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  Daniel sat up, looking at the barbell, 150 pounds on each end.

  “Wow,” was all he could muster.

  Chapter 11

  The doctor demanded that Daniel skip his workout that day, as both his heart and muscles needed rest. Horchoff said that over time Daniel’s body would gradually adjust to actions of such increased intensity, but that Daniel should never use such extraordinary strength unless absolutely necessary as the body would never be able to sustain so much stress on a consistent basis.

  Still, Daniel could not wait for his workout on the following day. The majority of his class time following the 300-pound curl was spent on practice – creating the same type of reaction in different muscles throughout the body. Horchoff did not ask Daniel to perform any more freakish feats of strength, but he could feel the necessary reactions occurring in each muscle to do so.

  It would take a great deal of time and energy to go through muscle by muscle, learning where the signals for each originated in his brain. Most of his last week of classes with Horchoff would be spent working through them.

  Horchoff also helped Daniel learn to relax his muscles to prevent himself from tensing up and cramping. As Daniel closed his eyes and made his muscles relax to their fullest extent, he imagined it must be what true meditation felt like. He understood why so many people raved about it. He felt so much comfort and relief from it that it was almost euphoric.

  When Horchoff finally brought him out of his trance his muscles were so relaxed there was a moment where he could barely move. He decided the exercise was going to be something he started doing on a regular basis.

  When it came time for his workout the day after the 300-pound lift, Daniel was ecstatic.

  He immediately went right for the 90-pound dumbbells. He took a look around as he pulled them off the rack. Nobody seemed to care.

  And why should they? They weren’t concerned with how much weight the new guy was lifting. They had a million other, more important things to worry about.

  Daniel held the hefty weights at his side and looked at himself in the mirror, staring at the reflection of his chest. He began attempting to pull the weights upward feeling the strain on his biceps.

  It was at this point that the large, muscular black man standing next to him began to notice. The man was also curling 90-pound weights, and was putting a lot of effort into doing so. He raised an eyebrow at Daniel when he realized the little white guy next to him – a man only half his size – trying to lift the same amount of weight.

  Daniel paid no mind, and continued staring into the reflection of his chest.

  He found the spot in his brain which controlled his forearms and biceps, and began sending signals. It was much easier now that he knew where to look and what to send.

  He pumped up his heart rate and sent oxygenated blood and adrenaline flowing to his muscles and ligaments, then told them to contract, and continued contracting them further until he completed his curl.

  The large black man set his own weights back on the rack, and looked on as Daniel completed ten full curls with the 90-pound dumbbells.

  When Daniel finished his set, he noticed the man watching him. The two locked eyes. The ebony behemoth lifted his eyebrows and shook his head, letting out an exalted breath as he walked away, clearly impressed by Daniels ability. Daniel could not hold back a smile, taking great pride in the fact that one of his new co-workers had finally recognized the extent of his abilities.

  After he finished weight-lifting, Daniel finished off his workout by running five miles in just under 30 minutes. He knew he could do more, but he thought he should try and follow the doc’s advice and ease into things.

  He felt quite a bit of soreness as he made his way into the locker room, but it was a good soreness. It was the kind that let him know he was getting stronger. He used what he had learned in class to relax his muscles, offering some relief. He had most certainly become a new man.

  By mid-week Daniel was feeling the highest level of confidence he had felt in his entire life. It was the first time he had ever experienced the sensation of knowing that he could do things that others could not. As Horchoff had explained to him, he wasn’t necessarily stronger than the bigger agents by definition, he was just able to accomplish more impressive feats of strength because of his unique control over his brain waves. As far as Daniel was concerned, that was merely semantics. He considered himself the strongest person at Elite, and theoretically on the entire planet.

  By the end of his three weeks of class his body had already begun to show drastic improvement, and he hadn’t even begun his strength training yet. As he looked at himself shirtless in the mirror, he was very pleased with what he saw. His abdomen was beginning to take shape as he could make out the six individual muscles on his now flat belly. His arms – forearms, biceps, triceps and deltoids – had nearly doubled in size over the last three weeks, as had his chest. Each pectoral muscle was now clearly distinguishable as they protruded from his chest. His thighs were now larger and firmer, as well as his calves. And from what he could tell his back had even toned up quite a bit.

  The thing Daniel admired most about his new self, however, was the “V” shape that had begun to form at his lower abdomen, leading down his waist toward his crotch.

  As if leading the ladies down the correct path, he thought to himself with a laugh.

  He by no means considered himself “cut” just yet, but he had definitely shown incredible improvement in just three weeks – most of it done in the last week and a half as he learned more and more about how to manage his abilities.

  As he awoke for his first day of strength and agility training, Daniel tried to remember the last time he had felt so much excitement. Probably one of the times Jordan had come to visit him when she lived in Indianapolis – before the Gordon Demérs catastrophe.

  Gordon Demérs, he thought to himself. I could crush that guy now.

  He smiled at the thought, and put on his gym clothes before making his way down to the locker room. He had taken to wearing sleeveless shirts, something he never for one second would have considered in the past, but he now felt very comfortable bearing his arms while he worked out. Today he wore an old grey Cubs shirt that he had cut the sleeves off of and orange basketball shorts. The ensemble didn’t really match, but that didn’t much matter in the gym.

  As he brushed his teeth he continued thinking about Jordan and Demérs. It still stung to think about the two of them together, but in the end things had seemed to have worked out for the best. If not for Demérs swooping in and stealing away the woman Daniel was sure he was going to spend the rest of his life with, he never would have found Blank, Richfield, Horchoff, and Elite, and he never would have become the machine of a man he was today. If he ever saw Demérs again, he would have to thank him.

  After brushing his teeth, he made his way to the cafeteria for breakfast. Richfield and Horchoff had made it a point to stress the importance of eating a good breakfast every morning while he was training. He would need the energy, they told him.

  After breakfast he rushed his way to the gym. It was now nine and that was the time he was slated to meet his new trainer. As he opened the door to the fitness area of the complex he left his thoughts of Jordan there at the door. His thoughts of her progressively took up less and less space in his mind as he began to focus more on himself and the future ahead of him. His girl issues would work themselves out further down the road. Right now he had to focus on becoming a superhero.

  As he walked across the floor he saw ahead of him Mister Blank and a short, but very fit, black man. The two stood along the back dividing wall in the center of the room. As Daniel approached, they each turned and smiled to greet him.

  “Good morning Danny Boy,” Blank greeted him.

  “Good morning Mister Blank,” Daniel said, returning the greeting.

  “This is Robby Richards,” Blank said, gesturing toward the shorter man to his right.

  “Good to meet you,�
�� Daniel said, extending his hand toward the man.

  The man grabbed Daniels hand and shook it. “Glad to meet you too,” he said.

  The man had a surprisingly deep voice for someone of his stature.

  “Robby used to be an Olympic gymnast,” Blank explained. “Now he does the physical training for all of our new agents.”

  Daniel nodded his head in acknowledgement, trying to appear impressed by Robby’s resume.

  The top of Robby’s head only reached the bottom of Daniel’s neck, but he had an impressive physique. The definition of his upper-body showed through his tight black workout shirt, but his legs were hidden by his baggy, black warm-up pants.

  He wore his hair very short, and had relatively small eyes that seemed a little too close together on his head. As far as Daniel could tell though, he fit the part of a personal trainer.

  “I hear you’re a bit of a special case,” Robby said to Daniel. “They tell me you might even impress me. I’m rarely impressed.”

  Daniel took that as a challenge, and one he planned to accept.

  “I have some unique talents,” he responded somewhat cryptically, not sure of just how much Robby knew about his “unique talents.”

  “Well then let’s get to work,” Robby said, clapping his hands and then rubbing them together. He gave Blank a quick nod as a silent form of dismissal before turning and making his way over toward the weights.

  Daniel turned to follow Robby and felt a pat on the shoulder from Blank as he walked past. Daniel smirked as he followed Robby, quite sure that it wouldn’t take very long to not only “impress” him, but to blow his mind.

  The buildup to his training was made almost anti-climactic by the ease in which Daniel was able to do anything Robby asked of him. They started slow with stretching, and then progressed on to lunges. Robby had him using 35-pound weights, and eventually increased them to fifty pounders, which Daniel still had no problem with. He knew he could do more but he figured he should continue with what Robby had given him and not overwork himself on the first day.

  He tried to do as much as he could with his natural strength, but eventually couldn’t help but ease the process by taking over his unconscious brain. He did not want to back down from any challenge, and at this point controlling his body functions was becoming almost second nature, especially the ones he used frequently.

  No matter what Robby threw at him, he was up for it. Whether it was on the bench press, squats, curls, leg-press, fly, or ab workouts – Daniel did however many reps with however much weight Robby asked of him without wearing down.

  Occasionally Daniel would start to feel pain and tightness in his muscles, but he would compensate by allowing more oxygen to reach those areas. He could not always stop the pain however as even with his ability he could only provide so much oxygen to his muscles, but the pain was not about to slow him down. He would simply concentrate on other things and other areas of his mind until he completed that particular workout. The sense of accomplishment he felt from completing everything Robby asked of him was well worth any discomfort he may have experienced.

  Daniel did appreciate having Robby’s guidance when it came to cardiovascular exercise because Robby had him spending more time on the bike than on the treadmill. This worked different muscles that Daniel hadn’t spent as much time on during his own workout routine. He could really feel the burn in his quads once he had completed a couple miles on the bike, but he knew that as long as he maintained his heart rate he could go as long and as hard as Robby wanted him to. There was nothing he couldn’t do.

  When the three hour training session was all over and Robby handed Daniel a towel to wipe the sweat from his face, Daniel couldn’t help but ask, “How did I do?”

  He hoped it didn’t come out to smarmy, but he was in all honesty fishing for compliments.

  “After the first day, I’d say you’re ready for the advanced course,” Robby answered candidly.

  “Ha!” Daniel shouted with a bit too much ego behind his response.

  “Don’t get too cocky there friend,” Robby quickly responded. “I’ve worked with former Navy Seals at this place. A lot of guys walk in here ready for the advanced course.”

  At first Daniel took Robby’s comeback as a bit of a blow to his newfound self-confidence, but then he came back around as he realized that he had just been put in the same category as the Seals. That was something he never would have dreamed of just a few months ago.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” Robby said, as he began walking to the far door that led to the hallway on the main floor.

  Even the advanced course was not enough to slow down Daniel. Although any “natural” form of exercise may have been out the window, Daniel was able to use his ability to adjust to anything Robby could throw at him.

  The pain increased quite a bit with the intensity of each workout, but after he was done with each set he was able to close his eyes and go through his relaxing techniques. It was only in the process of completing each rep that he could really feel the hurt.

  But it was a good hurt – he enjoyed the hurt. It made him feel insanely masculine and powerful. Nothing was going to stop him from becoming the top agent at this point. The end-goal was already in sight just three and a half weeks in to his training.

  On the third day of strength training, Richfield, Blank, and Horchoff came to observe his progress.

  Robby continued to put him through the ringer, and Daniel paid close attention to the reactions on each one of the “big-three’s” – as he had come to call them – faces.

  Mister Blank seemed to be suffering from a case of permagrin, seemingly unable to wipe the smile off his face as he watched Daniel complete each exercise without struggle. Richfield wore the same poker-faced smirk he always had, but the doctor seemed almost appalled by what he was watching. Daniel would have thought he would have been the happiest of all of them to see what Daniel had been able to accomplish in such a short time.

  Halfway through the routine, Horchoff finally put a stop to it.

  “Halt!” He shouted, raising his hand and moving in between Robby and Daniel.

  Daniel took a look around the room as some of the agents had turned toward them in response to Horchoff’s outcry. He noticed one man mouth to another the word “Halt,” clearly questioning the unusual word choice.

  Horchoff turned to Daniel first. “You cannot work yourself this hard right off the get-go! You have to build up to it! Give your body time to adjust!”

  Then he turned to face Robby, “He can make himself do whatever you ask of him. Please just go at the normal pace as you would with your average new recruit.”

  “But he’s clearly not the average new recruit,” Robby countered.

  “No – no he is most certainly not,” Horchoff admitted. “His mind is not that of an average recruit, but I promise you his body still is. So please, just take it slow.”

  Robby leaned around Horchoff to look at Daniel, then threw his arms out to the side. “Doctor’s orders,” he said with a shrug.

  “Alright,” Daniel answered, glaring at Horchoff as he said it. “But let’s make sure we work our way back up to this soon.

  Horchoff nodded silently in satisfaction as he walked back over to where Blank and Richfield were observing. Neither had said a word through the entire episode.

  Beginners course or advanced, Daniel had never worked so hard in his entire life. He had never eaten so much either. He was burning so many calories with Robby that he could not eat enough to keep up. Between his three hour trainings and the hour-long leisurely jog he took on the treadmill each evening, he no longer had any need to work his muscles and burn any energy while he lay in bed at night. His muscles were sore enough each morning as it were.

  Blank had joined him for lunch after the session in which Horchoff had butted in, and he could not stop going on about how impressed he was with Daniel, coming so far in such a short time. Blank’s words meant a lot to Daniel, as though he were a
young boy who had made his father proud.

  That made him think about his family. He had talked to his mother a couple times a week since moving into Elite, but he had not seen them since before his surgery. He missed them and made seeing them one of his first priorities when he finally became free to leave the complex. Although time was moving quickly, it was rare he ever went this long without seeing his parents and the absence was starting to become noticeable.

  Robby took it easy for the next session and a half after Horchoff’s warning, but as a trainer it was in his nature to push harder when Daniel showed that he was able to do more. By the end of the week Daniel was back in the advanced course, and the other agents in the complex were starting to take notice.

  The first to actually say something was the same guy who had approached him after the shower incident with Norma.

  “Man, look at you!” He said one day in the locker room. “From Joe Schmo to Superman in a couple weeks!”

  “What can I say?” Daniel responded, trying to be modest, but really wishing he could start shouting out about how he could do things no one else could.

  “I saw you out there with Robby. I’m impressed,” he added.

  The conversation pretty much tapered off from there, but the man joined him for dinner one night and the two got to talking about things unrelated to fitness. The man’s name was Charlie, and he was in his third year at Elite. He started his career as a cop in L.A., but was able to secure a job at the FBI when he was only 27. He did that for two years before Richfield recruited him and stole him away from the Bureau.

  “Pays better,” he told Daniel as a reason for making the move.

  Charlie was about the same height as Daniel, but was a real skinny guy. He was the type of skinny that made him appear very tone and gave him a muscular appearance although he was probably the thinnest guy at Elite.

  He had a fairly square head with a strong jaw and a slightly crooked nose which he contributed to having broken it twice. He had straight, chestnut brown hair which sat on top of his head like a mop.