Shadow in the Dark

Chapter Seven

In the middle of the room stood a semi-circle of men, dressed in black, heads down. Another man, also dressed in black, stepped out from behind him.

"Hello, Shadow. I am Dark Tide. If you are watching this, then I am most likely dead. So, this hologram will take you through whatever training I was planning on giving you. The door has been locked behind you, so you will not get out until this program is over."

"Can I interact with you?" asked Kiera.

"There are trillions of different possibilities that I have been programed to recognize, so yes. You can interact as much as you want with me," the holographic Dark Tide replied. "You will be given different missions, and will be trained based on your skills at each of these.

"Task one. Shoot all of these men at any place possible, but do not kill them."

Kiera could have laughed at the simplicity of it all. She raised her gun and fired at the first man's arm. As soon as there was a hit, all of the men rushed at her. Each of them drew knives. Kiera's eyes widened. Definitely harder than expected.

She ducked the first knife that swiped at her. She got up, turned around, and fired at the man's leg. Then she whipped around, slid out of the way of the knife that hurtled towards her and shot that man's arm. He disappeared, and the man behind him also threw his knife. Kiera ducked under it and shot his leg. When he disappeared, Kiera pivoted on her heel and met the knife with her gun. She winced at the metallic clang, but her gun was undamaged. She turned the gun towards the man and shot his ear. It very nearly missed, but still made contact.

There was the final man. He circled around her. Kiera readied her gun. Suddenly, Dark Tide, who had been just watching, threw her a sword. Kiera just barely caught it, but had to drop her gun in the process. She picked it up and swung it behind her, but it snapped onto her jacket like a magnet. She shrugged and held up the sword. The man lunged at her.

His first strike, a forward thrust, Kiera parried easily. Then he swung his knife around the side, and Kiera whacked his knife away. He swung overhead, and Kiera almost missed it. She jumped to the right and knocked his knife away. Then she swung for his arm, but he met it with his own blade.

Then it was a fight of strengths. Kiera pushed, but the man pushed back. Finally, Kiera managed to disengage and hit his arm. The man disappeared.

Kiera stepped back against the wall, breathing hard. Dark Tide nodded with approval.

"I forgot to tell you that your jacket is magnetic. Helpful in a fight, especially when you have more than one weapon that you use. And judging by your skills with that sword, you will definitely have more than one."

"What do you mean?" Kiera asked cautiously. She was now wary.

"You will now be trained with the sword. However, I will now test you on your ability with other weapons. I will want to know what weapons you are comfortable with, and how best to train you in those weapons.

"Next task. Task two." The room changed into a building in the middle of a city. Kiera walked to the window, and looked down. On the street was a large crowd of people around a black car.

"Why does this seem like the stimulation I just went through?" muttered Kiera.

"I am not programmed to answer that question," replied Dark Tide.

"What is my task?" asked Kiera.

Dark Tide held up a bow and quiver. "Shoot the president," he replied. Kiera realized she was still holding her sword, and she snapped it next to her gun on her back. Then she grabbed the quiver from Dark Tide and swung it over her shoulder, and it hung down at her waist. Then she took the bow and loaded it with an arrow from her quiver.