Secrets

Extracurricular Activities

The day came around. I woke up early. Checking the list of teams I saw that Thornton had taken Dilan as his partner.

Geoffrey was paired with Sara, likely due to her request. Sara had agreed to join, but only if she was on his team. Something about trusting him.

Kendra was paired off with Dustin, who had secretly rewired all of Mclarick's team's armor. With a simple button press he could lock up their armor.

Carlee and I were a team, being the only ones left. She's my best friend so I don't argue. I know I can trust her to get me out of a tight spot, and vice versa.

A message sent to my computer from Thornton reads, the new armor is ready. Head to the armory. I'll be there.

A week ago Thornton had said we'd be getting new, custom, armor. I asked for something that wasn't flashy.

I meet everyone in the armory. They all have their own armor. Geoffrey has a demoman vest, brown and gold.

Carlee has a black bodysuit, not too revealing or shiny, but still allows freedom of movement. And being made of nanofibers it can lock up like any other armor when she's hit.

Sara has a simple pair of red tights, red boots, a red shirt with silver trim, and a red skirt with open front. I guess if she's trying to hide in a strawberry field it would be useful.

Thornton wears a full body suit of armor, like something out of Halo. Metallic plates all over with a nanofiber mesh underlying, and a full helmet.

Dilan is dressed the same way, with a blue stripe down one shoulder.

Dustin wears a set of the normal armor. Completely unmodified. At least visibly.

I end up with a white trenchcoat with red trim, just like my regular one but lighter. In both color and weight. And a pair of matching pants and shirt. "I asked for something that wasn't flashy." I complain to Carlee, who handed it to me.

"This is the least flashy they had." Carlee finishes my reference.

Kendra herself wears a forrest green, long sleeved, tee shirt with a pair of matching pants and boots, and a lighter green overcoat.

"You look smashing. Too bad I'll have to get a paint stain on it." I tease.

"Oh not my new outfit." She replies in form.

Looking at the blade of a spiffy new training sword I say, "Well, I'll do my best to keep it clean." And sheathe the blade.

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Finally up top we organize ourselves around the arena. It's a saturday and all of the kids at the academy have heard of the event. Convinced we just happen to be the top PE class, and that the dean just decided to make an event of this battle, even the ones who don't know about the agents have decided to attend. It's like a football game at normal highschools.

I look at Carlee as we stand on the arena edge, she has a high speed rifle slung across her back and a pair of tactical pistols at her hips. Her gloves are armored, allowing her to do extra melee damage.

I select my sword and sling it over my back. The black blade looks pretty nice, even if it is just some sort of carbon material.

"What's our plan?" She asks.

"We pick a target. Who first?" I ask her opinion.

"I don't know." She says with a look of bewilderment.

"Im tempted to say Dustin, but he's got Kendra. How about we follow Thornton. I want him to be in the final four. I look forward to taking him out." I ask. More a statement than a question.

"Oooh. Kendra eh? Are you two...?" She fades out, leaving the question open.

"No. But I do like her. It's complicated." I answer, but not really.

"I see. You two are so cute together." She giggles and grins at me.

"Hey focus Ci, we need a plan." I change the subject.

"Well let's just go find somewhere to camp. With this many people it's bound to take a while. Why not just let them come to us?" Carlee suggests.

"Sure." The last part of my agreement is cut short by the buzzer. We race off, through the brush. Our goal is the bunker. The barracks are a good hiding spot, and Carlee's specialty is close quarters combat.

We get there first, as we go I stop and rig a tripwire in front of the front door to trigger all the alarms in the bunker. And just for good measure a clothes line too.

Fifteen minutes pass with no trouble. with no warning two of Mclarick's men pop out from behind a corner. Carlee and I are huddled in the bunker. The boys walk into the room where we hide, waiting. They nove to the back of the room and Carlee shoots them both with her pistols. We drag them out of the room by their locked armor and leave them in the hallway.

I check the scoreboard with my android brain. Three teams down. All of them are Mclarick's. "Soon it'll just be us." I say.

We keep waiting and eventually the alarm goes off. It's silenced quickly but we're aware now. I pick up her rifle and decide to move to the entrance and clear the team that tripped my wire.

We sneak down the hallway and around corners, finally the door is in sight. We move closer and don't find anyone. We turn and Carlee is hit in the arm, one pistol drops.

I turn and shoot with 'deadly' accuracy and hit the assailant, square over his heart. We hear footsteps as his partner runs. I chase him and he shoots as he tries to escape. I deflect all of his bullets and keep following. Soon another shot is heard. Geoffrey's voice congratulates Sara on hitting a target.

I motion for Carlee to catch up and we move ahead. A grenade flies around the corner and I kick it back, it goes off as it rounds the corner. By the time they see it it's too late.

Carlee and I head out to find more people to hunt. The game wears on.

Finally there are three teams left. Kendra and Dustin. Me and Carlee. Dilan and Thornton. Out of the corner of my eye I see movement and pretend not to notice. I tell carlee, "I just saw movement. I think it's Dustin. Let's quickly circle back to him nonchalantly." And we do. When we get there I shove Carlee aside as a bullet whizzes past us. Kendra's taking shots. I draw my sword and charge while Carlee takes shots back.

Next thing I know Dustin is down and so am I, she got my legs when I was distracted.

Kendra has run out of ammo and Carlee has no time to reload either. Taking my sword Kendra and Carlee have a fierce battle. Carlee shows off her martial arts acrobatics by avoiding every swing. Jumping over the blade, rolling under it. Finally, after Kendra gets worn down, Carlee punches her in the chest, locking Kendra's  arms and legs.

Carlee uses a medkit on me to unlock my legs and helps me up. We slowly walk over to Kendra where I take back my sword and gently overload her pressure sensor. I swing my sword left, then right, and in one fluid motion, sheathe it on my back.

After a while more wandering. We come to the clearing where I fought Mclarick the last time. I see Dilan shoot and have time to stick my hand out in front of the bullet before it hits Carlee's head. My arm locks up.

"No headshots! Don't you know the rules?!" I yell, upset.

Dilan, without a word, draws a second pistol from his belt, and points it at me. "So long... Cap." He shoots and I duck. A real bullet hits the tree behind me with some force. Carlee and I duck behind a large tree.

"What are you doing?!" I yell to Dilan.

"Immobilizing your sword hand so that I can kill you more easily." He explains.

"I have something to tell you." A pause and then, "I am not left handed!" I grab Carlee's gun and jump out running to another tree, shooting as I go. I hit him but his armor doesn't lock. He must have modified it."

I dart back and forth, closer and closer. He can't get a clean shot. Finally he looks around and can't find me. I tackle him and we wrestle. Finally my robot strength wins and I point the gun at his head. "What the hell are you thinking?!" I yell.

Without another word he reaches quickly up and pulls the trigger. He was on the wrong side of the gun.