Training to Kill
Property of the Firm
Status: In Progress (First Drafts) Genre: Young Adult / Spy Thriller Setting: London & School
The Pitch
Jack and Brian are not normal teenagers. They are assets. Property of the “Firm.” While others spend their holidays at the beach, they complete training units where mistakes are punished not with bad grades, but with a virtual headshot.
After a mission in London, where they had to shake off their own shadows in the subway, the most difficult mission now awaits them: The return to normality. The “vacation” is over. They have to go back to school, back to their cover as average teenagers. But how are you supposed to concentrate on homework when you know that London has more cameras than inhabitants and the Firm registers every step? Jack, the instinctive fighter, and Brian, the cool analyst, have to learn that the most dangerous place is not the operational area—but the classroom, where you aren’t allowed to stand out.
A Look Inside
(Original German Excerpt)
„Glaubtest du ernsthaft, die lassen uns mit der schwarzen Kreditkarte allein von der Leine?“ Brian schnaubte verächtlich und rückte seine schiefe Brille zurecht. Sein Blick war analytisch, fast gelangweilt. „Anfänger.“
Ein schrilles Warnsignal kündigte an, dass sich die Türen schließen würden. Jack stieß Brian hart in die Seite. „Raus! Jetzt!“ Sie landeten etwas unsanft auf dem Bahnsteig. Hinter den schmutzigen Scheiben sahen sie das ‚ältere Ehepaar‘, das hektisch an die Scheibe klopfte. Die panischen Gesichter der beiden Beschatter waren unbezahlbar.
Brian seufzte. Dann wandte er den Blick zur Decke, wo eine schwarze Kuppelkamera direkt auf sie gerichtet war. „Dir ist aber klar, dass wir keine zwei Minuten unsichtbar bleiben, oder?“
The Protagonists
- Jack: The man for the action. He trusts his reflexes more than any plan. In the simulation, he might die a hero’s death, but in real life, he ensures they escape—even if he has to jump out of a moving subway train to do it.
- Brian: The brain. He sees the world in data streams. He knows that the Firm’s “black credit card” is not a gift, but a leash. For him, humans are illogical variables, which makes everyday school life a living hell.
Current Status: The simulation is over. The shadows have been shaken off. Now begins the attempt to appear normal while the Firm is watching.