Blind Sky

Derek and I followed Tadao as instructed to the large silver domed shaped building. We weren’t allowed to tour other parts of the building outside our bunk quarters, so we marveled at the large columns and white tiled hallway, but I was unable to truly appreciate the architecture because I was still upset, repelled by everyone’s lackluster behavior. There was no excuse for what the guard did.

I caught Derek’s awareness of my dilemma. Unfortunately, I was never good at hiding my discomfort. He supplied reassurance with a subtle smile, then a towering shadow in a full piece blue leather suite walked with precision down the hallway. The figure in the shadow approached, speaking with a robotic tone.

“Follow me,” she directed. No one flinched or peeped, and I deliberated walking away from training and the agency, but I made a commitment and had to see it through.

Derek had to be impressed and smitten because I noticed he smiled while inspecting her body. She seemed to ignore Derek’s attempt to flirt though, her coal black eyes rolling toward him with a guile of warning.

We continued down the hall, halting at the copious steel metal door that had to be at least 30 feet tall.

Tadao who’s been silent the entire time, placed his hand on the door which immediately opened.

Inside was spectacular and very modern, with high ceilings covered with a bounty of slender lighting sectioned in rows. And the bright green flooring that highlighted the soft white paint along the wall, was far more appealing than the gray walls in the small bunks we were subjected to.

A large rotating circle with the words LOGUE inscribed in the center of the floor stood out like a Giraffe in a small card board box. Once the rotation stopped, a blast of colorful assortment lit the room, bright and prominent, like a sea of fireworks on New Year’s Eve.

“Welcome recruits,” the voice over a loud speaker announced. “We are glad you are here because there are intolerable groups threatening our security and livelihood. Overtime you will become familiarized with our procedures and expectations. Don’t be alarmed. Training will be tough, but necessary for survival.”

“Sky to the left please,” the lady instructed. “Derek to the right, please. Physicals will be performed now.”

Robes were handed to us and we were summoned to individual rooms.

I stood on the circle platform which had a plush padding that absorbed nicely underneath my bare feet, wondering what was next, or how long they would keep Derek.

“Today, we’re doing something different,” Tadao advised. “Usually, I save this part of the training until the end, but I think both of you can benefit from this. Sky, Derek, each one of you will be placed in a chair, and Marina will give you a glass that has liquid inside. You will drink the liquid, and once it settles, you will experience temporary numbness and testing will begin.”

Tadao gave a nod to Marina, and she walked away, returning shortly with a white chair in hand.

“What exactly are you testing?” Derek asks.

“Tolerance,” Tadao replied. “There will be five levels of electric shocks administered, mild, transitional, intense, extreme and severe. Think of this as your advance course on enduring torture.”

“Sky, please take a seat in the chair.”

At Marina’s request I did so, pondering how much pain I could endure. My tolerance for pain was average, or so I assumed. A small wound or minor injury wouldn’t bother me, and any small scratch or scrape I might have had growing up was too trivial to compare to receiving electric shocks.

Derek arms were crossed, appearing more concerned and nervous than I was. He was a good friend for caring, and loved him dearly for it.

Marina placed the chair in the center of the Logue inscription, explaining some of the drills and requirements we would need to complete, which included simulators with gun battle, combat and weaponry training. “But those tests will be later,” she explained without even blinking.

She gave me a small cup the size of a shot glass with about enough liquid to finish with one sip. It looked like water, had no smell, or flavor, but trailed down my throat like an oyster, and almost immediately, a silver metal object shaped like a bracelet snapped around my wrists. Marina stood in front of me holding a miniature electronic notepad, then began typing, but nothing happened. I considered if what they were testing was merely a reaction until a sharp jolt striked my body.

Marina kept her face buried in front of the screen, while Derek watched nervously and Tadao stood to the side with his arms behind his back.

A few more jolts jerked my body intermittently, but I felt fine, until an unexpected shockwave of discomfort vibrated violently through my chest with the sensation of pins pricking my arms. My body began to shudder and shiver like falling into sub zero water temperature and the pain no longer felt like sharp stings piercing through skin, it was worse.

The feeling of sharp ice pricking my skin came to a halt, replaced by a dynamic force surging my body through a wind towel. Darkness traveled around me like the rings around Saturn, as my head spun around in circles. Then it all stopped abruptly, and my body throbbed and ached with drumming pulsation like a parade of elephants trampling on my head.

But it wasn’t over. A spasm of pain coursed and scraped across my abdomen. I tried to bear the persecution of being severed and shredded apart by piranha teeth ripping and tearing every piece of flesh connected to my body, and at that moment, I rather my body exploded than suffer through the experience of teeth slashing and hacking every layer of skin.

“Stop it. Stop it. Do something, you can’t just let her scream like this,” a voice shouted.

“If you’re not going to do something, I will.”

“She’s holding up well, a minute longer and she will make it through extreme,” another voice said.

“The hell I will. Her face looks like it’s about to explode.”

“Sky, snap out of it,” but I couldn’t, I continued to scream.

“Sky, Sky….it’s alright.” Warm hands continued to shake me back and forth.

“Are you alright? “Sky it’s me Derek. It’s alright, I’m here. “She’s had enough,” Derek bellowed.

Tadao glanced over at me, rubbing his chin like he did before. ”We will finish this tomorrow. Marina, release the locks,” and she does as Tadao ordered.

“This is crazy,” Derek shouted at Tadao.

“This is part of the training. It’s something everyone must go through. You are free to go, but Marina will arrive tomorrow morning at your bunkers to escort you back here.”

“What time?” Derek asked, but Tadao never answered his question.

“Can you believe him?” Derek mumbled. “He couldn’t even give us a time,” and Marina ignored his comment handing us newly packaged blue pants and t-shirts then exits the room.

“You alright?”

“I’m fine.” Derek was weary of my explanation, proceeding with a suspicious evaluation of my face, but quickly changes the subject.

“You hungry?”

I honestly didn’t have much of an appetite, but it could easily have been from the impact of being tortured by the feeling of my gut being ripped and shredded apart.

The cafeteria was the only place where all male and female recruits were not divided; at least that’s how it was arranged on our side of the facility, and as far as space was concerned, it was one of the few areas that didn’t skim on it.

There were two floors, each with a stationed kitchen and pleasantly up to par food. The breakfast selection varied from freshly toasted sandwiches on ciabatta, rye, whole grain bread, to chicken biscuits, bacon, eggs, hash browns, tortilla wraps, French toast, pancakes, and fruit salads.

The cafeteria was buzzing with a cluster of recruits shouting above one another, laughing and reciting lyrics of their favorite songs, which was as much entertainment as we could expect. Television, music, computers, lap tops and all other technological devices, except a one phone call per day authorization, was prohibited during training.

Misty spotted us signaling us over. “What happened to you guys? Where did they take you?” she asked.

I gave Derek a nervous smile and he read my mind immediately.

“Well, when you’re two of the best recruits here, they have to pull us aside to make the rest of you guys look good.”

“Oh please,” Misty snapped. “We haven’t even done evaluations yet, so don’t get ahead of yourself.”

I was used to Derek and Misty’s bickering, while the other five recruits sitting around the round table with disconcerting expressions remained quiet.

Misty put two fingers between her lips, whistled, then slapped her hands together. “Now that I have everyone’s attention, I would like for us all to get acquainted,” then goes on to introduce everyone.

“This is Lacey,” Misty announced. “Her father is the Chief of staff for the Australian Government.”

She crossed her arms in front of her giving me a forced smile, but I ignored her, though she perked up when Derek made eye contact, giving her a charming smile, which made her giggle like a school girl caught in a trance. And a guy with pallid skin and amber blonde hair sitting close to Misty sized Derek up giving Derek a scorn, but Derek oblivious, kept on ranting.

Claire had long hazelnut colored hair, bright cobalt eyes and greeted everyone in a more than overzealous voice.

“Did they take you guys to some secret part of the facility?” Claire questioned.

“Or to get rid of you,” Lacey interjected, tossing her medium length hair that was colored dark brown on top and blonde on the bottom.

She was annoying me, and the smug slander on her face only made me want to smack the condescending leer right off. “No, they just wanted to go over a few things with us,” I replied.

“So what are you guys, a pair of trouble makers?”

Misty got out of her chair running over to me. “Guys enough with the questionnaire, Sky’s my dearest and best friend, and she’s not a trouble maker. Now Derek on the other hand,” she said with hesitation, “that’s up for debate.”

“That’s a pretty name,” the guy sitting next to the girl with curly red hair commented.

I observed his face, bed of wavy curls, walnut colored skin, and deciphered that his remark sounded genuine, so I gave him a smile.

“It is, isn’t it,” Misty said with a smirk. Derek overheard the comment and took a seat next to him assessing him like an overprotective brother.

“So you like her name eh.”

“Yes. I said it was pretty.”

“What’s your name?”

“Lawrence,” he pronounced with confidence.

Misty turns and introduces us to Casey, the girl with the red hair, who had a sweet shy voice to match her adolescent round face, and Shirley temple colored hair, which was an example why you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. This girl seemed like the girl next door, who would babysit the neighborhood kids, not slaughter someone on request.

“Hey Misty, what about me? You forgot the most important person out of the bunch.”

“I was just getting to you. I was saving the best for last. Sky, Derek, this is Joshua,” taking a seat on his lap, which made his cheeks flush like a ripe tomato.

“That’s right,” he replied arrogantly, rubbing Misty’s back.

He seemed like a pompous jerk, taking note that he winked at Claire, and she seemed amused but remained quiet, only returning a flirty smile.

“It’s almost time to go. You guys going to eat or what?” Misty asked.

Despite not being hungry when I first walked in, the rumbling inside my stomach declared otherwise.

Suddenly, everything appealed to me, deciding on bread and an omelet, while Derek got his usual plate of French toast, scrambled eggs and bacon. I finished my breakfast taking a sip of my ice tea, but spit it out when my chair almost toppled over by guards rushing pass. Apparently, they were rushing to break up the brawl that broke out on the second floor, when another set of guards charged up the stairs to help.

Misty told me later that night, she overheard a group of guys making bets on who had better fighting skills, and probably the reason for the fight.

I closed my eyes thinking about my reality that was not a game, but a matter of life and death.