The final examination was a breeze to Darion.
He finished the 2-hour test in under 40 minutes and submitted his papers. He ignored the dirty look he received from his fellow awakened and walked out of the testing area. He took a quick shower before going to the canteen for an early lunch.
Darion showed up at the repair site of their former longhouse for their punishment detail but it turned out that the workers didn’t need his help that much. They let him transfer bricks from one place to another and did some mental measurement calculations for the foreman.
The supervisor appreciated his help the most when he gave clarifying translations to some of the Latino immigrants in the group. They have a Spanish translator with them, but it turned out that 3 of the workers can only understand Portuguese.
Luckily Darion happened upon a Portuguese-English dictionary in the library, read it in one sitting, and forgot all about it. Only when the info was necessary did Darion realized that he can speak the language. Not perfectly yet, of course, but a passing translation that is good enough for everyone.
Darion translated for the foreman and informed the workers what the foreman wanted them to do and all is well. The three were experienced construction workers and once their objectives were clarified, they work like horses.
That night, his entire batch had a small celebration with the end of their ordeal. Tomorrow, they will be placed in the system and will be registered as official street heroes of the United States of America. The day after that they will formally graduate, received their official hero designation, and finally leave the camp.
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Discreetly, they were allowed to consume some alcohol and to play some music. It was a subdued affair but a happy one. They exchange info and promised to keep in touch on social media.
Timothy Belton cried like a little girl, overwhelmed by the love in the room. Darion has to stop himself from rolling his eyes as Akiko patted the big guy on the shoulders.
The following day, a few of his batchmates are now allowed to leave the base and lined up to enter a yellow bus. Darion and a few others still have paper works to finish but will leave the base later that day.
Darion shakes hands with his new friends like Akiko and Tim, and they all promised to get in touch with each other via Facebook or some shit.
“You take care, boy scout,” Akiko said. “And if I need a tinkerer you’ll be the first one I’ll call.”
Darion smiled at her. “I’d like that,” he said.
He waved lazily as the bus left and he was standing there alone for several more minutes. The smile on his lips, however, didn’t leave him.
Darion was called into Mahoney’s office. They shook hands before sitting down.
“You ready for the real world, son?” The old sergeant asked.
“Ready and able, sir.”
“Good,” the sergeant said once more. “I just got off the phone in central and we just received your official codename. From now on, everyone in the army, and other government agencies, including your fellow superheroes will address you by your codename in order to partially protect your true identity from the bad guys.”
“I understand, sir.”
“Good,” His former instructor said with a stone face, no emotion whatsoever. “From now on, you will be known as… Dorkman.”
The smile in Darion’s face crumbled ever so slowly as he heard his new codename.
He continued staring for a moment longer, thinking the sergeant was messing with him. It cant be his codename.
But the sergeant simply stared back at him. There was pity in his eyes. The silence became awkward.
“Are you fucking kidding me?”