Training 7

As the afternoon rolled in, things became quieter in the large building. Matt and Tora were each in their rooms for an afternoon nap while Miriam was having a video conference with her hospital's board of directors. Nathan was exploring the building before he happened upon the library and decided to pick out a book to read.

Darren and Alesia were the only ones left training in the Speed Lab. After lunch, Darren insisted on continuing with the tests to learn more about his powers, and Alesia obliged. The Speed Lab was much like an indoor race track on the perimeter of the building's basement in the mountain. Alesia remained in the viewing theater, separated by highly reinforced walls and gorilla glass. She watched him pass by in a blur of red light. A monitor in front of her tracked his speed using sensors inside the tracks while another showed his vitals.

Alesia pressed a button to turn on the microphone in front of her. "You can stop now," she said.

Every few seconds the blur passed in front of the highly tempered glass in longer and longer intervals as Darren tried to slow down. He saw the door clearly and knew where he wanted to go, but he wasn't sure how to stop as the scene moved past him repeatedly. He moved toward the door, but instead of going over the threshold, he ended up on the side of the wall. His eyes opened wide as he went into a panic.

How was he doing this? He needed to get back on the floor, and he moved down.

Darren watched his feet as he neared his destination, analyzing every step he took from one point to the other. He could see the angle where the floor meets the wall. He could put one foot on the floor and leave one foot on the wall in transition. He could also jump with both feet from the wall and land on the floor. Yeah, that's what he'd try.

Darren reached the lower part of the wall before he jumped with both feet. His eyes were trained on the point he was planning to land right to the moment where he touched the floor. As he tried to take one step from his position, he tripped over his own feet. He fell on his face and slid through the floor, destroying the limestone as he slid through the ground. He rolled along the path until he stopped when he hit his back against a wall.

"Oof." Darren groaned, passing his hand along the neck as he stood up. Well, at least he was finally able to stop. He stretched his back, feeling some straining in the muscles. He patted his but, feeling a little sore from sliding against the rock.

"You okay?" he heard Alesia's voice through the speakers.

"I'm okay." He heard a crack. "But I think I broke something." Darren walked back to the door that slid open into the viewing room. When he met Alesia's eyes, she was shaking her head in disappointment before releasing an exhausted sigh. She turned off the monitor before approaching him.

"Let's go out for a walk. You've been cooped up inside for too long. I don't want you destroying my building and bring the mountain down on top of us."

Darren's heart skipped a beat. It was a joke, but his mind raced. It was a definite possibility that he could bring down the building due to his lack of control. He simply nodded. Although he insisted on training to master his powers as fast as possible, things were moving at hypersonic speeds, both literally and figuratively.

It had only been five days since he woke up from his coma. He had yet to come to terms with the fact that he missed six months of his life. All the new changes his body was going through forced him to adapt quickly.

He needed to be able to save people with his powers so mastering them was his first priority. The thought that he could hurt someone with his powers was frightening to him. They were only adding to his anxiety.

Since arriving at the athletics lab, he hasn't slowed down. From morning to night, people have been poking and prodding him, testing, and training him. A hike down the mountain could help him get some fresh air and summer sun. It was better to be safe and take a break.

"Okay." Darren met Alesia at the front door of the building after changing into a pair of jeans and a polo shirt. Alesia handed him a pair of sunglasses before she put on a sun hat and dark glasses as well. They walked out the door, down the mountain toward Salt Lake City.