Chapter 111: Why Are You Running?
Shawn POV:
While I let the team get their rest, I continued working through the night. As I knew what my body was capable of, I didn't need to sleep for three days, that's taking into account if I didn't use energy. That enabled me to start some designs on things that my unit would need. As there were currently eight people, three women and five men, I had to design something to make heavy lifting easier for everyone.
Now of course, while in my thoughts, I contemplated deeply on a subject. No matter how much physical training I put them through, they will never achieve what I have become. Therefore, I have considered giving them a boost. Naturally, those who reject my training wouldn't achieve it, but those who prove themselves, will find they're well above human standards in the days to come.
My alarm went off, telling me to halt my progress in my research for the moment. Taking a shower and putting on my uniform, I made my way over to where my teams' rooms were. As there wasn't a lick of sun in the sky yet, everyone was sleeping peacefully.
Not feeling the least bit guilty, I let my second alarm go off, causing everyone to stir. Good thing everyone was a light sleeper, except for Virginia it seems as she continued to snore with the drool coming down the side of her face. Everyone else, however, quickly realized the situation and snapped into formation at their bedsides.
"Good morning, everyone. Welcome to first day of training. Get dressed lightly as I won't sugar coat it, you will be running. Meet me at the front of HQ within half an hour. And for the love of Arceus, someone one wake her up." I don't bother staying around as I'm sure they'll relay my orders to her.
Or not...
Before me were seven members dressed in joggers and a t shirt, and Virginia in her full Overwatch uniform. Honestly it was pretty funny. I wasn't about to let her change as she could have put two and two together and dressed appropriately. Plus, this was good character development.
"Three laps around HQ. On your second lap, I'll join in. If I overlap you, that'll add another lap you'll have to do. Begin!"
They all take off running, confident that if they just took off at their top speed, I couldn't overlap them, and they'd be done with training for the day. However, there were so many things they failed to consider. For example, while the HQ didn't look that big, the circumference was equivalent to a track and a half. Another to take note of, was that they didn't know that I wasn't the average human.
As the first person nears the line for their second lap, I walk over to the line myself. I can see his smile as he passes me, as he speeds up, giving it his all. When he disappears around the corner, and the others have a clear view of me, I take off. I showcase not my inhumane speed, but to give them a chance, I do just enough.
I jet past him, as he eyes me in surprise as my wind finally catches up to him, causing him to stagger a bit. While out of view of everyone, I increase my speed then slow down again as I lap the lagging Virginia, who was at this point stumbling. As I begin my second lap, I know that he's nearing the halfway point. Passing everyone again, I catch up to him, who was determined to beat me. Just to prove a point, I speed up in front of him, letting him see his futile efforts.
Within seconds, they all see me lap them and continue on and pass him who was almost a third of the way there. I easily complete my third lap, and walk off to the side.
"I changed my mind, that'll be five more laps for everyone. Whoever doesn't complete it in the next 20 minutes, will have to run three more." I address them. I ignore their looks of annoyance and rivel in their hatred. This was fun. As I watch them struggle to complete an impossible task, I count only seven of them running. Sighing, I run alongside them to find Virginia on the ground, crawling.
"What are you doing, number 2?" I ask rhetorically. I could sense her exhaustion, knew that she could not continue.
"I...I'm... just..." She starts but doesn't finish as she finally collapses. Placing my hand on her back, I will her bioelectricity to provide her a boost. She perks up as she gains an unexpected jolt of energy. Helping her up, I practically throw her forward.
"Catch up number 2. You're almost two laps behind." I watch as she continues running with a newfound boost of energy. The others pass by as well, and I don't miss number 4 refusing to look at me as it's becoming clear there's no chance for them to complete this in time. But I ignore it.
They take half the day running, as every time they come close to completing it, I add more laps. Any time one would collapse, I would restore their stamina through their bioelectricity, giving them a boost and increasing their resilience without them realizing. Taking Adawe's warning into consideration, there's no way she didn't expect me to not make my own team of superhuman healers right?
Despite giving them boosts, they weren't used to this level of running, therefore, were still exhausted by the time it was past noon. I allow them to take a break for two hours after they eat in preparation for the next part of their training. Obviously, they couldn't go through the hellish training I went through to increase my reflexes and thinking capacity but there are other options that might prove just as effective.
I can feel their anxiousness as I led them into a computer room, where I have bowls of dark chocolate and berry smoothies set up for them. While Virginia mistakes this as a place to further relax, the other smarter ones slowly realize what I had planned for them.
As they have a seat, I explain this scenario to them. "Before you are a sequence of numbers that you will have to remember. Each correct answer will add another to the sequence. Incorrectly answering them will result in a reset. We will do this everyday for 3 hours before moving on to the final part of training. Once you beat my high scores, you won't have to do this anymore."
Having learned their lesson from earlier, they figured this wouldn't be easy. However, they won't learn that I beat the world record in not only single digit sequences, but doubles and triples until the end of this session.
Walking past everyone hard at work, I watch their progress. Number 1, Steve Wolfe. A tall blonde man in his early twenties. He joined because his family was also in the military, but he didn't want to be a soldier, so he took up medicine.
Number 2, Virginia Stone. A brunette who was the only survivor in the household of an omnic attack. She never shared much about the attack, but if I were to guess, she felt helpless to save them and vowed to help all those she could.
Number 3, Dwayne Cobbs. An African American in his early twenties, who watched the news of the war and has found a sense of patriotism. He felt that joining the medics was a way to contribute back to those who already served before him.
Number 4, Leslie Hall. A blonde woman in her mid-twenties who happens to be the oldest out of the group. She was out of town the day the Omnic Crisis happened. Unfortunately, her husband and three kids remained home with their omnic companion. When she returned, she vowed to get revenge on all omnics. She would no doubt hate S3bastian.
Number 5, Felix Jenkins. A black-haired man in his earlier twenties. He's actually been in the military for quite a while now. It started when a convenience store was getting robbed, and he intervened to help. It ignited a passion to help those in need. However, once deployed, he saw firsthand the horrors of war. He knew there had to be a change or too many lives would be lost. He was my most likely candidate to perform the best.
Number 6, Spencer Newton. A skinny pale skinned young man in his late teens. He was a troubled youth, on the verge of incarceration. Luckily for him, the war broke out, and his legal troubles were the least of anyone's concerns. Deciding to take this opportunity to start anew, he joined the medics to begin healing instead of harming.
Number 7, Sonya Dunn. A woman in her early twenties. Growing up where crime and violence were commonplace, she has a history of providing medical help to those who were injured from the gangs. Seeking a way out, she found the military was the perfect way to further her education and find a better life, should humans win.
Number 8, Marco Riley. A short, balding man, who just so happened to be a friend of Leslies. He actually didn't care for the medical field; he's only following Leslie to impress her as he always had a crush on her but refrained from acting as she had a husband and kids. Luckily for him, she was single now and he was waiting for the perfect time to make his move. I wasn't going to make this easy on him.
While everyone had their reasons and flaws, they were handpicked by myself to be my team. Should they be up for it, we would go down in history as we helped turn the tide of the war and set the standard for future medics everywhere.