Citadel (Book 1): Training in Necessity (10 page)

This was the Citadel.  If that guy yesterday had gotten anything across to the trainees it was that failure just wasn't acceptable.  They must've had some reason for accepting Samantha for operative training, but Kelly was afraid that if she didn't start showing some kind of potential, they might decide they didn't want her anymore.  She had to help her friend, she'd spent most of their first class in Procedure thinking about it instead of listening to the instructor, but she couldn't figure out how.

"Hey Kelly." Hector said.  Well, one of him.  She could see two more waiting by the track.  He was still running in relays but he was also using fewer and fewer copies of himself to do it.

"Hi Hector.  What's up?"  She'd gotten her running form pretty much perfect.  She could keep this up all day now.

"Well, I saw you on the track and I was wondering..."  They passed Drew.  The guy still had maybe a little extra weight on him but the difference was incredible.  "You mind if I ask you something about your power?"

"Um, well, I guess that's okay."  He wasn't gonna get all weird, like Isaac, was he?  It was better than when she'd thought he hated her but the man just wouldn't stop asking questions.  Sometimes she was a girl, sometimes she was a boy, and a lot of her forms didn't even have a... well, genitalia.  When you could be anything, why not be everything?

"I've seen you flying, your two normal looks, this one and that big caveman looking thing you turned into.  What's your limit?"  That was actually kind of a good question.

"I don't really have one, not as far as I know."

"So you could do a dragon, like Kerry?"

She laughed.  "No.  Well, maybe.  Changing is..." Huh, she'd always just done it.  "Okay, this is kind of hard to explain."  She stopped circling the track and headed over to the Hector's that were waiting by the start.  She was pretty sure Coach Achala wouldn't mind.  It was obvious she wasn't getting anything out of this anymore and he was nothing if not practical.  The bastard.

"I'm not really sure what my limits are.  I mean, I can switch to anything I've been before without much effort but anything new is tricky."  She took a moment to consider the best way to explain.  "Okay, take my running form."  She was nearly eight feet tall.  Her skin was wrapped tight around muscle and bone, no fat at all.  She had thickened veins, an expanded throat and rib cage and really long legs.  The bones weren't quite hollow but they were a lot thinner and lighter than normal.  She'd totally gotten rid of the digestive system and a bunch of other stuff she didn't need.

"I basically started out in my girl shape.  Then I just sorta... tweaked it.  I did one little change after another until I had something that barely counts as human."

"Huh."  He rubbed his chin while he was thinking.  All three of him.  It was kinda cute.  "So if you don't have to be human, do you need to be something alive?"

"You mean could I be a chair or a table or something?" she asked him.

"I was thinking more like a rock, but yeah."

"I totally could."  She switched back to her normal shape.  "But not for long.  If it's not a shape that can... I guess last is the best way to put it.  If it can't last, anything without a brain and the ability to keep going on its own, I have to concentrate to keep it."  That sounded really weird when she said it out loud.

"So how long could you keep it up?"

"I don't know.  How long could you keep thinking of the color purple?"  She laughed.  "It's not hard or anything, but as soon as I let it slip, I snap right back to the last shape that could keep itself going."

"Kelly..." he looked really excited.  "Kelly, that's awesome!"

She heard Jenny and her group cheering from across the room.

"You basically just said you don't need your brain to think!  And you can make material that's not alive, like wood and metal and stuff, right?"

"Um, yeah?"  She didn't see what the big deal was.

"Okay, so a dragon is too tough because it's big and complicated and there's no way a regular animal could be like that."

"Right." she agreed.

"So what's stopping you from turning into something that looks like a dragon, just for a minute or two.  You could use titanium or diamond for the scales and we can look up some gas you could breathe that'd catch fire!"

"Holy shit..." she kept thinking about it, trying to see why Hector was wrong.  Her power couldn't possibly...  "Yeah.  I think... I think I could."  Oh wow, Kerry was gonna freak.  That George guy was always pissed at her because they had the same name, even though Kerry was way more of a dragon than him, but if Kelly could be one too...

"I mean, I've never done anything that big and I don't know how to do titanium scales... maybe if I could find a sample..." Okay, she'd basically need to eat or absorb the titanium or a diamond and that was just kind of gross.  But she'd only need to do that the first time.

"Thanks Hector.  I think that might really work."  He smiled back at her, a big happy grin.

"No problem.  I've been trying to figure out better ways to use my own power.  It got me thinking, I bet there's a lot of trainees that could be doing more with what they have."

She told Coach Achala what she needed and he gave her permission to skip training for the rest of the day, as well as directions.  She was halfway to the quartermaster's office before she realized.  This would make her stronger, maybe even as strong as Kerry, but it wouldn't help Samantha at all.

Training Area, Citadel Hub

Hector stood against the wall and watched as half of his class of trainees pummeled the others.  The victims were allowed to keep their heads uncovered now, and to dodge. 
This was one of the bad days.  Hector held his mother's hand while she twitched and trembled, unable to speak or take coherent action. 
  Technically, he was using his power, still forbidden.  However, he was careful not to watch himself fight and Coach Achala didn't seem to have a problem with his extra self watching the others.  Studying his classmates' fighting styles was a useful way to spend some time, but that wasn't the main reason he was here. 
He checked his mail.  Permission for training, in each of the dozen unarmed combat styles he'd applied for, was 'still pending.' 
  He split off a new self to do that, while he focused on the main reason he was there.  Hector shook his head and Jason pulled back, restraining the stomp that would've broken some of Jenny's ribs, maybe even punctured a lung.

For the others, taking off the hoods had made a major difference in the fight.  Some attackers were having a difficult time hitting as hard as they had last week.  Kicking a semi-anonymous opponent, when they couldn't fight back, was one thing.  Punching Greg or Kerry in the face was a different one. 
The cops hadn't found any sign of a forced entry.  No broken windows, damaged locks or the like. 
  Of course, so was breaking Duncan's nose.  Hector could tell that some people were holding back out of fear of retaliation.  Coach Achala would pull them aside, speak a few stern words, and their fights would be back on track.  Usually, they showed a lot more energy, if not actual enthusiasm.  Others held back out of compassion, not wanting to hurt someone they knew or liked. 
He held a damp cloth to her forehead.  She wasn't running a fever but it seemed to help, a little. 
It was different when you had to see the pain in their face.  Achala's words to those people were less stern, almost gentle, but they still found themselves forced to participate with the required... ferocity?  Yes, that seemed to be what the coach was seeking.

Coach Achala hadn't said a word to Jason.  He'd been paired with Jenny Awesome.  She was the fifth ranked combatant in their class and easily the most popular; no one had challenged her yet. 
Rick had decided that it must've been an inside job.  Maybe it was because Hector was the one who'd arrived first, or maybe Rick just didn't like him, but the manager seemed to have decided he was guilty.
  Hector didn't think that was because people were scared of her.  Most either liked her, and didn't want to fight her, or realized that winning would cause a good third, or more, of the other trainees to hate their guts.  He shook his head again and Jason refrained from punching her in the back of her neck.  Hector watched as a healer intervened, fixing the knee that Jason had just disabled.  This was why Hector was here.

He and Jason had talked about the issue more than once, since last week. 
Hector had already certified on small arms, extendable batons and unpowered body armor.  Why was this the one area, maybe the most useful one, where he had to wait for approval? 
 The other boy seemed to trust Hector's opinion.  He was willing to believe that he was going too far during the fight training.  Jason just couldn't seem to get where the line was.  So, this was the compromise.  Jason would go all out, the same as he had been before, and Hector would watch. 
He used a napkin to wipe the spittle from the corner of her mouth.  The soup he'd made still sat on its tray, untouched.
  When he saw his strange friend about to go too far, he gave a signal and the other pulled back.  Jason's knee crashed into Jenny's groin.  She fell to the ground, screaming, and Hector shook his head, frantic.  Jason pulled back without kicking her in the head.

It was a little surprising.  Hector hadn't realized a woman would be so sensitive to blows in that area. 
Next week's schedule was posted.  Not only were the best shifts gone, no opening or closing, but his hours had been cut almost in half. 
He thought of Kelly and wondered... Nah.  Kind of weird though, Isaac had told him about their fight.  Even without his power, the big guy was good. 
Irritated, he pulled up the list he'd made and moved on to the next options.  He sent off applications for training with shock batons, pepper spray and restraint devices. 
 Hector could see him with another Strong type, ducking, turning and generally moving so that the other's blows either fell without full force or stuck him somewhere harmless.  Once, Isaac even managed to catch his opponent’s fist with the top of his head. 
The trembling fit was done.  His mother slept, exhausted.
 

Hector could hear the guy’s startled cry of pain.  Yet, he said Jenny had made him look like a fool.  Jumping between his arms, using his head and shoulders as a spring board...  The acrobatics could have been her powers, some sort of enhanced agility or balance, but the timing of it? 
It wasn't like he actually needed this job.  It'd be easy to find a replacement.
  Hector was sure that it had been the unexpected nature of her action that had shocked Isaac out of the mental state he needed to use his force field.  The minor injury he'd gotten, a split lip, had left him too confused to reenter it before she'd knocked him out.  It was too neat to be a coincidence.

She didn't show any of that prowess, now.  Jason's control and precision had improved over the last two weeks, but he was still a long way from skilled. 
He hated the days like this, when there was nothing he could do to really help her.  Maybe there was something different he should try?
  Anyone who could outmaneuver Isaac so easily should have been able to do the same to him.  Jenny's attempts to dodge his blows were completely ineffectual. 
He just hated losing a job like this.  Maybe there was something different he should try?
  Jason landed a kick to the back of her knee, sending her to the ground.  Hector shook his head when he saw Jason put his foot on her throat.  He stepped back without putting any weight on it. 
All of his remote applications for Citadel training in unarmed combat styles had been delayed.  Maybe there was something different he should try?
  Not for the first time, Hector wondered what Jenny's power was.  Observation wasn't telling him enough.  Maybe there was something different he should try?

Coach Achala called an end to the training exercise.  Jason helped Jennifer Awesome to stand, then moved to release her hands.  She did not thank him, her expression was strangely flat.  He was not close to her, not the way he was with Hector, but he appreciated the way her moods were normally so easy to decipher.  She was one of the few trainees that he was able to understand on a regular basis.  Usually, she was either happy, or a mixture of cheerful and determined.  He noticed one of his friend's bodies approaching, the one who had been signaling him during the training exercise, and remembered how he was supposed to end the session.

"I apologize if I was too rough, Jenny.  I assure you it is nothing personal.  Sometimes, I just get carried away during training."

She did not respond, at first.  When she did, it was quite surprising.  She turned to face Hector, and shouted at him.

"Back off!"

A few of the other trainees stopped what they were doing and turned to face her.

"No, no I'm fine." she said to them, her volume slightly above normal.  "I just... I wanted to talk to Jason, privately."

Jason had little trouble recognizing Hector's expression, 'nervousness.'  He, and the others, respected Jenny's request and moved further away, averting their faces.  Having gotten what she apparently wanted, Jenny did not yell at him, cry or try to hit him.  These had been the most common reactions from his training partners.  Though, in fairness, the intensity had decreased since Hector had begun guiding him.  She was just looking at him, staring.  Her eyes were open more widely than usual.  Other than that, she had resumed her flat expression.