M3RG3

Chapter 7

Thursday

"Whether you're tall or short, or a girl or a boy, or fat or skinny, it doesn't matter. What matters is that you use it to your advantage, so you can strike successfully towards your opponent." Our combat training teacher, Zoey appeared to be young as she exchanged glances with each of us. My eyes flitted towards Kyle's direction, his brown hair bobbing under the artificial light. It seemed like we almost had every lesson together. Terrific.

"This serum will automatically put you into my program. That way, you can enter the room anytime. The passcode is merge. Now, allow me to do the honors." She grabbed the nearest person, Justin, and inserted the needle into his neck.

Suddenly, I felt a shove from behind. It was Lauren, sending me a smirk before saying, "Arista volunteers."

"Wonderful, now stand here and angle your neck so I can just-" The aching pain and the burn of the needle was almost impossible to ignore as I did my best to not flinch. Through the blurriness of my vision, Lauren smirked at me with every ounce of her obnoxious attitude.

I blinked. Once. Twice. The room brightened, revealing a hologram of Zoey standing right in front of me.

"Hello," She started pleasantly. "Today, I'll be teaching you the basics of a fighting stance. Follow me and you'll be done in no time!"

That certainly was true, but I was already sweating after a few basic repetitive moves.

"The important part is to use what you have against your opponent. That way, you have a greater chance of winning." I stifled another frustrated groan. This was the fifth time she had repeated this phrase. Her program no longer seemed so amazing.

"Merge," I muttered. Instantly, Zoey's hologram disappeared. Everything began to shift and morphe back to what it originally was. It was my first time doing this, and I was already bored out of my mind.

"You're leaving early?" Zoey's head snapped up to meet mine, her eyes patronizing. "Do you have a good reason to?"

"As a matter of fact, yes, she does." My head whipped toward the source of the voice. "I believe she needs to do a checkup since her physical behavior is highly concerning."

"Of course, Ant- I mean Doctor." It was until now did I realize how high on the social hierarchy Anthony was on. He sent me a wink before I followed him, dumbfounded.

We walked for another fifteen minutes until the grand glamour of the Republic slowly faded to simple, clean, white pastel walls. Even though the Republic seemed flawless on the outside, they didn't have the money to completely change the Institute into something that was as magnificent as it's entrance.

"This is the surgical wing." Anthony gestured to the glass doors in front of us. "It's where we have most of our surgeries, like the Merging Process. Over here is my office where I would like to show you some documents based on your vitals."

I bit my lip and nodded, contemplating. Anthony pulled out a file and shoved it into my hands. "These are rather private, so please read it when no one is watching. That's all, you can go back to your lesson."

"Uh, Ant-"

"It's Doctor."

"Doctor, my lesson's already ended." I gestured towards the doors. "Care walking me back to my room?"

"Nonsense," he replied cheerfully. "You have some catching up to do. Some of your academic test results weren't up to expectation. Therefore, you're taking extensive learning every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday till your grades are sufficient to pass."

I took a few more steps towards the door before Anthony added, "Also, be sure to check the timetable. You have a field trip coming up this Sunday."