When Honey and Astros return to the simulation room, Petals is already in her jumpsuit and waiting by her pod. Honey and Petals exchange quiet hostile glances as Honey goes to the changing room. After she comes out wearing the jumpsuit, the two young women go to their respective pods, get locked in, and Honey closes her eyes as the loading screen turns on above her.

  She steadies her heart, controls her breathing, and tries to ignore the faint throbbing in her skull.

  When Honey opens her eyes, she is wearing her normal outfit and has Thor-Ton clamped to her back again. But instead of the simulation being inside a forest or a picturesque village, it is a museum.

  Honey blinks, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings. Polished marble floors stretch out before her, flanked by towering columns and ornate archways. Glass display cases line the walls, each one meticulously lit to showcase the artifacts within. Sunlight shines through the stained-glass windowpanes stretching from above the revolving door up to the curved ceiling.

  The air is heavy with the scent of old parchment and ancient history, and the facility is completely silent. No intercoms, no chatter, no footsteps. All of it is empty. Even the artifacts look flat when Honey takes a closer look at them.

  Honey grunts, removes Thor-Ton from its clamp and arms the cannon feature. The weapon hums and a blue glow emits from its barrel.

  She runs to cover behind a display of a large mammal’s skeleton. Crouching completely conceals her behind the bronze-colored base, and she listens intently for any signs of Petals.

  At first, she doesn’t hear anything. But then she hears faint running echoing off the brick walls and tiled floors.

  Honey adjusts the dial on Thor-Ton, cringing when it hums and the light in the barrel brightens. The running turns to a squeaking slide and then stops. Honey peeks out and quickly retracts when a piece of the display is shot off.

  Another shot strikes the skeleton’s leg, causing it to groan and tilt. Other bones snap, and when it crashes down, other bones shatter and their fragments scatter across the floor.

  Honey adjusts her position and shoots a ball of energy in the general direction of the shots. The explosion destroys one of the display cases, and Petals runs out of cover, carrying a bulky rifle. Honey follows Petals and keeps shooting ahead of her, forcing Petals to swerve and seek shelter around a corner.

  With Thor-Ton smoking from the exhaust ports, Honey leaves her position and keeps her weapon trained in Petals’ general direction. She reaches the receptionist desk and uses it to prop her weapon. She aims down the main lobby, staring at the corner Petals went to.

  Seconds pass and there is still no sign of Petals.

  Honey frowns and her eyes flick up to the second story walkway, just to instantly widen at Petals grinning and aiming at her.

  Multiple gunshots ring out, and hot lead rips into Honey. She screams and falls into the floor with blood pouring from her arm, shoulder, and side.

  Her hands tremble and she drags herself deep into receptionist desk’s cover. More gunshots crack the air, kicking up bits of the floor and breaking off pieces of the desk.

  Thor-Ton becomes slick with Honey’s blood as Honey ejects its battery and slips a new one in. Then she flips down a pair of sunglasses that have materialized on her head, turns the dial up to maximum, making its glows blindingly bright and its hum loud enough to vibrate her reinforced bones.

  The air crackles and heats up around Honey, and she winces as she pushes herself to her knees, and she sees Petals has moved along the walkway, taking another position to aim at her. The light and crackling energy from Thor-Ton’s barrel is disorienting, but they both shoot each other.

  The bullets from Petals strike the desk, and Thor-Ton’s shot streaks towards the young woman’s position. There is blue explosion with its shockwave shattering all the windowpanes of the walkway, and burning carpet, floor bits, and support beams fly through the air as the remains of the walkway crumble.

  The smoldering wreck crashes on the tiled floor, cracking the area and scattering the smoldering debris with a shaking thud. The stench of burnt air, carpet and metal stings Honey’s nose, and smoke rolls and thins as it spreads.

  Blood now covers Honey, and she stumbles around before finding her footing. However, before she can search for Petals, a barb tipped whip zips out of the smoke, wraps around Thor-Ton and is yanked out of Honey’s hands, all in a span of two seconds.

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  Honey barely registers what happens, but when the whip returns, she brings her arm up to block it. She winces as the barb digs into her arm and then screams painfully when she tugged to the ground. She gets a face full of tile, and she coughs and sputters blood as she pushes herself up, her nose smashed and lips and arm bleeding.

  The whip is still on her arm, and another tug from the barbed weapon rips her flash and pulls her across the floor. Honey shrieks in anger and pain as more blood gushes from her wound, making the floor slick.

  “What is up with you psychos!” yells Honey.

  Honey gets into the kneeling position and grabs the whip, growling in pain as the barb cuts into her palm. She tugs the whip while moving her trapped arm like a crank, wrapping the weapon around her.

  The sudden tug pulls Petals out of the wrecked walkway, leading to her face planting the ground. But she is still holding the whip, and Honey keeps wrapping it.

  Each cycle sharply tugs Petals closer to her, and Petals rolls to a crouch position and grits her teeth as digs her feet in the floor, trying to pull her whip free. The barb keeps digging into Honey’s flesh, now scraping against the bone, but Honey continues dragging Petals closer.

  “You can let go anytime you want!” says Honey.

  “Bite me!” snaps Petals.

  Honey gives another sharp tug that pulls Petals off her feet again, and this time she lands considerably closer to Honey. Petals once again lands face first on the floor, and even though she still holds the whip tightly, she is disoriented, and Honey pivots around her, presses her knee on her spine and puts her in a chokehold.

  Petals gags and claws at Honey’s arm and the floor as she wiggles beneath her. Copious amount of blood drips off of Honey and trails the whip or lands on Petals.

  “Do you yield?” asks Honey.

  “No!” says Petals.

  “All I have to do is squeeze a little bit harder and your neck will be crushed flat! Now yield!”

  “No!”

  Then Petals twists her body so she is on her back and awkwardly punches Honey in the gut, but while she does this, a blade shoots out from Petals arm and punctures Honey’s stomach and pops out the back. Broken bone and blood fly, and Honey, gags, growls, and punches her hand through Petals’ face. Then she goes limp, falls off Petals, and her vision fades to black.

  Honey’s eyes open while her pod’s lid is lifted. She climbs out after she is freed from the pod’s hold. Petals steps out a moment later, and she rubs her throat as she looks at Honey.

  They are quiet as they approach each other, and when they are nearly toe to toe, Petals takes a deep breath, and then she grins and extends her hand. Honey is hesitant, but gives in to politeness and shakes her hand, being mindful of her enhanced strength.

  “Great duel! I love your weapon!” says Petals.

  “Oh… um, thanks,” says Honey. “Your weapons were also…”

  “Demented?”

  “I was going to say cool, but yeah, they’re… demented.”

  Petals giggles and slaps Honey’s arm. “Yeah, every time me and Astros duel, he stays far away so he doesn’t get mauled by Barbra or shot by Bane. He prefers taking cheap shots with his musket instead of enjoying the glory of battle!”

  Honey’s eyes dart between Petals and Astros, who is sitting near her pod and dressed casually, not looking the least bit surprised by Petals’ enthusiasm. Meanwhile, Honey forces a smile that hurts her cheeks and amplifies the anxiety churning inside her body and soul, but Petals is dismissive about it and leans against her, holding her smile and moving her finger between them.

  “Also, if you ever want to duel me again, just give the word. Also, also, I forgive you for ruining my date. Also, also, also, next time, just crush the neck. Don’t ask for a yield. That’s dumb. It’s a simulation. No one really gets hurt in them.”

  “Thanks for the advice. How long have you been modified?” asks Honey.

  Petals pulls away from Honey and inspects her hand, which Honey now notices thin lines and the skin tone being slightly different from her fair skin.

  “Five years. My parents are still paying for the operation using a sixty-year payment plan, and the bill will be transferred to me on my twenty-third birthday. How about you?” says Petals.

  “Three years,” says Honey, withholding the part where Tobias paid for it all in lump sum.

  Petals grins. “Nice. Yours is definitely strength modification, but as much as I want to do more comparisons, I need to change and you have another duel coming up, so I’ll leave you alone.”

  Petals hurries to the changing room, and Astros and Honey watch her until she is behind the door. Then Astros looks at Honey while Asmund comes out of the other dressing room wearing the jumpsuit.

  “I take it you battered her bloody,” says Astros.

  “I won, but I died a second later,” says Honey. “I didn’t know Petals had a blade in her arm, so she caught me off guard.”

  “She has more augments than that.”

  “Really? Did her parents want a modified for war?”

  Honey’s tone is light, but when she sees Astros’ serious expression, her countenance shifts to discomfort.

  “Oh…” says Honey.

  “Yeah,” says Astros. “I won’t tell you anymore. If Petals wants to tell you, she will.”

  Before Honey can say anything else, Petals comes out of the dressing room with her casual clothes on. Petals reaches into her inner coat pocket and pulls out a business card made from printer paper glued to a playing card.

  “Here’s my card. If you want to duel again or have a friendly lunch, contact me,” says Petals as she gives Honey the card.

  Honey briefly looks up from the card to offer Petals a smile. “Sure thing.”

  Then Asmund approaches Honey.

  “You lost two duels so far. I’m feeling generous, so I’m offering you a chance to back out,” says Asmund.

  “I did not lose two duels. I lost one and won one,” says Honey defensively.

  “Technically you lost one and had a draw for the second,” says Petals.

  “But I killed you first!” says Honey.

  “Yeah, but you have to live in order to win the duel. We both died, so it is a draw,” says Petals matter-of-factly.

  Honey groans irritably and looks for a spot to put Petals’ business card. After a few seconds of aimless gazing, Astros holds out his hand, and Honey gives the card to him, all while Asmund shakes his head in disappointment.

  “I’m giving you one last chance to walk away,” says Asmund.

  “Hey, we agreed to a duel, and I’ll see it through. But if you’re scared, I’ll accept your surrender,” says Honey.

  Asmund scoffs. “Absolutely not. I’ll see you in fifteen minutes.”