Chapter Nineteen: Lonesome Road

Stepping out the the training room Marcus could feel his blood boiling.

He couldn't understand how or why Dr. Fletcher and Luna had gotten so buddy-buddy in such a short period of time. 

All he had done for her, buying her whatever she asked for, sleeping on the floor, respecting her space and privacy in his OWN room! 

Marcus didn't complain once, no matter how frustrated he was with Luna's antics, yet she couldn't even spare the decency to say, 'Hey, Dr. Fletcher is planning to do some wacky shit.'

And that wasn't even the worst part.

It's the fact that Dr. Fletcher went behind his back to give Luna, who by all accounts should still be an enemy of the organization, the sensitive information that dealt with Marcus personally.

Then, she just tells him when it's the most convenient for herself like he was just second thought.

Marcus scoffed, he walked past the front desk with his hands in his pockets.

One of the androids who was managing the front desk turned to look at him with a mechanical curiosity in his eyes.

"Cadet Marcus Fall, are you departing without Dr. Anna Fletcher?" The android asked with the tilt of its head.

Marcus didn't even turn around, instead, he just threw up a middle finger as he reached the front doors. "Go fuck yourself you stupid robot."

The android paused for a moment, its eyes flickering briefly before it frowned. "Response noted." It replied in a neutral tone.

Marcus rolled his eyes as he pushed past the front doors.

Stepping outside, Marcus sighed heavily as he blocked the sun from hitting his eyes with his hand.

"Tch." Marcus huffed as he looked away from the sun. He began to scan the complex eventually his gaze landed on the eatery.

Marcus had no clue as to what time it was, but if he had to guess, about three hours had passed since the beginning of orientation, so it had to be around ten o'clock.

"Not lunchtime yet," Marcus said with a groan as he stepped away from the training center. 

Marcus decided he'd visit his dorm room. It was probably unwise for him to do such a thing, as he was almost certain everyone else was preparing for the beginning of the exams tomorrow.

However, Marcus just wanted to be in air-conditioned silence, in the privacy of his own dorm, and in the comfort of his assigned bed.

Around ten minutes later, he found himself standing at the entrance to his dorm room. 

It was left untouched, everything just he and Felix had left it.

Stepping into the dorm and closing the door behind himself, Marcus turned off the lights and began to navigate towards the bunk bed in the far right corner.

He then climbed up to the top bunk and crashed into his bed with a satisfying bounce.

The bed was as soft and comfortable as he imagined it would be. It had been so long since Marcus had slept in a proper bed that he almost forgot the sensation of being on one.

As he lay in the bed, he stared up at the smooth white ceiling above him. His mind was racing with thoughts of anger, confusion, and exhaustion.

He took a long, heavy sigh in an attempt to calm himself down. 

He closed his eyes as he focused on the sound of the AC blowing cool, chilly air. He allowed it to wash over him, the tension slowly draining from his body.

"I don't even know what I was thinking," Marcus muttered to himself as he placed his forearm over his head. "They were never my friends from the beginning, so why did I delude myself into believing they were?"

Marcus knew exactly why he deluded himself into believing that false truth. It was because he never had a true friend outside of his mother. There was Kenji and Elissa, but they were more like mentors than friends.

And of course, there was Felix, but Marcus wasn't sure if he could even consider Felix a friend, as they had only known each other a few days.

"I was so desperate for a friend that I pushed aside my comfort for someone who couldn't have cared less about me, I put my trust in a woman I barely knew, for what?"

Marcus realized that he had truly been naïve. 

Marcus then sighed once more. "I truly am an idiot."

He couldn't change the past, but he was going to change the future. 

From this point forward, everything he'd gain would be from his own hard work, he wouldn't rely on anyone or anything to help him.

With a deep breath, Marcus let go of his built-up anger and frustration.

Leaving behind only the exhaustion. 

As he slowly drifted off to sleep, Marcus knew one thing for sure. He was ready for anything that came his way.

Hours later, Marcus was awoken by the sound of a door slowly creaking open.

Marcus quickly turned his attention towards the door, where he noticed Felix slowly stepping inside.

His entire body was trembling as sweat dripped down his forehead. "Bro…." He slightly whispered, "Everything hurts."

Marcus' eyes widened with concern. 

"Dude, are you alright?" Marcus asked as he hurriedly descended down from the top bunk.

Felix shook his head. "Lieutenant Riva, gave us a pre-exam course, I passed, but now my body feels like jelly bro." Felix whimpered as Marcus finally reached him.

Marcus finally reached Felix, he placed a hand on either of Felix's shoulders to stabilize him.

"Bro, I just wanna lay down and not wake up." Felix chuckled softly as he grinned at Marcus, he then shifted his gaze towards the bunk bed, "Seriously though, I wanna sleep bro."

Marcus unintentionally smiled at Felix's joke. He then sighed softly as he placed Felix's arm around his shoulder, "So she had you guys training before our exams, wouldn't that affect your score?" Marcus asked curiously as he helped Felix to his bed.

Felix nodded. "Yeah, she said that was the point, you never know when you need to push past your limits or for how long." Felix then shuddered in pretend fear, "It was hell bro." He said with a chuckle.

Marcus shook his head and smiled, "For you to be so scared you sure know how to keep a smile on your face."

Marcus then helped Felix down onto the bottom bunk, as he did so Felix looked at him with a genuine grin. "Because bro, life is unpredictable, you never know what will happen next but, you can control how you react and feel."

"Is that so?" Marcus asked as he stepped back from Felix, allowing him to lie down in bed.

"Yeah," Felix said with a yawn. "No matter what gets thrown at me I'll always smile because I know I can overcome any challenge, so I have nothing to fear."

Marcus fell silent.

He began to reflect on Felix's words as he watched him settle into bed. Felix's words, though simple, held a hint of wisdom to them.

"Interesting," Marcus muttered to himself as he watched Felix's eyes grow heavy and his breathing slow. His exhaustion finally overtook him.

Marcus quietly climbed back onto the top bunk, careful not to wake Felix.

It must be nice to have such a mindset. Marcus thought to himself as he settled into his bed.

Marcus wished he could have a similar view, but he knew it wasn't possible. He tried to be nice, offer a hand to everyone he came across, be respectful towards others, and keep his chin up.

But it was exhausting and in the end, people still went behind his back or turned down his help entirely.

"It's whatever," Marcus said softly to himself as he closed his eyes. While Felix's words and actions were admirable, deep down Marcus knew he had to harden his resolve if he didn't want to get used and left out again.

He had to look out for himself.

Gradually Marcus's thoughts began to slow to a crawl as slowly fell asleep.

— — —

Dr. Fletcher found herself sitting behind a desk with a hand on her chin in an office that was provided to her by the administrator.

Sitting across from her was Luna, who was silently reading a book titled, 'How America Lost The War of 1812.' 

She found it quite amusing as the level of disrespect the author had for America was extremely prevalent.

Dr. Fletcher glanced over at Luna with a blank expression. 

neither of them had spoken since Marcus stormed off from the training center.

"I wish he hadn't reacted in such a way." Dr. Fletcher said softly as she finally broke the silence. "I now fear I can never reveal anything else to him."

Luna glanced up from her book with an intrigued expression. "You say that, but was that not the very thinking that caused his anger?"

"I suppose you're right." Dr. Fletcher said with a sigh as she leaned forward. 

"But I don't know how to talk to him, it's difficult to explain concepts that he doesn't understand, in my attempt to start off small, I inadvertently pushed him away."

"Yes, Marcus is indeed a complicated entity however, I do not believe that was the problem." 

Luna replied as she flipped a page in her book.

"Is that so?" Dr. Fletcher asked with a tilt of her head.

"You came off too strong. Marcus sees you as an adult and more importantly someone who is of great importance. Your error lies in the fact that you tried to lower yourself to his level when in reality Marcus needs to feel as if he rose to yours."

Dr. Fletcher nodded. "Explain."

"Your goal should be to slowly, yet carefully build a stable relationship with him, only then will he feel comfortable with listening to you as an equal."

Dr. Fletcher's expression grew perplexed. "I see, yet I'm curious, what makes you so sure that you're right?"

Luna gestured towards the book in her hands. "Human literature provides something that typical daily interactions do not, a look into their minds."

Luna then placed the book down on the desk and continued. 

"With the books I've read and the time I've spent with Marcus, I know for certain that the issue is based on his perceived notion of you, until that is fixed your relationship with him will be as thin as the pages within this book."

Dr. Fletcher glanced down at the book. "That does sound logical, I've never much cared for human interaction before I came across Marcus, he's the only human I know who can ingest a core and still function normally."

Luna nodded in agreement. "I still can't believe it myself."

— — —

In the morning, Marcus awoke to the sounds of the AC blowing and Felix snoring.

It was a rhythmic sympathy of sounds that equated to; annoyance.

With a yawn, Marcus began to smack his lips and he reached his hands high into the air. He yawned loudly as he stretched out his arms, once done he slowly began to make his way down.

He then made his way to the bathroom with slow and careful steps. 

When he entered the bathroom, he grabbed a small bath towel from the towel rack and entered the shower.

He turned the water on cold and quickly felt a jolting sensation. 

"Cold," Marcus said grumpily as he tampered with the control tablet in the shower.

He slowly raised the water to a warmer, comfortable temperature. 

He then began to lather himself with soap and once he was done, rinsed himself off with water.

He did this several times until he felt that the last of his exhaustion washed away. He then dried himself off and wrapped a towel around his waist.

He then finished out with the brushing of his teeth and fixing his hair.

Stepping out of the bathroom, Marcus made his way to his closet, where he tossed his old clothes in a basket and dressed himself.

Stepping out of the closet, Marcus noticed Felix slowly rising out of bed, rubbing his eyes as he yawned. "Morning bro." Felix said sleepily, "Ready for today's exams?"

Marcus nodded as he navigated towards the front door, "Yeah, I'll stop by the eatery a little early if you don't mind."

Felix shrugged as he rose from his bed. "That's fine bro, I'll join you when I can."

Marcus nodded as he exited the dorm room.