“Are we going to get fat eating like this?” Sandy asked.
“No, your body will burn all of this off by midday. And unfortunately Kenny, I will not be able to cook like this on a regular basis. I just wanted you all to have a good start to your first day.” He had a much, much smaller plate of food in front of him.
“What are we going to do today?” I took a bite of toast.
“I’m going to show you around Eastcroft. Then I’ll take you down to the server and get you guys into the system. You’ll need to think about what you’d like for your codenames. You won’t need them today, but I want you to think about it over the next few days. You will need it before you go on your first mission.” Sam explained.
“What do you mean by ‘in the system’?” I asked.
“We have a system implemented to track anyone who uses different abilities or oppose us in any way.” Sam said.
Sam took us on the promised tour of the small town. He showed us the location of the school, the clinic, and a small corner store. We also passed an unused police station and a larger group of abandoned buildings.
“What’s with all of the abandoned buildings?” I asked when we passed the fourth building.
“When the company that owned the town put it up for sale they cleared out in a hurry. Most of these buildings are still full of equipment and we haven’t had time to clear them out yet.” Sam pulled into the parking lot of a small building that was set apart by the huge satellite dish on the roof.
“What is this place?” Ronnie asked.
“This is a server for the UATN, Users with Ability Tracking Network. It’s one of six across the country. The dish repeats up to that network station at the top of the mountain next to the observatory.” he pointed to the top of the mountain, "and is accessible from anywhere in the world with the right set of access codes.”
“Will we have access?” I asked.
“Yes, we will give you everything you need to use the network.”
We walked inside of the building. It reminded me of when I went with Ronnie to get his driver’s license. The chairs were very uncomfortable as we waited for an old white haired woman to call our names. She made me think of the old woman from the orphanage.
My name was called last. I walked up to the window where the woman immediately snapped my photo without any warning.
“Wow, how about some notice next time.” I rubbed my eyes, irritated, trying to blink the spots away.
She looked like I had personally ruined her day. She asked me the standard questions like my age, height, weight, so on and so forth. She asked me about my abilities.
What are my abilities?
How quickly did they show?
How hard was it for me to use them?
What color were the chemicals that they used on me?
How was the chemical given to me?
It was all a little overwhelming.
I went ahead and told her what happened at the Aurora facility. I left out my new found lack of abilities though.
When she let me leave I met everyone outside in the parking lot. The lobby was small so I couldn’t blame them for wanting to get out into the open air.
“Tomorrow we will go out to the field and you will work with Silence. He is very good at helping people learn to use their abilities properly. You are all still very unrefined, but you’ll gain control, before long you will be masters.” Sam said.
He took us back to the house.
“When do we start school?” Ronnie asked when we got back inside and made ourselves comfortable in the living room.
“We will get all of that sorted out in the next couple of days. For now just make yourselves at home and relax.” Sam stayed for a few moments, but he had other pressing matter so he left us alone to catch up on television.
Ronnie found a news station. The words Aurora Corporation caught our eyes. We all sat in silence and watched the reporter.
“A short while ago we saw firsthand that The Aurora Corporation was not invincible when one of their experimental power reactors went critical in the wee hours of morning. Despite this small set back their latest project has not been slowed in the slightest. With NASA being completely dismantled after an incident last year, Aurora has stepped up to take the task of dismantling and transporting the ISS from orbit to a museum in Nevada. The Aurora Corporation has been constructing a replacement space station that will be operated in cooperation with the leading governments around the world.” The scene cut away from the reporter to photos of a computer generated model of the future space station.
“Oh that’s what we need.” Ronnie shut off the TV and threw the remote a little harder then he should have on the coffee table. The batteries went flying across the room.
Chapter 11: Block
The heat was horrible but it seemed like it was affecting everyone else more than me. I usually didn’t spend a lot of time outside, none of us did. Sam was kind enough to unload a couple of coolers full of water onto the field before he drove off to attend to his business.
Silence came out of a tent that had been set up towards the back of the field. A satellite dish was planted in the ground next to the tent. He was wearing the same thick clothes that he wore when they rescued us from Jolt and his Sabers, but he already had sweat dripping from his face. He took his shirt off and threw it on a nearby chair.
“I don’t know if I’m going to be able to concentrate.” Rachel bit her lower lip. I nodded, but kept hidden from Ronnie. Silence was lean, not an ounce of excess fat on his body.
“Alright, we are going to start today with what we call showing. I know all of you were forced to show by Aurora, but using your abilities naturally without the assistance of their machines can make a world of difference.” Silence explained.
“What is your ability exactly?” Ronnie asked with aggravation in his voice.
“I’m fast, agile, and above all silent. I can phase as I move to jump over pockets of space.”
Ronnie turned and looked at Kenny, they both chuckled. When they turned back, Silence was gone. Ronnie looked in all directions very quickly, but in a split second Silence had Ronnie’s arm twisted around his back.
Ronnie tried to fight back, but Silence had his arm held behind his back too well, "Alright, I give.”
Silence let him go.
“Above all, you must concentrate. It is important for you to focus your abilities into something that you can use. Never underestimate your opponent.”
“Let’s get started already.” Rachel said.
Silence pulled a remote out of his pocket, shaking his head, "Two hundred yards away there are several targets set up and they are set on automatic mechanisms and timers. Break up and attack them as the target dummies appear.”
We all walked off in different directions. I could see Ronnie in my peripheral vision. I kept my eye on him wondering what I was going to do. A target shot up in front of Ronnie; it was shaped like a masked soldier. He hesitated at first, but quickly shot a bolt of lightning into the targets chest sending splinters of wood flying in all directions.
“Very good Ronnie.” Silence yelled from the tent where he was recording everything.
“Thanks.” Ronnie spat towards the tent.
“Visualize what you want to happen. Anything is possible.” Silence announced to us all.
I closed my eyes and held out my hands. I visualized fire between my hands just like Silence said, but when I opened my eyes there was nothing. I got mad, furious, and started to fume. I clenched my fists so tight that my knuckles turned white.
Still nothing happened.
“What’s wrong Grace?” Silence walked over to where I stood struggling, "That soldier would have killed you already.”