Elite

by Joseph C. Anthony

  With that Blank left the room and closed the door. Daniel turned and dragged himself over to his cot and sat down. As he sat he found himself continuing in his motion and laying down, looking up at the plain grey ceiling. It wasn’t the most comfortable sleeping vessel he had ever used, but it wasn’t the worst either. He supposed it wouldn’t take long for him to get used to it, and the intensity of his training would most likely make it easy for him to fall asleep at night no matter where he was laying.

  That’s when he asked himself the question, “What am I doing here?”

  A part of him wanted to break down into tears at the thought of everything he had given up for this small, concrete chamber that for the next three months was for all intents and purposes his home. But a bigger part of him was growing in excitement. This wasn’t the purpose, this was still the journey. Things might seem a bit odd and unusual to him now, but soon enough he’d be back out in the world, living in a penthouse downtown, or better yet a mansion somewhere in the ‘burbs. On top of it all he would be the most advanced physical specimen walking the face of the Earth. In fact, he theoretically already was.

  “This is worth it,” he said to himself with a renewed sense of optimism.

  He climbed out of his cot and headed to the door, deciding that he would unpack later. It was time to go get familiar with the new “office.”

  The tour he had received from Blank was less than spectacular. Daniel had already seen pretty much the entire complex already, so the tour only stood as an opportunity for him to get to see things more close up. Doing so made the complex and everything in it seem even more intimidating.

  The air in the work-out area on the main floor was thick with the moisture of evaporated perspiration. None of the equipment in the room appeared to be new, but it did seem very well maintained. None of the agents seemed to have any complaints about it.

  Being so close to the action had been an eye-opening experience for Daniel, as he realized in just how good of shape his new co-workers were. They also appeared much bigger up close than they did from up on the catwalk. He could not imagine ever being able to keep up with them and their intense workout routines.

  There were a few people on the obstacle course today, another area that had become a lot more intimidating to Daniel after standing in the middle of it. Both Daniel and Blank watched as one man tried to complete the final stage of the course. Daniel remembered the tower of teeth quite vividly from his first trip across the catwalk for his interview with Richfield. Blank had called it the “Pipe Ladder,” but Daniel liked his name better.

  Daniel watched in awe as the man hung from the pipe that rested on two parallel teeth, one on either side of him, then began to swing back and forth until he felt he had enough momentum to pull up on the bar with all his might, thrusting himself upward. He then he used his momentum to lift the bar off of the teeth it currently rested on and set it on the two teeth above them, moving him up the ladder. The whole process looked completely exhausting and incredibly difficult to do just once, but to reach the top an agent had to complete the process fifty times in a row.

  This particular agent made it about halfway up before his arms gave out and he was forced to let go of the bar and came crashing down onto the heavily padded mat below. Daniel shook his head, highly impressed by how far the man had been able to get. The man however, did not share in his enthusiasm. He stood up and began complaining to the trainers about how the rest of the course had taken too big a toll on his arm-strength.

  Blank explained to Daniel that the man’s name was Jitters, and that up until a year ago he had been a member of the Army Rangers. Apparently his contract was coming to an end and before signing an extension Richfield convinced him to give up the military life and go to work for him. Jitters saw it as a challenge, and the money probably didn’t hurt either.

  “The only guys tougher than the Rangers are the Seals,” Blank added. Then he grabbed Daniel by the shoulder and in a very serious tone added, “But don’t tell any of them I said that.”

  Jitters was about 5’9’’, shorter than all of the other men at Elite. He was of Hispanic origin with caramel colored skin and dark hair which had been cut in the style of a military crew cut. Although short, Jitters was broad shouldered, and like all of the men there, quite muscular – maybe even more so due to his compact figure.

  “He’s as tough as they come,” Blank explained, “and he can hold his own with any of the big guys. He’s fast, strong, and mean. He’s also got brains – the boss considers him one of his top guys in the field. The only thing he hasn’t been able to do yet is finish that damn obstacle course.”

  Blank went on to tell Daniel that just last week Jitters had finally made it to the top of the ladder, but unlike today, he had done it without going through any of the other obstacles first. The fatigue from the other nine obstacles was the thing that kept most men from finishing once they reached the ladder.

  “He’s got pretty much every other part of it licked at this point,” Blank said.

  As they were walking out of the obstacle course, Daniel asked Blank Jitters’ real name, hoping that the answer wouldn’t be that the man’s mother had actually named her son Jitters.

  “Manny Costello,” Blank answered.

  Daniel imagined that Blank had most likely played a major role in recruiting most of the people at Elite.

  “So I’ve noticed a lot of the guys have nicknames,” Daniel noted.

  “Yeah,” Blank responded, “Some bring them along with them from wherever they came from, others got their names after they got here. Jitters, he got that nickname back in the Rangers. I guess because he would always get the Jitters before they went on their ops. A lot of spunk in that one.”

  “Interesting,” Daniel said. He wondered if he would ever truly fit in here. He felt so out of place, like a member of the Chess Club trying out for the football team.

  The only location on the tour that was new to Daniel was the second level. He had already been introduced to the housing level, and the upper level where the offices were, and he had become all-too familiar with the medical level at this point.

  The second level, or first down from the main floor, was where Daniel and Blank had lunch. Daniel was sure that this would be the level on which he spent much of his down time. It was home to the cafeteria, lounge, and rec room.

  The cafeteria was a wide open space that took up about half of the second level. The walls and ceilings were entirely white, with TVs hung up on the walls and spaced out about every fifteen feet. Some were showing news networks while others displayed sports programming. Like everything at Elite, the vast room lacked any sort of interior design aspect, although there were some potted plants scattered throughout the vast room.

  The ceilings in the cafeteria were about fifteen feet high, as opposed to the eight-foot high ceilings of the levels below it. When walking through the main entrance, a white tiled floor led hungry citizens to the far end of the room. In the center of the tiled pathway, about halfway between the entrance and the far wall, sat a salad bar. The pathway then continued until reaching a dead end. To the left and right of the dead end were two serving lines, about twenty feet long, each placed into semi-circular alcoves that had been carved into the far end of the room. Each line offered different meal options for the agents. The walls behind the serving lines were the only walls that weren’t white. Instead they were a purplish-blue tone with a thin line of white molding at waist level.

  Where the tile pathway dead ended at the center of the back wall it broke off in each direction and extended seven feet back from each buffet line where the floor then became carpeted, the color of the carpet matching the purplish-blue color of the walls behind the serving lines. Placed all along the carpeted floors were round, white topped tables with black bases, able to seat four to six people, depending on how close you were willing to sit to the person next to you.

  By the time Blank and Daniel had arrived for lunch just after noon
, many of the tables were full.

  “Busy day at the office,” Blank commented. This made Daniel think that the number of people who were generally in the complex at one time rarely, if ever, filled the room to capacity.

  After perusing the options which were written on white boards on the walls behind the serving lines, Daniel decided on the build-your-own submarine sandwich. He filled his sub with ham, salami, roast beef, pepper-jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, jalepenos and chipotle mayo for a spicy combination. He also made sure to grab some potato chips and coleslaw as side-items.

  Blank had also made himself a hoagie, but Daniel had been so distracted by his own creation that he hadn’t bothered to pay attention to what Blank had put on his sandwich.

  “So is the selection generally pretty good here?” Daniel asked as he sat down at the table Blank had chosen for them.

  “You betchya Danny Boy,” Blank said, seemingly excited to discuss the topic of food.

  “These boys and girls know how to work up an appetite,” he continued, “And Mister Richfield sees to it that they are well fed.”

  “I can definitely get behind that,” Daniel said, taking a bite of his sandwich and experiencing a sudden blast of spice as he bit straight into a fresh jalepeno slice.

  “Now over there,” Blank said, pointing at the far serving line which they had not gone to, “That’s where the healthy foods are. These guys burn off so many calories throughout the day that most aren’t too concerned about what they’re eating, they just want something that tastes good and that they can scarf down to get all those good calories. But others, they’re a little more conscious of what they put in their bodies, so we offer them some more healthy choices.”

  Daniel nodded as he chewed, quite certain that if all went to plan, there would never be any need for him to find himself in the healthy line.

  Once Daniel and Blank had finished eating, they placed their trays and dirty dishes through a small hole in the far corner of the cafeteria and onto a conveyer belt which led to the back where the dish fairy would magically make their dishes squeaky clean and ready to use again. Blank then led the way across the hall outside the cafeteria to the lounge.

  This was the only room in the entire complex as far as Daniel could tell where the décor extended beyond functionality. Here the walls were a dark beige. Plush, brown leather chairs and sofas were placed in social circles throughout the room, each with an oak coffee table and/or end table within the immediate vicinity of the furniture. It was clear that several of the pieces had been moved around by individuals to create a more comfortable personal environment.

  In the center of the room was a wall that sat four feet wide by four feet long. It held a fireplace which was visible on all four sides. On each side, two chairs sat facing the fire with end tables in between them.

  The aspect of the room which first caught anyone’s eye when walking into it was the far wall which was one giant window. The enormous window looked out over the MMA ring Daniel had seen before through the window on the main level. After further examination, Daniel determined that given the viewing angle of the ring, the window was most likely more for aesthetic feel than for providing a place to watch a fight.

  Curving out from the wall to the right of the entrance was a beautiful semi-circular oak bar. On one end sat a cash register for take-orders that had a line of four people waiting to order. Around the rest of the bar were black, wooden bar stools with backs. All were currently empty. Behind the bar was shelves of quality liquor of all different varieties, and below were coolers with glass doors, filled with bottles of beer.

  Currently the bartender seemed to be directing most of her attention to the small window that was to her immediate left when standing at the cash register. Daniel saw her punch something into the machine and then follow up by saying something to whoever was on the other side of the window. No money ever changed hands.

  “Welcome to the lounge, Danny Boy,” Blank said, interrupting Daniels absorption of the room.

  The setting reminded Daniel of one of those old gentleman’s smoking lounges he had seen on TV.

  “Wow,” Daniel replied, having already decided that this was his new favorite hangout.

  “Yeah, most of our agents enjoy coming here to wind down from a hard day and relax. We’ve got smoothies over here,” Blank said, gesturing in the direction of the cash register. “They got all kinds, just start naming some fruits and vitamins or whatever and they’ll set you up. They also have juices and whatnot. And after five they serve alcohol.”

  Daniel raised his eyebrows and nodded with approval, his eyes wandering over to the coolers and shelves behind the bar.

  “The best part,” Blank said, again grabbing Daniel by the shoulder, “it’s all taken care of Danny boy. Mister Richfield doesn’t want his people paying for nuthin.”

  “Wow,” Daniel said again, as he took one last, long glance around the room. Most of the agents in the room were either focused on their computer screens, playing with their tablets or just reading quietly while enjoying their favorite fruit drink.

  The last stop on the tour was the rec room, which shared a wall with the lounge. There was currently only one group of four men in the room, gathered around a ping pong table near the far wall, which like the lounge, was also a window looking out into the challenge arena. Like the cafeteria, all of the remaining walls were completely white. Grey carpeting lined the floor of the room.

  There may have only been four men in the entire room, but you’d never know that by the amount of noise they were creating. Daniel was surprised the sound wasn’t able to make its way through the wall and into the lounge area.

  That must be one intense game of ping pong, Daniel thought to himself.

  There was much more to do in the room than just ping pong however. Beside the two pong tables at the far end of the room, were two pool tables. On one of the walls hung some dart boards, and next to those were a couple of pinball machines.

  Interesting choice, Daniel thought.

  Daniel also noticed a chess table in one area of the room, with a chair on either side. In the far corner of the room was an enormous flat-screen TV with two black couches set up facing toward it in a sort of V-formation. Below the TV was a stand, and on the stand set a gaming console and blu-ray player. Cords ran from the devices up to the TV.

  Much to Daniels surprise, Blank hadn’t a single word to say about this particular room. Instead, after a minute or two of standing in the doorway, watching the ping-pong intensity, he turned to Daniel and said, “You ready, Kid?”

  Daniel turned and nodded and the two made their way out of the room and back to the elevator.

  After the tour Daniel decided to take the rest of the day to unpack and settle into his new room. He had a long few months ahead of him to try and mentally prepare for, though he wasn’t quite sure how he could. It still didn’t seem real to him. He felt like a casual observer rather than a part of this place.

  At lunch Blank had laid out the twelve-week plan Richfield and Horchoff had designed for him. The first three weeks would be spent in the classroom with Horchoff trying to teach him how to understand and utilize his new “talents.” Eight hours of each day would be spent in the classroom. He would report to class at eight in the morning, be in class until eleven, at which point he was expected to exercise for two hours each day to begin preparing himself for the coming physical training, then he would have from one o’clock to two to wash up and eat lunch, and be back in the classroom from two until seven in the evening. The rest of the night would be his to study, practice, or rest – whatever he chose.

  After he had learned everything he needed to understand his new “talents,” the next three weeks would consist of putting those to use with an intense regimen of strength and agility training. After that would be three weeks of combat and pain management training (glorious), followed by two weeks of mission skills training, and the final week would be used to continue mission training as well a
s work on any extra special abilities he might have that would prove useful for the job.

  “Never in my life,” he said to himself, shutting the lid of his computer and falling into his cot.

  After unpacking he had decided to go online and see what he had missed in the past nine days. Much to his surprise not much had changed. He only had a few random notifications on his FaceSpace profile, and it seemed as though no one had even realized he had left.

  It did sting when he had scrolled down to find a picture of Jordan enjoying what appeared to be a fancy dinner that according to the caption she had prepared for herself and Gordon in their ritzy apartment. His knee-jerk reaction was to remove her from his friends list. He didn’t need that kind of a negative distraction while he was here. He had regretted it the moment he clicked on the icon that had removed her from his friends list. She was still his friend. He considered sending her a new friend-request but decided to save himself the embarrassment. She would probably never notice anyway.

  For dinner he had eaten an entire 14-inch pizza. Before he and Blank had parted ways Blanked blurted out, “Oh yeah, I forgot! The lounge serves pizza from seven to midnight!”

  So Daniel had waited for seven to roll around before going up to the lounge and ordering himself a pizza. He preferred eating alone in his room to sitting by himself in the cafeteria. The looks people gave him as he walked past them were bad enough, he didn’t need them all staring as he sat alone in the cafeteria.

  He was sure he had made everything seem much worse in his mind. He was the new guy, so of course everyone was going to be curious – especially if they knew his true purpose for being there. On top of that he saw a number of people eating alone at lunch. Still, he just didn’t feel at all comfortable with his new surroundings yet.

  So he scarfed down an entire pizza in his room. It was a hell of a way to start training, but if Richfield and Horchoff were right about what he should be able to do now, it shouldn’t make any sort of difference.