English Short Stories For Intermediate Learners: 8 Unconventional Short Stories to Grow Your Vocabulary and Learn English the Fun Way!

Multiple-choice questions
Select one answer for each question
1. How many people are in the room, including Thom?
a. 2
b. 3
c. 4
d. 5
2. Where did Titan 2035 get part of its name?
a. Its serial number
b. The year it was built
c. The current year
d. None of the above
3. What reason does Doctor Benoit gives for wanting to be careful?
a. They spent a lot of money on Thom
b. They spent a lot of money on Titan
c. She is in love with Thom
d. Her assistant tells her to slow down
4. Why do they want to stop after three hours?

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a. Thom would get bored
b. Thom would be tired
c. Too much information could be dangerous for Thom
d. Too much information could make Thom sleepy
5. At first, what does Thom think happened to the hospital?
a. A gas explosion
b. A fire
c. An accident
d. A terrorist attack

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Answers to Chapter 1
1. c
2. b
3. a
4. c
5. d

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Chapter 2
“What do you remember about the explosion, Mister Parmenter?”
“I already told you,” I said, sitting at the police station. We were in a small
room with a large mirror. There was a metal table between me and the police
officer. “Call me Thom. And I don’t remember anything because I was asleep.”
The blonde policewoman was recording our conversation. In her ear was a
microphone. Someone was telling her what to ask me. Someone sitting on the
other side of the mirror, perhaps.
“Do you have any idea who blew up the hospital?” she asked. Her Swiss
accent was very strong, but her English grammar was good. “Any idea at all?”
I looked at the camera that was recording me. “Police should not be playing
guessing games,” I said. “Do I have an idea? Of course. It was the owner of the
company.”
“What company?” she asked. “TRANSMUTE Corporation?”
“Right. What other company is there? I’m talking about the owner of the
company which paid for the experiment.”
The policewoman stared at me. “That does not make sense. Why would he
destroy his own work?”
“How do you know the owner is a man?” I asked. “You said ‘he.’”
She blinked her eyes. She ignored my question. “Do you think it is a
coincidence that you lived, but the others died?”
“I don’t think it was an accident,” I said, standing up. “I don’t believe in
coincidence. A bomb destroyed a whole hospital, but I lived. I believe that was
on purpose.”
I was finished with the interview. The female officer asked me to sit down. I
refused.
“I said sit down, Mister Parmenter…”
“Call me Thom,” I said, walking over to the mirror. “There are three people
sitting on the other side of this mirror. One of them works for TRANSMUTE.

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He is telling you what to ask me.”
“Why do you say that?” she asked. But, her face told me everything I needed
to know. Her expression told me the truth.
“I’m leaving,” I said. “The interview is over. Open the door.”
“Thom, we still have some questions to ask you--”
“No, you don’t. You are asking questions that you know the answers to.”
The door was locked. There was an electronic keypad by the door. Without
thinking, I punched in the code and the door unlocked. “You know who blew up
the building. And you know why he did it.”
She did not try to stop me from leaving. “Why?” she asked.
I turned and pointed at my head. “To create me.”
*
There was a news station across town. I got in a taxi and told him to take me
there.
The media was happy to meet with me. We set up a fast press conference.
Many news stations and magazines sent reporters. I gave all of them a fantastic
story free of charge.
“You don’t want money for your story?” they asked. It was hard for them to
believe.
“I only want the truth to be told to the public. People must know the truth!
The owner of TRANSMUTE wanted to kill my doctor. He wanted to make it
look like a terrorist attack, but it was him.”
“But, why would he do that?”
“So the experiment would never end. I was connected to the supercomputer
for many hours, much longer than I was supposed to be. My doctor, Doctor
Benoit, wanted to be careful. She wanted to download small amounts of data.”
“But you think--”
“I don’t ‘think.’ I know. I know the owner wanted to keep me hooked up
longer. He and Professor Bidwell wanted to push me. To see how much
information a human mind can hold.”

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“How much can it hold?” the reporter asked me.
I smiled at the reporter. “Too much,” I said.
The reporter’s name was Michael James Beckett, and he was married with
one daughter. I knew his age, his address, and his parents’ names and address. I
knew where he graduated college, what his grades were, and who all of his
social media friends were.
I told him his car’s license plate number and how many traffic violations
he’d gotten last year. I also told him to stop smoking.
“How do you know I smoke?” he asked.
“It’s in your medical files.”
*
The owner of the company was not arrested. There was no proof that he had
anything to do with the explosion. He even asked to meet me privately.
“Son, you can’t go around making these wild accusations,” he said, offering
me a drink.
“Keep your drink. I don’t trust you.”
“Fine,” he said, sitting down. “But if you say another word about me, I will
sue you.”
“Go ahead, I don’t have any money,” I said. But, I knew he was lying. He
wouldn’t sue me. He would probably have me killed instead. “It’s funny. I know
almost everything about everyone, but I cannot remember your name. Even
when people tell me, I forget it. Why is that?”
“I would not know,” he said with a shrug. “Maybe it is a glitch. Some kind
of error in your brain function. With so much new information inside your head,
you will probably forget some things.”
“Yeah. Too bad my doctor is dead, huh?”
“Look, Thom…I told you. I had nothing to do with it. Stop blaming me.”
“And where is Professor Bidwell?” I asked. “His body was never found.”
“That is a good question,” he said, as he poured a glass of water. “The police
told me they are looking for him. Here, at least drink some water.”

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I looked at the glass. He really wanted me to have it. “Okay,” I said, taking it
from him with my left hand. He stood up a little to hand it to me.
I slipped my left foot behind him, like a hook. With my right hand, I pushed
his face as hard as I could. He tripped backward and fell hard.
I jumped on him, pouring the water in his open mouth. He tried to spit it out,
but I held his mouth closed. He swallowed it.
His body shook for a few minutes, then stopped moving forever.
“Funny,” I said. “People always say to drink more water, but look what
happens when you do.”

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Annex to Chapter 2
Summary
Thom meets with news reporters. He tells them that he thinks the owner of
TRANSMUTE Corporation caused the hospital explosion. The owner meets
Thom too. He threatens to sue Thom. He offers Thom a glass of poisoned water,
but Thom makes him drink it instead.