Chapter Twenty-Two

The door closed behind me. The room lights changed to a shade of blue. And a female voice spoke.

'Good day Zachary Adams. My name is Computer One. And I will be your trainer'

'How do you know my name?'

'Every room is an advanced technology Mr Adams and the moment we are switched on and you stepped on our tiles, we received all information about you'

That's cool but also creepy. I'm training with a computer generated program that knows everything about me.

'You don't know all my secrets…' I said, testing her. Surely she doesn't know everything.

'Of course my knowledge is only what the government knows about you. Now let's start'

'Wait!' I wanted to ask something very important. I realised she mentioned the government. This place has a link with the government? Something's fishy. But Computer has already laid out the setting. I am not standing in the room anymore. I'm in a thick dark forest.

'First lesson, survival' Computer said.

'Computer! You said about the government. This isn't a part of the cause right?' I asked, desperately.

But Computer was ignoring me. I ignored whatever strange sounds I'm hearing surrounding me and try to feel the edge of the room. But I can't seem to find it. Suddenly, I came face to face with a fierce looking tiger staring at me hungrily.

'Not real' I said.

'Use your general knowledge on tigers and outsmart this animal' Computer said.

'I quit!' I yelled. Trying every word I can to stop this training. "Quit" didn't work. "Stop this" didn't work either. The tiger was creeping slowly towards me. Looks like I have to settle this. I looked around me. The big trees and dirt on the ground. All the details seemed real. But if this isn't real, I won't die here of course. An idea hit me. I went closer to the tiger, giving him a hundred percent chance to attack me. The tiger jumped up on me. It pushed me to the ground hard. And for a moment I thought this virtual training affect real life as well. And the tiger violently move to my neck and bite it. I didn't feel anything. It's like the whole thing was all along holographic. How could I have fallen to the ground in the first place?

'Training one failed' Computer said. Her voice was disappointed. The whole forest disappeared and the room came back. I realised what had pushed me earlier. A big obstacle that has been installed in the wall. It probably went out when the tiger jumped on me. That hurt.

'Training restarting in ten seconds. Say my name to cancel training' Computer said.

'Computer!' I shouted immediately. No effect, Computer was still counting down. I think hard to remember.

'Computer One!' I shouted again.

'Training cancelled' Computer said. The door opened and I quickly got out. The other rooms are still closed. My friends are still training inside. I have to find out what's really going on. I slowly walked around the place. Where's Atira? There, I saw her sitting in a room. Like an office. Her office, a portrait of her hung on the wall behind her desk. She was speaking on the tabloid. I peeked carefully, if I move a lot, she'll notice me.

'The imbeciles are training in the rooms' I heard Atira's voice. She's not who we thought she is. Calling me and my friends imbeciles? I can't get emotional right now, I need to listen more.

'Relax Jayden, the training is not to train them, but just to buy time for you to get here'

She's working with Jayden Pace! My heart was racing fast.

'You can take all the time you want because these imbeciles won't know how to stop the training'

I did. She is the imbecile.

'Yeah the trap worked successfully. Jack manipulate them very well'

I suddenly remembered Olivia's advice, "'trust no one'". I felt cheated. Disappointed. I thought Jack was a good guy. Turned out he's part of the act.

'They really think the way to the main base is through the palace' Atira said. She laughed very evilly. Okay, no time to waste. I gotta get my friends and Zayne out of the rooms. I retraced my steps slowly and went back to the rooms. There must be a way to stop the training from the outside. I looked around. Each room has a panel next to the door. I felt it, there's a an opening to take off the lid. I opened it. A lot of wirings. Oh no. I need Orion for this. Which room is he in? Hoping for the best, I pulled all the wires out together at once. A bit of current got onto me and I felt the shock wave for a split second. I removed my hand very quickly. The door opened. A completely dark room. Suddenly Orion appeared at the door. He seemed dizzy.

'What happened?' he asked.

'No time to waste, we have to get out of here now and quietly' I told him softly. I pulled his hand to the next room. That pulled him out of the trance a bit. 'I need you to help me unlock the door safely. I had no choice for yours. Sorry it affected your mind'

I removed the lid. Orion went to observe the wirings but he was still dizzy. I tapped his shoulder a few times.

'Come on Orion, we're in danger'

He was still observing. Okay, can't wait for him. I went to the other room and pulled out all the wires like just now. It was Zayne's room. That got my brother dizzy as well. I carried him and went to check on Orion. He was still observing the wires. I was about to pull the wires when the door opened. The room was not dark like the rest. It was just like mine. Fayre stepped out of the room. Her expression mad. She was surprised to see us.

'You figured it out?' I asked.

'I needed to restart the fifth round a lot of times then I gave up so I cancelled the training. What are you all doing outside and what happened to them both?'

'Long story, we're in danger. We have to get out of here'

Fayre seemed confident. I guessed one of the rounds she trained how to get out of a trap. Maybe. She walked away briskly, gesturing us to follow. I had my hands busy, carrying Zayne in one arm and helping Orion to keep up with the other.

'First we take some of the weapons' Fayre said.

'I don't even know how to use them' I said.

'Just listen to me'

We entered the earlier weapon room. The weapons all look attractive suddenly.

'Grab anything that feels right' Fayre said. She went off to the swords section. I laid my brother on the small couch that they have beside the guns section. Fayre went to me. To my surprise, she slapped them both hard on the cheeks. That startled them both awake.

'Whatcha do that for?!' Orion said, feeling annoyed. They both rubbed their cheeks.

'We have no time to lose, grab a suitable weapon and meet there now!' Fayre said like a commander, pointing to the steps near the walkway we went through, before this whole thing started. Everyone obeyed. We went to get the weapons that seemed right to us. I looked around fearfully. Hoping that Atira won't be coming to find us soon. I looked at the cool guns they have in the guns section. Orion was with me. Fayre continued inspecting the swords. And Zayne admired the strange objects in the strange-objects section. I picked up a small portable gun. It's an unusual looking weapon. It's shape is like a donut. The handle is one side of it. And the opening for the bullet to go through is the other side of it, bulging out a little. It's an unusual opening too. It's covered except for many tiny holes.

'I like this one' I said.

'I like this' Orion said, showing me his choice. A normal shaped gun with an additional compartment to fill in liquid I guess.

'Whatever that is, I guarantee that's dangerous' I said, admiring it.

'By dangerous you mean super cool'

Fayre came.

'Ready?'

We both nodded.

'Orion, pick another weapon' Fayre said.

'What's wrong with this?'

'You can keep that, but you can't use it now. That's a bullet former. You need to fill in the empty jar attached to it with any liquid which it will change to a bullet'

'Cool man. So if I put in mercury then my bullet will be mercury?'

'Yes'

Orion exclaimed with delight.

'Oh I'm keeping this'

'Yes but pick another weapon, you can't shoot anyone with air'

Orion happily looked at the other guns.

'Fayre, since you're a weapon expert, you mind telling me what does this do?' I asked, showing her my gun. She observed mine.

'That's a stunner. If you shoot someone with it, you will knock reality out of the person's mind. But you can't affect very realistic minds. So I suggest you pick a second weapon just in case'

'What you got?'

She showed me hers. A normal sword but very shiny and have a smooth comfortable handle.

'It's rare. An emotional weapon. They call it the Molash. It feels the user's emotions and changes accordingly. So if I'm angry, the blades will be burning with unseen fire. It can take a form of anything. Which makes it very special. And hard to find other abilities. Because most people fight when they're angry'

I looked astonishingly at the sword. Her story was very interesting.

'Now hurry find another weapon!' Fayre said. I decided to go to the strange-objects section where Zayne is.

'Hey Zac, look at this' Zayne said. He showed me a small imperfect blue sphere the size of my thumb with some carvings on it. And I realised it's made out of diamond. I looked closer and it surprised me. It has the same strange symbol as the one I saw at the base!

'Touch it' Zayne said, in a tempting voice. I touched it. I pulled my hand away immediately. I felt a short wave of static current. I forced my hand to touch it again. This time the static was less impactful to my hand. I guess the resistance in me has adapted to it. I grabbed it. I felt really good. So good. My energy was charging. I felt like I'm indestructible. I could feel power passing through my veins from the sphere to my entire body.

'You feel it too' Zayne said. 'Watch this. I tried it earlier'

Zayne raised his hand up to face one object on the glass shelves. Slowly, the object floated and moved out towards Zayne. I was very amazed.

'Wow!' I exclaimed. I guess my voice was so loud. Because Fayre and Orion came over.

'We're ready to go' Fayre said. Orion already has another gun in his hand. It's a normal bullet gun. The bullet former was attached safely to the side of his jumpsuit. Yes we're still in our jumpsuits. Very uncomfortable. The jumpsuits have places to put weapons or tools or other portable objects.

'You pick another weapon yet?' Fayre asked me.

'Yeah, this'

I showed her the sphere. Her eyes went wide.

'You found a small portion of the sphere?!' she said excitedly.

'Hey, I found it' Zayne said.

'What do you mean portion of the sphere?' I said, ignoring Zayne. My curiosity was much more important. Nope, not trying to be savage but really, Fayre knows a lot.

'I always went to the capital with Johnson back when I thought he's my dad. Yeah, so I learned a lot about the sphere'

'You mean the sphere of Dust?'

'Yes, it was said that the scientists trying to take the sphere, when he was caught, he put up a huge fight. And the weapon he was holding, accidentally cut that portion out'

'A sword?'

'The Molash'

Fayre showed the sword in her right hand.

'You fools!'

A sudden yell startled all of us. It was Atira. She was stomping towards us from the walkway to the rooms.

'We took too much time!' Fayre exclaimed. She held the Molash in both her hands and was ready to strike at Atira.

'You think you are strong enough to fight me?' Atira smirked. She grabbed a sword along the way and clashed with Fayre's.

'I see you picked a legendary weapon' Atira said. 'But you are still ignorant on how to use it'

I can't believe the rest of us were just standing there watching them duel and do nothing. I attached my gun to my side and carefully went to the swords section. Looking around for a fine sword. Then I saw the shelve with laser swords. They're all not triggered yet. I took one handle that attracts my eye. It was blue in colour with few black designs. I pressed the trigger button. A translucent shape of a blade shot out of the hole and stopped about a metre long. I can't really see the blade. This will be very dangerous for anyone who is unaware that it is on. They could just bump into it. I swing the sword forward. I saw a nearly invisible wave of force field smashed the glass case up front that contains some small unknown objects. I got their attention.

'You put that back now!' Atira yelled at me. I ignored her of course and went to help Fayre. It was tense, Atira was fast and really good. She blocked Fayre's, then mine and counter attacked mine which I blocked quickly. Then she does it again then counter attacked Fayre which she blocked in time. I don't understand why the force field doesn't work on her.

'Like I said, you don't know how to use it' Atira said.

Suddenly, Atira was flung backwards. She hit a pillar hard and fell unconscious. We looked back. Zayne had his arms stretched. So he was the one who did that. I'm amazed.

'We don't have much time. You won't defeat her with sword fighting now' Orion said.

'We need to get out of here before Jayden arrives' I said in a hurry, leading them to the walkway I mentioned earlier.

'Jayden Pace?' Orion said.

'Yes'

'Who's Jayden?' Fayre asked. I remembered, she's not from Warhem.

'Another long story, let's get out of here first' I replied.

We walked briskly through the walkway. And we came face to face with a group of soldiers in the Ava uniform. No, we're trapped in this place!

'You won't be going anywhere without me' a familiar voice spoke from behind the soldiers. They gave way and a man walked up to us. It was Jayden Pace.