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I stood in the middle of the gym, sweat dripping down my body, ragged breathing, heart beating fast. I felt so alive, smiling even through the burn and soreness.
Over the years, we had made a couple of adjustments to the room to make it what it was today. It had been a fun project, keeping me entertained and focused for a long time, and we could finally use it to its full potential.
It had become a mix of an ordinary gym and an obstacle course of sorts with a closed circuit of its own where I could track everything from my vitals to my progress. Pretty futuristic, but that was the norm inside that ship, especially having Becca with me alongside Monty's notes to keep me on the right path.
"Whoa, someone's getting old!" I jumped to the side, amused, knowing how my words would affect him. "That someone isn't me though."
"Get me a body and I'll teach you how to fight, azbluma." [ice flower]
"You say that like you've forgotten who I am, Kai." I chuckled as I lowered to avoid the ball swinging toward my face. "I know I'm better than you."
"You're certainly just as full of yourself as he is."
"Hey! On whose team are you, B?" I scoffed, raising my fists to my sides, ready for what came next.
"Yours, of course, but you've become too alike for everyone's liking."
"Kai and I are as similar as a potato and an onion." I huffed as I threw myself to the floor. "Don't tell me your mind is getting messed up."
I was halfway through that day's course. It changed every day to keep me on my toes, but that also meant any distraction could make me stumble and ruin my impeccable trajectory thus far. So I wouldn't allow it.
I chose to only listen to Becca's voice and ignore further comments from Kai because he had made it his mission to test me in every sense he could to find a weak spot and use it against me. To my surprise, he had only done that specifically to force me to fight him and mend my mistakes until the weak spot was a strength. I had chosen not to question him about it.
"15 minutes to go, Heda."
"Well, that was fast."
"And the fun has only just begun."
As Kai spoke, the lights started to dim, not completely to leave me in pitch-dark, but enough to force me to rely on something more than just my eyes. That was a new one. I liked it.
"This certainly explains the Ulger nightmare from three days ago."
"I was gathering intel." His voice reverberated behind me.
"You know I don't care." I took a deep breath, closing my eyes as I heard something beside me. "I killed him."
