"Positive. It's the only way that we'll get it out of him." Malyssa answered. "We have to do it. He won't tell us anything unless we take him back to the lab. I don't want to do it, but we have to."
"Alright, I'll send you some recruits to help you. They'll be there in a day or two."
Malyssa hung up and smiled evilly. She was going to get it out of him one way or another.
****************
Xarissa wasn’t happy. She’d never been really good with the flat swords. She was always more of a wooden pole or numb chucks kind of person. She would even rather have the light-weight katana than this unbalanced weapon.
****************
Conner could tell that Xarissa wasn’t experienced in this weapon, but he knew he wasn’t good with it either. He just saw it as kind of a Medieval choice, so he thought it was cool. He hadn’t really been thinking when he chose it. Oh, well. He’d have to try to work with it.
****************
Imraan was sitting at his desk, his head resting on his hands when the door opened. He looked up.
“The HE would like to see you in the conference room now,” David said from the door. Then he left.
Imraan knew this couldn’t be a good thing, but he knew he shouldn’t keep the HE waiting. He stood and made his way to the conference room. He took a deep breath and knocked.
A voice answered, “Come in.” It belonged to the HE.
Imraan walked in to see the HE sitting alone on a chair at the center table, instead of his spot at the center of the half-circle. His eyes looked sad and he seemed older, almost as if he’d given up on life. “Sit down,” he said. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
****************
Rebecca wondered why Conner had chosen the sword. She knew that it was the first weapon they’d learned to use in the GCA, but she couldn’t believe he’d chosen something he was never even good at. She wondered where his diligence and want for victory had gone.
****************
Connor awkwardly attacked. Xarissa blocked it with the same awkwardness. They continued this strange fight for a while until one of them disarmed the other.
****************
Rebecca had to admit, the fact that both of them weren't very good at sword-fighting made the fight much more entertaining. She looked over to the agents that were good at this. Some of them were shaking their heads at how terrible both of them were, and some of them were laughing out loud. A few of them were even crying from the hilarious fight. It was almost more entertaining to watch them than to watch the fight, but Rebecca knew that she had to know who would win, and turned back to the fight just in time to see the professional disarming happen.
****************
Imraan couldn't believe that the HIA would do something like that. Didn't they know that the HE's wife was in that car? They must have an evil side to them... and Armaan was one of them now. How could his brother fall for something like that? How could Imraan himself want to be a part of that? Imraan dropped his head, extremely embarrassed at his outburst earlier. The HE stood up and patted Imraan sympathetically and understandingly.
"I want you to spy on the HIA for me. Find out what they're plotting. Do what is necessary."
Imraan stood up and accepted his mission. He would go to his brother. He would do what he needed to do.
"Sir?" an agent asked as he peeked through the door.
"What is it, Agent Burk?"
"Your son has made it into the HIA."
****************
Connor finally hit his tester's sword with enough force to thrust it out of her hand. She lunged for her sword, but Connor kicked it out of her reach. He then kicked her in the stomach and grasped his hand around the hilt of her sword, picking it up off the ground with an awkward lift. He backed her up against the wall, both swords crossed at her neck.
He was slightly stunned by how pretty she looked up close.
"What do I do now?" he asked.
"Well, I'm trapped, you have my sword, and I'm really tired of this embarrassment. Might as well get it over with."
Connor was confused. "What?"
“My name’s Xarissa, by the way. You win!"
She then knocked him unconscious by head bumping him. She did it so hard, though, that she knocked herself unconscious as well.
****************
Conner awoke to see a pretty face looking down at him. “Xarissa?” he asked. The girl’s smile faded and she moved away.
“I’m offended,” she said. Then Conner realized who it was.
“Oh! Rebecca! Sorry, for some reason I thought I was still in the cage,” Conner said, rubbing his head. “What happened?”
Rebecca waved her hand in the air as if to wave the question away. “Congratulations. You made it into the HIA.”
“Then why am I here?” He grabbed the sheets of the bed.
Rebecca sighed. “It’s custom for the tester to hurt the trainee after he or she has won.”
“I didn’t know that,” Conner said, confused.
“That’s because it’s an unspoken rule,” she answered, rubbing her wrist. “I don’t do it, because I think it’s dumb. A few of us refrain from it, but you weren’t so lucky. Xarissa is a fond observer of the custom.”
“Well, I think it’s dumb,” Conner commented, rubbing his head.
“I wish she had been a little more careful. You shouldn’t have been out there like this in the first place,” Rebecca commented.
“Are you chastising me?” Conner asked with a grin. “Could it be that you actually care about me?”
Rebecca’s face hardened so that he couldn’t read any emotion from her. “You performed horribly,” she said, not answering his question. “What happened to you out there?”
Conner smiled to himself, knowing that her unreadable expression was an instinct to cover something up. “You didn’t answer my question,” he prodded.
“You didn’t answer mine,” Rebecca responded. They were both silent for a while. Then Rebecca stuck her hand in her pocket and asked, “Why?”
“Why what?” Conner questioned, sitting up dizzily.
“You had a great position in the GCA. Why did you come here?”
Conner swung his legs off the bed, holding the side of his head. “I didn’t have a great position at the GCA, and I never would have,” he said.
“What do you mean?” Rebecca questioned.
“The HE is my father.”
****************