moves. This is freaking me out.
They closed the sequence with the Crossing Hands and then returned to the stance.
‘What did you think of that, Hero?’ the master asked.
‘It felt good, as if I’d actually done it before.’
‘In a way, you have.’
He frowned. ‘I don’t think so. I’m sure I’d remember, if I had.’
The master smirked. ‘Not only does the meditation open your mind, it trains you in our ways.’
Who were these people? This is like something on one of those conspiracy theory shows. Except it’s real.
‘You could think of it as reconfiguring your brain to insert knowledge.’
‘I didn’t even know that was possible.’
‘One of our greatest discoveries, actually.’
Hero glanced at James. ‘Why don’t they do this at school, then?’
The master moved away from the centre of the mat. ‘The rest of the world hasn’t caught up with us yet, son. And we should all be thankful for that.’
‘You don’t know the half of it, bruv.’ James was grinning at him.
He did his best not to look as self-conscious as he felt.
‘Let’s take a look at how you did your first time,’ the master said. ‘Come on.’
The Light Master beckoned Hero to the video monitor at the edge of the gym and pressed Play.
Hero watched for a moment and shrugged. ‘Looks like it’s stuck on fast forward.’
‘No, Hero, it isn’t.’
‘Eh?’
‘It’s not on fast forward.’
He peered at the video playback. ‘It can’t be. That’s impossible.’
‘Look closely. You can see the dust moving away from your body.’
The master was right. Shock waves rippled away from him with every motion.
‘That is how fast you move. And in time, you’ll move even faster.’
Hero stared at the recording. He thought he’d performed the short form as precisely and accurately as a brain surgeon, but in fact, he’d been moving so fast that his image blurred as the video struggled to keep up.
‘But I wasn’t even trying.’
‘Exactly. It’s taken us many years to work out that it takes no effort at all. Once we realised that, we managed to even the balance a bit.’
‘Balance? What do you mean?’
The Light Master and James exchanged glances. The air became thick, and for a moment it seemed as if time had paused.
‘Tell me, Hero, has anything unusual happened to you recently?’ the Light Master asked.
Hero was silent, still trying to digest what he’d seen. There was something else at work here. ‘Well, apart from being bullied . . . Although I’m not sure that’s unusual, exactly.’
The Light Master returned his tentative smile, then became sombre. ‘I think you know what I mean.’
Hero nervously glanced between the people on the mat.
‘The voices,’ he said at last.
‘And what do those voices say?’ the master asked.
‘They say, “We are the Light. Join us.”’
Everyone in the gym was staring at him now.
‘I heard them earlier, during the meditation. They were saying something about the beating heart of the world. I can’t really remember.’
The master nodded. ‘We call it the voice. Although it does sound like there are many, it is in fact only one voice.’
The hairs along the back of Hero’s neck stood up. ‘Wait—you’ve heard it too?’
‘Of course. We all hear it, and it seems to say the same thing. It’s particularly strong during meditation because your mind is open.’
‘I thought I was going mad. But what does it mean?’
‘The voice instructs us on the right thing to do. But come on, Hero, you’re an intelligent guy. Let’s see if you can work it out.’
Hero rubbed his temples. ‘Well, if you’re the Light Master—and obviously there’re other people, so you’re not the only one—so . . . The Light isn’t a thing? It’s a group?’
‘And?’
‘We’re connected? We’ve all got something in common?’
‘And what do you suppose that might be?’
He already knew the answer. ‘We’re all fast? Really fast?’ His eyes widened. ‘We’ve all got the same ability.’
But the Light Master’s expression suggested he was expecting something else.
‘It’s more than that, isn’t it?’
‘Yes.’
‘What?’
The master had begun to pace up and down the edge of the mat. ‘Our ability. It’s not that we’re fast. It’s that we can all slow down time.’
Hero glanced at James then back at the Light Master. They’re having me on. He started to smile. It got broader and broader until laughter bubbled over. The master blinked at Hero, unmoved, but James was smiling as if sharing the joke. This was one of James’s cheeky gags.
‘You’re not serious.’
‘I’m deadly serious, son.’ If this was a joke, then the master was not part of it.
‘But I don’t slow down time,’ Hero said. ‘Nothing goes slower for me.’
‘It doesn’t seem faster or slower to you because you actually change time. You’ve done it your whole life—you’ve just never noticed it before. But after training with us, you will notice it. You’ll notice it a great deal.’
Hero looked away uncomfortably. The man was daft.
‘I’m not a fan of parlour tricks, but let me convince you,’ the master said quietly.
And then he was gone.
‘Behind you,’ a voice whispered in Hero’s ear.
Hero
