[7] conflict, impulse, regret

"Why are we screwed?" Scarlett asked. "Because you don't like that I'm your leader now?"

Angelo stopped pacing. He gave Scarlett a full-on disgusted look, then shook his head. "No, dumbass. You're not the problem. You fit a Marksman more than an Assassin, now that I think about it—bossy, aggressive, and overall an arrogant piece of shit." Stiffly, he gestured at me. "This. This is the problem. Assassins have to be sneaky. Jake's too...obvious. He doesn't act like an Assassin. You know what Assassins have to do in the battle? They have to sneak between the enemies and take down their Marksman! Can you see Jake doing that? No!"

I'd feel offended, only I agreed. I'd never be able to do that. I'd rather work across distance. I was good with long-range stuff. Measuring, calculating, aiming. But sneaking between a bunch of androids for melee combat? Yeah, no.

"He can learn," Scarlett said. "We have time to practice before the battle."

"It's not about practice." Sighing, Angelo sat down. "He just doesn't have it in him. I just think he's better off a Marksman."

"Oh, so now this about you wanting Jake to be the Marksman? Listen, anyone can learn to hit that stupid bullseye. I can and I will learn to do that stuff. And Jake will learn to be an Assassin. Besides, Jake would make an even worse leader. He's quiet and shy and he has absolutely no communication skills."

"Guys," Yaseen cut in. "This—"

"Yeah, yeah," Scarlett said. "We should 'calm down' and stop 'wasting energy.' Is that the only thing Tanks say?"

"Watch how you talk to him, asshole!"
Angelo stood and jabbed a finger at Scarlett. "He welcomed you into his house and this is how you respect him? Which dumpster did you crawl out of?"

"I don't know which dumpster I crawled out of. You know why? Because of you!" Scarlett pushed Angelo's hand away and shoved him in the chest. "You and your entire robot community. We don't know exactly how we were bred. We don't know whose genes we have. We don't know what our real parents would've been like. We just exist. Alone. Just Jake and I. And I used to think our life was terrible. I thought it couldn't get worse. Then this stupid Trial happened. Then you happened. Everything has to go your way, huh? You think I'm the Assassin, so I have to be the Assassin. You think Jake's the Marksman, so Jake has to be the Marksman. But guess what? We don't have to obey you. You're just another lifeless piece of metal. This synthetic skin doesn't make you human. It doesn't make you alive."

This escalated fast. I fidgeted. I understood every word Scarlett said, I knew what she meant and I knew the pain. But I just didn't think Angelo was responsible.

"Thing. You think I'm a thing?" Angelo had just been called lifeless, and yet his eyes had never looked so real: they blazed with anger. It contradicted Scarlett's point. "You can't respect us because we're not human? That's all you care about? I'm telling you that Jake being the Assassin might end up killing him because he's not fit for the task, and this, this is what you care about? That we're not alive for you?"

Their voices were getting louder. Across the room, I caught Yaseen's eye, and I saw the intention to diffuse the situation. "Angelo," Yaseen said. "Calm down, boy. Calm down." With one hand, he caught Angelo's arm and gently pulled him away. "You two keep fighting because you're both very similar: so impatient, so aggressive." When he set his eyes on Scarlett, his expression was still gentle. Still forgiving. No hint of anger. "Scarlett, take a minute to breathe."

Angelo sighed and briefly leant his head onto Yaseen's arm, exhausted. Then he glanced up at him. "Look at what we're cursed with. We couldn't even get some decent humans."

Scarlett nodded a bit too aggressively. "Cool, she said. "Cool. You're right. You're so right. I—I....I'm going outside. I need fresh air. Jake, come with me."

I knew there was something behind that. Grabbing my wrist, she hauled me along outside and slammed the door shut behind us. She crossed her arms and peeked at the windows. When she made sure Angelo and Yaseen weren't watching, she hurried into the forest, towing me behind again.

I dug my heels into the soil. "What are you doing?"

Scarlett's shoulders slumped in disappointment. "I'm not staying with this idiot anymore. He's just bossing us around." Turning her shoulder in her path's direction, she ushered me along. "Come on. Let's go."

"No."

"What do you mean no?"

"I mean, that's a bad idea. What if we run into androids? What will we do? They're all stronger than us."

"Bullshit," Scarlett said. "Angelo probably made that all up to scare us into staying with him. Why would androids wanna kill humans if they've never met them? I don't know why Angelo needs us so desperately, but I know that we're not obliged to help. He's never been respectful either. He's a hypocrite."

I opened my mouth, but words didn't come out. There were too many. I wanted to tell her my theories about Xander. I wanted to tell her how things made sense in my head. I wanted to tell her that I think I knew what Angelo needed. But it just didn't happen. The words lurched at my tongue and flowed down my throat again. Scarlett was right; I had shit communication skills, and it was a problem.

Before I could begin to blubber, Scarlett shook her head and ran. Ran. I frowned. Then, frustrated, I slammed my hands against my sides. Bait. She was baiting me. She knew I'd follow her. And I did, under gnarling oak branches, shoving vines out of my face. "Scarlett!" I yelled, but she didn't budge. "Don't do this! Come back!"

She disappeared from my eyesight. I reached a a lone tree set in the middle of a barren little space. An empty circle stamped into the forest. Hand on the rough trunk, I breathed out, looking around me. "Scarlett," I murmured. "We can't do this alone."

Then I realized something.

The silence.

Sure, she'd been running ahead, but I'd been able to hear her footsteps. The crunch of dried leaves and the squish of soil. But now...nothing. She couldn't have gone that far.

I didn't like this. I straightened, tense. I looked around. Nothing. A twig cracked, my heart stopped. I turned to the direction of the noise, and the moment I did, a weight crashed into my back, thrusting me forward.

Whoever ambushed me didn't let me fall: with an arm hooked around my throat, they forced me back and around, and suddenly I was staring at Scarlett standing 1.3 meters away from me with her own captor as well. I narrowed my  eyes at her. You happy now? I wanted to say.

"Would you look at that," the female android behind me said, pressuring my throat. I lifted my chin. Scarlett made a distressed noise. "Two newbies, hanging out around Yaseen's house." She looked at the other girl, the one with Scarlett, and she snickered. "It's like they're asking Angelo to beat them up. God forbid anyone messes with his precious Tank." A pause, and a...wistful sigh. "Yaseen. Irene. Xander. The only three he ever cared about."

Oh.

They hadn't figured out we were on Angelo's side. I hoped he'd followed us.

"So," she drawled, her breath hot against my ear. That was more uncomfortable than her arm pushing onto my throat. With one quick move, she caught my shoulder, turned me sideways, and pushed me into a tree-trunk. I grunted. She approached me. "Look at his eyes. So weird." When she towered above me, I slid down until I hit the earth. The girl crouched down right in front of me, too close, knees apart, scarily relaxed. Clearly she didn't perceive me as a threat. "How'd you end up here?"

I swallowed, just looking at her, observing her face. Dark eyes. Dark hair. Dark clothes. Ash was smeared along her cheeks. Slowly, she raised a dagger, running a finger along its edge between us.

"What're the odds these newbies turn out humans?" she asked her friend with a raised brow. My breath caught in my throat. "It'd be a nice change." With the very tip of the dagger, she traced my jawline. Then, the moment she added pressure, ready to cut, to reveal my race, a knife whizzed through the air and stabbed her in the side. With a wail of pain, she fell over to the left, and I quickly stood, only to see a familiar angry young man.

Angelo charged with one sword out. The girl quickly scrambled to her feet, but he was faster, and he knocked the dagger out of her hand. He pushed me back. Behind him, the girl at Scarlett's side raised a spear, aiming it at Angelo's back.

"Angelo!" I shouted. "Behind you!"

It was too late. The spear flew, straight for Angelo's spine, but then Yaseen came into view and he just...took the blow for him.

Literally. Just like that. The spear impaled him in the stomach. And he took it out, throwing it aside. Just like that. His face twisted slightly. Pained, but strong enough. If that spear had gone through me, it'd have killed me. He was a Tank, no joke.

The second girl decided she couldn't keep watching, so she joined the fight, dashing towards Angelo with another spear. He parried her strike with the edge of his sword, then with a grunt, deflected her force right back onto her; the spear fell, and she crumpled.

Scarlett ran to my side, breathing heavily. "Are you okay?" Her voice shook. I nodded. She gripped my arm and forced me a little further back, out of the brawl's radius. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't—"

I motioned her to stop talking. My eyes trained on the fight. Angelo and Yaseen worked with uncanny synergy. Astounding to watch. This synchronization, this rhythmic attacking style. Yaseen kept guarding Angelo's back, and Angelo kept striking. They moved together. The girls tried finding a chink in their formation, but it just didn't happen.

Finally, the short battle ended. The girls had black-oozing cuts along their faces. Angelo didn't even have a single slice on him. But Yaseen had a hole in him, and it dripped dark ink. It wasn't that Angelo and Yaseen were particularly better, it's just that their teamwork was superior. Effortless.

The girl rose to her feet, snarling. "Why are you protecting these newbies?"

"They're mine," Angelo said.

"Yours?" The girl raised a brow and gave us a dirty look. She sounded...jealous? "They're on your team now? Isn't that suspicious."

"I've been looking for a while now. I decided these two are good enough."

Crossing her arms, she cocked a brow at us. "Did you make sure they're not humans?"

Angelo nodded. "Yes."

"I don't trust you, especially not after Xander. Show me their blood. Rules are rules."

Scarlett and I looked at Angelo. Should we run now? I thought so. But Angelo didn't even look worried. With a frown, he nodded. "Rules are rules," he repeated. "I'll show you."

"Go ahead, then."

Angelo brought a dagger out, but I noticed something; he didn't just randomly reach for the nearest along his belt. No. He grabbed the third. And as strode towards me, I stared at the blade: the edge glimmered weirdly.

Angelo hunkered down in front of me. "Trust me," he whispered, rolling up my sleeve. I didn't protest—mostly because I had no choice. Even Scarlett was frozen.

He sliced my arm, and I thought I was dead now. I thought my cover was blown.

But then...the weirdest thing happened.

Black blood came out of my wound.

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so so so much character development will happen in this book! i know the characters seem very rough rn but u shall be proud when the development happens :D