Gene. Sys. (12 page)

“I choose Ox,” Ev says. Her face is as intense
as I have ever seen it. She’s out to win and she made a very smart choice with
Ox.

I want speed and quickness. “Cal.”

“Hydro,” she says without hesitation.

“Al.” I hate to split him and Hydro up, but I
know that I can trust him to do what I ask.

“Titan,” she sneers. I’m surprised by the pick
but I instantly understand her strategy. She knows that he will do all he can
to beat me.

“Fe.” I’m happy to get her on my team, but the
pick was purely because of her skill.

“Mag,” Ev exhales. I can tell she’s not too
happy about this pick. Mag has been one of the slowest to develop, but Ev
picked her because they are friends.

The group walks towards us so I finish the picks
to even out the teams. “You take Sil and I will take Sodi and K.”

“Fine.” She turns to the group. “Ox, Mag, Hydro,
Sil and Titan, step over here.”

“The rest will be on my team.” I turn back to
the control panel and hit a couple of buttons. A sliding door opens up on the
wall, revealing the cache of weapons. They all look real, but none of them are
lethal. They just might leave a bruise or two. “Everyone pick a weapon. Ev,
take your team to the opposite side. I will set the countdown to 10 minutes.”

I know I don’t need to explain everything to
them because they all did the blizzard simulation and I’m sure Grant already
went over everything. The Genesys all grab a weapon that they feel most suits
them and then Ev and I walk up to the cache. She picks what I can only assume
is her favorite, a double ended sword, and I pick my weapon of choice, an
8-foot long chain.

Ev takes her group to one end of the room. I hit
the button to start the countdown and lead my team to the opposite end.

I’m happy with my team and I look at the weapons
they chose. Both Al and Sodi chose swords. K chose a scythe, which instantly
gives her a more menacing demeanor.
 
Cal chose a
sanjiegun
and as he holds the
triple staff by the middle, with the two sides hanging from a chain, I know it
was a wise choice. Lastly, Fe has chosen a weapon that completely dispels her innocence,
a sledgehammer.

“Alright. We are going to split into two groups
of three and flank them from the front and back. K, you and Sodi are with me.
We will make our way down the middle and try to cut them off. The rest of you
make your way around the perimeter until you reach the opposite side and then
make your way towards the middle. Stay tucked away until you see all six of
their team engage.

“Remain close to each other so that you can
communicate. If you can’t see each other, you can’t work as a team.” I look out
towards the battlefield. “Be patient. Let them make the mistakes.”

The alarm to the countdown goes off and, without
having to say
anything,
Cal, Al and Fe take off
towards the left. K and Sodi look at me to make the first move.

“Stay tall, keep your peripherals open, but
always make sure there is a tree directly in front of you.” I walk at a fairly
quick pace. Sodi walks a few feet to my right and K to my left. Once I feel we
are about a third of the way in, I hold my hand up and signal for them to hide
behind a tree.

I hear a noise up ahead and I peer around my
tree to get a quick glimpse. There are two figures straight ahead and I see the
movement of two more off to my right. I can only assume that Ev is also trying
a flanking tactic, but she is attacking with two up the middle and two to each
side.

The best way to counter this approach is to go
after one of the side groups first. I signal to K and Sodi that we will charge
to the group on the right on my three-count. I have to trust that Cal and his
group have had enough time to get into their position.

We wait as the three pairs snail their way to
us. They are on alert. Just as I feel the groups are a dozen feet away I count
down. Sodi, K and I charge at the group to our right, which consists of Sil and
Hydro. Hydro has her trusty staff and Sil brandishes a pike.

I know that the second the other two pairs see
us they will converge, so it’s key that we take care of Hydro and Sil as
quickly as possible. Hydro is definitely the more skilled of the two so I
decide to square off to her. “You two take Sil!”

They both turn towards Sil and I see him back up
as he is outnumbered. Hydro spins her staff over her head with great ease and
in a quick swoop; she swings it at my head. I react by holding my chain up and
catching the staff. I wrap the chain around the staff to make sure she can’t
swing it back, but she counters that by pushing the staff through the wrapped
chain.

The end of the staff connects hard with my chest
and knocks me back. My left hand lets go of its end of the chain as I stumble
back. With a quick glance I see that Sil is still standing, but he is only
fighting K. Sodi has been disposed of.

My focus returns to Hydro, who is spinning her
staff over her head again in the same direction. I know that I need to take
care of her quickly because Ev and the others are but a few feet away. I can
only hope that Cal, Al and Fe are right behind them.

Hydro swings her staff as she did before and
this time I let it hit my side. The impact stings but I am able to catch and
grab the staff with my left hand. As she struggles to pull it away, I swing my
chain and it wraps around her neck. Her hands let go of the staff and
instinctively reach for the chain. I quickly focus all my energy on my legs and
jump into a half flip, half spin that allows me the momentum to pull her to the
ground.

Her head hits the ground hard and she gets
knocked out of the simulation. I run over and unwrap the chain around her neck.
When I turn to look for K, I see that Cal and his group have arrived and are
engaging in battle with the rest of Ev’s team. Al has been knocked out, but so
has Mag.

I look around to see who needs my help the most
and I spot Ox running at K. I sprint towards her. “K, behind you!”

K doesn’t turn however, keeping her focus on
Sil. She hits him in the head with the butt of her scythe and as he stumbles
back, she turns the scythe around and slices it into
Sil’s
side. He falls down, knocked out of the game. The second she accomplishes this,
Ox hits her in the back with his double axe and knocks her out.

He turns his attention to me. This is a much
more level playing field than the last time we met in here, when I snuck up
behind him. Ox holds his ground, waiting for me to make the first move. As good
as he is with an axe, I know that it is a lumbering weapon, so I have to rely
on my speed.

I look just off to his left and smile. “Now!”

This pulls his focus away as he takes a quick
glance over his shoulder at the tree I just yelled at. In a flash, I whip my
chain low, wrapping it around his legs. I pull his feet out from under him and
he falls to the ground, dropping his axe. As quickly as I can, I run over and
place my foot on the arm that’s reaching for the axe. I bend down, grab the axe
and slam it into his chest. He lets out a frustrated sigh as he falls limp.

I turn around to see Titan squaring off against
Fe and Ev battling Cal. Everyone else has fallen. Ev and Cal seem pretty evenly
matched; Titan definitely has an upper hand on Fe. His trident has a longer
reach than her sledgehammer, but she is doing her best to fend him off.

Titan backs her up against a tree and I run to
help her out. She has the handle of her sledgehammer wedged between two of the
trident points and she is doing her best to hold it off. Titan pushes harder,
inching the points towards Fe’s chest.

I’m close enough, so I whip my chain, wrapping
the end around the trident. With a yank, I pull it out of Titan’s hands. He
turns to me as I pick up the trident and looks around for his options. As Fe regains
her composure, Titan turns and runs away. I plant my feet and throw the trident
as hard as I can at him. He turns just in time to avoid getting hit.

Fe starts after him, but I grab her arm to stop
her. “Let him go. Let’s take care of Ev first and then the three of us can go
after him.”

“Ok.” She smiles.

We run over to Cal, where he and Ev have been
exchanging blows. Ev sees us approaching and she jabs her double-edged sword at
Cal, backing him up. With the extra space, she assesses the situation and turns
to run. I change my angle and run to cut her off. I spin, wrapping the chain
around my body, and then, with a twisting jump, I pull the chain and fling it out
of my hands in her direction. The chain flies through the air and hits her
diagonally across the back, knocking her down.

Fe and Cal run at her and with a couple of quick
strikes, Cal knocks her out of the simulation. I walk to catch up to them, when
suddenly a wave of shocks run through my body and cause my muscles to tighten.
I lose control of my nervous system and my body falls limp. As I hit the
ground, I see Titan standing over me with a smile. His trident held firmly in
his hand.

Before I can blink, I see the sledgehammer
flying end over end at Titan and it strikes him square in the chest. He flies
back and slams against a tree. Just as quickly, Fe runs past me and grabs the
fallen sledgehammer. With a quick spin, she torques her weapon and slams the
sledgehammer into Titan’s chest again. He falls limp.

“
Apokalupto
,” I grunt.
I lift my body off the ground as the simulation disappears. The rest of the
fallen Genesys slowly pick themselves up. Most of them walk gingerly towards
the center of the room, nursing their injuries.

“Who won?” I hear Mag ask.

“We did,” Cal responds.

“It was a good match. Ev, you had a great
strategy. If this was an open field, I wouldn’t have been able to carry out
what I did and your plan would have been successful. That being said, if you
know your environment use it to your advantage.” I address the last statement
to the whole group. “Put your weapons away and rest up. We do it again
tomorrow.”

Everyone drags their way to the weapons cache
and returns their gear. I pull Titan aside.

“What do you want?” He pulls his arm away from
me. I can tell that he isn’t happy about how he was defeated.

“I just wanted to tell you good job. You did a
smart thing by running away. The odds were stacked against you so you retreated
until you could regain an edge. You, however, were defeated for the same reason
I was. We let our guards down for a second. We can’t afford to do that in
battle. There is a fine line between confidence and hubris.” I’m saying this
mostly to myself rather than to him.

“Thanks.”
A smirk graces
his face and he turns to join the other Genesys in the elevator.

I walk to close the weapons cache when Ev steps
up beside me. “You know, my team’s strategy was actually Titan’s idea.”

This surprises me. Not the fact that Titan would
have an idea like that, he does seem to be a capable leader. I’m surprised by
the fact that Ev would relinquish her command to another. “Ev, you have to make
sure that they know you are in control.”

“They know. I was just open to suggestions and
he had a great one.” She grabs my hand as we turn to walk to the elevator. “You
need to learn to listen to those you lead. They just might have a good idea or
two.”

She’s right. Each one of the Genesys is a leader
in their own right; they just look to me because that’s what they were told to
do. “I know.”

As we get in the elevator, I reach to push the
button but my arm is held back by something. I look down and see that I had
completely forgotten that we were holding hands. My brow furrows because I
realize that I didn’t feel the sensation I usually do when she touches me.
Maybe we have just reached a point where I finally feel completely comfortable
with her, or maybe I’m just tired.

We get to my room and she lets go of my arm to
give me a hug. “You’re a good leader, Atom.”

A small fire ignites in my chest. She said
exactly what I needed to hear. I smile. “So are you.”

She gives me a quick kiss on the cheek and runs
off. “Goodnight!”

“Night,” I reply. The tingles in my cheek spread
to the rest of my body. As tired as I know I am, I feel I could do three more
simulations now. Instead, I head into my room and slump down in my shower.

A few tingles cause my fingers to twitch. I
don’t know if it’s because of Ev’s kiss or if it’s just remnants of the shock I
received when Titan knocked me out. I’m upset with myself for giving him the
chance to do that. I’m supposed to be sharper than that and I can’t afford to
let my guard down, ever, especially since I’m supposed to lead all the Genesys
to safety. I guess it’s best that I learned that in a simulation.

Over the next few days I put the Genesys through
various simulations. I abstain from partaking in most of them so that I can
watch and assess their progress. I mix up the teams and alternate who leads.
Sometimes I set up three different teams and have them go after each other. It is
interesting to watch how the teams strategize against one another.