Empire Sword Craving Death

When she opened her eyes again, she woke up from the dream a bit relieved but she had no idea what it meant. Was she scared that one of the enemies of the AID Crew would kill her or was it something simply unrelated to it? The true answer is never answered as she does her morning chores and leaves the house.

She puts on an ash crop top which she covers with her black bikers jacket. She matches it with ash trousers and black flare-heeled boots. Her hair is packed in a ponytail. Marcus had informed them that they would be practising how to use the airboot today and she didn want her hair to be flying around.

She gets to her location thirty minutes after leaving the house due to a little traffic on the road. She gets to her room first to look at herself and get her equipment before heading to the hall for the practice.

The room has a new look. There are 4 to 5 foams on the ground at the centre of the room. Seats are placed on each side of the foam. They are arranged in three rows and five columns.

Stephanie takes a seat in the last row and last seat. Marcus steps forward to the middle of the room standing on the foam. He begins, ”Todays activity is very simple but difficult. As we all know, to control an air boot you need a chip ”

His last words cause a gasp from everyone in the room except Stephanie who tries to keep a straight face. Marcus continues, ”Yes, I know its scary but if you want to really fight alongside other higher fighters in this crew then you need to have a strong mind and be ready for anything ”

He studies each of their faces as everyone goes quiet then he proceeds. ”You will be given a chip today ”

Some people come into the room with a large machine with wheels. They had on lab coats and they had straight expressions on their face adding to the tension everyone else feels.

Marcus glances at them and smiles before returning his gaze to his students. ”Its not going to be too painful if you are calm ”

The students take their eyes off the machine to Marcus who continues speaking. ”Ill pick who needs to go next and don bother hiding ” he looks at everyones faces ”Cause the more you hide, the more Ill have access to your face ” he added

Marcus points at a lady sitting beside Stephanie and has been shaking ever since the mention of chips implanted in their brains. The girl rises rubbing her hands together which everyone does not fail to notice.

”You don need to be scared. The chips do not only control the boots alone but other things but you will get to know them once this phase is over ” He tries calming her down

Marcus points to the machine and the four engineers that stand side by side the machine for the girl to go to them. She glances at everyone in the room and moves her legs sluggishly toward the engineers.

Once she was two inches close to them, she ran out of the room. Stephanie scoffs lightly. ”Oh ” Marcus exclaimed and takes his gaze back to his students

He looks at their faces for a while then points out another student. The guy walks boldly to the machine. The machine opens up and a bed-like structure appears underneath a long needle.

One of the engineers gestures for him to lie down with his face parallel to the needle. Once he laid down, the engineers cuff his hands beside his body and his legs to the bed.

His bold forefront falls as fear creeps into his system. Another engineer turns his head to the side which he certainly did not like.

Another engineer clicks a button and the needle moves slowly closer to his head. ”Ill advise you to stay still ” Marcus warned

The guy on the bed tried as much as he could to stay still but it didn work. A quick injection is given to him to numb his body but his consciousness knows that a needle is coming for his head.

He shakes uncontrollably and the needle goes to his head. The designed position is missed and rather than the chip being controlled by him, it messes up his brain and makes him faint, and before they could try to recover his consciousness he died.

It happened in a space of ten minutes which got people marvelled. Some more students came forward and out of the fifty students in the room, twenty had been called on, ten ran off and the remaining ten were killed.

The remaining thirty sat waiting for their turn though some prayed in their hearts that since the transplant failed for ten students they would stop the process but that was not the case.

A five minute break was given but no one left the room, not even the engineers. They didn touch the machine and just stared blankly at the students which crept them even more.

Marcus was in charge of keeping track of time, once it was five minutes his voice echoed in the room and everyones ears. ”Alright, time is up. The next person will be… ”

He pauses and scans the scared and bold faces in the room. His eyes land on Stephanie and then stops. ”You over there putting on all black ”

Stephanie knew it was her as she was the only person putting on all black. Others had on pieces of clothing that were black but did not put them on every path of their body.

To an extent, they almost thought Stephanie was a goth but a few activities of hers proves otherwise. Every eye falls on her as she rises.

Stephanie was running a trillion miles in her head but she tried as much as possible to hide it all. Each foot she took close to the machine and engineers were steady and landed firmly.

She didn try to rush or her panting heart would be noticed. She studies the engineers briefly before lying on the bed facing the needle.

As usual, they tied her hands and her legs. She is given a shot to numb her body and her face is turned to the side. She shuts her eyes and counts to a hundred as slowly as possible.

The needle gets to the side of her head and in the blink of an eye disappears into her head. A couple of seconds pass but Stephanie does not feel anything because of the shot.

After three minutes passes by and the needle has still not gotten out of her head. Some students shut their eyes with fear, Lara steps into the room from the back room and stands beside Sheila who buffs at the sight of her.

Lara ignores her and takes her eyes to Stephanie who is unmoving and lying on the bed with a needle at the side of her head. Another three minutes pass and the needle retracts from Stephanies head.

At that moment, the engineers removed the cuffs around her wrist and ankles. Stephanie does not open her eyes nor does she move. The engineers get a step back watching her. For a second, Stephanies breathing cannot be seen.

Lara tries to remain calm. A minute passes but Stephanie does not stand nor move. Lara takes a step forward toward Stephanie. She keeps her gaze fixated on Stephanie who has still not moved. The engineers stay calm like nothing has happened.

And it was that same expression they bore when students died with the failed transplant. Lara takes three steps forward and Stephanie still has not moved.

Laras dreams came crashing down in front of her eyes. ”Don do this ” she mumbled below her breath

After what felt like an eternity, Stephanie moved her fingers. She turns and sits upright. Her hands fly to the side of her head which had a little stain of blood that has turned clot.

Lara exhales with her eyes shut then takes her eyes back to Stephanie who rises to her feet. She takes a step forward but then she freezes.

Her mind goes fuzzy for some seconds then goes back to normal. Stephanie cracks her neck briefly and her eyes turn to a mix of colours before going back to brown.

She walks back to her seat and glances at Lara who walks back to Sheilas side before she takes her seat. Other students glance at her briefly before the next is called.

After the transplant, only twenty students were left to continue their training. The thirty either died or ran away due to fear. It was amusing to an extent as the runaways were part of the people that boost their capability to fight off many enemies if they came forward.

Marcus discusses with the engineers briefly. The dead bodies are taken away then he turns to less than half of the students he had previously.