The Rook Chapter 7 – The Academy
Last time we got to see how the Checquy organization conducts interrogations. No, they don’t use waterboarding, but what they did do may very well be worse than that practice. I mean, Dr. Crisp was able to manipulate the pain receptors of the subject while he acted as a human polygraph. Regardless of the questions asked or the means used to gather information, the subject died and they’ve now gotta piece together any intelligence extracted and figure out what to do.
Before we look at that though, we step back again to learn a bit more about how Thomas came to be a Rook.
Inchoate Thoughts
Summing up where things are…we know someone is out to get Myfanwy. She was beat up, her memories were erased, and she’s had to rely on letters from her previous self to figure out how to impersonate herself and begin the process of tracking down who attacked her. In the process, we’ve learned that she is a high level agent in a British organization called the Checquy, one that is dedicated to protecting the country from supernatural threats, and that she has the ability to manipulate people through her touch.
Through the interrogation that occurred in the last chapter we found out that there are forces outside the Checquy that are spying on England and while we’re not much closer to figuring out who attacked our hero, we do see that tensions are high enough in the organization that infighting can get kinda dangerous when everyone has superpowers.
Before we see the results of the interrogation we take a step back to see how 9-year old Thomas dealt with becoming a ward of the Checquy.
Morning Person
So Myfanwy’s parents gave her to the Checquy when she was 9 after a crazy event where she caused quite a scene in a hospital by inadvertently paralyzing and blinding the staff.
I certainly would feel abandoned but what’s worse is the kids in the academy were there from birth. It’s kinda like a book I’ve read but can’t remember…I hate it when that happens…anyway, the children already at the school are all indoctrinated into waking early, exercising like an Olympian, and speaking multiple languages. And poor Myfanwy is afraid to touch people because she might cause them to crap themselves. It does not sound like a good environment for a growing child.
It kinda reminds me of that old Army comercial where they boast doing more before 9AM than most people do all day.
Frau Blumen tried to help but there’s only so much a headmistress can do.
Friendless
As time went on Myfanwy trained and studied but she didn’t make many friends. Her abilities kept her from getting too close to anyone and using them reminded her of the awful events at the hospital that resulted in her moving to the academy. But the instructors cajoled her into learning how to use them, progressing from the paralysis and blindness of the hospital to making others move, detecting cancer, or even activating their special abilities. It sounds like a horrible childhood but one in which she learned she was unique in her abilities.
No wonder Thomas was shy and quiet. She lacked experience with people skills and her abilities in administration allowed her to keep a distance from even her coworkers.
Retrospective
In this chapter of The Rook, we got to see a bit more about Myfanwy’s childhood and her experiences at the academy for special children. Obviously the Checquy were glad to have found someone with such unique abilities but it seems they were a bit disappointed with the fact those powers were not developed to a high level. Perhaps with the new version of Myfanwy inhabiting the body, she’ll be able to expand on her superpowers and become a stronger force in the organization. We’ve already seen her express herself more forcefully in the office than Thomas used to and we’ve seen her defend herself with gusto. Perhaps as we learn more about what actually happened during the interrogation we might see how she can fulfill her promise and take a more powerful role in the Checquy.