“I apologize, SIO Leina, if any of my previous statements offended you.”
“Like you said before. I’m just a petite female and you’re a male. It’s in your nature.”
I let the remark roll off. “May we begin again? I was surprised to find myself being trained by a woman.” She says nothing. I look back at her and repeat, “I ask for another chance to introduce myself to you as a capable entry-level Atlas.”
After a few seconds of silence, she folds her arms and retorts, “You expect second chances from everyone, don’t you, Krys?”
Her words are razor sharp. I’m taken aback by this comment. “Excuse me?” I feel less tongue tied now. “And what is that supposed to mean?”
She glares at me ferociously. “After 21 years as an SIO, I’ve seen several of my own comrades put through Cleansing for lesser things that I know you’ve done. Three of which were executed because they failed to restrain you in the fields. All sent to Cleansing.”
The guilt keeps me from interrupting her further.
“Personally, if I had a chance to pick any of them over you, I’d sell you out faster than you could say ‘Death Penalty’. So let me make this clear. I’m not your friend, I am not interested in talking or getting to know each other and the only reason I’m doing this is because I have no choice. But believe me when I say that if the training doesn’t tear you apart, I will do everything in my power to do it myself.”
My head rears back in shock. Are all Atlases like this? Do they even know what goes on in the fields? If she had seen what they do to us day after day, seen the bruises, maybe she would think differently. The anger starts bubbling under my skin.
“Fair enough, but let me be clear, you don’t even know me!” I retaliate. The animosity is palpable. “You don’t know what I’ve been through or what sacrifices I’ve had to make to stay alive. Your colleagues, or at least the one I attacked, he deserved what happened to him.”
I retract slightly when I see her unfeigned remorse. She looks down. I can tell she’s getting emotional. Then my BAND beeps indicating a possible third warning. I put my hands up behind my head and sigh deeply.
“Look, what happened in the fields was terrible,” I state sympathetically. “There’s nothing either one of us can do about it now. We both want to get through this as quickly as possible. So if you need to hate me to do that then go right ahead.”
She unfolds her arms and walks up to me. I become powerless from the sight of her eyes again and unravel inside.
“Alright.” She walks past me, heading to the gymnasium. “Get dressed, your training starts now.”
I open my locker and change clothes. Black sweat pants, black socks with a pair of running shoes and a white tank top. Inside the locker is a duffle bag with boxing gloves, hand wraps, a baton, water bottle, and a container of multivitamins.
I grab it all, stuff it in the bag and follow her to the training area. It’s nearly as big as the atrium. A huge room with 12 total sparing rings. On the north side are weight lifting machines, treadmills, a climbing wall, and even a pool.
On the side closest to me is a smaller ring. To my right is the first of many punching bags, dummies, and what looks like a wooden dummy with arm-like pegs coming out of it. A running track loops all the way around equaling probably a mile.
Leina is waiting for me by one of the wooden dummies. I set my bag down next to it. “What’s this thing?”
“This is what we use to get calluses on our forearms, knees, shins and knuckles.”
“You mean I’m gonna hit this thing with my bare hands?”
“That’s right. The vitamins I gave you are designed for rapid cutaneous repair and improved vascular response to trauma. What takes a normal person a year to accomplish as far as physique, you’ll do in just six weeks thanks to those. Actually, it might even be less. You seem like you keep in pretty good shape as it is.”
“I’ve had to drag a one hundred and fifty pound machine across the ground every day to keep my crops growing. You tend to bulk up.” My words drip with sarcasm.
Surprisingly she doesn’t seem to notice. “Good, you’ll need all the advantage you can get. You see, we Atlases have had our entire lives devoted to our occupations. You only get three months to catch up.” She gestures to the other SIO’s training around the room as she emphasizes the word ‘we.’
“Yeah, well I’m a pretty fast learner,” I retort.
She takes off her jacket and throws it onto the nearest dummy. “Alright then, let’s see what you can do.”
She grabs a pair of gloves and walks into the sparring ring. I can’t help but be curious. I put on my gloves and head into the ring with her.
“So what’s the point of this? I don’t like the idea of hitting a female.”
She stretches her neck and says, “Well, I’m familiar with the physical expectations of a typical SIO of Pura. This way I can see where you’re at now and how hard I need to push you to meet those expectations.”
A chuckle escapes before I can catch myself. She whips her head around, glaring at me from the far corner. I quickly silence the laughter feeling somewhat sheepish.
She grabs a handful of protective gear and walks over to me.
“Oh, good, I wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”
She gives a little smirk and drops it all right on my feet. I jump back before they land with a thud. “This is for you, you’ll be needing it.”
I nod back and bend over to pick up the equipment. Suddenly I’m knocked aside as my jaw pops in and out of place. I grab my face, groaning. I look up just in time to see Leina throw a hard right hook into my rib cage and then jab at my nose.
Stumbling backwards, I put my hands up as my eyes begin to water. I see only blurred images of the ring, the sparring gear on the ground and the slim figure darting back and forth, dodging my wild punches.
Another stinging punch to the nose, then a hard uppercut at my sternum and a jab to my neck. The pain makes my blood boil as my temper flares. “That’s it!” I wipe my eyes and catch her with a big kick to the chest before she can get another hit in.
Her body slams against the ground and is up again instantly. She sweeps my leg and I’m down on my back as she pulls me into an armbar. There’s no escape! The pain is terrible. I can feel my muscles straining, tearing from the leverage. I scream out. “Ok! Release!”
I tap the mat but it’s no good. She is unrelenting. “I give, I give!”
Nothing, she pulls again. I can actually hear my bicep muscles ripping. I scream out again and lurch my head into her arm, biting down as hard as I can. I clench my jaw harder and harder until I see blood. She doesn’t budge. I bite and scratch and punch but it she won’t release. She has me.
I grow desperate as she pulls harder and tighter. She’s trying to break my arm off! I can’t hold back, I need to get out of this or she is going to rip it right out from the socket. Summoning all my strength to block out the pain, I manage to swivel my left arm up through her legs and grab her neck.
I squeeze hard with all my might. She struggles to get my hand off, but I’m too determined. I pick her up with one arm, lifting her off the ground with dangling feet.
My face contorts from the mixture of anguish and rage. She starts gasping for air, her face turning blue. I begin to hear voices shouting in the distance.
I blink rapidly as the daze slowly wears off. A few SIO’s are rushing over to the ring. I look back at Leina as her eyes roll into her head then let go. She slams to the ground, grabbing at her neck, hacking and wheezing. Dark purple bruise marks are left from the force of my grip.
Mortified, I step back, looking at my hands. I still taste the blood and torn off skin in my teeth. “SIO Leina, I’m… are you ok?” I ask.
She waves away the guards as they approach. I lend my hand to pull her up. She smacks it away and stands of her own accord. After taking a few deep breaths she finally says, “Not bad, you’ve got an adequate survival instinct which will come handy. Got a bit of a
temper too, we’ll have to work on that. You’ll need to find a better way to channel your strength but with that said, you’re slightly above average.”
“W-what, what?”
She ignores my dumbfounded tone and walks over to her corner of the ring and pulls out a small black container. She takes out two white pills and swallows. I watch as she rubs some medicine to her neck and hands.
“What was that?” I storm over. “I could have killed you. And you—you almost broke my arm!”
She sits with her legs crossed, still applying the medicine. She is as calm as I am livid. A small jolt courses up my spine as another warning goes off. I grab my arm as the adrenaline has now worn off and the pain begins to match the damage.
“Your adrenaline is running out, you’re gonna feel that for a couple of days. Make sure you take the multivitamin tablets in your bag. At least two today and one every day after training.” She walks out of the ring and back towards the locker room.
I slide through the ropes and yell out, “What am I supposed to do now?”
“You’ve got the rest of the day off, Krys. Go home and rest.”
I spit blood onto the floor as my mouth begins filling with it. What did I agree to? I bend over, clutching my arm and trying to catch my breath.
“Oh, and Krys?” Still coughing, I lift up my head in response. “Welcome to the SIO’s.”
Chapter 5 Protocol
A bead of sweat plunges to the ground as it drips off my forehead. My clothes hang off me heavily, soaked through. The water coats my throat as I drink from my bottle, feeling the fumes of humidity in the locker room.
Training with Leina has been arduous to say the least. I suck in large gulps of air, trying to get my heart rate to slow down. While sitting on a bench, I rest my elbows on top of my knees and look down at my BAND.
It’s been five weeks, two days, and six hours since I left the fields.
Jathom promised to let Maxis and the others know that I was alive but nothing more. Communication is limited based on your responsibilities. No sense in speaking to someone you don’t have business with. Not many dependents like to risk it.
Jathom is one of the few that does, even with our BANDs recording audio. That’s why it’s important to always watch what you say.
I take out my container of multivitamin tablets and swallow one. I’ve been calling them SIO pills for short. I’ve been taking them every day since I started.
It’s a strange feeling being on the other side of the curtain. It was never confirmed that BANDs don’t actually transmit thoughts into some readable format.
Atlas techs study brain waves to recognize frequent thought patterns. Envy, hate, anger, and lust are the most common. My heart starts to slow finally but my mind darts from thought to thought. I haven’t been as focused as before.
The lesser limitations make it difficult for me not to indulge. I let myself dive deep for a few seconds before my BAND brings me back. I can’t attract more attention to myself. Tensions are still high with other agents.
Most of them didn’t even know the sentry I assaulted but that doesn’t matter. All they know is that I attacked someone from inside the system and instead of a punishment, I was rewarded. To them my existence is lesser to theirs.
I feel their glaring eyes press against me while my back is turned. Like I’m an abomination, having committed some great transgression worthy of despise.
But the more I dwell on it, the easier it is for me to see why they’d be upset. I still don’t believe it myself.
“I’m the exception,” I muse out loud before guzzling another bottle of water. I really don’t blame them. Only a handful of Atlases seem uninterested in me.
The majority of animosity comes from Brutus – the man that tripped me at the entrance of the atrium. Today is my first of many exams and Brutus will supervise while Leina assists. My two favorite people in the IRIS watching me for what is the equivalent of a three hour stress test.
“Fun,” I whisper out loud, resting my head up against the locker. Aside from the physical aspect of my training, there is engineering, computer tech, weekly psychological evaluations, and other miscellaneous skills I am required to master.
I check in at nine for training until lunch, then after a half hour I attend classes. It’s a little embarrassing since the other students are much younger than me. Ever since the foundation of Pura, it was thought best to place people into a career from the moment of birth to distribute equally, and fairly, the duties and responsibilities of sustaining life within its walls.
This started early after the years of nuclear war which destroyed most of the outside world. The first Council of Pura were scientists credited with designing the plans for the Sphere that surround the city and maintain the function of our BANDs.
All this of course is confidential knowledge and must never be shared with civilians. However, becoming an SIO at my age requires me to start from the beginning.
The kids don’t say hardly anything. One of the girls reminds me of Lucilla if she were a little older though her hair is darker and shorter. I avoid her as much as possible to avoid the prick in my heart.
None of them act like the kids from the fields. They’re more serious and quiet. They almost don’t seem real. It’s surprising when one of them gets shocked. They aren’t old enough to know any better, but if it’s not severe then they won’t learn, I suppose.
That’s what it was like for me. All this new information gives me intense headaches. It’s overwhelming. Normally you’d have years to learn everything they go over but I only have a few months to catch up.
After my classes end at 17:00, I am escorted home so I can study until it’s time to sleep. Jathom offered to take me back last night. Even with the flat paved streets, there aren’t a lot of running cars. Only Arbiters like Jathom and high-ranking Atlas officials are allowed vehicles.
Before dropping me off, we stopped at one of his scheduled appointments. Staring out the window I watched the lights from the buildings fly past in bright white streaks. We didn’t talk much but it was nice to sit in silence and attempt to ignore the pain all over my body.
It was so surreal. Like I was watching myself live outside of my body. I fade back to the locker room as the throbbing in my hands return. Standing up I unwrap them, wincing as I touch my knuckles. My whole left wrist is purple and swollen and my right hand is bloody with fractured knuckles.
I run them under cold water in a nearby bathroom. It soothes them but they still pulse with every heartbeat. “You’re tough for a granger, Krys, but you’ve still got a long ways to go,” Leina says behind me.
I jump and whip my head around, hitting my hands against the sink. I hear an almost inaudible chuckle from Leina.
“I hate it when you do that.” I put my hands back under the water to lessen the now-intensified throbbing.
“I thought you’d be hospitalized by now.”
“How is it that everyone is able to sneak up on me?”
“It’s not something anyone can learn.”
I carefully dry my hands with a towel and toss it on the floor. “Don’t forget, I’m here because I’m not just anyone.”
She folds her arms and walks away. “If that’s what you have to tell yourself. Come on, I need to examine your BAND.”
Apart from being a trainer and a second class SIO, Leina is a certified BAND Engineering Specialist or BES for short. Only a select few Atlases are trained with the knowledge to make modifications to BANDs without killing the host.
I follow her past the gym through a long dark corridor with strips of white lights. Our footsteps echo across the black glass tiles on the floor. We stop in front of a door panel and she raises her BAND.
A loud beep is preceded by a click and the door flies open, sinking into the ground. Inside is a broad white room. Two chairs, a small table with a variety of equipment and instruments I can only assume are used to fix broken BAND components, are all that’s in here.
Though the BANDs are grafted into our skin and bone and virtually irremovable, it’s important that someone be trained in its operating system for updates.
“I want to talk to you,” she says as I sit down and extend my arm.
We’ve hardly spoken at all these last few weeks. The only time we do is when she’s explaining new combat techniques or coaching me during training.
“Really? You want to talk… to me?”
Ignoring my amusement, she proceeds to loosen a few screws then remove the circular faceplate to check for any faulty wiring.
She tinkers with the BAND in silence until I assert casually, “You do realize that talking involves using words to form sentences right?”
“You’re pretty quick with your words, too bad I can’t say the same about your punches.”
“Was that sarcasm?” I ask in astonishment. I see the corners of her mouth raise slightly upward and then return to a straight line. “I saw that.”
“Why’d you do it?” she asks sharply. The air inside the office turns thick. My throat swells up and forces me to gulp. I nearly swallow my tongue as I shake my head slightly and struggle to gather my thoughts. “I don’t… I don’t understand what you–”
“—Why did you kill him?” She stares me dead in the face. I square my shoulders and sit up in my chair.
“I didn’t kill anyone,” I say defensively. Her eyes cut through me like a knife.
The corners of her mouth drop as she folds her arms. Unable to withstand her look, I shoot my eyes down at the table. “You intentionally attacked a sentry. An Atlas of IRIS. Whose sworn duty is to ensure the security and safety of every granger. And because of you, he was unable to perform his responsibilities and was executed.”
I let out a breath as my heart rate begins to increase. “And while you were nowhere to be found we all had to watch it happen.”
I can’t hold back the images of countless executions I was forced to attend. Everyone gathered in the main square in front of the Cathedral and a firing squad made up of the elite SIO’s. They make us watch so we understand the consequences of treason.
Iris Page 5