Citadel (Book 1): Training in Necessity

by Clevenger, J.

  “The purpose of this class is not to teach you a specific system of ethics. Frankly, you’re all too old to change your basic beliefs. You already have your own ideas of right and wrong. The only problem is, most of you have never thought about them. You don’t really know what you believe or what your priorities are.

  “My only aim is to force you to fix that, to make you understand why you believe what you do. If you can, you’re less likely to hesitate when faced with a crisis of conscience. Keeping that in mind, let’s move on to the scenarios I gave you. I will read them aloud, one at a time, along with a selection of your answers. Please watch the screen as I do. I will not reveal the names of the responders.”

  A white square appeared on the wall behind Instructor Catherine. It was at least a dozen feet on each side and Kelly couldn’t see any source of light for a projector or a screen for something like a TV. She was just thinking of Coach Achala’s recorded fight yesterday when a bridge appeared. No, it was a freeway overpass. She could see cars and roads and buildings and stuff so it was probably a picture from some city she’d never been to.

  “You are in pursuit of an Empowered criminal. This is his first known crime, a nonviolent theft. He has a strong offensive energy power but no means of enhanced movement or defense.” Now the cars were moving. Just like yesterday, it was incredibly real. Kelly could’ve sworn it was just a giant window and she could actually see a real city through it. When she realized which scenario the Instructor was describing it made her a little sick.

  “The chase lasts for some time but you have finally caught him.” A bright red light obscured the overpass, after it faded the supports were badly damaged. Kelly could almost hear the drivers’ panicked honking. “He lashes out, endangering the lives of a large group of nearby civilians.” One of the supports collapsed and the freeway started to crumble. She could see people still on it, trapped in their cars. “It is within your power to help save them or stop the criminal, but not both.” The scene froze. “What would you do?”

  The entire class was quiet, still. All traces of inattention or fidgeting were gone now. Kelly remembered her answer from last night. She knew what the right one was, then and now. It was still obvious, but it seemed to matter more. Had she really thought about it before writing? Had she taken this seriously?

  “Most of your responses fell into one of three broad categories. I will give examples of each and then we will discuss them. First, prioritize the criminal.” The scene resumed motion, the overpass was collapsing. “This trainee said, ‘I’d catch him.’”

  A man in a crude mask and torn remnants of a costume ran into view, chased by another man in the black and white of a Citadel operative’s uniform. “’Just because he didn’t do anything before doesn’t mean he won’t later.’” Kelly watched in dull shock as they fought, red blasts flying out to no apparent effect on the operative.

  “’If he does the same thing again, it’ll just put even more people in danger.’” Eventually, the fight was over. “’Better to stop him the first time.’” The criminal was on the ground, not moving. “’That way I save more people in the long run.’” The freeway's remains weren't moving either.

  The scene reset. The operative and the criminal were gone. The freeway was up again, still on the brink of collapse. “The second category, prioritize civilian lives.” The scene started moving, the overpass collapsing, and an operative flew into view. “Save the people.’” The operative was surrounded by a purple glow that seemed to stretch out and hold the collapsing supports in place. “’If I don’t do that, then what’s the point of the Citadel?’”

  The scene faded out and was replaced by another. The same guy, the Empowered criminal, was sitting on a couch in a trashy looking apartment. “’After the people are safe we can find the guy again.’” The man looked at the door, then stood up to answer it. There was a cop on the other side. “’We have to keep people as safe as possible.’” There was another blast of red light. The scene cut to an outside view of a large apartment complex.

  Kelly watched, horrified, as the blast tore through the building’s wall, ripping a hole from one side to the other. The scene stopped after the building had collapsed. That had been her answer, more or less. Save the innocent, even if you had to let the bad guys get away. Now, she wanted to cry.

  The scene reset. Kelly could hardly bear to watch it all again. “Third, your power makes the question irrelevant.” The bridge started to collapse. The bad guy ran past. “’If I can save the people and I can catch the crook, I can do both.’” A golden shape blurred past the fleeing criminal and on to the bridge. Kelly saw that he was down on the ground. His mask was gone and face was all bruised and his hands were cuffed behind him. She wasn’t sure but she didn’t think he was conscious.

  “This is the only type of answer that I won’t accept.” The golden blur moved on and off the concrete structure as it collapsed. “Some of you will have a power that seems to negate a given scenario.” By the time it was done, there was a crowd of people, left behind by the blur, at a safe distance from the wreckage. “None of you have a power so great that you can negate them all.” The scene faded out and wasn’t replaced.

  “Anyone who wishes to change their answers may send me a new response tonight. Take this seriously. These scenes aren’t real but they are all based on real events. Refusing to think about them now means you’re more likely to hesitate, to make a mistake you might not be able to live with when something like this happens in the field.”

  * * *

  Training Area

  Kelly was one of the first trainees to arrive for Physical Conditioning. One of the benefits of her power was that she could change from one outfit to another with less effort than it took someone to comb their hair in the morning. Coach Achala and a man in the now familiar Healer’s outfit were there before her, waiting in the center of the track.

  The healer was sitting in a little folding chair, like something you’d take to the beach. Achala was just standing there, relaxed and smiling his friendly little smile like he didn’t have a care in the world. She liked him better than anyone else she’d met that worked in the Citadel program because he was just so nice. Sure, he’d had everyone fighting yesterday but hey, that’s pretty much what they were here for.

  It didn’t occur to Kelly that before those fights, Achala had given his students a very practical, very brutal demonstration to serve as their standard. It wouldn’t have changed what came next but she might not have felt quite so betrayed.

  * * *

  “How many laps!?” demanded that Duncan kid. She hadn’t liked him much yesterday but she had a lot more sympathy now.

  “As I said, one hundred and five laps.” Achala didn’t seem annoyed at the question. He was just smiling that same little smile. Kelly didn’t think it was quite so friendly anymore. “You may use your powers to help, but you must actually run the distance. Flying in a circle or teleporting from one point to another will not count.” Kelly, along with about half the other trainees, moved to the track and started jogging. The rest just sort of milled around.

  “Please begin. This will be the only assigned exercise for the day. Class will continue until everyone has finished or given up.” A few of the stragglers perked up. Coach’s smile faded a bit. “Please note, refusing to partake in training will be considered a statement that you wish to quit the program.” Everyone was moving now.

  Jenny was still smiling, not in a smug way or anything. She just seemed really cheerful and determined. It was like she had to do something hard but she was certain it’d work out okay in the end. The weird thing was, Kelly noticed that whoever was near her seemed to relax a bit and kinda run in time with her for a while.

  “It’s a marathon.” Hector had fallen into place next to her.

  “Huh?” Three laps in and her legs and stomach were starting to hurt.

  “One oh five laps. If the track’s about the same as a football field, that’s an actual mara
thon.” In the black shorts and tee-shirt that were their exercise uniforms, Kelly could see that Hector was in a lot better shape than she'd thought.

  “How. Did. You. Know. That?” she asked. She was really out of breath so she started upping her muscle tone and tried to make the little sacs in her lungs bigger. It was hard to concentrate while she was running but after a moment she felt it working. Her stride got smoother and she was breathing better.

  “Just looked it up. A couple of me are back in my room. Doing homework.”

  “That’s nuts!” Breathing was a lot easier now, but that just meant she actually had to be careful not to yell. She and Hector kind of split to each side to pass a chubby kid she hadn’t noticed before. He wasn’t doing too good. “So we can either run a marathon or we have to quit? On the first day of real training? What the heck?”

  “I know. I’m in pretty good shape but not marathon shape.” Hector turned his head to look at Duncan.

  The guy was running flat out, really fast, and he was the first person she’d seen that was smiling who wasn’t Jenny. Well, and some of the people who were running near Jenny for a bit. But his was different, not cheerful at all. It was mean and nasty looking.

  “Well, anyone with Strong or Speed style powers is gonna be okay. I don’t know why they didn’t warn the rest of us.” Hector said. As if to emphasize the point, Isaac ran by. It didn’t even look like he was trying hard. He didn’t smile or wave or anything.

  She knew he was mad at Hector. He’d just left this morning, without eating any of the food Hector made. When she’d asked him what that was about, Hector had just said he’d made a mistake during their match the day before. She didn’t see any reason for Isaac to be mad at her though.

  Four laps now.

  “Did you do sports or something? You must be in really good shape. I don’t see how splitting up would help you here.” Now that she was in a better condition herself, Kelly was feeling pretty good. Just running was boring though.

  “I tried out for pretty much everything. Didn’t make the football team but I did soccer, basketball and baseball.” Hector still wasn’t winded. It was pretty impressive for someone who was basically normal. Well, his body was. His bodies were? Whatever.

  “How did you have ti- oh. Never mind.”

  “What about you?”

  “No. I wanted to do soccer but they wouldn’t let me. Cause of my power.” That wasn’t really it but it didn’t hurt as much if she put it that way.

  “Oh.” Hector probably got it. He was really smart. But he didn’t seem to care, so she was okay with that.

  They were starting to catch up to the chubby kid again. She felt bad for him. He was really working hard but he obviously wasn’t going to be able to do this. She could change her body however she wanted and this was still tough. He’d only just started and he could barely keep moving. The boy flickered.

  “What the-?” she said without thinking. The boy had just sort of changed his posture from slumped over to upright with no in between. It was like bad stop motion from an old movie or something. Now he was running easy, like he’d just started out.

  “Huh. Weird.” said Hector. Just then, a dragon, only a little one, it was about the size of a car and didn't have wings, came running past them.

  “Yeah. Don’t get me wrong. I love being awesome, but some of the other powers here are really cool.” Apparently, Jenny and her group had caught up to them while they had slowed to watch Kerry.

  “Definitely cool.” Kelly laughed. She decided she liked Jenny almost as much as she liked Hector. Now that she was here, running didn’t seem so boring.

  Five laps.

  This was actually kind of fun now. Kelly had already stretched out her legs to make her stride longer and expanded her rib cage to get more lung space. Now she was trying to figure out if it was safe to make her bones hollow, like in her flight form.

  Less weight should make distance running easier but they might break if she tripped. Everyone else in the little group that had seemed to form around Jenny was just bouncing along in happy silence. It was kinda cool. She didn’t know most of these guys but they were definitely running together. Their feet were even hitting the ground in time with each other.

  “Wait.” Hector broke the silence. “Does anyone else hear that?”

  Jenny started giggling, all broken up like she was trying to keep it in. Hector was staring at the other girl now.

  “Do… Jenny do you have your own theme music?” he asked.

  “You can hear it too?” someone else added.

  Jenny just started laughing. Really loud.

  * * *

  Everyone finished. Kelly could barely believe it.

  All the people with physical powers finished relatively easily. The chubby guy had just finished his last lap, cheered on by a group of five that she assumed were his roommates. Apparently, his name was Drew.

  She decided to go say hi and congratulate him. Kelly stopped moving when she got close enough to get a good look. He'd lost at least ten pounds since they started. What the heck?

  "Everyone!" Coach Achala called out. "If I could have your attention. Congratulations. You have just run a little more than twenty six miles." He paused as a couple of the others gave a half-hearted mixture of cheers and groans. "Please thank my friend, Stanton Aid." He gestured to the man in healer's greys.

  The guy just nodded his head, not even looking up from the book he'd been reading. Wait, this guy was just relaxing with a book while they ran a marathon? That was kinda messed up.

  "His ability literally aids anyone in the same room as him."

  Oh.

  "It doesn't make you faster, or stronger. It simply allows you to endure. Your recovery is boosted as if you possessed a low level regeneration ability at all times."

  That was, Kelly didn't even know what that was. She'd never even heard of a power like that.

  "He has consented to be present during your Physical Conditioning sessions for the next two weeks." The Coach's voice grew serious, lost a bit of its ever present warmth. "I am afraid that after that you will have to make the run on your own. Those of you without powers that directly benefit you in this should take steps to maximize your gain in the meantime." He paused for a moment. "Perhaps carry weights with you for the next few days?"

  Was that... was he joking?

  "For now, you have an hour to eat and refresh yourselves. Basic Combat will begin then."

  In a daze, Kelly joined the crowd filing out of the room. If this was what the man did for their first day of what amounted to gym class, what did Coach Achala have in store for a super powered self-defense course?

  * * *

  Lunch at the Citadel cafeteria passed in a blur. Kelly was dimly aware of the other trainees, but was too busy eating to pay much attention. Samantha and Kerry sat next to her but she couldn't talk to them much with her mouth full of food. Jenny joined them after she tried to talk to Isaac for a little bit. He was off by himself, apparently not in the mood for company.

  Hector was part of at least three groups. Jason was in one of them but he didn't seem to say much. By the time Kelly made her third trip through the line and finished eating, she had to run to make it back down to the class's exercise area before Basic Combat started.

  * * *

  Kelly wasn't the last one back, but the only person to come in after her was a big guy with a light pattern of scales and no skin. It would have looked kinda neat on him but he had that whole "don't mess with me" vibe going.

  Isaac had the same vibe, a little, but on him it might just be because he was older and, yeah, because Kelly hadn't ever really known a black man before. Together, that was a little intimidating. Oh well, she'd have to work on that. He seemed like a decent guy when he wasn't mad, so she'd just have to make an effort and get to know him better.

  Coach Achala called everyone into a group and began explaining his plan for combat training. It was... well, it was just crazy.

&nbs
p; "You will work in pairs for the day. One of you will be naked, with your hands bound and head covered. The other will strike you. You may not attempt to dodge or block. Neither of you may use powers. Tomorrow, we will reverse the roles." Kelly was shocked that no one had walked out the door or started yelling yet. "I realize some of you cannot turn off your abilities. I have arranged today’s pairs in such a way that this should not matter."

  Kelly went numb at the thought. Naked didn't bother her. Technically she wasn't wearing anything right now. The clothes she had on were just a part of her body. She had as much control over them as her hair or hands. But being blind? Having her hands tied? Not to mention just standing there while someone was hitting her? She'd been helpless before. She didn't like it.

  "Sir?" she asked. "Can I... can I ask why? I mean..."

  "Kelly Protean, yes?"

  "Yes sir."

  He was smiling at her. He wanted her to... and he was still smiling at her?

  "I cannot teach you to be fighters in a month. But I can give you the two most valuable tools a fighter needs."

  He actually sounded sad. Kelly didn't even know what to say.

  "There will be two lessons today." he said, loud enough for the entire group to hear. "Some of you will learn what it is like to hurt another person. Some of you will learn what it is like to be hurt." He just let the brief explanation sit there. That was supposed to make sense?

  "So... if I let someone tie me up and hit me... that'll make me a better fighter?"

  "Yes." he said simply.

  Apparently, he thought that really was enough of an explanation. She almost left. A lot of the others were pretty clearly thinking the same thing. But if she had to choose between letting a crazy person have her beaten and not being an operative... well that really wasn't so hard a choice when she put it like that.