The Patient

[Telos]

Crickets chirp as a building in the distance comes into focus.

 

The faint glow of an OCW logo can be seen on the upper right corner of the building.

 

Trainer: “It’s only been a month, but you seem to be recovering rapidly. The rehab has been doing you some good.”

 

The Patient removes a brace from around his abdomen. Stiffly, he stands and walks across the room to grab a bottle of water.

 

Trainer: “We still got some time to work, but by the time you’re ready to get back in the ring, you’ll be stronger and more resilient than you’ve ever been.”

 

Trainer: “4 weeks, and we’ve had one motto. What doesn’t kill you makes you what?”

 

The Patient: “...Stronger....”

 

The Patient walks back toward the trainer, hands grasping the barbell on the matted floor.

 

He knocks out 10 deadlifts in quick succession.

Trainer: “I said what doesn’t kill you makes you what?!”

 

He continues lifting with the trainer’s voice filling the room.

 

The Patient: “Stronger.”

 

Trainer: “That loss to AC Cobra was minor. It didn’t set you back. It didn’t make you weak. It made you what?”

 

The Patient: “STRONGER”

 

Trainer: “You got in the ring and you made light work of Cort Marshall. That was proof. That was the gain after the loss. That victory made you what?”

 

The Patient: “STRONGER!”

 

Trainer: “At Savage Lands, you faced a bully. You faced a machine. You gave 30 minutes of pure effort. Zero to a hundred from jump.”

 

“But you took an ass whooping. You got the shit beat out of you and you been here with me ever since.”

 

The Patient drops the barbell violently, staring at his trainer. The moment is filled with tension, but the trainer doesn’t withdraw. He steps forward towards his client and says,....

 

Trainer: “Cyborg didn’t kill you.

 

He made you what?”

 

Telos stares through the man opposite himself, and speaks with conviction...

 

Telos: “A monster.”

 

The camera pulls back as the two men continue to work towards Telos’ return….