New Age

Training

It was a good day. We just finished lunch, and Simon went to help with scheduling. He said he would be done around dinner time. Max and I decided to explore the large building a bit more. To my surprise, he didn't know as much about headquarters as I thought he did. We were investigating the wing directly below our room's wing, when we stumbled on exactly what we were looking for.

the door slid open, and my jaw dropped. The room was exactly what I pictured wanting. It was so alike that I could've thought I've been in it before if I didn't know better. A fireplace was on one side wall,  and the other three walls were shelves. Books lined every shelf so that there was no empty space. The room was rather small, but was wide enough that a couch, two armchairs, and three side tables sat in a semicircle around the fireplace. Behind them three medium sized tables sat perpendicular to the fire. A thick layer of dust coated everything in the room, like it hadn't been touched in years.

Max ran his hand along the books while he slowly walked alongside the shelves. "These are Old Age classics we learned about in school. I bet they're the last copies." I walk over to one of the shelved walls and pick a book at random. I scanned my eyes over the short paragraph printed on the back, the setting was one of the Old Wars. "Do you think we're allowed to be in here?"

"The door didn't  have a keyboard on it. Also, it doesn't look like this room has been touched in ages." He walks over to the fireplace and throws a block of wood on the bare stone. He stood up and began looking for a match. I sit down on the couch and pull out my messager, looking to contact my friends and family. Max found a match and struck it so the sparks flew to the wood. A small flame lit in the hollow of the chimney. He walked over to the shelves and picked a few books. I called my parents first, hoping my sister would be home with them by now. They answer as the couch declines, implying that Max was seated at the opposite end. It wasn't the most comfortable furniture in the world. 

Three hours later, all the calls I had to make were completed. I had to go into great detail about every single thing that happened since I came here and it exhausted me. Max was snoring softly with his head off to the side of the couch. He tried to make himself comfortable and his limbs were all over the place. I wanted to sleep too, but realized it was time for dinner. I sigh and wake Max up, having to pull him off the couch by force. 

I didn't bother to put out the fire, knowing we'd be coming right back after we finish eating. The dining hall was full, and I assumed it has been for a while. I'm sure not everyone had the luxury of discovery that we had. I spot Simon already seated at a table, and we make our way over to him. We sit across from him, and Will gets up from his table of complete strangers and joins us. Max quickly relays the discovery of our library. He's obviously excited about it. While we were resting there, Will unsurprisely was asleep in his room the whole time. Simon said scheduling was more exhausting than it should have been. 

"The new group this year is strong. This group is prbably one of the best that I've had to schedule. It'll be hard to be recognized when you're all so talented." He continued to talk about all the people he had to research, and I look around the room, trying to pick out the people he was describing. Will did better at this than Max and I did. Dinner ended sooner than I hoped it would, and I said goodbye to Simon. He had to be somewhere in the mountains by noon on official business. He walked off after saying goodbye to me, visibly upset that he couldn't stay and relax before traveling across the country again. 

Max and I head back to the room we found, Max said it was a library. Will went back to bed, no shockers there. I lay down on the couch and curl up to sleep. Max rekindles the fire and picks up the books he chose earlier. He sat next to me, already in the middle of reading a book. I fall asleep quickly, despite the painful couch. It seemed like minutes passed when Max hopped up from the couch and started to run out of the room. His stack of books was now so large it was impossible to miss. I sit up and rub my eyes, blinking away the sleep. Max was almost at the door when he seemed to remember me. He ran over and bent down to hug me. His whole body was trembling.

"Max, what's going on?" I frantically ask. 

"I have to go, I need to talk to my brother before training starts."

" That's not until tomorrow though. Calm down."  

"It is tomorrow, you should probably get up too." He lifts me to my feet and hugs me again, mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like "I love you, Lyla." He walks out the door, and I'm stuck alone in the room he made a mess of. Books were everywhere, sprawled over the tables and chairs. I check my messager for the time. I had only five hours until breakfast started to get ready for the day and clean up the mess. I settle with neatening the book stacks, knowing putting them all back would do no good. I go to leave the room when I see a book flipped over on the ground. A page was folded over in the corner, and the surrounding pages were slightly crumpled. I close it and put it on one of the stacks without giving it a second thought.

*Max's point of view, present time*

I race through the many halls, trying desaperately to find where my brother said his office was. I almost pass a door with his name bolted on the wall next to it, but stop just in time to rap loudly on it. A few seconds later it slides open, revealing a fully clothed Parker. I walk in the room, not bothering to wait for an invitation. 

"All the powers they have," I begin, "She won't be able to show them during training, will she? The super speed, the strength, that wasn't part of the new DNA, was it?" I was really worried about Lyla. I was searching the pages of the books when I found the article describing how uncontrollable DNA can be, how it can be manipulated and can mutate under certain conditions. 

"The DNA implanted gives only the powers we can benefit from. The only danger she has is the water." He looked like he wanted to say more, but I cut him off.

"But the DNA isn't as controllable as we originally thought it was. It can mutate, change. What if it happens and the whole reason you did this is blown?"

"We did this, Max. We. You may not like it now, but you helped me. I couldn't have done it without you. As for the DNA, I assure you we have Lyla under a special watch to be positive the experiment is acting as we want it to."