What did “Alpha” mean? Pain.

No matter where we went and no matter what happened, it always ended in pain. I knew someone had made me the Alpha. Someone who’d wanted me to endure all this so they could get something out of it. I’d find that person, and I would show them the extent of the power they had “gifted” me. Which brought me back to the situation at hand.

Anderson’s cockpit looked like a miniature stadium. Three rows of seats circled the captain’s chair. They were all empty. Mollis and Asper stood beside Anderson as he ate from a bag of chips. He smiled then tapped the control panel with salty fingers. Just another reason to hate him.

I stood over him, between the robots. He couldn’t see me, but I could see him. Anderson Oak, the bully who’d never grown up. How many of my bloody noses had been attributable to him? How many ruined notebooks before I’d stopped using paper altogether? I’d been too scared to tell my instructors because Anderson had known me outside school. He’d known me a lot better than I would have liked. He’d known Beth, he’d been banned from Opifex’s shop, he…

He had been one of my closest friends. That had been back in elementary school, and he had ruined our friendship, so why did he act like I was to blame? Didn’t even matter. I was about to make him regret becoming my enemy.

“Where’s that freaking warp button?” Anderson tapped the monitor over and over, ending with a punch. He socked the Mollis bot’s arm next, making it stumble. It stepped back into place like nothing had happened. “Show me where it is, you stupid pile of scrap. I hit it once, but I’ve forgotten where it’s at! How does Locke do this?”

He still couldn’t see me. I had a few options here. Usually, I’d go with the most sensible one, but I couldn’t today. I was too distracted thanks to my boiling rage. I reeled back and struck Anderson across the face, flinging him from his chair. Thank you, space suit-enhanced strength.

“What the hell?” Anderson rubbed his cheek as he scanned the room. I stifled a chuckle. “Did one of you walking computers do that? I could have you dismantled. Heck, I could do it myself!”

“Wow, he said exactly what you thought he would, dummy.” Laura strolled into the room from the hall in the back. She pointed her new dagger at Anderson despite being a few rows away from him. “Surprised to see me walking around? It’s almost like you suck at doing anything right.”

“Laugh it up, Genki.” He stood up and rubbed his cheek. “I don’t get how you hit me from over there, but I’m not surprised you’re out. Locke’s always been the lucky one. I was just waiting for the universe to hand him another freebie so I could stuff it down his throat. Where is he?”

“Perhaps the answer is literally right under your nose.” Manning walked in behind Laura. He pulled a tube on his pistol. It blew out steam and sunk back in. That was how you reloaded those things. “Not that I expect you to figure it out. You only passed my class because I admired how much you cared for your brother. Even though you showed signs of a high intellect, your poor personality overshadowed it.”

Anderson clicked his tongue. “How sweet. Not that your stupid class meant anything to me. Tell me where he is before I start shooting. I know he’s creeping around here.”

“I’m not the creep here.” I socked his nose. A satisfying crunch accompanied it. He covered it and yelled in pain. That had been for Nessa, but I smiled as a rush of adrenaline filled my veins. It sure sucked for him that Pacifist Wander wasn’t around. I flinched as my chest buzzed and flashed. My body blinked back to visibility as my cloaking device flashed red and then dimmed. Now he could see me. “This thing doesn’t hold much of a charge, does it?”

Anderson furrowed his brow. “Another one of your tricks huh? That’s how you fought back before. I remember now. You’re too weak to fight your way out, so you have to do crap like that. I hope you enjoyed your free hits. You’re about to regret every, single one.”

He pounded on his wrist panel, mashing every button with heated ferocity. I doubted it would actually do anything until Mollis and Asper’s green lights flashed red. They whipped around and charged at Laura and Manning. Both of them readied their respective weapons. I wasn’t concerned this time. I knew how this would end.

“You really think we’re scared of you?” I stretched my fingers as I circled around him. “We’re not kids anymore. Grow up and get over this superiority complex. Do you even feel anything when you hurt people?”

“Like I have to answer to you!” Anderson gritted his teeth, but then he glanced at my friends. “Hey, you can’t trick me anymore. I know there were four of you. What happened to that other chick?”

My hands crackled as I charged toward Anderson. I swung at him, but he blocked the punch. His suit was too strong for physical blows. He reeled back and struck me across the face. A white flash obscured my vision for a second. I shook my head and ducked the next hit. Then I held out my hand. White coated it as electricity reached out and tickled Anderson’s suit.

“Knock it off.” He waved the electricity away. It was nowhere near strong enough. Anderson reached into his pocket and pulled out the wrench he’d taken from me earlier. “Come here you little freak. I’ll beat you with your own stupid junk!”

I stepped out of his reach as he swung the wrench. Then I realized that I should have done the opposite. A dark idea forced its way into my head, and I was fine with that. I lurched forward and grabbed the wrench with both hands. I thought of all the times my friends and I had been hurt because we’d held back. I channeled that anger and willed my lightning to life.

Anderson screamed as the electricity flowed through the wrench and poured into him. Blue light coated the space between us. The crackling was music to my ears. Spit flew from Anderson’s lips as he stumbled back and fell to the floor. He convulsed as he yelped and then muttered in pain. My legs went numb as fatigue took its usual toll. I reached for the captain’s chair and held on to it. I’d be good as long as my arms didn’t give out too.

It was brutal, but so was everything that had ever happened to us. It was about time that I evened the field. As long as Anderson was still breathing, what was the problem?

Mollis swung at Laura, who ducked under its arm. She jumped up and sliced the back of its neck. Mollis twitched as Laura jumped off and ran away. Since Laura had only lost the first time because of the close-range shock wave, Manning had suggested staying on the move. Seemed like it was working.

Manning fired a blast of plasma at the Mollis robot’s head, blowing it back. Laura ran and sliced its left knee. Sparks spurted from Mollis as it groaned. Manning aimed another shot, but Asper struck his hand, launching the pistol out of it. It reeled back, undoubtedly aiming its metal fist at his face.

“No!” I shot a thin stream of electricity out of my hand. The feeble steam latched on to Asper, which began to twitch like Mollis had. I had no idea what I’d done or why the stream was so small, but it worked. “Laura, now.”

Laura blinked but then roared as she ran to Asper. She stabbed its chest, yanked her dagger out, and plunged it back in. She did it again and again.

“Die!” Laura shoved her dagger up into the bottom of Asper’s “mouth.” Then she yanked it out and backed up.

Asper’s twitching worsened until it gave up and fell to the floor with a bang. I grinned with pride. Our plan had worked. Mollis wasn’t attacking us, but it wasn’t down yet. We needed to finish it before it remembered that it was supposed to be a high-tech military death machine.

“Guys, finish off—”

“Watch out.” Laura’s eyes widened as she flung her dagger at me.

Was Laura making an attempt on my life? Had that shock wave from earlier messed with her mind? It wasn’t until the soaring dagger got close that I realized where it was actually going. I followed its trajectory up until it clattered to the ground in front of Anderson. The barrels on his arm were pointed at me, but his eyes were glued to the weapon. Laura hadn’t been after my life, she’d just saved it.

“Did she mean to hit me with this—oh crap.” Anderson looked up at me, and then at his barrels. “Locke, whatever you do, just don’t—”

Anderson’s screams drowned out the rest of his request as I shot him full of electricity. He writhed in pain as blinding light shrouded him. This would have made me sick on an ordinary day. Too bad Anderson had gone and made things difficult.

I gasped. My head ached. I dropped my hands, and the electricity fizzled out. Anderson’s eyes glazed over as he fell back. Smoke rose from his body. My exhaustion cut off my power. That was good. I didn’t know if I could have stopped without it. At least now I knew that I didn’t have to work on my raw power.

A series of beeps rang out to my left. The Mollis and Asper bots’ lights flickered before dimming completely. They were finally dead. I must have fried Anderson’s control device.

I glanced at Laura’s discard dagger and picked it up. This had won me my victory.

“Seriously, did you mean to hit him with this?” I asked as I held it up. “We really need to fix your eyes. No rush though, because you still saved my butt. As usual.”

Laura didn’t seem to have heard anything I said. Her eyes were wide as she stared at Anderson. Her lips were parted in a silent gasp.

“Is he…okay?” Laura asked in a small voice.

“Probably.” I limped over to Anderson and pressed two fingers under his ear. I shuddered as I felt a thump. Reminded me too much of Nessa. “Yeah, he’s alive. Just needs medical attention. Too bad we don’t have time. We need to rescue Rebecca and get back to Nessa as soon as we can. You good, Manning?”

Manning straightened his glasses. “Of course. Rebecca needs us.”

“Stop,” Laura said. She motioned to Anderson. “Am I the only one seeing this? Instructor, are you going to condone this? Wander’s supposed to be a leader. A hero. He can’t go around frying people because he can!”

“Not people, criminals,” I said. “Everyone keeps getting hurt because of all this craziness we’re wrapped up in. I’m sick of it. Next time someone threatens us, I’ll just deal with them like this. Easy.”

Manning nodded. “It’s a troubling decision, but not an unwise one. Not every hero is pure. Soldiers are paraded as heroes despite all those they slaughter. I can’t condone your actions, but I understand them from a certain point of view. Please, just try not to fatally wound anyone.”

As long as they weren’t Anderson, I wouldn’t have much trouble with that. If there was one thing I’d learned here, it was how destructive someone could be when they were acting for their family. Anderson had done all this for his brother. I didn’t want to get to that level. This was a lesson.

Laura scoffed. “Yeah I get it, but…just promise me that this isn’t the first step toward becoming a sadist. You’re the last person I expected to use extreme force, and it scares me a little.”

It scared me too. I felt like I was sinking to Anderson’s level in a way. I knew what she was really worried about though. We’d first became friends because I had been so nice compared to the only other people in her life (her “parents”). Now it was like I was slowly becoming them. Of course that would never actually happen. Laura could kill me herself if it did.

“I swear on all my wrenches that this is just a precaution. Not a lifestyle. Speaking of which…” I bent down and tugged my wrench out of Anderson’s limp hands then wiped it and stowed it in my suit. “There we go! Okay, onward to Rebecca.”

Our stomps provided background noise as we rushed back to Rebecca’s coffin. That helped me sort out my thoughts. My friends were okay with my decision, and it had been effective so far, but I felt like I’d end up regretting it. What if I needed to fight Beth again? Could I shock her? I already knew the answer.

Rebecca’s room was as spooky as it had been before. Blood marked the spot where we’d lost our last fight against Anderson and his bots. I clenched my fists as guilt flooded me. I hoped Nessa was okay.

“Do you need me to hack this thing?” I motioned to the terminal beside her pod.

Manning approached it. “Please, allow me to use my intelligence somewhere. I’ll handle this. Watch Rebecca for signs of stirring while I work.”

I shrugged and stood over the pod. I didn’t expect her to have moved. She looked the same. Same muscular body and burned face. She seemed like the exact opposite of Manning. I couldn’t believe I was about to meet a new Humanity’s Oath member. Would she be smart? Brave? Cowardly? The possibilities were endless. I didn’t even want to start imagining what her powers could be.

“That didn’t take long at all,” Manning said in accompaniment to the tapping of a computer screen. “Be prepared. I’m about to wake her. Goodness! This is exciting!”

“Heck yeah, it is.” Laura danced on the heels of her feet. “I can’t wait to ask how she got so buff.”

“All right…now.”

BEEP!

Rebecca’s eye snapped open. It glowed pink. Glass exploded and rained down as she jumped out of the pod. The floor rumbled as she touched down. Rebecca exhaled through her nose and stood straight up, towering over me like Manning did. She gritted her teeth as she glared down at me.

“Ms. Stein?” I backed up as fear gripped me. “Are you okay? Is something wrong?”

She reeled back and struck my chest. It felt like a missile had slammed me. The force from her punch launched me off my feet. I flew back until I slammed into a wall and fell to the ground. As pain gripped my body, I gasped for air. Super strength. Her Hybrid power must have been super strength.

“Wander? Whoa!” Laura ducked as Rebecca swung at her. She jumped back and readied her dagger. “What’s wrong with her? She’s never met us, but she should recognize Instructor Manning.”

Rebecca’s face twisted with rage as she swung again. Laura dodged, causing Rebecca to hit the wall. Metal groaned as the wall buckled under her strength. Laura’s jaw dropped. She stood frozen in shock. Rebecca slammed her foot into her stomach. Laura hacked as she flew back and rolled on the floor. She pushed herself up but fell right back down.

“Manning, what’s going on?” I held my side as I stood up. My legs trembled as if begging me to stay down. Fatigue on top of pain was just nauseating. “Why is she going berserk?”

“It must be something that President Frost did to her. This could be what Mr. Antant meant when he said she’d become a weapon!” Manning pressed his back to a wall as he aimed his pistol. He pulled the trigger, but the blast soared over Rebecca’s head. I had no idea how he could have missed someone that tall, so I assumed he’d missed on purpose. “Although it could also be trauma. She may think she’s surrounded by AI, like Upton.”

He sidestepped Rebecca’s fist as she shoved it through the wall next to him. Aiming at her face, he pulled the trigger. A blue blast dissolved against it. She clawed at her face and yelped. Even her cries of pain were filled with anger. She shook her head and hit Manning’s shoulder, sending him spinning into the air. He landed with a thump and lay there immobile. A stun shot had barely fazed her. Was she human anymore?

Rebecca circled back toward me. I raised my hands and willed them to crackle, but nothing happened. Of course I was out of power. I’d used all of it on Anderson. Rebecca snarled and stomped toward me. Each step dented the floor and ramped up my fear.

Options? Electrocution? Just tried and failed. Grab Laura’s discarded knife? No, stabbing still wasn’t something I endorsed. Plus it wouldn’t faze her. Manning’s gun? Could I hold it without seeing the wound of that ruabrum back on New Earth? Even if I could, it clearly wouldn’t affect her. What I needed more than anything was a miracle.

“That’s enough, Rebecca.” Manning jumped up and grabbed her face. His hands were exposed. She groaned and clawed at them, drawing blood. Despite that, his grip didn’t falter. “You must stop. We are your friends; your allies. If you don’t believe me, then I’ll show you!”

Manning’s eyes glowed gold…as did his hands. Rebecca’s arms fell to her side as she stood still. Her eye changed from pink to gold like his. Was he messing with her brain? Rebecca screamed and fell to her knees as her eye turned pink again. Then the pink light faded, leaving a pale blue eye behind. Rebecca teetered before falling on her face.

I looked at her and then at Manning as if that would give me the answers I needed. Manning frowned at her as his eyes returned to normal too. He sighed and put his gun in its holster. Then he knelt down and slung one of Rebecca’s arms over his shoulder. He groaned as he rose, supporting her weight as well as his own. An impossible task, considering her size.

“I’ll get her back to the ship,” he said through gritted teeth. “I’ll leave Laura and Ms. Nessa to you.”

He limped down the hall, occasionally buckling under Rebecca’s weight. I glanced at Laura as she groaned softly. I looked down at my own hands.

What the Earth had just happened?