The fifteen-minute break passed, and my display indicated that we had to stay above twenty-five miles per hour for twenty-five minutes. The speed had increased by ten miles per hour, and the time had advanced. Immediately Kristen took a jolt of electricity more severely than she got the first time. I rushed to get up to the required speed, but I had only gotten to fifteen miles per hour. Five minutes had already passed, and I could see my sister screaming in agony the entire time.
No matter how fast I peddled, I couldn't get up to speed. Kristen's screams were causing me to falter, and I couldn't concentrate on getting up to speed. I cried as the time displayed at 10:00 minutes. For fifteen minutes straight, my sister endured shocking treatment while there was nothing I could do about it.
We were failing her, and she was in pain because of it. I summoned all my strength, and I stood up on my bicycle. I pedaled faster and faster, trying to reach that speed to stop the electrodes from shocking Kristen.
I got to twenty miles per hour as the timer hit 2:20 minutes, and I noticed Kristen wasn't screaming as loud as she was. The voltage must have gone down. Diane or Rachal must have hit twenty-five miles per hour. That only inspired me to pedal faster than before, and with only seconds left, I reached twenty-five miles per hour. After almost half an hour, Kristen finally stopped screaming as the timer hit 0:00 minutes.
"Well done, all of you. You hit the benchmark right before your time expired. You may wonder why it was so difficult to reach your mark. The reason is that the bicycles you're riding are physical resistance bicycles designed to work against the rider. The harder you push, the more difficult it is to reach your goal. All of you have to figure out how to overcome this obstacle without instruction. I guarantee you that this vigorous tenacity will aid you in the future," Dr. Kent explained.
"I know each of you will pass the next benchmark. Although Kristen, I am forced to put her through tremendous pain, I assure you she can handle her situation. All of you, please continue to show me you are capable of rising above these trials. You will need it," Dr. Kent explained further.
There was no way for me to respond, and I didn't have time to get mad. My holo display showed me I needed to stay above ten miles per hour. For several moments, Kristen screamed before stopping.
"From now on, if any of you fall below the resting speed, the chair will shock Kristen. I take no pleasure in this, but it will be as if all three of you fell below the speed. It would go up by three times for each of you. Be warned that after this benchmark, that will increase by three times again," Dr. Kent added.
'I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Was Dr. Kent trying to kill my sister? No, that wasn't it.'
I struggled to stay above the specified speed.
Suddenly, I heard someone clapping, but I couldn't see them from my point of view. Then I noticed Kristen looking toward Dr. Kent, and that's when I heard another voice through my headset.
"Bravo... Bravo... I thought Zero Zero Two could only survive to the first benchmark. Fucking fantastic, Dr. Kent. Don't you think? I love seeing them squirm," the female voice said.
"Executive Assistant Manager Bastienne Belychild, if I recall, you weren't supposed to be here today. May I ask why you are here?" Dr. Kent questioned.
"Oh... I just wanted to see the four bitches in pain. There's no other reason. I won't interfere, but you can't blame a girl for wanting some entertainment," Bastienne said in a sultry voice.
"I must remind you, these trials are vital and must proceed without fail," Dr. Kent replied.
"I don't give one fuck. These bitches are a waste of time. They have proven over and over repeatedly that they are uncontrollable. So why do you put blind faith in them?" Bastienne said.
"That is your opinion, but they have so much potential. I want to continue the experiment, so please allow me to continue to conduct it," Dr. Kent said firmly.
I needed help to understand what they were talking about or why, but the test drained my energy. Focusing on one thing is becoming difficult. The resting time was five minutes shorter than before. The benchmark speed had jumped to forty-five miles per hour, and the time matched that. I did what I could to gain momentum, as I could only listen to my sister scream louder than she had ever screamed before. If the last benchmark was any indication, Kristen would suffer for an unknown amount of time. As I watched helplessly, I cried as my sister's screams echoed through my headset. Having reached the previous benchmark speed, I still had a long way to go.
'There has to be something I can do? I have to do something, but I don't know what.' While closing my eyes, I continued weeping and pedaling. Then, abruptly, I found myself somewhere else again. My heart sank when I realized I wasn't on my bicycle anymore. I looked around to see the place of my nightmares as the familiar glow from my body illuminated the surrounding area.
I looked around as I sat there on the ground, helpless to my situation.
"ARGGGHHH, what the fuck do you want from me? My sister is dying right now. I don't have time for this shit. LEAVE ME ALONE," I shouted at the top of my lungs.
In an uncontrollable cry, I collapsed to the ground into a fetal position, defeated. Then, I heard footsteps coming up right up to me. I slowly looked up to see the girl called Death standing before me. The girl was looking at me with a crooked smile, but there was something different about her. Then I noticed it. Her hair was identical to the way I kept mine. She knelt beside me, her fiery orange eyes piercing mine. As I sat up, she reached out with her finger and pointed at me.
"What do you want from me?" I whispered through my sobbing.
"What do you want from me?" She whispered.
"I don't know what you want from me," I answered.
"I don't know what you want from me," she answered again.
"STOP FUCKING COPYING ME!" I yelled.
Then she tilted her head, pointed her finger at me, and continued staring at me. She had that crooked smile that sent fear through my entire body.
"What do you want from me?" she replied in the perfect tone of my voice, pointing at me.
I didn't understand at first, but she asked me what I wanted from her.
"What are you?" I asked.
She looked confused at that question.
"What are you?" she answered.
"I'm Kristonia Howel, and I don't have time for this," I yelled as tears fell down my cheeks.
"I'm Kristonia Howel, and I don't have time for this," she replied.
"No, the fuck you're not! You're Death. That's who you are," I shouted back.
The earth beneath me violently shook like an earthquake as she kneeled in front of me, pointing her finger at me with that crooked smile.
The ground started turning to liquid around me, and I heard this awful screaming in the surrounding darkness. I covered my ears and closed my eyes. Moments later, the screaming stopped. Slowly opening my eyes, I saw the girl still there, but we weren't alone. People in torn clothing and missing parts of their bodies surrounded us. Some had missing arms, while others had missing legs or heads.
In the darkness behind the girl, the people moved aside one by one as a pair of burning fiery orange eyes floated above them in the air.
The burning fiery orange eyes came closer and closer until they floated mere inches outsight the light. The girl stepped into the illuminating light of my body cast around her after a few moments. Because of the crowds surrounding me, there was little room. She came into the light. I knew she was Death, not the girl kneeling before me. The girl walked towards us with one foot in front of the other as she bit her thumb again.
Once she was next to me, she stopped walking as the other girl stood up and moved to the side.
"What do you want?" the girl called Death said.
"I want to save my sister," I whispered.
She smiled and looked at the other girl and laughed.
"You can already do that on your own," she replied, pointing at the other girl beside me.
"Who the fuck is this freak with the crooked grin, and why are you laughing," I demanded.
"You already know the answer to that," she responded as she continued to laugh this insidious laugh.
"I am the test subject known as Kristonia Howel," the girl with the crooked smile said.
As a warm feeling flooded my body, I heard myself laugh uncontrollably. My gaze fell on the girl with a crooked smile, who was also laughing. For a moment, I looked down at the ground. But, unlike before, I was standing instead of lying on the ground. The surrounding people vanished, and only I stood in the center of the light, laughing louder than I had ever laughed before.
The next thing I noticed was I was back on my bicycle, pedaling at forty-nine miles per hour. I was laughing at the top of my lungs, and I could see Dr. Kent rushing in with his two assistants. Flames were coming from the room beside me to my right. Electricity was arcing from the room to my left.
I couldn't hear anything, but I could see Dr. Kent shouting. More people poured into the room, and that's when I noticed it. Kristen wasn't in the chair anymore. People were rushing to a part of the room I couldn't see, and I could see people flying away, going out of my sight. Electricity blasted out of Diane's room, and fire burst out of Rachel's room.
I looked around my room, and it had black cracks crawling everywhere like centipedes. More people flowed into the room, and that's when I saw it. A fiery figure ran around with electricity arcing from its body. It was tearing through the people like they were paper. Dr. Kent stood in the middle of the platform, staring at me with wide eyes.
Then, I saw the blonde woman running into the room. Several men in suits followed. her. She looked at Dr. Kent, standing motionless beside where Kristen was sitting. She wasn't in the chair anymore.
I could still hear her through my headset.
"What the hell have you done!" she yelled in anger.
Dr. Kent turned toward her, taking his glasses off.
"I have only done what is necessary. Did you think there weren't any that wanted this?" Dr. Kent said, smiling.
He took a few steps back and turned to me.
"You see, look at them. Fascinating and beautiful at the same time. We didn't fail this time. And now, you can't control them anymore," Dr. Kent said, pointing at me.
"The board did not authorize their awakening. So what have you done!" Bastienne yelled.
"I did what those like you are too weak to do themselves!" Dr. Kent replied.
I felt a smile creep up. It was like I was on autopilot. My attention went to Bastienne. After getting off the bicycle, I went to the glass door. I raised my hand to it, and it was a blackish form moving like a shadow. My arms were thin, and my hands were several sizes bigger, with claws on end. I tapped on the glass door, which shattered into a million pieces, flying outwards. I then heard the same awful scream from the darkness, but it was coming from me.
"Despite your best efforts, they have awoken. All your meddling has been in vain. How does it feel to be obsolete? I'd imagine it must hurt to some degree. But, you see, my dear Executive Assistant Director, we've won, and there is nothing you can do to stop us. All that control and you never once thought to look where it mattered must. I am not the only one, do with me as you wish. They have attained what you failed to do so many times before. Can't you see? We've done it, and I'm afraid I've got a tad bit of bad news for you, my dear. They didn't choose you. I know it must be difficult for you to understand. But, I'm afraid I must say, you weren't worthy to receive their power, their gift. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I'm not," Dr. Kent said in a proud voice.
"Aahhhh... You're the administrator! You are dead, just as they are! I can stop them now and here," she growled at him.
"I'm afraid you have it wrong. The administrator you seek is not I. You may stop them today, but remember, the board holds the collective power to terminate them!" Dr. Kent said, smiling.
"Argh... Fool. I'll kill your precious test subjects no matter what your master says," Bastienne yelled in an inhumane voice.
Bastienne grabbed Dr. Kent by the neck and threw him across the room. Then, she turned her attention to me and screamed like a banshee running toward me. Before I fell unconscious, her face was the last thing I saw.