Chapter Eighteen: Misguided Trust

Stepping into the building Marcus was greeted with a breeze of air conditioning. It was a welcoming feeling after being out in the heat.

"This is the training center, Marcus." Dr. Fletcher gestured towards a front desk manned by two androids. 

The androids looked similar to those that manned the front desk in the dormitory, matching every trivial detail of its siblings.

"More androids?!" Marcus stated in disbelief, causing one of the androids to look in his direction.

The turn of its head was quick and methodical.

It seemed to stare deeply into Marcus's soul, its illuminated eyes studying his every detail.

Marcus shivered as he averted his have from the android, causing Luna to chuckle. "Of all the things you've seen, I still can't believe you're afraid of cheap Automatons."

"I'm not afraid." Marcus said defensively, "I already told you back in the dorms, these things are freaky for no reason."

Dr. Fletcher chuckled as she gestured for Marcus to follow her toward the desk.

"Do you want to hold my hand?" She said teasingly as she reached it back towards Marcus while walking towards the front desk.

Marcus hesitated for a moment. Was she being serious? He wondered.

He didn't want to look like an idiot accepting her hand just for it to be a joke, but he also knew Dr. Fletcher wasn't the type to joke around too much either.

In fact, despite her current behavior. Dr. Fletcher was a serious and no-nonsense woman.

Meaning this offer was a free game right?

Without much thought into his actions, Marcus accepted Dr. Fletcher's offer. 

With a crisp and satisfying motion, Marcus's hand effortlessly intertwined with Dr. Fletcher's hand. 

It was soft and smaller than his own and it was simultaneously just as cold as Luna's hand.

A wry smile made its way across Marcus's face, he had possibly achieved something monumental today.

Dr. Fletcher looked down at their interlocked hands with a satisfied expression, before turning her attention back toward the androids at the desk.

"I'm here to use the training room echo, is that possible?" Dr. Fletcher asked in her usual calm and authoritative tone.

The android's eyes flickered for a moment. "Checking, checking, checking."  It replied, after a brief moment its eyes returned to normal, and it smiled. 

"Training room echo is currently empty however, it is available to use." The android answers with a synthetic smile.

Even with the comfort of both Dr. Fletcher and Luna's hands, Marcus still felt a shiver run down his spine.

He really didn't like these androids.

With the nod of her head, Dr. Fletcher stepped away from the front desk and began to navigate past it.

They soon entered a long corridor, with five colored arrows on its walls.

As they continued walking down the corridor, Marcus noticed that each door they passed, had one of the five arrows pointing towards it.

Eventually, when it came down to the last arrow, Marcus realized that each one led to a different training room.

Just as he came to that realization, Dr. Fletcher stopped before that last door, which had the final arrow pointing towards it.

With her free hand, Dr. Fletcher pushed open the double doors leading to the room. 

The room was massive.

Stepping inside, Marcus was greeted with a large circular track with six lanes. In the center of the track was various gym equipment all lined perfectly with each other.

And overhead was the sky, illuminating everything within the room, there were also lights that were turned off. 

Marcus assumed that when the sun wasn't out, those lights would turn on to compensate.

"Man, this place makes my school's track field look like a joke," Marcus said with a chuckle.

"It should." Dr. Fletcher said with a laugh. "Two billion dollars went into this building, if a publicly funded school did better, I'd say the organization wasted its money."

Marcus nodded in agreement. "I guess you're right, but you mentioned you had something you wanted to talk about when we got here?"

Dr. Fletcher nodded. "Yes, but first I need you to do a few exercises for me, can you do that?"

"Sure, I mean that's why I came here from the beginning," Marcus replied as he released both Dr. Fletcher and Luna's hands.

"Anything in particular?" Marcus asked curiously.

"The 100-meter dash would be perfect, I'll time you as well, if you don't mind." 

Marcus nodded as he made his way to the starting line of the track. "Do I just do it in my regular clothes, or am I supposed to wear a TCS uniform?"

Dr. Fletcher shook her head. "You'd only need a TCS for the second exam, I don't know why this complex gives them out so early." She said with a sigh.

Marcus nodded as he lined up at the start of the 100-meter track. He began to do a few light warm-ups to get his blood flowing. Shaking out his limbs to loosen himself up.

Dr. Fletcher watched him with a hollow expression, seemingly in deep thought about something.

Luna meanwhile sat on a bench close to the track, her gaze on Marcus was as curious as always.

"Ready when you are Dr. Fletcher," Marcus called out as he lowered himself into the running position Kenji taught him. He took several deep breaths as he centered himself.

Dr. Fletcher nodded as she looked down at her smartwatch. "On my mark." She called out.

Marcus looked down the pristine, synthetic track that was laid out before him. He felt a sudden surge of adrenaline rushing through him as he lowered himself into a running position.

"Three, two, one, go!" Dr. Fletcher shouted, never looking up from her watch.

Marcus lunged forward with an explosion of speed, his feet gliding off the track, each step propelling him faster than the last. Marcus focused on his breathing with each swift movement. Despite the stillness of the air, it still seemed to rush past him as he ran.

Nearing the finish line, Marcus pushed forward with every ounce of speed he had left in the tank, crossing the finish line at an impressive ten seconds.

"How'd I do?" Marcus asked as he walked to Dr. Fletcher's side, his legs burning from the great effort he just expended.

Dr. Fletcher looked up at Marcus with a small smile playing on her lips. "10.76 seconds." She replied. "It's good, but we can do better."

Marcus was taken aback by Dr. Fetcher's Fletcher's comment. "Better?" He asked in confusion. "Any better and I'll be in the wrong profession."

Dr. Fletcher chuckled softly as she drew closer to Marcus. 

Without much warning, she placed a hand on his chest, causing Marcus to take a step back in astonishment.

"Woah lady." Marcus said as he covered his chest, "You might wanna take a look at the age of consent laws in Britain, I'm not 17 till next week!"

Dr. Fletcher laughed joyously at Marcus's comment. 

Marcus narrowed his eyes in confusion.

It wasn't that he didn't find Dr. Fletcher attractive, far from it in fact, but he was confused at the suddenness of such an action, not to mention she was far out of his league.

This led to several alarm bells firing.

"I assure you," Dr. Fletcher said calmly as she regained her composure, "my actions were purely to assist you."

"Assist me how?" Marcus asked skeptically.

"Come here and I'll explain it." 

Marcus hesitantly approached Dr. Fletcher once more. 

When he got close enough, Dr. Fletcher leaned forward, her lips growing ever closer to his ear.

She then began to whisper.

"You remember that Luna's core is inside you, yes?" She asked curiously.

Marcus nodded. "It's kinda hard to forget something like that." He replied in a whisper.

"And you know those pills I gave you to suppress that core so that you'd appear normal?" 

Marcus again nodded.

"Well, what if I told you I can make Luna's core function to your benefit even more, you see although her core is being suppressed by the medicine I prescribed to you, it can still function, like how that gash on your forehead healed completely after only a good nights rest."

Marcus' eyes widened at the revelation. He remembered that Dr. Fletcher mentioned something about the core helping, but he was under the assumption that Dr. Fletcher had gotten ahold of some really good medicine to heal that kind of wound.

But suddenly everything began to make sense.

The way he got that gash in the first place should've killed him right off the bat, but it didn't. He also didn't feel that burn in his legs anymore after that run. He wasn't even tired, now that he thought about it.

"You mean the pills didn't work at all?" He asked in shock.

"No they work, trust me you'd be on another level if they didn't." Dr. Fletcher said with a chuckle. "But that's not the point, I want to restore the core to a limited function just to give you a slight advantage in the exams against the other cadets."

"But isn't that… cheating?" Marcus asked hesitantly.

Dr. Fletcher smirked. "Since when did you ever care about cheating, besides it's fun, right?"

Marcus gulped audibly, and a bead of sweat ran down his forehead.

This wasn't like Dr. Fletcher at all. 

She had all the mannerisms, the voice, and even those same authoritative eyes. 

But with how she was treated by Marcus. She seemed almost entirely different.

Marcus fell silent, pondering Dr. Fletcher's question.

He didn't mind cheating, not in the slightest. 

Marcus did, however, attempt to remain faithful to his morals, which was to hold himself accountable for any promises. 

So the real question was did he want to remain honest for this exam?

And the answer was no.

If Marcus had to choose between playing by the books and doing his best, versus winning by a high margin, then the answer was clear.

"I guess I don't mind cheating." Marcus answered honestly, "But wouldn't I get in trouble?"

Dr. Fletcher shook her head. "No, you'll be fine, I'll make sure of it."

"Does Luna know about this?" Marcus asked curiously.

"Of course she does, I've divulged this information to her long before I told you."

Marcus couldn't believe her words. Luna had been with him almost 24/7, there was no time for a conversation between the two to take place.

Marcus turned to look down at Luna, who had silently made her way to his side.

"You… you knew?" Marcus stammered. "When?"

"The plane ride, we discussed this topic and many more that are similar."

Marcus went silent as he fell deep into thought. 

They were talking behind his back?

Dr. Fletcher rather talk to an anomaly before she spoke to him. 

Did she not trust him? 

He began wondering if he could even trust Luna or Dr. Fletcher anymore.

He knew neither of them were his friends, be he had hoped that was changing, at least a little. He didn't know if he should be mad, as he knew Luna was definitely hiding things, it would be ridiculous to think otherwise.

But Dr. Fletcher was another case entirely. He turned to look at her with a frustrated expression, "You'd tell an anomaly about your plans before you'd tell a trusted ally, one who was directly involved!" Marcus stated angrily.

Dr. Fletcher's eyes widened in confusion at Marcus's words, it was clear she hadn't expected this.

She took a step away from Marcus and covered her chest with her forearm, "Marcus you–"

"Don't try and talk yourself out of this!" Marcus exclaimed angrily as he pointed a finger sternly at Dr, Fletcher, " I understand going behind my back, but not when It involves information dealing with me!"

Marcus suddenly felt a cold hand grab at his arm, turning to look at the culprit, Marcus noticed it was Luna. "Calm yourself," Luna said gently.

Marcus felt his anger rising, did she really think she had the authority to tell him to calm down? 

"Get the fuck off me!" He shouted angrily as he snatched his arm away from her. "You have some nerve thinking you can tell me what to do, after all the shit I sacrificed for your comfort."

Luna's expression grew pensive as she looked down at her hand. 

Marcus then turned his ire toward Dr. Fletcher. "If you can't come to me on equal terms then I don't need you, I'll do this exam on my own, and I will win you hear me? I'll win."

Marcus's tone was as cold as his words. 

Dr. Fletcher's eyes softened as she stepped toward Marcus. "Marcus I–"

Before she could respond in full, the doors leading to the training room swung open, revealing a frustrated Sang-Hee walking inside with slow angry strides. 

"Who the fuck built this complex and where are the damn guides!" She explained angrily.

Sang-Hee then turned her attention toward Marcus and Co. She raised her eyebrow in curiosity. "Yo, whatcha doing here boss?" 

Marcus sighed heavily as he walked towards Sang-Hee and simultaneously the exit.

"Just dropping off Luna with Dr. Fletcher, they seem to have gotten real close for some reason.

Marcus' voice was filled with venom and hidden anger.

Sang-Hee glanced over at Dr. Fletcher and Luna with a curious expression, she studied them for a brief moment. Their faces were hollow as usual, but their eyes seemed lost. 

She then shrugged her shoulders. "None of my business." She replied as she made her way towards the track.