Starseeds

Part 5: Bodybuilder

(Number 2 P.O.V.)

I looked into the mirror and imagined myself having the body I was yearning for. It felt unfair that Number 1 was satisfied with his appearance and Number 3 got to transform hers. I desired my own transformation. I flexed and envisioned the muscular build I craved just like Number 3 had mentioned for me to do. Imagining wasn't enough, I wanted to see me with it now, and I wanted everyone else to see it too, especially Number 1.

"You aren't that guy." His words repeated in my head. "You aren't built like him." His words made me angrier each time I heard them in my thoughts. Thoughts have a way of reliving a past experience. He was right I wasn't that guy, I was going to be even better. I am not built like him yet, but I will be. I will become huge.

I walked away from the mirror and sat on the floor to watch the television while Number 1 was outside with his knives and Number 3 was down in the basement. A presentation unlike the other shows began playing on the screen.

"Overweight? Underweight? Are you dreaming of that lean, mean physique that the ladies just can't get enough of?" Images of large, muscular men lifting weights shot through the screen with the text that read bodybuilders underneath. That's what I was from this point on, a bodybuilder. "Come on down to the Iron Knight Gym located on Harbor Road just west of the local mall. Here we have everything you could need to begin your fitness journey."

I registered all of the information and immediately began walking towards where we had went to the mall. I did not know what west meant so I walked up to the mall doors and saw a tall man near by looking at an electronic device in his hand.

"Hey do you know which direction the gym is?" I asked him. He pointed out the direction to me and informed me that it was only minutes away from here. I traveled that direction and saw a building with large letters on it.

Iron Knight Gym it read in bold white lettering.

I smiled enthusiastically and quickly made my way inside. There was a lot of large machinery indoors and all I could hear was the clanking of metal. A man behind a counter greeted me. "Welcome."

"Thanks." I said walking over to the complicated looking machinery. I examined it and noticed the weights from the presentation I saw earlier. I picked one up and it was very light. This was much more simple than the machines appeared to be, but I wanted heavier metal. I want to be big now. I picked up a weight further down the line but it was too heavy to even move so I walked back a bit and picked one up that was more comfortable to hold. I rested my arm over a padded cusion and lifted it a few times just like I had seen on the presentation. I then increased the level to the next one. After a few rounds of that one I switched out for the one next to that.

The strenuous pain of raising the heavy metal into the air began to make my arms feel tired and depleted of energy. The feeling of this activity felt good, not because of the sensation but because of the result I noticed it delivered to my arm. The more pain I inflicted on to myself the larger I began to look.

I looked into the widened mirror and did not see a big change, but I knew it was happening slowly. I felt joy from my repeated actions before I noticed a man walking behind me in the mirror, much larger than I was. I suddenly felt small and like I should do more. I laid back on the cushioned bench he was on and attempted to mimic his movements on the weight next to his, it had the same numbers that his had engraved on to it but I could not lift it the same way as before. The activity began to stress me out.

The man stood up and approached me, he seemed to sense my struggle. "That one is a bit heavy for you." He said looking over at the other weights. "Here try this one out." He said handing me a new one. I lifted it a few times in the same position as he had been in. "Better?" He asked standing over me with his hand hovering beneath the center pole of the weight. I didn't respond.