by S. J Woods
“Who’s first?” She grinned.
Neha was the only person who hadn’t visibly paled at the demonstration, and she glanced around at her team before she confidently raised her hand. Seraphine gestured for Neha to step up into the open space and led the rest of the team out through another door. The next room was set out in a similar style to the last, with open-floor space and a bench. There was a door at the far corner, propped open leading outside.
“We’ll be sleeping in here,” She nodded in the direction of the floormats. “You can wait outside.”
Dane followed his team through the last door and Seraphine unceremoniously pushed the door shut behind them. The door had opened to the rear of the aircraft hangar onto a semi-circle of dusty, bare ground. An imposing glass wall separated the yard from a thick green forest directly behind the building. Nothing was visible above the tops of the huge trees, which stretched around both sides of the building as far as Dane could see. A primitive metal-link fence stopped them wandering any further to either side of the hangar, and the team, realising they were penned in, tossed their bags to the ground, sitting down in a loose circle.
With Seraphine and Neha gone, Dane learnt a little about the rest of his team as he sat, nervously awaiting Neha’s return. He already knew fellow Southerners, Faith and Riku, and he found that three of the others, Salim Munir, Kaya and Niall, had also journeyed together to their homes in Western Apatia during the assessment. Gia Vercelli, a slim brunette, volunteered that she and Neha were from the Northern territories, and although they hadn’t been part of the same assessment, they had been part of the same team for a few years and knew each other well.
“Does anyone know about what happened to the thirteen that didn’t make it?” Faith asked, looking around the circle hesitantly.
Gia opened her mouth, as if to speak, but then shut it again quickly.
“You were going to say something!” Faith leaned forward towards Gia, and the rest of the team turned to her expectantly.
Gia shook her head slightly and tapped her finger to her wrist-device before shaking her head again. Dane felt an uneasy prickle at the top of his spine at the gesture.
“Anyone got any tips for physical combat?” He asked, changing the subject.
Faith frowned at him, still keen to get the lowdown, but Gia shot him a grateful smile.
“Put it this way,” She said. “If Neha doesn’t do well in there, I’ve got no chance.”
At that moment, the door swung open and Neha appeared in the doorway. The confident demeanour of earlier had gone and she looked a little shaken. Gia jumped to her feet, her face a picture of concern for her teammate.
“How did it go?” She asked, rushing to Neha’s side.
“I can’t talk about it until everyone has had their turn.” She said apologetically, sinking down onto her own bag. She turned to Dane, not quite meeting his eyes. “Dane, you’re up next.”
NINE
Dane rose to his feet, feeling seven pairs of eyes follow him as he slowly made his way into the building. The last pen was empty, and he moved across it quickly to meet his fate. Seraphine was stood in the centre of the mats, stretching her hamstrings. Dane’s eyes travelled immediately to the sheathed knife at her hip.
Seraphine looked up, following his gaze, before meeting it with a confident grin.
“Don’t look so worried!” She said flippantly. “Neha’s alive, isn’t she?”
Dane attempted a smile at this, but her light tone couldn’t remove the uneasy feeling that had settled in his stomach. He looked instead to Cami, the attractive, dark-haired Attendant, who was stood unmoving to the side of the room, a default friendly smile on her face. There were no signs that multiple attacks had caused any damage to her hardware.
“Shall we make a start?” Seraphine asked, her tone gentle this time.
Dane tried to disguise a nervous swallow and nodded his head, moving towards Seraphine.
“We’ll start with the basics.” She told him. “Cami has been built specifically for combat training. If we were to be attacked by unarmed Artificials or Organics, you can count on a knife to the chest eliminating the threat.”
Dane nodded again. That had answered any questions he had about how Cami was still standing.
“There’s no need to worry,” Seraphine continued. “There are no Artificials built like Cami. As long as you can get to your weapon, you’ll be fine. It’s likely you won’t even need it against an Organic. The team are physically and mentally superior to average citizens, and our enemies. The greatest risk is not being prepared.”
With that, she gracefully swung her leg in an arch across the mat, hooking the back of Dane’s legs. She was lighter than him, but the move took him by surprise and he stumbled momentarily before he regained his footing. Instinctively, he took a step back to right himself, but Seraphine was still moving. She pivoted to correct her balance, before darting forward from the waist and aiming a blow to Dane’s head with her bare fists. Dane felt her hand whizzing past his head as he managed to dodge it by a fraction of a second. He stepped back again, unsure whether he was expected to launch a counter-attack, or to continue to defend. He looked at her for guidance, but her eyes were glazed and unseeing as she rocked on her heels before striking forward and launching another attack. This time the fist connected with Dane’s chin and he felt surprise flood his body before his pain receptors had time to register. His instincts kicked in, and he moved his whole body with the blow, pushing himself out of her reach before her second strike could land. Seraphine’s own motion at two quick and heavy strikes unsteadied her and he lunged forward, head lowered, and seized her arms. He twisted quickly in a replica of Cami’s earlier attack, but this time taking care to grip onto both arms, leaving the cold, hard blade unreachable. He braced himself for her to pull away, but she surprised him, stepping into the hold, twisting her own arms up and over, using his own weight to launch a two-handed jab underneath his chin. The force this time knocked him backwards and only then did she pull away sharply. He felt her follow up the blow with a firm kick to his chest and he crumpled as the air left his body. He reached out defensively, still fighting, but his hands gripped air, as she pulled back from the kick with lightning speed. He didn’t see the subtle shift in position as she bounced onto the balls of her feet and rotated her body. A roundhouse kick hit him from seemingly nowhere and it caught him square in the side of his head sending him to the ground. He rolled to the side, temporarily dazed. The force of the kick had him seeing stars and he blinked hard, determined to rise to his feet and continue, but he felt an arm snake around his exposed throat. The cold, hard blade of her knife rested against his skin and he froze, fear flooding through his body.
Seraphine paused for a count, and then slipped away as quickly as she had attacked.
“You did good.” She said, with no trace of irony.
Dane turned to her, feeling his cheeks start to blaze with humiliation at the defeat. He faced her just as she had finished sheathing the blade. There was no trace of mockery to her face nor her words.
“I would have been dead.” He said, his voice heavy with disappointment in his performance.
Seraphine shook her head. “You would have if you were fighting me, but you won’t be. This is the first day of training. You dodged some good shots. What would you do differently next time?”
Dane thought back to their short demonstration. “I wouldn’t expect you to pull away. I was bracing myself and you used that weight against me.”
She nodded, looking pleased. “Absolutely. Well done. Not many people would be able to analyse that so quickly. Give yourself a minute, and then you can go again against Cami.”
Dane felt the beginnings of a bruise throbbing underneath his chin and he traced his finger down the side of his head where Seraphine had delivered the winning kick. His ribs felt sore and tender already from his one-hundred-and-thirty-pound Officer; he didn’t know how he would fare against an advanced man-made fig
hting machine.
As if sensing his hesitation, Seraphine moved to his side, her hand resting lightly on his arm.
“The trick is,” She said. “To listen to my instructions.”
He nodded and hesitantly took up a position in the centre of the mats.
“Cami.” She turned and moved to the edge of the mat. “Basic Artificial Mode. Attack Fifty-Ninety-Eight to disarm. Kill mode disabled. Confirm?”
Cami parroted Seraphine’s instructions back to her with chilling nonchalance and waited.
“Cami, continue.” Seraphine instructed.
Dane watched, feeling sick with trepidation, as Cami glided across the mats towards him. The not-quite-human placid expression on her face registered somewhere in the primal depths of his brain, causing twists of revolted dread to ricochet through his body.
“Dane.” Seraphine started to speak with measured calm. “AI approaching to centre and left. As it draws parallel, move forward and strike directly to chest.”
Dane obediently stepped forward as Cami approached him, fighting his basic instinct to step away from the oncoming attack. He delivered a blow to the centre of her chest.
“Cami. Stop.” Seraphine called, as the Attendant swayed backwards in receipt of Dane’s punch.
Dane and Cami turned to Seraphine expectantly.
“Dane.” She said, moving a little closer. “You need to deliver that blow at ninety-percent-minimum. Don’t hold back. We haven’t got time to keep going over old ground. I’ve got six more out there to train. You and Neha are my strongest. It’s going to delay us if you don’t give this everything.”
Dane nodded with surprised pleasure at her words. “Sorry. Can we go again?”
Seraphine repeated her initial command and Cami repeated the order. This time, Dane looked away, trying to drown out Cami’s expression and tone that were at disturbing odds with the words.
Dane repeated the move; this time putting his strength into the blow, successfully sending Cami reeling backwards.
“Dane, head shot, head shot, head shot. Quick succession. Eighty percent of what you’ve got. Keep your balance. Three times. Move backwards and assess.”
He punched, one, two, three times, landing every blow with precision. He tried to ignore the way Cami’s head bounced backwards, as she stayed on her feet in the way that only an Artificial could.
“An Artificial will come back in for attack now,” Seraphine warned. “Keep you arms tucked close to you so that there is less chance of it catching hold of you. Ready to draw your knife. You’ve got one chance as it advances. Knife to the chest. Now!”
As she spoke, Cami was already advancing, and Dane concentrated hard on following the rush of words.
Arms tucked. He adjusted his position, pulling them in to his side. Ready to draw. He curled his fingers around the hard, plastic handle. She was almost on top of him now. This was his shot. Knife to the chest. He whipped the blade free from the holster, extending his arm and plunged it deeply into Cami’s chest. Immediately, she stopped advancing and Dane almost toppled, such was the force of his lunge. He swayed on his feet, his hand still firmly gripping the knife and it was only then that he took in his “kill” with horrified fascination.
A burst of applause startled him, and he looked up at Seraphine; her eyes dancing with delight as she clapped his performance.
“Excellent!” She beamed, swiftly crossing over to them and tugging to remove the knife from Cami’s chest. “I’m going to call the next person in. You can partner up with Neha and use the next room for sparring. Neha can teach you some of the footwork I used against you.”
Dane took the proffered knife and slid it back into its holder. He obeyed her command and wandered out to the enclosed yard, feeling a little dazed from the ordeal. Seven pairs of eyes turned to him expectantly and he tried to arrange his mouth into a reassuring smile, for the sake of his team. He called Neha over, just as Seraphine emerged behind him to fetch the next candidate on her list. Salim followed Seraphine through the open space, leaving Neha and Dane alone in the empty pen.
Neha was brusque and to-the-point, seemingly already aware of her directive. Dane, still shaken by the reality of the need for close-combat killing, found himself concentrating harder than he ever had before to pick up the martial art-type footwork that Neha demonstrated over and over again. He was sweating from the exertion, but they only paused briefly when Salim walked out from his own training.
“Five more minutes with Dane.” Seraphine said, as she moved across the room, not bothering to glance in their direction as she escorted Salim back to the yard and returned with Kaya. “Then call Salim in.”
Dane had barely looked up from the mats as Salim passed, but he could tell from the man’s body language that the kill-simulation had bothered him too. He pulled himself back to focussing on the task at hand, and repeated Neha’s drill with improving accuracy until she signalled that they were finished. He wandered out into the yard, where the squad were scattered around, out of the earlier loose circle they had formed, settled in smaller groups. The air was hot, dry and humid, the trees threw shadows in the opposite direction, providing no reprieve from the heat. Dane moved uncertainly to either side of the building in search for even a sliver of shade, but the air here was heavy with insects and Dane brushed them away, retreating back to the oppressive heat of the yard. He settled down near Gia, Faith and Niall, who were the only ones still making quiet conversation amongst themselves.
“How did it go?” Gia asked, turning towards him, one hand shielding her eyes from the sun as she looked directly at him.
Dane opened his mouth to reply, but her mouth continued to move silently after she’d stopped speaking, and Dane stared at her, unsure how to respond when he had no idea what she’d said.
“Dane?” Faith frowned at his lack of response.
Dane wondered whether he’d imagined it and shook himself back to the present. “It was ok.”
“Just ok?” Faith asked.
Dane caught Gia shake her head ever-so-slightly in his direction and this time he realised that Gia was imploring him to say the bare-minimum about the experience.
“You’ll be fine.” He said, in what he hoped was a reassuring tone.
Faith smirked, as if she hadn’t doubted this for a moment, and Dane fell silent, unsure what else to add to this.
Niall stepped in, making small talk about the forest and the heat, but there was a clear frost in the air between Faith and Gia. Niall was called up next, and he got to his feet quickly. Dane wondered whether he was in a rush to get his turn over and done with, or if he was just keen to get away from the awkward atmosphere. Dane feigned the need to stretch his legs and wandered around the yard, giving the shade another shot now he was heavily perspiring. The cloud of insects was even thicker now, if that were possible, and the air was alive with a persistent buzzing of a thousand tiny wings.
“Careful of those.” Faith called over to him, holding up her wrist. “I’ve been bitten already.”
Dane stepped back quickly and completed a few slow laps around the yard, this time giving the shaded side of the building a wide berth. Faith was the next to be called up by Seraphine, and Neha was moving through the rest of the squad in her own training sessions at around the same pace. Dane hadn’t given Gia’s strange behaviour a second thought, distracted by the comings and goings of the team and his own restless wandering to escape the blistering heat, but the moment Faith was gone, he slipped wordlessly back down onto his bag an arm’s length away from her. She remained silent and they sat side-by-side staring into the forest ahead of them for some time, before Dane idly picked up a fallen stick next to him. He started to make shapes in the dirt in front of him, and the movement caught Gia’s eye. He could feel her watching him and he turned towards her. Without thinking, he sketched out two letters in the dirt.
“O.K.”
Gia nodded her head, just a slight movement, and Dane used his foot to erase the letters. He felt
unsure how far to push it, but on a whim, fearing that Faith and Seraphine would reappear at any moment, he drew out two numbers, smaller this time and shielded from the others by his bag.
“13.”
Gia leaned forward subtly, surprising Dane as she took the stick from his hand. She paused, as if considering how or even if to reply, and then drew a large “X” through the number.
Dane turned to her, hoping that he was misinterpreting her gesture.
She copied his earlier movement, dusting the crude sketch away with her boot.
He had to be sure and he leaned closer towards her.
“Dead?” He said so quietly that he could barely hear his own words.
She paled a little at his question, but she nodded her head.
The door moved behind them, and Faith emerged. Dane looked up, meeting her eyes, with the horrible sensation that she had been watching the interaction between them. Faith held his gaze, until Dane turned back to Gia, unsure how to react, but Gia was gone. Her bag was still sat squarely on the ground next to his and Faith’s just a little distance away. Faith took her place next to him and Dane tried to make polite conversation until she was called in by Neha. He waited for Gia to return, but she kept her distance from him for the rest of the day.
TEN
The next few days of training were intense, and it wasn’t until five days later that Seraphine was happy enough with their performance that they were able to start the journey to their next camp. They had focussed solely on close combat skills, something they had only ever done as a fitness exercise in previous military training. In addition to the one-on-one sessions with Seraphine and Cami, they took part in a number of squad sessions, and Dane could see which of the team were naturals and who was struggling a little.
Neha, Salim and Kaya sailed through the training; a perfect combination of physical strength, agility and confidence. Dane found that, despite his size and his determination to do well at his job, he had to constantly push himself to give the drills his all. Violence didn’t come naturally to him, although he excelled in any defensive manoeuvres. Seraphine increased the individual sessions with those who were struggling over the last two days, and the repetition of the practises, only punctuated by hours sat around the hot, dusty yard, meant they were all relieved when she finally announced their departure.