Working Out

Posted on Thu Jan 16th, 2025 @ 1:25pm by Connor Bruin & Drew Williams

2,742 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Episode 5: Days of Fortune Past
Location: Danger Room
Timeline: November 23rd, 1990 - 07:00

Ethan had slept in that morning, at least sleeping in for him, which meant he was up just after 7am. He wasn't much of a shopper, so he'd had no desire to participate in Black Friday. He had no one to buy gifts for. But, he didn't want to be bored either. Going out wasn't a good idea either, so he decided to spend sometime in the Danger Room. He could get some training and some thrills without any real physical threat.

He'd asked the newest arrival to the mansion that lived across the hall from him now.

Drew was sitting on his bed and tying his shoes when a knock on his door surprised him. Other than his sister, no one had visited him since his arrival Monday night. "Come in."

"Hey, good morning Newbie. How is it going? I thought you might want to spend some time in the Danger Room."

Drew looked up at the young man standing in his doorway. Ethan was about the same height and build as Drew, but sported wings coming out of his shoulder blades. He stood up and crossed to the door and held out his hand. "My name is Drew. You must be the Ethan the guy across the hall." He gave Ethan a curious expression after shaking hands. "Um, what's the Danger Room? Is it really dangerous?"


"I guess it depends on your definition of dangerous. There are safeguards in place to keep it from being too dangerous. I've been known to reduce those protocols, but that's because I like living on the edge."

"But no worries. We can actually increase the parameters as well. Especially since it's your first time."

Drew was feeling a bit couped up after the last few days. He hadn't really used his super speed for anything other than cleaning his dormitory room every morning or reading through the orientation materials. He glanced down at his slacks, Metallica t-shirt and running shoes. "Should I change or is this cool?"

Ethan gave him a quick glance, then down at his own clothing, a pair of grey sweatpants and a black and silver Los Angeles Raiders tee shirt. "You can if you want to, but I think you're good."

Drew nodded and gestured down the hallway. "Lead the way." He closed his door and followed behind Ethan. He looked at the wings. "So can you actually fly?"

"Among my other talents," Ethan replied with a grin as he looked behind him.

"Like this," he added holding up both hands, letting both sets of claws spring out."

Drew looked at the claws and grinned. "Remind me to wear metal gauntlets before shaking your hand." He gave a short chuckle to emphasize his statement.

Ethan shook his head with a short laugh as the claws retracted. "You have no reason to worry. I only shake hands like that with an enemy or someone who pisses me off."

Drew nodded. "Note to self. Don't piss off the guy with retractable claws." A few minutes later they arrived in a sub level area of the mansion and stopped in front of a door with sliding panels and a plaque on the wall that read DANGER ROOM in all capital letters.

Drew turned to Ethan, his expression one of curiosity and apprehension. He turned to Ethan. "What now?"

"I don't want us to get in trouble, so I think we should set the controls at the most basic level. It's not as challenging that way, but it's safer. We might get a bruise, but that's about it." Curiously, Ethan asked, "What kind of scene do you want to create?"

Drew looked from Ethan to the door and back to Ethan. He looked entirely confused. "I don't understand what you mean by scene. I thought we were going to practice using our powers. Not watch a movie."

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to be confusing." Ethan shrugged. "We are going to be practicing, not watching a movie."

"What I meant was we can set up the bad guys we'll be using. You know like regular street thugs or something a little tougher. The Danger Room is all about building teamwork and working together. We won't be fighting each other. At least I've never done it that way."

Drew pondered Ethan’s words as he looked at the door. He remembered something from a television show that he'd tried to get into, but had been something he had decided was a bit of a ripoff of a classic television series his dad had told him about. "Are you telling me this Danger Room is some sort of holodeck out of the new Star Trek series?"

"Hey, I like that show too. I don't think it's nearly that sophisticated, but yeah it's kind of like that." As they stepped inside, Ethan asked, "What's your super power?"

Drew shrugged. He had once thought that his abilities, if kept secret and used just enough to appear really impressive and within the boundaries of a gifted athlete, could net him a scholarship. Now he felt a little lost since the reporter had outed him as a mutant. "I'm fast. Not like faster than a speeding bullet fast, but...faster than a Formula One race car fast and then some."

"What do you like to do for fun?"

Drew tapped his shirt. "I like music. I am pretty good at guitar and keyboard. I also like to draw pictures. It was something I could do at my desk after exams. I'm also kinda a science nerd, math and physics mostly."

"You like to draw? Me too. What kind of things do you like to draw?"

Drew sighed. He thought of Peyton Chandler, the girl he had liked back home. The girl he would probably not see again for quite some time, the girl he had drawn pictures of in home room since the start of senior year. "Portraits of people mostly. I'm not really all that good."

As Ethan and Drew stepped into the Danger Room, they were greeted by the inimitable digital voice of Connor Bruin. "HELLO. WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? I DID NOT SCHEDULE A TRAINING SESSION FOR THIS MORNING."

Both looked up to see Connor seated in the elevated control deck, casually leaning over the console as he spoke into a headset. His fingers finished signing ASL before the haptic sensors translated them into his speech-generating device.

Ethan raised a hand in greeting. "Morning, Connor. Just looking to get ahead of the curve as always." Just as he finished speaking, his expression shifted slightly. He touched his temple and frowned, clearly receiving a telepathic message.

“Professor Xavier needs to see me,” Ethan said, turning to Drew. “Sorry to leave you hanging. Connor can walk you through everything—he’s great at this stuff.” With a quick nod to Connor, Ethan strode out of the Danger Room, leaving Drew looking a little uncertain but intrigued.

By the time Ethan left, Connor was already down to the main floor, having jumped and flipped his way to Drew. "GREETINGS AGAIN. MY NAME IS CONNOR BRUIN. I APOLOGIZE FOR NOT INTRODUCING MYSELF YET. NOVEMBER HAS BEEN A CHAOTIC MONTH. YOU WERE AT THANKSGIVING. IT WAS MY FIRST TIME. I ATE TOO MUCH." Connor went from apologizing to grinning in a manner of seconds.

Drew let out a hearty laugh at Connor’s comment about eating too much at Thanksgiving dinner last night. "I had four plates of food and snuck back down to the kitchen for three slices of pie after lights out last night." His smile faded as he looked about the sizable chamber before turning back to Connor. "So what's first? I guess you want to give me some sort of assessment test or something."

"I KNOW THAT YOU HAVE SUPER SPEED." Connor signed with ASL and his haptic gloves conveyed them to the speech-generating device around his neck. "I HAVE SEEN THAT POWER BEFORE. WOULD YOU LIKE TO TEST YOUR TOP SPEED OR DO YOU WANT TO PRACTICE REACTION TRAINING?"

Drew glanced around the Danger Room. While the room was sizeable it wasn't big enough for him to accelerate up to his top long distance speed, much less his sprinting speed. He turned back to Connor. "Perception-Reaction Time, we'll have to go outside for my speed testing."

"NEGATIVE." Connor shook his head and accessed an old program on the control console against the wall. He signed with one hand while scrolling through the computer menu with another. "THERE WAS ANOTHER SPEEDSTER AT THE MANSION EARLIER THIS YEAR. I AM CERTAIN WE CAN FIND SOMETHING."

The victorious grin on his face said it all. Connor made his selection and pointed to the center of the room. A crack in the previously seamless floor parted as an industrial sized treadmill emerged. It was big enough to drive a car onto it and looked heavy duty enough to support it.

"WE CAN CLOCK YOUR SPEED WITH THIS," Connor said. "BUT WE CAN STILL TEST YOUR P-R-T IF YOU WOULD PREFER."

Drew took a few steps towards the treadmill. He looked over his shoulder with a slight grin and gave Connor a thumbs up. "I haven't gone for my morning run and it's been a couple of weeks since I went flat out. I say speed trial...then breakfast if we could."

"AGREED," Connor signed. "I AM NOT A SPEEDSTER BUT I WOULD LIKE TO RECORD MY TOP SPEED AS WELL."

The gargantuan treadmill had its own control panel on one side, so Connor approached it while Drew made himself ready. "AT YOUR SIGNAL, I WILL ACTIVATE THE MACHINE. THERE APPEARS TO BE AN ACCELERATIVE GOVERNOR FEATURE WHICH WILL INCREASE THE SPEED ACCORDING TO YOUR PACE. I CAN ALSO ADJUST THE PITCH AND INCLINE, BUT FOR NOW WE CAN LEAVE IT AT THE DEFAULT SETTING." Hands hovering over the controls, Connor gave Drew a final nod and awaited his signal.

Drew stepped on to the treadmill. He looked to Connor. "Ready." Drew started to run. He accelerated up to 200 miles per hour in a little under four seconds. It felt strange to be running this fast and not feel like wind pushing back against him. He pushed himself more after a minute or so and accelerated faster, reaching a speed of 300 miles per hour.

Drew maintained that velocity for more than ten minutes before feeling leg fatigue creeping into his body. He kept up the incredible pace for another minute or two before he needed to slow down. He took a minute to decelerate gradually. "That was cool." He walked over to Connor at the control console. "What was my top speed?"

"YOU WERE IN EXCESS OF 300 K-P-H FOR MUCH OF THE TIME AND REACHED A PEAK VELOCITY OF 482 POINT 8 K-P-H." Connor was impressed by the raw data logged by the treadmill's computer. "CONVERTED TO IMPERIAL, THAT IS 200 TO 300 MILES PER HOUR. I WILL TEST ANOTHER TIME. YOURS IS CLEARLY THE SUPERIOR VELOCITY."

Drew was astonished by the news. He knew he was fast and figured he was capable of doing speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour. He never knew exactly what his top speed was. He turned to Connor. "Could we do a speed trial outside sometimes?" He gestured about the Danger Room. "Testing in here is kinda cool and all, but it isn't like testing myself in real world conditions. I may not be able to reach that velocity on open ground."

That didn't make sense to Connor. The Danger Room could simulate virtually any real world condition. "ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT TRIPPING? PERHAPS WE COULD TEST YOUR PERCEPTION-REACTION TIME TO ACCOUNT FOR YOUR ABILITY TO ADAPT TO UNEVEN TERRAIN." A rumble came from Connor's stomach. "BUT AFTER BREAKFAST. AFTER YOUR CALORIC EXPENDITURE, YOU MUST BE HUNGRIER THAN I AM."

Drew nodded. "I am feeling...kinda peckish." He was actually quite hungry. "I didn't grab a snack before getting started this morning and the last thing I ate was three slices of pie around midnight. I could really go for some biscuits and gravy, a ham and cheese omelet, hash browns and a stack of pancakes."

"I DO NOT KNOW IF WE HAVE ALL OF THOSE THINGS," Connor signed. "WE CAN SEE WHAT THE CATERING LEFT BEHIND OR WE COULD TAKE A RIDE INTO TOWN FOR A BREAKFAST BUFFET."

Drew gestured to the exit. "Sounds good to me. You're the boss."

Both, then. Both sounded good to Connor as well. He gave Drew a devil-may-care grin. At last there was someone else with a healthy appetite. And with his skills, he just might make a good team member. Connor made a mental note to discuss it with Professor Xavier.

"NORMALLY I WOULD RACE YOU TO THE ELEVATOR," Connor signed, "BUT THAT FEELS RIDICULOUS UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES."

Drew glanced at Connor as they exited the Danger Room. He broke out in a grin and gestured to the elevator doors at the end of the corridor. "I'll give you a heads start."

"THAT IS POINTLESS," Connor observed.

Drew started running when Connor was halfway down the corridor.
He slipped passed Connor and reached the elevator doors a full 10 meters ahead of the young man. Even having time to depress the call button and lean against the wall with his arms folded across his chest and a cocky grin on his face. "About time you got here."

"TIME IS DISTANCE OVER VELOCITY," Connor countered as they waited for the elevator, "WHICH MEANS I ARRIVED AT THE CORRECT POINT IN EUCLIDEAN SPACETIME."

"You study physics?" Drew stood up straight, intrigued that Connor also liked science. "I was taking A.P. Physics 1 in school before my parents sent Angela and I here. Along with Calculus, Civics, Classical Literature, Cross Country for my physical education class and Study Hall during sixth period. You mind me asking what courses you take?"

"I LEARNED CALCULUS AND PHYSICS YEARS AGO," Connor signed while his gloves translated his gestures into speech. His expression remained neutral, but there was a spark of interest in his eyes. "CURRENTLY I'M STUDYING MORE ADVANCED MATHEMATICS, INCLUDING TOPOLOGY AND STRING THEORY. PROFESSOR XAVIER IS ENCOURAGING ME TO PURSUE A TERMINAL DEGREE IN ENGINEERING, BUT I FIND IT..." The speech-generating device cut off while Connor searched for the right word. "TEDIOUS."

Connor's hands picked up the pace again once he had organized his thoughts. "ENGINEERING REQUIRES LONG PROJECTS AND SLOW RESULTS. QUANTUM PHYSICS, ON THE OTHER HAND, OPERATES ON THE EDGE OF REALITY, ALMOST LIKE FICTIONAL REALISM WHICH IS THE IDEA THAT WE ARE ALL CHARACTERS IN SOMEONE ELSE'S STORY." He chuckled at that thought as he remembered one of his favorite movies. "LIKE ATREYU IN THE NEVER-ENDING STORY. I GET LOST IN IT, BUT IT'S FASCINATING. SURPRISINGLY, EVEN REALITY CAN SOMETIMES FEEL TOO SURREAL TO BE FACTUAL."

Before Drew could ask more, the elevator dinged, and the doors slid open to reveal the corridor leading to the kitchen.

Connor stepped out, gesturing for Drew to follow. As they entered the kitchen, Connor went straight to the refrigerator, pulling it open. "GROWING UP IN A RESEARCH FACILITY LEFT ME WITH LITTLE ELSE TO DO EXCEPT STUDY OR WORK ON MY GYMNASTICS."

What came out of his mouth next was a raucous shout of disappointment and irritation that would not have been out of place at the metropolitan zoo. Once he calmed down, he signed, "OF COURSE. NOT ENOUGH LEFTOVERS AGAIN. TOO MANY MIDNIGHT SNACKS. PERHAPS I SHOULD HAVE APPLIED MY VELOCITY PRINCIPLE TO THE KITCHEN."

Drew peeked around Connor and saw that Aurora and he had not been the only ones who had snuck down the night before and gotten late night snacks. The rest of the three pies were gone and there was not much of the turkey or sweet potatoes left. "Looks like a lot of hungry kids were down here last night. I'll admit, I was one of them, but I only had one slice of each of the pies and...." His voice trailed off. He didn't want to rat out Aurora if there was a hard rule about not sneaking to the kitchen after lights out.

"SO WAS I." Connor gave Drew a mischievous grin before he signed. "LOOKS LIKE WE NEED TO CALL A TAXI. IF WE HURRY, WE CAN MAKE IT TO THE BREAKFAST BUFFET." He let out an excited hoot as he signed, "LET'S GO!"

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