The heavy glass doors swung open silently as Don and Donald stepped into the facility's lobby. The space was modern and pristine, with polished marble floors reflecting the warm LED lighting from above.
Sleek tal and glass dominated the décor, while scattered potted plants added touches of life to the otherwise sterile environnt. What struck them imdiately was the unusual emptiness – the vast lobby, designed to accommodate dozens, stood eerily vacant.
Don's superhuman senses kicked in automatically as he surveyed the space. His supernatural hearing detected no footsteps echoing through the corridors, no distant conversations, not even the usual bustle of a working facility.
His heightened sense of sll picked up only the faint traces of cleaning supplies and the subtle fragrance of the indoor plants.
He turned to Donald, his expression puzzled. "Does this an we're early?"
Donald's face scrunched up in confusion as he looked around the deserted lobby. "Maybe, but when I visited this place last year as a prospect it was packed, even the guide said it gets super busy during opening week." He shrugged, clearly unsettled by the unusual quiet.
Don's eyes settled on the reception desk, where a solitary figure sat. He gestured toward it with a slight tilt of his head. "Maybe we got lucky, lets just head over to the lady there and ask, who knows, they could be doing repairs or sothing."
Donald nodded, and they made their way across the empty lobby, their footsteps echoing slightly against the marble floor.
Behind the desk sat an older woman in a crisp white lab coat. Her silver-streaked hair was pulled back in a neat bun, and wire-rimd glasses perched on her nose. Despite her professional appearance, smile lines creased the corners of her eyes, giving her a grandmotherly warmth.
"Oh hello there," she greeted them with a gentle smile. "Sorry, but if you're here to tour the facility or register to use the equipnt then you'll have to wait till the afternoon. We have a prospect joining the junior program whose currently getti-" She stopped mid-sentence as her eyes landed on Don, narrowing slightly in recognition. "Oh my, you're him? The student from the evaluation yesterday?"
The change in her deanor was imdiate. Her professional courtesy transford into barely contained excitent as she rose from her chair, extending her hand toward Don. "I'm so sorry I didn't recognize you. Are you by any chance here for a tour? I could lead you to join the prospect and his group, I'm sure Dr. Rajesh, our head of departnt, won't mind."
Don felt a small surge of satisfaction as he thought,
'so this is what fa can bring you.'
He maintained his friendly exterior, eting her enthusiastic handshake with a polite smile. "Sure, we'd really appreciate that."
The receptionist's eyes practically sparkled with excitent as she quickly gathered so papers on her desk. Her movents were organized but hurried, like soone trying to maintain professional composure while containing their enthusiasm.
Experience tales at m v|l e'-
She then pressed a few buttons on her computer, then reached for a set of security badges from a drawer.
"Just let log these visitor passes for you both," she said, her fingers flying over the keyboard. "We normally have a whole process for this, but given the circumstances..." She glanced up at Don again, that sa look of recognition and excitent crossing her features. "Well, we can expedite things a bit."
Donald watched this exchange with surprise and confusion, clearly not used to seeing such preferential treatnt. He caught Don's eye, raising an eyebrow slightly as if to say,
'Can you believe this?'
The receptionist finished with the passes and handed them over, her hands slightly trembling with excitent. "Now, if you'll just follow , I'll take you to where the other tour is in progress. Dr. Rajesh is personally conducting it today – it's not often we get such special visitors."
After handing over the card, the receptionist erged from behind her desk, gesturing for them to follow. "This way, please." Her heels clicked against the marble floor as she led them to an elevator tucked away in a corner of the lobby.
Once inside, she pulled out her access card and pressed the button for the top floor. Donald's brow furrowed as he watched the selection light up. "Is there another facility at the top floor? When I visited last year we were shown one on the other side of the ground floor."
The receptionist swiped her card through a reader, granting them access as the elevator humd to life. She turned to Donald with a knowing smile.
"Well, you must've been with a standard group. The ground floor facilities are ant for use by all students and prospects of SHU. The top floor is reserved for the university's elite in VR-sports, mainly our VR-FPS representatives."
She shifted her attention to Don, her eyes twinkling with enthusiasm. "Normally we don't see students in hero programs co here, especially those in the Elite Hero Program. May I ask if you plan on taking part in the school's seasonal league?"
Don gave a light shrug, his casual deanor unchanged. "Well, that depends. I've never actually played before, so I'll have to see if it's sothing I'm interested in."
Her excitent seed to amplify at his response. "Even better! I'm sure Dr. Rajesh will be more than happy to assist you with that."
The elevator doors slid open with a soft chi, revealing a floor that seed to belong in a different building entirely. Unlike the traditional corporate aesthetic of the lobby, this level scread cutting-edge technology.
The walls were a pristine white, broken up by massive windows and transparent office partitions that gave the space an open, futuristic feel.
Scientists and technicians in neat lab coats moved between the glass-walled offices. So clustered around enormous holographic displays that dominated entire walls, manipulating 3D landscapes with gestures.
The visualizations showed detailed terrains - from urban battlegrounds to dense forests - rotating and morphing as the technicians fine-tuned their paraters.
In another section, a team of researchers surrounded what appeared to be a next-generation VR pod. Its egg-shaped design glead under the overhead lights as they examined various readouts on floating holographic panels.
The pod's surface was dotted with sensors and neural interface points, suggesting capabilities far beyond standard comrcial units.
Donald's eyes widened as he took in the scene, his previous confusion transford into undisguised awe. "This is... incredible," he muttered, watching as a technician manipulated a holographic weapon model, the projection spinning and disassembling in mid-air to reveal its internal chanics.
Don maintained his composed exterior, but his eyes showed his interest as they tracked the various activities around them. The level of technology on display surpassed even so of what he'd seen at the Elite Hero Program's training facilities.
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