Three Hours Later…

  Honey is laying on her back, on a bench in a waiting room, staring at the ceiling. Thor-Ton is currently being held in a locker only accessible by security, and she is sore all over from the various exercises she had to do. Ranging from physical exams to using Thor-Ton in a firing range to test all of its levels and modes with a wide variety of targets.

  Every moment was carefully monitored and recorded, and now the data is being analyzed. The same had been done for Rocky. Only, Honey didn’t see his weapon or his physical capabilities, so she has no idea what to expect. However, she knows her enhancements with give her an advantage.

  And since the pair are waiting for their information to be processed, they have been cooped up in the waiting room with nothing but benches and a TV broadcasting a news channel talking about military production and recruitment.

  Now Honey’s eyes are glazed over from boredom, and Rocky is bouncing a ball off a wall. It would not be so bad if it wasn’t done next to Honey’s head. She can see the blur of the ball at the edge of her vision, and it is taking a lot of willpower to not follow it.

  Bop. Bop. Catch.

  Floor. Wall. Catch.

  Bop. Bop. Catch.

  Floor. Wall. Catch.

  Bop. Bop. Catch.

  Floor. Wall. Catch.

  Honey’s blue eyes snap to the ball, watching the trajectory and analyzing its speed.

  Bop. Bop. Catch.

  Floor. Wall. Catch.

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  Bop. Bop. Catch.

  Floor. Wall. Catch.

  Floor. CATCH!

  Honey snatches the ball from the air, and she slowly turns to Rocky, who doesn’t seem to be harboring any negative feelings about this. He actually looks as bored as Honey. They stare at each other for a few seconds before he holds out his hand.

  “Give me my ball,” says Rocky.

  Honey throws the ball far from Rocky, and he watches it ricochet off the floor and walls before making multiple weaker bounces, eventually dribbling, and then rolling to a stop by another bench. He stares at the ball for a moment before frowning at Honey.

  “Bitch,” says Rocky.

  Honey looks at the ceiling again and flips him off. Then the door opens and Neda enters.

  Honey and Rocky adjust their postures to something more formal, and the doctor approaches them with a smile.

  “We are ready to go. The data has been analyzed and plugged into our systems, so all we need to do now is hook you two up to the machine. Follow me, please,” says Neda.

  Honey and Rocky follow Neda to the Dueling Chamber. There, Frank gives them a pair of blue jumpsuits with red lines that form a generic skeleton. They go to separate changing rooms to put on the jumpsuits, and once they are out, the pods are opened and Honey and Rocky climb in.

  The seat is plush and comfy with a good support for Honey’s head, and Frank straps Honey’s limbs and head in place and moves a network of sensors that look like a ribcage over her body. The sensors activate, emitting warm colors, and the technician gives a thumbs up.

  “Her sensors and vitals are good,” says the technician.

  Frank moves on to Rocky and repeats the process, and after the technician confirms his signatures are good, Frank closes Rocky’s pod, and then goes to Honey.

  Honey watches the pod’s lid descending on her. Her heartrate hikes and her fingers grip the plush fabric. When the pod closes, all she has are the warm colors of the sensors.

  A screen flashes above her eyes and a series of loading bars with labels she can’t understand zip across the length of the screen. Once the bars are finished, there is white light and Honey lifts her hand to shield her eyes, just to find that she is back to wearing her clothes and is standing outside in an arena with trees and grass, and above her are fluffy white clouds on a blue sky.

  Honey lowers her hand and inspects it, seeing that she is wearing her fingerless glove. Then she inspects her other hand, sees the same thing, and looks down at her feet and finds that she’s wearing her boots and skirt. Even the shirt and corset are the same, and Honey feels behind her and smiles when she finds Thor-Ton on her back. She unclips it and smiles as she looks around.

  “Wow… This is neat,” says Honey.

  She looks ahead to the simulated forest and turns on Thor-Ton. It hums to life with its barrel glowing blue, and Honey walks forward.

  It was time to kick Rocky’s ass.