As soon as 15’s heart rate returned close to normal, 17 resumed walking to the warehouse. He nodded while turning his head so 16 could see the gesture. As the three of them entered The Grounds, The Proctor was already waiting, arms crossed staring at the subjects. “Whoops! We’re late! I told you we needed to hurry,” 16 stage-whispered to 15 and 17. The Proctor stared with a stern expression. Although only slightly taller than subject 16, The Proctor carried an aura of authority that made even subject 15 fall in line.
His stocky barrel-chested form was barely contained in his Master Sergeant uniform. His fully red eyes and sclera swept over each of them as he studied their salutes. “You do realize that when you are instructed to be somewhere, you come immediately, correct?! I would expect this of you two, 15 and 16,” The Proctor glared at the two subjects icily, “but why are you late, 17?” Spit flew from his mouth as he yelled, his eyes briefly flashing a deeper crimson.
17 locked eyes with the Proctor as he spoke, “I was deterred by an unforeseen obstacle.” He spoke as he always did, saying only what was needed. His answer caused the Proctor’s face to switch to surprise for a moment, “What was the nature of this obstacle? And what happened exactly?” 17 could see the calculating curiosity of scientific study spreading across the Proctor's features. He was very intrigued to hear what could have thrown 17 out of his routine. Without a single bit of hesitation, 17 said, “15 attempted to misdirect me and state that the moderators requested me to go to the infirmary.
When I did not acknowledge his presence, 15’s body temperature spiked due to frustration. He expanded his adrenal glands, grabbed my shoulder with his left hand, and attempted to throw me backward. I turned around sharply and pierced his left kidney with my right hand.”
As 17 spoke, the Proctor’s face gradually reddened and veins began protruding from his neck, “I began to walk back towards the objective. As I did so, 15 attempted to charge towards me and at the same time 16 came around the corner, stopped 15 with a new form of hypnotic control, and calmed him down. Then, I resumed my travel to the objective.” The Proctor stood still for a moment then released a large sigh. “15, the Facility is beginning to tire of your lack of control. If you cannot learn to control your anger, and apparently immaturity, you will be removed from the program. Permanently. For causing the three of you to be late, you will be dealt with accordingly after the day’s end, understood?”
“Yes, sir.” And with that, he turned briskly and lifted his palm to signal the beginning of the session.
The Grounds was The Facility’s only open-air training room. After exiting a cramped cement passageway from underground, the room opened to a wide-open space made of gray metal roughly the length of 10 football fields. 17 found it odd to use those metrics, but The Proctor seemed to really enjoy sports-related measurements. At 1200 square yards of space, The Grounds were the largest area in this branch of The Facility and usually reserved for new ability demos. The floor and 100-feet high walls were made of small almost imperceptible squares.
These squares were controlled by Administrators watching the session remotely and allowed for complete control of the room’s configuration. The top of the walls abruptly cut off and revealed a starless sky that many subjects believed was simply a simulation.
Their training session started with 15; he was given an obstacle course where he was required to move to a flag across the room moving past walls, traps, and soldiers with firearms. The course was 50 yards wide and 150 yards long, with spikes, rotating saws, and lead weights on the walls, floor, and ceilings. The traps were caked in blood from previous failed entries by other subjects and other participants, limbs hung from the spikes and a bloody paste covered under the weights where bodies once were. Although the training rooms were self-cleaning, it seemed that the corpses were left as purposeful decoration.
Other than the soldiers scattered around the course, at the end of the course lined up were riflemen, machine gunners, and one soldier in a full auto mech suit armed with a GRAV hammer, pistons pumping rhythmically while fueling its power. “Subject 15 acknowledged. 3…2…1…begin.”
15 charged forward like a bull towards his goal throwing caution to the wind. As he bounded forward, his muscles stretched and grew, becoming twice their normal size. His inhibitors' parameters were removed to allow more freedom. He broke through the walls of the course like paper and rushed forward unimpeded by the bullets raining down on him. He knocked the soldiers left and right out of his way while bullets exploded off of his muscles. The shrapnel struck soldier’s bodies disabling them.
He broke the soldier line in seconds, blowing them apart like a grenade in a puddle, and continued towards the mech. The mech stood with his hammer ready, unaffected by the sight before him. He swung the massive armament down and for the first time during the run, 15 was stopped.
The hammer was held in 15’s hand, a look of concentration holding his face in a vice grip. Then his face changed to one of satisfaction as he started to grow even more, he changed from 7 feet tall to 8 and ½ feet and his muscles bulged and rippled, seeming as if they would burst for a moment. Steam curled off of his arms from the excess body heat being created by the rapid transformation.
As he grew, the mech let go of the hammer, lowered their hands, and prepared themselves for the pain that was soon to follow. 15 lifted his massive fist up and knocked the mech aside like a child toy. He then leapt the remaining 10 feet and ripped the flag from its post. “Subject 15 run complete. Completion time: 4:38.”
Next, subject 16 stepped forward. As the course refreshed, he adjusted his pistol straps. “Subject 16 acknowledged. 3…2…1…begin.” Subject 16 ran into the course calculating and glancing at various walls. The Course transformed into a densely packed maze filled with jutting metal structures. He tensed his leg muscles and jumped soaring over the course in an unnaturally-high parabolic arc. As he rose, he did a backflip, whipped out his twin pistols, and released precise shots at all twenty men scattered within the maze. While moving from target to target, 16 occasionally grabbed various poles and structures to spin off of.
He moved around the course like a skilled trapeze artist. His guns were loaded with his signature tungsten bullets for lethal takedowns ricocheting off metal in seemingly random trajectories. The bullets all hit their marks and dropped them in seconds.
He landed like a swan onto the ground in front of the mech. The mech tried to lift the hammer but it slammed back into the ground, making a crater. The mech began whirring loudly as it strained to pick up the hammer. Suddenly the extra weight was gone and the hammer was pulled up and flung into the air. 16’s face showed triumph as the hammer slipped out of the mech’s hand as it lost all balance.
He glided into the air, gripped the main bar of the hammer, and swung the handle in a speedy downward arc. This sent the mech flying like a shooting star once it made contact with the hammer and secured an open lane for 16 to pass. He glided to the flag quickly securing it in his closed fist. “Subject 16 run complete. Completion time: 3:56”
As 16 finished his run, 17 dropped from the observer’s platform. “Good luck, 17,” 16 chuckled. As his grin widened, the muscles around his mouth twitched slightly. 17 stepped onto the starting pedestal and stared ahead. A short faint crackle sounded before the comm piece in his ear buzzed to life, “Subject 17, your objective is to reach the flag on the opposite side of the room in the lowest possible time. There will be an added stealth component to your trial.
Subject 17 acknowledged. 3…2…1…begin.” As the intercom horn blared, 17’s enhanced reflexes sensed the pressure plate in front of him and he leapt over it into the shadow of a wall. He slid past two guards running to investigate his start point and sprinted forward. After vaulting over a low wall, he moved from shadow to shadow quickly.
17 felt the air thicken every time he entered a shadow, tentatively waiting for him to call upon them. One guard was facing his direction, so he climbed over the wall to the left and moved alongside it. He inched closer to a small shadow cast by a light near the corner of the wall. As he dipped his fingers into it, he opened himself up to the cool shadows. Black ink raced up his arm as the shadows answered his call.
He pulled all the surrounding shadows and reshaped them, commanding them to cover all the lights in the space ahead. At the speed of thought, the passageway was completely blacked out. He glided through the darkness and exited the labyrinth from above using a metal bar as a perch. As he did so, he peered out from his vantage point with tendrils of shadow lightly curled around his feet. It seemed that most of the labyrinthine stage had been elevated above the second portion of the run.
Standing below him, he could see the line of soldiers with machine guns trained on the main exit of the labyrinth. He jumped from bar to bar of scaffolding until he came up to the side of the soldier line. Once he confirmed there were no other soldiers, he silently dropped and grabbed the soldier furthest from the formation, covered his mouth, and snapped his neck. As his eyes glazed over and became lifeless, 17 stared intensely and felt a rush of knowledge enter his brain. Orders: shoot on sight and shoot to kill. The soldiers had faulty…com-links….speech patterns….
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The soldier's clothing melted into shadows and reformed around his body. The rest of the body sank into the dark pool as 17 rejoined the formation silently.
17 replicated the soldier’s voice perfectly. “Damn it! These com-links keep breaking up the signal. I need to relay a message to the big guy, hold the line no matter what!” 17 calmly ran towards the mech. As his colossal form rose up in front of 17, a memory told him to hold up two fingers together, his call sign. “Acknowledged soldier gamma, what do you need?”
“Base says you need to sync your com-link so they can relay you a message.” “OK, Copy….” The mech lowered his hand to allow 17 to reach the com-link on his shoulder. He tensed his calves, burst into a sprint up the arm, and kicked off of his shoulder and soared until he landed on the flag platform and secured the flag. “The objective is complete, Proctor.” “Subject 16 run complete. Completion time: 2:41.” 17 walked slowly to the platform and came to where the instructor was waiting. “Good job subjects, especially to you, 17. All of your work today has given me a lot of information to give the agency!
We should soon be able to determine your positions in the company after completion of the program. You all have 1 hour to rest, compose yourselves, and prepare for the next drill.” 17 understood the Proctor’s orders: rest, steady and prepare. He began to walk to his training area when 16 stepped in front of him. “Nice practice 17, you set a new course record.” 17 moved around him and continued walking forward. “What's the hurry comrade???” His words faded as 17 walked away. 17 sat in lotus position with his eyes shut, replenishing the little bit of darkness he used.
Soon one hour passed and the Proctor returned. “Alright, it’s time for one-on-many sparring matches. 17, you will go second. So, focus your mind and spirit while you wait, I hope to see the martial arts techniques that were shown to you the previous day. 15, you’re going last. So, I want you to use the ballistic muscle techniques that were shown to you earlier today. As for you, 16, you’re up now. Use the speed burst techniques that were shown to you the other day.” The Proctor turned swiftly and left. 16 jumped up quickly, while doing some light stretches, “Finally, I get to play a little bit of tag with my new moves!”
17 slowed and sped up his perception of time as he focused. The sounds of clashing batons and grunts of pain faded away as he entered a deeper mental state. The information from the previous day materialized in his head as the voice of the lecturer spoke to him, ‘When this lesson is complete you will also be able to slow and speed up your perception of time with the aid of your enhanced reflexes. But the most powerful technique you will learn today, the force-flex technique, will allow you to move enemies several feet away from you with a single palm strike. By channeling energy into your strikes, you will find even greater heights await you. The true magic of these techniques will come forth as you mix them together’
The Proctor’s voice removed 17’s mind from its meditative state. 16 rested against a wall drenched in sweat. There were no signs of distress on his body other than the labored breathing. “Good job, 16. You’re up, 17. Seeing as how 16 had such an easy time ‘playing tag’, we decided to increase the difficulty. While you were meditating, the soldiers were replaced with a few of our Special Grade Augmented Specialists. Your objective is to survive the SGAS assault for 10 minutes.”
17 got up from his lotus stance and jumped down to the sparring mat. 10 fully suited specialists with assorted guns, Qwan Dao, Staffs, and Knuckle Dusters stood in front of him. An ominous presence drifted beyond the shadows of the sparring mat. It seemed to circle like a hungry predator. “Let the match, begin!” The nearest soldier, wielding a pair of steel knuckle dusters, rushed toward him. 17 slowed his breathing and his perception of time stretched.
As his fist came at him, 17 moved to the right and used the Ox-fist technique combined with force-flex to strike him in the solar plexus. The blood in the veins of 17’s fist felt like they were harder than steel. The soldier caved in around his fist, launched backward, and slammed into a knife-wielding soldier. The resulting collision stunned both combatants momentarily. As 17’s perception of time returned to normal, he saw the other agents race toward him.
They all charged at different angles and different timings, two to the left and two more further back on the right. There was still the ominous presence as well, but it didn’t seem ready to make a move just yet. 17 looked at the enemies in front of him as he remembered the viper technique. It was mostly to be used when faced with multiple enemies.
In the middle of all the movement, he saw a serpentine path of counters light up in between them. Soft tissue and weak joints seemed almost obvious now. He pronged his middle finger opposite his thumb and pressed his index finger against it. Once again collecting aura, he focused the energy on the tips of his fingers.
As the soldiers rushed in, he hit their pressure points as his reflexes came alive, lighting the lethal and paralyzing points in front of him. The specialists fell one after another as he struck their necks, arms, and backs. Many of the combatants had some form of enhanced durability that he knew surpassed his own. Even the pressure point strikes he used would have no effect if not for the added layer of aura. Glancing blows and light strikes made their way through occasionally, but he was unshakeable. Or at least, so he thought.
Suddenly, he felt pressure on his back and began rising into the air, lifted by an unknown force. He twisted in the air and came face-to-face with a lean but toned Korean boy appearing to be about 17 years of age. The boy smiled. “Hello.” 17 heard the light and airy voice of the instructor that had taught him the animal martial arts techniques. “17 meet Oh Hyun-Woo.” The Proctor’s voice floated through the air from somewhere outside the dimmed lights of the mat. Oh Hyun-Woo glided towards 17 as he backflipped out of the air. 17 leapt toward him and focused his Aura flow into his arms. He struck with the quickness of the viper.
As he dashed forward, 17 pushed his aura out using the steel leopard defense technique. His whole body became dense, and the release of energy created a wall of repelling force. Oh Hyun-Woo flew back, somersaulted, and landed quietly on the ground seeming wholly unbothered. He faintly smiled absently, “I have taught you quite well. Your defense is strong but how fast can you transition when outpaced?”
The air stilled instantly as Oh Hyun-Woo seemed to glide over the ground as he ran. He ran around 17 faster and faster, his figure blurring despite 17’s heightened vision. As he sped up, He began suppressing his ki to hide his footsteps. 17 focused his aura into his enhanced senses but could feel nothing. Small strikes peppered his body in various places, testing his reach and reaction time.
Steadily, the blows were increasing in force. Soon, the onslaught would start to do actual damage but Oh Hyun-Woo was clearly giving 17 time to adapt a solution. 17 considered employing Steel Leopard once more. No, that wouldn’t fix the issue. He can’t sense when he will attack so he can’t properly brace for it. The same could be said of his shadows. If he spread them out as a trap, they wouldn’t have enough substance to do any real damage. Just as the blows began to transition from heavy rain to light hail, 17 got an idea.
The problem wasn’t his speed, it was the way he hid his ki. His Senses can’t pick up his movement because there isn’t anything to pick up. Oh Hyun-Woo had completely silenced his own imprint on the world around him. In a feat of absolute body control, he seemed to be only moving or exerting energy that was absolutely necessary. Nothing was wasted or left over that could be traced. This Technique, although powerful, did have one glaring issue that 17 could exploit thankfully. Instead of just his senses, 17 let his aura leak into the shadows surrounding the mat. The room faded into a gray mist, and he waited. Thus far, one truth could be relied upon from 17’s countless duels. No one could erase their shadow.
Just as Oh Hyun-Woo touched the ground to change his direction of attack, 17 sensed the shadow created under his foot. He lashed out with all the strength that he had stored directly in front of him. He hit Hyun-Woo square in the shoulder, sending him spinning until crashing into a post. He stood up, centered himself, and sped towards 17 even faster. 17 called out to the shadows and thickened the air around him with darkness. He watched as the young martial artist’s eyes lost focus as he slipped into the shadows. He glided in the dark, weightless, until he was behind the youthful instructor. He punched Oh Hyun-Woo in the back then hit his four spinal pressure points paralyzing his whole body.
17 stood over Oh Hyun-Woo and prepared to push his index and middle finger through his throat when his eyes suddenly blazed with a purple light. In a blur, he was on his feet faster than 17’s eyes could track. He tucked his body underneath the sudden lethal strike by pure instinct. He flicked his index finger and a spike of shadow speared out of the ground towards Hyun-Woo’s throat. Time froze them in place as The Proctor came into view, his eyes shining green, and his aura faintly pulsed the same color.
The Proctor spoke clinically as he released the effect, “Alright, I’ve seen enough. Good job, 17. Instructor, what do you think?” 17’s hands relaxed and the shadow spike quickly faded. Oh Hyun-Woo fell and rolled backward swiftly, popped up balancing on his hands, and spoke as if his energy was barely exerted, “I think he did exceptionally! I had to use all my skills to even keep up with him! Well....at least all of my martial arts skills anyway. Haha!” Oh Hyun-Woo smiled goofily while upside down and laughed. Unlike 16, there was no arrogance in the action or words, just a child-like mirth from the exercise. 17 stared blankly as he awaited further orders. Oh Hyun-Woo was powerful. The difference in technique and speed in that last moment was almost like a different person. Based on that brief use of force, 17 would be gravely injured in a prolonged fight.
“17, your training is done for the day based on these results. According to your recent overall metrics, Oh Hyun-Woo is still a little out of your league for full sparring. With your rate of growth though, that could change as soon as tomorrow. You can return to your private training quarters to meditate for now.” 17 jumped up to the main deck of the training room and walked to his private area. He stood up on the wood beam scaffolding balanced 150 feet in the air, meditating. He replayed the memories of today in his mind and stored them.
17 was about to begin meditating again when suddenly a large burst of pain exploded in his head. Tendrils of shadow sprang out around him and writhed in sync with the pulsing migraine. Foreign Memories began flashing in front of him. He clutched the sides of his head and tasted blood in his mouth. He saw collapsing columns and burning wood, the acrid scent of burnt cedar overloading his sense of smell. A flash of bright light blinded him and then the explosive crunch of leaves assaulted his ears. ‘How are we going to get home?’ ‘I don’t know-, Apollo.’ The overload of stimuli overwhelmed his body and he started to black out. He saw thin whisps of gold swim around him as his body grew heavy and he finally fell unconscious.