Epicenter (WIP)

II

The man leads Richard and I to a small room with an oversized, whirring, clicking machine in it. He has us walk through a doorway, where several lights come on. When I walk through it, a loud beeping sound alerts someone somewhere to something. When I get to the other side, a guard tells me to advance through a door. There I wait for Richard, and soon he and the man come through the door.

"Sorry about that. It's standard protocol to scan all personnel as they enter the facility, and, unfortunately, I can't change it," The man says, "Now, let's go see the epicenter, shall we?"

He leads us through a series of hallways and doors, which I soon lose track of. Eventually, we get to a big steel door with countless security measures on it. The man has his retina and fingerprints scanned, enters a password, and much more. We then walk through it to a balcony overlooking a huge...um...thing, I guess. In the middle, a transparent blue orb rotates, with strands of blue light and more orbs orbiting around it.

"This," the man tells us, "Is essentially the brain of our entire operation. It calculates enemy weaknesses, comes up with plans, and does pretty much whatever we tell it to. It will be training you two how to fight the mirages over the next several weeks. Then you will go into battle once more, but this time you will be prepared."

I stand in awe of the gargantuan computer, watching it spin, mesmerising me. After some time, the man taps me on the shoulder. I vaguely register that he's asking me if I'm ready for training. I turn towards him and say, "First, what's your name?"

"Julius Adkins," Says the man. "That's my name. Now, are you ready?"

"Sure, Julius," His name feels weird on my tongue.

"Let's go," He says this with a bit too much vigor and zeal.

Richard and I follow Julius down even more hallways and through more doors until we arrive at a door that says Dormitory on it. Julius hands me a set of instructions and tells us to come to the dining hall at 7:00 sharp tomorrow morning. Once he leaves, Richard and I convene to discuss our position.

-===<+>===-

The next week or so passes in a blur. It is mostly a repetitive cycle of waking up, eating breakfast, and then training. Training is very intense, involving everything from running marathons to hacking fake government databases. Julius is very determined to force everything there is to know into our heads and everything there is to do onto our bodies. I have never experience so much physical or mental exhaustion.

On the ninth day of training, Julius calls Richard and I to his office. This is my first time in this stark, white room, so I don't hesitate to stare. The walls are devoid of anything interesting except a lone, out of place painting that I assume has a safe behind it. People need to put their safes in better locations. Julius' desk is a brushed silver cube with nothing but a laptop and a picture on it. A single window looks out onto what Richard and I have begun to call the dungeon; it is a roughly hewn cave with assortments of training tools ranging from a small boxing ring to a rusty bench press. I turn my attention back to Julius.

Julius is a jagged man, with jagged hair, a jagged beard, and jagged teeth. Whenever he talks, little bits of spittle and food fly through his beard, which I find both revolting and fascinating. Today it seems that he might have actually brushed his teeth, since a little less food rockets out of his gob.

"Today is a very big day for both of you!" Julius proclaims. "Your first day in battle," He rubs his hands together, which is somewhat unnerving.

And, he says what seems to be his favorite phrase, "Let's go!"