“The G&G?” she asked.
“Yeah, but the whole thing. Gadgets or something?”
“The Gears and Gadgets Repair Shop.”
“Gears!” Rush said. “There we go. That’s totally it. In honor of your first HRT Alpha player kill, I hereby dub thee, ‘Gears.’”
“Awesome!” Kaitlyn said, doing a little dance where she sat. Sketch laughed and grinned from ear to ear.
It was three games after that before Daniel finally got a kill of his own, this time on Sketch. Sketch crowed again in delight and looked over at Rush expectantly, who was ready for it this time, having had more than thirty minutes to think of the perfect gamer tag for Daniel.
“Disco,” he pronounced immediately.
Sketch laughed while Daniel scrunched up his face and raised a skeptical eyebrow.
“You want me to come up with something else, maybe, Mr. Stayin’ Alive?” Rush asked, grinning wickedly. It took Daniel only a moment to consider his options.
“Disco, it is,” Daniel agreed.
Rush nodded, smirking, and started up another game.
20
Instructor Report
“How are they doing?”
“The initial indications are even stronger than I could have hoped. Roman Jackson—who calls himself ‘Sketch’ now, by the way—is incredibly advanced. I believe he can already do what we need him to do, without any further training.”
“Well, that’s one at least. And the other?”
“Daniel shows definite signs of higher order processing as well. I would like to work with him on accessing his unconscious knowledge more directly, but he clearly has the potential to move in that direction. He will also need to practice singing in front of others. We can not afford for him to suffer from shyness when it comes time to bring the group together.”
“Good. You’ve reviewed the workshop?”
“Yes, it should be more than sufficient for the morning, but I will need the martial arts expert in the afternoon.”
“He’s already in transit.”
“Excellent! Then I believe we are fully prepared for tomorrow. I have been exceedingly pleased with our initial results. Hopefully, the test has been equally successful in identifying the others.”
“If it hasn’t, our careers are going straight into the toilet.”
“If it has not, Colonel, our careers will be the least of our problems.”
21
Workshop
In the morning, after breakfast, Miss Williams escorted Kaitlyn out of the building, explaining that her session with Ammu would be held in the maintenance shop, where Kaitlyn would have access to tools and parts and the like.
“How have you been enjoying your stay so far?” Miss Williams asked as they walked. The weather being clear, she had chosen to take the long way around, leading Kaitlyn out through the front doors of the lodge and following a pathway that ran through a well-manicured garden.
“Oh, it’s been great!” Kaitlyn exclaimed. “I called Grandma Maggie yesterday right before dinner. Thank you for the telephone, by the way. She said everyone at the new place has been wonderful.”
Miss Williams smiled. “I’m so glad. You were taking very good care of her, you know. You should be proud of the job you were doing, but I understand why you were concerned about her.”
“I didn’t like that she was forgetting to eat when I wasn’t there,” Kaitlyn admitted. “But she’s eating now! When I called, she said she was having pot roast! And garlic mashed potatoes! She loves garlic mashed potatoes.”
Miss Williams laughed. “And what about the other students?” she asked. “Nobody’s giving you a hard time, I hope?”
“Oh, no! I played HRT Alpha with Rush and Sketch and Daniel last night. It was really fun! I killed Sketch a few times, and I killed Daniel a whole bunch! I couldn’t kill Rush though. Did you know he had a chance to get on a pro team this summer?”
“Oh, really?” Miss Williams asked, clearly surprised.
“Yeah. He had to give it up to come here. His dad made him, since it’ll look good for college.”
“I see,” Miss Williams said thoughtfully.
“Oh, gosh! Don’t tell him I told you, OK? I don’t know if I was supposed to. I just don’t want anyone to be upset if he seems unhappy. It’s not his fault. He’s really nice if you get to know him.”
“I promise, Kaitlyn, no one is upset with any of you. We’re very glad you’re here, and I’m hoping to get to know you all much better! Remember, I’ll be working with everyone else together today while you’re working with Ammu, so be sure to come straight back and join us when you’re done, all right?”
“OK,” Kaitlyn agreed. During breakfast, Miss Williams had shown them a small classroom that had been set up in one section of the big conference room off the main lounge, where she said they would be working on teamwork and leadership skills.
“And we’re here!” Miss Williams announced.
The maintenance shop matched the design of the lodge but was just one story. It sat well away from the main building on an extension of the long driveway, with three large, garage-type doors on the front, all painted dark green, and with a normal door on the far end. The middle garage door was wide open, and Miss Williams walked through it, followed closely by Kaitlyn.
“Hello,” Miss Williams called out. “Professor?”
“Yes, yes! Over here. Welcome!” Ammu replied, waving to them from the far corner of the garage as their eyes adjusted to the interior lighting.
“Wow! Nice!” Kaitlyn exclaimed.
“Do you approve, then?” Ammu asked. “You will have what you need here?”
“Oh, definitely!”
The inside of the building consisted of a concrete floor and three vehicle bays. The bay on the right held three lawn mowers, with a variety of trimmers and ladders hanging neatly along the right-hand wall. The center bay contained a large, solid table with several industrial-looking stools scattered around it, and the left-hand bay housed a well-stocked work area, designed for woodworking as well as mechanical maintenance.
A long work bench ran the full length of the left-hand wall and then turned the corner to run along the back edge of the left and center bays. The bench housed a high-end table saw, and Kaitlyn recognized a drill press and a lathe as well. Other than a few standing machines, the middle of the left-hand bay had been left open, with four saw horses stacked along the edge, obviously designed to allow the maintenance crew to work on larger projects there.
“May I?” Kaitlyn asked, pointing toward several closed cabinets, hanging both above and below the workbench.
“Please!” Ammu said.
“I’m going to leave you two at it, then,” Miss Williams announced, smiling over Kaitlyn’s enthusiasm.
“OK. Thanks, Miss Williams!” Kaitlyn called out, her voice muffled by the cabinet that her head was already buried in.
“It’s Christina!” she called back. “I told you, call me Christina!”