“Timbers, you okay?”
Tim focuses on Chris who’s beside him, holding his shoulders. He stares at him, focusing to calm his erratic heartbeat and frenzied nerves. Tim remembers the endless calculations, the hacking, each screen disappearing, a new one appearing. Pain pounds in Tim’s head and he holds it in his both hands.
“Timothy,” A firm voice makes Tim look up at Ignyter. “Calm down, deep breaths.”
Tim complies, inhaling and exhaling. He struggled to compose himself but all he could feel was exhaustion. “How long was I out?” Tim asks, raising his head.
“An hour,” Ignyter grimly replies. “Chris got out about 20 minutes ago.”
“I only had one test,” Tim says, shaking his head to clear the frenzy. “Were there supposed to be more?”
“There should’ve,” Stryker says slowly. “But you’re not the first to have it.”
“I think Thieves said he had only one test for his diagnostic,” Ignyter says slowly. “There’s really no fail or pass, Timothy,” He says softly. “This is just an assessment for the Commander to see.”
Tim looks at him, small relief blossoming in his chest.
“Anyway, important question is, what were you doing in there?” Stryker asks. He’s spinning a knife around his fingers, letting it balance while spinning it on his knuckles.
Tim tries to remember. “I was solving puzzles and codes,” He says. “Well, puzzles inside the codes,” Tim begins to run on. “Some of them were super hard to crack and I just kept trying; like my brain went on autopilot,” Tim shakes his head. “Some of them were just foreign language; neither human or Nova codes; I don’t even remember.”
“Sounds like the serum was testing Tim for all four assessments,” Ignyter says, plucking the knife from Stryker’s hand. “Anyhow, I’ll send a copy to Thieves and see what he got to say.”
“You have it recorded?” Tim asks, more awed than feeling his privacy invaded. The technology the Resistance has are all such a surprise and Tim itches to try them. The Resistance wearn't some half-assed society Tim thought they were. They had their gadgets, they wearnt some dreamers. “How are they recorded?”
“These patches,” Stryker pulls off a patch from Tim’s spine. “Record your vital pulses as well as give us the data of what your head is going through which allows the monitor to send an episode of your simulation to the monitor,” He jerks his chin at the computer behind the glass wall in the other room.
Tim feels the patches on his skin peel off and he stares at them. “I have so many questions,” Tim says and Stryker nudges Ignyter.
“I told him Thieves is gonna like him, what do you think?”
“Oh yeah,” Ignyter agrees, smiling. “I can see that. Timothy, you also a tech junkie?”
“You kidding?” Tim says, excitedly. “I was a mechanic for Nova technology; of course I’m a tech junkie. I haven’t seen anything like this kind of tech. It’s so different and so much simpler.”
Tim grins at Chris who shakes his head, a fond look on his face.
“Alright Timothy, you can get dressed in your shirt now. I’ll do Timothy a favor and take him to Thieves where they can chat all they want and you take Chris around the HQ,” Stryker takes back his knife with a small shove at his twin.
“We,” Chris says and Tim looks at Chris questionably. The twins look at Chris too. “We don’t have a choice do we?” Chris says. “About choosing whether to be Fighters or not.”
“No, you guys don’t,” Ignyter’s voice is hard, unkindly. He doesn’t sound angry. “We saved your asses out there, in Genecis, the world’s most secured city. Now the only thing you guys can do is get trained by us and become Fighters. Plus, I figured you two harbor some strong hatred for the Nova like we all do.”
“It’s only right,” Tim says, lacing back on his boots after pulling on his shirt. “I’m fine with it,” Tim looks at Chris who looks at him. “As long as we’re out of that hell hole, I’m fine.”
Chris looks sheepish and Tim finally gets why he was so cynical. He ruffles the back of his own head. “I’m good too, I guess.”
Tim pretends he didn’t see Ignyter and Stryker share a long glance.
“Where has this kid been my whole life?” Thieves has Tim in a friendly headlock while Tim’s chuckling, looking sheepish. “He’s like a mini me!”
“Oh yeah, I can tell,” Stryker says with a grin. He’s sitting down at the edge of a table, arms and legs crossed. He’s been grinning since the moment Tim shyly introduced himself to Thieves.
Poor guy hadn’t noticed Tim for a few moments, too occupied with fixing a robot. Stryker cleared his throat, and the Elite member turned, goggles still over his eyes. He’d noticed Tim and his face had lit up. He’d just sat Tim down, asking him all sorts of questions to make sure Stryker brought the right kid. Tim assumed Thieves had heard about him. And being a technician and hacker himself, Tim was also excited to meet him. There was no one who seemed to understand what Tim was always trying to explain. No one who seemed so knowledgeable as him.
“He needs to be with me during his Cadet training,” Thieves says. “I’m pretty much the only mechanic and hacker in the Elite Corps, so it’d be great help if he was under me or something. You think Vice-Commander will let me?”
Stryker gives him a half-shrug. “Maybe. You’ve seen his diagnostic test right?”
Tim feels Thieves release Tim from his headlock and Tim looks at him. With the goggles still on, Tim can’t see what expression Thieves is making but he’s gone still. Then he looks at Tim, serious. “Timothy, have you ever seen the codes in real life? The ones you were trying to figure out in your simulation.”
Tim shakes his head. “No, I haven’t. I told the twins and Chris that they’re not human or Novian codes. They’re just these strange puzzles that had me under a vice.”
“I’ve looked at it more than once, and even for me, I can’t figure what they are. It’s like Timothy says,” Thieves pulls out something from his belt and it maximizes, tablet-sized, and he brings up Timothy’s simulation. “It’s not a language, I think, just complex puzzles.”
“The real question is, what’s the deal about it?” Stryker asks. “I sent it to you because you’re the only Fighter who’s ever got only one test under a simulation.”
“Well, yeah, that’s true,” Thieves says, slowly. “But I’m trying to say, I had the same simulation as Timothy did here.”
Stryker looks at Thieves. His mouth opens and closes and Tim finds himself wordless.
Thieves pats Timothy’s shoulder. “Call me crazy, but I think fate is pulling us together,” He says with a serious tone and Stryker slaps his hand on Timothy’s other shoulder.
“Don’t listen to him, he’s joking,” Stryker eases. He takes his hand off. “The same exact one?” He asks Thieves. “The whole static television surrounding, the codes, every detail?”
“A little different but they’re trivial details,” Thieves says, waving his hand in dismissal.
“You think it means something?” Stryker asks and Thieves shrugs.
“Can’t say. I’m a man of science, not some psychic stuff,” Thieves throws something and Tim barely catches it. It’s a thin card, slightly heavy and Tim looks at Thieves in question. Thieves grins and Tim can see a row of slightly jagged teeth. “Tuck it in your pants. There should be a slot. It’s a card to my workshop,” He dramatically spreads his arms over his head. “You can come in here whenever you like. If you get caught, tell them I gave you that card,” Thieves says with a grin. “You’re something, Timothy. Put it in use during your training.”
Tim nods, biting his lower lip. “But,” Tim starts, feeling nervous. “Everyone keeps saying that. That I’m something. But I don’t see how.”
Thieves cocks his head, making him seem owlish. “Well, for a record, you did manage to break down my encryption on the USB containing the Genecis Watchtower data. No one’s done that and you had under what, five minutes? That’s something, Timothy, if nothing.”
“Don’t feel too pressured,” Stryker adds and Tim feels some of the heavy burden on his chest lift as he smiles at them, grateful for their advice. “During your Cadet training, you’ll run into obstacles that just don’t fit with you. But you’ll excel in other areas others aren't good at. We’re just telling you to hone what you’re good at that others aren’t,” He says gently. “Not to pamper you with praise.”
Tim nods and grins. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
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