Chapter 15
?’s Kindness
The following week, the ILC was abuzz with chatter from recruits preparing for the Light & Field Craft exercise. Using all they have learnt for the past weeks, the recruits were required to survive in the forest for a month. Tent-building materials were being packed. Illegal foodstuffs like snacks or soft drinks that were prohibited items were being smuggled carefully in the socks or in the undergarments of the recruits. Everyone was gearing up for the most important outdoor test of skill and survival. They must survive the course. Anyone who gives up will be kicked out of the ILC.
End’s thoughts were nowhere near the LFC outfield training exercise. He was still in shocking amounts of pain and hope was fast dissipating as he realized that there really was no chance of him completing the Dark Obstacles Course in time to even dream of getting to the LFC.
Just days after his public punishment, a familiar sound of boots echoed down the hospital hallways. As the door opened, End saw Amon entering. Amon walked in. He stood beside End, as End was faced down. As End saw Amon, he tried to shift sideways to greet his superior.
“You don’t have to get up.”
“Yes sir.”
“You broke the law, and the ILC had to dish out the punishment. I don’t like their rules, but I thought that you should at least know why we ban the use of the olden form of LightCatching.”
Amon used his VF to project a video footage on the wall. The footage seemed to be captured by some flying surveillance cameras. It showed a man, rugged and powerful, standing in the middle of many soldiers. The soldiers all held normal weapons, but the man in the middle seemed to be using powers from his viewfinder. There was a thick layer of darkness surrounding him.
“The classified footage you are about to see is events from ‘Dark Monday’, and that character you sees there is codenamed ‘Dark’, the leader of the rebellion. Conventional weapons had no chance against him. What he possessed at that time, was the very first Viewfinder.”
The footage went on to show a younger Amon arriving with his special unit, the Light Brigade to counter the threat.
“We studied the VF quickly and used whatever technology we had to combat Dark. It wasn’t easy, but in the end, we were victorious.”
The footage showed the face of the young man once more. There was that same look of regret on Amon’s face once more. By now, End already knew who he was.
“Is that Joseph?” asked End.
Amon looked at End, surprised that he knew.
“So you know. Yes. He is my brother, an exceptional young man. He had a gift of always knowing what other people felt.”
The footage continued to show Joseph lying on the ground. Amon knelt down to the ground at a complete loss, crying.
“I was unable to protect him that day,” Amon wiped a tear off his face, “And so, I put my heart into making the ILC a military school to protect everybody from that day on. The reason why I am showing you this, is because I need you to see who Dark is.”
The footage paused at a particular frontal shot of Dark. The camera zoomed in on the face, and End realized to his horror who Dark was. He recognized the man with the primitive looking VF on his wrist.
“The Librarian.” Said End.
“The law spared him, only because they were interested in his technology. They wanted to subject him to the sphere of Influence, but his energy levels were irregular. If we did, it would cause an explosion that would be greater than a nuclear one. So in the end, they only used the light amounts of radiation from the Sphere of Influence to erase his memories to make him less of a threat. I have always thought these decisions were stupid. They then housed him in the library, so that no one would find him, but you did.
“Where is he now?” asked End.
“Our greatest fears had come true. He is now missing. And if he was able to teach you about the olden form of LightCatching, it means that he might have rekindled his memories. We believe that he will strike again very soon. The Colonels are on high alert, but I am not telling the recruits. Only you.”
“Why?”
“Because Dark operates on emotions. Negative emotions fuel him. If he ever came near to untrained LightCatchers, or the seven thousand recruits who are in a state of panic, he would convert all of them to become his followers.”
End was in a state of disbelief. Amon saw that look on his face.
“Why do you have that look on your face?”
“I have been with him. I saw his heart, his soul. He is not a bad person.” Said End.
“No one is a bad person to begin with. But with each little compromise that we believe to be small, we come closer to becoming that bad person. Just like Snakeskin.”
End felt the pain surge back into his body.
“What happened to Snakeskin.”
“He was my brother’s closest friend. As of now, we are unsure if he was the one who helped Dark escape.”
“So you have no evidence.”
“Snakeskin is the only one who knows all the shortcuts and secret passageways of the school. Like you said, I have no confirmation, but I must protect and prepare the ILC against any threat.”
End’s physical pain returned at full force. He needed desperately to lie down again. Amon took out two envelops from his coat. He saw that End needed rest, so he placed them on the table.
“Get well. Two weeks is the best I can beg the board for, to extend your window for the Dark Obstacles Course. If you don’t pass the test by then, you know what happens.”
“Thank you sir.”
Amon nodded and left the ward. End was left alone staring at the window.
In the following days, ? took time off every single day to come and see him. Everyday, she taught him a little about how to heal himself.
“Then you focus your mind like this, and your body will heal itself too.” Said ?.
But End seemed only half as enthusiastic as ?. ? looked at him and tears swelled her eyes.
“How are you?”
“Leave me alone.”
? sat down beside him.
“Are you asleep?”
“Yes.”
But End was not asleep. The pain kept him eyes wide open, at the same time robbing him of all energy.
“I brought you some food.”
“The Food Stamps album has been burnt by Beef, I’m sorry.”
“It doesn’t matter. We can always do another one!”
“Don’t you get it? Nothing matters anymore.” End was in a terrible state of depression.
“If you are in this state you will not be able to heal. And you will not be able to go for your Dark Obstacle Course test.
“I know.”
“You will face immediate failure of your course.”
“Of course I know. It is kind of obvious isn’t it? Then just let me fail!”
“What are you saying!”
“I am in such pain! Why would I even consider the problem of failing the ILC?”
? kept quiet. End was still in foul mood. It was the pain that was controlling every word he said and he knew it. He grunted.
“Sorry,” said ?.
There is a long period of silence.
“I am sorry too,” said End.
“The truth is, you still have to get fit in one week, and these wounds don’t heal in a week even if we use all our best medical light equipment.”
? began to cry long and hard. It was only then that End realized what ? was saying. In a week’s time, he will face the Sphere, because he would be kicked out of the ILC course. He would die, and ? would have to suffer the psychological torment of seeing him in a mindless state. It was selfish of him, to even immerse in his own pain. He looked at ?. She was always blunt, but this time, she shouldn’t have to spell out what was clear in the writing. End saw her tears, and remembered why he had fought so hard to make everything work so far. But the truth remained, that he had no solution either. ? saw the
look on his face as End finally turned to look at her. ? placed a hand on his hand. Despite their peaceful disposition, their hearts and minds were screaming that there had to be some way through this impossible circumstance.
The light through the curtains dimmed in the afternoon sun. ? was still by the bedside of End though she had almost fallen asleep. She felt better when End could fall asleep, and after a long time, through pure fatigue, End did. ? pulled his blanket upwards and left the ward. As she came out the door, Dr Lecter was standing there waiting for her.
“How is he?”
“Terrible. There is too much pain, and he would never be able to recover in a week’s time for the Dark Obstacles Course.”
Dr Lecter thought for a moment.
“Have you submitted the report of his injuries yet?”
“No.”
“Then there is a way.”
“How?”
“In Bitch road there is a form of medicine that you can buy. In the ILC, it is banned. It is a special oil called Tiger Oil and it is rumored to heal anything.”
“Where can I find it?”
“Well there is an old lady who sells it, her store is the last one in the corner, and her shop has no sign board. But ?, you must understand, although the ointment is not illegal, it is not allowed in the premises of the ILC. If you get caught bringing in this illegal ointment, the punishment is the Sphere of Influence without trial. It is considered a banned substance.”
? thought long and hard.
“I think that your friend needs your help. I will not tell a soul about this. But do be careful as you bring it in, and don’t let anyone know, including him.”
? nodded.
The doctor smiled and walked off.
? is left alone to her thoughts. She took one more look at End through the glass window on the door to his ward, before she rushed off on her personal mission of her own.
Two nights before the mandatory Dark Obstacles Course, End tried to climb out of his bed. It was pouring outside, as End’s silhouette stood up against the curtains, showing a man displaying true grit despite definite and endless pain. End tried his very best to stand up, unable to take his impending death lying down. But as much as he desired, he knew the searing pain was surging through his veins as he tried to position himself upright. Tears swelled up in his eyes, as his mind floated between giving up and never giving up. In the end, he did not succeed as the pain took over. In his struggle back to his bed, he saw the two letters that were left for him from Amon Goth. They were placed next to his tasteless hospital dinner. He opened the first envelope, and found a little lens inside. Making sure that no one saw him he placed the lens on his viewfinder, and found that there was a video file inside.
He projected the video on to a wall. It was Quentin. He had recorded himself in a video. Quentin seemed to be sitting in a dimly lit room, which looked like some underground shelter amidst a war zone. Half of his face was invisible at first, before he cleaned off the invisible camouflage cream that he had applied on his face. He was wearing a jungle hat with lots of real grass stuck on top of it and he was carrying his photon rifle, which seemed to have an additional large-sized Scope on top of it. Behind him, a coffee seemed to be boiling on a makeshift pot he had hammered out of some left over metals he had salvaged. Quentin really looked like he was a real solider in wartime, sending this message from a real battlefield, because in fact, he was.
“Hey End, how are things? Listen, I do have to apologize that I can’t complete the course with you. They have pulled me out of course, because they said I was ready and had to send me on some missions. But of course, everything is classified, so here I am sleeping in my classified bed, sipping on my classified coffee. This messaging system has a funny censorship system, watch this.”
Quentin began saying some things, but they were all censored.
“…will be censored anyways. We are allowed to send one video to family or loved ones. Ok, buddy, one thing, you might not know about me is that I am an orphan, that’s why the only person I can send this video to is you. It is actually like a will. I don’t have anything, or anyone so I treat life very seriously. Cut your parents some slack ok End? Some times I really don’t like it when you speak with so little regard for your parents. They are wonderful, I am pretty sure of it, because you came out as a fine gentleman. You seem to be frustrated all the time with your ‘hate the world’ campaign, but inside, you are just a good person waiting for your chance to save the world in your little way. I am just saying give the world and yourself a chance.”
Then there was the sound of bombardment. Dust flew everywhere and Quentin coughed.
“Don’t forget to thank Arnold. He is a good man, despite the fact that it is difficult to understand his accent. Fact of the matter is, he was the one who sent me to you. He did the paperwork to send you a buddy, but I’m glad I got to meet you. So anyways, I wanted to tell you about the Dark Obstacle Course. I passed it, but we are not allowed to share how we did it with anyone because it is a personal obstacle, and everyone must achieve it themselves.”
At this point, Quentin is shining his shoes.
“And even if I told you how to pass it, my words would be censored out anyway.”
Quentin is still shining his shoes.
“But all I want to say is…well, if you face any difficulties at the Dark Obstacles Course…”
Quentin finishes shining his shoes. They are perfectly shiny.
“Haha. How silly of me, if we shine our shoes, we’ll get caught by the enemy. Has it ever occurred to you that shining our shoes is just about the most unpractical thing of all of our training? I mean, what is it for in terms of outfield training? Strange!”
Quentin puts mud on his boots again, then he looks at his viewfinder as if he were looking directly at End with a wink in his eye.
“Well, anyways, stay healthy and stay happy. And I hope you remember to tell ? how much you love her. I lost my opportunity many years ago. Oh, and one more thing. I realized why we could communicate so well. We both loved film making.”
The video ends. End looked at the second envelope with great fear. Finally, he reached out and opened it. Inside was the ID tag of Quentin. The ID tag only meant one thing, but End refused to accept the truth that came along with it. There was a letter inside. As End read the letter, he cried. He could not finish the letter, because there was no need to. The few words he could make out were. “We are sorry to inform you”, and “But Quentin has died in the line of duty.” The nature of his duty was classified, so there was no information in it. The world would never know what this great friend who rescued him from the depths of depression had done. So easily, a life perished whatever cause man had to justify it with, thought End.
End could not sleep that night from all the pain, and none of it was coming from his injured buttocks. The question of why this had happened continued to twist inside his mind. Was Quentin’s death necessary, and what exactly is this line of duty and why was it so important that young men had to die? Even as he forced his eyes shut so that no more tears could come out, the tears continued. So did the images of the one true friend who had shown him kindness, as they replay over and over again in his mind until mental fatigue robbed him of his resistance to sleep.
That night, he had the most terrible nightmare as he tossed and turned in his bed. He dreamt that someone was rubbing oil on his behind.
The next morning, End was awakened by ?. ? was dragging him out of bed. End opened his eyes and exclaimed.
“Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!”
“?! I had the most terrible dream!”
“Quick! Get up!”
“Stop pulling me, I am in such pain…”
End stood up straight. He felt nothing at all.
“What happened?” he asked.
? smiled.
“You did something didn’t ya?”
“Well, yes.”
“What did you do?”
“I found
this mysterious jelly like substance that I can rub on your buttocks.”
“You rubbed jelly on my buttocks when I was asleep?”
? glared at End.
“I’m a certified nurse. I’ll rub chili powder if I wanted to! You don’t have time for this! There is only a two-hour window left for you to pass the Dark Obstacles course! Go now!”
End sprinted his way down the hospital corridors and back to his bunk. When he arrived, he found the entire bunk empty. Behind him, he heard a familiar grunt. It was Arnold. Arnold folded his arms.
“Everyone who had passed the Dark Obstacle Course have been sent outfield to go through the LFC. The failures are at the jetty, packed and going home. Which group will you join?”
“I am ready to take on the obstacles course and go to the LFC.”
Arnold glanced at End’s buttocks with suspicion.
“How did you recover so fast?”
“Sheer grit and determination.”
Arnold looked deep into End’s eyes and took careful sip of espresso. There was nothing inside End’s eyes but resolve, which helped to mask the lie he just said.
“Well, I personally have recovered even faster so I guess it is possible.”
“You have been caned before as well?”
“Ten minutes!” shouted Arnold, totally changing the mood, “That’s all I am giving you to be at the obstacles course now!”
“Yes Arnold!”
As the sun began to set, End was brought in front of the Dark Obstacle course. ? was the medic on duty because she used her food smuggling tricks to swap duties with someone else. She closed her eyes and began to pray for End.
“You have to complete the course in five minutes. Are you ready?”
End was sweating. But of course he would be. He had no idea of how to pass this test at all.
“Standby.” Said Arnold.
End closed his eyes.
“Wait!”
“What is it?”
“There seems to be something wrong with my boots. I think I wore my friend’s pair, they are too small.”
“You clumsy oaf!”
“Please Arnold, please let me change my boots!”
“Hurry it up!”
End ran all the way back to the bunk. A crazy idea had struck his head. It came from the constant repetition of Quentin’s final words to him. End remembered that Quentin kept emphasizing the shining of boots. End reached his bunk and took out his shiniest pair of boots. He put them on and ran back to the obstacle course. He stood in front of Arnold. Arnold switched on the stop-watch in his viewfinder.
“You have five minutes. And…Begin!”
End charged towards the obstacles course. The first obstacle was a low wall. As he approached the low wall, an entire cloud of darkness engulfed his eyes and everything turned pitch black around him. It was like standing inside a black hole. However, in that darkness, strangely there was some kind of light. It was coming from his polished shoe. Eureka, he thought. Boots polished with emotional light seemed to shine even inside areas where no light can enter. With the shiny shoes, End ran through the entire course like an experienced mountain guide. He dashed over balancing beams, and nets with ease. But he was still slow and time was running out.
Arnold looked at his viewfinder clock.
“One minute thirty seconds left to failure.”
Suddenly End’s fingers slipped on the monkey bars and his shoes fell into the mud. The light that illuminated so bright from his shoes before went out. End was thrown into complete darkness.
“Oh no!” said End.
“One minute.” Said Arnold.
End knew that if he took a wrong step he would exit the course and fail. He began to get more nervous but all the nervousness just never helped.
“Forty-five seconds.”
End closed his eyes. He remembered Mahatma’s lesson in meditation.
“Thirty seconds.”
It would really be useful now. He had to concentrate, and he did not have time to do it all the way till morning. End had to shut out all the noise in his mind. This time, he did it much faster than last time. At first there was nothing, then all of a sudden, it came. The entire map of the Dark obstacles course was drawn out in his mind despite the complete darkness. What his eyes could not see, his mind could. End dashed through the obstacle course with every last ounce of his physical body.
“Ten seconds left.”
End began running and hopping past each obstacle with his eyes completely closed. There was only 1 second left. Arnold pressed his finger down on his stopwatch.
“Time’s…” but Arnold could not finish his sentence. End held on to his hand and clicked the stop watch for him. There was only half a second left and End had made it. End fell to the ground, catching his breath. The mud and sand was like make-up on his face. He looked in the direction of Arnold.
“I don’t believe it. You have passed.”
The usually gloomy End smiled a very wide mouth smile.
“Get ready your full pack, draw your photon Rifle and follow me to rejoin the rest of your platoon at the Light and Field Craft exercise. I give you ten minutes!”
“Yes Arnold!”
End ran back to his bunk to get his things ready. His physical body was exhausted, but his spirits were high. He was smiling so much his mouth hurt. As he did so, he chanced upon the sight of some recruits leaving the island. Arnold had mentioned that some of them had not passed the Dark Obstacles course at their final attempt. End looked closely at their shoes and found that they had been waxed. With a silent prayer, he thanked Quentin, for teaching him how to polish his boots. ? entered his bunk. End saw her. They hugged and End transferred all his mud on to her white nurse uniform. But both of them were smiling and laughing. “Go, go, go!” said ?, as she gave him another kiss on the cheek. End was revitalized again as he dashed off to follow Arnold.