Gene. Sys. by Aaron Denius (best ereader for comics txt) 📕

the girls are directly in front of us, Ev and I reach out and drag them to the ground by their legs. Their bodies hit the ground with a thump, and their screams draw the attention of the first two. We make quick work of the girls. Ev plunges her knife into the redhead, and I wrestle the knife away from the black-haired girl and plunge it into her chest.

We manage to roll off of them before the other two jump on top of us.

“I’ve got him, Titan!” the dark-skinned girl yells at the blond-haired guy, whose name I can only assume is Titan. Before I know it, Ev and I are both engaged in knife fights.

The dark-skinned girl is quite reckless with her knife, which makes her unpredictable. After a few attacks, I realize that she relies too much on her left side, and I disarm her by countering one of her attacks. I spin into her as she swings her left arm, knocking her back, and before she can recover, I kick the knife out of her hand.

Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Ev holding her own with Titan, but I also see two figures approaching fast from behind her. They must have been drawn by the commotion.

“Ev! Behind you!” I yell.

She plunges her knife into Titan just as the figures arrive. Before they can grab her, she takes off running into the white abyss. I look back at my attacker and knock her to the ground before she can retrieve her knife. I kneel down and plunge my knife into her chest. I grab the extra knife as I stand and run in the direction where I saw Ev disappear.

After a few moments, I stop to realize that I’m standing alone and vulnerable in the middle of the white, snowy expanse. I tread carefully as I look around for Ev. During a pause in one of the snowdrifts, I spot a figure ahead of me and slowly walk toward it. With quiet stealth, I get close enough to see she has blonde hair. She turns, and I freeze. It’s the girl from my dream. My heart slows to a whimper as I take in the beauty that my dreams did not do justice. Her near-platinum hair whips in the wind, and her blue eyes pierce through the snow.

I’m snapped out of my trance when a figure speeds through the white abyss and knocks the girl to the ground. It’s Ev. After plunging the knife into the girl, she stands.

“What are you doing?” she screams at me. “You were just standing there!”

I know that I will never be able to explain what happened. She wouldn’t understand.

“I’m sorry,” is all I manage to say. I search for more words, but none come.

“Behind you!” she yells as she runs toward me.

I turn and spot a guy charging hard at me. Before I can react, he rams his shoulder into my stomach and drives me to the ground. My head bounces off the hard surface, and a shot of pain moves right to the front of my head. His momentum carries him over me, and I kick him the rest of the way off. The blow to my stomach was much harder than I would have thought; I struggle for air as I stand.

When I square off against him, I get a better look and see that he and I are built similarly. In fact, all of the boys have similar builds. This guy’s skin tone resembles mine, but his eyes are darker and narrower.

I look down to see that he has a knife in each hand, so I brandish both of mine. He throws one at me, and as I dodge it, he charges again. I’m impressed by his strategy because it isn’t unlike what I would have done had he not done it first. I’m assuming that he does not yet know his physical limits or mine. As he nears me, I jump and twist over him. I grab his head in midair and flip him to the ground. I land on top of him and plunge both my knives into his chest.

“Any more?” I call out to Ev.

“That’s it,” she responds.

“Apokalupto,” I hear Grant call out.

The simulation disappears, and I see the training room again. The knives in my hands have turned back to retractable pegs. I look around and see the Genetic Systems standing from where they fell and walking toward us.

Grant walks up and puts his arms on Ev’s and my shoulders. “Not bad, but I know you can both do better.”

The Genetic Systems all gather in front of us, but they keep their distance. Now that I can see them all, I notice that they are all attractive and built like Ev and me. A hint of jealousy climbs up in my throat.

“Ev.” Grant breaks the silence. “If you were these ten, what would you have done differently?

Ev looks them over. “I would have made sure we all stuck together.”

“Do you agree, Atom?” Grant looks at me.

“Yes. There is always strength in numbers.” I look at them but avoid making eye contact. I can feel them all judging me, and it makes me nervous.

“They are right. Staying together would have allowed you to keep an eye out in all directions. It would have also given you a numerical advantage.” Grant turns and walks away. “You are all dismissed. Atom, stay behind.”

Ev leads the Genetic Systems to the elevator. My last foe, however, lingers behind and approaches me.

“You need to teach me that move!” he says as he extends his hand. “I’m Cal.”

I take his hand. “Absolutely! I’ll catch up with you all in a bit. A pleasure to meet you.”

Cal runs to catch up to the group as I turn to join Grant.

“What happened out there?” Grant jumps in.

I debate whether I should tell him what happened or not. I figure that if I could tell anyone, it would be him.