The Last to Break

Unravelling a Genius

Jay, at age four, had no idea that he was being discussed or regarded as a genius.

When class was dismissed, he walked back to the room at a snail's pace. He was grateful for the class today. If he had to attend the training room, he surely would have been kicked or punched to death.

Even at the age of four, he knew some children wanted him dead. They would have succeeded today. The blood loss and fractured bones had left Jay extremely vulnerable.

When he reached the room, he went straight to bed. He lay down and fell asleep within a minute.

He wasn't aware that the big man had walked in and put a candy bar in his pocket.

Long after Jay had fallen asleep, Tam was dragged back to the room by a staff member and thrown onto his bed.

He lifted his head and noticed that Jay was sleeping. He closed his eyes and fell asleep soon after.

Jay woke up while it was still light outside. He lifted his head. Tam was asleep.

His eyes drifted to the open door. He made a note of it. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't escape. He had no energy, and his body was still aching with every movement.

Jay made mental notes of everything since he could remember. The wonder of it was that the notes were always there, swirling around in his mind.

As he tried to turn onto his side, something poked him. He felt in his pocket and retrieved the candy bar. He had never had one. He had only ever seen one or two children eating one. This was one of the many luxuries that were absolutely taboo in The Annex.

Ever the suspicious one, Jay reluctantly opened the candy bar and took a small bite. He savoured the taste. It was an unbelievable sweetness. He couldn't describe it. Then he took a big bite. He wanted to put the whole candy bar in his mouth, but stopped himself.

He closed the wrapper around the remaining half and kept it.

After a little while, Jay felt more energetic, although his body was still aching. The cuts and bruises were nothing. Movement was most important to staying alive. Jay walked left and right at a slow pace. His speed increased slowly, hardly noticeable at first. After an hour, his body was screaming. He sat on the bed.

His brain was full of alphabet letters, words and mathematical solutions. Jay realised that he felt more energetic after eating the candy bar. He was going to give the other half to Tam, but now he first had to confirm that his assumption was correct.

Jay lay down again. He closed his eyes, and sleep came quickly. When he woke up, it was morning. Tam was still sleeping.

He got up, although his body was still aching. He could move a bit faster. He walked to Tam's bed and woke him up.

The room door was still open.

As soon as Tam sat up, they heard footsteps.

They walked to the door and accepted the stale bread. The big man shouted, “To the training grounds.”

As soon as Jay stepped forward, he held him back and said, “Not you, little one.”

Tam wanted to say something, but one look from the big guy made him run to the training grounds.

Jay looked at the big man and asked, “Am I going to class again today?”

The big man nodded.

“Did you put something in my pocket yesterday?”

The big man nodded again.

“Thank you.”

The big man nodded again. Jay was sure he saw a glimpse of a smile.

When they reached the classroom, it was only Jay and the girl from yesterday, Zelda.

Prof. Zao was already inside, waiting for Jay.

Jay walked in and greeted the professor.

Zao returned the greeting. He then told Jay and Zelda to move to the front desks.

He quickly ran through the alphabet, the double letters, and words. Zelda was falling behind.

Zao wrote a sentence on the board and told Jay to read it.

Jay frowned as he concentrated, then started slowly.

“M-y... n-a-m-e... i-s...”

My name is Jay.

Jay was so excited. He could write, spell, and read his own name. He smiled.

Then he realised that no one in The Annex ever smiled. Understandably so; there was nothing to smile about.

But this was something he felt proud of. It made him happy.

Zao stared at Jay, then pulled himself together.

He started Jay with addition and subtraction, then moved on to multiplication, division and fractions.

When Jay mastered those without hesitation, Zao moved him into algebra.

After two hours, Jay asked to use the toilet.

When he entered the toilet, he quickly took out the rest of the candy bar and ate it before returning to the classroom.

Not long after, Jay confirmed his suspicion. The candy bar gave him energy. He had been getting sleepy from repeating the same things, but now he felt like he could do another four hours of this.

Once back in class, Zao tested Jay with every type of mathematics he could think of: algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus, linear algebra, and many more. Jay understood most of them within a short time. Some took a little longer and would require more in-depth teaching.

After six hours of teaching, class was dismissed.

Jay walked back to his room at a snail's pace. He was feeling a bit better, but perhaps they would leave the door open again.

There was no big man. He was allowed to walk back to his room alone.

The door was open.

Jay walked to his bed and lay down. Sleep came quickly.

When Jay heard footsteps, he pretended to be asleep. He knew it was the big man. He knew the footsteps. He knew the smell.

The big man put something in his pocket and left the room.

Jay kept his eyes closed and drifted back to sleep.

He woke up when they brought Tam in.

Tam looked worse than yesterday.

Jay stayed on his bed and closed his eyes again.

The staff worker left.

After a few minutes, Jay got up and walked over to Tam.

“Tam, are you okay?”

Tam slowly opened his eyes. He had a black eye, a swollen jaw, and loads of bruises on his arms and legs.

Jay looked him over and said, “I've seen worse. Don't worry, you will live.”

Tam groaned and moaned.

“Get up, Tam. It is not that bad. You have survived three days; you will survive more.”

Tam sat up. Jay took out the candy bar and broke it in half, offering half to him.

Tam took it and immediately put the whole piece in his mouth.

Jay kept his half.

The two boys had a relaxing late afternoon, as no one called them for anything.

Jay used this time to teach Tam the alphabet. Before they went to bed, Tam had managed to memorise half of the alphabet.

The boys woke up the next morning, waiting for the footsteps. They waited at the door and received their stale bread.

The big man said, “Both of you, come with me.”

Jay looked at Tam and widened his eyes. They had no idea where they were being taken.

They walked over to the opposite building. Once inside, the big man took them to a room that looked similar to their training room. The difference was that this room had more equipment than theirs.

As soon as they stepped forward, a man entered through a door that looked like an office.

The man, wearing a black outfit, walked to the edge of the mat, brought his fist into the palm of his other hand, and bowed his head respectfully towards Jay and Tam.

Jay looked at the man and did the same. Tam just stared at the man.

Jay hit Tam on the back of the head and said, “Follow the man.”

Tam tried to copy Jay, but he was distracted and didn't know how to greet the man. He simply bowed his head.

The man started to speak.

“I am Sensei. That is what you will call me. Nothing else. You will respect me. I will respect you. I will teach you everything about martial arts. The best fighter will become my pupil. Is that clear?”

Jay said, “Yes, Sensei.”

Tam followed with a halfhearted, “Yes, Sensei.”