User:Xepscern/Jeremy 5

Jeremy ran as fast as he could. He could feel his heartbeat increase, his breaths becoming shallower, sweat droplets on his brow. Not letting his slow frame deter him, Jeremy kept up his pace, until finally, he made it to his destination.

He got to the lunch line, and there was only four people before him.

Everyday, when the lunch bell rang, Jeremy made sure he got to the cafeteria before the mass movement of other students caught up to him. Usually a large, empty room, the cafeteria would soon be swarming with teenagers, all trying to get their food. At peak, the lunch lines would extend to over thirty kids per line, leading to some spending most of their period standing as opposed to eating. Every day of his senior year, Jeremy was thankful his fifth period room was right next to the lunchroom doors, knowing the arduous wait all too well.

Jeremy grabbed two trays, placed his ear buds in, and started getting his food. While listening to music was against school rules, most teachers, and especially lunchroom supervisors and custodians, didn’t punish any kid wearing headphones, so long as it wasn’t in class. Most kids did it, so why shouldn't he, as Jeremy would rationalize to himself.

Jeremy payed for the two trays of food, one for himself, one for Cassie. He looked back, noticing that the lunch line had already extended to over twenty kids. He made his way to his usual table, thankful he wasn’t stuck in that line. He took both trays, holding the nutritious meals of pizza, fries, and soda, and parked himself in his usual spot, where Cassie was already sitting.

“Thank you, waiter,” Cassie said, giving him three dollars for the lunch. “Can you do something about the atmosphere in here? It’s kinda… depressing.”

Jeremy took out his earbuds, looking around the half full cafeteria. According to experience, the now quiet murmur of talking would quickly become a loud clash of voices and yells. The fluorescent lights from above shined on the bland combination of light blue walls and beige and salmon colored floor tiles. Oddly cold, the lack of heat combined with the tacky color choices gave the huge room an unnerving feeling.

“What’s wrong with the atmosphere?” Jeremy asked, equally sarcastic. “This design is used in the country’s finest asylums.”

“I knew they were making us crazy,” Cassie said. “Hey, sorry to change topic, but what happened Friday?”

A sudden chill went down Jeremy’s spine. “What do you mean?” he replied, stalling. He hadn’t yet figured out if he was going to tell anyone. The fear Monty put into his head made him hesitate telling, including to his best friend.

”Should I tell her?”

“You went with that office assistant and I didn’t see you the rest of lunch. What’s going on?”

''”No. Not yet.”''

“She escorted me to the nurse’s office. They wanted me to take some weird health survey. Beats me what it was all about.”

''”Crap! She won’t believe that.”''

“Oh… okay,” Cassie shrugged, digging into her pizza. A sense of relief fell over Jeremy as he finally sat down. “Hey, did you do the history homework for today?”

“Sure, and I’ll gladly give it to you, for a price,” Jeremy said, faux-menacingly.

“How about me driving you almost everyday day to school so that you don’t have to take the bus?” Cassie said smugly.

“Curses, guilt wins again.” Jeremy reached into his backpack, pulling out a pair of slightly crumpled papers. As both Cassie and Jeremy could testify, there was no time better to finish homework than the period right before. It wasn’t uncommon to see tables of kids huddled around books, copying answers, finishing the work they should have done the night before.

As Jeremy handed the papers over to Cassie, he saw a figure out of the corner of his eye. Looking over, he saw the office administrator, the same one that Cadence had impersonated, walking toward him.

''”Wait, now? Already?”''

“Hello, Jeremy,” she said, placing a hand delicately on his shoulder. “I need to talk to you for a second.”

“Uh… okay,” Jeremy said, giving a confused shrug to Cassie. “I’m just gonna leave my stuff here, okay?” he told Cassie, who nodded in response. He got up, and he and Cadence walked through the cafeteria, seemingly making their way to the office. Jeremy glanced back at Cassie over and over again, and when she was finally out of eyesight, he started talking.

“What’s going on?”

“It’s time for your first test,” Cadence said, walking close enough to Jeremy to allow them to whisper. As they walked into the halls, she gradually dropped the older lady facade in her voice, talking in a more direct, controlled tone. “We’re going to be taking you to our facility to test your power.”

Jeremy was now nervous. “Wait, now? I still have classes. I can’t just leave in the middle of the day. What about all my things? Can I go back to get them?”

“Don’t worry,” Cadence said. “It will be like you never left.”

“What? You’re gonna turn into me and take all my classes?” Jeremy asked sarcastically, before the realization kicked in. “Oh god, is that what you’re going to do?”

“Hmm, clever idea,” Cadence said, as calm as Jeremy was erratic. “But don’t worry, you’ll be back in time for all your classes.” The two had taken the same path as last time, leading to the same exit to the back lot. Cadence held the door open, as she did the first time. “You ready?”

Jeremy was hesitant. It all at once hit him what might happen. He wondered what Cadence meant when she said they were testing him. Why were they testing him? To prove what? Were they dangerous? Could he die? A million thoughts ran through Jeremy’s head, all telling him to turn around and run.

Against his better judgement, Jeremy walked outside.

---

“You know, I expected something a little more stylish than a black minivan,” Jeremy quipped from the back seat.

“We have to be as conspicuous as possible, Jeremy,” Cadance said, driving. “Sorry we didn’t live up to your expectations.”

“Conspicuous? You guys were in a convertible last time.”

“We had to make a good first impression.”

“And a crappy second one?”

“Well, glad to see you’re not nervous anymore,” Cadence said.

Taken aback by her comment, Jeremy withdrew himself back in his seat. Cadence was wrong. Jeremy was more than nervous; inside, his mind was screaming. He was terrified of what he got himself into. As far as he knew, he could be dead by the end of the day.

But he didn’t show it. He learned a long time ago to bury what bothered him deep and to not let it show on his face. The jokes and snark were his only ways of coping with the situation.

“So… how much longer ‘til we’re there?” Jeremy asked, trying to calm himself.

“It’s still ten minutes, but if you look out the window, you can see our company’s building,”

Squinting past the tintened windows, Jeremy finally noticed a building. It was massive, big enough to take up nine city blocks, and at least five stories tall. The lack of anything around it save for open fields of grass and the occasional tree further emphasized the size. It was bleached white, without any signs or names. In the fields of nature, this giant, cubic monolith was hard to miss.

“I’ve never seen this building before,” Jeremy said in awe.

“This road was, and I guess is, a dead end,” Cadence said. “No one lives remotely close to here. We like to make ourselves as isolated as possible.”

“I hear that,” Jeremy said.

The rest of the trip was silent. Jeremy just watched as the building grew with each mile driven. Soon, it took up all the whole windshield, as it expanded and occupied more of the horizon. Finally, Cadence parked the car, and the two of them got out.

“Welcome, Jeremy,” Cadence said, waving her arm as if presenting the building. “Welcome to TCAG.”

“Ah, so nice to see you again, Jeremy!” Monty said warmly, giving Jeremy a handshake so firm he thought his fingers would break. “I trust Cadence has shown you around?”

“Yes, she has,” Jeremy answered. After walking into the building, Jeremy and Cadence found themselves in a large corridor, with stairs leading up to the second floor, and three elevators to ascend higher.

The first floor, as Cadence explained, held the laboratories they used to discern gene sequences, finding potential candidates, and narrowing down what genes were affected.

The second floor held dormitories. “Sometimes, when people receive their powers, their families don’t take to their new abilities well,” Cadence explained. “Often times, they’re kicked out and forced to live on the street. We provide refuge to those like us. We take care of our own.”

And the third and final floor, the one Jeremy was currently on, was known as the training floor.

“That’s very good to hear,” Monty said, beaming with a smile. “Do you have any questions?”

“A few, honestly,” Jeremy said, trying to piece together the room they were in. Looking around the small, dark space, only about twice the size of his bedroom, Jeremy expected something bigger. One wall was covered in small computer screens, all of them lifeless, with buttons and microphones placed in between them. In the middle of these screens was a large window, showing a huge, empty white room. Next to the windows and screens was a door, leading to the large room. This busy wall aside, the only other objects in the room were two office chairs, both facing the window. “First of all, what’s TCAG?”

“The Conditioning and Advancement of the Genetically different,” Cadence clarified. “It’s a reference to the genetic sequence we all share. It obviously goes on much longer, but the sequence starts with T-C-A-G, and ends with G-A-C-T.”

“Ah, makes sense, I guess,” Jeremy said, going with the flow. He glanced at his phone, noting that it was already too late for him to get back to school. Normally a ball of nerves, Jeremy strangely found himself relaxed. “And two, what do you guys mean by ‘training room’?”

“Well, just stand back and watch,” Monty smirked. He pressed a small button on one of the control panels, causing a muffled alarm sound coming from the adjacent room. Jeremy watched a girl about his age walking from the one side of the room to another, close enough now to see clearly from the window

“Alright, Mariah,” Monty said, speaking into one of the microphones. “We’re going to do exercise seven. Understood?”

The girl nodded, and took a stance. Jeremy watched her torso expand and contract, as her breaths becoming deeper and longer. As she fluttered her eyes close, it hit Jeremy what she was doing.

She was doing exactly what he did when about to fly.

“Unleashing the targets, now.”

At the command, a number of targets appeared from every side of the room. They were steel squares, about a meter wide on each side, painted red, and moved back and forth, as if they were waving.

“Begin.”

Mariah opened her eyes, and smirked.

Her hands, now glowing a light blue aura, started shooting ice at the targets. Blocks of ice as big as basketballs were flung at speeds comparable to a shotgun.

Mariah moved back and forth, arms in constant motion, hitting every speck of red she saw.

Jeremy, amazed at her speed, tried to visually keep up with her moves, but found himself lagging behind by three shots.

She continued firing for what felt like ten minutes. She slowed down in exhaustion, her balls of ice becoming smaller, but she kept going.

Until finally, someone spoke.

“Time!” Monty yelled in the microphone.

All at once, Mariah stopped. Her hands began to go back to their original, tan color. Her body, once fast and quick, was now overexerted. She fell to her knees, putting her hands on her thighs, breathing heavily.

Cadence and Monty, both at monitors, began taking and sharing notes.

“In one minute, Mariah shot fifty-six times, and hit the targets all but once,” Cadence said, showing a screen to Monty.

”One minute!” Jeremy thought. ”That felt so much longer!”

As the two continued comparing notes, Jeremy looked at Mariah in the mirror. Her ice caused a thick layer of condensation on the windows, but Jeremy could still make out her figure. After walking up to the window, she grabbed a water bottle from under it, and downed the whole thing in one go. She then did the same with two more.

“Alright Mariah, please come in,” Monty said. Mariah stepped into the small office, finishing a fourth bottle. “Well done, Mariah, you've beaten your record for speed. You shot-”

“Yeah, I shot fifty-six times, but I still missed one,” Mariah say, her voice a combination of exhaustion and annoyance. “Last time I was perfect.”

“Now, don’t worry,” Monty said, meeting her tone with his typical kind candor. “This isn't a competition. No need to beat yourself up about anything.”

“Alright, fine,” Mariah said, still annoyed. As she wiped her forehead of sweat, she finally noticed Jeremy standing in her periphery. “Who is this guy?”

“This is Jeremy,” Cadence said, stepping in. “Jeremy, this is Mariah. She’s one of our residents here at TCAG. As you saw, like you, she has her own special abilities.”

“Nice to meet you,” Jeremy said, extending a hand.

“Likewise,” Mariah said hurriedly, ignoring his hand. “Can I go again, Monty?”

“Not yet,” Monty said. “Jeremy is here to do his first test.”

Suddenly, Jeremy remembered why he was here. Somehow, he had completely forgotten his anxiety, which now flared back up as intense as before. Being overwhelmed with nerves again, Jeremy’s face dropped from the awe of seeing Mariah to outright fear.

“Oh, don't worry,” Monty said, reading Jeremy’s face. “You’ll be just fine. We’re just gonna test how high you can fly, and your agility in the air. You have nothing to worry about.”

These reassuring thoughts didn't penetrate his now panicked brain. Just like that, all at once, Jeremy was back to being scared.