Chapter 3- The Ties of Relationships
"Good job, James. I think you really impressed us up there." Scott told him with a huge smile as he, Smith, and Amy walked towards James on the ground floor, not far from the fallen Sentential. "Thanks, I did my best. Amy? Were you watching too?" James began and then asked sheepishly. "I saw most of it. You did well." Amy replied without much emotion, yet a hint of a smile. "Uh, thanks." James responded with the faintest of blushes. "Well? No, kid, you did great! I admit, I didn't think you had it in you, but when you pulled that electrical surprise out at the end, I knew you were all business. Again, well done!" Smith acclaimed as he patted James on the back. "Wait a minute though, you said I used electrical tonfas?" James asked in confusion. "Of course, kid, there's no need to be modest now. Your weapons are charged with electricity. That's how you were able to decommission that Sentential. It's not cheating, don't worry. In fact, I thought it was interesting how you saved that as a surprise until it was needed. It was a good tactic." Smith stated with a continued grin.
"But that's just the problem. There's no electricity here at all. I'm just as surprised as you are to find out about that. These are just normal, metal tonfas. Maybe your machine malfunctioned when I hit it or something." James revealed. "Are you serious? Well, we'll look into it I suppose, but I think you're just messing with us." Smith scoffed as he folded his arms. "At any rate, that was a good audition up there, James. Smith, isn't there something else you want to add?" Scott asked his comrade. "Ah, yes. Malfunctions, surprises, or whatever, the point of the matter is that you made the team. Congratulations and welcome to Grayco!" Smith regained his smile and shook James's hand. "Awesome, it's an honor! So, um, what happens now?" James asked with joy as he shook Smith's hand.
"Well to start, we'll show you to your room here, in our facility. It's convenient that this is our main headquarters building, because we won't have to move you anywhere else. There are a number of other places around the country that other exceptional people like yourself will be staying, but you'll be right here." Smith told the boy. "You mean I'm going to be living here at Grayco?" James asked to clarify. "That's exactly right, kid! We'll have a room ready for you and everything. Primarily you'll be wearing your official uniform from here on out, but if there's any personal items you want from home, we can send people over to pick them up." Smith continued. "Ok, that sounds pretty cool. You want to write this down?" James responded. At that moment, there was a chime in the room, coming from Amy's cell phone.
"My apologizes." She coldly stated as she walked a few feet away. "Yes, what is it?" Amy asked into the phone as she answered it. "What?! What do you mean abnormal?" She exclaimed in suppressed shock into the device. "Yes… I see. I will inform Mr. Gray immediately. Goodbye." Amy finished as she clicked the device and dialed a different number. "Mr. Gray, sir? Yes, I just received a report from the medical lab… Yes, it's about the blood sample. It's more than yellowish, it's an odd color and the results are abnormal for his demographics… Sir? No, he doesn't know…Scott? Ok, I'll send him to check it out… You're welcome, sir. I'll keep you informed should I hear any news… Thank you, sir." Amy conversed with her boss over her phone. She breathed a quick sigh and then returned to the others.
"Excellent then; we'll send our guys over to pick it up this evening." Smith finished his moving conversation with James. "Is everything alright?" Scott asked Amy as she returned to the group. "Yes, there's a situation in the medical lab and Mr. Gray would like you to check it out." Amy replied with a whisper. "Me? Ok, I'm on my way now then." Scott whispered back. "Well I suppose the next thing to do now is show you to your quarters. Scott, would you do that for us?" Smith asked his coworker. "Normally, I'd love to, but it looks like I'm needed elsewhere. Amy would you mind filling in for me?" Scott asked her, putting a faint smile on James's face. "Sure. James, follow me please." Amy motioned to the young man. "Excellent, fill him in on the way as to what's coming up. I'm out too, time to give a full report to the boss." Smith stated as well as the group went their separate ways.
"Is everything ok, Amy? I mean the phone call and all, it sounded important." James asked with concern as the female led him through a doorway and into a somewhat lengthy hallway. "Yes, it's all ok, just a minor technical issue. It's nothing to worry about, but thanks for your concern." Amy replied with a smile. "Ok, well if there's anything I can do to help, just let me know. I guess we're comrades in the workplace now." James told her with a bit of a nervous chuckle as they approached a pair of elevators. "Now, I should inform you of the upcoming chain of events." Amy began as she pushed the up-arrow button in between the elevators. "After I show you to your room, you have a little bit of free time while all of the other recruits get settled. That will give you some time to rest, organize your thoughts and belongings, change, and perhaps get to know your roommate a little." Amy continued as they stood in waiting. "I get a roommate?" James asked, a little taken aback as the elevator binged and opened. No one stepped out as James and Amy walked in. "Yes, he may be there already, or he may show up later. I'm not sure of the details on that, but we hope to foster teamwork through this system." Amy revealed as she hit a button, floor 15, and the doors shut as the elevator hummed into action.
"Tonight at 8:00 PM there will be an assembly meeting in the main hall. If you're unsure of where that is, there is a map of our facility as well as upcoming event information that you'll need in your room." Amy continued, quite formally. "Ok, sounds great." James replied with a slightly shy smile. "Excellent, do you have any questions?" Amy asked as the elevator slowly ascended up the building. "Um, yea. Can I get your honest opinion on something?" James asked, a bit shy-like. "Sure." Amy replied without much emotion. "What did you think of my audition? You saw the whole thing, right?" James asked her. "Yes, I thought you performed and fought very well." Amy replied with a hint of a smile. "Really? Awesome, thanks! That means a lot to me." James answered, with a slight blush.
At that moment, the elevator came to a stop and chimed again. "Looks like we're here then." James stated obviously as the doors opened. To either side of where the elevators were, were twin hallways respectively and each had many doors on either side. "Yes, you will be in room 1519. I believe that's the last room on the right. Can you find your way there?" Amy asked the young man as she handed him a key on a ring. "Yea, I think so. Thank you, I'll guess I'll see you sometime soon, then?" James asked hopefully as he stepped halfway out of the elevator. "Yes, I will be involved with the project, so we'll meet again. At the very least, I'll be there tonight for the opening assembly." Amy replied with another faint smile. "Awesome! Ok, see you later then!" James stated with a huge grin as he began down the hallway. The elevator closed behind him and he breathed out a huge sigh. "What am I thinking? She works here, I don't have a chance! Not that I'm interested anyways, I'm just saying!" James thought silently to himself as he walked past many rooms with numbers on them. "At any rate, I have other things to worry about, so here we go." James thought again as he reached the final room on the right, his room. A little slowly, he inserted the key and opened the door, sticking his head in first to see if anyone was there before entering. There was.
"Hello there! Welcome, I guess you're my roommate!" A cheery voice called in an Irish accent. The voice came from a young man who sat on a bed to the right side of the room. He had red hair and brown eyes and wore a dark gray jumpsuit that bore the Grayco company logo; presumably this was the uniform James himself would soon be wearing. "The name's Sean O'Brien! Pleased to meetcha!" The young man, about the same age as James stated as he pushed himself up from his reclined position and stood up to shake James's hand at the door. "Thanks, you too! I'm James." He also stated as he fully entered the room and shook Sean's hand. As he looked around his new living quarters, James noticed it was a fairly good size for two people to live in. There were two beds, one of the left side and one on the right, with a large window in between them, under which was a square dresser with two drawers. Near the dresser and also on top of it were a variety of plants, some healthy looking, and some a little wilted. Before the bedrooms, looking in from the doorway, there was an open door to the right, which led in to a bathroom, and a mirror-doored closet on the left. Overall, it had the feel of a college dorm room, but Sean seemed content with it, so James could be too.
"To be honest, I was kind of wondering when you would show up. Oh, it's not personal; don't get me wrong, but I've been here a few days already." Sean explained as he sat back down on the bed. "Really? I thought all the auditions and stuff were today though." James replied as he continued to glance around the room. He noticed too that there were a few posters above his new roommate's bed, all of which had some kind of "save-the-earth" message. "Today was just the last day. They've been going on for a little while already though. But all's well I guess." Sean replied as he lounged out. "To be honest, I'm not even too sure I know what this whole hero thing is all about." James commented as he sat down on his own bed. "You're not alone there! The whole thing is kind of mysterious, yet exciting in a way. There's that flyer there if you want to take a gander, but there's nothing we don't really already know. I guess most of the finer points of it all they'll tell us at tonight's shindig." Sean pointed out as he motioned to the dresser between their two beds. Sure enough, there were two pamphlets on them, one for each of them. "Yea, good point." James said, half paying attention as he leafed through the little booklet. As Sean as pointed out, there was some information about Grayco and how they develop new weapons and medical technology, but not much about the Hero Initiative, save what they already knew: that they were assembling both humans and mutants of extraordinary potential for some kind of team.
"Yep, not much in here. I guess we'll just have to take it as it comes." James affirmed as he put the pamphlet back on its table. "My thoughts exactly. So, if you don't mind my asking, what are your powers? I mean are you a mutant or do you have some kind of other skill?" Sean asked with the raise of a finger. "No, I'm not a mutant, I've just trained a lot physically and I seem to have a natural fighting instinct. I use these metal tonfas, these metal poles, to fight. That's how I cleared the audition." James replied as he raised his weapons from his pack a little for Sean to see. "Very cool! As for me, I happen to have a mutant power of my own." Sean stated with a huge grin and a slight elevation of his head. "Nice, what is it?" James asked curiously. "Well, take a look." Sean suggested as he raised his hand over the slightly-wilted plant next to him on the bed stand. His fingers glowed a dim green for a moment and at once the plant began to rise to its fullest. Not only did it now stand as tall as it could, but a flower also budded and then bloomed on the top. "Not bad, hunh?" Sean asked boastfully as he lifted his hand away from the plant and the glowing stopped. "Nice, you can make plants grow?" James asked with a hint of sarcasm. "Well yes, but there's more too. Check this out!" Sean replied a little indignantly. He raised his arm once again and his fingers glowed a slightly brighter green. This time, the plant that had previously just rapidly grown grew longer vines near its leaves. Sean twirled his hand in the air and the vines, now a good length wriggled in the air. With a large smile, Sean flicked his fingers to the right and one of the vines shot quickly against the wall, knocking a small piece of plaster off.
"Oops! Well that's that though." Sean remarked with a chuckle as he put his hand down and the plant returned to its normal, flowered form. "Not bad, hunh?" Sean asked with pride as he folded his arms boastfully. "That was pretty awesome, I got to admit!" James agreed with a laugh. "My point proven then! I hear there's this secret and awesome team of mutants called the X-Men. Have you heard of them?" Sean asked. "No, I haven't. What are they all about?" James also asked inquisitively. "Heck if I know! But supposedly they stand for truth and justice and all that good stuff. Like I said, if they do exist, they're a pretty big secret. Anyways, supposedly, each of them have a cool name, like a real superhero. I've been working on mine ever since I heard that and I think I've come up with one. Call me… Overgrow!" Sean exclaimed dramatically as he stood up and raised his arms. They glowed green for a moment and one of the other plants in the room hit against the wall. "Looks like you still need a little practice, but not bad." James commented with a light-hearted laugh.
"Touché! You know, I think we're going to be great friends and all that…" Sean began, but was interrupted by a knock at the door. Sean and James both looked at each other, a bit confused, but then shrugged and Sean walked towards the door. "Hello?" Sean asked politely as he opened the door. When he did, they both saw an attractive young woman, about the same age as themselves, standing there. She had long brown hair and eyes and was wearing a one-piece green jumpsuit. She also had on a belt, which contained a variety of different guns and firearms. "Well, uh, hello. Um, can I help you?" Sean asked shyly to the young woman. "Well, maybe, because I think this is my room." The young woman replied in a sweet voice. "I don't think so, there are only two people to a room and we're both here already. Maybe you have the wrong room number?" Sean replied, trying to help. "I don't think so, this is room 1509 right?" The young woman asked hopefully. "Nope, this is room 1519, close though." Sean replied with a chuckle. "Oh, wow, I totally got the wrong room! I'm sorry, I'm told I can be a little ditsy sometimes." She exclaimed in slight embarrassment. "It's all good, not a problem at all. Oh, by the way, how rude of me not to introduce myself. I'm Sean, and this is my roommate James." Sean told her, a tad flustered as he motioned to himself and his friend, who waved from inside the room.
"It's great to meet you then! I'm Nicole Oakley, but everyone around here refers to me by the code name I got from my expertise with firearms: Oneshot!" The young woman introduced herself as well, with girlish pride. "Wow, that's pretty awesome!" Sean replied with crush-like admiration. "Thanks, hehe, although to be honest, no one really calls me that. I just thought it sounded cool." Nicole admitted with a nervous laugh. "Really? So I'm not the only one who does that? That's good to know!" Sean stated with a hearty laugh. "Awesome, well I'll let you two get back to whatever it is you were doing. I have to go find my own room anyways. It was great meeting you and I hope we get to see each other again soon!" Nicole told him happily as she turned to walk away. "Thanks, you too!" Sean called out as well as Nicole headed down the hallway, away from them. Sean closed the door, and turned around to face James again.
"Did you see that, man?" Sean asked his roommate with a dumbfounded grin. "Yea, that girl was lost. It happens, it's no big deal." James replied matter-of-factly. "No, I mean did you see her? She's gorgeous, man! Seriously, and I think there might be something there, you know?" Sean exclaimed with a wave of his arms. "That she was. You just met her though. I wonder if she's in this hero thing too." James thought out loud. "Oh I'll bet she is! Why else would she be roaming this hall too? And I know I just met her, but I'm telling you, there's something there. Haven't you ever just seen someone once or twice and just felt a little, I don't know, click or something?" Sean asked, slightly defensive. "Yea, more recently than you know." James said, a little too quietly in reply. "Oh? Wait, like how recently?" Sean pried as he squinted at James. "Never mind, it doesn't make much sense!" James stated, a little too loudly.
"Ah, come on, man! We're roommates now, comrades in arms! You can trust me with these kinds of secrets! Besides, if it's someone you met here at Grayco, you'll need me as a wingman." Sean made his case. "Fair enough, yea it's someone from Grayco, works for them even." James replied, a little too quietly. "Works here? Well you can't mean that mean old lady at the front desk. And I don't think you're gay, so it can't be Scott or Smith. You're not, right?" Sean questioned. "No!" James shouted back. "Hey, man, relax! I wouldn't judge you if you were! Let's see then, it has to be… Oh come on man, just tell me!" Sean demanded. "Alright, fine. Did you meet the nurse lady named Amy on your way in?" James asked sheepishly. "Hmm, Amy… yea I did! She was the one that took vitals and stuff. Yea, not a bad looker either, although she might be a little older than us, it's hard to tell." Sean replied. "Maybe by a year or two, that's not bad! Anyways, yea, it's her. There's just something about her, I don't know, it's probably crazy though." James admitted.
"Man, what did I just say? I understand perfectly! It's usually a good idea to trust those feelings." Sean replied kindly. "Thanks, that's not bad advice." James responded as he looked at the ground. "Anytime, roomie! I'll tell you what, let's make a deal: You be my wingman for Nicole and I'll be yours for helping with Amy. What do you say?" Sean asked as he stood up and stretched out his hand. "You've got a deal, man!" James replied with a smile as he also stood up and shook his new friend's hand. "Man, this is so cool! I thought I was going to be alone here, but a new roommate, a new friend, and a potential love interest… this is going to be great!" Sean exclaimed happily. "Yea, I'm with you there." James stated also. The two sat and chatted for a while about their own lives and themselves to pass the time for a while until the night approached.
