The Final Test

Ares did not understand what he meant by "last hope for humanity," but the first hypothesis that formed in his mind was that the dominion of the machines could continue and consume the entire world if the Specimens did not stop it. But how could a few individuals with strange abilities destroy an entire army of machines? Ares felt his head ache from the sheer volume of questions, especially concerning the strange names he had heard. He no longer had any certainty about what was happening. He knew only that someone was pulling strings from behind a curtain, manipulating them and the world around them, and that many things remained obscure and entirely unclear. He resolved to stop speculating and try to extract the information he came for: why were these people monitoring them? He said in a calm tone:

"How long will we continue to monitor them?"

"Until they are ready to complete their final test, and then the Master Gladius will take them. Remember this: we are the hope now! And remember also that the specimens must not die! Watch your specimen well and protect it from any danger, whether from robots or otherwise."

Ares nodded in agreement, his mind wandering as he processed what he had just heard. Everything the masked man said only deepened the mystery, providing no answers. He understood from the man's words that this was some kind of test, apparently the last one, but it also seemed to be the most difficult and bewildering. When we are 'ready,' we will pass the final test, he thought, the ideas conflicting in his head. Ready for what? And who is this Master Gladios who will take us? And where will he take us? Is he some businessman who spent his fortune conducting experiments on our bodies until we developed these unnatural abilities?

Ares could find no answers at all. He felt his head spin as dark thoughts surrounded him. Everything here is wrong. The General is withholding information! Or... could it be that the General, like me, doesn't know who Gladius is? Or is he part of the same game?

Ares decided he would complete his primary mission first, and then he would demand answers, obtaining them by force if necessary. But he had to be patient; his current mission was the most important thing. He saw that the cloaked man was once again preoccupied with his watch. Ares remembered that time was not on his side. He glanced at his own watch and saw he had ten seconds left before his original form returned. Fear beat like a drum in his heart. He quickly formulated an exit strategy. He drew a stun pistol from his pack and aimed it at the stranger.

"Sweet dreams, my friend," he said.

He fired. The man was jolted by a powerful electric shock and writhed in the air, glaring at Ares with eyes full of rage. "You... traitor," he gasped, before losing consciousness. He fell to the ground in a deep slumber.

"I don't know which of us is the traitor," Ares said, staring down at him as his form reverted to its original state. "But I doubt it's me, my friend."

Ares recalled what Sairi had done to the person he defeated. He knelt beside the unconscious body and whispered, "Sorry, but I'll be borrowing your watch and clothes for a while."

Ares took the clothes and the watch and put them on. He then headed back to watch Ivanov in the weapons shop more closely. As he walked, he heard a large explosion echo in the distance. He turned to the west and saw flames and smoke rising from somewhere far away. It had to be the robots. The explosion caught his attention, but he resolved to disregard it for now; he desperately needed to resume his mission. He continued through the darkness unnoticed, then glanced at his electronic slate for a few moments. What he saw astonished him.

"Damn it!" he yelled, his eyes bloodshot with alarm. "I have to stop him, quickly!"

He broke into a run. Suddenly, he heard the sound of gunfire nearby. He scrambled over the wreckage of buildings, heading toward the two points on the map that were converging.

"Sairi, you bastard, when did you get here?" he thought frantically. "Are you trying to kill Ivanov in this darkness?"

This terrified Ares. He saw that Sairi's signal was closing in on Ivanov's and worried that he would kill him in the dark without knowing his identity.

He sprinted toward them. Suddenly, he stopped amidst the rubble and looked ahead. He saw Sairi running out of the slanted building and turning left, followed by something black that didn't look human at all. Ares was startled by this turn of events, not knowing what the creature was. But as it drew closer and became visible under the moonlight, he remembered: it was Ivanov's ability.

"I have to stop them," he thought. "They're going to kill each other, and they're on the same team!"

Ares ran parallel to them, hidden among the debris, and saw them fighting with extreme violence, each one trying to take the other's life. He considered how to stop them. If he intervened now, he would surely die. He stood among the rubble, thinking as he watched them, praying that neither would manage to kill the other, though he felt that death would likely be Sairi's fate; his ability would not allow him to withstand the hardness of Ivanov's body.

Ares saw Sairi stop some rocks in mid-air with his strange power, then reverse them toward the behemoth. Ares was standing a short distance behind Ivanov, and the rocks nearly hit him. He ducked just before some of them fell on him, then quickly moved away from the area to a safer point to the east. He watched them again from between the ruined buildings, carefully analyzing the properties of Sairi's ability during the battle.

"He's using the bio-energy flowing through his body," he said to himself. "Somehow, he can project it externally and use it to move things and sense people around him through their energy flow and auras. But he can't sense me now because his focus is entirely on Ivanov."