6 Chapter 6: Father
It's been a while since the second trade. Most of his time is used to reverse engineer the phone, while the rest is being used to improve his body and skills.
"Young Master, your instructor has arrived," Hiddle said to Ryan. The boy who is shirtless and just done with his exercise is still sweating. His skinny body hides a strong power as he is enhanced by trade items, but people could only see him as a vulnerable kid.
Today he has a karate lesson. Yesterday was jiu-jitsu. He's been asking Hiddle to get him some instructor to teach him about martial arts. He does this to practice the new skills that he bought.
Hiddle agrees reluctantly. He likes that the young master can learn to protect himself. On the other hand, his young master's condition is still undisclosed. He's shocked when the master starts to learn, as the kid is a natural-born martial artist!
The boy can grasp all the techniques easily. All his hesitation went out the window when he saw this. He is actively searching for a better instructor for his young master to learn from now. It's been going on for about 2 weeks, but he still couldn't find the boy's limit.
There's some skill that Hiddle arranged that Ryan didn't have. But his enhanced reaction time and sight make him adapt easily to the teaching. After all, this is just a beginner class.
Other than practicing, he spent most of his time reverse-engineering the pear phone. Of course, he did it after transferring the 'data' on it into his laptop. He has to compare the technology that is already released and create patents for the rest.
In the afternoon, 5 black SUVs are driven towards the Manor. Tim has a full security detail and even a helicopter protecting him from any possible attack. When his father reached home, it greatly shocked him. His father in his memory used to drive everywhere by himself and definitely not like this.
Ryan greets his father and his subordinate "Hello dad, and…. all my dad's fellow entourage". Tim goes to hug his son and says "It's a good thing you wake up" in a tender voice. His cold temperament melts instantly when he sees his son.
He froze when his father hugged him. Even in his previous memory, there isn't a time he remembers his father doing that. His father is like an emotionally stunted, cold man, "I guess having his son near death puts things in perspective" he thought.
"After lunch, come to my study," Tim said.
Ryan nodded. During lunch, he and Tim just sit there awkwardly at the dining room table. If someone comes in, they can feel the cold air surrounding the two people.
Half an hour passes, and Ryan follows his father like a baby duck toward the study. Enduring his awkwardness, he politely tries to start a conversation with his father.
"So dad, I've been thinking. I'm going to apply for college."
" I heard from Hiddle about that. It's very good that you're planning to go to university. But, you don't have to apply anymore"
He gets a little defensive, "And why is that?"
Tim smiles and says "it's simple, you don't have to apply as you are already a student." Ryan is confused. He was in a coma so how the hell does he get into admission?
Tim notices his confusion and explains "You may be in a coma, but 'Ryan Knight' of the Knight family has never been out of the public eye. "
" After that accident, I prepared a stand-in for you that finishes his high-school study, and is now a student at New York University."
"Oh", the son finally gets it. He is a little disappointed though. He wants to get in through his effort.
The conversation became silent again. Tim anxiously looks at his kid's face to know what he is thinking. He is quite nervous about his son getting mad at him, but he doesn't regret his actions. As they stand to live his kid's life, there's been 8 total assassinations at suppose-to-be Ryan.
After a period of silence, the son spoke softly. "Why do you have to do that?". Tim is surprised as his son doesn't have any trace of anger or any contempt for him. He expected to have to pacify his son before continuing.
Tim explained the overall situation to Ryan.
3 years ago, there was a breakthrough in the Knight industry that caused his family to be targeted by hostile forces. After a period of struggle, finally, he manages to defeat the enemy.
He also spoke about the circumstances of Ryan's accident and many assassination attempts on his life, causing him to transfer Ryan to a private hospital under a false name, only people who know that he is Ryan Knight in the hospital are Dr. Christine palmer, the hospital director who's Tim friend and Hiddle.
Ryan took some time to process the information. He then asked, "Who are they?". Tim has a sharp look in his eyes and says "The ten ring organization, or rather, a branch of it. "
Ryan was shocked when he heard it. He knew that the ten rings were founded by Shang Chi's father, an immortal who has lived for a period of a thousand years.
He also knows that during the early 90s, Manchu disbanded the ten ring, causing it to become a terrorist organization and the sort. These are from the movie plot, he didn't know about the comic plot. He just knows that Manchu is a major villain in the comic.
"What was the breakthrough that we had?" Ryan asks again. He needs to know this and prepare himself for the future.
Tim replied, " it was a design for a particle infusion technology. However, we cannot make this technology come true." Tim solemnly replied and thought in his heart"... if it wasn't for Professor Whitehall, maybe our family would still be targeted. "
Ryan nodded. He knows that technology, it appeared in the TV series Agent of Shield. In Dr. Daniel Whitehall's experiment with gravitonium and the World destroyer project. Luckily he is a movie and TV series fan of Marvel before this.
"After we become targeted, Brigadier General Hale helps out our family, but in the process, we have to give the tech to the US army. It's now studied under Dr. Whitehall." Tim added. "She also helps us to know who our enemy is and helps us fight them. She is our family savior."
Ryan becomes dreadful. Dr. Whitehall, Hale, the ten rings. After the pieces them together, he then knows that this was never The Ten Ring action in the first place. It was Hydra's conspiracy.
Throwing the matter to the back of his mind, as his father says, this incident is settled. Hydra thought that they were hidden from the world, so they wouldn't take further action after they got what they wanted. His dad also had his revenge, so he'll be docile for now. His father also didn't have the plan to continue with the technology as it is worthless to the company.
Ryan spent some time asking his father about various things. He has to admit that his father is a resourceful guy. His careful planning makes his family survive Hydra's action. Although he was manipulated into the ending, it was the best action he could have done.
What is most important now is to not let his father be brainwashed with hydras ideology. His father keeps praising Hale and Whitehall, making him feel the terror of Hydra.
He is not a hero type. He doesn't care about Hydra's conspiracy and becomes the destroyer of hydra and the sort. Maybe if he is the true Ryan Knight, he will retaliate. But he's not. And he watched many superhero movies to know that superheroes don't have happy endings.
"About my stand-in. He must be good to survive the assassination.'' He admired the guy. But then his father rubbed his forehead when thinking about it and said. "He is good. Good at making trouble and running away".
Tim remembers back the dreadful moment when his sons stand in almost become a murderer. If he hasn't stepped in to handle the situation, his real son will wake up a wanted man. It happened in Europe when the stand-in hooked up with some vampires. But he didn't need to tell his real son that.
"When I go to college, I think that... I'm going to move out..", Ryan hesitated to say this. He saw his father's face change after he finished this sentence. Staying at this home is suffocating. He is monitored all the time.
His father stands up from his chair and starts to walk around in the study." We'll revisit this matter when the doctor says you are fine."
"I'm already fine though", Ryan says in his heart. He didn't say it out loud as his father's emotional state is changing. Maybe his father is reluctant to let him go. After all, he's been away for 3 years. (and comes back a different man.)
After saying goodnight, only Tim is left in the study. Hiddle walked into the room. "How is he?", Tim asked.
"He's a bit more mature. And now he's taking the initiative to defend himself. Waking up after 3 years may take a toll on him mentally as he is confused by a lot of things." Hiddle told his assessment to the house head.
Tim sighs. "I can see it in his eyes. His naivety is now gone." he's afraid the kid will become like him. Cold and heartless. Atop his desk, there's a picture of a happy family with a child.
Ryan was a newborn at the time. His mother died a year after he was born, because of sickness." Madeline, our boy is okay now." Tim hugged the picture after Hiddle left. A sobbing sound is heard as he feels a big rock is now lifted from his heart because his son is alright. It all felt unreal until he saw his son with his own eyes.
He misses his wife, Madeline Joyce Frank. He wanted his son to be more like his wife instead. Noble, kind, and heroic.
