Days bled into a grim routine. Anna recovered slowly under Elara's care, regaining her strength with a resilience that surprised Mike. He, on the other hand, was relegated to the lowest rungs of Heaven's brutal hierarchy. Krexx, true to his word, seemed determined to discover Mike's "special trick."
The "proving ground" was a rough, open area within the barricade, littered with crude obstacles: logs of varying heights to be jumped, weathered animal hides stretched between posts and painted with crude targets, a wobbly rope bridge strung between two sturdy trees.
Krexx stood with his arms crossed, a smirk fixed on his face, flanked by the ever-present Rex and Scylla. Jax leaned against a hut wall, watching with open disdain. Elara sat nearby, offering Anna a supportive presence. Anna herself, though still pale, watched Mike with an unreadable expression.
"Alright, Mike," Krexx began, his voice laced with mocking expectation. "Let's see what you're made of. Most of us showed our... aptitude... pretty quick after the welcoming committee's little 'gift'. Some stronger, some sneakier, some," he nodded towards Elara, "miraculous. What can you do, Architect?"
Mike glanced at Anna, then back at Krexx. He genuinely had no idea. His mind flashed to the strange, effortless agility he'd experienced in the jungle when he first arrived, but that had felt subconscious, instinctual – not something he could summon on command. And the thought of admitting to Krexx that he'd felt something then, only to fail now, was mortifying.
"I... I don't know," he admitted, his voice barely above a whisper.
Krexx let out a short, humourless chuckle. "Doesn't know. Right." He gestured to Rex. "Let's start simple. Agility. Rex, show him the course."
Rex grunted and pointed a thick finger towards a series of logs and makeshift hurdles. "Over 'em. Fast as you can. Don't trip and break your neck, pretty boy."
Mike took a deep breath, trying to channel that elusive feeling of fluid movement from the jungle. He ran.
He tripped. Clumsily. Over the very first log, sprawling ignominiously in the dirt.
Scylla let out a cackle of laughter. Jax snorted derisively. Mike's face burned with shame. He scrambled to his feet, brushing himself off, acutely aware of every eye on him. He tried again. He wasn't completely unathletic – his work as an architect had sometimes involved site visits and climbing – but here, under their scrutinizing gazes, he felt leaden, uncoordinated. He managed to make it over a couple of the lower hurdles, but with visible effort, his movements slow and awkward. He nearly toppled off the rope bridge, flailing for balance.
Krexx shook his head, disappointment and cruel amusement warring on his face. "Well, that was... underwhelming," he drawled. "Not exactly a speed demon, are you? Strength, then? Jax, give him a go."
Jax pushed himself off the wall, a sneering grin spreading across his face. He strode over to a pile of heavy stones apparently used for just this purpose and easily hefted one that must have weighed over a hundred pounds.
"Try this, Architect," Jax said, dropping it at Mike's feet with a thud that shook the ground.
Mike stared at the stone, then at Jax's expectant, mocking face. He bent his knees, gripped the rough edges, and strained. He grunted, his muscles screaming in protest, veins bulging in his neck. He managed to lift it, just a few agonizing inches off the ground, before his grip failed and he dropped it with a panted curse.
Jax laughed out loud, a harsh, contemptuous sound. "Pathetic. Can't even lift a decent rock."
Mike stood there, humiliated, a cold fury simmering beneath the shame, directed as much at himself as at his tormentors. Krexx sighed, a theatrical sound of exaggerated disappointment.
"Such a waste of the good stuff," Krexx said, shaking his head slowly. "Some just don't take, I suppose. Or maybe," his eyes glinted, "you're a late bloomer. A very, very late bloomer."
Suddenly, Anna pushed herself to her feet, leaning on Elara for a moment's support before stepping away, her jaw set with determination.
"Let me try," she said, her voice still a little weak, but firm.
All eyes turned to her, surprised.
"You?" Krexx raised an eyebrow. "You can barely stand, girl."
"I feel... different," Anna insisted, her gaze steady. "Since the attack. Since Elara..." She glanced at Elara, a silent thank you passing between them, then took a tentative step towards the first log. "I need to know."
Elara nodded slowly, a knowing, almost proud look in her eye.
Anna stood before the log. She took a deep breath, and for a split second, Mike thought he saw a faint, almost invisible shimmer around her, like heat haze rising from asphalt on a summer day.
Then she moved.
It was like watching a different species altogether. She didn't just jump the log; she flowed over it, an effortless arc of motion. She wove through the hurdles with an impossible, breathtaking speed and grace, her feet barely seeming to touch the ground. She sprinted across the wobbly rope bridge as if it were a solid, wide avenue. She completed the entire course in a matter of seconds, finishing with a final, astonishing leap over the last hurdle. She landed lightly, breathing hard but standing tall, a look of profound shock, then dawning exhilaration, on her face.
Silence descended upon the clearing, thick and stunned. Then Krexx let out a low, appreciative whistle.
"Well, well," he purred, his eyes, alight with a new, predatory interest, fixed on Anna. "Now that's more like it. Speed and agility. Very, very useful." He clapped his hands together slowly, mockingly. "Welcome to the hunting team, sweetheart. You've earned your place."
Anna looked slightly overwhelmed by her own sudden prowess, but also undeniably empowered. She glanced at Mike, and he saw a complex mix of emotions in her eyes – pity, perhaps, but also a faint, almost unavoidable flicker of superiority. It stung more than Jax's open contempt.
Krexx turned back to Mike, his face once again a mask of cold disdain.
"As for you... Architect," he said, the title now dripping with scorn. "Looks like you're just dead weight after all. Useless." He spat on the ground. "We'll find something for you to do. Latrine duty, maybe. Or clearing brush at the perimeter. Don't get in the way."
Krexx stalked off, Rex and Scylla following in his wake like obedient hounds. Jax gave Mike a deliberate, dismissive shove with his shoulder as he passed. Finn, who had been watching from the shadows, simply vanished. Elara approached Mike, a sympathetic, almost apologetic look on her face.
"Don't let it get to you," she said softly. "Sometimes these things take time. Or a different trigger."
Mike just stared at the ground, the dust at his feet, feeling a profound sense of uselessness and despair. The humiliation was a bitter, burning brand. He clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms. The hard, unyielding outline of the metallic vial case in his pocket, pressed against his thigh, was a sudden, desperate thought. A seed of a terrible idea, born of shame and a gnawing fear of being utterly expendable, began to take root in the barren soil of his heart.
This covers Act I of your movie outline. You now have Mike established, the core conflict within "Heaven" set up, his initial powers (subconscious) hinted at, Anna's powers revealed, and the seeds of his desperation planted, leading him towards eventually considering the vials he found.
The next "Part" or "Act" of the book would involve Mike's discovery of the abandoned lab and Kai, significantly deepening the plot and Mike's understanding of his .