Paragon

Chapter 5:

"You can't win this, Katana."

Weska advanced toward me as I weaved back and forth, looking for an opening.

"Come on." Mahlika called from behind her. "Take your shot."

Nikara came up behind me, ready for me to move.

I threw the ball. It went through the hoop and I dodged past Weska, catching it before it hit the ground.

"Aw, come on." Weska said. "You're totally cheating."

"I'm barely jogging." I replied, tossing the ball to Mahlika. "What are we at now?"

"Three to 70." Nikara said. "How about we take a break?"

We sat down at the edge of the court. The sports room was empty except for us. The guards had probably gotten bored and gone to lunch, trusting us not to do anything stupid. It had been nearly two years, and they had decided we weren't too much of a threat.

Above the court was the window of an observation room. As we rested I noticed Delta standing on the other side, watching us. With him was another man I didn't recognize.

Delta motioned for me to come upstairs.

I walked over to the automatic doors, which slid open to allow me to enter the stairs. I ran up them, and before Delta could even turn from the window, I stood beside him. He didn't react, though the man beside him jumped.

"She's faster than I expected." He said.

He was a bit shorter than I, making him around 5ft 10, though he was powerfully built. I assumed he was around forty. His eyes were heterochromatic; one green, one startlingly blue. One of the sleeves of his white button down was cut off, revealing that his arm was metal below the elbow.

"Katana." Delta said. "This is Xavier Cane, CEO of Master Kontrol."

Mr. Cane shook my hand. "I thought it was time I met you. You're quite an astonishing young woman."

"Thank you." I replied warily. After all the stories about him, I expected him to be more...visibly psychotic.

"She's pretty tall." He said to Delta, not letting go of my hand. "Six feet at least. Why is that?"

"She has a different bone structure from the average human." Delta said. "And different muscles."

"Interesting. I assume that's what allows her to move that quickly?" He turned my hand over, bringing a finger along the slightly raised areas which indicated my claws. "Your claws interest me. Delta mentioned something about them being reinforced?" He let go of my hand. "Show me."

I unsheathed my claws and he examined them.

"Titanium alloy." Delta explained. "Strong enough to cut through bone with ease."

"Fascinating." He said. "You said you coated her real claws with it? Was it painful?"

"A bit." I lied, remembering the weeks I'd spent with bandaged hands, dizzy from painkillers.

"Truly amazing." Cane said, staring at me. I didn't like the way he looked at me. It was like I was property, or an interesting science project. But, in a way, I supposed both were true.

"You've got quite a team." He said, turning back to Delta. "One who can run fast enough to be nearly invisible, one who can almost see thoughts, one who is super strong, and one who can control water. I'm proud of what you've done here, Delta. I only wish we had more."