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

I turn around to see Titan squaring off against Fe and Ev battling Cal. Everyone else has fallen. Ev and Cal are pretty evenly matched; Titan definitely has the 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 toward 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.”

“Okay.” 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 strikes, Ev is knocked out of the simulation. I walk to catch up to them when a sudden wave of shocks runs through my body and causes 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 toward 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 that Titan would have an idea like that—he does appear to be a capable leader. I’m amazed 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 completely forgot 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 perhaps 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