The TALONS Files: the chronicles of telepathic agent Ryan Dart

Whoa...What?

12

Ryan closely followed Declan down the hall as, once again, Declan opened another door with a press of his finger. "This is where you'll go to class and study. You will learn more than you ever thought you would. There won't be the distractions you were faced with at a public school."

"Huh?" Ryan was confused, as this room appeared to have many distractions. He surveyed a giant TV, cool vending machines, an ovular table in the center of the room and a gigantic book shelf on the opposite wall of the TV.

The room was painted royal blue and the chairs and table were a cool sleek black. High-tech devices littered the room and a large hologram of the earth levitated at its center.

"Here, you'll also learn some tactics you'll need in the field. Things like slight of hand, tailing and losing subjects, and protocol meant to keep fellow agents and yourself safe." Declan explained, intentionally ignoring Ryan's confused face.

Ryan surmised a huge leather VR gaming chair, a moving robotic object and cool blue lights inset on the black ovular table.

He could not help but turn towards Declan with a satisfied grin. "I don't know what you mean by no distractions, but I won't mind spending time in this room."

The door whisked shut and they moved towards another room at the end of the hall.

"The third room is known as an Intelligence Gathering Training Room." Declan stated as he led Ryan through the hall.

Ryan only half paid attention to Declan, Instead, Ryan studied one of the LED screens, watching the rotating emblem with the word TALONS inscribed on it. "What is TALONS? Wait...gathering intelligence...like a spy?"

"Precisely"

"But what is TALONS?"

"It's an acronym."

"A what?"

"An abbreviation for a longer title. It's the name of our agency."

With a press of Declan's finger, black tinted glass slid open, revealing a very curious scene. Ryan was left confused, as he set his eyes on a restaurant, or what appeared to be a hip place to eat. The dimly lit space was furnished with old fashioned tables and chairs, a bar with bottles lining the shelves and large TV screens placed smartly in the room.

At a center table, a teenage girl and boy were talking as if they were on a date. Except, sometimes their conversation would have a hitch for a second. Then they would continue. It was weird. He then noticed two men at a corner table, speaking in hushed tones that were practically inaudible.

This place looked nothing like a training room. It reminded him of someplace his parents would treat him to. Many times, when his sister made it back from college, they would take him to a spot like this.

When Ryan thought about intelligence gathering, he thought of back alleys, vans with tinted windows and secret rooms in the back of seedy bars. This was the last place that Ryan would Imagine to be a place of surveillance.

Ryan brought his hand to the back of his neck, as he tried to make sense of the scene. 'How does this train people to gather intelligence?' He thought to himself, as he searched for a logical conclusion.

Ryan was simply musing, he figured an answer would come from Declan during the course of the day. He wasn't expecting to get his answer immediately, and definitely not in the fashion he did. His suspicions were about to be proven true. And the false reality he lived in was to suddenly collapse. The pretty red head girl, involved in the date, turned and whispered to Ryan. "You'll find that out soon enough."

A shiver crawled through Ryan's body, followed by shock and horror.

He had said nothing, yet the girl answered his thoughts.

"What's going on?" He gasped. He was trembling, as now what he had suspected had become a solid reality.

"Lets head to the debriefing room and I'll explain the whole thing to you." Declan said with a soothing tone and patted Ryan on the shoulder.