"What the fuck is going on?" I demanded of the child.

"Oh no," the girl said, shocked.

"What, what is it?" I replied looking around for the danger.

"You said a naughty word!"

A holographic '$0' appeared in crisp green digits at the bottom left of my vision, hovering just above the red bar. It then flicked over to '-$1' like a digital ATM punishing me for swearing.

I laughed out loud at how ridiculous this was as another robotic tiger headed toward me.

This time I took advantage of my new agility and as the tiger leaped at me, I dodged out of the way, and as it lunged past I grabbed a hold of it and launched myself onto its back.

"And you just unlocked your athletics skill as well!" Said the girl, still sounding as excited as ever.

"Can we give it a rest on the skills!" I said as the robotic tiger bucked and writhed.

I rode it like a bull, even managing to pound it in the head a couple of times with my free hand before it eventually through me off. It sent me flying through the air, the world spun around me before I slammed into the ground. The impact reverberated through my metal body and the red bar in the bottom left of my vision dropped again, this time lowering to 510hp.

"But, I'm supposed to tell you when you unlock your skills, I'm your helper," the girl said. "This is a fantastic opportunity we have been given and I am here to help you grow even better."

"You sound like the doctor," I said.

"Thank you," she replied.

The tiger let out an enraged roar as it charged at me again. I readied myself as it lunged, I planted my feet, my hands outstretched, waiting for the perfect moment. As the machine came closer, I dodged to its side and grabbed it by the head, trying to yank its head off. But it slipped from my fingers and somehow all I had done was help it turn around faster so that it could come back at me again.

It's mouth was wide open as it charged at me once more. Its razor-sharp teeth were coming straight for me. I dodged it again, and as it flew past me I swept my leg out, catching its hind legs. It stumbled off balance and slid along the white tiles.

I leaped onto its back, my hands finding purchase on its head. The tiger bucked and thrashed under me, but I held on as tight as I could.

"You're doing great!" The girl's voice chirped in my head. "Keep it up!"

I gritted my teeth and pulled up on the tiger's head. It let out a metallic shriek as I tore its head from its body, sparks flew from the hole as I held its head above me like the predator would with one of its trophies. The body crumpled to the ground, twitching for a moment before lying still.

"You got 250xp for that one! Isn't this fun!" The girl said as the orange bar appeared again filling to just over the quarterway mark, under the bar it read '+250xp'.

"Fun?" I sputtered. "This isn't a game! That lunatic turned us into fu..." I paused, stopping myself from saying another 'naughty' word.

"I know it's not a game," she said, losing her happy tone. "I'm not dumb!"

"I'm sorry," I said.

She seemed too temperamental to be an AI bot. But I had to tread carefully, who knows what she could do to me if I pissed her off.

"It's okay," she said, going back to her cheery self.

I looked over at Leo and Milo, making sure that they were okay. They seemed more than OK! They had already defeated two of the tigers and were fighting two more each. I watched in awe as Milo grappled with another tiger, slamming it into the mirrored wall, the mirrored wall shook as a large crack appeared, coming out from where the impact had hit. Taking another look at the mirror, I noticed that it wasn't one big mirror but a bunch of mirrors all connected together. Milo then tore the tiger's head off and threw it at another tiger that was coming for him.

Stolen novel; please report.

"Newt!" Leo shouted over to me. "Stop messing about and help!"

I snapped back to the situation at hand, charging towards the nearest tiger to me. I leaped in the air, bringing my hands together into a fist, and swung them down like a hammer onto the tiger's head with all of the power I could muster. The metal crumpled under the impact causing the tiger to collapse in a sparking heap.

"Wow!" The girl screamed inside my head. "That was awesome! You get 100xp for finishing that one off!"

The orange bar jumped up again and I couldn't help but get excited at the progress, even as I tried to convince myself how stupid it was that I cared about watching a bar fill up.

I ran over to the tiger Leo was fighting and, from behind it, I grappled it. It thrashed about as I held onto it, managing to slip out of my hands just as Leo went to punch it, completely missing it and hitting me in the face.

"OW! What the fuck!" I said as both my health and money amount dropped.

"You were supposed to hold it steady," said Leo.

"Oh, wow, so we're victim-blaming now?" I said as I lifted my hand to my face to check if I was bleeding before realizing that I didn't bleed anymore.

"I'll grab it this time," said Leo.

"I should think so!" I said as I made my way around to face the tiger, distracting it so that Leo could sneak up behind it.

Leo managed to get behind it fairly easily, grabbing it from behind. His arms wrapped around its torso, holding it upright in a tight bear hug. The tiger thrashed about again but Leo held on to it tightly. I took advantage of the opening and unleashed a flurry of punches at the tiger's head.

I then grabbed it by the head. "Pull!" I yelled to Leo as I pulled its head toward me and Leo pulled the body in the opposite direction.

With a satisfying POP! The head came off as the body went limp in Leo's arms.

"Nice work," Leo said as he tossed the broken machine aside.

"Awesome!" Said the girl as '150xp' appeared and the bar filled up a little more.

I glanced over to Milo to see him finish off the last tiger. The giant room now littered with the sparking remains of robotic tigers.

"Yay! You have completed the Tiger Pit Challenge!" screamed the girl as 400xp appeared in my vision along with a bunch of text. At the top it read 'Mission Complete: Tiger Pit Challenge' and then there was a bunch more text that included a series of stats. The ones that stood out to me were:

Damage received: 200hp

Total kills: 4

Total mission XP: 1200xp

"Is that red bar in the bottom left of my vision my health," I asked the girl living inside my head.

"Which side is left?"

"The only bar I can currently see, that side is left."

"Oh yes, that's your health points," she confirmed.

"How do I get it back to full?"

"You can hear a voice too?" Asked Leo as he walked over to where I was standing.

"It's some kind of artificial intelligence designed to help us," Milo chimed in as he joined us.

"Is yours a young girl too?" I asked, hoping I wasn't the only one stuck with a child.

They both nodded as I let out a sigh of relief.

Dr. Purkin's chuckle boomed through the speakers, the sound sending chills down my metal spine. "Congratulations boys, I knew you could do it!"

The three of us looked up at the speakers strung about the room.

"Now, you boys ready for the next challenge?" Dr. Purkins said as the ground began to rumble. "Too bad if you're not!"

The tiles began to move once again, but this time, instead of creating another hole, large platforms rose into the air.

"It's actually quite simple," said the doctor. "All you need to do is reach the platform at the opposite side of the room and push the red button."

I squinted my eyes as I looked to the far side of the room. I usually wouldn't have been able to see that far, Milo would constantly nag me about needing to get glasses. But now, with these robotic eyes, I could see further and clearer than ever before.

Although, looking between where we were and where the button was made me wish I had my old vision back. It looked like an obstacle course you would see on one of those TV shows meant for people who were insane athletes. Only our version was a little more, life-ending. There were spinning blades on some of the platforms, swinging bladed pendulums on others, and even laser beams randomly placed about.

"However much you spent on all of this, it was too much," I yelled into the room.

"Haha, my boy, this was all taxpayer dollars!" Replied the doctor.

"I don't get any of this," said Milo. "Why would you make us into these things just so you could kill us?"

"Kill you?" said the doctor. "You boys aren't listening! I am showing you what you are capable of! What would have undoubtedly killed you as humans is now nothing but mere child's play."

A blaring alarm began over the speakers as red lights flashed in the room.

"I guess that's our cue to go," I said to the other two standing next to me.

"Fuck it!" Milo said. "If he wants to see what we're capable of, I'll show him!"

I chuckled to myself, knowing he would have just lost $1 for swearing.