Fatal Flaw

I

She turned and swiftly slammed her first into the side of the robot, it exploding mid-air. A moment later, five men holding automatic rifles appeared, the one in the middle of the group who Elspeth recognized.

"You," she growled, her voice harsh and unforgiving.

"Yes, me," the man replied, a satisfied smile creeping across his face. "I did this to you, Elspeth. I gave both you and your sister powers; you should be thankful for all I've-"

A bang rang throughout the room as the man's body silently fell to the ground, and then began to fade into nothingness. All of the other men and robots seemed to dissolve into the air. Then, a robotic, feminine voice crackled over the speakers placed in the metal ceiling high above their heads.

"Simulation terminated. Please proceed to the exit." The group of kids behind Elspeth began to head toward the metal double doors at the other end of the room. A moment later, El felt a tug at her sleeve. She turned to face one of the girls of the group. The girl was around 14 years old, her brown hair falling just below her shoulders. The focal point of her round face was her eyes; strong and full of potential, yet still young, full of curiously and fear.

"Miss Deprisco, is everything alright? The simulation ended one minute and 48 seconds earlier than usual," The girl spoke, her voice warm but calculating.

"How many times do I need to tell you, Carolanne, call me Elspeth. And yes, everything is fine. Go catch up with everyone else." Carolanne frowned before following the other kids.

As soon as the metal doors closed behind Carolanne, a sliding door opened in the wall in front of Elspeth. A woman in a black suit stepped out, followed by a man with a dark brown coat.

"You let your emotions get in the way of your reason again, Miss Deprisco. It was unbelievably selfish. You could have gotten your entire team killed."

"I'm sorry, Director Pyre, I didn't realize we were taking simulations seriously now," Elspeth snapped. This only caused an even deeper frown set in Pyre's face.

"It doesn't matter whether that's with the simulation or not. If this situation had occurred in the field, you and your team would be dead. I suggest you keep your emotions in check." Pyre turned, and Elspeth studied the director's appearance; everything from her blonde hair tied into a neat bun down to her perfectly tailored suit seem to mimic her personality.

"There's just one problem, Pyre," Elspeth began, causing Pyre to freeze in her tracks. "My 'team' won't ever be in the field. I am teaching them to fight so they can protect themselves if something were to ever happen to us. What I am not doing, however, is turning them into soldiers, like you want me to, Maria. I believe we both know my reasoning for that." A tense silence sat in the air for a moment before Pyre responded.

"I advise you to think before you speak next time we have a conversation, Miss Deprisco," Pyre warned as she stepped back through the doorway she entered through. The brown-clad man followed her, taking his turn to speak at the door began to close.

"Watch where you step, Elspeth," he said, parroting Pyre's cautioning tone. "You're on thin ice."

"Go to hell, Salvo," Elspeth spat in response as the door finally shut. Elspeth stalked toward the metal doors that the kids had exited through minutes before and entered the elevator in the dim hallway that lay beyond it.

25 minutes later, Elspeth exited another elevator in a building back in the city. She gazed into a room boarded by sleek glass walls. The room contained a rug on top of its linoleum floor, with benches lining some of the walls. She spotted a child's play table pushed back into a corner, a girl about 13 years of age sitting next to it, clutching a toy train in her fist. A faint smile crept onto Elspeth's lips. She pushed past the glass doors and started toward the girl, who was clutching onto her IV stand as she weakly got to her feet. Her fragile, pale arms reached out toward Elspeth. She gingerly enveloped the girl into an embrace. She felt a tear slip down her cheek as the girl's hairless head rested against her chest, causing all too painful memories to pop into her thoughts.