Chapter 6: What Have I Done...

The next morning I woke up at 0530. I dressed and took a shower quickly. I ended up going to school in blue jeans and a navy tee shirt. I left Krit a note saying I was sorry for sticking him with the work and with his admirer. I walked to the school and into the office. I enrolled myself, their lack of security was a very big help. I was given a schedule for my 10th grade classes. I was taking Art, Chemistry, Gym, Computer, Geography, History, Psychology, Lunch, Math, and English. I found my way around easily and entered my first class. 
I found myself confronted by students around my age giving me curious looks. I saw Kevin in the back and he smiled. I walked to the teacher and handed him my note. This was really weird. I've been in classrooms before, but then I had to sit straight, my eyes front, and my hands laying palm down on the deck before me. 
"Class! We have a new student. This is Kai. Why don't you tell us about yourself?" He suggested. 
I wasn't used to talking about myself, "I-I'm from Seattle. I'm new in town with my brother Krit," I said simply, it was the truth technically. 
"Okay. Take a seat." 
I grabbed a seat near the front and ignored the looks I was getting from my new classmates. The remainder of the period I didn't do much, I listened as Mr. Morgan explained their latest project. I darted out of the room before anyone could talk to me as soon as the bell rang. Unfortunately, Kevin caught up to me. 
"Hey," he said, "you got out of there fast. Where you heading?" 
"Chemistry," I replied. 
I walked away, I didn't like to socialize. I entered the room and grabbed an empty stool. A girl took the seat next to me and smiled warmly. 
"Hi," she said, "You're the new girl huh?" 
"I guess." 
"I'm Eve," she said. 
I dropped the notebook that I had stolen yesterday after I decided to go to school. I picked it up and apologized. 
"Sorry. I'm Kai." 
'Nice to meet you," Eve said and turned to the front of the class. 
The information was easy enough. I knew how to build an atomic bomb all by myself, I think I was able to combine two chemicals to make it fizz. A girl had screamed when her mixture began to bubble too much, that was funny. I even managed to laugh a real laugh. After Chemistry I walked with Eve to Gym. Eve was what you could call pretty without trying. She had long chestnut brown hair and green eyes framed in a face with a golden tan complexion. She was really nice and talkative, so I had to learn to be social in three seconds. She made it easy, I could see me being able to trust her, well with everything but my true past. We entered the gymnasium and changed into the gray shorts and tee shirt provided. I stared at my reflection in the mirror, shaken to the bone. I could swear if I looked hard enough I could see my hair in a buzz cut and a rifle in my hand. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. 
"I know how you feel," Eve stated, "not very flattering." 
I only nodded and left the locker room. We began warm ups, it was like Manticore for normal people. I was in my element with the physical activity, but I also knew I had to keep myself at the minimal of my abilities or risk exposure. It was going to be difficult. I spent my life being told to expand my abilities and exceed my limits, and now I found myself having to squash them into the square called normalcy. We were doing self-defense...great! 
"Your partners will change daily, so don't expect o be training with whoever you are with today," Coach Picarski stated as he paced before our group, "Picoli and Benson. Julliard and Jensen. Prinze and Kepler. Locke and Lazar. Kai and Medina. Lila and Gatlin. The rest of you against the wall and wait your turn." 
I walked onto the mat and stood across from Jake Medina. I looked him up and down, he had a pretty good build. He must be an athlete or something. He had black hair in a buzz cut and green eyes. He looked so much like Zan, or X6-604. He was the most brutal of our ranks. 
"A's will attack the B's. B's react on your instinct on how to ward off their attack. BE CAREFUL!" Coach yelled. 
I stared into Jake's eyes He obviously didn't see me as a threat, I could see it in his eyes. He even thought like Zan! I stood at ease using a tactic to throw him off, make him think that I can't fend for myself. I watched his every move, he was overconfident in himself. That was going to be his downfall. His eyes held that look that sang he was better then I. Zan had that same look, too. He always thought he was better than I. Especially after that one fight. 

//Flashback// 
I stared at my comrade, X6-604. We circled each other on the mat slowly, searching for any sign of attack. I moved to the left and swung out with my leg in an attempt to trip him up. He jumped and landed a swift hard kick to my stomach. I coughed as the air was knocked from my lungs. He took the opportunity to land a knee to my stomach, forcing me to my knees. As he was about to slam an elbow into my spine I fell to my side and swung out both legs, tripping him. He landed on his stomach and I flipped to my feet. He jumped up quickly and we were circling each other again. I could feel the bruises begin to form and the cracked rib start to dig into my flesh. I stared into his eyes; they had turned into a dark forest green in his anger. I should have known better then to get him pissed. I jumped to kick him and he caught my foot. He jumped forcing us both to flip in the air, with him landing on top of me. I cried out in pain at the feeling of my head hitting the edge of the mat, where it was the thinnest. I could feel the wave of dizziness come over me and could barely see straight. I heard a small noise of protest and heard my REAL name whispered. I knew who it was, only he would be stupid and brave enough to say my name outside of the barracks. I tried to lift my head, but found it weighed a thousands pounds. I felt X6-604's foot connect with my side and felt, the ribs crack. I could picture in my mind the look of satisfaction that covered the Director's face as well as the emotionless mask that covered the faces of the X6 ranks as well as the Colonel. I closed my eyes and for the first time wondered if I would ever open then again. 
//End of Flashback// 
I closed my eyes and tried to remember that this was Jake, a normal human, not my X6 rival. The one person who lived to be better then Zero and I. The only person that Zan hated more then me was Zero. I never understood why he hates us, maybe because we were named C.O. and S.I.C. Zero was the biggest threat to Zan. Zan was better than I was in hand-to-hand but when it came down to everything else, I excelled. The worst sparring match I had EVER seen was a week after my painful takedown, between Zero and Zan. 

//Flashback// 
Zero circled the boy like a predator waiting for its prey. I knew Zero wanted retaliation for what Zan had done to me, only a week before. The bruises had just faded the other day. I watched as they both waited for the other to give in and make the first move. Zero had the brains and skills behind his strength, while Zan relied mainly on his hand to hand skills but lacked the tactical skills. Zan struck first kicking his left leg out to punch Zero. Zero caught his fist easily and twisted Zan to the ground. Zan grabbed Zero's leg in a cheap move pulling the younger boy down with him. Zero landed hard but jumped up. I knew Zero was even more pissed off. Zero blocked the series of kicks and punches that Zan threw at him, waiting for the boy to tire. When he finally ended his offensive spree, Zero kicked Zan in the face with a simple roundhouse, knocking Zan into the wall. Zero sent a high kick to the wall. It landed right on the spot where Zan's head would have been had the boy not moved. Using his foot on the wall to propel him, Zero pushed off the wall and struck out with his leg once it left the wall. He caught Zan right in the cheek and I could hear the bone crack. Lydecker took a step forward. 
"604!! 601!" he barked, but the boys paid him no heed. 
Zan wouldn't allow himself to lose and Zero had a personal interest in this fight. They traded blows again landing some, most were blocked. I could see both were beginning to wear out. 
"Soldiers!" Renfro barked finally getting tired of this fight. 
Zero kicked Zan squarely in the chest, throwing the other boy into the opposite wall on the other side of the room. That's when the superiors stopped yelling protests. I was almost scared of the primal and raw anger I saw in Zero's eyes and wondered if he was going to kill Zan, he could if he wanted to. Zero grabbed Zan by the hair on the back of his head. Pushing a knee into Zan's back, he pulled his head up by his black hair and put his mouth by his ear. 
"Don't hurt her again," I heard Zero hiss, since I was the one closest to the fight scene, 
I glanced in the direction of the superior officers and wondered if they heard Zero's words. Zero stood and walked away from Zan. He walked with a small limp and blood fell from the cuts on his face. 
"X6-711. Permission to escort X6-601 to the infirmary, sir?" I asked falling into a stance of attention. 
"Permission granted" Lydecker said giving Zero a once over. 
As soon as we got out of the training room, Zero allowed himself to lean on me for support. 
"Thank you," I whispered in his ear, I could smell the blood on his face. 
"I would have done it for any of my soldiers," he said even though we both knew it was a lie. 
"Whatever," I said, using a word I had picked up from a lab tech. 
He only smiled discreetly. 
//End of Flashback// 

I stared into the green eyes before me. I could feel myself growing tense at having to look into eyes like that again. It wasn't a pleasant experience. 
"Go," Coach yelled. 
Jake moved to grab me around the neck from behind. It was a simply move. I retaliated with a simple move, in which I flipped him over my shoulders. He landed hard on the mat. I kneeled next to him and shoved a knee into his stomach, below the ribcage, to hold him down. 
"I'm better then you," I hissed, " I'm not weak." 
Jake looked shocked, but he seemed to get the just of my words. I stood up, removing my knee and allowing him to breathe. Coach walked over to the two of us. I glanced around, most of the A people had been taken down successfully, Jake was the only one on the ground trying to breathe though. 
"That was impressive, Kai," he complimented, "Have you taken any self-defense courses?" 
I was silent for a moment then, "Yea. I've been practicing martial arts for years." 
"Maybe we should put you into the advanced group," he said, "Next class talk to me." 
I nodded and went off to collect my belongings. I was lucky. I almost let my memories take over. If they did, I would have snapped his neck. 
"That was SO cool," Eve shrieked running up to me as I entered the hallway. 
"Whatever," I mumbled. 
"Where did you learn to do that?" 
"I went to military school," I replied. 
"That is so cool! I need to go to class." 
I entered the computer lab and took a seat. I looked around the room, we were basically doing whatever. This was going to be a long day. I mean, in Manticore I woke up at the crack of dawn and I went back to bed at 2200. We had two breaks for meals and the rest of the day we were in classes or training in the field. I logged onto the computer it worked pretty badly. I couldn't get the picture of Zero lying in the first bleeding from my head. I had to find out if he was okay. I glanced around at the other students, they were busy with their own projects. I hacked my way into Manticore Mainframe. The computer was pretty bad, but I could get it to work. I got into the X6 files. I looked up X6-601 and felt a small smile come over my face as I looked at his picture, taken at our last yearly check up. I opened his file and scanned through it. It had the basics, told of his achievements and loses, gave his rank, and list of tests. I searched for more files, when my blood ran cold. He was going under observation. That was basically saying he was being tortured for information, only in nicer terms. I studied the file. It said he was with holding information on the whereabouts of X6-711. I was scared to say the least, I knew this would happen. I read on and saw that he had been treated for his wounds and was healing fine. That made me feel better, only a little bit though. When I found him again, would he still be the same boy, no the same man, that I fell in love with. 
I closed his file and my eyes fell upon my own designation, X6-711. I clicked it hesitantly and it opened. The file seemed to contain more information than his did. I scanned it lazily, it told of the basics. That I was second in command, I excelled at weaponry, but lacked in the hand-to-hand area, and that I was a leader of the group beside X6-601. Then I saw something, unexpected. "X6-711 has shown signs of independent thought. It is believed that's she had given her comrades names. The only specimens known are Zero (X6-601), Bullet (X6-787), Dani (X6-859), Ralph (X6-458), Fixit (X6-809), Eve (X6-644), And Ivy (X6-956)." Great! I read on and found a video file. I clicked on it. As it began to play I realized it was a security video from the barracks. I watched as I saw myself rise from my bed, it was from only a few months ago. It showed me as I made my way across the room to where Zero slept. I watched awestruck as I woke Zero. That was the night I couldn't sleep because Zel had just been killed that day. We had been on a mission to capture the other team's flag. We had split our ranks, I was working with Zero and Zel trying to get to the other's HQ. We had been assaulted by 10 of the X5's whom we were up against. They had shot Zel before Zero could sound the retreat. When Zero called for us to retreat, I turned and ran without giving my fallen comrade a second thought. I watched as Zero woke up as well and he gave me a small hug. That night I had fallen asleep in his arms as he murmured anything that was good and kind in my ear. It was the only night I had allowed myself to open up to him and the first time he had seen me cry. The bell rang, startling me. I quickly got out of Manticore's Mainframe and hurried onto my next class. 
The day went fine until lunch, when I found out I had lunch with Kevin. The guy was nice, don't get me wrong. But I still couldn't get the feeling that I was betraying Zero to go away. I didn't eat much at lunch, a slice of pizza and a soda. Kevin was sitting with me, everything was going fine until he brought up that afternoon. 
"Are we still on for today?" 
"Yeah. What do you have planned?" I said hesitantly, my eyes straying towards the silver chain around my neck. 
"I was thinking we can take a walk around. I'll show you the hot spots for teens to chill. You need a job?" 
"I work at the B and B. I'm trading labor for a place to live." 
"What about a paying job. You can help out at the store...with me," he added hesitantly. 
"Sounds good," I said ignoring the not so subtle hint. 
"We can stop at the store after our little tour," he said smiling. 
I had to admit, the guy was really cute. The chances of meeting up with Zero, or at least the Zero I remember are slim to none. I REALLY had to get off of this train of thought. I LOVE Zero, but what if the next time I see him he's X6-601, body, mind, and soul. I mean, I'm in love with X6-601, just as much as I am with Zero. But when it comes down to it, they are two minds in one body. I looked up at Kevin and smiled sweetly. I guess I can't be cheating if there's no relationship with Zero and I, right? I hope so. 
"Sounds perfect. Where you heading next?" I inquired tossing my trash into the bin. 
"History." 
"I got Math. I'll meet you out front at the end of the day?" 
"Okay," he said smiling as he walked away. 
"Okay," I said to myself after he left my line of sight, "What have I done?" 

Disclaimer: Sorry still don't own nothing!!!! Except those mentioned in earlier chapters!