In the day that followed David’s encounter in the alley, he spent his time settling into his new flat, and getting prepared for his first day of class at the Kyoto University. Still in more pain than he's expected from the baseball bat, he had forced himself to memorize the entire map of Kyoto. Every street and alley was now burnt into his memory, and many times throughout the day he found himself replaying the events of the previous night in his head. What streets he should have turned down instead, where he could have cut the thief off, why he gave chase to begin with, and how come he wasn't able to defend himself better. Being Six-feet tall and in lean condition, he felt disappointed that he was unable to out run the crook, or even attempt to defend against the attack. With a few hours of daylight left, and a mental GPS of the city, David reasoned that he should begin to train his body with a light jog.
During his run, many things passed through David’s mind. He began to imagine the conversation that he would have with Dr. Crantz, and the types of experiments that would be performed on him. Constantly nagging him was the pain in his lower back. He had to force himself to take his attention off of the pain. In his mind he began recalling meaningless conversations from his past word for word, which lead into him having flashbacks to pages from his high school textbooks that he had memorized word for word for tests. He then started creating complex math problems in his head for himself to solve. For seemingly no reason a rush of anxiety passed over David, as the isolation of himself within his own mind quickly started driving him mad. As his body was growing more tired, a feeling of panic began to grow within him. He immediately turned around and started to run full speed back to his dwelling. All he could hear was the sound of his shoes slapping the concrete. The faster he ran the more intense his flashes became. He began playing back chess games he'd had as a boy move for move, solving multiple algorithmic equations, and flashing back to childhood memories all simultaneously. Just as he had made it back to his apartment the anxiety grew into a vicious migraine. Frantically trying to get a drink of water he collapsed in his small kitchen. Looking up to the ceiling light, his vision slowly faded to white, where he had one final vision into his past before losing consciousness. David lied screaming in his mother’s arms, and his father whispered "David Albert Andrews... my son... you are going to grow up to be very special... you are going accomplish anything you set your mind too...”
Upon regaining consciousness the next morning, David disappointingly realized that he had already missed his first class of the day which was the only one he truly cared to attend, Dr. Crantz's Advanced Cerebrum Analysis. Back aching and the after effects of the most intense migraine he had ever experienced still lingering, he felt even more compelled to track down Dr. Crantz to find his answers. Using his limited Japanese vocabulary he was able to ask around and track down the professor to his private office. Walking up to the door he was able to see the silhouette through the window, of the man he had so anticipated to meet. With nothing rehearsed or planned, he took a deep breath and knocked on the door. A moment passed, he heard the professor clear his throat, “Come in" he said in a clear deep voice. As David entered the room, the first thing that entered his mind was how tactfully organized the room was. As David shut the door behind him, a chill ran down his spine. As he reached the center of the room he drew a complete blank as to what he would say.
Before David had a chance to speak Dr. Crantz exclaimed, "Mr. Andrews! I missed you in my class earlier today...”
David was thoroughly perplexed at this moment as to how the professor recognized his absence. The look of shock was very present on his face. Before David could respond, the Professor continued.
"Don't look so shocked, Mr. Andrews… Your absence was only so prevalent, due to the fact that you are the only person who enrolled in the class." He said with a smile. "I was shocked that someone actually signed up for this class, it is not my most popular by a long shot. So I decided I better investigate this "David Andrews" and you would be surprised how much you can learn about an individual with a simple Google Search, let alone an individual with the notoriety you have."
David was at a complete loss for words. So much he wanted to say, but the words refused to flow from his lips. He felt as if he was removed from his own body watching the conversation, almost star struck.
Dr. Crantz took a small sip from his coffee mug, “Don’t you worry Prodigy, you and I are going to make a lot of progress this year..."
progress indeed.
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