Divergent FBI

Chapter Ten

I end up staying in the gym for like an hour, finally stopping when I feel an ache slithering through my body. I just wanted to work out until I knew I would be sore. On my way to the locker room though, I spy another door to my left. It's unmarked, no lock, no keypad, nothing. I walk straight in, too curious to think about what the consequences might be.

The room is a spotless, blinding white, just like everything else here. To my left on a stainless steel table is rows upon rows of sharp, unscathed throwing knives. Their blades shine menacingly in the bright lights. To the right is a wall, made solely out of mirrors. I stare at it for a moment, convinced that there is something weird about a mirror just being here... in a room full of knives. I shrug, dismissing the thought.

Straight ahead of me is a white wall with red targets spread about 5-6 feet apart.

I can barely contain my excitement.

I quickly grab a set of four knives, then I walk to the two black painted footprints on the floor. I step on them and begin lining up to throw when suddenly, a square in the floor slides open to let a screen slide up. It stops a few inches above my waistline. The screen flashes, signaling that it's turning on. Numbers appear: 20yards, 25yards, 30yards,and so on. The numbers stop at 70yards. Underneath, there's another button that says "Challenge" and my fingers itch to press it. You need to warm up a little first. I sigh but still feel a slow smile spread across my face, this is freaking awesome.

I press the button for 30yards, believing that since I already worked out a little bit, I shouldn't be at the risk of straining or tearing a muscle. I throw four of the knives, and all of them land perfectly in the center. Then, I program in 35yards. I repeat the process until I get to 55yards. Somewhere in the middle, I think when I hit 40yards, I decided that my loose workout shirt needed to go. It was getting in my way, and I was just annoyed. So, I took it off and it revealed my Nike sports bra.

Finally feeling as if I am warm enough, I press the "Challenge" button. The lights dim slightly, but it's not enough to not be able to see. I hear a whirring sound, and my eyes snap towards the targets. The wall that holds them seems to be breaking apart, all the targets on one of the slivers of wall. There are ten of them. They start moving either forward or backward, all spacing themselves out and away from each other. Once they reach their destinations they spin all the way around, revealing a human shaped target indented into it. The outlines glow, as do the middle of the targets. On every human target, there are six bullseyes. One on both knees, one on both hands, one where our hearts would be, and one on the head. I hear a very faint sound, moving closer to me and when I look to the right, the screen is disappearing into the floor and the stainless steel table that holds the knives is gliding towards me on slits in the floor. I thought that the lines were just from the tiles when I came in, but now, I know I was wrong. I also notice another square of the floor moving and when a small table surfaces, there is a vest on it. The vest is designed to hold knives, tons of them. I pick it up and slip it on, carefully selecting knives from the table to fit into the slits of it. When I'm done, I push gently on the table and it glides back to it's corner.

A mechanical voice begins talking, explaining what I'm supposed to do. I twirl a knife in my hands as I listen to the drone. Apparently, in a minute the lights will shut off, all of them, and I'll be left in the darkness. Then, targets will light up, only one, so it could be the hand of a human target in the left corner, or the head of a target in the right corner. Once I've hit over half of the targets, the program will be finished. That will be the only light shed, because I'm supposed to be able to adapt to the darkness and be able to slip the knives out of the vest without looking. The voice also tells me that as my skill advances, so will the program, then it asks for my name, which I say, then the lights flicker off.