Chapter 6
Robots! It just had to be fucking robots! June hated robots. And anything to do with A.I. She just didn’t trust its cold and calculating nature. June-bug, as her family called her, had been training her whole life to handle crashing planes, take down muggers, and protect civilians. But this trial was next level, and she prayed it was near its end.
It took June longer than she would have liked to surmise that this challenge was to break a team of Heralds out of a prison guarded by ten-foot-tall robots hellbent on killing anything organic. June’s powers were flashy, to say the least, which meant that she couldn’t use them without alerting the robots to her presence and turning the trial into an all-out battle for survival. What would happen if she died here? She didn’t even really comprehend what “here” was. Was this all just happening in her mind? Was this all one giant hologram or some sort of advanced virtual reality? Whatever was going on, she probably wouldn’t die in real life, but still… best not take any unnecessary risks.
June had spent the better half of an hour just trying to sneak up to the prison’s entrance, careful to avoid any lasers, cameras, or spotlights. She was having severe deja vu as she clung to a ledge, watching for patterns in the robot's movements and patrol routines. This whole scenario felt eerily similar to a level in a video game that Jax had loved to play as a kid, about a blond elfin boy complete with a green tunic who had to rescue a crew of pirates from their captors. June honestly couldn’t believe she had dedicated brain space to remembering even one of Jax’s dumb video games. But she had been his navigator, looking through the guides and providing much-needed information and support as he played. She chuckled a little, thinking about how a barrel would be handy for sneaking around right about now, and quietly thanked her twin brother for giving her the roadmap for success in today's trial. She had a lot to thank Jax for.
***
June and Jax were panting hard, exhausted. Pools of sweat and blood dotted the mats on the gym floor. Scorch marks marred the concrete walls. Though neither of the siblings showed any signs of serious injury, their grit and determination was in evidence. June and Jax were apparent siblings, though most didn't suspect they were also twins. June had height and a massive build that would put most bodybuilders to shame, while Jax would only be considered slight compared to his sister's frame. Plus, he gave off a more calm and centered vibe while she radiated frenetic energy. If forced to roll up a tabletop RPG character based on themselves, June would be the strength-based fighter, while Jax would be the dexterous monk.
“Come on, let’s go again. We have to ace this competition,” June commanded as she began to warm up for another round with her brother.
“If we push ourselves too hard, then we won’t have anything left in the tank and won’t move past the first round. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.” Jax calmly asserted as he rolled onto his back while he laid on the floor mats.
“We only get to complete your cheesy cliche of a marathon if we make it past the first round. Which it seems only one of us is ready for,” June pressed in vain, knowing her brother wouldn't be getting up anytime soon. Starting dubious debates was always his way of tapping out and stopping physical fighting in exchange for verbal jabs. She headed over to a punching bag and unleashed a barrage of punches exhibiting a good amount of sisterly frustration. “Plus, Eden is in Ohio, which is like an hour from Detroit. We have plenty of rest in our future”.
“Not to help you prove your point further, but it’s actually an hour and a half,” Jax corrected.
“Only when you drive,” June retorted.
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Jax waited until she stopped punching her silly bag. He knew he would have her attention. They were twins. She could sense his intent, his change in tone. “We don’t need any more reasons for cops to pull us over,” Jax said with all the gravity he could muster in his current state.
June stared him in the eyes, took a beat, and returned to thrashing her punching bag. “There are barely any cops on 75, especially once you hit Toledo,” June grunted over her unending barrage.
“You know they’re looking for a reason to put Summerset’s kids in jail!” Jax stood up to make this point. “Not to mention the fact that they don't need a reason anyway, seeing as how..”
June stopped mid-uppercut to turn to her brother, cutting him off, “Mom didn’t do anything wrong. It was the assholes on her team that were the monsters.” June shouted.
“You don’t have to tell me that. But they are looking for a reason to lock us up just because we were born! Jax stomped towards his sister, all of his zen gone. In its place, a blazing wildfire. June took a fighting stance in response, a sly smile creeping across her face for only a moment as a bright glow began to emit from her body, almost transforming into light. Jax readied himself, hands emitting a similar glow. “Try me.”
Vibrant rainbow colors danced off the steel gray gym walls. When the bell rang to start this competition, the twins would hold nothing back. Their parents forbade them from entering. But they had too much to gain, and to lose, to skip this consequential opportunity. No, come tomorrow, they’d be in Eden, fighting for everything that mattered to them.
***
When the coast was clear, June dropped off the ledge, slipped through the prison's slightly open door, and silently crept along the corridor on its outer rim. She hoped there wasn’t a time limit for this trial. The previous scenarios didn't seem to have any unless you counted the time it took a tidal wave to reach land or a plane to fall out of the sky. She deftly dodged another camera spotlight as she ducked into a small depression carved into the outer wall of the corridor. “Rinse and repeat,” she thought, as she continued to take cover, then move down the fortress hallways in short spurts, like a life and death version of ‘red light, green light.’
After what seemed like forever, June reached the subterranean cells where the captured Herald team was being held. She breathed a sigh of relief only to hear a cold robotic tone that sent a shiver down her spine. “Organic detected. Elimination protocols initiated.”
“Fuck you” June yelled as she sprang into action. Her flesh began to shimmer in a blinding array of colors and heat. June smiled as she willed her powers into overdrive, becoming living fireworks. It took discipline and effort in her everyday life to keep her energy under wraps. Though she always considered this a benefit to her power. While others had to output energy to do whatever made them metas, June just had to open the floodgates, and pyrotechnics would take over. It took years of training to learn how to change just one part of her body. The trick was an intense level of focus, which she applied at this moment to only shift her lower half into a burst of controlled multicolored explosions. She then used the explosive energy to propel her through the cells with lightning speed. The heat from the small, targeted, colorful explosions melted the prison bars, freeing the captured Herald team.
In her depleted state, it took real effort for June to revert to her physical form. But she powered through to materialize on the far side of the room, panting as though she had just run a marathon. Sweat covered her dark brown skin, soaking through her clothes. The exhaustion was taking hold. June couldn’t go on much longer. No, she had to push through the pain, fear, and fatigue as she had done hundreds of times before. She looked up at the robots and adopted a boxer’s stance. “Ready to become scrap metal?”
She heard a grinding to her right and, in her periphery, saw a massive boulder-sized fist coming at her. Waiting a split second, timing it just right, June threw her own left hook to meet the oncoming attack. For a moment, it looked like she had just fist-bumped her robotic opponent until she threw a jab with her right arm and broke the hand off the robot. June was still trying to catch her breath. She took in a huge gasp of air, shifting her stance, expecting the now amputated robot to resume its attack. Instead, her vision went blurry. Then white.
Instead of the point total commonplace at this stage, there was a glowing neon sign saying, “Congratulations! Advancing To The Next Stage!” It flashed a couple of times before she could process what she was seeing. She had passed! As this realization hit her, June collapsed to the ground. On her face, she wore a grin of pure joy and accomplishment.