Mark was enthralled by all that their tour guide had to say. He described the history of the school, and although the history was brief, it was full of amazing victories. He learned about the sudden, mysterious rise of the Villains, when they first began to terrorize humanity. When all seemed lost, the Heroes, led by the legendary Captain Williams, offered humanity a chance. They created the Academy and began training powerful youths, giving them a purpose, a chance to protect humanity.
As the tour moved through the part of the school that was home to the administration offices, Mark noticed a man pushing a cart full of supplies quickly through a door. The cart was covered by a sheet, keeping its contents hidden. Mark thought nothing of this at first, but as the cart rattled through the doorway, he noticed a small metallic piece slip off the cart. The man clearly did not notice, as he continued through the doorway and out of sight. The tour had stopped momentarily for their guide to describe the architectural significance of the hallway, so Mark ran down the hall to return the item to the man.
Reaching the item, Mark was at a loss as to what he was picking up. It looked a little like a tool that a dentist would use to scrape a customer’s teeth, except that it was much longer and sharper. Whatever it was, he was sure the man would not want to lose it, so he went through the doorway after him. Mark had expected to see a room inside, but instead there was a hallway moving back past the offices. At the very end of the hall he could see the man pushing the card through another doorway. Mark called out, but a loud drilling noise coming out of the room swallowed his voice, rendering it effectively useless. Mark could see a card access scanner by the doorway, and knew that if he let the door close behind this man, he would not be able to get in to hand over the dropped device. Mark ran down the hallway, catching the door just as it was about to close. He pulled the door back open and rushed inside. What he witnessed inside stopped him in his tracks.
He suddenly knew what the drilling sound was, as well as the purpose of the tool that he held in his hand. All at once he discovered their secret. He saw something despicable. He saw something terrible. He saw something that can only be described as pure evil.
But he could no longer remember what that something was.
That memory was gone.
Chapter 7 – Present Day
He looked around at the office in which he sat. It was a pretty office. A man in a grey uniform sat behind a desk, working on some paperwork, while another man stared at him, sitting across the room in a stiff green outfit.
“His thoughts have stabilized,” the man in the green outfit said. He wanted to respond, but was not sure what the green man meant. A response became unnecessary, as the grey man responded for him.
“Ah, well that is a relief. Still breathing?” the grey man asked. The young man took a deep breath, answering the question for both the grey man and himself.
“Wonderful!” the grey man exclaimed, clapping his hands together. The young man beamed with pride. Breathing must be something to be proud of.
“Now,” the grey man continued, “are you ready to answer my question?”
The young man stared blankly ahead. He could remember no question, but could not think of how to tell the man in grey this. Luckily, the green suited man intervened on his behalf. “He just started successfully forming new memories a minute ago. Most memories before that point have been wiped.”
The man in grey smiled. The young man liked the look of his smile, it made him feel safe.
“I guess I will have to fill in the blanks then,” the grey man responded. “My name is Captain Williams, and you have come here to this Academy to be trained. You have a gift, an amazing gift of strength, and that makes you very special. You have come here in order to learn how to use that strength for good. You do want to do good, don’t you?”
The young man nodded vigorously. He liked this Captain Williams immensely. He made him feel good about himself.
“You wandered away from your tour group, but it is alright, because you have done nothing wrong. I am going to bring you back to your room, and soon you will be able to begin your classes. Does that sound good to you?”
Again, the young man’s head moved frantically up and down.
“Wonderful! Off we go then!” Captain Williams stood up and motioned the young man out of the office. Before stepping out he turned back, addressing the green man who still sat inside. “Tell the doctor that the operation was a success, despite the unfortunate side effects. We will just have to save this as a last resort.”
The young man was sorry to hear that someone had needed an operation. He tried to tell Captain Williams this, but he again could not find the words, so he stayed silent. Exiting the office, the young man was relieved when they turned left. He could not figure out why, but there was a door down the hall to the right that scared him.
They walked in silence through the halls for a while, with the good Captain Williams looking up with a smile at times, but never speaking a word. Captain Williams soon stopped their procession, just outside of a big doorway. Captain Williams turned to him again with another reassuring smile.
“This is the room that you will share with the other first year male Titans, the other students who are strong like you. Before I leave you here, do you have any questions for me?”
The young man felt like he should say yes, as there were many things he did not understand, but he could not come up with a particular question to ask. He shook his head slowly.
Captain Williams nodded, and then led the way inside. There was a group of muscular boys inside the room, most of whom were either laughing, joking, or arm wrestling with each other. One boy who was a little bigger than the rest noticed them walk in, and jumped to his feet, hollering “attention.”
All the other boys jumped up and stood by their beds, with arms straight by their sides and heads held high in the air. The young man who had entered with Captain Williams felt tiny, despite being a full head taller than most of the other boys.
“Bruiser, this boy wandered off during the tours earlier, and missed the majority of the day’s orientation. See that he is taken care of. He is a special case, however I do not want him bothered by the other students. His strength makes him a hero, so we will train him as such, despite any and all mental handicaps he may have.”
“Understood Captain Williams sir, I will make sure he feels welcome here, and personally deal with any student who attempts to delay the process.”
Captain Williams nodded, gave the young man a pat on the shoulder, then turned and walked out of the room. The large boy to whom Captain Williams had spoken, who the young man assumed must be called Bruiser, called “at ease” and the other boys simultaneously relaxed. Bruiser walked up to the young man with a reassuring smile.
“Don’t worry, we have a good group of boys here, you will not be picked on by this lot. Even if they wanted to, I can see that you are a Titan even among Titans, and they will have to respect you for that. What is your name?”
The young man thought for a moment. Of course, he thought to himself, that’s what I should have asked Captain Williams! The young man shrugged, catching Bruiser by surprise. Suppressing a smile, Bruiser responded carefully, noticing that this appeared to be a difficult question for the new youth.
“Alright, not to worry, everyone gets a nickname sooner or later. How about we just call you Lenny for now? You may not get the reference, but it’s the name of a character from a book. The character is really strong, and has a good heart – in many ways you remind me of him.”
Lenny, he thought. I like the sound of that. He smiled wide, nodding his head.
“Great! Alright then, Lenny, I have a few things I need to finish up, so why don’t you take that bed over there, and I will come get you once I am finished, and we can review what you missed, alright?”
Lenny nodded once more, and marched over to the bed, the bottom bed in a bunk. He plopped down, glad that he now had a name, a purpose, and a bed. Lenny looked up at
the wooden beams that held the top bunk in place.
With a smile, he thought how lucky he was to have the honor of learning at such a fine school.
THE END.
Titan (The Academy Trilogy) Page 3
