Genesis | Book One, The Genesis Series

TWENTY-TWO

Amber's specialty arrows had arrived at last.

Her face lit up when her eyes met the contents of the black duffle bag that Leo brought her. Inside the bag resided 7 types of arrows, all with different colored arrowheads that had different purposes.

The red arrowheads were obviously explosive, having a detonation radius of about 20 feet. The explosion could blow a hole through a 6-inch titanium wall.

The blue ones had been designed by Leo himself, and emitted an electric discharge on impact, disabling any electrical equipment. It could also daze and disorient a human if it came into contact with them.

The green ones emitted a heavy gas to use as a distraction or for cover, and the silver ones served as grappling hook arrows.

The gray arrowheads were sonic arrows, emitting a high-frequency sound that disoriented the opponent.

The yellow arrowheads were meant to be tranquilizers. They had a dulled tip, meaning that they wouldn't penetrate as much as the others.

But the white ones, those were Amber's favorite.

Back in archery class, she'd been taught the anatomy of an arrow. She knew it inside out, like it was the back of her hand. The point, the shaft, the fletching, the nock.

So, she'd decided to combine her knowledge with the advanced technology at her disposal in the facility, and what she got was a masterpiece.

She'd spent hours in the Armory designing her prized cryo-arrows. She could fuel them with her own cryokinetic abilities, allowing them to instantly freeze whatever they came into contact with. Even Leo, the most intelligent member of the team technology-wise, was completely baffled by Amber's ingenuity.

But her arrows weren't the only upgrades she'd been given. Her bow and quiver had been improved as well. While she'd somewhat gotten attached to the bow she'd equipped from the War Room, she felt that her own improved design would allow her to fare better on the battlefield.

Her new bow was collapsible, with breaks above and below the handle, as well as midway down the length of each limb. This allowed the bow to be folded into a more compact form that made it easier to conceal, carry, store, and transport. When deployed, the bow could swiftly re-assemble in one quick motion as the limbs locked back into place.

To further aid in combat, the bow had a red laser sight to help Amber quickly draw a line of sight when targeting enemies at close range. When pushed to hand to hand combat, the bow was durable enough to serve as an effective melee weapon.

Four buttons running down the length of the bow's grip, in line with each of her fingertips, allowed Amber to request specialty arrows from her quiver without taking her mind off the battle. She could also use these controls to remote trigger certain specialty arrows, such as the explosive tip.

By carrying the arrows in eight separate bundles, side by side, the quiver retained a flat, slim profile while being worn, which kept it from hindering Amber's movement. Each bundle contained 5 of each specialty arrow, along with 45 conventional arrows, making a total of eighty.

"You know, one of these days you're gonna get injured and I'm gonna be at your bedside." She weakly chuckled, suppressing the pain as the breaths of joy exited her mouth.

"That doesn't sound so pleasant." Leo laughed. "Being locked up in a room for the entire weekend and doing nothing but watching television sounds pretty boring."

"Isn't that what you do?" Amber replied with a smirk, spinning one of her arrows through her fingers. She used her middle finger as the fulcrum, swiftly forcing the end of the arrow against the webbing between her thumb and index finger.