in fear as they were crushed together until they were nothing but a tight, dead ball of disgusting fur.
Brandon released his concentration and the small ball of dead rats fell to the ground with a dull thud. Brandon sank to one knee; the effort had clearly weakened him.
“Very well done, Brandon.” The sloth said. “Better than I would have guessed. Perhaps all that waiting helped you to store enough energy for the task.”
“Stop it,” Brandon laughed. He could talk out loud now that the rats were gone.
“How do you feel? Could you do it again if you had to?”
“Right now?” Brandon asked. He thought about it for a moment and stood up straight. “Yes, I think I could.”
“Excellent,” the sloth said. “Show me.” The floor began to swirl again, and three more rats appeared.
This time Brandon reacted quickly. He repeated the entire process, and in seconds the three rats were dead.
“Good,” the sloth said. “Now get ready, third time’s the charm.”
Three more rats appeared and were dead before they were even fully emerged from their holes. Brandon sank heavily to the ground. The effort had drained a significant amount of his energy. “I think that’s all I can do right now,” he said. “If you bring more they will have to eat me.”
“That will be enough for this session,” the sloth said. “When you leave this place try to remember what it felt like, to stop them and crush them. Think about it for a few minutes right away, and then again during the day.”
“Okay,” Brandon said.
“We will see you soon, Brandon,” the sloth said. “ Your next visit will be more fun.”
“What do you mean, we?” Brandon asked. The rain forest began to fade. Behind the sloth, Brandon thought he could see a giant owl launch itself into the air and fly away.
Brandon woke up and stretched. He could still feel the power in his hands and body. If three ugly black rats suddenly jumped out at him now, Brandon was sure that he could grab them with invisible hands and crush them.
He quickly shook his head. That was only possible in his dream, wasn’t it?
Chapter 14
“If I could have everyone’s attention, please,” the head instructor said. He stood on the stage of the main gathering hall, the only room in the Game Facility large enough to accommodate the entire population. It was uncommon for unscheduled assemblies to occur, and everyone was excited to know the reason for it.
“The General is here. It’s been some time since his last visit and I know that we are all excited to have him back. The General has come to make a very special announcement, so please join me in welcoming him to the stage.”
The crowd launched into loud, animated cheering. Everyone loved the General. When these children had lost their parents, the world had abandoned them. It was the General who’d built facilities all over the country to take them in. It was the General who made certain they were fed and clothed and educated. It was the General who followed their progress, and wished each child a happy birthday with a personally handwritten card, or note, or video message on their special day. All the children of the Centres loved the General. He was their father, and they were fiercely loyal to him.
None of them realized that they were, in fact, carefully cultivated slaves. The Centres were a massive psychological experiment in control and manipulation. The General had spent billions of credits on every detail of the child rearing process to ensure that his military machine and agenda were provided with the best possible human resources. Teams of top psychologists from around the world had designed the Centres to raise and develop their wards. The children were conditioned to compete, excel, and worship the General. He was in the business of finding and training loyal soldiers who would live and die for him without thought for themselves, and the Children’s Centres had proven extremely effective at
Graham Masterton
Raven McAllan
Bellann Summer
Raye Morgan
Karolyn James
Peter Dickinson
Adelle Laudan
Jonathan Santlofer
Ali Parker
Unknown