NOVEL NEXT CHAPTER 39: Into Character
The next stage of the portal training was going to be unlike anything the team had ever experienced. As Atlas gathered them in the portal room, his tone was filled with excitement and purpose.
“This next part of our training is going to be neat,” he began, pacing in front of the group. “We’re going to be doing the training here, in the portal room, but we’re also going to set up a micro-drama social media show for the public.”
The team exchanged confused glances. *A what?* Wilfredo raised an eyebrow, whispering to Kingsley, “Did I miss the memo, or are we training to be actors now?”
“That’s right,” Atlas continued, his eyes lighting up with enthusiasm. “Alyx, Emily, Lily—come on up.”
Alyx, Emily, and Lily stepped forward, each of them holding props and looking just as puzzled as the rest of the team. Emily leaned over to Lily, her voice low, “Is this part of the training, or did we just sign up for the wrong reality show?”
Lily shrugged, clearly as baffled as everyone else.
“We are going to film a fantasy tv show,” Atlas announced, a grin spreading across his face. “Well, fantasy sci-fi, I guess.”
“What? Isn’t that going to interfere with our training?” Kingsley asked, his brow furrowed. *Didn’t we sign up to fight, not act?*
“Not at all,” Atlas replied confidently. “A micro-drama is tiny and short. There aren’t a lot of lines to learn. In fact, most of the heavy lifting will be done by the actors we met a couple of days ago.”
“Oh, all right,” Kingsley mumbled, though he still looked unconvinced. *Micro-drama, my micro-ass. More like micro-nonsense.*
“The reason I want you to do this,” Atlas continued, “is I want to put you into character.”
The team stared at him, their confusion deepening. “What do you mean into character?” Evalynh asked, her voice tinged with curiosity.
“Well,” Atlas said, slowing down to emphasize his point, “I know you all can fight, and I know you’ve shown determination and grit. But there’s a next level to it. It’s something I’ve had to develop, and it wasn’t easy. You have to imagine what it would be like if your life was on the line every day, fighting.”
The room fell silent as the gravity of his words sank in.
“Your character has done it, but you haven’t,” Atlas explained. “So during this mental training, that’s what I want you to think about—building that character right into your soul.”
He paused, letting the weight of his statement settle over them. “Beyond determination and grit, the movie is about saving humanity. What would you do if you had a choice? Would you risk yourself for humanity?”
Some of the team members shook their heads. Others nodded slightly, lost in thought. *Risk my life for humanity? What kind of question is that?*
“What’s it worth?” Atlas asked, his voice dropping to a near whisper. “For me, I say, fuck humanity. I don’t really care about humans.”
The team was shocked. They had expected Atlas to preach about duty or heroism, not this. *Did he just say that?*
He looked each of them in the eye, his expression intense. “It’s not about saving all of humanity for me. If I had a choice, I’d just save myself and the people I judge worthy. Because, let’s be honest there are a lot of people in this world, that I don’t think are worth saving. But a lot of you guys here are pretty good people. Would you want to save humanity? Or let’s make it more micro. Would you like to save your aunt, Isabella?”
Isabella’s eyes widened in surprise. *How did Atlas know about my aunt?*
*The money I spent on hiring private detectives and background checks is definitely paying off, *Atlas thought as he noticed the look on her face.
“What about your mother, Wilfredo?” Atlas continued, turning his gaze to the next recruit.
Wilfredo’s face softened at the thought of his mother. “Definitely, I’d save my mother,” he said without hesitation.
“So if you had a choice—you or your mother had to fight monsters to the death—who would you choose?”
Wilfredo hesitated, the weight of the question pressing down on him. “My mother, of course. Wait, no,” he corrected himself, shaking his head. “Me. I’m going to fight to the death. My mother stays home.”
“That’s right,” Atlas said, nodding approvingly. “That’s the point. If you step up, they won’t have to.”
The recruits began to understand. They looked at each other, the realization slowly dawning on them.
Atlas turned to Jim, who had been standing quietly in the back. “What about you, Jim? Definitely not your wife, right? Probably soon-to-be ex-wife, based on the fact that you suspect she’s cheating on you?”
Jim’s face darkened, and he nodded grimly. *That was a low blow, Atlas, but damn if it isn’t true.*
“But what about your son, sweet Johnny? He’s turning 18 next year, right?”
Jim’s expression softened at the mention of his son. “Yeah,” he said quietly.
“Well, that makes him an adult,” Atlas said, his tone matter-of-fact. “And in this crazy apocalypse world that’s coming—in the microdrama—every 18-year-old has a random chance to be portaled to fight in the apocalypse. If you take his spot, though, he won’t have to go. Would you go for him?”
Jim’s jaw tightened. “Yeah,” he said firmly. “The kid’s 18 and plays video games. He’d die in the apocalypse.”
“Well then, that’s your choice,” Atlas said, looking around the room at the others. “My point to you all is this: who would you rather have in a fight to the death—you or your loved ones?”
He paused, letting the question linger in the air.
“For me, I prefer someone else to go. I don’t have a choice though; I have to go. But for those of you who do, that’s where your strength will come from. For every Portal Crusher chosen, that’s one less other person chosen to go into the post apocalyptic wasteland. And that person might have been one of your loved ones.”
*With the 0/5 assistants, I’m guessing that’s 5 random people who won’t be sucked into the wasteland. It’s just a guess, but it’s the best I can do. Saving 5 is better than saving none.*
The room was silent as the team absorbed Atlas’s words. Then, slowly, Atlas stepped back, revealing the full size of the room they were standing in. “If you notice, this room is pretty big. The circle we’ve been sitting in is pretty big, too.”
He took a deep breath. “I want five people who actually believe—and this won’t hurt your chances on the team—that they would choose to portal to the apocalypse so that the chance of their loved ones going would be reduced.”
A hush fell over the room. Then, one by one, five people stepped forward and sat around Atlas, forming a circle. But it didn’t stop there. More people began to join, creating a second circle around them. Atlas watched, his heart swelling with pride. *They’re getting it. They’re truly beginning to understand the gravity of the fight they’re preparing for.*
There were still one or two people who didn’t want to go at all, who stood back from the group. Atlas recognized this and made a mental note. *Noted. But damn, look at these volunteers. These are people ready to sacrifice everything.*
As the circles formed around him, Atlas knew that this was more than just training. This was the forging of a team ready to face anything—even the end of the world.
Atlas thought about the training and how the recruits would react to it. He knew it was intense, and he wondered how many of them would rise to the challenge. *Are they ready for what's coming?* he asked himself. The thought gnawed at him, but seeing their response today gave him hope. They were stepping up, understanding the stakes, and most importantly, they were starting to embody the fighters they needed to become.
By the end of the session, he felt a deep sense of satisfaction. *They’re getting on board,* he thought, his earlier worries easing. He couldn’t help but smile, pleased with how things were turning out. For the first time in a long while, Atlas felt confident in their ability to face whatever the future held.