The Syndicate - 20. Chapter 20 - Ronnie

The alarm on Ronnie's phone blared an annoyingly cheerful song. He reached towards the noise with a groan, blindly slapping at the screen until it stopped. Ronnie rolled onto his back and gazed at the ceiling, blinking the sleep from his eyes. As the room came into focus, a wave of excitement rose in his chest. It was time to get back to the Syndicate for more training, and more importantly, back to Taran.

The rest of their date had passed quickly. The two remained up in the dome of the old courthouse well after dark, and when it had gotten too cold to remain any longer, Taran called for a town car to take them home. That led to more making out in the backseat until the car pulled up to the Syndicate Building.
Ronnie smiled as he remembered how reluctant Taran was to leave. "I'll see you tomorrow. Thanks for a wonderful night," he said when he finally managed to pull himself away. Taran waved goodbye as the car drove around the corner, and Ronnie spent the entirety of the drive home in a giddy daze. It had been a really long time since he had spent the night kissing anyone, and it certainly hadn't involved flying or making out in the back of a robot car.

Greg was in the kitchen, frying eggs when Ronnie ran in to look for some breakfast. "Hiya, kiddo," he called. "You got home pretty late last night. How's work going?"

Ronnie felt the heat rise in his cheeks. He had been purposely avoiding any details about the Syndicate with his father because he just wasn't ready to start with the lies. "Great, dad! I'm learning a lot about computer systems, and everyone has been really nice and welcoming." He had worked on this cover story with the group over lunch, but he braced himself for an adverse reaction.

"That computer stuff sounds complicated, you doing OK?"

"Yeah, I'm managing to keep up with the others."

"Good, good. Meet any cool heroes, yet?"

"Not yet," Ronnie hated how the lies just kept coming. "They keep the interns separated from the superheroes, at least starting out. I'll let you know if I meet anyone, though!" They finished breakfast and Ronnie ran for the door. "Bye, Dad!"
A wave of relief washed over Ronnie's body as he stepped out of the house. He managed to make it through the conversation without totally tripping over himself. "Now, I just need to keep it up for you know, forever," he thought.

There wasn't a town car on his street today, so Ronnie took the bus into Headquarters and entered through an official door on the side of the building. He changed into the uniform that was in his locker and reported to his first group training session in one of the smaller gyms.

The class totally kicked Ronnie's ass. Though he was a reasonably slender guy, Ronnie had never considered himself to be athletic by any measure. The cardio left him wheezing and sweaty, but he did his best to keep up with the others. The class was attended by newer trainees, and Ronnie was dismayed to realize that they all appeared to be a lot younger than he was. For the most part, everyone was keeping their powers off, but control slipped as exhaustion set in. Ronnie noticed that one girl seemed to be moving just a little faster than what was typical. As he watched, her motions appeared to jump from one place to another, like she was performing the class under a strobe light. The girl looked over to see Ronnie staring at her, and he quickly turned away, trying his best to keep his focus on the instructor.

At lunch, Ronnie searched the cafeteria for Taran, but he was nowhere to be found. He brushed aside the twinge of disappointment. "I'm sure he's just busy with actual hero work," he thought, trying to make himself feel better. "He can't stay missing forever." His thoughts were interrupted as a group of younger trainees called out and invited him to sit down for lunch. He smiled and joined them. Despite his initial misgivings, Ronnie was relieved to discover how no one really cared that he was just starting out. As it happened, traumatic events were a pretty common cause of power manifestations, and none of the others looked down on the guy who got mugged in an alley. Sure, there was some catching up to do, but at the end of the day, Ronnie was pretty much like everyone else.

Ronnie finished lunch and remembered he was scheduled to meet Maya for a one-on-one session that afternoon. She had neglected to say what they would be working on, which left him feeling anxious. Hopefully, this would go better than the morning's classes. Ronnie found her waiting on a bench outside the cafeteria, a bulky duffel bag across her lap.

"Hey, Ronnie!" She waved and jumped up to meet him. "How has your first week been going?"

"Oh, pretty good, if you don't count failing at nearly everything."

"No way, you're doing great, I bet. Taran told me you blew out all the windows in the meditation room. That's amazing!"

"Haha, yeah, that happened," Ronnie laughed. He had learned the night before that Maya knew everything about Taran. And they apparently talked about him! "Did he, um, tell you anything else?" He asked, curious as to just how much Taran had divulged about the previous evening.

"Not really, why?"

"Just curious! Let's get to training."

Maya brought him to a large indoor gym at the center of the training complex, a vast room with impressively tall ceilings and rows of bright halogen lights that hung high in the rafters. The rubberized floor felt grippy under Ronnie's sneakers. He made out a running track that ran the perimeter of the room. A pair of joggers in green Syndicate uniforms were making their way around.

Doctor Peters waved to them from the center of the room, and Maya bounded over to meet her, dropping the duffle and removing her sweatshirt. Ronnie saw that along with a tank top and athletic pants, she wore the beaded necklace that he recognized from the night they first met.

"Good afternoon, Ronnie," Doctor Peters greeted him with a warm smile. "As you'll recall, we started building a power record for you the night you came in. The scans have been analyzed, and today we're going to be trying a couple things based on what we've learned." Maya reached into the duffle and pulled out a shiny white med bot. "Maya graciously volunteered to assist, and her abilities might pick up on some things that the scanners can't."

With a tap to its dome, the bot illuminated and rose from Maya's hands. "TRAINEE ANALYSIS PROTOCOL: ONLINE. IDENTITY VERIFICATION: REQUIRED."

Maya gestured to Ronnie. He recited his Syndicate ID with a stammer. "Ah, Ronnie Nolan, T - 42431."

A light blipped on at the front of the medbot in response. "IDENTITY CONFIRMED. COMMENCE EXERCISES."

Maya crouched to dig around into the duffle bag once more. "We're going to be trying some ranged abilities today. Feel free to take this slow, and we'll experiment until we find what feels right. Based on your initial power record, I think there's a couple of things that might work." She pulled out a can of tennis balls, which Ronnie found to be hilariously low-tech compared to the floating robot. "OK, Ronnie, I'm going to throw one of these in the air, and I want you to try to wrap a force field around it. Ready?"

The ball arced high up into the air. Ronnie threw out his hand and focused on the ball. A green light shimmered around it, but the ball fell through the still-intangible construct, bouncing off the floor with a quiet thup.

"Ooh, that was close! Try again!" The ball was thrown up, and Ronnie was ready for it, this time with a larger force field. He caught the ball about 12 feet off the ground. It bounced off the sides of the bubble and rebounded a few times before settling at the bottom of the shield. Ronnie flexed his fingers, and the force field shrunk until it was form fit around the tennis ball. He pulled it closer and dissolved the shield, ball landing in his outstretched hand.

"Like that?" He asked with a wry smile.

"Nicely done!" Maya yelled.

The medbot hovered above Ronnie, beeping, and whirring as it recorded his actions. Doctor Peters looked up from the tablet she was holding. "Well, that confirms one theory," she explained. "You can hold objects inside force fields and have control over them, giving you some degree of telekinesis...hmm…." She bent over the tablet once more, furiously tapping notes and muttering to herself.

"What's that for?" Ronnie asked Maya.

"She's building your personnel file. The Syndicate tracks our abilities and development as we get ready to go out in the field. You'll have access to it to monitor your progress." She pulled out another tennis ball and gestured towards Ronnie. "OK, multiple targets."

Two balls arced high in the air this time. Ronnie threw a small force field quickly around the first target, halting it in mid-air. He wavered on the second ball but managed to get another construct formed just above the ground.

"Gah!" He gritted his teeth and tried to keep his focus on both balls at once. They wobbled unsteadily in the air as he struggled to keep them aloft. Remembering Taran's advice from the day before, Ronnie breathed deeply and did his best to focus. The movement of both balls settled, and he pushed them back to Maya. They hovered in front of her, and she gingerly tapped a finger on the force field.

"Oh, weird!" She whispered, placing her full hand over the shimmering green energy. "Your shields are super warm… and tingly? It's almost like —" Maya stopped mid-sentence, tilting her head as if she heard something.

Ronnie waited for her to continue, but she still said nothing. He called out as he was beginning to lose his grip on the force fields. "Maya? What is it?"

Her eyes fluttered as she snapped out of her daze. "Oh, sorry, Ronnie. It's just the vibes coming off of these are not at all what I expected. They aren't just warm, they literally emanate this sense of security. It's... nice, if not a little overwhelming. Not a feeling you want to willingly pull away from."

"OK. Changing tactics." Maya held out her hands for the balls, and Ronnie dropped the constructs with a sign of relief. "We're going to focus on bigger targets that you can't reasonably trap in a bubble. Are you all set, Doctor Peters?"

The doctor shuffled away from the center of the gym. "Ready when you are!" She called.

Maya pulled at her beaded necklace, touching her thumb and forefinger to one of the smooth stones. It hummed, and two shadow figures stepped out from behind her. They were entirely featureless except for their dark red eyes, but their outlines looked just like Maya. It was as if someone had pulled her silhouette from off a wall.

"Woah!" Ronnie exclaimed, taking a step back. He had never seen anything like this before.

"Let's see how you do with these!"

The two shadows lifted off the floor and began to quickly skim around them in full circles. Ronnie could hear them rustle in the air as they passed and was thoroughly creeped out. He began to feel the familiar tingle as energy built in his palms. Unsure of what to do, he brought both arms down in front of him in an arc. A dome formed over the top of one of the shadows, trapping it like a bug in an overturned mason jar. It pounded on the walls of the dome and let out an unnerving rasp.

"Aha! Got it! That wasn't so bad!"

The arm of the shadow-Maya elongated and formed into a sharp spike. With another raspy cry, it took a step forward and thrust its arm into the side of the force field.

A searing pain erupted in Ronnie's head. It felt like the spike had pierced him in the temple. "Argh!" He brought his hands up to the sides of his head, eyes tearing up from the pain. The shadow's arm burst through the dome, making Ronnie see stars. "Fuck, that hurt!" He cried.

"Are you OK?" Doctor Peters was at his side, ready to steady him if he fell.

"I think so," Ronnie replied, trying to blink the room back into focus. "Yeesh, that was unpleasant, to say the least."

The doctor typed more notes into the tablet. "Another learning moment: we now know that your shields can be broken through and that doing so causes you pain. Something you'll want to be careful of." She gave him a once over to make sure there was no permanent damage. "Are you ready to continue?"

Ronnie nodded silently and turned towards Maya.

"Think of a different tactic," she said, "You can't trap them." The two shadows once again began spinning around the center of the gym.

Ronnie watched them orbit, trying his best to focus on one of the targets. A small force field bubble formed in the palm of his hand, and he threw it at the closest shadow. It bounced off the dark figure and harmlessly rolled away. Maya snickered behind him. "Well, it was worth a shot," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

This time, he imagined a flat, heavy disk, like the kind the guys on the track team would throw. He felt the energy fall away from him and hover just below his palm. With a full swinging motion, he flung his arm out and willed the disk forward with his mind. It hurtled toward the shadow with impressive speed, slamming into its chest in an explosion of bright green light. The shadow split in half across the middle and dissolved into the floor.

Maya shouted in excitement. "Nicely done! Again!"

Another shadow rose out of the floor and made its way straight towards Ronnie. He formed another disk and flung it forward. The shadow dodged out of the way and kept on its path. Ronnie began throwing energy bolts with both hands and managed to take the shadow down. He turned his attention to the last remaining shadow and took off after it with a cry.

He hurled two disks forward, and a bright light flashed as one sliced the arm off the retreating figure. It fell to the ground and dissolved into the floor. Ronnie fired off another blast. The shadow ducked, leaving the projectile sailing over its head in a wide arc. Ronnie clenched his fist and forced the construct into a spin. It curved through the air and started flying back towards him, connecting with the back of the shadow's neck. The severed head pitched forward and hit the floor with a sick thud.

Maya ran up to him, overflowing with excitement. "That was so awesome! You chopped my head right off! Which is actually kind of rude now that I think about it, but still awesome!"

Doctor Peters tapped a few more notes on her tablet. "Nicely done, Ronnie, that's a good primary attack. Once that's mastered, we can work on even more tactics. You'll need to keep changing it up."

Ronnie nodded at her and did his best to not gulp down air. He felt utterly drained, and there was a deep ache in his sternum. He had used up an incredible amount of energy during that exercise and was certain he couldn't make another force field if he tried. "This is exhausting!"

Maya laughed and threw him a towel. "Your powers consume a lot of energy. It's something you'll always have to be wary of. Taran might be able to give you some pointers, though. His abilities work the same way."

Ronnie wiped the sweat from his face. "What about your powers? I'm not sure I know what you can do besides make creepy shadow monsters."

Maya laughed and pulled off her necklace. "I'm psychic, mostly. I sometimes see the future, and can pretty easily pick up on emotions. But this necklace is what gives me the rest of my powers. I'm just a focus for what it can do."

"So it's some time of magical artifact? That's awesome, I thought those were just stories!" Ronnie blushed, regretting his outburst. He needed to get better at controlling his surprise at superhero stuff.

"The more time you spend here, the more you'll learn that a lot of stories have a kernel of truth to them."

Doctor Peters turned to them, having gathered the medbot and packed up the rest of her equipment. "That's all I've got for you today. Keep practicing on your own time, focusing on how quickly you can form shields and other constructs. You'll have to move fast in a real fight."

Ronnie nodded. "Thanks for your help today, Doc." Doctor Peters departed, and Ronnie helped Maya with gathering the tennis balls that were strewn across the gym.

Maya saw someone approaching from behind Ronnie and waved. "Hi, Taran!"

Ronnie's heart skipped a beat, and he tried to keep any emotion from registering on his face. "Be casual, idiot," he thought to himself. Taran approached the two of them, and Ronnie had the sudden realization that he probably looked and smelled like a sweaty mess.

"And how are things going today?" Taran asked.

"It's good. Maya's kicking my ass, though."

She laughed. "He's doing a great job, we made a lot of progress."

"That's awesome to hear, I'll check out the full report later," Taran replied. "I wanted to stop by sooner, but it's been a hell of a day. I wish I could have been here."

"I wish you could have been here too." Ronnie met Taran's eyes and smiled. His stomach did a flip when he got a bashful smile in return. "Told you so," he thought to himself. "He's not avoiding you, he's just been busy."

"Well, I just wanted to stop and say hello before I left. I've got dinner with my parents tonight, and then a late patrol."

"Ugh, I'll be your Control tonight," Maya responded, rolling her eyes. "Graveyard shift is getting ooooold."

"Looks like I'm the only one without evening plans," Ronnie said. "I'll probably spend some time with my dad. He's not used to me being gone this much." He checked the time on his phone. "Oh shit, I better get going if I'm gonna catch the bus. See you guys later! Thanks for all the help today, Maya!" He started off for the door, leaving Maya and Taran in the middle of the gym