Srinivas, already weighed down with the equipment and food he carried, slowed further as he approached the dilapidated house and the shouting coming from inside.
“Did I tell you to stop?”
A chorus of voices responded. “No, sir!”
“Then why aren’t you hanging from the ceiling?”
An old man’s voice came back. “Because we’re not able to . . . .”
“Spencer, did I ask them for excuses?”
“No, sir,” a laconic Spencer said.
“I didn’t think so. Woodrow, Tracy, hands on the ceiling now. Lift yourself with your corona and jump. Hang on the trim with your fingertips if necessary, but stay off the floor. I said off the floor!”
“We can’t do it!”
“Spencer isn’t having any problems. Get back in the air, Tracy.”
Srinivas poked his head into the room to behold an unusual sight. Mike hovered with head on the ceiling, glaring down at Woodrow and Tracy, who made amazing leaps upward only to rebound off the ceiling with their hands. To one side, Spencer had managed to keep herself airborne with the assistance of one hand on the trim. Judging by Spencer's intense expression, the effort required everything she had.
Mike noticed him and his command voice boomed out once more. "And down to the ground. The three of you are going to assist Srinivas in unloading his car and setting up. Srinivas, please direct the recruits."
"Uh . . . yes, Mike. There are bags in back seat of my car. Bring all into house please."
At Mike's loud clap, Spencer began pushing Woodrow and Tracy towards the door and they sprinted through it like startled deer. Spencer rolled her eyes as she followed them. Srinivas stared at his former subordinate. The man full of self deprecating jokes and good humor had been replaced by an insane martinet. "What is happening here? This is all very intense."
"Sorry for the shock, Srinivas. The new guys Marius dropped on us were close to a mutiny, so we're having a basic training of sorts to get everyone up to speed with proper military discipline." Mike put a hand on his shoulder. "Unfortunately, buddy, you're included in this. I can't make it an us versus them situation if I want them to internalize the right lessons. Just follow orders to the best of your ability, don't freak out when I yell at you, and push past whatever you think your limits are. I promise we'll still be friends on the other side, but for a while I'm going to be your drill sergeant. We're going to turn ourselves into a real army since Marius refuses to do it himself."
Srinivas let his chin sink to his chest. "I am not thinking this will be enjoyable. Is Spencer same as me?"
"She's going to get the same treatment. The fact that she went through U.S. Army basic training will make my amateurish program seem like a joke to her. And when I'm not around, she's in charge. So don't be surprised if she applies some pressure, too. We need you to be on board with this to normalize obeying orders for the new guys. You able to do that?"
Srinivas let out a sigh. "Yes, yes. You and Spencer give orders and I obey. Good job by me joining an army on accident."
The others entered the room with bags floating around them. Mike began snapping out orders and everyone became busy setting up cots and sleeping bags, arranging boxes of food and packs of water, and miscellaneous equipment. Srinivas brought out an LED lantern and loaded it with batteries while the others were snooping on their food options. He had bought bread, eggs, potatoes, oranges, boxes of snacks, and various canned goods. It wasn't what he stocked in his own home, but things Srinivas imagined white people would eat while camping. The others seemed less than enthused by his selections, though no one called him out on it.
Once they had settled in somewhat, Mike split them up. Srinivas found himself paired with the black woman Tracy to practice their noetic talent by broadcasting emotion memes. The other two students were set to working on hardening their skin. Mike alternated between the two groups. From what Srinivas could tell, Mike managed to outperform everyone in everything. That annoyed him a little. He was used to Mike being average in talent and short on motivation. Now, his former subordinate had managed to rapidly become his superior in every sense of the word.
As the light faded, Mike set Srinivas to hardening exercises while he took the rest of the group out into the night with spare shirts wrapped around their heads to obscure their vision. Judging by the noises he heard, they were not doing a very good job of navigating without vision. There even came a grunted curse in Mike's voice. Then came silence.
While he was alone, Srinivas worked on feeling and hardening the various layers of tissue that made up his body. There were the layers of skin, obviously. And muscle and bone. And tendons and ligaments. And cartilage. And sticky connective tissue. Blood vessels. Lymph nodes. Nerves. Organs. The explosion of details was too much for his unenhanced mind. Over the hours, Srinivas continued to go over the various regions of his body and felt like he was constantly rediscovering things he had already learned. He just did not have the requisite mental capacity without being able to harness nous for mindvasting.
Well after midnight, the others returned. Everyone collapsed into their cots. Srinivas decided it would be best to join them. He was sure Mike wouldn't go easy on them the next day. At least I have work to escape to once Monday comes, he thought.
