Harmonics: Rise of the Magician

by Collin Earl

  *****

  Sam tried to run and keep an eye on the tablet but was having difficulty. She wasn't the greatest multi-tasker, and her nerves were wound so tight it hurt. She was cursing her idiotic action. Why hadn't she thought out some sort of plan? She wasn't sure where she was or how she was going to help Adam. If the Móguǐ unit was as bad as Richard said, then she was in for the fight of her life. Further complicating her emotions, she felt sorry for kicking Richard in the man-berries. There was no justification for that. He would certainly hate her after this...if there was an after.

  She stopped at a four-way intersection. She was starting to recognize where she was. The hallways were painted in warm earth tones of brown, green, and sand. Some genius from the Committee of Education had ordered the colors for their postulated effects on student hormones. Who could get romantic in a place that was so aesthetically dreary?

  She checked the camera feed on Richard's tablet, attempted to locate her position, and decided to turn left. She moved fifteen meters up the hall then threw herself against the wall in an attempt to hide. Just ahead of her a man was yelling in Mandarin and pointing weapons at a group of her classmates. She couldn't see if Adam was among them. As she listened, she thought they seemed to be arguing about something.

  Sam crept forward, trying to sneak up on the soldiers, then stopped, quickly ducking into one of the rooms right off the hall. She cursed in a whisper. I don't have any weapons. How do I help them?

  That's when she saw it. A gun sat near the body of a dead masked man. She crept out softly and picked it up, gingerly holding it at arm's length. She didn't know how to check if it was loaded. She knew how the Combat Tag weapons worked, but this was the real thing. Sam glanced from the weapon to the men holding her classmates at blade and cannon point. The soldiers continued to argue gesturing at different students and then glancing back at something on their mini-screens. Sam wondered why they were hesitating? What could they possibly want from the students?

  She pushed it out of her mind and stepped out from her hiding place. She tucked the butt of the gun into her shoulder and pointed the weapon at the back of the nearest solider.

  A beefy hand moved over her mouth and something hard jabbed her in the ribs.

  "Don't move."

  Damn, she thought. Game over.

  Everyone is dead. They were all going to die and there was nothing she could do about it.

  The person behind her moved, directing her back into the classroom. Had he been there the whole time? She had not looked when she entered the room. She probably should have.

  The hard object, she assumed it was a gun, was removed from her back and she felt the person behind her shift, drifting something slightly through her hair. He or she, or whoever they were, was going to execute her. She hoped it would be quick.

  Crack.

  A hand whacked her upside the head. It was hard, but it didn't kill her. What was going on?

  "Next time you kick me and then go marching right into the midst of a Jadian death squad, I am so not coming to help you."

  "Richard?" Sam whipped around. "I thought, well I thought that I...well you know."

  "You thought you nailed my boys to my pelvic bone? You tried, but..."

  Richard knocked his crotch. "I come prepared."

  Sam smiled. She was relieved that he was here. "Richard, we've got to do something. We've got to help."

  "Sam, we can't. What can we do? We'll die. You know we'll die."

  Sam sighed. "Then I will die, but I am going to help." Sam snatched up her gun and made for the door. In the corner of her eye she saw Richard's hand move to his forehead in a gesture she recognized. He was frustrated. He muttered to himself, and while she shouldn't have been able to hear him, she could.

  "Gently. No breaking. Do as you're told. Gently. Son of a – ." Richard pulled his hand from his head. "Sam, wait."

  She stopped. He did it again. He called her Sam. "Yes?"

  "There's a way. I can help, but do you promise we can leave after? You won't put up a fight?"

  Sam nodded. "Yes but we save the group outside and Adam. Deal?"

  Richard rolled his eyes. "Ok. But you don't fight me understand?"

  She nodded again.

  Richard picked up his tablet. "Fine. Let's go."

  They both moved to the door and stepped over the threshold, crouching behind some debris created from the fighting. As Richard was tapping madly on the tablet, Sam pointed her gun down the hall, not knowing what else to do.

  "What do we do now?" asked Sam in a nervous whisper. "How are we going to fight off those goons?"

  Richard looked up from his tablet. "It's simple really. Will you do me a favor and fire that weapon at the soldier on the far right?"

  Sam hesitated. Richard saw her hesitation and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Just think of it as Combat Tag Pro."

  Sam nodded and whispered, "Richard, you hate Combat Tag."

  She leaned up, aimed down the barrel of the gun, and squeezed the trigger.

  Kaboom!

  In a reenactment of what had happened to her and Richard right before she had passed out, super heated plasma streaked from the gun, striking the wall right next to where she was aiming. The soldiers realized they were under attack and moved into cover, maneuvering from point to point like gears in a well-made clock. Slowly, they converged on Sam and Richard while the students cowered in the background.

  Sam fired off a couple of shots. "Rich, I hope you weren't bluffing about the brilliant plan, because we're in trouble!"

  Richard smiled. "I never bluff, Sam."

  Richard tapped a large red button in the middle of his tablet that said, "Execute". Then he ducked his head and tugged Sam down beside him.

  Sirens screamed, bright lights flashed, and a corny computer voice sounded down the hallway.

  "Terror threat level currently at red. System will in engage in three seconds. All unauthorized personnel leave the premise immediately."

  The soldiers were momentarily caught off guard but then laughed off the threat of the computerized voice. They called at each other in Mandarin, continuing their advance on Sam and Richard. The lead man was grinning a yellow-toothed smile from cheek to disgusting cheek. He stared triumphantly at the two, raising his light shiv.

  Pat, pat, pat, pat!

  A scream, and the man's light shiv fell right between Sam's legs. She didn't understand. She looked up to see why he had dropped his blade and screamed in horror as the headless corpse of the solider fell to the ground.

  Giant rapid-fire laser weaponry had appeared from panels in the walls and lit up the area with their blasts. The "pat" noise resounded again and again. The soldiers fell where they stood, huge gaping holes in their chests and heads. Blood and the smell of burning hair and flesh threatened to overcome Sam. She didn't want to be sick. She didn't want to vomit. She tried to stop it, but she was unsuccessful.

  The lasers eventually stopped firing and the sentry guns retreated back into the walls. The sounds of pain-filled death slowly faded, leaving only the smell. Richard was the first to stand. He appeared unfazed by the violence. He moved towards their classmates, who were beginning to stand up slowly. The only one Sam recognized was Dice Dyson.

  Dice looked like he was going to cry. "We didn't die. We didn't die. How --how are we still alive?"

  Richard answered. "The school has a terrorist alert system just like the jet way and marine ports all over the UWC. If you turn the terror threat high enough, anyone not programmed into the system is seen as an enemy and the school fights back, which is probably why MESA gathered everyone in the gym in the first place."

  Nobody answered; nobody had an answer to that statement. Sam did, however, punch Richard on the arm.

  "Why didn't you do that earlier? You could have saved a lot of people in the assembly hall."

  Richard scowled at her. He obviously didn't like being hit. "I did. How do you think we got out? I initiate
d the grid lockdown system. You remember those lines that stretched across the assembly hall?"

  Sam nodded.

  "Those lines mark the system. They rise out of the floor, creating a protective shell around anyone who is within their confines. Once they're activated, only the governor of the providence can open them."

  Sam shook her head. "What about the people that MESA gunned down? Why didn't you save them?"

  "Because none of them are dead, Sam." Richard gestured in the direction of the assembly hall. "The group that MESA shot was only hit with pulse rounds. They hurt like hell but they are made to incapacitate, not kill. Any more stupid questions?"

  Sam glared at him. Richard turned back to Dyson.

  "Here, take this." Richard handed him his tablet. "It's useless to me now, and you'll probably need it to get out.

  Dyson took it from him. "Why is it useless? Can't you use the security system to fight?"

  Richard shook his head. "No, this network is a learning interface and it has at least two other black-hatters in the system. I won't be able to hack it again from a remote location. I was saving it for our escape, but Sam wanted to save you."

  Richard pointed at an icon. "This route will take you to a passage that will allow you to meet up with the rest of the school. I'd suggest you take the weapons from those dead soldiers. I doubt you'll meet up with more of the Móguǐ on the lower floors, but if you do, fire first. These men won't hesitate to kill you."

  Dyson nodded his head.

  "Then go."

  Dyson and the rest of the students started down the hallway and disappeared into a classroom. Sam glanced nervously at Richard. He spoke without looking at her as he led her up the hall.

  "That room contains a passage to the underground tunnel system. It's used for an emergency just like this. The tablet will tell them where to go. We should leave too, before something happens."

  Sam turned to Richard. "Now we find Adam?"

  Richard sighed. "Now we find Adam.

  Just as Richard finished his sentence a small ball of bright blue energy struck right where they had just been standing. Farther down the hall a group of soldiers ran towards them, light shivs and arm cannons at the ready.

  "So much for that." Richard grabbed Sam and started to run. They avoided the fast-moving balls of light, bobbing and weaving around the school and jumping over bodies, debris, and smoking infrastructure. Sam didn't know how they were going to dodge this bullet. She sighed. She wished she could have said goodbye to Adam.

  As they rounded another corner, Richard spoke, but not to her, and it was obvious he was trying to speak quietly. Nevertheless, Sam heard him over the din of her heavy breathing and the constant discharge of gunfire. "Doughboy to Big Daddy. SIT REP as follows: Package in hand. Environment is tango heavy. All exfil options exhausted. Permission to engage?"

  "Richard, what are you talking about?"

  "Nothing Sam. It's a password to get us out of here. The school should react."

  Sam called over the noise. "Where are we going then?"

  "There's a passage that leads out of the school. It's just ahead. If we can get there we can lose these losers."

  A half smile crossed Sam's lips. Richard always did have a way with words.

  The two friends took a final turn and ran headlong into a dead end. Where a door to another part of the school should have been, a mess of mask-wearing bodies now sat. Just beyond the bodies was a large pile of rubble made from the destroyed building materials and classroom debris. The halt of their flight took time to sink in. They were cut off. There was nowhere to go.

  The soldiers turned the corner after them and saw that they had Richard and Sam trapped. The leader grinned and walked slowly towards the two. He laughed and said something Sam didn't understand to his comrades. She knew Richard might have understood them. She watched as the leader flicked his light shiv from side to side.

  "What do we do?" Asked Sam.

  "Nothing. They're a death squad. We're dead. "

  More arguing broke out among the soldiers. They were gesturing towards Richard and Sam and pointing to the mini-screens on their wrists.

  Sam leaned in toward Richard. "Now what are they doing? Why don't they just kill us?"

  Richard shook his head. "I'm not sure. They seem to be looking for something."

  Sam's heart sped up as her mind pictured the box in her bag. She tried not to betray her increased panic. Sam looked at Richard. "And it's just now coming up? They were just shooting at us!"

  "Pulse rounds Sam. They weren't trying to kill us. If they were, we'd be dead already."

  Richard moved in front of Sam. A romantic gesture, albeit a silly one.

  The man Sam assumed was the leader of the small squad spoke again to the group, and they powered down their shivs and moved in around Richard and Sam slowly.

  In a sudden and violent action, the leader gave Richard a quick punch to the face and then a swift kick to the side. Sam saw the man grimace in surprise for some reason, but Sam wasn't sure at what. Richard hit the ground and started to spit blood.

  She felt tears form at her eyes. So much for them not trying to kill them. Richard was finally wrong about something and she wouldn't even be able to gloat.

  The group of them laughed as the leader kicked Richard again. Sam wondered if what they had in store for her was much of the same. It was not. It was much worse. The lead soldier pulled out a long wicked knife with a rippled blade. He calmly strolled up to Sam. He took the hem of her shirt and made a small incision.

  Ahhh...she thought. So that's it. 'Tis a fate worse than death for me; well isn't that nice.

  The leader apparently cracked a joke to his comrades as they laughed at his words. He started to split her shirt right up the middle. Once it was split he grabbed her and spun her around.

  Suddenly the man released her and fell back. Sam turned and realized Richard was in front of her, holding out his arms to either side of his body like a cross of protection. He growled at the men. "Back off."

  The others pointed weapons at him and light shivs were turned back on. The leader barked at them from the ground. Sam didn't understand the words, but she understood his meaning.

  No. He's mine.

  Weapons still pointed at Richard, the soldiers backed away. The leader approached slowly. He was very angry.

  Richard wasn't done yet, though. "Answer. Damn it, I know you're there. Answer me!"

  "Richard," Sam said softly. "It's ok. Get out of the way. Maybe they will keep us both alive if I..."

  Richard ignored her.

  "Please Richard, get out of the way!" She touched the nape of his neck and was once more amazed at how cool his skin was.

  No time to think. The leader was in front of Richard and glaring heavily. He struck without warning. The leader jabbed the knife into Richard, but it wasn't a blow that was designed to kill quickly. The leader yanked the blade straight down into the top part of Richard's protruding gut. He laughed wickedly, slicing farther down until he stopped abruptly. He looked confused.

  Sam's screams shattered the air. She started to cry uncontrollably. "No Richard! No, no, no!!"

  She repeated this over and over; it was all she could say. Blood oozed out as the soldier pulled out the blade and Richard fell to his knees. Was he already dead?

  Everything went quiet. The men were staring at Richard completely silent, frozen with strange expressions on their faces. The leader looked livid. He flipped the blade around and brought it down sharply, aiming for Richard's spine. Sam closed her eyes in terror as the knife plummeted towards him.

  Suddenly Sam heard a crackling disembodied voice, like the righteous word of god himself, coming from Richard's ear. Richard immediately threw up his arm and caught the soldier's wrist in an iron grip, halting the plunging knife centimeters before it sank into his neck.

  The voice rattled off commands one by one.

  "Big Daddy to Doughboy. Per
mission granted. Protect package at all costs. Bravo weapons use only. Engage tangos at will. I repeat. Engage tangos at will."

  Twinkle, Twinkle Lonely Star

  Time: Current day, evening

  Scene: Distant motorway outside Academy City 676 limits

  I could feel the rumble behind my knees and in my thighs as we roared down the road. The power of the turbo-charged hydrocell engine screamed as he throttled the bike, the whine of the gears pitching higher and higher as the speed increased. Fifty, one hundred, one hundred and fifty kilometers per hour. I didn't know how fast he could go, but I could barely catch my breath as we pushed forward into the darkness. I held him tight, feeling muscle so taut it couldn't be real. My body and mind were like the aftermath of a warzone. I was hot. I was sweaty. I had bruises on my arms and shoulders from the grip of the soldiers. The soldier who had tried...who had tried to...I could not say it. I would not say it. Saying it would make it all the more real. I buried my face in his back.

  I did feel comforted. Those soldiers wouldn't be after me, not anymore. They wouldn't be after anyone anymore. I felt tears form at the corner of my eyes, tears that were instantly swept away into the night lost to the wind and road. Lost like me.

  My body shivered from the churn of rushing air pouring over my sweaty skin. My shirt was split, whipping up behind my back and exposing my skin to the torrent of the artificial tempest. The violence blocked my senses. I couldn't feel any more. I was numb; at least that's what I tried to tell myself. Actually, I was scared. I was scared of what might be following us up the road.

  How many were dead? How many were gone? The faces of my friends, one after another, played over and over in my mind. Cammie. Oh, Cammie. You were so good to me even though I was from Partial Palace. Coda, dirty minded Coda, how will things develop in the future with you and Lacey? Are you in love? Are you ever going to realize Cammie's feelings for you? Are you even alive? Mother, oh my poor lonely mother. For some reason I can't-- I can't remember your face.

  The bike coasted, coming to the crest of the highest hill that circled the valley. We slowed unexpectedly to a stop at a place where I could see the valley we had just traversed. The lights of the city and the twinkling of the stars fought to hold my attention. Both of them, the stars in the sky and the lights of the city on the ground, sparkled in their respective element. Beautiful.

  More tears formed on my face. I longed to speak. I longed to ask the question and finally found the courage to do so.

  "We can't ever go back, can we?"

  He didn't say anything. He just turned to look at me, the faint glare of the bike's headlights barely illuminating his face. We sat there staring until he opened his mouth and said a single word.

  "No."

  He turned the bike and ripped down the backside of the hilltop to the inter-way. Once again, my breath was lost to the wind.

  I, Samantha Montgomery of Partial Palace in Academy City 676, had a crush on a foreign transfer student named Adam, was best friends with a high-tracks girl named Cammie, and had once or twice secretly fantasized about kissing Coda, the friend of a friend. I fought with my mom the morning it had all started and said some pretty mean things to her. I deeply regret that now. I wonder if I will ever get the chance to say I'm sorry.

  Two months before graduation in the last year of my primary education, violence besieged my school and I was whisked away from my home, my friends, my life, everything I cared about. Looking back, I think I knew, even as we sped down that motorway, that life – my life as I had known it – was never going to be the same again.

  Thanks for purchasing Rise of the Magician,

  Book 1 of the Harmonics series.

  As a special bonus, we have included the first chapter

  of the second book in the series

  Harmonics: Revelations.

  Check out more amazing stories at CollinEarl.com

  and connect with the authors on facebook or twitter.

  An Unexpected Hero

  Time: Late afternoon

  Scene: Academy 676

  All thoughts of screaming or crying melted away as the voice came. The words echoed in her mind.

  "Big Daddy to Doughboy. Permission granted. Protect package at all costs. Bravo weapons use only. Engage tangos at will. I repeat, engage tangos at will."

  Slow motion, the everlasting cliché from so many a story and Vii theater experiences, commandeered her cognitive function. She could hear and see everything as the bloody mess unfolded.

  Richard's lips moved in a slight whisper. "Bravo weapons, huh? About brickin' time."

  Richard's head titled skyward to meet the gaze the Móguǐ soldier trying to skewer him with the wicked looking knife. Richard smiled a half smile as the soldier's eyes went wide in surprise. Sharp movements so fast Sam could barely make them out and the unmistakable cracking of bone replaced the echo of the crackling voice in her head. The soldier's scream of pain was abruptly cut off by an odd gurgle.

  Next thing Sam knew, Richard was standing tall and undaunted, while the soldier was on the ground, his arm horribly disfigured and obviously broken in several places. Blood flowed across the scarred tile, coating the space with red. The soldier's lifeless eyes distracted from the gaping hole in the his throat. Sam took an involuntary step back. Icy indifference rolled out from Richard in cascading waves of cold.

  Richard was saturated with blood. Sam could see it soaked into his clothes and running from his gut. She knew he was hurt. How could he not be hurt after a blade to the stomach?

  Light shivs stretched to their full length as the reality of the Móguǐ's downed leader set in. Murderous eyes fixed themselves on Richard as the Jadian unit fanned out.

  "Sam."

  He said her name but she didn't recognize the voice. Sam couldn't answer him.

  "Sam!"

  Sam gulped, "Yeah, Richard."

  He looked over his shoulder at her as he flicked the switch of a light shiv. Now where did he get that?

  "Get behind me."

  It was a command. No room for dissent or argument. Sam didn't think to argue.

  Just as she retreated behind him the first soldier attacked. A fast cross body blow aimed directly at Richard's neck swiped out but struck nothing. Richard didn't block; he didn't even try. He simply leaned back, avoiding the tip of the light shiv by centimeters or less. Richard's counter was a quick spin and slash from hip to shoulder that ended with Richard facing Sam. It was like Richard was trying to give the man a piggyback ride. Sam instinctively found the man's face. It was lifeless.

  Richard ripped the dead soldier's light shiv from his hand and dumped the body just as the other soldiers leveled strikes from the left and right. With a reverse and fore grip on the shivs, Richard blocked both blows, put an elbow to the nose of one soldier and a quick snap kick to the gut of the other. He finished the two men with thrusts to the heart. Four men lay dead at Richard's feet. Blood was everywhere; Richard's, the soldier's, and probably Sam's, though she couldn't remember getting hurt. She didn't know anymore. Conscious thought had all but deserted her.

  The rest of the soldiers met similarly gruesome fates. They fought and died in a heaping gory mess. Richard dealt with them with speed and violence like Sam did not think possible. She was dreaming. She had to be dreaming. Richard had been stabbed. He was bleeding. He should be dead. She should be dead. Had they had their way with her? Used her and thrown her aside? Had they killed her?

  Sam fell to her knees and retched violently, spewing up bile and the lunch she had barely eaten. Lunch...she had just been sitting in the lunchroom with Richard worrying about a mysterious savior and the object of her budding affection and now... now she sat crumpled to the floor, barely able to stand. It all just felt wrong, so very wrong.

  Richard was at her side. She couldn't remember him moving there. He held her hair out of her face and her sick on the floor. Instinctively she buried her face in the side of his neck. His skin
was still cold to the touch. She felt him stiffen.

  "Sam, we can't stay here. We've got to move."

  Tears formed at the corners of her eyes and rolled down the side of her face. "What are you, Richard?"

  Richard pulled Sam away from him, moving a healthy distance from her. He stared at her with heavy piercing eyes. Her blood slowed to molasses.

  Who was this person?

  Richard stood and pulled her to her feet. "We need to move. There are still Móguǐ, school security, Republicans, and MESA."

  He looked at his timepiece. "I think it's safe to say that MESA has called both Containment and S&D. If we don't move we're dead. Bravo weapons aren't going to take down those monsters. Same for the Móguǐ Heavy Ops. We could have a real fight on our hands."

  Sam wanted to argue. She wanted to run. Her fear was consuming her loyalty and sense of friendship. Richard. Fat, genius, sarcastic Richard, had just slaughtered those men, butchered them without hesitation or remorse. Could she really go with him?

  A terrible thought struck Sam.

  It wasn't could she go with him, but would he allow her to leave? Would he let her go?

  Sam inched her way along the hall, away from Richard. Richard's eyes narrowed as she did. Quick and graceful, far more graceful than his pudgy frame should have allowed, Richard moved in front of her, blocking her escape. Sam's sucked in a deep breath. He wasn't going to let her go.

  "Who are you, Richard? Why are you here?"

  Screaming voices and the sound of gunfire echoed in the distance, close enough to be heard but not close enough to cause immediate concern. Nevertheless, others were coming. Friend, foe, classmate; at this point it didn't matter. They had only a few moments and they both knew it.

  Richard's eyes didn't leave Sam. "I've always thought you were more intelligent than this, Sam. I would have thought the reason I'm here is obvious."

  His eyes remained passive. Too passive, as if...as if he wasn't trying to look somewhere. The gears in her head dislodged themselves a single thought forced its way in.

  The box. He has to be after the box.

  Suddenly Richards eyes fixed on something above her head. He flicked on the light shivs and dashed towards her with unnatural speed. Sam felt her eyes clamp down and her arms reflexively shield her face and body. Why was he charging her? Was he going to kill her? Did he know where the box was after all? Perhaps he didn't need her anymore.

  Sam fell a whoosh as ionized plasma scorched the air overhead. A thumping noise to either side of her body forced her eyes back open. Sam looked into his eyes and felt...felt... fear. Their faces were centimeters apart as he held light shivs to either side of her body.

  She had difficulty looking away from his eyes. They were cold and dead. No eyes should look like that. She glanced to the side and saw clumps of tiled ceiling. She understood. Richard had rushed her to keep the falling ceiling debris from crushing her head. She suddenly felt stupid for thinking he was going to kill her. After all, if he wanted her dead he could have done that ages ago.

  Richard grabbed her hand. "Come on. We need to leave now."

  "But--but what about your wounds? Aren't you going to--?"

  Richard pulled on Sam and they set off back down the hall, Richard's pace not slowing in spite of his injury. They continued to backtrack, making a couple of turns before exiting the school hallways into the Academy City 676 central courtyard, a massive central yard that divided the different education levels. They made their way to the elementary level buildings where the youngest of the Academy City 676 citizens did their learning.

  Sam and Richard ran, but hadn't moved more than a few meters when the sounds of fighting erupted once more. MESA, some of the rag-tag bunch of fighters, and the Móguǐ were on each other. To make matters worse, the school's defenses were finally kicking in, blasting just about anything that moved.

  A concentrated blast of heat fried a patch of grass right in front of Richard and Sam, cooking it completely. Richard pulled Sam behind a row of unique trees, a cross between pine and oak. They rounded the edge of the tree line just as another group of Móguǐ soldiers came dashing from the other side of the tree line. Light shivs flickered to full length and hands went for their waist bands. Each of the soldiers touched a large blue button and a slight blue haze enveloped them. Sam knew instantly they were in trouble.

  Richard hesitated, but Sam didn't know for what. Was he scared? That seemed unlikely, but he wasn't doing anything. He wasn't firing up his shivs or taking a fighting stance. Nothing.

  Then Richard attacked himself.

  Sam watched in horror as Richard extended his two stolen light shivs to quarter length and proceeded to shear off his own skin. Richard's actions were so jolting that the soldiers stopped just short of their attack. They stared at Richard in disbelief. Sam just screamed.

  "Richard, what in the hell are you doing?!"

  Richard's skin fell off in long strips, the light shivs slicing through it like butter. Sam's head went fuzzy, her upchuck reflex reacting once again. For a second time she fell to the ground throwing up. She simply couldn't stand the sight of any more blood.

  Her vision was blurry, but she picked up on Richard also hitting the ground. This made more sense than any of the events transpiring around her today. He had lost so much blood, yet he still sheared large chucks of his skin right off his body. It was like he was peeling an apple, a fleshy human apple. Perhaps he had lost it and was committing suicide. In the wake of all that had happened, that at least she could get.

  The soldiers advanced, apparently recovering from their dismay at watching a man filet himself. The one closest took two steps forward and –

  Crack, Crack, Crack.

  Cracking sounds filled the air one after the other. The noise was beyond forceful and made Sam's ears hurt. Sam struggled to find the source but could only focus on the lead soldier. His blue hazy field flickered. He took two steps back then dropped to the ground. The soldier's neck flopped to the side, allowing Sam a clear view of his face.

  A 2-centimeter hole sat directly in the middle of the soldier's head. Life fluid trickled from the wound. Again Sam felt queasy. The cracking again commenced, the sound repeating over and over again as the remaining soldiers fell in the same pattern as their leader, each accompanied by a fluctuating blue haze and a hole in their head.

  Sam searched their immediate area and found that she and Richard were alone. Once more, all the soldiers near them were dead.

  Richard was suddenly in front of her, attempting to help her up. He was too slippery and she didn't know why. Nothing about the situation was making sense.

  Richard swore. "I can't get a grip on you. I need to get this thing off first." Immediately Richard began removing parts of his body, shedding his girth like clothing.

  Like a lighting strike to the brain, abruptly it clicked. Everything clicked. Sam finally got it. His cold skin, his healthy diet with no change in physique, his reluctance to get in the water, his disproportionate strength and speed. With Richard there truly was more than met the eye.

  "Ok, get up. We need to leave."

  Richard was, once again, back at her side picking her up. This wasn't her Richard, though. He stood tall, muscled, and ruggedly handsome. The fat from his face was gone, his hair color different, and he handled Sam with forceful strength and surety. Sam looked him up and down but quickly whipped her head skyward. Her face went beet red. Richard was bare butt naked save a black bag in his hand.

  For all that was holy, he was naked! She tried not to look but she couldn't help but watch him. He had scars on his body. Healed wounds from the looks of it. His skin was tanner than it should have been, and warm. His body was incredibly warm.

  A short distance away, the fat Richard, or parts of him, were stacked in a heap on the, ground burning like pig fat. Far from just a costume, Sam could see intricate biomechanical infrastructure, wires, leads, and other devices all meeting the same fier
y fate as the fake skin. Sam was at a complete loss. She didn't know what to do anymore. Sam looked back and forth from the burning pile of artificial flesh to his body as they retreated back into the hallway.

  Richard surveyed the area, looking for any hostiles. Sam allowed herself to be led. Satisfied she wouldn't run, Richard let go over her and proceeded to put on clothes, which he pulled out of the black bag.

  Richard quickly dressed in a plain black shirt, pants, and boots. He then placed several pieces of equipment on his person. They were weapons she had never seen before, at least in real life. She had seen these guns on the classic 2D movie channel, but she didn't know any of them still existed.

  The sounds of fighting could still be heard off in the distance.

  "Richard, you're so skinny."

  Richard didn't look at her as he checked his weapons. "Yes, sixty kilos of biomechanical weight tends to make you look chubby. How observant of you."

  Without warning, Richard pulled two pistols up to eye level and pointed the guns in her direction. Sam reacted, trying to move out of the way, but Richard was too fast, more gunfire ripped the air.

  "Sam, stop moving." Richard pushed forward and shot his arms out to each side of her head. The guns were loud and echoed off the enclosed space, deafening her.

  The figurative dust settled and Sam turned to see what Richard had fired at. She saw three downed individuals at the end of the corridor. Once again, Sam's breath caught in her throat. She tried to look back at Richard but was having difficulty.

  Smoke trailed up from Richard's guns. His thumbs touched the side of each weapon, causing metal columns to fall out. Richard popped two more back into the bottom and pulled the tops of the guns backwards. He placed the weapons in holsters on his thighs.

  Richard turned his attention back to Sam. "Listen closely, because I am only going to ask you this once. Do you want to live through this little experience?"

  Despite Richard's voice sounding like it was trying to escape from a thick blanket, Sam nodded.

  "Good. If you want to live then you need to do exactly as I say and stop flinching every time I get near you."

  Sam's felt her skin go hot. "If you don't want me to flinch then stop pointing guns at me. Anyone would flinch in that situation. And who says I need you to stay alive?"

  Richard laughed. It was cold. It made her skin prickle.

  "You think you can survive this? Fine, go on, I'll leave on my own."

  Sam froze. He couldn't be serious could he?

  He was. Richard walked away, again displaying a grace and smoothness she would have never thought possible from him.

  "Wait," she called out, attempting to be heard but to not over do it. They were still in danger after all.

  He stopped but didn't turn to face her. He merely looked over his shoulder.

  "Yes."

  "Please."

  "Please, what?"

  "Please don't leave me alone."

  Richard returned to her side. "Remember you said that. Now follow and stay behind me. If I move, you move. That's it. Do you understand?"

  Sam nodded.

  "Then move."

  They wasted no time returning to the courtyard. The smoldering wreckage of Richard's artificial body was little more than ash. Richard stalked past, not sparing it a glance. Sam used all her will power not to throw up; she couldn't help looking. They approached the tree line more cautiously this time. Richard led, a pistol in each hand, the guns sweeping the area. Once clear, they moved from cover to cover as they crossed the courtyard.

  Sam snuck a glance at Richard. No hint of expression, no acknowledgment of her existence. He came off calm, cold, and calculating. Scary. She was scared to be with him. Then again, right now, she was scared to be without him. Maybe she could ditch him once they made it to safety. If they made it to safety.

  She and Richard entered one of the side doors on the far side of the courtyard. They were in the eastern wing now, hopefully far away from anyone else. Suddenly the report of gunfire rattled her. Flashes of bright light, the sudden starts and stops of screams, and then silence. She found the courage to open her eyes. Four more soldiers lay dead in front her, all with gunshots to the head. Richard was reloading. He reholstered them and gestured to her.

  "Come here Sam," he said, walking over to one of the dead soldiers. "I want you to put this on."

  He removed a belt from one of the dead men. It was of the same make and model as the dead soldier's out in the courtyard. He wrapped it around Sam's waist and clicked it into place. His hands touched her exposed skin just above the line of her skirt. She became abruptly aware that her shirt was cut open, exposing her bra to Richard.

  "What are you doing?" she said, sounding more embarrassed than she would have liked.

  Richard glared at her but didn't answer.

  Sam rolled her eyes, exasperated. "Ok, so I know you're the new super-Richard, but if you ignore me I'm going to continue to ask you questions until you kill me or answer me. Would it be that much harder to answer me than kill me?"

  Richard cracked his neck. "Yes."

  "Yes? Yes what?"

  "Yes, it would be more difficult to answer your questions than to kill you."

  He took a deep breath, apparently calming himself.

  "This is a Jadian Oscillation Shield. The Jadians pride themselves on their martial talents so most of their weapons and tactics highlight those particular values. The Plasma Scimitars I was using earlier are a prime example of this. What I'm putting on you now is standard issue defensive equipment for Jadian Special Ops. The belt is like a force field that uses energy to absorb, displace, or flat out block projectiles. It does have some – "

  Sam interrupted him. " You mean like body armor? That doesn't make any sense. How can energy be used as armor?"

  "Sam, energy and matter are all made of the same thing. If harnessed in the right way, energy can be just as effective as a plate of carbonized steel."

  Richard engaged the belt. "This will keep you safe. The belt can withstand most low velocity energy weaponry with near impunity. It will even take a strike or two from a plasma scimitar. Just be careful and watch the gage."

  He slapped a sort of wristwatch on her. "100%" appeared in the screen of the watch.

  "Keep a close eye on this gage. If the number goes down to zero then take cover immediately." He pointed to the watch. "Any center-mass hits after that and you're dead."

  She still didn't really understand but she figured she really didn't have a choice. They proceeded on their way.