The Real World

by Jacob Long

  4

  It feels good to breathe in the fresh air of early evening. It calms me down, somewhat. I fly up high and over to the other side of the island. There are trees and other plants covering most of the land, but there is one secluded hill that is my favorite. This is where I go to be alone. This is where I go to calm down. This is where I go to contemplate anything and everything.

  I keep thinking of how impulsive and irresponsible it was for me to fly out of there like that. My dad used to tell me that my reactions were too emotional, that I need to be more composed. As much as I hated to hear those words, I wish he were here to tell them to me now. I think I mostly get angry because every time, this happens, I resolve not to be this way anymore. In fact, I do well for a while, but somehow I always circle back.

  Before the hill is a vast plateau of dirt and rocks. In the center is a stone pillar about three feet in diameter. I land right next to it and release a flurry of blows onto the cold hard stone. My hits leave fist-sized impressions in the rock. The pillar would have fallen over by now if I hadn't buried part of it beneath the surface. First, I pound away at the solid structure throwing a variety of punches and kicks. I throw body shots over and over, punching harder and harder causing the impressions to grow larger. I can feel the ground vibrate beneath my feet. Finally, I stop.

  It's a rare occasion that I run out of breath these days. The sensation only lasts a few seconds, so I like to savor the moment. For a second, I consider going back to work on the stone. Instead, I decide that I'm done working out my frustrations for now. It's time to go and sit on the hill. So I walk over and take a seat. If it were any steeper, it would be uncomfortable to sit on. I might feel that I'm continually holding myself from falling forward. The hill is both painful and comforting. It's a great spot to view the ocean. The majestic body of water looks better over here than anywhere else on the island.

  I'm kind of selfish with this spot, and its view. I've only shown it to one other person... I tap on my manica a few times, and a hologram floats above it. It's a picture of Elena sitting on a log by a fire. The sun was just starting to go down, but it was already cold, so we built a fire. "Hey, Gorgeous. I've missed you. I know I let you down, but..." The words struggle to escape my mouth. "...I need your help right now." I pause as if waiting for some sort of response. I can almost hear her telling me that I didn't let her down. That I made the right choices.

  Right choices or not, I still let her down. I let the whole island down. "I was wondering if, uh... maybe you could help me." I let out a breathy laugh. "I guess, I pretty much already said that." I try to gather my thoughts. "The truth is... I'm finding it harder and harder to push myself. I feel heavy. And you were the only one that could lift me up." I look down for a moment. "What should I do, Elena? Just tell me what to do, and I'll do it. I can't let them down. Not again." And just like that, I have my answer. I can't leave this island. Even if I could destroy Carlisle and Fulloway and their Ministry, it would all be for nothing if I lose the rest of my people.

  I wake up on my chair, again. Surrounded by bottles of alcohol, again. It's strange. Drinking wasn't something I did before I had my abilities. I only do it now that it doesn't have much of an effect. Of course, if it did do absolutely nothing, I wouldn't drink it. The stuff is abhorrent. It often tastes like medicine on fire. To be honest, people didn't drink much on our island. They still don't on this one. There was one man on the last island though. He would get drunk on a regular basis. He was very old. Sometimes, when I would walk home from school, he would be outside by a building having drunk himself into a stupor. Sometimes, there were other kids walking home as well. And sometimes the other kids would laugh at him.

  One day, after school, I was walking past that same old man at that same old building, and my dad pulled up alongside me in the family truck. He told me to get in. He told me that my grandma was in the hospital. I hopped into the truck, and my dad saw the old man. He paused for a moment and then went over and talked to him. My dad helped him into the truck. We took the old man to his home, and my dad helped him into his bed. Afterward, he took me to see my grandma at the hospital. On the way there, my dad told me who the old man was. He told me about how the old man had dated my great grandma before she married my great grandpa. He told me about how he married soon after that, but his wife and daughter had died before they could get to the island.

  The old man made it to the island, but he ended up drinking all of the time. He would work, and then he would drink. Sometimes all he did was drink. Eventually, he met another woman on the island. They fell in love and got married. They wanted to have children, but they couldn't. That didn't cause him to drink though. They still had a happy life, even without children. After growing old together, his wife got sick and passed away. The old man must have thought that he was going to pass soon after, but he didn't. After a few months, he started drinking again. Several more months went by. Then a year. Then the old man began to wander around the island.

  That night, the night that my dad took him home, a year and a half after his wife had passed, was the night that the old man passed away. I guess I feel like I relate to that old man somehow. I think of him and his story often... I think of Sienna accusing me of drinking too much. I stare at the bottles for a moment before wandering over to the kitchen and pouring a glass of water for myself. After quickly chugging the entire glass, I walk upstairs onto the roof. The bright rays of the sun are blinding, at first, so I lay down on the deck chair and cover my eyes with a blanket.

  Although much more tame than before, the sun still beams too brightly through the blanket. I turn my body and my head over onto my left side. The image is much easier to view now. There is, however, one bright luminescent spot of light reflecting off of an object. The object is located in the pile of my workout equipment, only a few inches away from the heavy bag. I pull the top of the blanket down to lay my eyes upon a piece of workout equipment that is a black sphere with a handle coming out of the top. It's a kettlebell.

  It is a specific type of weightlifting tool used to develop superior strength and endurance. Elena's father, Commander Piotr Kurpatov taught me how to workout with them. He was taught by his father and grandfather how to use them. Kettle-bells were a very popular workout tool over in Russia. They even have their own sport that is based around the kettle-bell. All it is though is a big metal ball with a thick handle popping out of the top. It may seem simple, but Elena's great-grandfather trained elite Soviet soldiers as well as world-class Olympians with this simple tool.

  During the Omega War, he took his family and fled to Idem. Once there, my great grandfather put him in charge of the physical training for all ISF officers. It's a position that has been passed down in their family. Elena's little brother was next in line. I stare at the dust laying on top of the bell. There is quite a bit. I haven't lifted it for quite a while. In fact, I haven't used it since I brought it to this island. Now that I have come to think of it, I haven't used any workout equipment since I got here.

  After gaining my abilities, most of my equipment became virtually useless. It's strange. When I first got here, I didn't do any type of exercise. Partially because my mind and heart weren't into it but mostly because I wasn't sure what to do. Using my flame generation powers in the mines would use up energy like exercise, but it wasn't a muscular workout like the ones that Commander Kurpatov put me through. After a while, I started punching my way into the mountainside, making my fists molten hot as I would do so. Then I remembered watching Fetu workout on the first island.

  He was the strongest person on the first island. RT estimated his total strength at the ability to lift at least fifty tons. That is just a rough estimate though. The most prominent display of his power that anyone ever witnessed was when he pushed a newly built navy ship into the ocean. A storm had come in and broken the launching pad. They were about to get Elena's dad for his telekinetic abilities, but Fetu stepped up and pushed the boat into the sea within a matter of se
conds. I remember that he would always find the biggest boulders on the island and lift them. He also began to swim around the island in sprints. He would swim one lap as fast as he could. After a few seconds of rest, he would do it again.

  So I to began to use boulders. I almost took up swimming around the second island. Another thing that Fetu would do was simply push against the mountainside. So I did that too. Handprints began to impress upon the rock formation. I used my flame generation to carve thick handles in the rock, and I started to pull as well. After a few days, the handles would break so I would just make new ones.

  Eventually, I started carving just enough so that my fingers could scoop into the rock formation. That way most of the rock is still intact. I also constructed my stone punching pillar around the same time. Now, I am lifting things that I never believed I would. I have come up with various ways of exercising every muscle, and yet, part of me wants to go back to the days where I was lifting and competing with the other officers. Out of those that didn't have super-human strength, I was the strongest. It was not by much though. The other guys were competitive and not far behind me...

  I shift around until I can get comfortable enough to fall back asleep. Finally, I reach an agreeable position. I stare at the old dusty kettlebell, and as the powerful draw of slumber starts to pull me in, I hear a knock on the door. Too soon. I'm tired, and I'm still not ready to see people. I need a recharge. Sleep is the recharge that I need for my body. A few hours at home, working on something in privacy, that's the recharge I need for my mind. Right now, I need both. It looks like I'll be receiving neither.

  I check the peephole. RT, Barrett, Wolf Face and another one of the Faction soldiers are standing on my porch. I raise my hand as if to press the button to let them in. I take a deep breath and walk back to the couch. Another knock. "Come on, Jayden. We just want to talk." I hear the door slide open. RT must have bypassed the locking mechanism because the next thing I know, he's hovering over my face.

  “Hey, Champ,” he says. I jump up.

  “Don't do that!”

  “They still want you to go on the mission.”

  “Big surprise. Where are they?”

  “Look, they're going to send their best guy.”

  “So why are you all here?”

  “We wanted to see if you had changed your mind.”

  “We?” I ask. “Now you're on their side?”

  “There are a lot of lives at stake.”

  “I'm responsible for the lives on Idem.”

  “This could be the key to eliminating the Ministry.” I let out a sigh.

  “Bring them in.”

  RT yells for them to come inside. Barrett walks in with Dr. Hamilton and a soldier that looks like a hybrid of a wolf and a human. I didn't notice this about him before when I looked through the peephole. I'm not sure how I didn't notice, because this guy's face is very blue and very wolf-like. He's about the same height as Barrett and me with a similar build, but that's as far as the similarities go. Well, I guess we both have blue eyes. Our level of furriness, however, is vastly different. I stand up to face Barrett who holds out his hand for me to shake.

  "I wanted to apologize. I shouldn't have been so careless with my words. We've all lost a lot of people, and I should know better." I take his hand and shake it. "It's all right." I feel like I should say something else but I don't have the words. Wolf-Face scans the room and its contents. His gaze moves from the diagrams to the bottles of alcohol. As he opens his mouth, I have a feeling that he has too many words. "Are you a soldier training to destroy the Ministry or a drunk wallowing in despair and self-pity?" I stare at him with a spiteful smile. "It's a combination of both."

  Barrett shoots him a look and turns back to me. "I also wanted to see if you had a chance to change your mind about our mission," Barrett says, breaking the tension. "I'm sorry," I say. "I still think it's too much of a risk," Wolf face butts in. "So, you're just going to sit here and do nothing?" "Callum," Barrett warns wolfface. Callum. So that's his name. I think I prefer Wolf-Face. "No, I'm going to stay here and protect my people," I reply. "Oh, like you did on the last island?" Callum retorts. Now my patience has run out.

  I come at him like a spark of fire igniting, but he anticipated as much. Callum is fast, but I'm faster. He evades my right cross to the face, so I twist my hips and throw a left cross into his stomach followed by a right elbow into his face. I bring my left forearm up to his neck and shove him against the wall. I can feel the heat as the flames grow in my eyes and my right hand as my fingers close, making a fist. I can feel the heat, but strangely, it doesn't hurt me. I'm still not entirely used to this sensation. I don't know if I ever will be. Before I can release the punch, a powerful grip takes hold of my forearm.

  "That's enough!" Barrett says. I turn to face him, and he looks at me dead in the eyes. "Are you going to fight me too?" He asks. He must have seen the thought flash through my eyes. I could easily take down both of them, but what would that accomplish? And besides, I don't want to attack Barrett. I let go of Callum, and he drops to the ground, coughing and nursing his throat. The fire surrounding my fist extinguishes and I lower my right arm. Barrett loosens his grip and lets go of my arm. There is a prominent reddish imprint left from where his fingers were. "That's quite a grip," I say as I take a few deep breaths. "As you can see, I'm not exactly fit for duty." I look out to the patio. "I need some air. See yourselves out," I say as I walk outside.

  I take a few deep breaths, staring out into the sky. I squeeze the wooden railing forming indents. Blue flames surround my hands and fingers, charring the wood. I hear some noise as if RT and the Faction guys are leaving so I double check the camera feed with the monitor on my manica I'm not in the mood to go back there right now. The house is empty. I walk back into the room and stare at the bottles again. Callum is a jerk, but he has a point. I gather all of the bottles and throw them into the trash. I pick up the rest of the alcohol in the house and dispose of it.

  We meet with the Mayor again and discuss plans for an alliance with the Faction. Since there is plenty of room on the island, we decide that we will bring them here to live with us on Idem. The plan is to move them over here as fast as possible. We know that the Ministry will be all over the ocean soon looking for their navy general. RT and I will guide the transportation mission using their submarine, and several MT units. Once everyone is safely on Idem, RT and I will continue to use the Tempest and the MT units to discourage, and even destroy Ministry ships.

  The hope is that we will cause enough damage to make the Ministry think that the general's ship was destroyed in a storm. Although, the missing general will leave some skeptics to question. While all of that is being taken care of, the Faction will launch their espionage mission to the alternate realities in hopes of finding a way to eliminate the Supreme Ministry. Everyone on the island will also be hard at work with building weapons and training soldiers. It may take years or even decades, but they are determined. Personally, I would prefer to forgo the missions to other worlds and just focus on protecting our own.

  5

  The air is calm as I stand atop the Faction's submarine yet again. As I peer out into the ocean, I see nothing but thick gray fog for hundreds of yards. It's actually kind of nice to see the different hues of black and white mixing together. Although not as exciting or as beautiful as a rainbow, the fog carries a sense of calm and tranquil magnificence. RT and I are heading back to the Faction's island to retrieve the second group of people. We can take fifty of them on each trip.

  We should have two more trips after this. So far, things have been running smoothly. There have been no signs of the Ministry's navy. In fact, things are almost too boring. Each trip there and back takes about ten days. There's not a lot to do on the sub, so I find myself writing in my journal a lot. Sometimes I write to Elena, and sometimes I write to no one in particular.

  Right now, I'm just glad to be outside. Being stuck in the sub all day makes me feel cramped up and nea
rly claustrophobic. I hear the lid hatch unlock and turn to see RT's head rising. "Barrett's on the radio. He wants to talk to you." Barrett and Dr. Hamilton are on what they refer to as Teleportation Island. That's where they have the Quantum Spectrum. It's about twenty miles away from the Faction's island. They took Callum with them and a few other scientists with them as well. It turns out that Wolf Face can switch back and forth between his wolf form and his human form. I wondered how he was going to blend in when he gets to the other world.

  I climb down into the control room and lean over the dashboard as I press the radio button. “What happened, you lose your furry friend down the rabbit hole?” I say. "Not funny, Lancaster. Callum has discovered a warehouse in the other world that the Ministry is using to mass produce their mind control drug. It looks like one world is not enough for the Consuls," he replies.

  I'm honestly surprised. There is still a lot of land to occupy in our world. Why would Carlisle and Fulloway want to take over the other worlds at this point? "All right, what's your next move?" I ask. "We're sending him inside within the next few hours. He is going to infiltrate their computer network, take as much information as possible, and destroy the warehouse."