“Ok, one more time,” Hammer responded with a shrug. “Ready, go!”
Jay dashed off again, going back to the far wall and waiting by it. He arrived much faster than he had anticipated, and had to wait for Hammer to let his pursuer go. As soon as the Hermes was released, she came straight for Jay. As she neared however, she slowed down, as Jay expected, to avoid hitting the wall. This gave him the time he needed, and when her hand reached out to tag him, he ducked under her arm and dashed away, taking his place behind the newly broken machine. He turned to see the Hermes already in pursuit. When the Hermes reached him, he looped around the machine, and ran off in the direction of the wall again. This time he was not quick enough to position himself against the wall, so instead he jumped at the wall and kicked off, in the opposite direction, flying over the head of the Hermes and halfway across the room. An impressive move, but not the smartest one; this put him at the mercy of gravity, and as he fell towards the ground he looked back to see the Hermes quickly approaching his position. She was nearly to him when he landed, and being unable to get a footing to run away quick enough he instinctually grabbed the closest thing he could reach and pulled it in front of him to block the Hermes.
“Stop!” Hammer yelled once again. But I was never touched, Jay thought to himself. Then he looked forward to see what he was holding in front of himself to block the Hermes with. There in his hands, being lifted clearly off the ground, was a treadmill. In his surprise Jay dropped the treadmill, which fell to the ground with a loud bang.
Everyone around had stopped what they were doing, and were looking over at him. Hammer walked over to where he stood with wide eyes and a grin as if she had just won the lottery. “Prometheus…Hermes…and Titan? Who are you?”
“My name is Jay…I…I…”
“Well, Jay, I have to ask, could you please be on our simulation team?”
CHAPTER 8
DUKE AND JAY got back to the dorm room in time to see the rest of the students just starting to get up. Hammer had told everyone in the practice room, all of whom were members of her simulation team, not to speak or hint at what had happened that morning to anyone. “As powerful as Decathlon is, he is even more powerful as long as the other teams think he’s just a talented first year Prometheus. Don’t tell anyone anything about this,” she had instructed them.
When Jay told Michael he had been invited onto a simulation games team, Michael just shook his head. “Careful, Jay, move any faster and you’ll be graduating before the year’s out.”
Jay did not have much time to revel in the excitement of his position. Starting that evening, he began extra lessons, where he met privately with Duke, Hammer, or a Hermes nicknamed Hummer to work on one of his abilities. It did not take long for Jay to realize that Hammer and Hummer were good friends. Each one claimed they got their name first; when Jay asked Duke about this, Duke said nobody knew for sure. “They just showed up for classes one day calling each other those names, and the names stuck.”
Jay did not mind the extra lessons for the most part. Duke was a good teacher, and Jay was happy to be on his good side again. Hummer was fun to work with, and even when she was working him hard she would make it seem more enjoyable by humming a lively tune for them to work by. It was clear why she got the name she had. Hammer was the difficult one, constantly pushing Jay to lift more, or testing him to see how much he could carry while running, or how well he could mind read while lifting.
The big problem Jay found was that he was unable to spend as much time studying for his classes, or hanging out with Michael. He hung out with Michael for a while during the try-outs, but once those ended and Michael did not make a team (as Duke had predicted), practices became Jay’s life. He still saw Michael during classes, and they got lunch together each day, but Jay was sorry he could not keep up their relationship as it had been.
“Don’t worry about it,” Michael said to him over lunch one day, after noticing Jay’s thought on the topic. “I know how much these practices are taking out of you, and I realize you only have so much time in each day. Besides, in a few weeks the games will be over, and you’ll be free to teach me all those cool tricks you’re learning.”
Jay could tell Michael was not as carefree about the topic as he was acting, but nevertheless it made him feel a little better about the situation. They decided to drop the issue for the time being.
“Hello Jay.”
Jay recognized the voice, even though he hadn’t heard it since his first day at the Academy. He turned around, and sure enough there was Zahrah with a heaping tray of food. “Hey Zahrah! How have you been? Would you like to join us?”
Zahrah nodded and took a seat next to Jay.
“So how are the Hermes classes treating you? I haven’t seen you around at all!” Jay was not sure why he was so excited to see her again. He somehow felt as if she were a breath of fresh air from the stress of all he had been dealing with; a familiar face that he did not associate with training or studying.
“They haven’t been too bad thus far,” Zahrah responded, “although I’ve certainly been busy. It seems like every moment of my day is filled with running from place to place.”
“Well then I guess it’s a good thing you’re a Hermes,” Michael chimed in from Jay’s other side.
Jay was surprised to hear Michael’s comment. He had almost forgotten momentarily that Michael was still there. “I’m sorry, Michael, this is Zahrah, we met on our first day. We were the two students to arrive late. Zahrah, this is Michael, he is a fellow Prometheus. We have all the same classes and share a bunk bed.”
Michael reached out and shook Zahrah’s hand. “Nice to meet you. Most people call me Snake, not Michael. So are you the one who taught Decathlon here how to move?”
Zahrah looked back at Jay in surprise. “Decathlon? You are Decathlon?”
“Yes, I am,” Jay responded simply.
“Is it true that you are both a Prometheus and a Hermes?” she asked eagerly. Jay nodded. That’s not all, he thought to himself.
Zahrah smiled, “I guess this explains how you kept up so easily during that tour. I had heard about this first year named Decathlon, but I had no idea that…”
“Decathlon!”
Jay looked up to see Duke putting his tray down across the table from them. He was not smiling, and was looking wearily at Zahrah. “Decathlon, I thought I should warn you to be careful what you say around the enemy.”
“What are you talking about?” Jay did not catch on to what Duke could be referring to. In what way could Zahrah possibly be an enemy?
“This girl here’s name is Zahrah. She’s on the red team. We don’t want them getting any information about us or our strategies.” Duke said all this without moving an eye from Zahrah. Jay knew Duke was harmless, but he did not like the way he was watching her. Jay was surprised to hear that Zahrah had made a simulation team, but that was something he could ask her about later. For right now, he needed to defuse Duke.
“Duke, Zahrah is the first friend I made here at the Academy. We were not talking about the simulations games at all, and in fact neither of us knew the other was even on a team.”
“She knew,” Duke responded, still looking at Zahrah.
“You did?” Jay was surprised to hear Duke say this, but as soon as Jay questioned it he noticed the picture in his own head that must correspond to Zahrah. Sure enough, she did know.
“I didn’t know when I sat down. It was when I discovered you were Decathlon. I had heard you were…gifted…and that you were on the green team. I had no intention of getting any unfair information out of you.”
Jay believed her, and the pictures he saw of her thoughts gave him no reason to think otherwise. Duke was not as easily convinced.
“I should go,” Zahrah said, as she gathered her meal and rose to leave.
“Zahrah, you don’t have to leave,” Jay protested.
“No, I should. It was great catching up with you, and I look forward to seeing what y
ou can do when we see each other in the games. Maybe when the games are over we can catch up more fully.”
“That would be great. I’ll catch you later.”
Zahrah laughed, “from what I’ve heard, I’m sure you will.” With that she left.
Before Jay could turn around, he noticed Duke’s thoughts rising up. Duke was disappointed, and a little angry. Jay turned to look at him, and could immediately see his face showed the same emotions. “We have nothing to worry about from her Duke, she’s not one to be a spy.”
“She knows you’re a Hermes,” Duke responded with frustration.
“Everyone knows he’s a Hermes,” Michael retorted. This isn’t the time, Jay thought loudly. Michael got the message, and went back to eating.
“It is true, Duke. Word of what happened in my Defensive Tactics class has gotten around. Honestly, I think the fact that it is being hushed up is just causing the rumors to become larger than the truth.” Jay hoped this would calm Duke down, but instead he became more upset.
It took a few moments before Duke was calmed down enough to speak. “Team meeting in our usual practice room in five minutes.”
“I have class in ten minutes…”
“Then you’d better be on time so we can get through things quickly,” Duke said, grabbing his food and leaving.
Before Jay left the table, Michael leaned over with a big smile. “Remember Decathlon, schoolwork, sleep, and even your friends are unimportant compared to ‘the game’,” he joked, then sarcastically added, “at least Duke isn’t taking this too seriously.”
Jay smiled back at Michael, then left for the meeting.
WHEN JAY ARRIVED, Duke was the only one waiting for him in the practice room.
“Where is everyone else?” Jay asked Duke, a little weary that Duke might be up to something.
“I realized I didn’t have time to get a group meeting together, so I’m just going to talk with you myself.”
“Listen, Duke, you have nothing to worry about…”
“No, Kid, you listen. I realize it’s tough to avoid talking with a young lady, especially since you don’t seem to talk to women outside of the team very often. No, I haven’t been following you, it’s just pretty clear that most of your time is spent either with classes, training with us, or with the Snake.”
With the manifestation of three abilities in such a short period of time, it is true that Jay had not been thinking at all about women. I have much more important things to worry about, Jay thought. It bothered Jay a little that Duke felt the need to give him this pep talk, although he did enjoy hearing Duke call Michael “the Snake”. His tone of voice was no longer an insult when he said this, but rather a reference to a name; a definite improvement.
Duke continued. “Kid, what you do, and who you spend your time with is your business. The problem here is that red team is expected to win this thing hands down. The only people who don’t believe that their victory is a sure thing, from what I can see, are the members of our team. I don’t know how you’ll do when game time arrives; you are a force to be reckoned with considering your physical and mental ability, but being a first year you are still not refined. Games aside though, you have already contributed substantially to this team by giving everyone hope. Before you started coming to practice it was like our team was in this out of formality. Once you arrived, and everyone realized we had a major secret weapon in our pockets, they began to wonder if we actually stood a chance, and have begun to work harder and reach for that big win. I don’t want to ruin your chances with that girl, but I also don’t want to see our team crumble before the games even start because word gets out about all you can actually do.”
Jay wanted to argue with Duke. He wanted to tell Duke to mind his own business, and that this was just a game. The problem was that Jay realized Duke was right. Maybe this was just a game, but it was a game that all the students held in high regard. It was an opportunity for them to prove what they could do, as individuals and as a team. And for many, it was one last opportunity to prove their worth before graduating. “Duke, let’s win this thing.”
Duke smiled at Jay. “Thanks kid.”
“Can I ask you just one question though?”
“Sure, what’s up?”
“I’ve been wondering this for a while. All the other upper level students have nicknames, and most of the first years already do too. Why don’t you?”
Duke laughed. “Actually Decathlon, Duke is my nickname. I guess when I am tracking thoughts I put my nose in the air like a dog. I’m glad Duke was the dog name that stuck, because at first I was called Rex. I don’t know, Rex just doesn’t sound as cool as Duke. My real name is William.”
“William? Really? You don’t look at all like a William.”
“Yeah, well, that’s my name nevertheless. Do me a favor and keep it to yourself though. People know me as Duke, and I’d like to keep it that way.”
“Don’t worry William, you can count on me.”
THE FIRST CHANCE Jay got, he went to the announcements board near the dorms where the team lists were posted. After tryouts had ended each team posted who would be on the team on these boards, and they had never been taken down. Jay looked at the sheet for red team, but Zahrah’s name was not there. Instead, the list was organized by their nicknames. It hadn’t occurred to Jay to find out what her nickname was.
“What’cha looking for Decathlon?” Jay turned around, and sure enough Duke was standing there.
“I was just… I was trying to see who we were up against.”
“Well then you’ve asked the right person, because I was assigned the responsibility of researching the other teams by the great Hammer herself.” Jay thought about telling Duke that he actually never asked him about it at all, but he saw how proud Duke was to be the bearer of this information, and decided it would be better for him to just listen.
“The sheet you’re looking at now is red team. It’s the only team that is distributed perfectly even, with seven Prometheus, seven Titans, and seven Hermes. The leader of the team is Brain, a Prometheus that is known for being able to see people’s thoughts before they do. He is the top of all his classes, and everyone wanted to be on his team. As such, he has had the pick of the upper-class students. These fourteen students are seniors, meaning they have been here for at least six years. These six are fifth year students, who are good enough to be sixth years. And this one is your girlfriend.” Duke pointed to the last name on the list. The name read Sapphire.
“How did she make the team if it is so prestigious?” Jay could not help but asking, ignoring the fact that Duke was referring to her as his girlfriend, clearly to poke fun at him.
“Here’s the story that I heard. Brain goes out to the track every morning to work out. Apparently so does you’re girl Zahrah. Brain saw that she was running really fast, even for a Hermes, and decided to clock her one day. He realized she was running at a speed that was comparable to the top Hermes, which, by the way were already on his team, and so he asked her right then and there to join his team as well. That was the second week of school.”
Jay got a picture in his head of Zahrah out running, and a creepy sixth year guy hiding in the shadows watching her. Jay could not help but dislike Brain at that moment, even though he knew his dislike was unjustified. Jay decided it would be good to continue talking, in order to keep himself from thinking too much about this. “Duke, did you happen to look into why she came late to school? She arrived at the same time as me.”
“Of course I looked into it, you arrived late and look what you turned out to be! From what I’d gathered she originally did not take the test to get into the Academy. Then when the Academy heard about her, they approached her and accepted her anyways, but she turned them down. She is one of five children, and her parents are out of work, so she wanted to use her ability to provide for her family. The Academy was finally able to convince her to come after they assured her that they would take care of her family. Even after acceptin
g those conditions, she refused to go until she saw with her own eyes that they were bringing food and clothes to her family. It doesn’t sound like she has multiple abilities like you, but we have to be prepared for anything.”
Jay thought back to his own family. It was difficult to think about them; he missed them very much, and hated that he had to leave so suddenly. At least he knew they were able to take care of themselves. He could only imagine how hard this must be for Zahrah, knowing that her family was just getting by with help from the Academy. He was glad to attend a school with its priorities in order; that would give its students what they needed, such as support for their family.
Jay and Duke continued talking about each team, and the attributes of their key players. Jay could see the pride in Duke’s face as he recounted his knowledge, which was actually very impressive. Once they had gotten through all the other teams, Duke pointed to their sheet, titled “Team Green”. “And then there’s us. Key players Hammer and Decathlon.”
“Don’t forget about you and Hummer,” Jay said. All the other teams had at least four or five players that Duke labeled as key players, so it made sense that their team would also have as many.
“No, kid, just you and Hammer. I hate to tell you this, but we aren’t a very impressive team. Hammer is very good, but she’s something of an introvert. She doesn’t get out much and meet other people. As a result, she didn’t have many talented friends when it came time to form a team. She’s very close with Hummer, so naturally she joined the team. And you’re right in a way, Hummer isn’t a bad Hermes, but she isn’t one of the heavy hitters in the field. Hummer is a little friendlier, and so most of the team members joined because they knew her. I was on a team with the both of them last year, and I don’t think Hammer and I had ever actually spoken throughout our time training together. I probably could have made it onto a better team if I had sought one out, but Hummer and I are pretty good friends, and I didn’t like the idea of competing against her. That, and I like a challenge.”
The Games Heroes Play (The Academy Trilogy) Page 8
