Chapter 2
The ILC
In his state of grogginess, End saw faint glimpses of himself being carried on to a boat. He was taken on a boat ride, some kind of fast craft, and he came to a nearby island just ten minutes by boat away from the City of Lions. He was then transported by a vehicle to a dormitory area, and brought to the fifth floor. There he was left on a bed to rest. When left alone, the lazy End decided it was a good idea to sleep.
Water struck End’s face.
“Get up!”
End jumped. As his vision became clear, he saw that he was now in a military bunk. There were ten beds and ten accompanying metal cabinets. Standing before him was the awesome towering figure of man. His biceps were inhuman, as he activated them just to point a finger at End, which looked like a massive waste of energy. He barked at End with a strange accent. End saw on his army uniform, that his name was Arnold.
“First of all, no mobile phones or any other recording or communication devices are allowed in the ILC. Do you possess any?”
“No.”
Arnold did a very detailed full body search of End. Arnold shows End a white glove.
“This white glove has gone many places. If I ever catch you with any recording or communication devices, you will force my glove to take another vacation, and after which, you will not be able to sit for a month, are we clear?”
“Yes sir!”
End saw a strange holographic tattoo on Arnold’s wrist. It looked identical to the one that Officer Yum had. With it, Arnold shone light on to End’s face.
“Don’t move!”
End stood still as a flood of lights came from Arnold’s hand. How did he do that?
“My VF is mapping your head, so that I can shave your hair. One slight shake, and your ears may come off.”
It was just as Arnold had promised. His hair was shaved off. But how did he do that? Arnold checked his list of names by projecting an image on thin air from his tattoo.
“You, End?”
“Yes.”
“Yes, what?”
End did not understand.
“You will finish each compliance with, ‘Yes, Arnold. From now on! I am going to teach you a new word. When I say ‘Get down’, you get on your hands and give me fifty push-ups. Get down!
“Yes, Sir!” End dropped to his hands in fear, and began doing push-ups.
“Did I say you can begin, and what were you supposed to address me by?”
“Arnold sir, Arnold!”
“Get up!”
End gets up.
“Get down again! You don’t start till I ask you to! Did I ask you to?”
“No, Arnold!”
“Ok. Stay there until I ask you to.”
Arnold turned away and sipped his ridiculously small cup of espresso, which was the size of his pinky. He placed the cup down gently on its saucer and looked at the Lion statue outside the window of the bunk. It was a majestic and huge lion statue the size of a five-floor building.
“You see that Lion statue don’t you?” he continued in his low and daunting voice with strange accent.
“Yes Arnold!”
“Puny voice! Are you an insect?”
“NO ARNOLD!”
“That’s better. Now what do you think the Lion statue means?”
End’s arms wee getting tired from holding the push-up position. His face was getting red.
“Fear?”
“Fear? Haha Haha Haha Haha Haha Haha Haha Haha Haha Haha Haha! Sorry, I can’t control myself. You are really funny! Get down! Give me 50! Begin!”
End began and struggled at ten.
“You look like you are dying. So answer my question! What do you think the Lion represents?”
“Anger?”
“You may continue to give me a hundred push ups? Shall I walk away first and lend you some time to think about it?”
“No Arnold!”
“Insect buzzing sounds!”
“No ARNOLD!”
“Still buzzing! Ahhh! My ears hurt!”
“NO ARNOLD!”
“Good! Then what would you want me to do?”
“Stay ARNOLD!”
“Oh! You think you can command me now? Two hundred push-ups! Down!”
End did another ten and his arms already felt like they were going to break.
“I am going to punish you and punish you, until you give me the answer I want! What does the lion statue represent?”
Tears were streaming down End’s face as he spouted gibberish. His arms hurt.
“A Roar? Animal kingdom? The king?”
“Three hundred! Four hundred!”
End’s arms were about to give way.
“Don’t worry, before the floor hits your face, I will. You wouldn’t worry so much about the floor if you knew what I could do. Don’t you dare kiss the floor!”
End held on just a little longer out of sheer fear.
“Quickly! What does the lion represent?”
“Bravery and courage!”
The strong man stops and turns around slowly as if End had finally hit jackpot.
“Not really. Four hundred and fifty push-ups! Down!”
End was struggling with the push-ups for life. His entire face was red. He tried but he could not do another push-up. His eyes were watery. His skinny arms had no more strength. He looked straight at the strong man’s biceps and saw how huge they were. The strong man saw it and got down face to face and did push-ups with him as he continued to apply pressure on End.
“So! What does it represent?” said the man as he did push-ups.
“I don’t know…”
“You don’t know or you don’t want to think?”
“I don’t…”
“Stop saying the word ‘don’t’, you puny insect! You are a puny insect overflowing with negativity! Negativity is a poison you puny insect!”
“I am not a puny insect!”
“Then tell me what it represents? Come on!”
“I don’t know!”
“Again? The ‘don’t’ word! Insect buzzing sounds!”
“I have no idea Arnold!”
“You do.”
“I really don’t!”
“You do! What is it?”
“Strength!” said End.
“Get up!”
End dropped to the side first. His arms were too weak to push him up directly. Arnold raised his powerful hand ready to smack him, which frightened End into gathering himself and standing up straight. Arnold threw him a set of military uniform. It was of urban colors, grey and green, with a mosaic pattern that seemed to be morphing and changing on its own to adapt to its surroundings. The set of uniform came with boots and jockey cap.
“Put on your light camouflage uniform now!”
End began changing into the uniform in a flurry, confused as to how to wear it.
“Too slow! Take it off!”
“Put it on!”
“Take it off!”
Arnold fired away like a broken record, as End repeated his actions of wearing and disrobing his clothes. After a long process, Arnold pointed to his boots.
“Shining your boots is very important in the ILC! I will inspect you now and then, and if they are not up to my standards, you will walk barefooted for a month! Do you hear me?”
“Yes Arnold!”
End finally got his full uniform on. Arnold walked up to him, and snapped a viewfinder on his wrist. The viewfinder was that same tattoo that was on the wrist of both Arnold and Officer Yum. It looked like a fake tattoo that was transferred by means of a plastic sheet and on to End’s wrist. The tattoo came in contact with End’s wrist and implanted itself on it.
“This is a Viewfinder. It converts your emotional energy into the useful light energy that can power many things in the ILC. From now on, your viewfinder is your wife. You lose your wife, you die!”
“How can I lose my wife?”
“A little re-introduction. My name is Arnold,??
? said Arnold, “And I am the only person here who believes he does not need to be addressed as Mister, Doctor, Sir or some other silly word you put in front of your name to define who you are. You should define your name not the other way around. You will learn many things in the ILC, but I am here to teach you only one thing…”
Arnold curled up one of his beautiful Mr Universe biceps and shoved it in End’s face.
“…that Strength…” he began, then he flexed his biceps, and turned his clenched fist into a finger, which he then used to poke at End’s forehead.
“…has nothing to do with muscles.”
Arnold tapped the side of End’s head and then to End’s chest. No one knew if End understood what Arnold meant, but Arnold hoped he did. He reached into a pocket and pulled out an ID tag, or as most people called it, a “Dog tag”. It was a piece of metal in the middle surrounded by rubber insulation around it, which was usually worn around a soldier’s neck like a necklace.
“This is your ID tag, or dog tag, because from now on, you are my dog! This tag is for us to identify you after you are dead. Wear it!”
End put the ID tag around his neck. As he did so, there was a small flash of light as if the tag recognized him. End saw his name, “End Cloud” imprinted on the surface of the tag.
“It can also be used to store memories of a loved one, but we will cover that later. Now follow me. Move!”
Arnold walked off like a huge bear, sipping on his tiny coffee cup. End got up and wobbled as he trailed behind, like a lost squirrel. They walked down a long flight of stairs. End was panting when he realized that his bunk was on the fifth floor. They spoke as they went down the stairs, a most tiring feat for End.
“You are End Cloud. You were supposed to be subjected to the Sphere of Influence, but by the grace of Colonel Amon Goth, the founder of the ILC, you have been sparred.”
Arnold hopped down another flight of stairs, End was trying to catch up.
“From here on, you are serving your military sentence. You will have no credits, no money, and no citizenship rights.”
They turned another corner.
“You will not be able to go home on weekends like the rest of the recruits do, and you will remain in the ILC until your training is done.”
“How long is my training, Arnold?”
“Your training is three months. After which, if you are deemed good enough, you will be selected by one of the units. Only if that happens, will you have a chance of getting back any privileges of a citizen. If not, you go back to the Sphere of influence. Understand?”
“So if a unit selected me.”
“Then you get a job. And when you get a job, you are deemed a contributor to society and your status of being useless will end.”
“So I must get into a unit.”
“You must focus on training first! And not dream about anything else. Do you hear me?”
“Yes, Arnold!”
They reached the bottom of the stairs.
“Jog with me.”
Arnold sped off like a cheetah. End had never seen anyone who could run that fast. Whenever Arnold ran, it would be rare for anyone to be able to catch up. End was no exception, and Arnold decelerated in order for End to catch his breath. As End took his first step out of the corridors of the stairs, he came to see the majestic Institute of LightCatching. It was an amazing and beautiful school, looking very much like a university campus that was both filled with greenery and space age design. It had a mixture of both old and new architecture, some victoria-era buildings and some modern retro-fusion new age structures. End liked that it was mostly white. He preferred classical buildings a lot more than modern ones, because at least they were more grounded and not so adventurous in style. Also, they gave him a sense of nostalgia.
“It takes tremendous stamina to become a Lightcatcher because you need emotional energy.”
“Emotional energy?”
“Don’t always repeat what I say and add a question mark to it, you puny insect.”
“Sorry Arnold.”
“I have read about you in your files. Personally, I think you are the weakest recruit I have ever seen. You must have some uncle working in “The Garment” that wanted you here. Don’t you?”
“No Arnold.”
“You have connections don’t you?”
“No, Arnold.”
“Then I don’t get it! There is no probability of you graduating from the ILC judging from your intellect and fitness.”
Those words just made End’s day.
“But weakness has nothing to do with muscles. So I will torture you, and I will abuse you, until I reach underneath the skin you are hiding behind, and pull out the real man from you.”
Arnold’s words were tough, but those were actually some words of inspiration, thought End.
“Mr Arnold…”
“What did I just say? No ‘Mister’”
“Sorry, sir! Yes, sir! I mean Arnold…sir! I mean Arnold. What is LightCatching?”
Arnold gave him a puzzled sarcastic look.
“You don’t even know what LightCatching is, and you are in this school? Did you even apply for this school?”
“No Arnold!”
“This is bullshit! What kind of nonsense is this? Wait. How about rank? Do you know anything about rank?”
“No Arnold!”
Arnold smacked his own forehead in disgust.
“Refer to this when you have time. You puny insect!”
Arnold used his forefinger to tap on his own viewfinder. Using the fingerprints of his index finger, he transferred a data file to End’s viewfinder with another tap. It was a form of wireless “fingerprint data transfer”, where a person used his fingerprints to store temporary data. When the file appeared on End’s Viewfinder, he double-tapped it to activate it. From End’s viewfinder was projected a hologram in mid-air that write these words.
Men:
Recruit, Private, Private 1st class, Lance Corporal, Corporal, Corporal first class
Specialist:
3SG (Third Sergeant), 2SG (Second Sergeant), 1SG(1st Sergeant), SSG (Staff Sergeant), MSG (Master Sergeant)
Warrant Officers:
3WO (Third Warrant Officer), 2WO (Second Warrant Officer), 1WO(1st warrant Officer), MWO (Master Warrant officer), SWO (Senior warrant officer), CWO (Chief Warrant Officer)
Officers:
2LT (2nd Lieutenant), LTA (Lieutenant), Capt (Captain), Maj (Major), LTC (Lieutenant Colonel), Senior LTC (Senior Lieutenant Colonel), Col (Colonel), BG (Brigadier General Rear Admiral), MG, Major General Rear-admiral, LG (Lieutenant General Vice-admiral)
For every rank that was described, the corresponding rank insignia was also beside it.
“Like all military institutions, there are many ranks. You are now known as a recruit. One level up is “private”. If you screw up badly, you will forever be stuck at the rank private. Do you know why we call a private a private, huh, End?”
“Why, Arnold?”
“Because a private is someone who knows nothing about emotional control, and only keeps all of his or her emotions to themselves. Our Institute will teach you how to harness your private emotions into strength. Look at the motto of school.”
End realized that he and Arnold were now standing underneath the Huge Lion Statue. Carved on the chest of the Lion were the words “Strength thru emotion”
“Our motto is not written in Latin to sound cool. It is written in plain English so that everyone can understand it. Do you plan to remain a private all your life, recruit End?”
“No, Arnold!”
“Good. Now report to Raven Company over at the parade square, and listen to the opening address by our founder – Colonel Amon Goth. Go!”
End didn’t know which way was the parade square.
“Feel it! Feel that GPS signal in your body, you puny insect! It’s that way!”
End nodded and to ran off.
“You march! You don’t run!”
End attempted what looked like a march as he marched to the parade square. Several high-ranking officers watched in agony as they witnessed the most ugly marching technique they had ever seen in their years in the ILC. As End reached the parade square, he saw just how huge the ILC really was. There were four schools, each school had seven companies, and each company had two hundred and fifty recruits, amassing a total of seven thousand recruits standing at the parade square. End had no chance of finding where Raven company was. He quickly joined any random company and stood in line. Arnold ran over to the front of all the recruits.
“Attention!” shouted Arnold.
Everyone stomped there feet. End tried to follow suit but was out of sync with everyone else. It created an embarrassing echo that raised the eyebrows of several high-ranking officers again. A group of men began escorting the highest-ranking man in the City of Lions to the parade square.
“At ease!” shouted Arnold.
A tall and good-looking Colonel walked up to the podium. He had a gentle smile, and wrinkled eyes that told endless stories of how much he had endured through the years. As he walked, he exuded an air of calmness that made everyone feel at peace with him. He walked up to the microphone and tapped on it. The microphone hissed the sound of magnetic interference, before deciding to work.
“Good Morning, everyone. Before I begin, I would just like to introduce the fine gentlemen who have taken time out of their busy schedule to come witness your opening ceremony. They are the Chiefs of each different vocation that you may one day go to. I see Colonel Eastwood…”
Colonel Eastwood was an old man, with greying hair as sideburns and a trademark squinty eye look that was so intense that you’d swear that his eyes could melt a big box of cheese just by staring at it
“…Colonel King…”
Colonel King looked like a rock star, with his high collar, long sideburns and bell-bottom pants. He was very good looking, in fact too good looking, and he looked very much like some pop icon of the 1970s. As his name was called out, he was combing his hair and he acknowledged Amon with his trademark cool-guy sneer. Some of his loyal supporters cheered when they heard his name called out. They were mostly female secretaries.
“Thank you very much”, said Colonel King with his Tennessee accent.
“…Colonel Brown, or Doc…”
Colonel or Dr Brown was a man that resembled a typical mad scientist, complete with the Einstein exploded-hair look and crazy eyes that looked crazy no matter which angle you were looking at them from.
“And Colonel Chuck.”
Colonel Chuck was a simple man. He had a beard that looked as hard as granite. He had your good-neighbor-next-door smile, that wasn’t really visible since his granite beard covered it. His eyes revealed that he was actually a gentle creature, but was forced by his environment to try and be a little more menacing in order to survive. His attempts at being menacing were futile.
“Gentleman, let’s have coffee sometime, at Uncle E’s if time permits,” said Colonel Amon. The Colonels waved back. End noticed that there was a Master Sergeant sitting next to the Colonels. Amon seemed like he was about to introduce the Master sergeant before ignoring him. The Master sergeant seemed to know that it was coming, and folded his arms. He looked like a tough and veteran soldier with an unshaved face. He wore an eye patch and was listening throughout with his arms folded and not looking at the speaker. He began to look familiar for the longest time, before End remembered that his name was Snakeskin and that he had saved him from the Sphere of Influence.
“Once again, a very good morning to everyone, I am Lieutenant General Amon Goth, Minister of Defense of the City of Lions and the creator of the Institute of LightCatching. I am very honored to have all of you here today. You are some of the most talented and intelligent men from the world who have been selected to attend our prestigious military school. I welcome you, the 49th batch of the Basic LightCatching Course, abbreviated as 49th BLC. In this three month course, you will learn the basics of LightCatching.”
End continued to peer at the Master Sergeant. Master Sergeant Snakeskin seemed to snigger at the things that Amon had to say. He looked like he was forced to be here today, and really unhappy about it.
“What is a LightCatcher?” continued Amon Goth. He paused to look at everyone. Then he removed his black gloves. There was that same futuristic holographic-looking tattoo implanted on his wrist too. End remembered Arnold calling it the VF. He raised his hand to the sky and out came a powerful beam of light. The light became a screen, as a film played itself, that aided as a visual guide to his presentation.
“In case if you don’t already know, this device here is known as a viewfinder.” The huge screen showed everyone Amon’s viewfinder. “It converts emotional energy into usable energy. It can be used to do many things, but there is one usage that we do not condone. Anyone caught using the VF for video recording or video projection like what I am doing here, will be dealt with very severely. And as an example to everyone else, I will resort to using an old fashioned projector.”
Amon ordered for a video projector to project the rest of his accompanying videos for his speech.
“In 2945, World peace achieved a brand new meaning when all of the world united to become one nation after the Dark War ended. Mankind was finally sick of the wars and longed for everlasting peace. But as you know, peace never sits still.
On December 31st 2999, an attack on the City of Lions codenamed “Dark Monday” occurred. The invaders, led by their leader who was codenamed “Dark”, used a new kind of weapon that was never seen before. That weapon of course was the Viewfinder. They used their VFs to power up all their guns and grenades. Their forces were swift and deadly, and almost wiped out the central commanding body of this city. With these viewfinders as their weapons, no ordinary army or soldier could take them down, and the threat of the City of Lions being annihilated became very real.”
There was some murmuring from the recruits.
“I was a just a general at that time, and I was tasked with the impossible mission of stopping them. It was tough, but I was able to assemble my special-forces unit called the “Light Brigade”. My men were courageous and had to use all their wit and skill to counter the sophistication of the enemy’s technology. Using meticulous planning, we were able to take over the enemies weapons and use it against them.”
Amon paused for a moment. There were raw footages of the war seen, and several warriors fighting it. End could see Colonel Eastwood, Colonel King, Dr Brown and Colonel Chuck, all fighting alongside Amon Goth. Amongst the footages, when a young man’s face appeared on the screen, Amon lowered his head. End deduced that the young man was somehow related to Amon Goth.
“Almost all of my men were sacrificed on that day to bring peace to the city.”
The video showed glimpses of Snakeskin battling as well.
“Not a day goes by, that I don’t remember the sacrifice by these extraordinary men.” Said Amon as he looked at all his Colonels. His Colonels looked back. Snakeskin turned away in disgust.
“This was also the moment in time when the city realized that even global governance by Nation Earth was not enough to protect itself. The only sure answer is to arm yourself and be operationally ready at all times. We must be responsible for ourselves. As such, the top research department of the City of Lions, “All-Star Research Labs”, managed to harness the power of the Viewfinder and I motioned for the birth of this Institute. To extend our handshake to the rest of the world, we invited other cities to come train with us because we believe in the concept of global peace. So I am proud to say that it is with great honor, that on January the 1st, year 3000, The ILC was born.”
Great applause met with his words.
“We stand here underneath the Red Eyed Lion, the symbol of our great city. We stand proud, as our dream has come true, and we have produced some of the most outstanding LightCatchers in the world. May your ILC training course teach you pe
rseverance and help you realize your true potential so that you may be the heroes of our great Nation Earth. Thank you.”
A loud applause greeted the end of Amon’s speech. End tried to look at the Master Sergeant with an eye-patch. The Master sergeant couldn’t wait to leave. As he turned his head to do so, he saw End staring at him. He looked back at End in the most mysterious way a person could possibly look. And in true cinematic fashion, someone blocked the line of sight between End and the man for a second, and the man named Snakeskin was gone. Before End had time to react, he heard Arnold’s voice from afar, and he ran towards that voice to rejoin his actual platoon.
“Recruits! Assemble at the cookhouse for your meal. I will give you ten minutes to finish your food. Move!” commanded Arnold.
“Arnold,” said End. Arnold had his arms folded as he looked at the puny End. He was amazed that the boy still dared to ask him questions despite having punished so much.
“What is it?” asked Arnold.
There was a short hesitation but End finally asked the question.
“Is there any word from my parents?”
Arnold exhaled.
“No.”
“Are they alive?” asked End as a fear struck him.
Arnold looked at End.
“They are. But the rest is confidential.” Said Arnold as he walked away. End began to put two and two together in his head. It didn’t have to be confidential. He knew what had happened. If they were alive and well, they would have contacted him, or at least sent a word. But they didn’t. So it was safe to assume that the gossip he had been hearing in the chamber were true.
They had disowned him.