Chiron Academy

Chapter 3.5- The Tour

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Wyatt gripped his backpack tight as he stepped into the small airport. He had always thought that the BWI airport just outside of Baltimore had been small, but compared to the small building he'd just flown into, his home airport was practically LAX. The entirety of the building seemed to be one large room with four gates coming off of it. An ancient luggage conveyer sat in the corner, humming lazily to itself as swung a few bags back and forth in an eternal circle. 

 Wyatt spotted a man, tall and black, holding a sheet of paper with Wyatt's name scrawled on it in sharpie. As he got closer, the man pulled off his sunglasses. Wyatt recognized him as one of the agents that had visited his house that night a few weeks ago. He was dressed more casually this time, his black suit replaced with light washed jeans and a red floral shirt covered by a tan canvas jacket. Wyatt looked at it jealousy. The itinerary had mentioned bringing a jacket, but he hadn't thought too much about it. There was a nip to the air he'd noticed the second he'd gotten off the plane.

"Wyatt, good to see you again," the agent said, his deep voice rumbling pleasantly. "How was your flight?

Wyatt shrugged. "Fine."

"Sounds good. Let's grab your luggage."

The man grabbed Wyatt's bags off the rickety conveyor belt and they headed off to the parking area. The man motioned to a black SUV.

"How far is it to the school?" Wyatt asked as he climbed into the passenger seat.

"Not too far. It's in an old business park on the edge of town."

Agent Lucas glanced at his watch. "You're plane was a bit late so we'll have to move pretty quick. We'll be cutting it a bit close."

Wyatt stared out from the window watching unfamiliar buildings zoom by. The town didn't seem too big. Much smaller than Baltimore. Their journeys took them through the city's downtown. It had very few buildings taller than five stories.  He wondered how much he would be able to explore the city while he was at the school. He became painfully aware of everything he didn't know about his immediate future.

After about twenty minutes of silent driving, they pulled into an unremarkable-looking business park.

"Here we are. Welcome to the compound," the agent said, as they pulled into a parking lot. The whole thing was surrounded by a large chain link fence.

Wyatt looked around at their surroundings through the windows. The parking lot that surrounded them was hemmed in by a chain-link fence on two sides and what appeared to be two tan brick buildings on the others. Based on what he had heard about the program, he assumed there would be a lot of people around but from what he could tell the parking lot held nothing but the rusted husk of an old beater car in a far corner and a single parking attendant stall. The lot didn't appear to have been maintained very well: the painted lines were mostly faded. Light posts were scattered throughout the expanse, but based on the appearance of the rest of the place, he would have been surprised if they actually worked.

They pulled up to a lone parking attendant booth, complete with a red and white striped gate. It looked out of place in the otherwise empty parking lot, almost comically unnecessary.

"How can I help you?" the woman inside sighed, her tone implying actually the last thing she wanted. She had her elbows on the counter, propping up her head. 

"Agent Lucas accompanying Wyatt Hatch. He's here for orientation."

The woman just shrugged her shoulders in response and motioned them through the gate.

They pulled around the side of the building and into another smaller parking lot, this time with a number of cars packing the lot. Wyatt smiled that most of them were also black SUV's. The government was nothing if not consistent.