The silence was thick.
Too thick.
Then—
"YOOOO—"
Everyone flinched.
Mostang burst into the classroom doorway, late as usual, one hand in his pocket, the other pointing dramatically at the scene.
His eyes locked onto Diana.
Foot on the robot's chest.
Red eyes.
Calm.
Absolutely unbothered.
Mostang's jaw dropped.
"…IS THAT A HOT GIRL?"
Wow.
Emma slowly turned her head toward him.
"…Mostang."
Diana looked down at the headless robot, then back up at Mostang. "You talking about me?"
Mostang nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah—wait—WHY IS THERE A DEAD ROBOT?"
The class collectively lost it.
Someone screamed again.
Someone else fainted.
The teacher sat down.
Emma rubbed her temple. "You walked in at the worst possible moment."
Mostang stepped closer, eyes sparkling. "Nah, nah, this is the BEST moment."
He looked at Diana's foot on the robot.
"…You single?"
Diana blinked.
Then smiled.
"That depends," she said. "You made of metal too?"
Mostang froze. "…I can be?"
Emma grabbed him by the collar and yanked him back.
"No," she said flatly. "You cannot flirt with my best friend over a destroyed combat machine."
Mostang pointed at the robot. "SO THIS ISN'T A SCHOOL PROJECT?"
Emma: "No."
Mostang: "SCIENCE FAIR?"
Emma: "No."
Mostang: "…ALIENS?"
Diana shrugged. "Close enough."
Sirens began to echo faintly in the distance.
The reality finally started to sink in.
Emma looked at Diana.
"…This is going to be complicated."
Diana cracked her neck. "Worth it."
Mostang raised a hand. "So uh—just asking—are you both superheroes now?"
Emma and Diana answered at the same time.
"No."
Then Diana added, smiling—
"But don't tell anyone."
Mostang slowly nodded.
"…I'm never skipping class again."
Emma raised a hand toward the shaking teacher.
"Don't call the police," she said calmly.
The teacher stared at her, pale. "E–Emma, there's a—"
"It's just a robot," Emma repeated. "No civilians were harmed. Panic will only make things worse."
Diana grabbed the robot's arm and hoisted it up like scrap metal. "Yeah. Plus, police paperwork is annoying."
The class watched in stunned silence as the two of them dragged the headless machine toward the back exit.
Mostang whispered, "I'm dreaming. I have to be dreaming."
They reached the hallway.
Quiet.
Too quiet.
Then—
BZZZT.
The robot's body twitched.
A low mechanical hum filled the corridor.
Emma stopped instantly.
"…Diana. Drop it."
Too late.
The robot's chest panel flickered, and a distorted voice crackled out:
"—Test—successful—"
Both girls froze.
"Subject response: optimal."
"Threat neutralization time: acceptable."
"Data collected."
The lights in the robot's body dimmed further.
"This was a test."
Silence.
Emma's mind raced.
A test.
Not an assassination.
Not a rogue machine.
Calibration.
"…So this robot," Emma said slowly, "wasn't meant to win."
Diana frowned. "That's rude."
Emma's eyes hardened.
"If this was a test," she continued, "then they were measuring reactions."
She looked at the machine.
"Speed. Coordination. Lethality."
The robot's voice spoke one last time, weaker now:
"Further units… will adapt."
Then—
CLICK.
It shut down completely.
Dead for real this time.
Diana stared at it.
"…Stronger ones," she said.
Emma nodded.
"Yes," she answered quietly. "Smarter. Faster. Prepared."
She clenched her fist slightly.
"And now they know we exist."
Diana smiled—not playful this time, but sharp.
"Good," she said. "I'd hate for them to underestimate us."
Emma glanced back toward the classroom doors, where terrified students watched from a distance.
"…Normal life is over," Emma said.
Diana adjusted her stance, red eyes steady.
"Then we adapt faster than they do."
Far away—
Data was being analyzed.
Combat footage reviewed.
And somewhere, someone decided:
Phase One was complete.
---
They sat on the stairs behind the school.
The robot lay in pieces a few meters away, silent now. Scrap metal.
Emma stared at it, thinking.
Diana broke the silence first.
"…So," she said, "where do you think that thing came from?"
Emma didn't answer immediately.
"Not random," she said finally. "It entered during class hours. Targeted location. Controlled timing."
"So someone wanted witnesses," Diana muttered.
"Yes," Emma replied. "Or wanted to observe behavior under pressure."
Diana crossed her arms. "Why us?"
Emma's eyes narrowed.
"Because of you," she said plainly. "And because of me being with you."
Diana blinked. "Wow. Flattering."
Emma ignored that.
"They already knew about the Demars," she continued. "My father confirmed that much. This test was to verify."
Diana frowned. "Verify what?"
"…Whether the rumors were real," Emma said. "Whether your body actually reacts the way records say."
Diana looked down at her hands.
"…So I'm a science project now."
Emma shook her head. "Not just you."
She pointed subtly at the robot's leg joint.
"That machine adapted mid-fight," Emma said. "It adjusted balance after my kicks. It recalculated when you tackled it."
Diana looked up. "You noticed that too?"
"Yes."
"…So they're learning," Diana said.
Emma nodded. "Which means someone built this with access to, advanced materials, and surveillance."
Diana let out a slow breath. "Government?"
"Maybe," Emma replied. "Or a private group operating beyond regulation."
Diana tilted her head. "Why test in a school?"
Emma's voice lowered.
"Because it's the only place you'd fight seriously without holding back," she said. "To protect others."
Diana's jaw tightened.
"…That's messed up."
Emma stood up slowly.
"They wanted to see instinct," she said. "Not training. Not preparation."
Diana stood too. "And now?"
Emma looked toward the city skyline.
"Now they'll send something better," she said. "To see if the result changes."
Diana cracked her knuckles.
"And we let them?"
Emma met her eyes.
"No," she said. "We prepare."
.
And somewhere, unseen—
Someone was already designing the next test.
Far from the school.
Far from the city.
Deep underground.
---
A single light flickered in a massive concrete chamber.
Metal arms moved with surgical precision.
Screens scrolled endlessly—data, graphs, neural maps.
And at the center of it all stood Vex.
Alone.
Lab coat stained. Eyes sunken but sharp. Hair unkempt, like sleep was an inconvenience he no longer respected.
In front of him—
rows upon rows of bodies.
Human.
Lifeless.
Suspended, dissected, reinforced.
Vex adjusted his gloves calmly.
"Strength fades," he muttered. "Muscle rots. Bone breaks."
A robotic arm lowered a metal spine into a corpse's back.
"But the nervous system," Vex continued softly, almost reverently, "is honest."
He tapped a screen.
TEST UNIT — FAILURE (EXPECTED)
DATA QUALITY — EXCELLENT
Vex smiled faintly.
"So they reacted," he said. "Good."
Another screen played footage.
Emma's kicks.
Diana's tackle.
The decapitation.
Vex paused the frame on Diana's eyes.
"…Demars," he whispered.
He zoomed in further—nerve signals visualized, impossible clarity.
"Your ancestor survived the impossible," Vex said. "Your body remembers."
He turned to another corpse.
Metal threaded through nerves.
Artificial synapses grafted onto dead pathways.
"Life is inefficient," Vex said. "Fear. Hesitation. Pain."
He activated the unit.
The corpse's eyes snapped open—empty.
"But death," Vex smiled, "is obedient."
Hundreds of machines stood in silence behind him.
Not humanoid copies.
Not soldiers.
Experiments.
Each one slightly different.
Each one learning.
Vex clasped his hands behind his back.
"Phase One confirmed existence," he said aloud.
"Phase Two will test limits."
A screen updated.
TARGETS: EMMA ELARAT — DIANA DEMARS
VARIABLES: UNKNOWN (EXCITING)
Vex's smile widened.
"I don't want to kill you," he said calmly.
"I want to understand you."
He pressed a button.
Somewhere above ground—
Something woke up.
And this time—
It wouldn't come alone.
Chapter end.