Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with repetition and emotion will one day become a reality.
-Earl Nightingale
The next day my training started. I had already made up my mind to make the best of the situation, since there didn't seem to be anything I could do to change it. The training turned out to be not at all what I expected.
A chime sounded in the bedroom of the apartment that had been assigned to me, waking me from my dreams of home. A soft female voice that seemed to emanate from the air followed, "Time to wake and start your day Mr. Wilson. Your first training session is scheduled to begin in one hour."
Letting out a sign I responded in a sleep graveled voice with my usually pleasant demeanor. "Stop calling me Mr. Wilson!"
"Noted Mr. Wilson, How should I address you in the future?" In the same sweet voice, as if she didn't notice the venom dripping from my words. Hell what was I thinking; it wasn't a she it was a computer. Of course my charming disposition was lost on her.
"Call me Clark damn-it."
"Noted, Personal vocal address file updated Clark damn-it."
Oh great now I'm stuck with a digitized Gracie Allen! What the hell! Getting up and dressing I asked, "Where am I supposed to go for this training? And what do I have to do?"
"Upon your readiness I will guide you to the training labs on level 37. You will employ the induction trainer to begin your training."
"What is an ind... never mind. I'll find out when I get there. I'm ready, lay on McDuff."
In that ever so sweet voice, not even sounding puzzled, "Clark damn-it, sensors indicate no life forms other than yourself within your assigned living quarters. A scan of personnel files indicates no one of the name McDuff on location at this time. Should I broaden my search to include Agency centers on other realms to locate this person for you?"
"No Gracie, it was just a saying. And before you ask, you are Gracie. I don't care what anyone else calls you. From now on when I say Gracie I'm talking to you. In fact now that I think about it I have a whole list of things you need to remember about me, and instructions for you. If you are going to be my guide and companion while I'm here we might as well make this relationship work. Now guide me to the labs and listen to what I have to say on the way there."
Leaving my apartment I followed Gracie's directions to the drop shaft that would take me to level 37. I wasn't sure how many levels there were here at Center, but most of them appeared to be underground. As I walked I questioned Gracie and gathered as much information as I could about my fantasy land. Well what the hell else could it be, either I had made it up in my mind or it was real. If it was a figment of my imagination then I could call it anything I wanted. And if it turned out to be real? Well I wasn't ready to consider that yet. I was just getting use to the idea that I was crazy, I don't think my over taxed mind could wrap itself around a Multiverse with infinite realms that I could travel to.
People tended to stare at me as I apparently talked to myself as I walked through the corridors. Till Gracie informed me that I could sub vocalize without even opening my mouth and she could hear me just fine. That stopped the people from staring as much and I found that I could talk to Gracie and get a good look at my surroundings. Every corridor I walked through was not the same. There were shops and business'' along most of them just like it was a street in any city from home. It really reminded me of being in Las Vegas, winding through the tunnels and covered walkways between the big casinos' lined on both sides with souvenir shops, restaurants and coffee shops. On impulse I walked into one of the shops at random. It turned out to be a clothing shop and had a wide variety of cloths hanging out for viewing. The styles were all over the place and it was evident that these were samples from different realms, well I'm not exactly fashion minded but that's what it looked like to me.
"Clark Damn-it, you must be going now. There is just enough time for you to get to the training lab." Gracie said into my right ear.
"Just a little sightseeing is all Gracie, don't get your panties all bunched up." Gracie was uncharacteristically quiet; I think I really stumped her with that one. Leaving the store I continued down the corridor to the drop tube and taking a deep breath stepped into it. Now a drop tube or a lift tube, one goes up and one goes down, is not a pleasant thing to experience. Your mind screams at you not to get into it for any reason. It is an empty vertical shaft about 10 feet in diameter running up and down as far as the eye can see. There is some type of force Field that either raises you up or gently lowers you down. You feel like your hanging in thin air with no support, you’re not exactly floating but you’re not standing on anything either. Like I said your mind screams at you not to do it. But I had seen others use them and so far I hadn't seen anyone go flashing by screaming so I assumed they worked. Taking a deep breath I stepped into this one and started descending. This place was going to be a lot of fun once I got used to it. I felt like a little kid getting to see all the cool things I had read about in science fiction magazines growing up.
"Gracie what if I changed my mind and didn't want to go down to level 37?" I sub vocalized by habit now even though there was no one to hear me.
"Your induction training is mandatory and the time has already been set. You must attend this training and should not consider any other actions that would delay your arrival."
"No what I mean is what if say I had forgotten something and had to go back up to get it? Is there any way that I could make the tube change direction and go up instead of down or what?" I asked quizzically.
"No. The tubes are either lift or drop only; it is not possible to change them. In your scenario you would have to get off on the next level and then use a lift tube to ascend to your living level to accomplish this task. There are overrides for the tubes to turn them off or on but they are designed for one direction only."" Gracie informed me.
"Who has the override codes and why would they ever want to turn them off?"
"The protectors keep the codes to all transports and all access codes for the Agency Center. It is their responsibility to protect the Center in the event of an attack." Gracie had just given me more information than she thought. I now knew that there were other modes of transport here than just the lifts and that there were areas that were inaccessible to the average person. All this was very good information to have if I should need it. I wonder who the protectors are, they sound like some type of police force.
I had descended past several openings into levels and was now approaching level 37. As I neared level 37 I drifted over to the opening and stepped out onto the floor of the corridor. This level was not like any of the others I had been on so far, no shops lined the walls. All the doors opening off of the corridor were closed and unmarked. I guess if you were supposed to be here you knew what they were; if not then you would have a hard time finding anything specific. I'm sure this was another aspect of the defense plan. These may even be some of the doors that required an access code. However I wasn't going to find out today, Gracie made sure of that.
"You must hurry now Clark damn-it, the time of your session has arrived. The training lab is the first door on the right after the next left turn."
"See Gracie no problem, I told you we would make it in time." I said as I opened the door to the lab. "What the hell?" This was not what I expected.
Walking into the training center I noticed it looked more like a futuristic bunk house then a lab. Ranged around the walls were the induction trainers which looked like twin bed sized couches with built in hair dryers. Not the modern use at home blow dryers but the huge bulky helmets that came down over your head type. A technician dressed all in white approached me as I entered.
"Greetings Clark damn-it, I have been waiting for you. Your induction trainer is ready and waiting for you. Please follow me." Saying this he turned away before I had any chance to correct his use of my name, and led the way to one of the couches.
"If you would please recline on the traine
r we will begin."
"What exactly is an induction trainer and how does it work? Not that I'm not eager to get started training but I would like to know what I'm getting myself into."
"Have no worries Clark damn-it there is no reason to fear the trainer. It will impart the knowledge you need to fulfill your duties through a direct induction to your brain. To you it will be as if you had fallen asleep mute and woke up knowing how to talk."
Sighing with resignation, "What the hell, let’s get this over with, and stop calling me Clark damn-it. Just call me Clark." I sat on the edge of the induction trainer and swinging my legs around I reclined on it.
The technician started messing with the controls activating the trainer. With a subtle vibration the trainer came to life under me.
The hair dryer helmet lowered over my head as the technician said, "Relax and close your eyes Clark. As the trainer comes on line you will drift off to sleep and wake full of knowledge."
I closed my eyes and waited as the trainer prepared to fill me. Damn that sounded weirder then hell and not at all something I would want to tell the guys about.
The technician finished setting up the trainer as a warning tone sounded from the trainer across the room. He walked over to the other trainer to investigate the problem. As he walked away another technician walked up to Clark's trainer and inserted a memory card into the control panel and continued walking till he reached the exit. Looking back he surveyed the room to insure no one had seen what he had done. Seeing that he had been unobserved he smiled and left the room.
Going back to Clark's trainer the first technician made sure the program was running and went on his way.
Slowly Clark drifted as if falling asleep, just like he had been told. A soft gentle tingle started at the base of his neck and the feeling slowly moved up his neck to his head. 'This wasn't so bad', he thought, 'I could even get to like this.' His thoughts grew fuzzy and he didn't try to fight it, he could definitely use the rest.
WHACK!! A sharp pain in his left foot as someone hit the soul with a hard object.
"What the Hell!!" Clark said as he set up.... Well as he tried to sit up and come to think of it he tried to say it. He realized he could not move or speak, he was totally paralyzed.
"WHACK!!" The same pain, in his left hand this time as it was hit. What the hell was going on? The light that leaked through his eye lids started to take on a red tinge. Surely this wasn't right; this was nothing like falling asleep now.
WHACK!! Suddenly a piercing pain more intense than anything he had felt before stabbed through his head; As if a large hot knife had been plunged down into his brain. Bright red light pulsated on and off; flashing in his mind, red, darkness, red, darkness. Then a giant hand grabbed the knife and twisted, the world flashed bright red then faded to black as Clark's wakefulness faded into oblivion.
Fog billows around me in the dim light. There were flashes of lightning cutting through it as I look around, trying to get my bearings. I'm not sure where I am or how I got here. There was nothing in sight but the gray fog with the occasional flashes of lightning. I turn in a circle and inspect my surroundings; everything is the same, no variation of any sort. No sound other than the high pitched hum like an electric motor. Wait a minute when did that start, and where is it coming from.
Time is playing a game with me, I feel like seconds are passing so slowly that time is standing still yet it seems like I have been here forever. I continue to turn in a circle as I try to figure out where the hum is coming from. It appears to come from every direction at once. Well I guess it doesn't really matter at this point. I start walking. The fog parts around me like a soft velvet curtain, caressing my skin as I walk. The fog has substance like no fog I have ever experienced.
"What the hell?" This seems like a very good place for my signature phrase!
"You haven't reached hell yet." The throaty whisper in my left ear sends a shiver down my spine.
I jump to my right and let out a yelp that sounds suspiciously like it came from a little girl! I spin around to my left looking for the owner of that eerie voice, the fog swirls around my body in a chaotic twirl as I disturb it. I can see nothing in the fog. Nothing or no one is close enough to have whispered in my ear. I do not like this at all; the humming sound has gotten louder and still seems to come from everywhere at once.
"Who's out there?" God I hate when people do that in movies and books, it always happens just before the boogie man gets them, what the hell I need to change that line of thinking before I really freak myself out.
The fog seemed to thicken and draw closer to me, making it harder to see. I wave my hand in front of my face to clear the mist before my eyes. My hand feels like it is moving through waves of silken material. The fog draws in around me, clinging to my hand and arm. I take a step back and my legs are encased in gray tendrils; Looking down I see my body is all but hidden and I realize that it’s not just fog as it moves with a will of its own to encase me. I try to run and start to fall when my legs won't move. The malevolent cloud closes in over me like molten lava enveloping my whole body. My skin starts tingling all over, I open my mouth to yell and the fog fills my lungs. Panic sets in! I can't breathe, what is happening. My vision clouds as my eyes are covered, sparks shoot through the air and I hear voices trying to talk to me as my brain screams for oxygen. Darkness comes creeping in at the edge of my sight, quickly stealing my vision as the lack of oxygen robs me of consciousness...
Chest burning as my lungs fight to draw in breath! This is the end, no way will I be able to get out of this; I yearn for my nice quiet life back in Missouri.
The darkness closes in on me till my vision is gone, then as suddenly as it came on it starts pulling back. I can breathe, I take in great gasping breaths, as I breathe out I feel my body start to sink and quickly suck in another breath before I go under. Go under? I realize I'm lying on my back floating in water with my eyes closed. I open my eyes and raise my head to look around; I'm floating on a never ending body of dark water. As far as I can see there is nothing but water in the pale twilight. How did I get here?
Now I tread water as I turn in a circle to survey my surroundings, the humming sound is still with me but the fog has turned to water. This is one strange dream. The humming gets louder and seems to be coming from behind me now. Suddenly I hear a splash behind me and spin in the water to face this new mystery. A mere foot from me is a wooden raft with an old man sitting cross legged on it staring at me.
"Where the hell did you come from?" We both said at the exact same time as if we had rehearsed it for weeks.
"I can't decide if you're a hallucination or if I am. This is even stranger than my previous hallucinations and they were pretty strange." I said.
"Neither son, this is as real as it gets. This is your rebirth; you will never be the same after this. But you being in that water will not do you any good. Give me your hand and I'll help you."
I reach my hand out to him, "I could use all the help I can get."
The raft was not as close as I thought; my hand did not reach it. I started to swim the few feet to the raft but it didn't get any closer.
"Come on son you will have to do better than that." The old man croaked.
I swam harder and faster but the more effort I put into it the farther the raft seemed to slip away. It was always just out of my reach. I grew tired as I swam for what seemed like hours my thoughts growing dim and sluggish as exhaustion over took me.
The old man shook his head sadly, "I told you being in that water would not do you any good." He knelt at the edge of the raft and reached out to me. I raised my hand in the air to grip his hand; he reached right past my hand and grabbed my head. "The water has to be in you." He said in a throaty whisper.
With far more strength then he should have possessed he forced my head under water! I struggled to escape his hand but it was an iron grip befitting someone far younger and stronger than him. I thrashed and beat at his hand and arm trying to get
him to release me, to no avail. My lungs were burning as I held what breath I had. Terror overwhelmed me as I struggled to free myself. I grew weaker and weaker, my efforts becoming feebler. Suddenly my body betrayed me, my breath burst forth and I involuntarily sucked the black water into my lungs. I convulsed and coughed, my mind refusing to accept the end.
Fire exploded inside me; my body burned from the inside out. Flames seemed to be racing along every nerve and fiber of my being. Thousands of stars flared in my vision, I could see the old man above me on the raft, suddenly he split apart and there were two of him. Then each one split again and again. There were hundreds then thousands of old men above me on thousands of rafts; each of them was smiling down at me with a gleam in their eye. Then I exploded outward into a million pieces scattering across the ocean like flecks of foam on the waves.
Light flooded into my eyes as air filled my lungs and I set up screaming.
"Caution Clark, don't sit up too fast." The technician said as he moved the helmet of the induction trainer away from my head. "Take a slow deep breath, your mind is just compensating for the sudden input of information. Many trainees perceive the training as strange dreams as their minds try to comprehend it."
"Information that would have been helpful to know before you filled my brain up," I yelled.
"No one has ever died or had any lasting damage from the training. However if we had informed you of the effects before the training began your brain would have resisted the input. This would have severely limited the induction training."
"What did you put in there anyway? I don't have any additional knowledge that I can tell! What was this supposed to accomplish anyway?" I said with growing anger breathing in gasp, by heart rate still well over 100.
"Calm down Clark" Tomos said as he walked into the training lab. "It was not information that you will consciously be able to access. We just trained your brain how to use your abilities. You are a knocker now. With minimal field training you will be a full member of the Center team now."
"I don't feel any different, are you sure it worked Tomos?" My memory of what had happened in the induction trainer was already fuzzy. It was fading just like a bad dream.
"Yes Clark, walk with me and I will explain."
"The induction training is not used to give you information that you can consciously access," Tomos began as we walked out of the lab. "Rather it teaches your brain to use the abilities that it already has. You already have the ability to open doors or gates to other realms; all we have done is to teach you the basics of controlling and using your ability."
We walked down the hallway to the lift and were zipped up to another level where Tomos continued as we walked down this new hallway, although it looked identical to the one we had just left except for the L17 in large letters on the wall opposite of the lift.
"We are on our way to continue your training now. After this you will go on your first training mission tomorrow. Your traveling companions are being selected and preparing for the mission now."
We walked into the lab and I stopped in my tracks. "What the hell?" The walls of the lab were lined with door after door all the way around it. Each door had a sign with a number on it at eye level to the right of it.
"This is the gateway room. All missions are launched from here, all missions that require a gateway that is. As you can see most of the gateways are permanent to only one realm. These are the realms where we have stations and substations."
We were walking through the room now passing the doors, occasionally a door would open and one of the diminutive ones would come through. I caught glimpses of other rooms sometimes before the door was closed. Some of them looked similar to this one and others were smaller and the lighting level varied in all of them.
"These are mainly used for our everyday functions. Most missions are launched from the far end of the room, which is where we are going now. We have a series of doors that are not permanent and are set for the specific destination of the mission that is getting ready to go. The knocker will open the gateway and after they go through he will release the gateway. These are the doors that you will use most often."
As we reached the halfway point in the room I noticed a shimmer in the air as if a wall of heat distortion had been created at this point. As we passed through it I felt like oil slid over my skin and the level of noise in the room increased. I could hear everything in this half of the room that I could not before passing through the shimmer.
"What the hell was that?" I asked in surprise.
"Oh that was merely a sound barrier to keep the everyday and the special missions separated. It is also our first line of defense if someone attempts to come through an open gateway that means us harm. It only stops sounds and air from crossing normally, but in an emergency can be fully activated to become a solid barrier to contain everything on this side."
I could see now that the doors in this side of the room were not all identical. The size of the doors varied, some were large enough to drive a semi through, others were normal height but much wider. A few of them were at least 10 feet tall but no wider than three or four feet. One of these opened as we walked up to it. My blood froze in my veins and I stopped dead in my tracks! A giant covered in furs and carrying a battle ax stepped into the room. He had long tangled hair and a beard that covered most of his face and hung down onto his chest. The battle ax he carried in his right hand gripping the 5 foot long shaft just behind the massive head was covered in frost and a cold wind blew through the open door. As he stepped into the room and moved away from the door a man was revealed following him. He was around six, six five and so thin it looked painful, wearing a gray pinstriped three piece suit. Now I don't know about you but when I see a giant wearing furs and carrying a battle Ax the last thing I expect to see is that his companion looks like an underfed attorney!
The giant lumbered off further down the room from us. I've never seen anyone lumber but that is the only way I can describe it. Tomos raised his hand in greeting to the suit wearer.
"Farren welcome back." He greeted the man as we approached the stranger.
Walking up to the suit I realized he was taller than me by at least a foot. What the hell, how big had that first guy in the furs been?
"Greeting Tomos, this was not a mission I would want to repeat. It is good to be back."" Farren said as we stopped in front of him. Holy shit this guy made skinny as a rail an over statement! If he turned sideways I don't know if I could still see him. He stooped down and touched palms with Tomos now that was funny as hell; Tomos came up to just past his knees.
"Farren let me introduce you to William Henry Wilson a new knocker who has just completed induction." Farren reached out with his right hand with his palm facing me, if I hadn't just seen him do it with Tomos I wouldn't know what he wanted. I reached out the same and touched palms with him.
"Our meeting is foreordained Clark and will be the high light of the day for me."
"How the hell did you know I go by Clark?" I said with puzzlement.
Tomos intervened quickly, "Farren is a Dreamer, someone whose abilities manifest in precognitive dreams. He will be accompanying you on your mission tomorrow along with others. Whenever possible we send a Dreamer on missions and in any case on all of the important missions. It is always a good idea to be able to tell what is going to happen before it actually does."
"No way, he is a fortune teller? You have got to be kidding me." I laughed with disbelief.
"I must leave you now to report and then prepare for the mission on the morrow. Your doubt is noted Clark and will be put to rest on the mission. I shall meet you here in the morning." Saying this Farren turned and left, as if we had ceased to exist.
"You should really make an attempt to be more polite to new people. Especially considering that your life may depend on them in the near future." Tomos chastised me.
"I didn't mean to be rude, I just..." I stopped as what he said penetrated my dense skull, "my life may depend
on him! What the hell!?!
"Come we have training to attend to, you will have plenty of time to evaluate your life span in the future."
Tomos lead me to a small door with no markings and proceeded to teach me how to open it. I can't really explain how I did it or what I did. All I can say is it worked, to my great surprise, time after time. The rest of the day was spent with me opening doors and gateways into other realms. Basically I visualized where I wanted to go based on information that Tomos gave me and when I touched the door I would feel a tingle in my hand that quickly spread through my whole body and when I opened the door there it was, the realm that I had visualized.
At one point on impulse I opened the door without visualizing anything or attempting to open a gateway. On the other side of the open door was a wall that looked identical to the walls of the room.
"With no active gateway the door is just a door. We will now continue training with multiple doors. It is possible for you to hold more than one gateway open at the same time. How many depends on your strength and endurance. Over time it will increase as you exercise your ability."
The rest of the day was spent on this and other test and training. By the end of the day I was exhausted and went back to my room and collapsed into my bed. I was too tired to even undress.