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Family Affairs
Chapter Two: Simulation
Alaric had trouble sleeping that first night. Dreams of his mother and other vague disturbing images kept waking him all night. The new bed didn’t help either. They finally stopped halfway through the night and he finally got some rest.
“Wake up, sweetie.”
Sunlight poured through the window and onto the bed. The velvet curtains of the bed had been pulled back since Alaric wasn‘t used to them, allowing the sun to shine with all it’s glory. He had turned his head away from it, but now someone was trying to ease him away.
“Five more minutes, mom…” he groaned, half-asleep.
Something warm suddenly moved against him and someone was softly petting his hair and face. Turning around, he slowly opened his eyes to see the close-up of someone’s black shirt. Looking up, Alaric saw Marianne smiling at him. Blinking in surprise, he automatically tried moving away, but his sister simply wrapped her arms around him.
“What’s wrong?”
Alaric just blinked at her, blushing slightly. No one’s ever been this close to him except his mother. Marianne continued to smile and kissed his forehead.
“We have lots to do today, Alaric” She said as she released him and sat at the edge of the bed.
Alaric noticed she was wearing all black and boots. Curiously, he sat up and noticed some clothes folded at the end of his bed that were also black.
“Like what?”
She grinned, Remember when I told you our Father is head of a company that helps out the government?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, he also trains special agents for the government as well. Like the spies you see on T.V.”
Alaric looked at her in disbelief, “Spies?”
“Yes. Now, Father wants you to train to be a special agent too.” Marianne stood as Alaric eyes widened in surprise.
“What?!” Alaric said, feeling as though he was still dreaming.
His sister just laughed at him. “Don’t worry, you come from a line of very talented agents. Take me for instance.”
“You’re a spy?!” Alaric said, looking at her in surprise.
Marianne laughed again and walked towards the door, “Get dressed, honey. There’s lots for you to learn and today‘s just the first day.”
She winked at him before walking out and shutting the door behind her. Getting out of bed, Alaric went over to his new clothes and looked at them in disbelief. They indeed looked like “spy” clothes. The boy didn’t know what to think. Him, a secret agent?! This had to be a dream.
The elevator finally stopped and Alaric pulled back the railing and stepped into a large hallway with steel walls and concrete floors. There were people in white coats and others in the same type of clothing he wore as well as business looking people.
Marianne put a hand on his shoulder, “Follow me.”
She walked down the hall for a while, Alaric following closely and looking through all the windows on the doors that led to rooms on the left and right. Some were labs while other’s were classrooms. The boy was so interested in them that he bumped into Marianne when she stopped suddenly. Marianne giggled at him as he stumbled back.
“We’re here, silly.”
She pointed to one of the doors to the right. Opening it for him, Alaric walked in to find himself inside a small classroom, chalkboard an all. Two pairs of eyes looked at him. One was a girl with black hair in a two pigtails, her matching eyes narrowed at him. She looked slightly older than him. The other pair, he had seen before. Golden brown orbs watched him impassively, the same he had seen in behind that door yesterday. They belonged to a young boy with short bright red hair, looking along the same age of Marianne. Both of them were dressed exactly like he was.
Alaric looked at them nervously for a moment before his sister put a hand on his shoulder.
“Listen up! This is my little brother, Alaric. Starting today, he is your new classmate. Treat him like you would treat yourself when you first was enrolled.”
Alaric was surprised at how adult and commanding she talked. Looking up at her, he saw that she looked more serious, her smile gone and her eyes more stern. It was like she changed into another person. Looking back at the others, Alaric noticed the girl didn’t look too happy about this as she crossed her arms and sat down, a frown on her face. The boy’s expression did not change, however, and he remained standing, leaning against the back of his chair with his hands in his pockets.
“A new one, eh?”
Alaric looked around to see an middle aged man enter the room behind them, closing the door. He looked very weathered with his tired brown eyes and white hair mixed with the dark. There was a thin scar across his left eye and looked very much in shape in his tight black t-shirt. In his hands was a black briefcase.
Marianne smiled at him, “Yes, sir. Alaric has finally joined the family business.”
Alaric didn’t know what to say to that…after all, he never knew about the “family business” till this morning.
The man approached and leaned down to get a good look at the boy. The boy swallowed and found himself looking at the floor, away from this man’s piercing gaze.
“Much too old. He’ll have trouble adjusting,” he finally concluded, looking back to Marianne.
“Father wants him to try out the new changes in the Program today.”
Alaric blinked and looked at his sister in confusion. “Program?”
Her face had changed again, looking serious and stern as the older man frowned at her.
“It’s too much for his first day. It would--”
Marianne cut him off, “It’s what Father wants, Garson. I would have waited myself, but he wants to see if the boy has the potential he’s looking for.”
Garson scratched the back of his head, “Without training, he’s just a child.”
Marianne just shrugged, “Maybe he’ll surprise us.”
At that, she looked at Alaric and gave him a smile. Her brother just blinked at her, not understanding how he could possibly surprise them and with what?
Garson grunted, “Very well. But I’ll just put him through the simulation. Anything else might kill him.”
With that he walked away and Alaric’s eyes went wide. “Kill? This could kill me?!”
Marianne saw the look, and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, “Don’t worry, now come with me.”
She firmly steered him to the back of the room where there was another door leading to another place. The other two in the room just watched them leave, the pigtailed girl smirking. Garson was unlocking the door as the two of them approached. Opening it for them, Marianne and Alaric entered a strange room. A dark room with only the light being the eerie blue glow from the seven computer monitors against the walls in strange black booths.. They looked like arcade machines, each monitor had a mechanical chair in front of them, similar to like the ones in driving arcade games, except these had headset devices attached at the top. These headsets themselves looked strange, with weird black veils of a cloth he’s never seen before. There was wires running along the veil‘s length.
The man named Garson, who seemed to be the person in charge of this room, went over to the nearest one and typed something on the keyboard in front of the monitor, and the screen turned from plain blue, to black with green text. As Alaric approached them, he now realized how much it looked like a virtual reality machine like the ones he’s seen in movies. Along the inside of the chair was small lighs runing across lines that resembled the lines in microchips. Garson continued to type for a moment before he pulled back one of the armrests of the chair.
“Get in,” he said, staring at Alaric.
The boy stared at it, feeling fear and he looked up at Marianne for her approval. She just smiled and nodded to him. Swallowing hard, Alaric looked back to the large chair. Slowly, he walked forward and awkwardly sat down. As the man lowered the armrest, Marianne knelt down next to him on the other side of the chair. He jumped a bit when metal straps suddenly secured his wrists and ankles to the device. It was then he noticed that there was weird lights under where his hands rested on the armrests. He suddenly felt like a prisoner.
“Listen, Alaric. I won’t lie to you…this is going to be scary. Just try your best .Remember, it’s only a simulation.” his sister told him, her voice gentle and comforting as Garson started up the machine, which now gave off a soft humming noise and gently vibrated under the boy.
“But…what am I supposed to do?!” Alaric said fearfully, not quite sure what he had gotten himself into as he looked at Marianne.
She smiled to him as Garson lowered the headset, adjusting it to his small height, though not much since it seemed the machine was meant for children. His head was forced to look forward as it was secured around his head. The veil covered his eyes and he now only could see tiny lights zoom across the fabric in multiple horizontal lines. He couldn’t see anything pass the cloth.
“Survive for as long as you can.”
Alaric’s heart stopped at those words, but then suddenly a blinding white light flashed before his eyes.
When he reopened his eyes, he found himself standing in a strange room. He was surrounded in gray wall and though he could see no visible source of light, the room was illuminated .Looking up, he saw that there was no ceiling, just blackness that extended forever…like space except without stars. There was nothing around him except the extremely tall walls and the gray floor. There was an opening in the walls, however, that seemed to lead to hallway that pretty much looked the same. Looking at himself, he noticed his appearance hadn’t changed at all and, as he ran his fingers through his hair, it was hard to tell that this wasn’t real. It all definitely felt real.
Of course, he soon realized that this wasn’t such a great thing. As the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, he had the terrifying feeling that someone was behind him, though he was quite sure there was nothing there when he looked a moment ago except the wall. Though nearly paralyzed with fear, the nine year old boy managed to slowly turn around….
His screams that followed were unheard and he soon realized that pain in this world felt very, very real.
Marianne was, once again, in her father’s study, but this time standing in front of his desk. The intimidating man sat facing the window, his hands intertwined as he watched over the late afternoon view of his grassy and tree filled grounds. The setting sun filled the room with crimson and gold light.
Marianne kept an impassive expression as she looked at the back of his chair.
“Surprisingly well. Survived up until an hour ago. Eight hours, a record for someone with no training.”
“How did he perform?” Alastor asked, not sounded at all impressed at his son.
Marianne sighed, “He ran and evaded. He didn’t fight back once, but his will to live is extremely strong. Took severe damage and still lasted for hours.”
Her father‘s voice hardened, “I will not have a coward for a son. I want that changed, Marianne.”
“Yes, daddy. At once.” Marianne lowered her head and turned to leave.
“What’s his condition now?” He suddenly asked as she reached the door.
His daughter stopped and turned to him, her hand on the doorknob, “He’s in a light coma, the simulation of death being too much for his young mind. However, the doctors say he will wake sometime tomorrow with no brain damage or permanent psychological damage. He may not even remember any of it.”
“I see. When he does wake, I want him training Marianne. Not at the same level as the others, but at the level you trained. He must excel above everyone, including yourself.
“Understood.”
When her father said no more, she opened the door and left.
A bird flew by the window and Alastor smirked. He had plans for his only son…
To be continued…
