Section 2:
The Farm
~ ~ ~
“A farm?
You want me to live on a farm?” Caitlyn asked, confused. Where was the danger?
The excitement? All those things promised?
“Well…yes.
There are people I want you to meet.” Jessie pushed open the door to the house
and Caitlyn followed obediently inside. They walked into the hall and around
the sofas sat four people.
“Everyone,
this is Caitlyn. She will be staying here for this period of time.” Jessie
gestured at the first two people- an old couple around sixty. The lady was not
very big; she had a head full of gray hair and a radiant smile. Her husband was
a large rugged man, skin tanned from hours working under the sun. He also had
large arms, a result of long years of working the farm. “Caitlyn, I want you to
meet Grandpa Will and Grandma Jo. They will be the ones that will be taking
care of you for now. they were the ones that raised me when I was young and I
owe so much of who I am now to them”
Caitlyn
shook hands with both of them and nodded politely at them. Jessie proceeded on “and
these two ladies will be your aunts. This is Aunt Tristin, and this is Aunt
Carolina.”
Caitlyn
meekly extended her hand Carolina Carolina
Tristin
almost shoved her sister aside to grab Caitlyn’s hand and pump it up and down
vigorously. “Hi I’m your Aunt Tristin!” she said excitedly, “ so you’re
Caitlyn, from what Jess keeps saying I had imagined you to be taller, but never
mind. Oh, you are going to have so much fun here. You are going to do so many
things!”
~
Two years passed quickly for Caitlyn Reynolds
there at the farm. She learnt to help out in many things, from pulling weeds,
to washing dishes, to picking corn, to milking cows. But among the many things
that she learnt the one thing that she loved the most was:
Playing
chess.
After
grandpa Will had taught her how to play she was hooked immediately. Every night
after dinner Caitlyn would bring out the chess set to grandpa’s rocking chair
by the fireplace and they would play three sets each night.
Another
thing that she enjoyed doing was reading about history in general. After being
able to read more independently she would read some of the old books that she
found in the house on history, and anything that she did not understand she
would ask those questions over meal time.
Jessie came
regularly to visit. And every time she came, Caitlyn would pester her for a
game of chess. Not being the biggest fan of chess, and for a good reason, most
of the time Jessie would decline. But the few times where she finally conceded
to the earnest pleading of young Caitlyn, Jessie would go on to lose the game
really handily, and would have to be subject to the peals of laughter from
Caitlyn for the rest of the night.
Grandma Jo
explained: “you see…your mom has never been that big at chess. She feels that
the way the game works is very limiting and stifling for her. Her strength
comes from thinking way outside the box, and chess allows very little of that.”
Tristin on
the other side would take Caitlyn out to the fringes of the farm area, going
hiking, climbing trees, or just running around enjoying the great outdoors (at
least that’s what Tristin calls it)
~
Jessie
waited until Caitlyn was twelve years old before revealing to her that the farm
was not just merely an ordinary farm. After the birthday dinner Jessie led
everyone outside and to the back of the barn. She pointed to the door at the
back of the barn and said to Caitlyn: “That door, knowing you, I am sure it has
been the source of many nights of puzzlement. But I am pleased that you did not
allow your curiosity to get the better of you and barge in to investigate it on
your own. Well now you shall know the secret of
“the-back-of-the-barn-door-that-does-not-lead-to-the-back-of-the-barn”.”
Jessie
opened the old door and went in. the rest followed and Jessie hit the lights
on.
Caitlyn
stared in amazement. The entire interior hollowed out of the bottom of the barn
and extended downward at least two stories. The entire space was like a giant
metal cube with all walls coated with some metallic looking material. In the
middle of the room was a giant translucent sphere that almost touched the walls.
On the near side of the room was a platform that hovered just on the inside of
the sphere, and there was a similar platform on the three other sides of the
room. Each platform had six holographic displays and screens floating around.
Everything
looked futuristic, everything looked high-tech.
Jessie
strode into one of the platforms and fired up the entire system. Everything
glowed and whirring noises were heard as clunking and thumbing slowly settled
into a rhythmic wum-wum-wum-wum pattern.
Caitlyn
looked around at the others. Grandpa Will held Grandma Jo’s hand as they both
looked unwaveringly at Jessie. Carolina
“This,”
Jessie said proudly, “is the Arena System. This, Caitlyn, is my chess.”
“The Arena
System essentially is a next-generation battle simulator,” Jessie went on to
explain as she keyed in some codes to get the system running. “You can choose
any known battle in history and it will allow you to be the general and you can
command your forces any way you like, that’s what your aunt Carolina always
does. There is also the option that aunt Tristin especially loves, and that is
the auto command option that allows you to go to the front line to fight as one
of the soldiers. This technology is really advanced so it is immersive and it
is in 3-D. it has an online function but not many people really get to play
this. Still, the system will notify you if there is an online opponent.”
Caitlyn
continued to stare dumbstruck, unable to speak. Tristin was doing her
stretching all this while, and finally she strode forward and said to Jessie:”
alright, let’s play one round to give Caitlyn a taste of how this all works.”
“Sounds
good to me” Jessie activated the system as Tristin went to the far side and
took up her position in the platform there. “So what battle are we playing?”
“Thermopylae ” Tristin called out. “And I get Sparta
“Fine.”
~
As the
lights dimmed as the program loaded, Tristin called Caitlyn over to her
platform. “Here Caity, you can stand in my platform, the interface is easy
enough to understand and if you watch this battle carefully you will be able to
understand enough to be able to start playing by yourself after this.” Tristin
continued her stretching. “I’ve already preset the standard Thermopylae
strategy so everything should run as normal. The thing about this particular
battle is that it’s pretty linear. I will have the normal Spartan wall, and
also a small force to guard the pass to prevent an ambush. Eventually the
Persians larger force will overrun the Spartan formation but I will have one
last shot at skewering your mom with my spear at the end before they kill
me—and that’s another way to win, you kill of the enemy tactician in game.”
~
Caitlyn
looked around at the difference screens and projections as the game started.
Her jaw dropped as she surveyed the realist rendition of Thermopylae Pass.
Caitlyn
knew that she was supposed to just sit back and observe.
But…
~
“General Jessie!
One of the scouts report that the guards at the secret pass have retreated to
join the main force! We should consider storming down that pass to take the
Spartans by surprise from the rear.”
“What?”
Jessie said aloud. She was confused. On one hand she saw the logic that
bringing the extra men over. A surprise flank by those guardsmen from the pass on
one of the Persian attacking waves would undoubtedly crush that wave and raise
Morale for the Spartan army, allowing them to fight longer and harder.
Then again
that would mean leaving the rear exposed for a possible rear attack, the
textbook and historical way to lose the battle of Thermopylae .
It was a trap, a bait to try and get her to commit her strongest units or even
herself-only to get wiped out.
But…if that
were the case then Tristin would not be fighting in her usual
no-brain-whack-enemy style. She should be playing way more cautious if she was
trying to bait that out.
Tristin is
taking a gamble in this battle? That is so not her style; it’s too….Carolina-esque.
Jessie
called out:” Send our alpha legions over to the pass. I shall personally break
through the rear of the enemy.” She raised her lance, and hurried over to the
pass.
~
Jessie
crept forward quietly with the two best legions she had under her command on
her heels. They were almost out of the pass, only a sharp left and then a
hundred meter sprint to the backline of the Spartan army.
She turned
the corner…only into a wall of rocks as high as the pass itself.
More rocks
were rolled down behind them, trapping them in the pass. Jessie cursed under
her breath. She looked up and saw the sentries of the pass lined up along both
sides of the pass as their commanding officer called down volley upon volley of
arrows…
~
Jessie fell
to her knees at her platform as she kicked herself mentally for falling for the
most basic trick in the strategy book: Bait, Trap, Destroy.
Tristin was
incredibly confused as the wave of enemies she was hacking and slashing
suddenly faded away as the chaotic battle scene turned back into the giant
metal cube with a huge sphere in the middle.
“Hey what
happened? Did the system glitch?” Tristin asked, arms up in battle position as
if she was ready for the battle to continue any moment. “Hey…why does it say
that I won here? Did Jessie accidentally fall on her sword or anything?”
Jessie
facepalmed and sighed while Tristin leaped up back to the platform to hug
Caitlyn. She then pounded the small girl on the back and said: “Great job girl!
I did not even realize the battle was over. You know, we must do co-ops
together in the future. I usually do those hard ones with my sister but she
always does not let me fight the enemy head on, that is so irritating. But with
you, you can do your shenanigans while I have my fun right? I so look forward
to that!”
Caitlyn
smiled sheepishly as she walked back to where Aunt Carolina, Grandpa Will and
Grandma Jo were standing while Jessie and Tristin shut down the Arena System.
Grandpa
Will ruffled Caitlyn’s hair while Grandma Jo leaned over to whisper in
Caitlyn’s ear:” Enjoy this victory while you can dear, you mom only loses on
rare occasions: this is one of those times.”
~
Later,
after Caitlyn had gone to sleep, the five adults gathered near the fireplace to
discuss what they have all witnessed.
“I still
cannot tell if Caity is relatively simple-minded or some super analytical genius”
Tristin chewed on a cookie as she pondered over the event.
“Well…it
really can be taken both ways, and also isn’t there that saying that says “the
simple of this world shall school the wise”?” Carolina
Jessie
harrumphed and fired back:” at her age I would have taken out a few of the
enemy soldiers, make my men wear them, get close to the commander and
assassinate him.”
“Dear,
that’s because you ARE a tactical genius and you started playing the Arena
System at nine.” Grandma Jo patted Jessie on her hand reassuringly.
“I think
that this can be best explained by the fact that this game was Caitlyn’s first
game on the Arena System and prior to this, she practically only played chess:
a really direct game, hence her direct approach and tactics.” Grandpa Will
commented.
“Speaking
of chess, did you guys hear,” Tristin interrupted, “just the other day when I
brought Caity out to climb that tree on the fringe of the property, while we
were up in the branches she suddenly whipped out her chess set and asked me to
have a game with her, IN THE TREE. Can you believe it?”
“She is
already so good at strategy games, give her some time to familiarize herself
with the Arena System and she can only get better.” Grandpa Will concluded.
“Now get
some sleep all of you, in your line of work I heard that’s a rare commodity.”
~
Caitlyn
spent around another year at the farm, helping out in different areas with the
farm, doing her basic history and languages, math and science with Grandma Jo.
Chess and the Arena System with Grandpa Will. She also had music lessons,
ballet lessons, cooking lessons, social etiquette lessons and so on. Jessie,
using the three years, was trying to pack a full, complete, holistic education
for Caitlyn. For her to grow, not just physically and mentally, but also to
grow her morals and values, her strengths and talents, for what lay ahead in
the future.
When the
time came for Caitlyn to leave the farm she was almost inconsolable. The day
before she left she was crying the whole time- she simply could not bear to
leave the familiarity of the farm that she had grown so close to, to Grandpa
Will and Grandma Jo. But on the morning when she was to depart, as they were
waiting in the house for Jessie to arrive to pick Caitlyn up, both Grandpa Will
and Grandma Jo took turns to encourage Caitlyn.
“Dear, wipe
your tears and give us one of your bright smiles. Please do not let your time
here on the farm with us conclude with tears, instead let this end with your
radiant smile and laughter, like how most of the three years have been.”
Grandma Jo spoke softly, overcome with emotion.
“Child”
Grandpa Will said, “Let me just say this in a way that you will understand.
Life, essentially, is like chess, and you would be just the little pawn. You
are a little pawn that can only do so much, but has infinite potential to
become a rook, a castle, a bishop, or even a queen. You as the pawn can only
move forward, never backwards, only forward. At times you may be faced with the
impassable obstacles, but no one expects the pawn to always solve the issue by
itself; it is up to the stronger pieces: the rook, castle, bishop, or queen to
take care of that impossible obstacle and allow the pawn to continue to move
forward. Your mom is the queen on this chessboard, and right now she is busy
racing around taking out the pieces that she sees will hinder you in your
progression forward. Your aunts similarly are the important pieces on this
chessboard, working closely with your mom to achieve whatever she wants.” He
paused to think over his next few words. “Caitlyn, when you as the pawn draw
closer and closer to the opponent’s side of the chessboard you will come under
a lot of heavy focus and attack. But know this: every other piece will be
willing to sacrifice themselves in order for you to reach the end because they
understand that even if they fall, you reaching the end can replace them, or
even surpass them. What do we call trading a rook in order for the pawn to
reach the end and turn into a queen?”
“We call
that, worth.”
Grandpa
continued on, head bowed. “Young one, there are two kinds ways chess players
view pawns. The first kind use pawns to shield more important pieces and
sacrifice the pawns with no second thought. The other views the game’s main
objective not capturing the enemy king at any cost, but rather to slowly and
advance and transforms the pawns and dominates the game that way. One looks
short term, the other looks long term- sometimes even to the next generation.”
“And
Caitlyn, we all know which kind of player your mom is…”
~
Jessie
finally came, all flustered and bumbling around heaving Caitlyn’s parcels and
luggages into the rented car outside.
After all
the hugs and kisses, the emotional goodbyes and last words, Caitlyn took one
last look over her shoulder back at the old couple that raised her for the last
three years. The magnitude of her gratefulness to them could not have been
expressed fully; she was determined to live a life that would make them proud.
She got in
the front seat and looked over at her mom starting the car. Caitlyn said:”
yeah, mom, up till now you have never told me where we are going.”
“Well,”
Jessie replied, strapping on her seat belt and flooring the accelerator,
sending the car lurching forward. “I seem to recall doing a similar thing three
years ago, bringing you to a place without telling you exactly where that was
going, and when its time to leave, you practically begged to stay . I’m sure
where we are going will turn out well for you.”
Caitlyn
nodded, somewhat comforted by that statement. She was confident her mom was
bringing her to a better place. But what place could be better than the farm
with Grandpa Will and Grandma Jo? She could not imagine.
“Though…”
Jessie said, eyebrows furrowed as she concentrated on the road ahead. “I cannot
say that this next place is going to be easy.”
“Oh no it’s
not another farm is it?” Caitlyn’s eyes widened with horror. “If it is why
couldn’t I just have stayed with Grandpa and Grandma instead?”
“I never
said it was a farm.”
“Oh- …you
know what mom? I’m just going to not think about that until we reach wherever
we are going to.” Caitlyn turned away, looked out the window, and tried to
sleep.
~
By the time
she woke up the car had stopped for quite awhile and her mom was gone. She
looked around and stepped out of the car. Her hand carry luggage was standing
right outside her door but the rest of her boxes and baggage were all gone.
Caitlyn
stood outside the car staring off into space, she was so confused. What was
going on?
Suddenly
her mom’s voice came from behind and called out. “Caitlyn, so nice of you to
finally wake up, would you want to take your luggage and follow me?”
Caitlyn
turned around, but the person that she saw was not Jessie Reynolds, Caitlyn’s
adopted mom. It was Jessie Reynolds, Agent X.
She had her
hair tied up in a tight and high ponytail. She was wearing a high collared,
long sleeved black top, black utility pants, high black all-terrain boots, and
a belt that had a silver case on the right side and a sword draped on the left.
In addition
to that she wore a short cape that extended from her waist down and flapped in
the wind as she strode purposefully forward. Black sunglasses, gloves, and
gauntlets completed the look.
This was
not the bumbling and haphazard, wearing blue plain blouses with khaki skirts, scatterbrained
mom that Caitlyn used to know and roll her eyes at. This was a completely
different person, and someone that commanded fear and awe.
Caitlyn
quickly grabbed her luggage and dragged it over as she fell in step behind
Jessie as they headed into the building. As they entered, Caitlyn saw what was
behind the glass at the far side of the building and her fear fell away to
excitement.
“Planes!”
she exclaimed, “Mom, are we going to fly off to somewhere?”
“Yes dear,”
Jessie had finished putting on her gloves as she loved her sunglasses to give
Caitlyn a wink and a smile. “I hope that you will enjoy this.”
~
“Mom…are
you sure about this?” Caitlyn asked, almost worriedly, as the two of them
walked across the tarmac with Caitlyn rolling her luggage behind her. “I read
somewhere about how the airport works, and it did not mention us walking to a
plane like how we would walk to our car. And where are the other passengers?”
“Well…there
will be no other passengers for this flight, because not everyone is allowed to
where we are headed. And as a result, “Jessie waited at the bottom of a small
sleek looking private plane whose stair was slowly unfolding to allow the
Reynolds to climb up into it. “We have the whole plane to ourselves.”
“That means
you can get the window seat on your first flight.”
~
“Please
buckle your seatbelts we are about to reach our destination.” The pilot’s
notification came over the intercom.
“Wow mom we’re
reaching…” Caitlyn had her face pressed against the window as she tried to look
at everything at the same time, afraid to miss anything. “Where is this place
anyway?”
“mmm? Oh
yeah, this is one of the places that I work at.” Jessie fumbled for her sunglasses
as she fished them out of their case as they prepared to disembark.
“And you
have to wear that?” Caitlyn turned to stare at her mom, eyes wide.
Seeing her
mom nod, she asked:”then…is what I’m wearing okay for where we are going?”
Jessie
looked over at her daughter in her pink top and checkered dress. “You look
fine”
“Also, when
we get off the plane if people call out “Ms Reynolds” they are probably
addressing me, not you.”
~
The plane
came to a complete stop at the middle of a hanger. The ladder unfolded down and
Jessie slid on her sunglasses as she stepped out of the plane, Caitlyn always
keeping no more than two steps behind.
It was a
big place. The hanger itself extended up four stories, with doors leading to
who-knows-where, Caitlyn certainly did not know. There were so many people as
well, everyone walking in groups of twos and threes, each walking towards a
pre-determined place, no one was just loitering around.
“Ms
Reynolds, could you please look at this…” “Ms Reynolds, something has come up
that requires your attention…” “If you have the time, Ms Reynolds, please
address this…” Caitlyn watched as people kept coming up to her mom to give her
some file, ask her to sign something, key in some code and so on. Jessie kept
walking forward, no matter how many people had come up to her with requests,
she never slowed down.
The people
around are fascinating, Caitlyn thought to herself, male or female, they were
either wearing full suits with ties or a similar outfit to what her mom wore.
But some of the suits were completely white; others even red, the rest were
plain black. What kind of job was this?
The two of
them finally reached the room Jessie was heading towards. It had a long meeting
table on the near side and at the other side were two rows of computers with
multiple screens each and people manning each one. On the wall was the logo of
this entire organization: a black circle, a white circle, and a red circle, all
three intersecting each other in a triangular formation. At the bottom of the
logo there were three words: Efficiency, Purity, Strength.
Caitlyn was
still looking at that when two figures that stood at the far side of the table
facing the rows of screen turned around and one gave a high-pitched scream of
excitement.
Her aunt
Tristin rushed over to give her a hug while aunt Carolina
Feeling
very out of place and a little embarrassed, Caitlyn looked down. Aunt Carolina
was wearing a white suit with her white dress and heels. She did up her hair
and had on a smart pair of glasses. Aunt Tristin had her hair tied into two
ponytails and was dressed very similarly with Jessie, only hers had a red
trimming trace the outline of the outfit, and she had a long sliver
metallic-looking staff strapped to her back.
Caitlyn
looked at what she was wearing and really wished that there was something she
could change to. At least something black so that she could not stick out so
much.
Aunt
Tristin had been talking non-stop in the way she normally does but Caitlyn did
not catch everything that was said, then aunt Carolina
