She didn’t expect it to happen, but someone had fixed it. Someone had been able to cope with her technology and do something that even she hadn’t figured out yet. The FNTTMS (Founding of New Technology through Mental Study) hadn’t been able to find a cure for the new method they had adopted. They had tested it on a few people within the facility, but the potential cure had a false outcome and they were forced to use the method on other corporations. The head of the FNTTMS figured that if it was a possible matter of life or death, the corporations would try harder to find a cure. None had been successful until the HIA, and none knew the real cause of the change in behavior except for maybe the one man who had successfully found the cure.
But Malyssa still didn’t know what he had done to fix the agents. She couldn’t figure it out. That’s why she had to find him and take him to the FNTTMS for questioning.
She had to get Armaan Helvik. Even if it meant walking straight into an HIA facility to find him.
***************
Armaan tried to think. He scanned his surroundings, taking into account the shifting plates on the ceiling and the lasers that were still beneath him. He had to risk it. Armaan let himself fall into a little clearing of traps. He dodged all of the traps and lasers. He had been able to crawl over the hardest part of the traps on the ceiling; he just needed to trust his new agility to make it to the next test. He made it to the platform again. His tester smiled, then pressed a button. Before he knew it, the next test appeared around him. There were robots surrounding him, dressed up as thugs. Apparently, he needed to fight his way out. He rolled up his sleeves and picked his first victim.
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Katie smiled in approval. He was very fit, she had to admit, so she decided to give him a little break and give him something that he seemed to be good at. She had already decided to give him a hacker's test for the next level. A guy like this could not be computer smart, yet she still felt like she had to throw her hardest at this guy, so she chose the hardest test that she could think of. Within a few minutes, the robots were taken away and in front of the victim was a computer.
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Laura couldn't believe it. Katie actually had the nerve to give this guy a hacker's test! He would pass it faster than he had beat up the robots! Laura began to chew her nails as she watched Armaan smile.
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Armaan knew this kind of technology. It was the hardest type of firewall they could throw at him. Piece of cake. He dove into a rapid fire of pushing buttons and breaking codes. Within five minute he had broken the firewall. He stood up from the chair that was next to the computer and smirked at Katie. He was becoming too confident with himself, he knew that, but he might as well enjoy his victory while it.
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"Excuse me, but can I see Armaan Helvik?" Malyssa asked the receptionist. The lady behind the desk frowned as she thought, searching through both the scholars and the agentsin the long list of names. She didn't find the name.
"I'm sorry, but you must have the wrong school." She replied. Malyssa took out her ID and showed it to her. The receptionist nodded and motioned for Malyssa to follow her.
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Adm. Taylor was listening to Agent Stapley's complaint about the very entertaining testing when a knock was heard from the door. He stopped Agent Stapley, then called, "Come in!"
In walked the receptionist and a strange woman. The woman looked at Rebecca strangely, the tried to hide her ID from Rebecca's view. Adm. Taylor looked at it, nodded, and instructed Rebecca to leave. She gave him a strange look, then left obediently with the receptionist.
"What is it?" Adm. Taylor asked the woman.
"I've come to interview Armaan Helvik," she answered.
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It had finally come to the last test—the test that would determine his place. Armaan knew this from his recent studies of the HIA testing rules and procedures. He would now have to defeat the tester in a one on one match. And he knew exactly what weapon he would choose.
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Katie pressed a button and the walls opened. As they did, she spied the Administrator walk into the cage out of her peripheral vision. That was odd. He almost never watched the tests, more or less walked into the cage himself. There had to be something wrong. She could almost sense something bad was happening. Then she saw who was following him, and she froze. It wasn’t anyone she knew, but Katie could tell by her mannerisms that she wasn’t looking for a spot in the HIA. The woman looked to be about twenty-three and was in extremely good shape, much like a professional dancer or a body builder. She had long blonde hair that was pulled back smoothly into a ponytail and side-sweeping bangs. She walked with confidence, following Adm. Taylor to a special spot in the cage. They both sat down next to each other.
This was going from odd to perfectly abnormal. Nothing like this had ever happened before, and Katie wasn’t sure what to do. She gave the chief a questioning glance, expecting to see a warning signal. Instead he waved his hand for her to continue. Katie gave the woman a fleeting glance before turning back to the test. The woman, for whatever reason, was smiling broadly, showing a perfect row of glistening white teeth.
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Malyssa was smiling because she knew who the guy in the cage was. She could tell first glance that he had changed a lot since when she last saw his picture in her records. The scouts had done a good job, getting a full body and facial with him in front of the school. Even though the kid had built himself up, losing weight in body fat and gaining defined muscles, she could tell this was the same guy who they were sure had found the cure. This was definitely Armaan.
****************
Armaan cleared his throat. Katie turned back to him. “Okay, please choose your weapon.”
Armaan smiled. He knew this was coming.
"I choose to fight with the sticks!" Armaan said, then picked up a long stick of wood. He held it in attack position, waiting for the tester to pick her weapon up. She leapt off the stage, grabbed the other stick, and swiveled it around her intimidatingly. Armaan didn't let this bother him. He attacked with all of the force that he had, but his tester blocked it with ease. She was like the female version of Lionell, except Armaan couldn't see very many visible muscles on her. He had to approach this with caution, cunning, and style. He attacked again.
****************
Malyssa was having fun watching these two teenagers fight. She had never seen anything like it. Armaan was obviously going through elaborate plans in his head, and yet the girl paid no mind to that. She blocked every complex move that Armaan threw at her, and she also blocked and parried attacking styles that Malyssa had never seen before. Their training was incredible! Armaan kept attacking until he was out of breath. The girl let him catch his breath for about thirty seconds, then started attacking him again. She showed incredible speed and power, and the way that she moved in graceful agility while she fought made it almost beautiful to watch. Armaan had most definitely never seen these moves before and tried his best to block the moves, but she kept hitting him in the unexpected times. Armaan wasn't showing any signs of giving up, though. He began attacking the girl with such a brutal force that Malyssa knew that even she wouldn't be able to keep the rod in her hands. Eventually, Armaan knocked the stick out of the girl's hands, and commanded her to yield. The girl considered it, then kicked Armaan's stick out of his hand and scrambled to pick up her rod. Armaan did so, too, but he was too late. The girl kicked away the stick and instructed him to yield. Armaan's face revealed that surrender was not an option. He swung his leg, tripping the girl, then picked her rod up and trapped her.
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Katie almost couldn't believe it. How had this kid been able to trap her so easily? But then again, fighting with the rods was never her thing. It was one of her weaknesses, so it would have been expected for him to win. She knew it, and the other agents knew it. She smiled as she thought to herself how wonderfully she had kept up the fight. She had put on a good show, and she was proud of herself. This would also be a lesson to everyone that muscle isn’t everything. It’s balance, cunning, and leverage that keep you alive in a fight.
But now her victim had her trapped, and she couldn't escape. She had to surrender.
"I yield. He will be my trainee for a year, unless his skills show otherwise."
Her new trainee let her go and helped her up. Katie dusted herself off, then punched him in the face.
"OW! What was that for?" He asked.
"Repayment." Katie answered, then swiftly turned around and walked away. She smiled to herself as faces in the audience in her peripheral showed signs of surprise. That punch was going down in the history books.
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