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“What’s a GNVI doing inside a gym?”
A GNVI, Genetically Non-viable Individual. People who weren't allowed to procreate due to their inherent illnesses and conditions, in this case, Julian Winters.
Ellie’s frown deepened the moment those words echoed across the gym. The man who had entered didn’t even attempt to mask his scorn. He was only slightly shorter than Julian but noticeably stockier, his dark skin accentuated by the white tank top that barely concealed his bulging muscles.
Ellie’s fingers curled into fists at her sides as she turned toward him. She truly wanted to just rush at him and punch him right in the face, but she stopped herself and only glanced at Julian, who only slightly turned his shoulder to the noise.
The man then approached them confidently, his eyes sweeping over Julian from head to toe; the disdain in his eyes extremely obvious.
The man’s name was Vijya Thacker—and Ellie knew that she shouldn’t judge someone by the way they dressed, but the man was just oozing bad intentions.
Vijya didn’t seem to be done, however, as he leaned next to a nearby rack close to Julian, a smirk crawling on his face; the words he uttered next, almost dripping with venom.
“Blind… and the information just came to me that you are also autistic—I wonder why they didn’t just abort you and pull the plug altogether?” He said.
“You…”
Ellie’s jaw tightened, her knuckles white as she struggled to contain the anger exploding in her chest.
This man had no restraint or shame at all. If it were up to her, she would just bash his head in with a plate.
Perhaps it was a good thing that Julian had the powers because if not… she didn’t know what she would do to Vijya. She was about to open her mouth to snap back at him—but Julian’s calm demeanor stopped her.
He didn’t even heed Vijya any mind at all, he turned his back to him and walked back to the pull-up bar again. And without even giving a response at all, he pulled himself up with ease so he could continue warming up his body.
Ellie’s glare burned holes into Vijya, but she eventually sighed and returned to her treadmill. She could feel her pulse pounding in her reddening ears, but she trusted Julian enough to not speak for him.
And of course, Vijya’s brows twitched in irritation as he realized he was being ignored. It truly didn’t sit well for him that Julian did not even bother saying anything to him at all and completely dismissed him.
And so, with a loud scoff, he marched to the pull-up bar next to Julian’s… and also started doing his own pull-ups.
All of a sudden, it became an unspoken contest—but only for Vijya.
And about thirty pull-ups late, his arms were already trembling. His breath came in uneven gasps as he struggled to keep up. He did, however, laugh triumphantly as he watched as Julian was the first to stop.
“Ha!” He breathed out as he dropped from the bar, his voice echoing across the gym. “Guess that’s your limit, huh? Maybe stick to the treadmill next time.”
And while Vijya was reveling in his supposed victory, two of his new party members stepped inside the gym; their brows, immediately lowering as they were drawn to the scene that Vijya was causing.
“What the fuck…? Is he seriously insulting a person with a disability!?” The smaller of the two, a wiry young man with fiery red hair, barked loudly. His fists clenched as he moved to rush at Vijya, but the woman beside him raised an arm to block his path.
“Why are you stopping me, Nat?” the smaller man growled, glaring at her.
“Just watch, Benjamin,” Natasha replied calmly, her voice monotonous yet firm as she placed a finger on her lips to shush. Her piercing gaze was fixed on Julian, while the smaller man, Ben, was confused as to why they weren’t helping.
But he was about to find out.
Julian was entirely unfazed by Vijya’s taunting, almost as if he was just in his own world as he grabbed the waist belt hanging near the weight rack and wearing it.
Benjie was slightly confused as he glanced at Natasha; momentarily confused as they watched Julian attach several weight plates to the belt and drag them next to the pull-up bar. And without even uttering a word or even a breath to ready himself, he hopped and grabbed the bar once more… causing the weights to just dance in the air.
The added weight did nothing at all to slow him down as he began his pull-ups again.
Vijya’s mocking grin faltered as his disbelief grew. His eyes darted between Julian and the stack of weights hanging from his waist, unable to process what he was seeing. Determined not to be outdone, he stormed toward the weights and copied Julian, already struggling as he attached the same number of plates before jumping to grab the bar.
The result was immediate—and humiliating. The moment Vijya pulled himself up, the heavy weight yanked his body down, and if it wasn’t for him grabbing onto the sides of the pull-up bar, then he would have definitely slammed to the floor.
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Ellie quickly stopped running again as she saw what was happening, a small smirk crawling on her face as she approached Julian; her eyes, however, were staring at Vijya, whose arms were clearly hurt when he grabbed the bars.
“Julian.” She then called softly, her voice cutting through the sound of the clinking weights hanging beneath Julian—and Julian did not even hesitate to let go of the bar even as he was in the middle of lifting himself up.
He dropped from the bar, landing gracefully despite the heavy plates strapped to him.
“Water,” Ellie said as she handed him his bottle, and he took it with a quiet breath. And while he was drinking, Ellie wanted to wipe his sweat off, but even as he patted his clothes, there were no signs of sweat at all. His breaths weren’t even heavy.
“Hmn.” Ellie nodded before his gaze once again fixated on Vijya, who was still struggling to maintain any semblance of dignity after what happened to him.
And unknowingly, Ellie’s lips once again curled into a smirk. This time, however, Vijya noticed her looking.
“What are you looking at, you bitch!?” Vijya’s voice exploded across the gym, "You're acting all that when your fucking boyfriend's just a diversity hire!?"
He ripped the waist belt from around his waist and violently marched toward her and Julian, his steps heavy and full of fury.
Julian immediately turned his head in Vijya’s direction, his hand instinctively brushing Ellie’s arm to reassure her.
“What the!? Is he seriously going to attack a woman!?” Ben, and even Natasha stopped watching the situation and quickly rushed to the three.
But they froze mid-step.
Their eyes widened as they watched Julian reach out and just grab Vijya’s face with one hand.
Vijya’s scream was muffled, the sound completely swallowed by Julian’s thick, rough palm. His fingers stretched easily across Vijya’s features, completely covering his nose and mouth, leaving only his wide, and panicking eyes visible.
“I would appreciate it if you don’t call her that.” Julian’s voice was deep, almost groaning. He didn’t sound threatening at all, in fact, it almost even sounded like he was asking. But it still carried something they didn’t know how to describe, but it sent a chill down everyone’s spine.
And even his grip on Vijya’s face wasn’t aggressive—if anything, it seemed almost casual. But Vijya’s frantic squirming and muffled grunts showed everyone how powerless he felt in Julian’s grasp. He clawed at Julian’s wrist, his legs kicking wildly as he tried in vain to free himself.
When one of his kicks landed a solid hit on Julian’s shin, Julian simply sighed and lifted Vijya effortlessly into the air.
“Please, stop it,” he calmly asked.
Ellie didn’t really know what to feel as she watched Vijya squirm and struggle. He deserved it, of course, but as soon as she noticed the strain on Vijya’s face and the tightening of Julian’s grip, her tone shifted.
“Julian, let him go. It’s fine.”
“Okay.” Julian did not even hesitate, he just immediately let go of Vijya.
Vijya stumbled back, his hands shooting to his face as he gasped for air.
“You…” he wheezed in frustration and anger, “...You were enhanced by Cyberware!? You think that’s fair!? Why are you even pretending to be working out when you’re practically a machine!”
Ellie’s lips parted, ready to fire back, but before she could even get a word out, Ben could no longer take it and stepped between them.
“Are you actually stupid!?” Ben screamed, violently waving his hands before pointing at a man double his size. “Do you even listen to yourself when you talk?”
“What the fuck? Where did this little fucker come out from?” Vijya snarled, his fists clenching at his sides.
“You heard him,” Natasha joined in, her voice calm as she stepped closer to Ben. “You are being an idiot. Based on the information we gathered about him, Julian Winters is biologically incompatible with cyberware implants.”
Julian remained silent and still seemingly unnerved about the entire thing. But deep inside, Natasha’s words were ringing inside his mind.
It would seem Victoria might be right, he thought. These people had only met him yesterday, yet they somehow already knew private details about his medical history. If they could do this much in such a short time, then that means anyone with real pull could investigate everything about him.
He could try to hide what he could do, but sooner or later people would find out. He could probably hide if this was the ancient times, but this was a different era altogether.
“You people… are ganging up on me? On me!?” Vijya’s face twisted in a scowl as he looked at everyone before settling his gaze on Julian, “This isn’t over, retard. You hear me!?”
Vijya almost growled at Julian before turning on his heel and storming out of the gym, his steps almost as heavy as his ramblings.
And as the doors slid closed behind him, Ben let out a long, exaggerated sigh and turned back to Ellie and Julian.
“You guys okay?” he asked, his tone gentler now.
“Yeah, we’re fine. Thank you,” Ellie said, her expression softening as she gave Ben a grateful nod.
“That guy’s a real piece of shit,” Ben muttered, shaking his head. “There’s something seriously wrong with him. It’s the first time I’ve met someone like that—he’s like a character out of some cheap novel or something.”
“Motherless behavior,” Natasha added, brushing her short blonde hair to the side and tucking it between her ears.
“I know.” Ellie let out a sigh as she leaned on Julian’s arm. “There are always people like that. It’s… exhausting.”
She then glanced at Ben and Natasha, her curiosity piqued. “Were you two here to work out too? Or…?”
“Couldn’t sleep,” Ben replied casually, rolling his shoulders as he glanced at Natasha, who handed him a towel. “Figured we’d burn off some energy.”
Ellie’s eyes flicked between the two of them, her brows furrowing as she noticed how naturally close they seemed.
“Do the two of you know each other? Like… from before Humanity Engineering invited you here?” She said.
Ben grinned. “Know each other? Yeah, you could say that.” He threw an arm over Natasha’s shoulder, tip-toeing as he pulled her close. “We’re married.”
“Oh…?” Ellie’s jaw dropped, “Isn’t… this unique class thing supposed to be extremely rare? It’s incredible that the two of you are married and got a rare class at the same time.”
Ben laughed as he waved his hand. “It is. But you’ve got it confused. We actually met at Artemia before we even knew each other here.”
“Wait, what!?” Ellie blinked rapidly. “You… you’re kidding, right?”
“Nope. At first, I actually thought Nat was a native hyum,” Ben said, chuckling. “She was so into RPing, I almost didn’t realize she was a player.”
“RPing?” Ellie tilted her head, clearly lost.
“Role-playing,” Ben explained, his smile widening.
As the conversation continued, the four of them naturally drifted into a circle—and forgot to work out and exercise altogether. Ben and Ellie carried most of the conversation, exchanging stories and other stuff, while Julian and Natasha stood behind them just listening on as their respective partners told embarrassing stories about them.
And this didn’t become just a one-time occurrence.
The group had decided to meet at the gym again, and they also spent time together outside the gym chatting and exchanging information. As for Vijya, well, although he decided to lay low, it was obvious that he still had it out for Julian.
Unfortunately for him, he couldn’t get the chance to approach Julian at all. He also had no one to talk to anymore, and their last party member was completely silent and always in the room spending time with himself.
Well, that is, until 2 days later when Humanity Engineering finally confirmed that Julian could finally connect to his clone again.
It was time to go back to Artemia.
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