Luminescence

Eight.

"Try harder!"

Priscilla's voice echoed off of the walls of the training room as I struggled to keep up. Beads of sweat were falling down my forehead and onto my tank top. I was literally a river.

Wes and Priscilla had both begun to train me as of an hour ago. Their methods was relentless. From the first minute they hit the timer, I was already running on the treadmill. As I ran timed miles, the results were stunning. I came short of just five minutes or less. I was nonetheless stunned at my endurance. Around the junkyard there weren't treadmills. We never ran either. How my body was in such good shape was beyond me. Was endurance one of the perks that came with being a mutant?

Right now I was on one of the final stages of training for the day. Wes had initiated a hologram training program, where holographic images of guards would attack whoever stood in their vicinity. They couldn't hurt me, since they were holograms obviously, but I could hurt them. I was hurting physically from the amount of energy I was exerting.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't defeat the holograms. I could easily punch and kick at them weakly, but I couldn't seem to tap into that inner kung fu ability I had used on the rooftop that other night.

"Focus, child. Find the inner strength within to fight these demons around you," Priscilla urges to me as my fist misses a face of one of the guards. That only resulted in the guard taking me out with a kick, and tiredly I got back up.

The program resets itself again. "I can't do it, Priscilla! How am I supposed to do this with no previous combat experience?" I question angrily as my frustration was getting the best of me.

"Saying 'I can't do it' will only make you want to give up more. Again!" Priscilla shouts encouragingly. I groan as three more guards from each side of me all throw themselves at me at once. I quickly roll to the side, avoiding getting crushed by massive holograms that were at least two feet taller than me.

The three holograms then began to circle me again, all in a crouched position like a football player getting ready to tackle the skinny quarterback. One approaches and they punch at me, which I easily dodge. But out of nowhere, one comes from behind and grabs my neck and puts me into a chokehold. The simulation then turned off for the millionth time in an hour, signaling I had lost.

"Again!" Priscilla shouts. "Mara, I'm right here behind you. I want you to succeed and I want you to be the best fighter out there. But those desires can't come from me. You have to dig down and find them deep within you somewhere. You can do it."

I weakly smile, admiring her for not giving up hope on me. The holograms appear for round 62, and I felt readier than ever. Knowing that Priscilla believed in me made it the worth while.

Wes sighs. "I'm going back to the barracks. I have a meeting in an hour, and I need to get ready." He shrugs and watches for a few seconds more before cascading down the steps of the training room.