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Chapter 3 - Another Day at the Office

A man and a woman walked together through a cold room, unaware of Miles watching. Everything was a pearly white color, giving the whole room a hospital-type look. The walls and the ceiling down to the beds and equipment. The beds completely lined the whole wall, leaving room for only a small white table with equipment and a wooden chair that was, yes, also white. In the chairs sat middle-aged adults of various genders and many races. No emotion was shown on their faces, and no one was talking. Except the man and woman walking through the room, seeming as though they were overseeing whatever process was happening there. Miles didn't know why he was there or whose bed he was sitting up in. Simultaneously, the men and women sitting in the chairs by the beds picked up a syringe from the table of equipment. They continued to stare solemnly down at the bed assigned to them. In the bed were children. Small children. They all looked to be about the same age. Multiple wires were connected to them, as if they were being tested for something. Or something was being tested on them. The adults in the chair all raised the syringe and, at the same time, plunged it into the arm of the child.

Miles woke with a start. He was sweating. A lot. And his arm hurt. Why did his arm hurt?

"...about time!" someone was saying.

Miles shook his head and sat up. His father stood as the side of his bed, gripping his arm tightly and shaking it, trying to get Miles to wake.

"Chill out, Dad," Miles groaned, rolling over to look at his alarm clock. 5:30 A.M. "What are you doing this early in the morning?"

"Just get up already, we're going to see someone."

Miles got out of bed as his father left the room. His head was spinning. Where was his dad going to take him this time? Miles put on his clothes, brushed his teeth, and combed his hair. He didn't have the best relationship with his dad. When Miles was young, his father was never around. For anything. Yesterday was the first time in a long time that Miles had seen his father for more than twenty minutes. He took Miles to the gym, which was surprising, considering he had never taken Miles' brother Mark. But then there was the deal of Miles' newfound strength. Miles had never before been able to dent a punching bag. That was unheard of, even for the toughest of people. Miles had never been able to use strength before, though. His parents had strictly prohibited Miles from trying out for any sports.

Miles finished up and quietly made his way down the stairs. He knew that his mom would still be asleep and he didn't want to wake her. Neither did Martin, apparently, because he simply waved for Miles to follow him out the door, not saying a word. Miles obliged, following him out and hopping into the truck.

"So," Miles started once they were on the road. "Where are we going this time?"

Martin looked over at Miles, probably debating whether or not he should tell him.

"Work," he said simply, and continued to drive silently. "In Richmond."

This shocked Miles. He had never been to his father's work before, or even knew where his father worked. Richmond was a long drive from Hampton, where Miles lived. He didn't even know what his father did for a living. So after all this time, why now? Why take Miles now? Miles hadn't even been outside of the city except for the nearby city of Newport News, where he went to school. He figured it had something to do with his strength. His only reason his father was even talking to him was because of his strength.

They arrived an hour or so later beside a giant unmarked building. They walked up to a steel door and stood there as a blinking red dot scanned his father's eye.

"It's a retinal scan," Martin explained, probably seeing the confused look on Miles' face. "For security purposes."

Satisfied, the dot vanished and the door opened. Martin and Miles walked in. The building seemed even bigger on the inside. There were massive hallways and doors leading off them into dozens of rooms. Miles barely had the chance to look around, though, because not five seconds after he was in the building, an alarm started blaring.

"What the hell is this, Martyson?" a man in a strange uniform ran into the room. He looked at Miles for a second then spoke in to his walkie talkie thing. "It's just a kid. No, not one of them. One of our men's kid. Yes. I'm doing that right now. Just turn the stupid alarm off, already."

The man hooked his walkie talkie back on his belt and looked back at Miles.

"Okay, come with me. Both of you."

Martin and Miles followed the man down a hall and into one of the rooms. It was an office. There was a desk with a computer on it, one chair behind it, two in front of it. The man sat down behind the desk and Miles joined his father in front. It felt like getting suspended all over again. God, that was just yesterday.

"What were you thinking?" the man yelled. "You just broke one of our top rules, this is no take-your-kid-to-work day! Especially with what we're going through now. Everyone is nervous. They do not need an alarm going off because some stupid kid is here."

"Don't you get it? He's one of them! I don't know why I didn't know it or ever see it before, but he's one of them!"

Miles looked over at his father. What was he talking about. Was he talking about Miles?

"What are you talking about?" the man asked, squinting at Miles.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Martin replied. "Show him, Miles."

"What?" Miles blurted, not knowing what he was expected to do.

"Your strength. Now," his father hissed.

Miles focused on the desk in front of him. Then, thinking about the anger from yesterday, he slammed his fist down. It went completely through the desk, creating a hole the shape of a fist. To his surprise, the man smiled.

"Now this..." the man said. "This here is interesting. The boss will want to hear about this immediately."

"Hear about what?" a familiar voiced asked.

Miles spun around to see his mom in the doorway. How was she there? A man walked in behind her. He was middle aged, and looked like he hadn't slept in weeks. Then the alarm went off. The blaring continued. Men rushed in with guns and started firing. Miles dived under the desk. Someone grabbed him from behind and he elbowed them, not able to turn fully around in the position he was in.

"Ow!" he heard. "Hey, Dawn? A little help over here?"

Then his vision started to blacken. He saw the face of a boy that looked to be the same age as him leaning over him. He hear the sounds of gunfire, but it was dying out. And then everything was black.

Fandomania
Chapter 3 - Another Day at the Office
March 02, 2019
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