The Academy: Book 1 (17 page)

             
“I don’t think that those were raccoons,” Asa said, brushing dust off of his pants. “Just like I don’t think the chaperones are people. Both aren’t normal.”

             
“In what ways? What do you mean?” Teddy asked.             

             
“I’m not sure yet,” said Asa. “I need more time to think about it.”

             
They followed the appropriate line on the floor until they found the auditorium. This, like the nurse’s station, was impossible to miss. It reminded Asa of the opera house that Lincoln had been shot in. As he entered, even though he was dressed on par with all the other Fishies, the elegance of the room made him feel slightly embarrassed of his casual attire..

             
In the front was a great wooden stage, lit by carefully hidden and powerful lights. A red curtain, thick and luxurious, hung solidly from the ceiling. In front of the curtain, was a simple glass podium. Asa could see that there were papers atop the podium by looking through the bottom. Soft, red, silky fabric covered the audience seats.

             
Asa and Teddy found their seats close to the back of the room, and waited for the rest of the people to trickle in.

             
It wasn’t long before the auditorium was filled with the sounds of chattering, excited voices and people who wouldn’t sit still in their seats. Everyone was talking at an acceptable volume, but still, the room grew loud. The sounds the voices stacked on top of each other until the entire room was filled with a roar.

             
Asa and Teddy weren’t talking. They were both too engrossed in their thoughts to speak. Teddy looked pale.

             
Asa found that his heart was thudding hard and fast in his chest cavity. He ran his hands along his ribs and found the knob along his left side where his rib had broken when he fell from The Tower. He had so many questions, and he wondered which ones, if any, would be answered at this assembly.

             
He thought about the raccoons driving the car. They were unnaturally smart, and unnaturally coordinated. They honked at Asa and Teddy as they drove by as a sort of
deliberate communication
. Raccoons, in the wild, do not perform methods of deliberate communication; and even if they do have the occasional growl at a predator that says
back off,
it is nothing as complex as honking a horn. Even humans forget to honk their horn sometimes when it is appropriate.

             
Asa knew two things about the raccoon situation: he knew that these raccoons were
different
than normal raccoons, and that he has only encountered these different raccoons in the Academy. Therefore, it is easy to suppose, the Academy must
make
the raccoons to be that way; they must
change
them in some way.

             
Asa thought about this as he continued to rub the place on his chest where his rib had been broken. He thought about that day when he fell from The Tower. On that day, the crow had watched him, identified a dangerous situation, and then went and procured Asa’s mother. Asa thought that someone must have
changed
that crow too.

             
Asa added this theory to his current ones about the black, winged creatures. In his mind they were now either demons, angels, or, simply,
changed
.

             
The possibility of someone or something or some odd series of mutations manipulating a crow so that it was smarter was plausible to Asa. He didn’t understand
how
it could happen, but he thought that it
could
happen, especially given the odd circumstances that he was in. But what Asa puzzled over the most was the
why?
The crows obviously favored Asa, so the question became;
why would someone or something change the crows so that they favored me?
He did not know. If the Academy could manipulate animals, why would they manipulate them to protect Asa? And, beyond that, if it were an act of natural selection that the crows wanted to be Asa’s defenders, what was the reproductive value in that?

             
Asa turned to Teddy. His mouth was slightly dry. The hall was almost full now. “Teddy, there are crows in North Carolina, right?”

             
“Yeah,” he said, nodding. He was hunched over in his chair, looking at his feet.

             
“Have they ever acted…” Asa paused, looking for a safe word to give—“odd?”

             
Teddy looked at Asa, and for a second, Asa thought Teddy would open his mouth and say—
yes, they defend me. They obey me.
But he did not. All he said was—“Uhhh, are you feeling okay, Asa? You’ve been pale since we left the nurse’s station.”

             
Asa did not acknowledge this; he continued on—“Teddy, do any animals act in an odd way around you?”

             
“No, Asa. What are you talking about? Are you sure that you’re feeling all right?”

             
Before Asa could answer, he became aware that a silence had filled the hall. There was a man standing atop the stage with his hands behind his back. He was built like a soccer player, short and stout. His eyes barely made it over the podium. His head was bald, and his lips were thin and barely noticeable. When he opened his mouth to speak, and revealed his black gums, Asa let out an audible groan of fear. Teddy looked over at him and Asa covered his mouth.

             
The man spoke in a smooth Latino accent, emphasizing each word and syllable sharply: “Hello. My name is DeAngilo Montague. It is so great to have you with us today. Years and years ago, I was introduced to the Academy. The feelings I had must have been similar to the ones you are feeling right now; anxiety, apprehension, excitement.

             
“I understand that this is an exciting experience for all of you, and that you are desperately waiting to learn more about this wonderful place. I know I was when I first arrived. The Academy is the most wonderful place in the world, and you should feel honored to sit in the seats that you do today.

             
“What is about to happen next will be even more of an honor—you are about to be greeted by one of the most important, powerful men to walk the face of the earth. You may not know about him, but I assure you, the policies and decisions that he has made have had an impact on every life in here.”

             
DeAngilo Montague smiled and let that soak in to the audience. He still had his hands behind his back, and his feet were kept at a wide, athletic stance. He had a low center of gravity and appeared to be impossible to knock over.

             
“Without further wait, I now present to you
THE
president of the Academy: Hubert Boistly!”

             
There was an obligatory applause throughout the audience as the next man took the stage. After being introduced as one of the most powerful men in history, the first impression that he made was disappointing. He was goofy. He walked in a way that exerted energy where it was not needed. His hands swayed loosely out from his body, his feet slapped the ground hard, and his head bobbed as he walked. He had an enormous, balding head, with strawberry blonde hair that made a horse shoe shape around the backs and sides. He smiled and showed a gap in between his top front teeth. He was outrageously tan, and he waved an oversized hand at the audience in a clumsy fashion. He looked like an oversized puppy that had not yet gained necessary motor skills. Except, he was a full-grown man of at least fifty.

              DeAngilo Montague gave a slight bow to the president of the Academy and walked off the stage. He had beautiful movements, like a ballerina dancer.

             
Hubert Boistly took the podium, and stood behind it, looking out at his audience. Joy seemed to be bubbling up from inside him, and he was bouncing on his feet, smiling, showing that a huge gap in his teeth that Asa could see even from the back of the room. His giant, uncontrolled hands were gripping the thin glass podium and Asa half expected it to break under the man’s uncoordinated movements.

             
“Howdy,” President Boistly said, and he smiled some more.

             
Asa didn’t want to come to hasty conclusions, but he was struck with a thought—
If the Academy can afford golden doorknobs, could they not find anyone better to be the president.
Asa pushed the thought away. He hadn’t heard the man speak yet: maybe he was brilliant.

             
It turned out, though, that Asa’s first instinct about the man was correct.

             
“My name is Hubert Boistly, and I’m the president here at the Academy.” He had a slight Southern draw. “I’ve been the president here for a number of years, and I am excited, and enjoyed to see new young men and women eager to join our organization.

             
“First thing first, I suppose. Let’s address the question that’s on everyone’s mind—what the heck is this place?” he chuckled to himself, and everyone else remained silent. Hubert Boistly, one of the most important people on earth, didn’t seem to notice. “Well, it’s The Academy. This is not only the most secretive organization in the world, but it is also the most powerful and the richest. I can guarantee you that. And you are a very important part of it.

             
“The Academy is, at its core, a humanitarian organization. Now, I’m not going to go into specifics as to what we do, but I will say this—without us, the world would be in trouble. You can imagine us to be a policing agent in the world to catch bad guys.”

             
Asa and Teddy shared a look. The man was being incredibly vague.

             
Hubert readjusted his tie—he didn’t look like a man who was comfortable with formalities. “Now,” he went on. “I’m gonna address the second question that’s probably on your minds—President Boistly, if this place is so important, what the heck am I doin’ here?” Again, Hubert Boistly laughed at himself, and again, the audience remained silent. He didn’t seem to notice, though. It was as though he were giving the speech alone in an empty closet. He wasn’t paying any attention to the feedback he was receiving.

             
“That’s a good question. Great question, in fact. And, unfortunately, I can’t give you a great answer. This place is very secretive, as you know. The Academy has more influence on world politics on ongoings than any other organization, and no one knows about it! Wow! Just think about that! And so, for an organization to keep up that kind of secrecy, it has to take some extreme measures. One of those measures that might not make sense to you unless you have a deep understanding of how secret this place actually is, is the fact that many of the members of the Academy aren’t given very much information. Many members of The Academy don’t even know what The Academy
does.
But they still work hard for it every day of their lives. Information regarding this place is only given on a need to know basis—only those at the very top of the food chain can even begin to grasp what this place does.

             
“So, with that being said, I hope that you will be able to forgive me for not giving you all the details. Since information is given on a need to know basis, I’ll tell you what you need to know.

             
“You may have heard the word ‘Fishies’ around here. That’s you. Y’all are Fishies. And what it means is that basically, you are the newest members of the Academy. You are in training.

             
“Now, The Academy is divided up into Five Mountains, as you may have noticed. I am about to tell you about four of those. The fifth mountain, the biggest one, the Southern-most one, I will not discuss with you today because you do not currently need to know about it.

             
“The smallest four mountains all house students. Currently, we are standing in Mountain A. You will reside in mountain A for a full six months, and then a new group will take your place. For the six months following that, you will reside in Mountain B, and so on and so forth until you get to mountain D, which will be in one and a half years, if you make it. You will reside there for an additional six months, and, if you pass, you will be offered some kind of position here, working for The Academy, and its parent company.

             
“The Academy is a school, and you have now begun a two-year weeding out process. You are currently in the most intense program that any human has ever undergone. I can assure you of that.

             
“These next two years will be a test for every student in this room. Your intellectual abilities, physical capabilities, and judgment will all be tested in ways that you never thought possible. Many of you will die. Many of you will not pass. Less than a quarter of you will graduate.

             
“But no matter the case, you will learn a lot, and you should feel honored to be in such a place.