"Scan looks good, Alyssa. Today is crossbow open your eyes." Justin's voice echoes in my head. I open my eyes to find a table with a crossbow along with five bolts; across the table, five people with targets on their chest.
I grab the first bolt loading into the crossbow; I aim and pull the trigger. The bolt flies from the weapon, entering the first person's chest, pricing their heart. Slowly I make my way down the table using every bolt and never missing. When the last person falls, the room around me changes.
I'm now on top of a building with people walking in the street below. Everyone is wearing regular clothes. Justin's voice comes through the speaker again, "There is one person in the crowd with a target on their shirt. Find them and take them out; you have one bolt."
I look to the crossbow in my hands to see it, too, has changed. There has been a scope added, and the bolt is already loaded.
Careful to keep my finger away from the trigger, I look through the scope, scanning the crowd for the target. It doesn't take long to locate, but they are in a group of people, making it hard for me to find an opening. Wait, there is no opening for their chest, but I can see the back of their head. I steady my aim then pull the trigger; the bolt flies, piercing the skull, destroying the brain killing the target.
I duck behind the ledge of the building as screams start erupting from the crowd of people below. I sit there listening to the cries for what feels like hours, but it was only a few minutes. I know they are monitoring my brain waves, so I have to keep them steady. Adam can only do so much to hide the truth.
Before I know it, I'm out of the simulation, and Adam is pulling me out of the glass case. "You did well today. Good job at solving the puzzle." I nod.
"Thank you." He pats my head.
"Go get ready for school." I nod and head to my room.
After showering and getting my uniform on, I make my way down to the front door to wait for Mark.
After thirty minutes of Mark's rambling, he pulls up to my school. I get out of the car and notice Dylan standing at the door, his blonde hair blowing around in the cold Minnesota wind. I can see from here he is shivering. I try not to roll my eyes as I walk to the doors. Dylan takes notice and runs up to me, "A-Alyssa i-it's uh nice t-to see you."
"Dylan, why are you outside? It's mid-August."
"Y-yeah i-it's a bit c-cold bu-but t-totally worth it." He rushes to open the door for me. I wish I could yell at him to leave me alone it's too dangerous for anyone to be close to me, but I can't; I have to be perfect before the door closes behind Dylan the way too familiar high pitch voice of Jessica echos in the hall.
"Well, I guess I owe Ian a favor. I swore the emotionless freak would never get a boyfriend. That loser Dylan finally wore you down. I guess even freaks have their limits." I go to walk past her to get to my first period. "Hey, don't ignore me!" She goes to throw a punch aiming for my face—the wrong move.
I grab her hand before it makes contact with my face, "I don't know what you were expecting of me, but it would be wise of you not to injure me too badly. Your parents would have a large price to pay."
She pulls her hand away, looking scared, "Are you threatening me? You can't do that. Just wait until I tell Ian you'll be dead." Jessica runs off her friends, following close behind.
Having that dealt with, I continue to class, leaving Dylan stunned in the hall alone. When I get to class, I open my bag pulling out the new book, Muay Thai's art. Part of my training is given one school day to read what I'm given, memorize, and perform it the next morning.
Gym is my last period, but I'm not allowed to participate. I have to sit on the bleachers and read while everyone else does hard physical labor. Today they are playing dodge ball.
I hear my classmates whispering, so I look up through my bangs only to see a red ball heading for me. I move to the left to avoid being hit, just as I did, the ball hits the bleachers next to me. The teacher looks up at the sound and shouts before someone else can throw another ball, "Hey! Next time I have to tell you brats to leave Alyssa alone, you'll be doing nothing but running laps for weeks!"
The only reason he cares is that all staff here know what I am, and none of them want a large government fine for allowing damage to government property. That's all I am property to the government, nothing but a weapon in training.
Dr. Coleman will be pleased when I get back as I avoided injury today due to scaring Jessica this morning and Ian being absent. As I wait for Mark, a hand grabs my shoulder, causing my training to kick in. I quickly grab the person pinning them to the wall with my forearm, only to find a terrified Dylan. "Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry! Please don't hurt me." I release him stepping back.
"That was dangerous. It would be best if you never grabbed someone. You never know what will happen."
"Uh y-yeah. I uh s-said I'm sorry. Where did yo-you learn that?"
"Not important. Now leave." He grits his teeth, which is odd behavior for him.
"N-no! I-i've talked to my dad a-and I ag-agree with him." Dylan takes a deep breath closing his eyes raising his voice, "I've been nothing but nice to you from day one when everyone was so mean to you. I deserve to be treated better than being pushed around by you. I don't know why you act emotionless, but I know you aren't. That's impossible. Why won't you trust me enough to show me the real you?"
"Walk away, Dylan." He steps closer.
"I said I wouldn't." Dylan reaches out to grab me. I grab his hand before he touches me and twists his arm. "Ow ow ow ow. Okay, okay, okay, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, don't break my arm, please. I'm sorry." I let go of his arm pushing him away.
"Don't listen to your father anymore." He nods, rubbing his sore arm.
"Y-yeah, my mom uh s-says the same thing." I see Mark pull up, so I leave without saying anything else.
After checking in with my doctor, I head to check in with Adam. I knock on his door, and he calls for me to come in. I enter, locking the door behind me. He turns around in his desk chair, shutting off his computer, "Hey sweetheart. How was school? I know training was a bit rough this morning. The president told me to leave you in for a bit longer than normal to-" I flop onto his bed, cutting him off.
"To monitor my brain activity. I know daddy and school wasn't great. I didn't get injured, but as you will see with the earring footage, I had to use some force against my classmates. I feel bad for Dylan. I'm tired of this life." My dad comes sits next to me, and plays with my hair.
"I know, baby. I know."