Trigger.

Beep. Beep. The automatic door slid aside with a hiss, the floor transitioning seamlessly from one white tiled corridor to the next. Marisa's footsteps echoed loudly as she walked through the building, heading back to her dorm. It was odd to think that in a few days, she might not be here anymore. After three straight years of walking the same hallways, sitting in the same classrooms, and living in the same place, Marisa would be hundreds of miles away, warping through the galaxy on whatever spaceship she was assigned to. That is, if she passed her exams.

They had taken them yesterday morning, and she and the rest of the cadets had spent the better part of the day writing answer after answer. Then there had been the physical examination, some more tests, and a few simulations – including, of course, the famed Kobayashi Maru, which Marisa had failed fantastically. Over all, however, she thought that she had done pretty well. Well enough, hopefully, to get on one of the better ships. She hadn't worked this hard to be somebody else's backup.

"Marisa!" The shriek bounced against the plain white walls, broken only by the utilitarian gray doors that lead to each of the rooms. The blonde in question smiled to herself, shaking her head slightly as the voice's owner came bounding around the corner.

"Hey, Kim," Marisa greeted the girl with a roll of her eyes. "Where's the fire?" Kim was shorter than Marisa, with a head full of shiny brown curls. On a good day, she had enough energy to power the entire freaking space station. Right now, her body was practically quivering with excitement. Marisa braced herself for another diatribe about how the boy who sat next to her in her medical class asked to borrow a pen. She loved her roommate and all, but sometime Kim got just a little too excited.

The brunette stopped in front of Marisa, taking a moment to catch her breath. Her brown eyes were shining, and the corners of her lips turned up in a smile as she saw the bored expression on her friend's face. "No fire," she replied with a cheeky grin. "In fact, it's probably not important at all. You probably have something better to do than stand around listening to me tell you that test scores are up." She finished with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Kim!" Marisa shrieked, whacking her friend in the arm. "Why the hell didn't you tell me sooner?" Kim just smiled, giggling at her friend's overreaction. Marisa, on the other hand, was freaking out. Holy hell, the scores were up already? Her heart started beating twice as fast. "Well, what are we waiting for?" She grabbed Kim's arm and set off in the direction the brunette had come from, practically running in her excitement. After all, it wasn't every day that your whole entire future was decided.

Five minutes and innumerable near-collisions later, the pair came to a stop in front of a bank of screens. Well, there would be a bank of screens if there weren't a knot of students crowding around them, blocking Kim and Marisa's view. "Ugh, is the whole damn school here?" Marisa asked Kim, wrinkling her nose as she tried to push her way through the crowd.

"Relax, Missy," Kim replied with a laugh. "Like you need to worry about not passing."

"But what if I don't?" Marisa replied, worry creeping into her voice. "What if I answered one of the questions wrong? Or they figure that I don't have the courage? Or that one mistake I know I made on the exam on foreign relations hurts my scores?" She took a breath, about to continue, but stopped when she saw Kim's glare.

"Marisa. Shut up." Marisa sighed, grumbling about unsupportive friends in her time of need, but she shut up. Slowly, the two girls inched their way forward. The crowd pressed in around them, chattering nervously amongst themselves as they waited to receive the verdict. As they got closer to the screens, Marisa could hear the excited cheers of those who had obviously passed – as well as a few wails of disappointment. She bit her lip.

Suddenly, there was an opening, and Marisa wasted no time in grabbing Kim's arm and pushing forward to the sliver of white. With a well-placed elbow or two, the pair burst through into space. Marisa ignored the complaints of the people they had just shoved past, too transfixed with bank of screens right in front of her, each one with a anxious cadet standing in front of it.

When one of them let out his breath and replaced his worried look with one of joy, Marisa stepped forward, taking his place in front of the computer as he went off to celebrate with his friends. "Ward, Marisa." She spoke clearly and loudly, waiting for the computer to pick up the voice recognition. Not even a second later, the cool, metallic voice issued from speakers above her head. "Voice recognition complete. Welcome Cadet Ward." The screen in front of her, which had been blank aside for the Star Fleet logo, was suddenly filled with information. Shaking slightly, Marisa reached forward, pressing the icon labeled 'Test Scores'.

Trying not to think of the disaster that would come if she failed, Marisa held her breath as the page loaded. Slowly, the numbers began to fill the screen, and Marisa's sharp green eyes scanned the results quicker than she had ever read anything in her life. History of Star Fleet – Passed. Foreign Diplomatic Relations – Passed. Weapon Research & Development – Passed. Piloting 101 – Passed. Spaceship Engineering – Passed. Advanced Weaponry – Passed. Her eyes quickly scanned the comments from her simulations, the words barely registering by the time she reached the bottom.

There it was, in big, bolded black letters – PASSED.

"Oh my god." She breathed out, a smile slowly spreading across her face. She had done it. She had passed all of her exams. All the studying, the all-nighters, the tears – it was all worth it. Marisa was a Star Fleet Academy graduate. With a grin on her face wide enough to rival the galaxy itself, Marisa turned around to see Kim. "I passed!" Kim just laughed, shaking her head from her spot in line.

"I told you not to worry, Missy!" Marisa laughed too, giddy with relief. God, this is what Kim must feel like all the time. How tiring. Glancing back at the screen one last time, Marisa reached to close out and let the next cadet check their scores when her eyes caught a line of text that she had missed the first time. Right underneath the final verdict was her assignment. Ward, Marisa: Weapons Officer on the USS Enterprise.

Her eyes widened. The Enterprise? That was one of the newest, fastest, and best ships that the Federation had! Oh my god, she was going to be working on it. And she was going to be doing weapons. Serves Professor Frederickson right. For a moment, a smug look of satisfaction crossed her face. It was replaced by a wince as Kim, who had finally gotten the chance to look at her own scores at the terminal next to Marisa, let out an ear-splitting shriek.

"Oh my god, Marisa, I did it! I passed!" Marisa just rolled her eyes, the corners of her mouth quirking upwards at her friend's reaction. She was pretty sure that the whole school now knew that Kim had passed. Chuckling good-naturedly, she exited out of the program, letting the next cadet find out their scores as she walked over to the next terminal.

"Congratulations, Kimmie!" Marisa told her with a smile, wrapping her arms around the girl and hugging her tightly. "I knew you could do it."

"Oh my god, I can't believe we passed!" Kim squealed again, practically jumping up and down right there in the middle of the atrium. Marisa laughed, keeping one arm slung over her friend's shoulder as they headed out. The rest of the cadets were still buzzing with nerves, waiting to see if they passed or not. A few moments ago, Marisa was one of them. Now, they seemed like a world away. After all, she was now a member of the USS Enterprise.

"So," she started, still wearing a silly little smile as she and Kim started heading back to their dorm. "You get your assignment?"

"USS Farragut! I'll just be one of the medical assistants, but it'll be exciting." Kim smiled, bouncing along. "After all, I'll get to work hands-on. Maybe they'll be an outbreak of a rare disease!" Her eyes lit up, and Marisa couldn't help but laugh.

"Geez, Kimmie, that's nice. I'm sure your fellow crew members will thank you for that one," she teased.

"Oh, shut up. You know what I mean." Kim shot her a scowl, shoving her on the shoulder as she ducked out from under Marisa's arm. "What about you, Missy?" Kim asked with a grin as she fell into step beside her friend. She cocked her head to the side, her brown eyes still sparkling with her never-ending supply of excitement. "What ship are you going to be shooting from?"

Marisa ducked her head, her ponytail swinging to the side as she gave her friend a small little smile. "The Enterprise," she replied, trying to keep her voice as neutral as possible. Even as she said it, however, a note of happiness crept into her voice, and she couldn't hide the fact that a smile was now stretching across her face.

"Oh, Marisa!" Kim cried, throwing her arms around the girl. "I can't believe you!" She let go, holding Marisa out at arms length as a critical look crossed her face. "How the hell did you keep that from me for so long?"

"Kim, you idiot, it's been two minutes." Marisa rolled her eyes, laughing.

"Two minutes in like a freaking eternity! How are you not bouncing off the walls? That's your dream!" Kim repeated, as if Marisa had somehow forgotten years of hoping in the excitement of the past few minutes.

"Not all of us express our excitement as…exuberantly as you do, Kimmie," Marisa replied wryly, her green eyes sparkling with mirth. "And yes, I know it's my dream. And it's finally come true." She glanced down the hallway in front of her, her eyes glazing over for a moment. "How crazy is that?" She whispered, smiling to herself. Kim wrapped her arm around Marisa's waist, the blonde's arm once again slung over the smaller girl's shoulder as they walked side by side.

"Pretty damn crazy."