Chapter 174: Exceptionally Gifted?
After bandaging his wound, Gil Xavier got back on his bicycle and continued riding along the lake, working off his youthful, pent-up energy on the road to Oakham.
"This ride usually wears me out. Why don't I feel anything today?"
As he saw the outermost buildings of Oakham in the distance, Gil felt a sense of disbelief. He clearly remembered that on previous trips, it was already dusk by the time he arrived, and he would be drenched in sweat, gasping for breath.
But today, it was maybe only three or four in the afternoon.
What's more, he wasn't even breathing heavily, and there was only a thin sheen of sweat on his skin.
He didn't think much of it, just assuming that he was getting older, stronger, and in much better shape than before.
"Since I'm here so early, I can look around a bit more," he thought, riding his bike into the town.
Perhaps because the schools were on holiday, the town was full of young people. They had turned the entire town into their playground—climbing walls, running on roofs, pulling up paving stones, and generally causing chaos. Some were even racing cars on the main road, seeing who was faster.
Gil, being a young man himself, was naturally drawn to the excitement and activity. He locked his bike to a bench on the roadside and joined the local youths.
Something completely unexpected happened. As he joined the runners and began to accelerate, he shot forward like an arrow from a bow, knocking over several people in front of him with a series of thuds. In just a few breaths, he had pulled far ahead of everyone.
"Who was that?"
"What's his problem!"
"Damn, that guy is fast!"
"He's the fastest man in Oakham!"
The people he'd knocked over were angry, but the spectators were gasping in amazement.
Even Gil himself didn't understand what had happened. The moment he'd accelerated, he felt his body performing at a level far beyond his imagination. The next thing he knew, he was hitting things. But for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction; the impacts not only sent the others flying but also left his own head spinning.
Realizing something was wrong, he gradually slowed down. By the time he stopped, he had left even the car far behind. He was at the end of the long street.
"What... what just happened?" he wondered, watching as someone waved a stopwatch in the air, shouting, "18 seconds!"
Another man ran up to him, panting heavily from the sprint. "Oh, mate! Do you have any idea? This street is over 200 meters long! You just did it in 18 seconds!"
"Do you know what that means?!"
Gil had no idea. He shook his head honestly. "Sorry, I don't. I think I hit some people back there, I should go check on them."
"To hell with that! This isn't the time to worry about hitting people!" the man exclaimed. "You were weaving through a crowd! Even with all those obstacles, you were averaging twelve or thirteen meters a second!"
The man finally caught his breath, straightened his suit, and fumbled in his pocket for a business card, which he thrust at Gil. "Forgot to introduce myself. I'm Alan Parker, an official from the Oakham Sports Affairs Office. You know it, of course—under the Deputy Minister for the Department for Education's Sports Division."
"Hello, sir!" Hearing the man was one of those "humble public servants," Gil Xavier was immediately awestruck. "Humble" or not, that only applied when they were talking to their superiors. To an ordinary person, a "public servant" was anything but. As the ministers in London were fond of saying, even a tiny ripple of the times, when it broke on the shoulders of a common man, felt like the entire Atlantic Ocean crashing down, washing him away and sending him straight to heaven. That government propaganda about the British people's "pluck" and "love of hard work" was just a nice way of saying that countless families were taking on debt to keep the economy afloat and prop up the superstructure.
How could Gil not be terrified? He stammered, "Sir... you... I..."
"No need to be so formal, Mr. Gil Xavier. You may not realize what that running speed of yours represents. I can tell you definitively: it exceeds the limits of human performance!" Alan Parker was ecstatic. He saw a shortcut to a promotion, a raise, the pinnacle of his career. If he could personally discover a talent like this, someone who could smash world records, the Deputy Minister would undoubtedly promote him. With that kind of prestige, he might even be able to run for office himself one day!
"You're going to be famous!" Parker gushed. "All your troubles will be over! You'll have glory, praise, money!" He painted a picture of Gil's future that was bright with promise.
Gil was in a daze as Parker led him to a small sports facility.
At the facility, he just did as he was told and ran.
To the professional coach watching, Gil's breathing was wrong, his stride was wrong, his arm-swing was wrong... everything was wrong. He wasn't demonstrating a single principle of scientific running.
But Gil just ran. He ran 100 meters in six seconds.
The coach had to be carried out. He had fainted. His entire life's worth of knowledge, theory, and experience had been utterly shattered.
Gil was also carried out, but only because an ecstatic Alan Parker had grabbed him in a bear hug and was planting kisses all over his face.
"You're my lucky star!"
"I'll be transferred back to London for sure!"
"You're going to be a global sports superstar!"
That night, the county government arranged for Gil's food and lodging. Looking at the expensive new clothes on his body, enjoying the exquisite meal, and relaxing in the comfortable room, he realized his life had truly changed.
Joy, an unparalleled joy, filled his entire being. He felt a warmth in every cell, providing endless energy. He felt that if they asked him to run the 100 meters again right now, he could post an even better time.
But for the moment, he didn't want to move. He was stuffed. At the banquet, even the highest-ranking local official had spoken to him with kindness, clapping him on the shoulder, making him feel dizzy with success.
He thought of his decades at home in Uppingham, where he had grown accustomed to his parents' shame, accustomed to being the "useless mud that wouldn't stick to the wall."
And today, suddenly, everything had changed. It was a whiplash of ice and fire. He was drunk on the feeling.
"I really am exceptionally gifted," he thought. "I was just accumulating my talent all these years, and now it's finally exploded."
He thought about it for a long time but couldn't understand why he had this incredible athletic ability. He could only attribute it to talent. Even though no one in his family had ever been an athlete, his teacher had said that genes could mutate.
Clearly, he was one of those genetic mutations. He had been granted powerful gifts.
Gil rinsed his mouth, got ready, and lay down on the bed.
~~~
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