Bang!
I walked into the training room only to get nearly shot in the face. Tord grins wickedly as he shot at a target on the wall behind me with the bullet seemingly inches from my face. However, the bullet hit the target and was rewarded by a victorious laugh from Tord.
"Holy pugs in a pizza box! What the heck?!?!"
Pugs in a pizza box? What even did I just say? Why did I say that? It's such an odd reaction... Tord gives me a suspicious side glance while still facing the target.
"See Tom, that was a practice shot. Next time, on the field, someone might try to shoot you and not a target behind you. You need to be ready." His mood lightens. "But, for being my robot arm, that was a pretty good shot, I have to say." At this, he gives a small dramatic bow, just asking for praise. I was half tempted to roll my... eyes? But, frankly, I knew better. I could tell it was a good idea not to test him, at least not yet.
"You could have shot me!" I yell still a bit panicked from possibly being nearly killed.
"Oh, pfft..." he waves his good hand dramatically. "And is that any way to talk to your leader?" This is exactly why I knew better. I could tell he had an ego. You would have to in order to be in his position.
"Err... No To- Sir. No, Sir." God knows what would happen if I used his real name. Regardless, I didn't look forward to finding out the hard way.
"Good, then let's get started!" He swings out his arms as if revealing the room for the first time.
He does a dramatic twirl as he turns around and walks up to a panel on one of the opposite walls. He seems to punch in some buttons and takes a step back just before a portion of the wall slides out, revealing a large weapons rack. He looks at the array of guns set out before him, and his face lights up like a kid on Christmas day. He carefully selects a dark blue two barreled gun with a dark grey handle and a long, black cord that comes out of the bottom. He presses another button as the wall returns to its original state, and he makes his way back over to me.
"This is your gun that you will use to train and on the field," he states.
"What is the co-?" he cuts me off by answering my question before I can even finish asking it. Before, I even made time to think helifteds the cord up to the side of my head, and my vision went black.
Unable to see, I suddenly feel disoriented and almost fall over. I hear an exasperated sigh from Tord that brings me back to reality.
"Classic stupid, Tom! Just give it a minute, eh?"
Just as he finishes his sentence, my vision returns, but it is in an odd way. Without even meaning to, I scan the entire room, and it's like several defense mechanisms suddenly kick in as things flash before my eyes. White and red circles outline each object and Tord, identifying everything. The gun appears to be glowing now, too.
"Ha! Relax... and concentrate. I just plugged your gun into your visor that automatically puts it into combat mode. It will help your aim and judgment."
I calm down and take a deep breath. The things flashing before my eyes slow down and gradually begin to I feel like I can control it. It's like I'm looking through some high-tech glasses. The only difference is that you can take off glasses.
Noticing my understanding of the situation, Tord nods his head in the direction of the target, signaling me to take aim. I wonder if I have ever shot a gun before. Just trying to think about it hurts my head. The weight of the metallic object in my hand feels so unnatural yet so familiar all the same. I wrap my right hand around the cold handle. It fits my hand perfectly. I wrap my left hand over my right and face the target to take aim. I lift the gun and the visor quickly focuses on the target and shows me exactly where the bullet will go depending on which way I point it, with a red dot I'm assuming only I can see.
Also, I think the visor somehow allows me to just know how to hold a gun, aim, and fire because it all feels so natural. Must be something in the programming. Then again, if this technology can manipulate my knowledge of things like this... What else can it do? I focus all my emotions and fire. The recoil of the weapon startles me and almost knocks me over in my recovering state. But I stand my ground. By my surprise, I hit the dead center. Right next to Tords shot, that could have killed me earlier.
I lower the gun, still holding onto it with my right hand and turn to see Tord grinning with approval.
"Again," Tord demands.
Instantly, my right arm straightens up with the barrel of the gun facing the target. Without even thinking twice, my head turns to see what I'm doing, and I fire. I hit the exact same spot as before. I look at the glowing device in my hand, wondering what just happened. Everything is just so odd and unreal. Tord nods once more and starts to walk towards the door.
"Keep practicing, I'll... be back, " he states.
"Yes, sir."
Just like that, he is gone once more. He seems to just come and go a lot. Looking out the window of the training room, I see Paul peeking in around the corner only to be quickly pulled out of sight by who I assume to be Patryck. I suddenly get a strong urge to practice more. Then again, I don't really mind. I need something to distract myself with.
I wonder if the gun ever runs out of bullets or if it's another one of Red Leaders "Inventions". I face the target and fire bullet after bullet. The amount of time between each shot quickly decreases as I let more and more go as I fire. I fire as if my life depended on it. As if each bullet took away some of the confusion and emotions I don't want to feel. Now, with only me and the target, I realize how alone and empty I feel without my memories. I feel like I'm missing something, but unfortunately, the bullets won't fill the void. Yet I try anyway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tord's POV:
Tom, to my expectations, hit the center of the target both times. I know fully well he doesn't necessarily need much more practice with the gun or any gun, for that matter. He has already had plenty before. I can tell he is confused about what is going on, but he hasn't caught on yet. Good.
I see movement to my left just in my peripheral vision and turn to see Paul and Patrycks faces appear in the training room window. I motion for them that I'll be there in a minute, and they disappear around the corner.
"Keep practicing, I'll... be back, " I instruct, trying to keep him busy.
Either way, I know he will obey. I begin to head towards the door just in time to hear a "Yes sir" in response. Thankfully, I'm already facing the other way so he doesn't see the smirk on my face. I open the door to be greeted by my two henchmen. They hate it when I call them that, though, but I don't care.
"Red Leader, sir!" Patryck exclaims and salutes. He notices Paul peeking in the training room and pulls him next to him. Paul stumbles forward a bit, then regains his composure next to his companions' side. He, too, joins the salute.
"Reports?" I ask.
"Yes, sir," Patryck informs. "The newbie is still out but not due to the coma. He really took a beating from..."
"Yes, I am aware." We really shouldn't discuss confidential information out loud more than necessary. Thankfully, I know these two well, though. Not a lot of extra talk is necessary.
"Sir, I know you want to keep the chances of memory retrieval limited, but when they work together, would that cause past memories to resurface?"
"I recognize and understand the concern but do not doubt my inventions. I have backup software's in case of such an occasion. However, we do still want to limit familiarity to an extent. I do not know which of you let my name slip, but know it will not be tolerated."
They nod and turn away, leaving the way they came. Once upon a time, I wouldn't have been so cruel to them. I may have even called them my friends. Friends are overrated, though. Why does anyone need friends when they can rule the entire world? A small part of me feels bad, but not bad enough to care, really. God knows the things I have done to my "friends."
I shrug and return to the training room. Besides, I have a soldier to make and a war to win.
The scene set before me takes me by surprise. Tom is red-faced, heavily sweating, and would most likely be crying if he could. The center of the target is completely torn out by the several bullets shot in it. Despite the center being gone, Tom continues to shoot the same spot, which must be hitting the wall behind the target by now. Despite his shakiness and near meltdown he is having, his aim doesn't falter. The blue shine of the gun is pulsing, indicating he is near passing out as it only lights up in his conscious state. I was going to do some training to get his strength back, but I don't think he can really take much more right now.
"Tom," I call, but he doesn't seem to hear me through his shots that almost seem to be getting faster. I walk over and push his gun down with my hand, and he stops instantly. He slumps as he falls on his knees, balling his hair in his fists. He is breathing heavily, and his shirt is soaked with sweat. I wonder if he shot as much as he did because he wanted to or because I told him to and he couldn't stop. Something to consider, I suppose.
"I think... we're done for the day. You can head to your room and rest when you're ready."
Knowing Tom might not be moving anytime soon, I leave once more to let him recollect himself. As I shut the door behind me, I nearly punched Patryck as he startles me a little.
"Awe, you care," he teases.
I glare at him but don't have anything to say in return. Apparently, it was effective enough as he quickly turns and runs off. I storm down the hall to go to my room. I really need a cigarette right now.
*******************************************************************************************
Authors Note:
Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I wanted to test out writing in Tords POV this time. What did you think of it? Should I write in multiple POVS more often? Let me know! Thank you for the support the first three chapters received. It really means a lot. Anyhow, bai guys!