Plutonian

Chapter 13

I pick up a pole lying idly by the corner and study it carefully. It looks like a laser pole but this is longer and broader. My fingers glide over its smooth metal surface and suddenly its end lights up and a buzz of electricity bursts out of it. I release it quickly and jump back in shock. 

I have been in the training center for the past one hour and so far there has been no one who has approached me or given me any form of instructions. In fact there is hardly anyone here. I look around for Asta but she is no where to be found.

"That's an electro pole," A tall, young boy with spiky red hair approaches me. He picks up the metal rod and twirls it around with his fingers. "If you touch it here it emits a surge of electricity that could maim you, like a snap gun."

He touches the middle of the rod and brilliant white light bursts from it's end. I quickly jump to the side and scowl at him. 

"My bad," He jokes and drops the pole to the floor. "I'm Leslie, a fellow trainee as well."

Leslie. I remember Lucian warning me about him. My eyes narrow on my opponent and I try to size him up. He is much taller than me but he has a thin, narrow frame that makes him look weak. He doesn't come across as a threat but I suppose he uses that to his advantage. 

"You're Aria, right? The girl who wants to join the army," He says with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. 

"Yes, I'm sure you're here for the same reason," I say even though his presence is making me a bit uncomfortable. There is something about him I can't quite put my finger on. Maybe the fact that he has a judgmental look on his face like he has figured me out already, and he is unimpressed. 

"No, I'm not interested in the army. I just like to fight." He replies nonchalantly. "Come on, we usually start the day with a briefing and some warm up rounds." He leads me outside the simulation room we are in and to the middle of the training center. 

"You mean you joined just so you could fight in the pits?" I find it hard to wrap my head around the fact that he has no purpose here other than to fight in the pits.

"Yes, there are many others here like me. We aren't so ambitious. Most of us just get pleasure from injuring others," He smiles viciously and I have to consciously stop my mouth from falling wide open. 

How could he feel that way? How could he enjoy hurting another human after everything they have put us through? 

"Besides, no one has joined the army in the last four years," Leslie says. He joins a line of trainees and I stand in the line next to him. "Oh, don't look so shocked, little one. After all the violence we have witnessed, it is only natural for us to rejoice when we can inflict the same pain on to others." 

I bite the insides of my cheeks hoping that I will be facing him in my next match. How I would love to punch that smirk off his scrawny face and then I stop myself as I realize he is right. We have been exposed to nothing but violence. It is all we know and if we were given the opportunity to change I am unsure if we could.

"Good morning, trainees. We will begin with our daily warm up session and then each of you will be divided into groups for sparing lessons," A loud voice echoes from up front. I look up to see a short middle aged man who's belly sticks out from under his training suit. 

"Who is he?" I ask Leslie. 

"That's Aries, an ex- fighter. The only one who has lasted till retirement. He's now in charge of the human training center," He explains. 

We begin running right after he finishes his short introduction. We run in parallel lines around the training center then out into the courtyard and around the building. I start off in the middle of the line but soon find my self at the end of it.