Taslin was a blur across the greenery as he was being hunted. His star-dev rifle beating at his side as he ran from a group of five: three boys and two girls all chasing him. They must have determined him to be easy prey as he didn't exude a wild or confident front. But Taslin was confident, he preferred for people to underestimate him rather than have a clear estimate of his potential. He saw a building up ahead, a sort of ancient castle and stepped inside, his pursuers weren't far behind and would soon deduce his hiding place.
But Taslin knew hiding as a hunted man was foolish unless you were laying an ambush. A mobile target would always be difficult to catch. He stepped into the castle and sought the shadows at the side of the entrance where he waited. Nostrom Jeg and Dietru Kalson had been friends since childhood and had both stepped into the castle. Nostrom, a handsome Caucasian male with a low buzz cut and striking blue eyes, motioned to Dietru who was also Caucasian but with a head of long black curls and green eyes—to spread out and search for their target.
The two girls, all dainty and pale, were twins, easily recognisable by their mannerisms. They waited outside with the other boy which made things hard for Taslin, but he had seen harder odds. Nostrom was behind Dietru and watching the inner foyer while Dietru activated a fire ability on his palm and began to search for Taslin, he was ready to kill Taslin on sight. The class with Miss Rebecca Varrich on practical paranormal warfare was vicious and brutal. Death was allowed in her class. These boys had no moral dilemmas about killing him.
Nostrom was still standing with his back turned and arms up when Taslin creeped from behind and hit him at his neck with the edge of his palm, Taslin quickly caught Nostrom as he lost consciousness and gently laid him down on the ground. Dietru was so focused on his search and his premature need to kill the target that he didn't pay close attention to his vital senses—his sense of hearing and sight. Tunnel vision was a disadvantage when it became too self indulgent. Taslin paced silently behind him and performed the same move he used on Nostrom and dropped him to the ground quietly. Ever gentle.
Taslin had resisted the urge to stamp his foot at the back of their necks to induce brain death. He wasn't in the mood and didn't want to invite revenge from their families. Death was allowed at Elzar at one's own risk and in doing so, one made too many enemies. He valued his anonymity. If he could ensure his victory was sanitary, he would. Taslin left through the back and saw the trio of the twins and the boy at the front waiting patiently unaware of the fact that their comrades had been neutralized. Taslin continued to put more distance between himself and the castle before the trio discovered that he had given them the slip.
Taslin raced past trees and dodged branches and forest-like obstacles. This is what he trained for, nights with his dad out in the fields behind their home. He was filled with anger at his inadequacy but he suppressed his anger. The age of science and the discovery of augmentation as a possibility had effectively destroyed any chance of him ascending ranks and power, House Solis couldn't be compared to other houses in terms of opportunities. He skipped over a log as his heart pounded, his body doing its best to propel him from his competition. But he stayed vigilant so as to not run into any more enemies. He looked at his watch, it had been ten minutes since the teacher had initiated the beginning of her class, which was just a fancy way of placing students in deadly situations. Taslin lived for moments like this, he was prepared, he quickly loaded his star-dev rifle, capable of subsonic ammunition. He dived into the shrubs and waited.
He was already aware of the rules, his ammunition won't kill anyone but it was possible to maim them. He eyed through the gun's lens, the organism within him—his instincts sensed a presence. The birds sang cheerfully in the trees, Taslin ignored them and pushed himself to listen to his surroundings. He was tense. Taslin waited and decided to abandon his position for movement. He was about to stand up again till he heard it, the silence. Someone dangerous had entered the vicinity, birds always sang unbothered at noon and when they stopped it meant trouble.
Then he saw her, Nephla Zord pacing past an open field her uniform hugging her figure, he looked through the lens of his star-dev rifle and took aim. Only amateurs took aim at the head, professionals aim at the neck. Cut that string and the body falls.
He fired.
But the Nephla sidestepped it, this shocked Taslin as he quickly abandoned his place in the shrubs, accelerating in the opposite direction as fast as he could. He theorized that Nephla had some genetically augmented psionic ability that allowed her to glance into the future. Whether the outcome, confronting people with foresight was foolish and to be avoided if possible. But most common folk or individuals called it magic. Few knew it was bullshit, every high house had tampered with their DNA and experimented on their genes allowing them to evolve and manipulate elements and unknown forces. He wanted to say what High Councilor Prateron didn't want to say—or didn't know how, which was ironic, given he was a good orator.
"That magic wasn't real"
It was a product of will. Human ingenuity. Taslin could feel it, the Nephla was propelling herself with a fire technique, in a few minutes she would bridge the distance. He twisted around a tree and doubled back to the open field from where he was running from. This shocked Nephla, this was what Taslin wanted. Most pursuers are always spurred on by their feelings of control, the act of retreat emboldening them not to give up the chase. Prey always ran away and not towards the hunter. He leaped from the trees grabbing a nearby branch and flinging himself higher across the forest and removed a small hidden kriss knife with a gladiator tip from a leather hand band sheath on his wrist. The blade was made of folded ceramic and couldn't be detected by metal sensors embedded in the eyes of mages and stationary metal detectors around the Elzar premises. It was effectively contraband. Taslin slashed forward at her, cutting her at the space between her armpits.
Nephla screamed in pain and lost control and landed in some bushes. Taslin landed on his feet, went into a squat and somersaulted in order to disperse the impact of the fall over his mass. He leapt back to his feet and sheathed the kriss knife back in its hidden confines and walked towards Nephla as she lay bleeding on the ground. Taslin crouched down and observed her.
"Please help me," Nephla Zord said. She tried to stop the ever-flowing stream of blood from her injury.
Taslin mouthed "No" back to her. And hid his amusement when she began to cry, because she knew how it would end. Most children of House Zord were excessive, they were wealthy as they were many. Kids died at Elzar and to enroll in it's school system here was to sign a social contract that should your ward perish—the school will take no blame. "What did you stab me with?" she said foaming at the mouth from pain whilst doing her best to fight through it all—she was failing. In a couple of minutes, she would lose consciousness and perish.
Taslin stayed silent and watched
He observed her, he had always wanted to form allies but he didn't trust anyone. "I can pay you, please help me" Nephla pleaded. Eyes raw with tears. Her blood had formed a small pool around her shoulder area. And she hadn't noticed though but she was fading. Taslin sighed and walked towards her. He placed a palm over her wound and sealed it while using his nanites to promote further healing. It was easy because it was a careful precise cut. It was only fatal because he had hit blood vessels but that was just experience. House Solis were engineers, survivalists and known for resilience. Their own eugenics capitalized on nanite theory that could improve regeneration and recovery. The ability was good but if Nephla had caught him and burned him, he would be too injured and unable to heal himself. Taslin was helping Nephla because he needed her family's name in the future. The name could open the right doors and some of the wrong ones too.
"How did you do that? Who are you?" Nephla asked.
"As to how, I prefer to keep that to myself" Taslin said. "I am Taslin Solis"
"Oh the creepy brooder at the back of the class, I have seen you…thank you" Nephla said, as she favoured her right arm.
"So why did you change your mind?" Nephla asked.
"More like a change of heart," Taslin said.
Taslin began to walk in a crouch, reducing his profile and allowing for good posture to launch into a sprint if the need arose. He kept Nephla in his peripheral vision at all times, he was no Samaritan and he wasn't about to invite a betrayal. If it should happen, he at least should not be caught unaware. "Thank you, Taslin," Nephla said. She was walking upright beside Taslin, who grabbed her shoulder and pulled her into a crouch. Anything to reduce her tall profile.
"I was being merciful, it was nothing," Taslin said.
"Being merciful would have been to stab me in the throat when I was vulnerable…you know…put me out of my misery." Nephla said. "I was the one trying to do you harm, remember?"
Taslin sighed and continued to observe his surroundings. She was beautiful, he thought, but she was also a distraction. Nephla suddenly laughed, which caused Taslin to stop and face her.
"It was funny you know; you were hiding in the shrubs and just took off after missing the shot" she said. Taslin understood what the need for conversation meant for Nephla as she kept trying to initiate. This was a way for her to cope with the unsettling silence. He didn't mind the quiet though. Taslin must have appeared foreign to Nephla as opposed to her sanitized aristocratic view of life, he was a stoic looking man with an intense demeanor. When it came to conflict his appearance gave him an overwhelming presence, but the rest of the time it was simply a hurdle. Taslin had to invest more than most to get people to trust him back in Danequell.
"I didn't miss," Taslin said.
"Of course you didn't" Nephla said with hints of sarcasm as she smiled at him, her eyes shining.
"You saw it coming, how did you do it?" Taslin asked.
"Kosokon patented and engineered second-brain." Nephla said, as she turned to face him.
Taslin kicked himself mentally.
Of course, he thought. There was a new technology that operated as a quantum simulator, mapping out possible route's danger could occur by constantly overlaying an inaudible frequency onto the surroundings. It must be a chip placed on the prefrontal cortex, usually carried out at birth, when the skull was still malleable. The Zords were effectively post-human.
Taslin smiled, it must mean the 'second brain' albeit it being state of the art and operating with quantum processing didn't foresee the knife attack, or it did and Nephla having been raised in a cushy mansion free from struggle or pain all her life hadn't the reflexes to evade the attack. Either way he won.
"So, you won't ask me my name? brooder," she said.
"Yes," he said.
"You don't like talking, do you?" Nephla asked, with a sigh.
"I'm just private" he said.
"Of course you are, Solis" Nephla said, rolling her eyes.
The conversation was cut short as a ringing bell sound emanated from the surroundings itself and the world of greenery phased into a wide metallic room of pristine white. Mrs Rebecca Varrich was in front in a white suit and knee-length skirt. Her Asian features were youthful as well as vibrant and her slender legs were clad in brown high heels. Mrs Rebecca nursed a polished red tungsten ring on her left hand, like she was about to take it off. She wouldn't. The room was beyond anything Taslin had seen, it didn't create a hologram of solid matter but was a stationary omnidirectional treadmill that phased into a different dimension called Marghot. Mrs Rebecca had access to the Perch, a sort of portable control room that allowed her to monitor everyone within Marghot like a fourth dimensional being. She had played the role of an omnipresent observer. She must have seen the kriss knife but elected to not interfere. She emerged from the Perch and congratulated everyone and ignored the bruises and injuries on most students. Zet and Lucius were fine. Most students were disheveled with mud and blood stains on their uniform, Taslin's uniform was soiled too but he didn't mind.
"Everyone can leave except Taslin Solis," Mrs Rebecca Varrich said. Her tone was measured and if she saw the fatigue and stress on the faces of the students, she didn't show it.
Murmuring sprung and Taslin felt the walls closing in, but maintained an undisturbed front.
He was in trouble.