It’s been two gruelling weeks of non-stop drills and exercises. Each day we wake up at the crack of dawn to do our warm-ups for an hour then we do boot camp followed by sparring practice. By noon, we’re on the training grounds, running simulations until our feet bleed. Captain Elnora is a perfectionist, and some days we would run simulations until it was executed absolutely flawlessly.

Pyrrha, Jorge, Dawud and I are paired on opposite sides of the back entrance to a warehouse on the ABI training grounds. The air around here is unbearably hot and muggy. The metal exterior of the building absorbed the sun’s heat, boiling your skin on contact.

A bead of sweat drips from my brow, and the salty water slips onto my dry lips. I tighten my grip on my energy pistol and patiently wait for Dawud’s silent queue. His hand still raised in a fist he checks to see if each of us are ready. We each silently nod our head and Dawud drops his elbow, signaling us to engage. Jorge pivots from the wall and kicks the metal door open. With is automatic rifle primed and ready, Dawud storms in first followed by Pyrrha and myself. The three of us survey the dark, vacant room. Sheets of loose paper and cardboard boxes weathered by heavy foot traffic litter almost every inch of the floor. The walls are studded with blaster marks and there’s a distinct, sharp odor of smoke in the air.

“All clear,” says Dawud.

“Ayden, do we have eyes on the objective?” Pyrrha asks.

I quickly flip open my electronics scanner on my wrist, one of the many new pieces of military grade hardware Elnora installed on my cybernetic. This piece of tech can detect any and all electronic signatures within a fifty yard radius and is powerful enough to pierce through ten feet of wall.

I tilt my wrist upwards and pick up a concentrated energy source emitting from the upper levels of the warehouse.

“Level two, on the catwalks just above the storage area,” I reply, closing my scanner.

“Alright. Jorge and I will take the west wing. Pyrrha and Ayden, take the east. Stick to comms, and watch each other’s flanks,” commands Dawud.

We part our ways. I lead Pyrrha through the rusty eastern door. We creep into a large, dark office. Rows upon rows of dusty, old metal desks line the rectangular shaped room; offering many places to take cover, or hide for an ambush. I hear Pyrrha prime her weapon behind me. I raise my awareness.

Off in a distant corner of the room, a skeletal-like figure emerges from the dark, standing six feet tall with a menacing, glowing red eye in the center of its head. It’s mechanical arm extends outward brandishing a gray colored energy pistol pointed directly at me.

“Bogey, on my twelve!”

“Multiple bogeys on my twelve!” .

We shout at the same time, then duck for cover behind adjacent desks. A colorful array of energy bolts zoom over our heads. The metal clanking of the mechs close in on us, a grim reminder of our inevitable doom. Without much thought I telekinetically shove the desk towards the mech nearing me, pinning it against another desk. Pyrrha quickly follows up, snapping her fingers then lobbing a concentrated fireball at the staggered mech's open chest plate. I turn my attention to the other mechs and throw a telekinetic surge into their direction, knocking them onto the ground. During their incapacitation, I leap onto one of the desks and pick them off one by one; putting a bolt into each of their vulnerable optical units.

Exhaustion finally catches up with me and I’m suddenly struck with incapacitating lightheadedness. I fall on my hands and knees and try to stop the world from fading in and out of blurriness.

“Ayden, you alright?” Pyrrha asks, patting me on the shoulder. I forcefully shut my eyes, waiting for the moment to pass.

“Yeah…” I say breathlessly. “I’m fine, I’m just not used to using my powers this much.”

“Well, let’s nail this and go home,” she says encouragingly. She extends an open palm and I reach for it. I hop off the desk and try my best to ignore the mental exhaustion that gripped my head. Pyrrha takes the lead, and I follow her into the next room.

“That was less than last time…” Pyrrha whispers as she scopes ahead.

“How are things on your end?” Jorge asks via earpiece communicator. Pyrrha places her index finger to her earpiece to reply.

“Things are fine, we dispatched four mechs…” She turns to me with a look of concern. “Though we should make double time, Ayden is starting to wear down.”

“Well boo-hoo for him. We’re all fucking tired but until we disable the objective, none of us are getting any rest,” says Dawud sourly.

His harsh words awaken a second wind I didn’t even know I had within me.

“I’m fine,” I snap. I press ahead of Pyrrha and towards a set of concrete stairs that lead to the second level. Not wanting to suffer from another possible ambush I flip open my scanner and peer through the screen.

“Anything?” Pyrrha whispers as we approach the top of the steps. I turn the scanner down the hallway that lead to the catwalk and then down the opposite direction.

“Nothing,” I reply. “But it could be the mechs aren’t activated yet so stay vigilante.”

Pyrrha nods her head. We both cautiously walk down the hallway that lead to a single steel door to the catwalks.

“We are approaching the objective. What’s your position?” Pyrrha says through her earpiece.

“About ten yards from the objective, no signs of enemy threats,” replies Jorge. “Is it me or have we ran into less mechs this time around?”

Pyrrha and I approach the end of the hall and slowly open the steel door. A blast of hot air hits me in the face as I peek through the opening and scope the surrounding area. I spot Dawud and Jorge creeping across the catwalks, heading towards the orb-shaped bomb positioned in the center of the room on a crow’s nest.

“It’s clear, Dawud and Jorge are already halfway across.” I say to Pyrrha. I push the door open and lead Pyrrha across the catwalks. I hastily reach for my utility belt and quickly prime the handheld diffuser. The thought of finally being able to complete this operation fills my mind with joy. I pour every ounce of stamina I have left into reaching the objective. Dawud and Jorge are the first to approach the bomb and quickly form a perimeter.

“Cover me,” I say as I hustle to the bomb. I crouch down to its level and feel around the surface for an access panel.

“You remember how to diffuse, right?” Pyrrha asks with a hint of worry in her voice.

“Of course,” I reply, my hands trembling with excitement and adrenaline. “Sync the diffuser with the bomb, initiate the encrypted program and let it run.”

I get as far as syncing the diffuser to the bomb before a loud clamor overhead breaks my concentration. Two mechs come crashing onto the platform on both sides of the bomb. I barely have enough time to drop the diffuser and roll back from the bomb before they open fire at me. Jorge leaps into action, dispatching the closest mech with a single punch through the chest. I whip out my pistol and aim it towards the remaining mech but Dawud beats me to it. He telekinetically rips the mech’s arms from its shoulder sockets and throws the limp body over the guardrails. Dawud turns his attention to me and stares me down menacingly.

“You hesitated!” he growls, pointing his index finger at me accusingly. Pyrrha immediately jumps to my defense, stepping in front of me to create a wedge between us.

“Leave him alone! He didn’t do anything!” she exclaims.

“That’s exactly what he did wrong!” exclaims Dawud. I hold back the urge to shout back and tell him off but I figure he isn’t worth the energy.

“All this—kid—has done is hold us back! He—”

Suddenly, a red bolt strikes the back of his left shoulder armor. He grunts and staggers forward a bit. His arm limp and swinging freely in the air like a metronome. Another red bolt strikes him, this time in the back of the head. He collapses to the floor unconscious. The three of us turn in the direction the bolts came from and from the dark hall Jorge and Dawud came from, a small round object is tossed to us. It bounces a few times, before rolling to a complete stop right at my feet.

“Grenade!” Pyrrha manages to shout just before it detonates, disorienting me with a blinding white light and high pitch ringing in my ear. The simulation ends a jarring screech through the intercom. A pair of hands grab my shoulder and hoist me to my feet.

“Are you okay?” asks Pyrrha, her voice still muffed by the sharp ringing in my ear.

“Yeah, I think so,” I reply. “How about you?”

“I turned over at the last second…” she replies, forcing a chuckle. As the temporary blindness wears off I see Jorge tending to Dawud’s unconscious body. He flips him over onto his back and lightly slaps the side of his face.

“Hey, tough guy, wake up,” Jorge says, but Dawud is unresponsive.

“He’ll wake up. Don’t worry about him. Let’s just get back to the captain so assembly they can reset the warehouse,” suggests Pyrrha.

As I turn my back to follow her out, a strong force lifts me off my feet and over the guardrail. I desperately try to grasp for anything to keep myself from falling over but only clutch fistfulls of air as I plummet down to the first floor. I can only shut my eyes and brace myself.

I land square on my back and feel the force of the impact ripple through every bone in my body. Thankfully, the body armor and padding broke most of the fall. I force my eyes open to see Pyrrha leaning over the edge with a wide-eyed look of horror and helplessness.

“Fuck! Dawud! What the fuck are you doing?!” I hear Jorge shout, his voice cracking slightly. From the corner of my eye, I spot Dawud lurch over the guardrail and leap over. He uses his powers to levitate himself and gently floats down to the ground. I feel my soul leave my body as he charges me with his fists clenched, seething with anger.

“Dawud, stop it!” Pyrrha cries out, darting down the catwalk and disappearing into the hallway. Despite the excruciating pain, I roll over try to distance myself from him.

“You little shit! You can’t do anything right! You have no reason to be here!” curses Dawud. He extends his arm out and a tingling sensation envelopes me and before I know it I’m being suspended a few feet into the air.

“We keep failing this scenario because you! You’re dragging us behind!”

I try to break free from his mental grasp but any attempt only tightened his grip on my body. I start to become short of breath and the world starts to grow hazy.

“Dawud! Stop! You’re hurting him!” Pyrrha exclaims as she enters the storage room, Jorge following after.

“Back off, Pyr,” Dawud growls. With tears in her eyes, she snaps her fingers and holds a ball of fire to his head.

“Let him go or I’ll fucking burn every inch of your face,” she says.

“You won’t do shit to me,” Dawud scoffs. “You could never do shit.”

The world grows hazier and as I start to drift in and out of consciousness a short blurry figure moves from behind a large stack of storage containers. The figure quietly moves in on Dawud and holds out something. There is a loud bang, unlike anything I’ve ever heard before. Dawud cries out in pain and I collapse to the floor gasping for air.

“Gah! Fucking hell!” cries Dawud. He falls to his knees, blood oozing from his arm like a spout. He grips his injured arm then turns around. Captain Elnora retreats her pistol into her side belt holster then casually steps around Dawud to get to me.

“Are you hurt?” she asks. “Can you stand?”

“I-I don’t think so…” I say, out of breath. Captain Elnora rolls her eyes and holds her cybernetic near her face.

“HQ, notify med staff. I have two injured Kinetics who need immediate medical attention,” she says.

“Yes, ma’am.” Sandra replies without hesitation. Pyrrha crouches down to me with a panicked expression, stroking the sides of my face.

“Just save your strength, we’ll get you checked out,” she says. Her words are comforting, and as I close my eyes briefly I feel my consciousness drift.

I awaken sometime later.

I’m inside the cool ABI infirmary lying down on a soft examination bed. My tired eyes slowly adjust to the bright light. I look around and spot Dawud sitting on another medical bed, glaring me from across the room. My heart drops a little. He says nothing and turns his attention to his bicep, which is tightly wrapped in a blood stained gauze. I slowly sit up on the medical bed, my muscles screaming in agony as I force myself up.

I hear a door open behind me, followed by friendly banter from Pyrrha, Jorge and a third person whose soft spoken voice made my heart swell with joy.

“Hello, Mr. Abidi,” says Keith as he enters the room. He steps into the room with a glowing smile on his handsome face. It’s been too long since I’ve seen him or spoke to him since the Captain closed off all communication with the outside world to ensure focus on our training.

“My name is Doctor Keith Everett. I was sent by EvGeni to tend to your injuries,” Keith introduces himself.

“Pleasure,” Dawud grunts.

Keith turns to me. He doesn’t say anything but his smile is enough to warm my frigid heart.

“I’m going to tend you first, Mr. Abidi,” He takes out his tablet from his lab coat pocket. “I understand you were shot with an old fashioned ballistics handgun. They fire bullets made of copper or bronze alloy that shatter upon impact. I’m going to make sure there are no bits of shrapnel and disinfect the wound with mediform. Are you updated on your immun’O’boosters?”

“Only you would know,” Dawud replies condescendingly. He undoes his bandage to show off the hole in his arm approximately the size of a dime.

“That looks like an exit wound,” Keith says. “I’ll have a closer look.”

He walks over to the washing station and cleans his hands. He then reaches into the medical cabinet and grabs a few various ointments and surgical tools from the drawers.

“You’re very young to be a doctor,” Dawud comments. “Where did you graduate?”

“Dharma University. I got my bachelors in neuropsychology with a minor in Gifted studies and general medicine,” Keith replies, pulling up a chair next to Dawud to dress his wound. I sit up further on the bed, suspicious of Dawud’s sudden friendly demeanor. He did try to kill me a while ago after all.

“Dharma is a hard school to get into. Must have been a straight A student…”

“Four point five GPA.” he replies while scanning his medical tablet over Dawud’s arm. “Good news, looks like there’s no foreign material in your arm. I’m going to patch you up and give you something for the pain.

“Just patch me up, Doctor. I don’t need anything for the pain,” replies Dawud.

“Okay,” replies Keith with slight reluctance and surprise. He snaps on a pair of baby blue surgical gloves and makes quick work of cleaning the dried blood. Keith then slathers a generous amount of saline and mediform over the affected area and finally wraps it with a clean gauze.

“Thank you, doctor.” Dawud says. He rises from the bed and dismisses himself, leaving only Keith and I. The door doesn’t close fast enough, but as soon as I hear the click I let it all out.

“Keith! It feels so good to see you. I’ve missed you so much!” I say with relief.

Keith’s kind smile drops to a frown as he approaches me. “No call and no text for two whole weeks. Do you have any idea how worried I was?” says Keith disappointedly.

“I-I’m sorry…”

“Then I get a request from Doctor Carrington to go to the ABI headquarters to tend to not one, but two medical emergencies involving a Kinetic who was shot and another who fell from a one story high bridge with a possibly broken spine.”

“I’m sorry Keith, but the captain shut off all communications since we started. I wanted nothing more than to speak to you. I just couldn’t...” I explain.

Keith inhales slowly and then exhales. “Sorry, I snapped. I’ve been under a lot of stress lately,” He places his hand over mine and rubs the back of my palm with his thumb. “But I’ve missed you too.”

“It’s alright, I get it,” I reply, taking his hand and kissing it.

“Can you tell me what happened? How did you fall?”

Suddenly everything comes back to me at once and anger courses through my veins.

“That guy you just patched up! He fucking threw me over the ledge! He said I was compromising the success of the simulation runs. He’s been picking on me ever since I started here because he’s jealous I’m a stronger Kinetic!”

Keith staggers for a second. “He what?”

“Yeah! And then after I fell, that guy still came for me and almost crushed me to death with his telekinetic grasp!” I say.

“What the heck? You’re captain just allowed this?!”

“Uh, no, she is the one who shot him to get him to release me.”

The look of horror of Keith’s face is indescribable.

“I’m going to get you check out for any broken bones and I’m going to have a word with your captain,” Keith says, his voice growing stern. He whips out his tablet and starts to scan my entire body thoroughly.

“Don’t do that please. I’m fine. I can manage this on my own.”

“Ayden, that man tried to kill you! And your supposed battle alongside him? Bullshit!” he curses. Keith fumbles to turn off his tablet, but he does and makes quick work of scanning me.

“You didn’t suffer any broken bones thankfully but my scanners are picking up severe lesions all across your back. You are going to be black and blue all over if you aren’t already,” he says. “I’m going to have a talk with your captain. What’s his name?”

“He’s a she, and please don’t. I’m fine. I promise.”

“No! This is intolerable behavior! You didn’t sign up for this. When I see her I’m going—”

The door opens abruptly, stopping Keith mid-sentence. His eyes widen with surprise as Captain Elnora enters with her arms crossed over her chest, glaring daggers.

“You’re going to what, exactly?” she asks. The tension in the room spikes and I cannot help but look away.

“I-I… who are you?” Keith stammers.

“I’m Captain Elnora, Doctor Everett.”

Keith swallows and perks up his shoulders. “Are you aware of the attempt on my patient’s life? His squadmate threw him over a ledge! He could’ve died!”

“I’m fully aware of the fight that took place in the training warehouse, Doctor Everett. I had complete control of the situation.”

“You allowed your subordinate to attack my patient and then injured him to stop the fight? This is how you control the situation? What are your credentials? I demand to speak with the Director of the ABI!”

Elnora smirks. “I completely understand your concern for your boyfriend, but you fulfilled your duty tending to my injured squadmates and now your presence here is unneeded. Any concern you have about how I do my duty is none of your business.”

Keith is at a loss for words. He rapidly darts his eyes between Elnora and me.

“If you have nothing else to say, I’m going to have to ask you to leave so I may speak with Ayden privately. You did well patching up Mr. Abidi, and I thank you for your time, doctor.”

I can tell Keith isn’t ready to give up but Captain Elnora had him verbally pinned against a corner. Cutting his losses, he throws his arms up in the air and storms out of the room. I focus onto the Captain, fearing what she might have to say.

“Ayden, with a heavy heart I must tell you that I am dismissing you from the task force…”

My heart plummets to my stomach and chest tightens into a knot.

“You’re what? I say in disbelief.

“Dawud made a good point on the four attempt of the bomb diffusion simulation. You are the weak link in this team. You have zero chemistry with the other squadmates and are slow to adapt to sudden changes. You’re very booksmart but you don’t apply the same knowledge on the field.”

“Please, let me stay,” I plead. “I can do better!”

“I’m sorry, but I’ve made my decision…”

“Please! My father was killed by Lupo at the bank! I don’t want his death to be in vain!”

“He won’t. I promise you we will capture Lupo and bring her to justice. You have my word,” she says in an attempt to assure me, but her tone is too robotic and stoic to be sincere. “You’re a very strong Kinetic, Ayden. You just don’t have what it takes to keep up. I wish you the best.”

“Please, Captain! I trained too hard for this! Give me another chance!”

“I’m going to have Sandra arrange a shuttle to take you home. Spend this time with your boyfriend. I can tell he misses you.”

I bury my face into my palms and pray this is only but a bad dream. Without another word, Elnora pivots herself from the bed and starts her way out the door but stops as she receives an incoming transmission from the HQ front desk.

“Ah, Sandra. I was just about to call you,” says the Captain.

“Ma’am, intelligence has just informed be one of our drones captured a positive ID on two of our Gifted rogues. They’ve blocked traffic southbound on the Justinia Memorial Bridge.”

Elnora is quiet for a moment as she digests the information. “Roger that. I’ll prepare my team now.” she eventually replies. She then turns to me with a completely changed outlook, one of pity.

“Ayden, if you want a second chance here’s your opportunity. This is the real thing.”