SIDEKICK

Chapter Twelve: A Simulation of Minds

CHAPTER TWELVE

A Simulation of Minds

She stands there. Without the hair in her eyes, and baggy clothes she’s like a completely different person.

I’m not sure how to describe her.

I watch her as she waits.

“What… is she waiting for?” I breathe.

Naveen crosses her arms. “Arus never makes the first move in a training simulation,” she explains. “She’s very self-disciplined. She’ll wait there forever if she has to.”

Peter is about ten feet away from her. I see him take a deep breath.

And he runs towards her.

Suddenly, she’s behind him. Her leg swipes his feet and he falls face first. Again, she’s suddenly above him and her feet are coming down fast, aimed at his back.

Peter rolls to the right. Her feet touch the ground lightly and she vanishes.

I see Peter scramble to his feet, turns around.

“Where’d –“

She reappears in front of him. She grabs his forehead.

“Oh no,” Oliver groans.

“It’s too late,” Joseph agrees grimly. “She’s won.”

Naveen sighs in disappointment. “I thought it would go for a bit longer.”

I frown. “What do you mean?”

Arus removes her hold on Peter. He suddenly crumples down to the ground. Arus stands over him, her back towards us as Peter starts to yell.

“I wonder which one it is,” Oliver ponders. “The slowly crushing you one?”

Joseph pulls a grim face, “Or the slowly being eaten alive one?”

Naveen smiles. “I remember one time I had my limbs slowly sawed away. I woke up a week later, and couldn’t look her in the face for a month.”

Lance dashes forward from the wall. “Thank you Arus,” he says quickly. “That will do. Please release him.”

Arus stays there for a moment and then walks away. Peter yelling dies away and he slowly gets up. Lance slaps his face.

“C’mon Peter, you’re alright,” Lance assures him. “Shake it off.”

Peter looks over Lance directly at Arus, the fear in his eyes. She stands there diligently.

“Why does Lance let you guys fight against her?” I ask.

Naveen smile fades away. “Arus isn’t like us. She’s a Rare breed.”

My head turns to the side. “A Rare breed?”

“Sometimes, when Casuists are born, they contain a mutation that differs from any others,” Naveen explains. “They develop parts or all characteristics of different power types and grow to be very powerful. Mikhail of Deity has the abilities of telekinesis and telepathy. Arus has three, teleportation - time manipulation and illusions. I’ve personally never seen her use the third, but Victor’s the only one who’s seen it.”

“So did he tell you?”

“Apparently the experience was quite traumatising that he won’t ever speak about it.”

She narrows her eyes. “But Rare breeds are one of the top priorities for Deity to obtain. If they ever knew of her existence and she was captured, she most likely would end up training their army.”