run in a dungeon? I thought we weren't going to do that until we got to the academy?" asked Scott.

"You signed a waiver," said Maxine. She waved her finger at him. "More to the point, we don't always require a real dungeon run. However, when we have a candidates that seem capable and the timing coincides with the quarterly dungeon clean-up we do require it."

"That doesn't seem fair," said Jessica.

"No. It isn't," said Maxine.

She leaned forward and spoke quietly. "Though, you'll have a chance at a head start this way. Once you get to IDEA, you'll have to go on a dungeon run at least once per month, after the mid-semester. Doing the run as your final selection test will mean that you have four solid months of training time and classwork before you get sent in to deal with a randomly chosen dungeon."

"That's a big help...?" asked Cassidy.

"Oh, definitely." Maxine waved her hand back and forth. "The truth is that the random draw of the dungeons can be a harrowing experience. You may end up forced to deal with a dungeon a little above your actual semester designation. "

"Damn," said Jessica. Her eyes went wide as she said the word. They slowly returned to normal levels before she said, "What does that mean?"

"The extra training time, will help close the gap if you put the effort into it. Plus, you'll find a lot more items in a real dungeon compared to a virtual one," said Maxine. She looked to Scott and then to Electra. "Some folks need the extra Ideons."

Scott and Electra glanced at each other then looked in opposite directions. They still had damages to pay, though the likelihood that they would wash out because of it was slim. At least, it was slim while they were in selection. At IDEA repayment would have to be a priority.