But, None Of That Matters.

Chapter 5- Incapable

Caz stayed over last night, in the room a couple of doors away from me. I've been told that he'll be staying here for a while; or at least, that's the impression I've been given.

I think he's cool, if you ask me. He's always smiling and I asked him to keep my interaction with Victor, a secret from the Guardian and James until I could confront the idea of telling them myself, which might be never.

But, why was Victor looking at me... Perhaps, it was just a coincidence?

Surely he didn't recognize me?!

Even though I wish I could keep it a secret for a bit longer, I need to tell them. They'll find out sooner or later anyway. But, just maybe, it's not that important?

An automated message on the disc-shaped device next to my bed told me that I have a morning session with Gunner, James and Caspian in the sports hall. I assume we'll be continuing the tests from the other day.

Yesterday, as expected I had to wake up at 7. Apart from that, the day was quite relaxed. So, I took the opportunity to get to know Caz better; to know what his hobbies are, his favorite foods, anything that wasn't too deep.

On my way to the sports hall, I saw Caz and walked down with him. It's quite early in the morning and he's smiling? He really is something.

"How are you both this morning?" James pronounced it clearly so that Caspian could make it out.

"Good." I replied, while Caz still smiles, maybe just a little bit more.

"Then we'll start on the activity to make sure that you didn't lose out on any progress." He pulled out two blocks of Styrofoam about the size of a brick, from a large plastic box.

"What's with that?"

"We want to work out how strong you are, starting off with the easy stuff. Now that we've got this Caspian here too, we'll be able to make more reasonable comparisons. Instead of comparing your fitness to someone as old as me we can compare it to someone who's much closer to your age. Therefore, the results will be more accurate." Gunner speaks as if he's elderly, but he doesn't look any older than 40.

"So you want us both to break the blocks of foam?"

"Yes, but with only one hand." James gave one to myself and the other to Caspian.

What a strange way of testing strength...

I noticed Caspian turning the block in his hand, using his ring finger and thumb to pinch the block in various places before it finally breaks.

"Good work Caspian. (signed)." James picked up the split styrofoam block from the floor and put it back in the box. "You still haven't broken yours, Sam."

"Does it matter how I break it?"

"Not at all."

"Okay then."

Caspian silently chuckled as he watched me copy his technique exactly, splitting it in two.

"A bit boring." Gunner mocked.

"Never mind, I think the next test will result in something different." James reached into the box a second time, bringing out two wooden blocks.

"You expect us to break a block of wood with one hand?!"

"We expect you to at least try, Sam. It's an assessment, so we only expect you to do what you're capable of."

Ridiculous as the request sounds, Caz tries the same technique as he did on the last block, but after about 20 seconds, gives up.

I guess the same technique won't work for me either. Why don't I try this-