Ian Batt was working at his Uncle’s Gym, bored and miserable. He shouldn’t have to work, he knew, but here he was, still stuck on Earth, still working for spare change.

  “The world is going to die soon,” Ian thought bleakly. It wasn’t news to anyone that the Machine Emperor was pushing back everywhere, edging to the line of the agreement with the United States.

  As he wiped down the equipment for the umpteenth time, Ian again felt a flash of hatred for the Whartons. If it wasn’t for that stupid family he’d be on one of the Star stations orbiting Earth right now. His family had been wealthy for generations, and though he wasn’t part of the main branch, he should have been able to make it up to safety.

  As he heard the bell on the entryway chime, his mood immediately soured further. Sam waltzed in with someone he’d never seen before, chatting like they were best buddies.

  Sam noticed him immediately, of course, and gave him a stupid smug look.

  “He knows what he is and he thinks he’ll get away with it.” Ian fumed internally.

  “Well, if it isn’t-”

  “Ian.” The word cut through the room. His uncle was tall, thin and athletic, moving across the floor in what seemed like a single step.

  “Go wait in my office.”

  “... Yes, sir.” Ian said sullenly.

  Sam gave him one of those smug smiles as he left, and he felt rage wash over him.

  The owner turned to Juan. “Hello and welcome to my gym. I’m Jerry, owner of this little place. I hope you enjoy your stay. Please enjoy some complimentary time in the pod to make up for that little incident.”

  “What do you mean?” Juan said. “He barely said anything.”

  “Exactly!” Jerry said. “Now Sam, how is your grandmother?”

  “She’s getting close. You’re going to want to visit her soon.”

  “Damn, I’m sorry to hear that. But don’t hold it against her, living forever isn’t for everyone. I’m also sorry about Ian harassing you. As far as I’m concerned, you can use the gym for free this summer.”

  “Really? Thank you.” Sam said sincerely.

  “Let’s be honest, you’ve bought enough day passes that you could have had the membership already.”

  “I can’t make money reliably enough to subscribe. I don’t have a lot.”

  “Well, you’ll save some money from this. I’ll try to straighten out Ian too. He’s still just choked up about… you know.”

  “Oh.” Sam said, softly. “Yeah, I get that.”

  “Alright,” Jerry said happily, “You two have fun.”

  Juan turned to Sam. “Alright, I don’t know what any of this is, so you choose.”

  “Jeez man, you need to learn how to have some fun. Come on, it’s not all boxing. I’ve got something you’ll like.”

  The two made their way to the pods and got in.

  The world went dark for a moment for both of them as they loaded up the blank virtual menu space. A copy of the real gym, identical save for the transparent glowing menu in the center of the room where the pods were in the real world. Sam quickly selected the option to invite Juan to his instance and soon Juan appeared next to him, standing where he’d entered his pod in the real world.

  “Look Sam, I know you think I’m gonna get into this, but I’m kind of a coward. I’ve never been in a fight in my life.”

  “You’ve been helping me for a long time. I think it’s about time we get past that mental block of yours.” Sam started selecting menu options.

  “What could possibly-” Juan started, when suddenly the room changed. Instead of standing in the gym, the room faded into mist and they found themselves standing atop a flat mountaintop. A giant, “Fulldive Fantasy Arena” logo appeared in the sky in bright yellow letters. In the distance dragon silhouettes circled the mountains. Sam walked over to a book in the corner and started tapping the pages.

  “Whoa. Fantasy. I do like fantasy, you know. Dragons and all that.”

  “Yeah,” Sam said. “Now it’s time to meet a monster.”

  The air in front of them shimmered and a figure appeared in the midst of multicolored light. Small, green, stooped and warty, the bald green goblin snarled with an ugly expression.

  “Oh shit!” Juan exclaimed.

  “Alright. He’s four feet tall and as skinny as a stick. Go knock him out.” Sam said.

  “What? You’ve got to be kidding me. I told you, I don’t know anything about this stuff.”

  “Juan, it’s a video game. Don’t get all worked up about it. Failure costs you nothing here. Don’t give up before you’ve started!”

  The goblin hissed, snarled, and flexed his small, twiggy green arms.

  “Are you sure I can’t be some big buff badass instead? Isn’t that what video games are supposed to be like? You know, power fantasy?”

  “Nope. You can do exactly what you can do in the real world. That’s it. That’s why we came to the gym to use their pods. They’re equipped to read what your body is really capable of. That’s what I want you to use. So go smack that little jerk.”

  “This just feels so real, you know? I’m used to using study software. It’s actually cold on this mountaintop! I can smell the pine! I don’t wanna get punched by that little jerk.”

  “Mmmhmm.” Sam said as he turned around, tapping at the book again.

  “Your mother’s ugly,” The goblin gargled out in broken english.

  “What did you just say about my mom?” Juan said, leaping at the goblin with his fists out. He struck out and the goblin dodged to one side, planting a punch in Juan’s stomach.

  “You telegraphed that one too much. Don’t let someone else mess you up with a mean comment.”

  “Don’t tell me you made him say that or we’re gonna have issues!” Juan shouted, recovering from the heavily muted pain of the goblins punch.

  “You’re the same here as you are out in the real world. That means your enhancements carry over too. He’s moving quickly for a normal person, but you’re not a normal person. Use that to your advantage.”

  “Right, right.” Juan said, letting out a breath and calming himself. He focused on the little goblin, looking it straight in the eye. He saw it twitch to the right, and realized that the goblin was about to throw a punch with its right arm.

  He focused and saw it coming, letting his implant accelerate and calculate for him. The goblin seemed to be moving in slow motion from his perspective, his punch taking an incredibly long time to come.He felt like he had minutes before the punch landed. He suddenly realized he really wasn’t in any danger. How could he have ever let that hit him, he wondered?

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  He put his weight on the other side and swung out with a hook, taking the goblin on the chin and sending it flying with a single blow spinning towards the ground. It landed with a thump and he dived after it. Straddling the small green figure, he pummeled it with both fists until it lay motionless.

  “I thought you said this is like real life, that thing just went flying!”

  “He’s about 70lbs soaking wet. You just killed him. That’s what weight classes are for. Just think, you were afraid of him.” Sam said, cheerily. Sure enough the body began to blink and soon disappeared.”

  “Yeah well, he looked like a skinny meth head. Hey, you told me you like to fight guys out of your weight class, right? You crank the pain settings up too.” Juan asked, shaking slightly from the adrenaline flowing through his veins.

  “Yeah. Well it’d kill me if I fought someone like that outside of here. I can’t guarantee I’ll always get fair fights though. That’s why I train. I’m just a regular person, but I want to do the best I can no matter what.”

  “So what are you gonna do if you fight someone super strong in real life? I just think about it and I know anyone out there with combat augments could just kill me effortlessly. Why even bother fighting?”

  “If you don’t fight against some people you don’t live, period. I’d do my best to survive,” Sam said. “That’s all anyone can do. If I put everything towards it, I might get a chance to live. That and hope for a miracle.”

  “Well I just killed a goblin with my bare hands! That’s a miracle!”

  “That you did.” Sam said as he adjusted the monster spawning conditions in the book. “Now it’s time to train you how to throw a real punch. Come on, let’s go!”

  “Alright, I can do this! Bring them on!” Juan shouted.

  —

  Jerrys’ office was small, with a plain and unadorned desk, his walls covered in his certificates and degrees. A single side wall changed as the screen embedded within flared to life. The thin layer of bioengineered, living LED’s looked just like wallpaper until it was activated.

  Now it showed a screen with a security feed. Ian was laughing at Sam.

  “We’ve had talks about this, Ian. What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  “That little bastard is the reason I’m an orphan, and you just expect me to wipe down his sweat?”

  “That kid is an orphan for the same reason you are. That evil bastard used his parents as puppets to do what they did, and you know it.”

  “Yeah? You think they left him alone? He’s a time bomb they left behind! Why can’t you see how dangerous he is?”

  “Ian, this isn’t a discussion. He was cleared by people that know what they’re doing. His grandmother is also a personal friend of mine! We went to high school together. I won’t have you bullying her grandkid in my gym.”

  “No - you know what? Screw this. I’m not gonna clean up after someone whose parents burned down my parents business with them in it! Go to hell.”

  “Ian! Get back here dammit!” His uncle shouted as he rushed out of the office.

  Just outside, he heard Sam’s friend talking.

  “As soon as I get up there, I’ll work on bringing you up to the colonies too. We gotta stick together, right?”

  Ian’s fury had been white hot and explosive up until this very moment. He’d lost control with his uncle, but now everything went quiet and still within him.

  “He’s got a lifeline to the colonies? Him? He’ll destroy everything if he gets let loose up there.” He thought, his blood running cold.

  “No matter what happens, I need to stop this.”

  As he left the gym, he quietly accessed the public security feeds with his mental link and waited.

  It took them over an hour to come out. Ian loaded up his mental link and activated his lip-reading program. The memories of an experienced lip-reader filled his mind, giving him the equivalent of decades of knowledge in an instant.

  “I’m glad his uncle showed up,” Sam said. “The gym is really nice, it’s just him that’s an ass.”

  Ian’s scowl deepened as he waited in the alley. There were cats there. Blue cats. He knew what they were - genetically engineered abominations.

  He’d had enough. He decided to enter the alley.

  “I know what you are, you infiltrator bastard! You’re gonna pay for what your parents did to me when I kill you!” Ian shouted.

  The pair were both startled, but Ian wasted no time. He jumped towards Sam, moving with superhuman speed. Juan’s eyes going wide, his enhanced mind able to barely keep up, he did the only thing he could.

  He pushed Sam out of the way of the blow that would have killed him. Ian’s momentum kept going though, and his flying body ran into the lightly built scholar’s, crushing him against the wall.

  “No!” Sam shouted, but he was slowly sliding down the wall their attacker had slammed him into, blood trickling from his lips and all signs of consciousness gone.

  “I’ll kill you and your traitor friends!” Ian screamed as he got back to his feet. He bounded back at Sam, shoving him rather than punching him. One of Sam’s ribs still snapped under the force, and Sam screamed.

  The cats suddenly started to hiss, and one stood in his way. The older mother cat.

  “Don’t fight him! Run!” Sam shouted.

  Ian snarled and kicked, his leg snapping out into the cat, which died in a horrifying shower of blood sent in Sam’s direction.

  Suddenly they came in a swarm. Though they were only the size and strength of housecats, each possessed a human level of intelligence - and a human capacity for love and vengeance. Claws out, they attacked Ian from every angle, screeching in rage and hatred. He was enveloped in a swarm of screeching claws and teeth.

  He grabbed them, flinging them at the walls where they impacted with a sickening thud.

  The swarm had managed to distract him just enough for one cat in particular to attack. Loki jumped from the fire escape onto Ian’s head, purposefully digging his claw into Ian’s right eye. Ian screamed. His eyes were enhanced with sharper vision but were far from invulnerable. The tiny claws sunk in and ripped upward, Ian wildly flinging his arms and legs and killing cats with each swing. Finally he swung his head, Loki impacting the brick and falling to the ground with a thud. Reaching down in the alley, Ian grabbed a handful of gravel. He reached out and with a contemptuous snarl flung it into the swarm. With the speed of his enhanced arms snapping out as his hands broke the sound barrier the pebbles struck like grapeshot. Sam tried to throw a trash can at him but caught a pebble to the gut, doubling over and heaving as blood began to pour out of him.

  Ian flung again and again, grabbing random bits of rock and trash and throwing it outward. Each time a screech rang out and a cat died, until the swarm was gone.

  Ian flung the last handful of gravel at the final cat, which died with a horrifying howl.

  Juan laid prone and crumpled against the wall, blood slowly trickling out of his nose. Loki too was crumpled on the ground, and Sam couldn’t tell if he was alive or dead. He stumbled to his feet as Ian charged. Sam knew perfectly well that he was no match for Ian in a direct confrontation, and tried to dodge his punch as it came for him. He simply wasn’t fast enough to pull it off, and Ian’s gunshot-fast punch impacted his right shoulder, shattering it and sending him sprawling to the ground.

  “They made a mistake when they let you live! I’m here to correct it!”

  Sam spied a loose half-brick near a trash can. He began to form a plan as Ian came closer. He kicked with his opposite leg into Ian’s knee, sending him sprawling. He felt like he’d kicked concrete. He tried to get back to his feet, but Ian’s enhanced limbs shot him back into the air from the ground as soon as he hit it. With virtually no pause he bounced up and came down on Sam’s leg, stomping it with the weight of someone carrying 100lbs of extra metal in them.

  The leg snapped and Sam screamed. Ian grabbed him by the shirt.

  “Now you die!” He held up his arm, ready to strike.

  Sam finally pulled off his magic trick and struck Ian’s blind side with the half-brick concealed in his left hand. It took Ian full in the face as he jerked back, his steel reinforced skull proving harder than the brick. He staggered around disoriented, but one of his legs kicked into Sam’s good leg and shattered it. Ian kept blindly kicking.

  “Why won’t you hurry up and die?!?” He shouted, kicking Sam again and again. Each blow shattered bone, and Sam began to feel liquid in his lungs. He coughed and screamed at once, finding a broken rib piercing his lung.

  Suddenly a figure appeared at the front of the alley. It was the man in the flashy suit with the cybernetic eye that kept following Sam around town.

  “H-help…” Sam gurgled.

  “Drop him and surrender, kid. I’m not gonna ask twice.” He said, looking at Ian.

  “Shut up and get out of my way, asshole!” Ian shouted back. He got to his feet and sprung at the man.

  Sam couldn’t quite follow what happened next. The man simply seemed to flow around Ian’s movement. Ian was superhumanly fast, but the old man outpaced him with almost normal human speed, the back of his seemingly normal knuckles deflecting Ian’s flying blow. He seemed to flow in slow motion in comparison to Ian’s incredible speed, but it didn’t matter. The man slipped past the punch Ian was throwing at him and grabbed him by the head, then violently swung his arm, slamming Ian into the wall head first. Grabbing his hair, he pulled back and slammed his face into the wall again before throwing Ian away with a backhanded motion. He was still breathing but unmoving, his brain not enhanced enough to withstand that much concussive force. The man took what looked like a small silver disk and offhandedly threw it on Ian’s forehead. It flew with stunning accuracy. Never once did he look in Ian’s direction. The augmented teen jerked and spasmed before screaming and finally seemed to pass out.

  The man came up to Sam, and took something out of his case. A syringe. Sam tried to shy away. The only time he’d ever seen movements like that was on the news, used by the enemy.

  “Are you… machine emperor?” Sam asked, terrified of the skill he’d just seen. He couldn’t pull away as the man grabbed the side of his head, the other injecting the vial into his neck.

  “Save your breath,” The man said, injecting him with the vial. “Sleep.”

  Sam tried to stay awake, but his consciousness soon disappeared and all faded to black.