At the entrance to the abandoned tower, the androids marched back and forth. The body of Claudius’ Brother had disappeared long ago, but that meant nothing to these machines. They were now alert, which meant they would scour the area for signs of the enemy until their destruction, the end of the simulation, or until they found their prey.

  It was safe to say they did not expect to be crushed by chunks of falling debris.

  As a boulder-sized piece of the tower fell upon them from up high, they aimed their guns upward as a few of them were crushed, firing at nothing. The simulation began acclimating to this situation as the androids began diving for cover and spreading out. Above, June grimaced as she soothed her right fist with her left. Super strength or not, punching through thick stone and rebar still hurt like hell after awhile.

  “They scattered!” June shouted. “Let’s go, Claudius!”

  Claudius came next to her, his black and purple robes billowing in the now unobstructed night winds. The windowed wall at the end of the corridor was no more. It was now a gigantic hole big enough for the metal sphere of a ‘hostage’ to get through. Claudius’ hands were clasped in deep focus. Or prayer, maybe? Either way, the ball of flesh that was soon to be his Brother floated next to him.

  This would be his most abstract form yet.

  “You’ll be able to actually make this, right?” June asked.

  “You have my word, Sister June.”

  With a nod, June looked to Isaac, and Alex, who now supported him.

  The wounded boy grinned, and Alex flashed an unenthusiastic peace sign. The moonlight revealed gleams of nervous sweat on both their brows.

  June looked down from the height of the tower, several dozens of feet above the snowy ground. She shut her eyes and grunted as she hefted the metal sphere—more than three times her size—over her head.

  Even though her eyes were closed, the sight of the ground so far below had quickly taken space in her mind.

  Oh shit, June realized. I’m scared of heights, aren’t I?

  “Alright. On my mark! Ready, set. . . fucking jump!”

  The four of them leapt through the opening. For less than a second, nothing served as their ground but the air. June wasn’t sure if it was scarier to fall with her eyes closed or not. I’m in for it now, June thought. I really put my life—my one chance of saving Papa—in the hands of these guys.

  And so, June kept her eyes closed.

  She let herself fall.

  And they caught her.

  June imagined this was what bungee jumping was like. Considering that this was part of her plan, she hoped this would happen. Their fall slowed to an end as Claudius spawned his Brother as a net of thick tendons connected to several of the cell bars on the top floor.

  “Eww, why’d you give him a face?” Isaac whined. He’s basically a trampoline net tied to a rope!”

  “But, Brother Isaac! It’s rather adorable this way!” Claudius insisted.

  “I’m starting to envy your Blessing, June.” Alex said. “Keeping my eyes closed sounds good right about now.”

  June felt the flesh net disappear, and her stomach dropped as she fell probably no more than a few feet. The icy grasp of snow held her from the ankles down. They made it to the ground. Time for the next step.

  “You’re off by a little, June.” Alex noted. “Turn to 11 o’clock and start moving.”

  Since June couldn’t see, she had no choice but to rely on Alex to be her eyes. She pivoted her feet and made her best effort to run through the snow-slurried ground. The metal sphere tech-thingie may as well have shared the weight of a wooden stool while the terrain posed a bigger challenge.

  “Aw crap, they’re starting to get over the confusion!” Isaac shouted.

  “Then you know what to do!” June grunted, fighting the urge to open her eyes. “Be careful!”

  “No worries!” June could hear the trepidation in his voice. “I’m all over this!”

  She heard the loud click of a cocked pistol, then her ears rang as Isaac fired.

  “He’s doing well. He’s using the speed of a fired bullet to close the distance with the androids to guarantee a close-range lethal blow, just as you advised.” Claudius narrated.

  The guttural roar of Claudius’ Brother signaled to June that he joined the fray as well, hopefully lowering Isaac’s chances of earning another bullet wound.

  “Can’t expect him to be accurate if he’s never shot, let alone his wounds.” Alex said. “Closing distance with his speed was a good move. Not bad, June.”

  “Let’s worry about giving credit later!”

  “True, considering the fact there’s other guys aiming at us right now.” Alex responded with all the urgency of a Sunday dinner conversation.

  “What!” June almost opened her eyes in alarm. No! Focus or this thing goes back to being hundreds of pounds and you go back to being less than a hundred pounds!

  She exhaled angrily through her grit teeth. “Then do—”

  “—my job?” Alex laughed. “You didn’t feel that tremor just now? The wall’s up.”

  Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

  June listened as bullets intended for them began sinking themselves in what was most likely a five feet tall, five feet wide steel block jutting out from the ground. The conjured steel moved with them, as Alex slowly altered the range of his Blessing, keeping one foot on the ground at all times.

  “Hm, so this is what frostbite feels like.” Alex hummed. “Oh nice, Claudius’ Brother reached the ones shooting at us.”

  With the sound of a howl and a vicious bludgeoning, the number of gunshots lessened after Alex’s words. June attempted not to audibly sigh in relief. Until the whipping sound of a nearby bullet sped past her ears, forcing a high-pitched yip! from June.

  “I’m back, baby!” Isaac cheered. “Had to shoot a bullet near you guys to make it back. Too bad June couldn’t see how cool I was just now.”

  “Yip?” Alex asked. June could hear that shitty smirk on his face.

  “Shut the fuck up before I ruin that girly face of yours.”

  “Huh? I feel like I missed something.” Isaac wondered.

  Two pairs of footsteps came by. One was gentle and practiced, while the other was lumbering and off-rhythm. The twins had made it back as well.

  “You certainly did not miss those lethal blows to the androids, Brother Isaac.” Claudius said.

  “Nah, I was at point-blank range. No skill in that.”

  “The skill was in the planning.” Alex said.

  “True that,” Isaac replied. “Nice going, June.”

  “Quit that sappy shit. We all did our part.”

  June had little confidence in her own mind. She just knew that her team was good at what they did. She didn’t have to love her own Blessing, did she? It’s just a tool at the end of the day. Does a farmer have to love a sickle? Does a woodsman have to love an ax?

  I don’t have to love my own Blessing, June thought. And I sure as shit won’t be afraid of it either.

  “K-keep going straight, and we’ll make it to the brush,” Alex said. The cold and the inches of snow were taking a toll on his bare feet.

  “You guys took care of all of them right?” June assumed. “No need to rush—”

  “Oh, not at all.” Claudius said.

  “Yeah, we just took care of the ones outside.” Isaac added.

  Another volley of gunshots flooded June’s hearing.

  “Son of a bitch!” June shouted.

  The androids from inside the base were all flooding out, quickly attempting to ruin all progress they had made. But it was dark, and they had distance on them. Time for Plan B.

  “Screw the stone block and just run!”

  “J-just one p-p-problem.” Alex’s teeth chattered. “I think m-m-m-my feet are d-done for.”

  “My brother will carry the two injured!” Claudius clapped his hands and his Brother groaned.

  “Thanks man but I can actually just use my Blessing to—WHY IS HE STICKY?!” Isaac screamed.

  “So that you do not fall, of course!” Claudius said.

  “Gross.” Alex concluded.

  Those were their parting words to their synthetic enemies. They launched into the snowy forest proper. June barreled through trees like they were thin sheets of paper, while Alex attempted to continue giving directions in between complaining about Brother’s disgusting biology. Isaac remained his talkative self to say the least, while Claudius muttered a prayer.

  Then, they reached the rendezvous point. As June set the machine down, she opened her eyes. A bright yellow beam flowed down from the cloudy night above. It was like a ray of sunlight strayed from the sun and had gotten lost, and the night had adopted it in the very same spot they woke up in.

  “Was this always here?” June asked.

  “No. It probably showed up when we found the hostage.” Alex figured.

  There was hesitancy among them, despite their goal being directly in front of them. It was as if they weren’t sure who should go in first. June pushed the metal sphere into the light, and it disappeared with a total lack of fanfare.

  “May I say this?” Claudius started. “You all displayed marvelous feats of heroism today. I am proud to be your classmate.”

  “Ugh, I said no sappy shit.” June facepalmed.

  “He’s got a point, man.” Isaac said. “You guys should’ve seen what Alex did in the laser room—”

  “I’m sorry, a fucking what?”

  “We can talk about it later,” Alex interjected. “But you guys are alright. Keep it up and this school year might actually be interesting.”

  June could only assume that was Alex’s way of giving props. She tensed up as she began speaking without thinking. The words were pooling in her mind for the better half of the assessment.

  The Myriadic Church’s core teaching is that Blessings are our purpose, and that we are to take comfort and meaning in our purpose.

  “I wish I could be like—” And then her mind finally caught up.

  “Hm?” Isaac cocked his head.

  June’s face reddened with embarrassment. She only had one option left.

  The girl leaped into the yellow beam of light. She shut her eyes, expecting to instantly disappear like the sphere. Instead, she felt herself begin falling upwards, plummeting towards the night sky. Her eyes widened as the world grew smaller and smaller. The other three quickly caught up to her reverse free-fall.

  June saw that Isaac’s wounds were no more. Alex stared at his non-frostbitten toes as he flexed them. The simulation was ending, and that included their simulated injuries. Isaac posed in his fall like he was lazing on a bed. He stared at her with narrowed eyes and pursed lips.

  “You’ve been acting weird lately, June.”

  “Yeah? And?”

  “It’s a shame, that’s all.”

  “Listen, Isaac. I said I’m sorry, alright? I don’t need you to act like it didn’t happen. I want us to be square.”

  Isaac sighed as he scratched at his forehead.

  “We’ve been square from the start, man. Nothing I did for you today was out of charity. I did that for me.”

  “I. . . huh?”

  “If you took that bullet to the skull, the class gets delayed again because you’d fail.” Isaac grinned with a fiery glint of the yellow beam in his eyes. “Why do you think I took that bullet for you, huh? No way you’re crushing on me, hah!”

  This fucking prick.

  “Oh, my. . .” The first sign of color appeared on Claudius in a slight blush. “I did not take into account the concept of prior feelings in my classmates.”

  “Ouch.” Alex snorted a little.

  Isaac shrugged. “There, now you don’t have to act out of character and can just keep being good ol—”

  Isaac quieted as he looked down to see June’s hand on the collar of his shirt.

  “Hey, uh, June? Junie? You know I’m just trying to lighten things up right, man? A joke, because I was joking? June, are your eyes closed right now? You know I’ll die right? And this will be for nothing, you know that, right? That was my bad, alright? I was wrong! JUNE PLEA—”

  END OF EARLY ASSESSMENT A