Brain and Heart

X: Without the Kritch

Tommie's POV:
I couldn't sleep that night. I couldn't stop thinking about my siblings. Were they safe?

And plus, I had a long way to go before becoming a soldier. Day 2 was upon me.

Before I could think about resting my head on my rock-solid pillow, the alarm rang.

I heard the groans of annoyed roommates. And then I heard the door open. Multiple soldiers came in, all older men with red name tags.

Don't tell me that all these random guys get professionals as mentors! I thought while checking all the numbers on the tags.

"Rise and shine!" Said one of the soldiers.
"We've got training."

And I watched my roommates all get golden knives and put them on a belt. A belt I did not have.

And I watched one of them turn his knife into a giant sword. I was in utter shock. Is that what a Kritch Knife was capable of?

They all left, and I waited for Victor to come get me. I brushed my teeth in the molding sink and thought of all the health problems I could get from living here.
After about 20 minutes, he arrived holding a stick in his hands.

"You're late," I said when I saw him.
"Yeah. Some of us actually like personal hygiene," He said while rolling his eyes.

He gave me the stick and gestured for me to follow him around.

"Since I know how to sense the K.A., Will you be teaching me how to fight them?" I asked excitedly.

"Um no. Of course not." He told me.
"We've got reps to do." He continued.

I dragged my feet behind him. "Nooo."

When we got to the gym, it smelled like—whatever this gym smelled like. Not very good, though; it took all my willpower not to tear up a bit.

Victor pointed to the floor and told me to do as many push-ups as I could.
150 crunches and holding a plank for 2 minutes was all I could do. As a dress model, they made sure that I had very toned abdominal muscles. Not that it meant anything.

Push-ups, on the other hand, were not for me.

I got in a push-up position and easily did the first two, then went down on the third and couldn't get back up.

"How did you like that?" I asked while getting off the floor.

Victor looked at me disappointedly and sighed. "2.5 push-ups. I could work with that."

"There are many ways to fight, and sometimes you have to use the fighting skills that work best for you." He continued, attacking me indirectly.

I nodded. And he brought me to a different room. "Before I actually make you do anything, I'll be using this stick to demonstrate to you how I fight using my skills."

He explained to me how the practice room worked. It was just like the Sensory room, except they used real K.A. And it wasn't dark at all.

I was a little worried, but it was him fighting them. Not me.

"Pay very close attention to how I do this, okay?" He told me before walking into the glass-walled room. He started walking down the stairs and getting further down until I could mostly just see the top of his head.

I pressed the button he told me to and waited until one of the K.A.s was in the room with him.
It looked nothing like I thought it would. In fact, it sort of looked like me.

I frowned, then I pressed the start button. It could've just been a coincidence. Those K.A.s were basically real people after all, just without the brain and heart.