by Almney King
He picked up another device. “Moving on, this weapon here is the Laser Ray Grenade, or lrg for short. When this here button is released, hundreds of rays shoot out and dissipate anything in their path. Obviously, you don’t want to be anywhere near the range of this weapon. It has a one hundred foot radial distance, so take caution.”
An hour passed when Valler stood at the final table. “The Iron Sling Gun,” he announced. “It’s one of our newest armaments.” The firearm was a dangerous tool. It was large piece of light weight metal with claw-like spear heads attached to a sling in the barrel of the gun. “This weapon is ideal for long distance and close range combat. The spear heads can impale just about any material.”
Valler continued. “Each weapon contains traces of umbarra, a toxic substance extracted from a fruit found on Niaysia. Meridians are extremely vulnerable to this poison. Once it enters their system, it crystalizes their blood. At that point, it’s game over. But do not misunderstand, these weapons can kill you as well if you are not properly trained.” Valler crossed his arms, gazing proudly at the group. “That being said, let’s begin with a little hands on training.”
He led the group into a large training area. Several weapon rotators lined the length of the hangar. “All the weapons from the display room are here. There are twenty targets, six recruits to a lane. You will spend ten hours a day perfecting your skills. Every other day, you will participate in hand-to-hand combat. Afterwards, you will move to the arena for stimulus training. Once you’re ready, you will each showcase your skills before the overseers. If you pass, you will be cleared for departure.” Valler raised a hand to his forehead and we returned the salute. “Begin!”
I lifted an mr2 Blade Gun from the revolver then found my own secluded space in the hangar.
“A sword and a gun. Nice choice,” Elric said. He walked over with a smile, holding the Iron Sling in his hands.
“That weapon doesn’t suit you,” I told him. “You don’t have the hands for it.”
“Intimidated are we?” Elric scoffed. He propped the gun between his shoulder and collar bone, closing one eye to peer through the sight. His forefinger gently stroked the trigger.
“Are you going to fire it or what?” Kitty said. Elric snapped out of his readiness position. “You look ridiculous. Your hands are too small for that kind of weapon.” She tapped her chin. “And too pretty.”
“Enough, Kitty,” Tank sighed. He had the new mr2 propped atop his shoulder, looking ready to use it.
Kitty ignored him, pursing her lips. “I’m just saying. He needs something more to his character, something with a little more class.”
“It’s not about class, Kitty,” Tank said, “it’s about survival.”
Kitty took a breath. “Survival,” she repeated. The word hung heavily in the air. “What about freedom? What about desire?”
Elric shook his head. “Don’t talk about those things here. Not if you want to get deleted.”
Kitty crossed her arms. “Deleted?” she scoffed. “I can think of things far worse, like this mission for instance. We’re nothing but cattle to them, trained for slaughter. I don’t give a flying shit if they hear me or not. I may be many things, Elric, but I’m not a coward. I refuse to be afraid.”
I was wrong about Kitty. She was a fearless force, and as she spoke, I actually came to respect her. “She’s right,” I said. They looked at me in shock. Kitty was especially surprised that I had agreed with her. “ARTIKA owns all of me. They own my body. They own my name. They even own my future. But they don’t own my dignity. I think I’ll be keeping that for myself.”
Tank nodded. Elric grinned, tossing an arm over my shoulder. “Then that’s what we’ll fight for... our dignity.”
Kitty looked at him and smiled. “Alright then, for our dignity.” She gave Tank’s arm a tug. “Come on handsome, join our pact,” she pleaded.
Tank shifted his mr2 and shrugged. “Might as well,” he said casually. “To our dignity. What about you, Red?”
I looked at them. I never thought about it before, but I was no longer alone. I was no longer an outcast. I was Celeste. “To our dignity,” I said.
“We look out for each other from now on,” Elric said. “No one left behind?”
“That’s right,” Tank agreed.
“You got it,” Kitty chirped.
“You have my word,” I promised.
I watched the halo-clock strike 7:02 a.m. Time here was my worst enemy. It dragged me through the days like a shackle to the neck. I was a hostage of time.
My id marker suddenly vibrated. I took a dosage of halos then laid back in bed. Ever since my return to the humanization facility, I began to feel like my mind was sound again. Whatever they had done, it relieved all my symptoms.
There was one issue it didn’t cure, however. At times, when I looked in the mirror, I saw someone else. I saw something dark, that thing Tank described as dangerous. Elric saw it too, and so did Kitty. They were all afraid of it. It was uncontrollable. It was unnatural.
The message board lit up across the room. Training sessions would resume in the next five minutes. I sat up, grabbing my mr2. A few days ago, I was given clearance to carry it around the sector. A pair of MW’S came and programmed it to my id marker. The weapon and I were one now. No one else was permitted to use it.
The sector was crowded as I made my way to the arena. It would be my final session, one of my final thrills on Earth. When the door slid open, I looked his way. Raine smirked, a flash of merriment in his eyes. He approached me with a pompous sway in his step. “That savage look in your eye, I hope it never fades,” he whispered. “It’s quite attractive, 2102.”
My body tensed. Among the recruits, addressing each other by number was a means of disrespect. “Foolish and incompetent, those qualities suit you well, 1098,” I hissed.
Raine circled around me, eyeing me up and down. “You’re not above us, 2102. You’re wild, tenacious, but not above us. That Gene-Nome 1 must be something else. It must be hard to control... the bloodlust, I mean.” His taunts continued, slithering from his lips like a hiss. I eyed him curiously. How did he know about Gene-Nome 1?
“You know what you need, 2102? You need someone to suppress your fury.” He stood before me, a triumphant smirk on his face. “I can tame you,” he whispered, caressing me by the chin. “Tell me which you prefer... whips... or chains?”
I snagged his wrist and squeezed, snapping it in two. Raine shuttered at the knees. I took my other hand and grabbed him by the throat. “Tame me?” I snarled. “Say it again. I’m just dying to rip that tongue right out that insolent mouth of yours.” I pushed him away. He stumbled a bit before regaining his footage.
“You’ll regret this, 2102.” he hissed, messaging his throat. He gripped his wrist, snapping the bones in place.
“Show me if you can,” I challenged.
Raine cocked his neck to and fro then raised his fists. I shook my head at his arrogance, tying my hair up for the fight. A circle of recruits crowded around us. “How about a wager,” Raine said. A cocky smile slithered over his lips. “If I win, you get down on your knees in front of me, for everyone to see.”
“You underestimate me,” I spoke. “But so be it. If you win, I’ll get down on my knees. And if I win... you die. That way it’s for certain that I’ll never have to hear that mouth ever again.”
Raine smirked. “Let’s go then.”
“Stand down, recruits!” The circle dispersed as Lieutenant Cambridge barged into the arena. “Petty squabbles among elite soldiers are intolerable in this program!” he snapped. “If I ever find you in position to battle, I will have you deleted on sight! Is that clear?”
I yanked my hair tie loose. “Yes, lieutenant,” I uttered.
“I understand, Sir,” Raine said.
Lieutenant Cambridge nodded. “Good, now shall we begin?”
I paid Raine no attention. He was a pitiful soul. He cared too much for validation, and that was why he woul
d always stand beneath me. I needed no approval. I needed no form of reassurance. That was the difference between us. He needed pride to exist, to survive. Pride, to me, was a weapon. I did not need it to live. I could reign just perfectly without it.
The session was short, and when it ended, I was requested for assessment. I was clear for departure that afternoon. Valler had been rather congratulatory of my success. I ignored his compliments however. My only concern was my promise. I would go to this new world. I would kill for ARTIKA. I would protect for ARTIKA. As long as I had my dignity, I would do these things. And one day, when my dignity was not enough, I would have my freedom as well. Whatever the risk, freedom would be mine to keep.
CHAPTER NINE
DEPARTURE
I took a last look at myself in the mirror. I looked like a soldier, like an arsenal. I had been red-tagged. ARTIKA had designed a suit for me to wear as an indication of my title. It was a deep scarlet with an intricate symbol stitched on the right side of my chest. It was the Nazar’s symbol for New Eden.
I slipped my two hand guns in the holsters of the suit then looked to the message board. It was almost time. There was a knock on the door. I went to answer it.
“That suit is definitely not your color,” Kitty said. She smiled, Tank and Elric standing beside her. I joined them in the hall.
“You ready?” Tank asked.
“I’m ready,” I said.
“Looks like we’ve all been red-tagged,” Elric noticed. “I have to admit. I’m kind of upset about the way things turned out,” he placed an arm over my shoulder. “I mean, how could they separate me from my ray of fire but put you and Red on the same team?”
Kitty rolled her eyes. “Don’t be a baby. She hardly likes you anyway.”
“Ah, that’s not true,” Elric grinned.
“No,” I said, “it’s true.”
Elric scowled. Tank and Kitty laughed at the ridiculous face he made. “That’s Red for you,” Tank said, “cold as ice.”
We were silent for a while. It was a thick kind of silence. The kind that seemed to sit heavily in your chest. “Hey.” We looked up at Elric. “When we get there, let’s not forget our promise,” he said.
“That’s right, to our dignity was it?” Kitty perked.
Tank nodded. “I’ll see you all in another world then.”
The light on our halo-coms lit up. It was the image of Lieutenant Frost, summoning us for departure.
“Time to get going. Celeste and I are this way, we’re scheduled for the east wing,” Kitty said.
Elric nodded and leaned into my ear. “Watch yourself out there, my ray of fire,” he whispered.
I glared at him. Tank laughed and grabbed him by the shoulder. “Let’s go, Casanova. We don’t want to be late.” They began down the hall.
“Bye guys,” Kitty called, “knock them dead!”
Elric cast us a grin over his shoulder. Tank merely raised a hand as his form of farewell. “Aren’t you going to say goodbye?” Kitty asked. I looked at her then turned to walk away. She was quick to follow me. “Seriously, that attitude of yours is worse than before,” she complained. “It’s a wonder those two like you so much.”
She nagged me all the way to the east wing. She was like a fly in my ear, but I tuned her out eventually. We signed in under Lieutenant Frost, pressing both palms against an id halo-pad. The sector was hectic, recruits and MW’S racing through the fleet of space shuttles.
“This is exciting,” Kitty said, looking to the sky. The hangar ceiling was open for takeoff. It was our first time seeing the outside world, and I had to agree with her. It was hardly believable.
Our halo-coms lit up again. It was a face message from Lieutenant Frost. “Report to shuttle d17. We are scheduled to launch within the next ten minutes.”
“Ten minutes,” Kitty said. “I feel nervous all of a sudden.”
I looked at her. “If I were you, I would try to feel nothing at all.”
Kitty scoffed. “That’s easy for you to say. There isn’t a recruit here that’s as cold and clever as you are.” She stepped around me and headed for the shuttle. Even though I had gained a slight amount of respect for her, she was still too much like a child in my eyes.
When I reached shuttle d17, there was another id check-in. The mw on duty gave me some kind of injection before I boarded. I saw Kitty there, speaking with the other members of our team. We had trained together numerous times in the arena. I came to discover that we each added our own assets to the team.
Luke, the one sitting in his seat with his eyes closed, had an impressive strategic mind. West was conveniently strong, standing a full six feet, four inches from the ground. Urban was quick and proactive, always a step ahead of all the other recruits. Then there was the misfortune of having Raine as a member of the Alamo team. His eyes were always on me, always challenging me to something. While all the other members respected him, in my eyes, he was nothing and would remain nothing.
I ignored them for the time being, moving through the other recruits aboard d17. They parted on instinct to make way for me. That’s how it was. No one was before me. They could try, but then they’d end up on their knees, and standing behind me wasn’t worth that kind of humiliation.
I stood in front of my seat. It had been marked and made ready for departure. My halos-suit hung beside it, fully equipped. A life pack and my id mr2 were strapped to the back of the suit. The more I looked at it, the more real things became.
“Nervous?” Raine said from behind.
I answered him without turning around. “Still moving that mouth I see.”
“I am. It has a lot to say to you, 2102.”
“Perhaps it could spare me until landing. That way you can go to your death without me having to hear a word.”
Raine smirked. “You worry too much,” he mocked. “I just wanted to tell you that when we do land, I’ll be the one taking charge.”
I turned to look at him. “That’s the problem, 1098,” I said. “That title, you’ll have to take it from me. And we both know you’re too incompetent to do even that.”
His muscles tensed, and just as he was about to retaliate, Lieutenant Frost called us to attention. I joined the league of recruits, leaving Raine to himself. In truth, I had no desire to lead the Alamo team, but Raine had much to learn. It seemed I would have to remind him of his place.
“Gather around recruits,” Frost ordered. “First off, I want to congratulate you all. What you have achieved is a great honor. ARTIKA, the Nazar, and the people of Helio Tellus will be forever in your debt.”
In our debt? A great honor? I found it shocking, how beautiful his lies sounded. “I have a few announcements before takeoff. First, when you land, do not wait too long for your comrades to reach the rendezvous point. The mission comes first. If a team member is terminated, you will receive a notification by halo-com. Second, stay updated with New Eden. We expect a report every ten hours. Lastly, expect regrouping. As you know, we tend to lose a handful of recruits within the first day of arrival. That is all, recruits. I wish you luck. I wish you success.”
We saluted the lieutenant. He returned the gesture then turned and exited the shuttle. “Please take your seats and secure your safety belt. Takeoff will commence in three minutes,” a voice announced.
I strapped myself into the assigned chair. Kitty sat beside me, pulling the bars over her shoulders. “This is it. It’s really happening,” she whispered. “I’m nervous.”
“You said that already,” I told her.
“Aren’t you nervous?”
“Should I lie to ease your mind?” I said.
“You’re too much for me, I swear,” she scoffed. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her smile. I didn’t know what I felt in this moment. There wasn’t much I did feel. Ever since my awakening, I tried not to. I didn’t wish to feel, because the moment I did, was the moment I would be more than recruit 2102. I would be more than Celeste. I would be human, and to be human was a curse.<
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The shuttle shook all of a sudden, and then we were airborne. There was at least fifty recruits in d17 and not one of us spoke. There was nothing to say. We could only wait.
The turbulence was heavy on our way to space. Kitty held tight to the safety bars, her eyes closed the entire way up. She mumbled something under her breath.
“What are you saying?” I asked.
She looked at me. “Nothing, just something Tank told me to say.”
“What is it?”
Kitty hesitated for a second. “Fear does not exist, because fear is not in my mind. He told me to say it if I ever got nervous.”
I nodded. “That’s good. Say it until you believe it. Only then can you survive.”
The shuttle jerked violently, waking the recruits from their stupor. “We are now nearing the zero-energized zone. Caution, the safety bars are now lifting. You are now authorized to enter the halos-suit ig.”
I stood from the seat and positioned myself. I held up my arms and backed into the suit. The metal closed in around me. I lifted the shade of the helmet to get a clear view of my surroundings. “Please secure yourself to the safety railings. The sky door is now opening.”
A ray of light beamed as the shuttle opened. And as the brightness dimmed, I could see it. There it was in all its splendor... Niaysia. I was empty of thought, staring down at that fantastic world of energy. It was a kaleidoscope of color, a fiery vortex of reds and blues and all the colors in between. Whips of light hissed and sizzled from below us, like a storm of lightning. And from around it, was the shine of its many moons and suns. Their light went in and out and each time it returned, its color faded to gold, then violet, then blue. Cerniphilus, Niaysia’s dwarf planet, was a blinding red. It was beautiful, like a jewel nestled in the silk of space.
“You are now ready for departure. Your section will green-light to signal flight readiness,” the voice said.