"Robert Oppenheimer....shall we commence?"
Was I ready? Can I fully transition myself into this training?
"You'll be fine Robert, after all, I, Delilah, will be with you, so why fret?"
She was partially right, I made the decision to come here and I will show my determination for it.
"Yes, let's begin!"
"Hmmm.....seems like you have your mind set in the right place. But no, it's not enough, for this training, it's not only your physical attributes that are going to enhance, but also your mental state and soul with it. For that you need some clarification..."
I was heavily perplexed but did not want to interrupt the Guru, so I let him continue as hr opened my eyes with a realization I could not have been able to perceive ever.
"Did you never notice? You said it yourself, when you were relaying your journey so far to me, you said it yourself. 'I miraculously disappeared from the Radiant facility'. Didn't you question it? How? That facility is the world's most highly guarded site; guards that will eliminate you on sight if you're seen escaping, security cameras, a dozen of snipers situated on every wall, and just like that you 'miraculously' got out and never looked back. You became blind Robert, I don't know the reason nor do I want to. I have only brought you here to make you reach your great potential. Now let me educate you on how you got out of that hell hole, and what you're going to do from now on..."
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"Did we succeed?", asks a mysterious man in an cramped and dark place, "I suppose so", answers another man standing beside him. "Well.....now it's just a countdown to desolation.", mumbled a third man in the same place.
They all giggle hysterically.
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"I see...."
It all made sense now. Where was my mind at that time? I couldn't notice such a trivial thing.
I was inundated with the desire of wanting to remove that guilt and regret, by creating a new purpose and 'repenting'; I became so incongruous that this obvious realization crossed my mind completely. What if I had found out? Could I have prevented that whole incident from occurring in See Green? The Guru could have lend his hand, we would have landed the first strike, lives wouldn't be lost.
Albeit, it was too late now...
The Guru had secretly stationed some of his agents at Radiant as undercover infiltrators, who keep feeding info to the Guru and help in their mission of ultimately defeating Radiant. Their biggest responsibility was...finding test subjects who were injected with the radiation serum, and then secretly getting them out of the facility without Radiant noticing, to the Guru.
"Robert, there's more to this than you think. All of Radiant is suffused with lab rats and test subjects, more than the whole world can offer. We hold credit for most of the Radiants you see around the world. How many more do you think have come before you, here, to train?
All the people you see here were once held captive in Radiant, the Radiants you saw in See Green, I was the one who saved them from their confinement."
"...."
What was he on about, did he seriously...
"You....you mean to say...all this time you had relations with See Green...AND YOU DID NOTHING WHILE THEY WERE BEING PURGED. LIVES WERE LOST! Some Guru are you...."
One of his disciples raged at me, while screaming insults he was rushing to discipline me, until...
"Stop!.....You are very right Robert, though from your point of view.....it wasn't only See Green you know...Radiant at the time is busy creating the worst abomination known to mankind, it'll be the epitome of mass destruction and violence, for that they need a humongous amount of energy, therefore Radiant plundered a plethora of cities, states, countries, just for that. We had our agents scattered through all of the world, of course including See Green, it's just that those who were situated at See Green couldn't do enough, and for that I apologize. I hope you have a better understanding now."
My eyes couldn't hold the tears and caused me to break down weeping.
"If only I could have done more....this day wouldn't come..."
The Guru approaches me and pats me on my shoulder, "You can...that is why you are here."
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"Hmm, 'time manipulation' is perhaps the name I'll give to your ability, it entails you being able to travel between time, specifically the past, through some sort of trigger, am I correct so far?"
"Yes, although there have been instances where it may look like I didn't jump to the past, I think I have also seen the future with the help of my ability."
The Guru was intrigued and sat down to hear my story, "Right when I was discovering my ability and how it worked, I was reported to this strange and enclosed spacious ground, there were people, who couldn't see me nor hear me. You talked of an abomination Radiant was creating, I think I have observed it, I think that place was actually Radiant and I saw a monster, a growling beast who could in fact 'see me', and it erased me on sight, stomped me with its gigantic feet. I would never want to live that again, that feeling of fear was worse than me having to die multiple times."
"Interesting, we know for sure Radiant is creating something, however there has been no information on what it looks like and how it behaves, because it hasn't been created yet, so your suspicion of jumping to the future could be true. What I find strange is the properties of this ability, at times you can communicate with people and touch objects, here it was like your presence was non-existent, and what triggers it is also perplexing, is it pain, or is it an emotion. Are you ready Robert? This training will make you learn this ability of yours and make you use it at will."
"If you don't mind me asking Guru, what will I do after this training. Am I supposed to join some army of yours? How am I suppose to use it to tackle Radiant?"
The Guru gave a smirk and put his hands behind his waist.
"It is not your ability that we need, that is only to make you prepared for times that require that certain ability, what we need from you is your strategic prowess. Robert you are going to infiltrate Radiant from within as a rookie in their forces, and you are going to rot it from the inside, completely bring them to their knees, allowing us to make the finishing blow and give an end to them. You never let me finish my words before, so listen, out of all the test subjects we rescued, they were specifically recruited by us for this purpose, going undercover in Radiant, however, none of them succeeded, including the people here, some were good enough to stay, some continued their lives like normal. You have the potential, you can do it, I have seen your heroism, I believe in you..."
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"WOOHOOOO! This is so exciting!"
Our meeting with the Guru was over and he menacingly escorted us out with a blatant grin on his face as he says, "See you tomorrow." And now we have made our way back to Oceanica's mesmerising streets.
"For you it might be, this just makes my blood run cold, one misstep could cost me my life."
"Now this is the adventure I needed, I get to watch you and help you in this super top secret mission!"
Delilah looked happy and thrilled.....this wasn't the right time...and I don't think that time can ever come...how will I break it to her. How can I tell her I don't need her by not hurting her feelings? She wouldn't understand if I say it's for her future, that I'm not fit to be a guardian....
"Robby? Robby what happened? ROBBY?
It seemed the symptoms caught up again, I never wanted Delilah to see me in this state, as I start to vomit blood and collapse. What will the little girl do? How will she call for help? I knew this episode was coming but out of all times...why now.....
"Step aside young girl, let me handle him."
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