The next day, Scarlet, Sasha, and I traveled to the outskirts of FN-H2 to train secretly. There we met up with an officer of an organization called Vale. He allowed us to use his land for a training ground.

“It was nice of Mr. Gill for allowing us to train here,” I said as I walked into the barn.

“Yes, it was so, are you ready?” asked Scarlet.

When I turned to her, I noticed she was wrapping her hands with bands. “Why do you need to do that?”

“So, I don’t get my skin too bloody,” she smirked, darting her head towards me.

I swallowed a bit of my nervousness, but I don’t think I’m confident enough to avoid getting my ass handed to me. Taking a firm stance while putting my fist up, I began to ponder.

Would she go easy on me?

“Good form, but you might want to loosen up that stance of yours,” she smiled.

“We’ll see about that,” I grinned.

“You’re such a cocky guy,” she murmured before rushing towards me.

Stretching her legs to cover more ground made her fast. Once she came in range, I threw a jab to distract her, but she countered my diversion. By ducking under my jab, she then latched onto my arm and stroked me in the chest with her right knee. The impact was intense as my body shook from the blow, I dialed back to recover, but predicted my reaction and jumped into the air. I watched as she performed a well-executed dropkick. Her feet landed perfectly in the center of my face, knocking me over with all her weight. When I fell to the ground, I cried out in pain as she broke my nose.

“Come on, Scar… don’t be a cry baby. It’s just a scratch,” she chuckled.

“Easy for you to say… you’re not the one with a broken nose!”

“Ha-ha, the mighty Scar cries in agony after being stroked in the face, Ha-ha!” she continued.

“Grrrr!” I growled and aimed for her hips.

“Surprise attack, I see,” she smiled as she allowed me to capture her.

As I grabbed her and lifted her into the air, I lost sight of her true intentions and fell right into her trap. Before slamming her into the ground, she wrapped her legs around me as she twisted her body and flipped me over, causing me to land on my back and her on top of me.

“Next time before attacking someone off guard: remember to prepare yourself for their counter as well,” she stated, gliding her finger across my chest.

The smile on her face was so sadistically it freaked me out as I laid there helplessly. It’s nice to see her having fun and all, but the reason why she’s smiling isn’t all that great. “Mind starting over?” I pleaded. She placed her face closer to mine, kissed the air, and answered, “Sure, baby.”

“That was a little too sexual, don’t you think?”

“If you want to take it that way sure,” she smiled before getting off me.

She took ten steps away from me and stood up with her hands placed behind her. When I got up, I took notes of how she was standing and thought of ways she may counter my upcoming attack.

“Ready?” she questioned.

“Yes,” I said with certainty.

“Hope you’re positive on your approach,” she teased.

I made an attempt to tackle her, but she sidestepped out of the way. Now’s my chance, I thought as she lifted her leg into her chest. When she released the kick, I grabbed it and tossed her.

“I guess she saw through that,” she whispered.

She twisted herself midflight to cancel the motion and landed on her feet, skidding along the ground.

“Not bad,” she applauded. “But can you be offensive?”

“Let’s see,” I smiled.

She displayed a smile: I can only describe her as psychopathic. After seeing the surprise look on my face, she rushed towards me with high speed. She’s fast, I thought.

I predicted an incoming dropkick, so I kept my stance steady and protected my face.

I observed how she noticed my setup and threw a punch instead of the predicted dropkick. Ducking away from her attack, I delivered a fearsome blow towards her face, but she redirected my arm and struck me in the neck with her knee.

After flinching from her attack, she proceeded to strike me multiple times in the lower abdomen and finished me with a spin-kick to my head. I was thrown across the room from her final attack and landed into a pile of hay.

“I guess you weren’t ready for it,” she grinned, placing her hand on her hip.

I quickly dug myself out of the pile of hay and shouted, “Again!”

“Are you sure?” she questioned.

“Yes!” I roared as I seized my firm stance again.

“Welp, your funeral.”

Instead of rushing towards me, she walked towards me. When she made it into my kicking distance, I hesitated to attack her because I sense she would counter by flipping me over. So, I waited and kept my focus on her arms and legs.

“You’re so uptight,” she teased.

If I responded to her outburst: I would have fallen right into her trap, I speculated as I kept my mouth sealed.

We stood there for at least five minutes in silence, staring at each other. Time slowly went by before she rose her leg slowly and made an attempt to kick me in the chin. I responded by tilting myself backward after she got my attention, she retracted the leg and tried again. I lifted off my left leg and slid on my right in the back to evade her attempt. As I slid backward, she jumped into the air and tucked her feet inside her chest again. At that moment, I knew a kick was coming and not just any kick: this one was going to be destructive. I tried to brace myself as I was too open as I slid backward.

She directed all her energy into my chest, luckily, I covered my chest with my right hand, but it wasn’t enough to stop it. I was thrown to the ground once again, but this time with a broken arm. When Scarlet landed, she slid where I was standing and fell flat on her ass. As badly damaged as I was, I laughed uncontrollably after seeing her fall.

“Now, that’s what you get for being such a showoff,” I laughed.

“Oh, shut up,” she scoffed and turned her head off to the side. “At least, I didn’t get my ass beat,” she continued while pouting.

“Well, aren’t you adorable, pouting like that,” I pointed out.

Her face immediately became red before she hid it away. “That’s enough training for today with me… go and… train with Sasha!” she shouted before storming out of the barn.

“I’m in too much pain to walk towards her whereabouts… hopefully, she comes to me,” I said before resting my eyes.

After taking a nap, I found myself tied to a pole in a wide-open field. “How did I get myself in this situation?”

“Why were you unable to meet me at the coordinates I gave you?” Sasha asked over a comlink.

“I-I was... Scarlet beat me up quite badly, so I took a nap and lost track of time.”

“Understood, we shall begin training now.”

“Wait! Can you at least tell me why I’m tied to a pole, first?”

“I shall.”

“Thank you.”

“Your mission at the moment is to try to locate me once I take a shot at you.”

“WHAT!”

“I’ll be moving after two shots to give you a hint, but you’ll have to track me down by remembering the direction it came from.”

“Sasha, wait... how am I supposed to track you down? Have you forgotten that you are the one that tied me up to a pole?”

“My first shot shall be the handcuffs afterward you’ll have to guess the second,” she stated.

My foresight on her training to be more subtle seems to be more of a dream than a reality taking this absurdity within an account! I thought, darting my head in every direction.

“Are you ready?” she asked.

I took a deep breath and answered, “Yes.”

The first shot obliterated the handcuffs, and the majority of its fragments injured me, but it wasn’t fatal.

“I guess she kept her promise, so the second shot should come from that same direction,” I pondered.

WARNING INCOMING PROJECTILE! NORTH, NORTHWEST OF YOUR LOCATION! Warned a voice in my head.

“Whose voice is that?” I questioned as I rolled out of the way.

The round flew by and landed at least five feet behind me. Looking around in the open field, I saw no cover but the pole and a few tall blades of grass. “I guess that’s my only hope of hiding before she repositions.” As I ran towards the tall grass: that voice came into my head again, warning me about the next incoming shot.

WARNING INCOMING PROJECTILE! EAST OF YOUR LOCATION!

“Whoever you are, you’re a lifesaver!”

When I dodged the incoming round, it whizzed by my ear. “That was close.” Looking around to see if she’s hiding in the hills or she’s in close proximity to me.

WARNING INCOMING PROJECTILE! EAST OF YOUR LOCATION!

“She can still see me… but how!” I muttered before running the opposite direction, but that didn’t save me.

The round tore through my shoulder and exited without damaging my collar bone, luckily.

I fell to the ground after being severely damaged.

I made another attempt to hide within the tall blade of grass, but this time: I obstructed her vision by creating dust clouds.

“Good call of using dust to blind me, however, you don’t know if the enemy is using thermal imagery,” Sasha said over the commlink.

“Isn’t that cheating!”

“Yes.”

“Then, don’t use it!”

“You can’t beg an enemy sniper for you’re not going to be talking to them while they take shots at you. Get on your feet, you have five minutes before, I increase the speed,” she stated and disconnected.

“You gotta be joking…”

No rest for the wicked, I guess, I thought before booking it to the trees in the distance. While running towards the trees, I did not hear from the voice again. When I got behind the tree, I marked it and peeked from the side of its truck.

WARNING- “Just in time,” I interrupted and rolled on the ground. The shot missed by impacting the tree truck. “What was that bullet's previous direction,” I requested. A list of information began to fill and cover the left eye. “That’s a lot of information, but no matter. I think I can find a way to locate her.”

I turned my head towards the hills, I saw a dust cloud, and the warning came again. “There you are,” I smiled and dodged it. I then began running through the trees towards her. If I go around, she’ll have to resort to either keeping her distance or engage me in close-quarter combat.

“Are your systems working properly now?” Sasha asked.

“How did you know?”

“We are the same after all, though I cut you off from reading my mind and past training routines. So, prepare yourself for my gifts,” Sasha stated before disconnecting from the call.

“Seems like close-quarters it is… I just hope I don’t get my ass beat!”

As I moved swiftly through the terrain, the warning system came up again. LANDMINES NEARBY ESTIMATED RADIUS OF TEN FEET!

“Ten feet worth of mines? Are these the gifts she meant?”

WARNING- “She changed her location… she’s now behind me,” I muttered as I saw a flash in the field. I ducked towards the ground, and the shot missed. “Thank god for warning systems, but I need to be more vigilant.” I changed direction and kept my focus on where I step as I ran and jumped over suspicious rocks.

When I jumped over one of the boulders, I saw a flash in the field, but the warning system didn’t warn me about the incoming shot. I can’t maneuver myself midflight, so I’ll have to take this shot and hope it doesn’t kill me, I thought.

The reason why the warning system didn’t alert me about Sasha firing upon me was that she wasn’t aiming at me. Her primary target was the claymore she left at the bottom of the boulder. The explosion sent shrapnel into my chest, lower abdomen, and legs as it propelled me into a nearby tree. As I slid down the hill, I mumbled, “Damn, that hurts…” For the tweaks and leaves scratched my wounds while the dirt and grime got into them.

After landing face down in the mud, I reached out with my right arm and used it as leverage to crawl onto the ground before she took another shot. If I don’t hide, she’ll end me, I thought, dragging myself towards a boulder covered in moss. After propelling myself towards this enormous rock, I sat behind it and began repairing myself.

“Damage report,” I groaned.

SHRAPNEL HAS PENETRATED CHEST, LOWER ABDOMEN, AND THIGHS! DAMAGE TO INTERNAL COMPONENTS ARE CRITICAL! BEGINNING REPAIRS!

“Please hurry… we don’t have much time,” I whispered before passing out.

As I slowly awakened from my rest, I jumped out of the bed and quickly observed the room. “Oh… I’m back at the house. When did she… she must have brought me here when I was repairing?” I sighed, “I guess that means I failed another training session.”

The door opened, and Scarlet came into the room, holding a tray with medication and food. “Glad to see you’re awake,” she smiled.

“Thanks, and I guess you’re here to lecture me about failing your training and Sasha’s.”

“Yes, and no, I’m here to repair you since you're so bad at doing it yourself.”

“I’m not used to this, okay! Just give me a break or something!” I yelled.

“Calm down, we have to go hard on you, or you wouldn’t unlock your potential. If you don't go through our training, you are not going to be able to handle the missions and quest we are assigned,” she stated.

“Fine…” I scoffed.

“Mind taking a seat on the bed, so I can attend to you?”

I looked towards the white sheets that were once white now stained with my blood. It made me feel depressed and quite anxious. “Can’t you take care of me where I stand?”

She sighed and came into my request, “Fine, but it will be harder for me and you.”

I kept silent as she approached me and began to pour the medication around my arms, legs, and chest.

“What is this liquid for anyway?”

“It's to help you create human tissue so you don’t see your robotically parts. Sasha and I think it would be great you don’t see those since you're so convinced that you are human,” she smiled.

I took a quick glimpse of her face before darting my eyes back towards the floor. Once again, I kept silent.

“Don’t be afraid to express yourself, Scar. Just remember you are a machine built to kill and destroy; however, your true quest is to live a better life as a human being,” she comforted.

As I darted my eyes towards her again, I saw a different smile than she normally has. It was like she was happy that I am like this. “How do you know that’s truly my quest?”

“For that’s what you and your mother wished for,” she answered.

“My mother,” I repeated softly.