Allen
"Flick your wrist more." My father said. I tried again. "Better."
My sister, standing beside me, grinned.
"That took you forever to get." Katherine snorted.
"Shut up." I said. "I put my own system together before you."
Her smile melted. It had taken her a week what I had done in a day.
"Your entire thing fell apart when you presented it on the third day." I recalled. "Mom and Dad weren't pleased."
"At least I'm better at using it than you." she replied.
"Focus!" my father bellowed. "This training could save your life one day!"
"Why train when an AI system can literally guide us?" I asked. "We have all this top-notch technology and yet we don't use it."
"The AI is supposed to help you, not do everything for you." my father reprimanded. "Now back to practice! Review your five moves. I'll return after dinner and test you. If you pass, you get food. If you don't, keep practicing." he disappeared in the stairway.
Our moves for today were the energy blast, shield throw, forcefield, invisibility, and fire blast. The moves were based on superheroes, but life was nothing like Captain America.
Though my sister and I fought a lot, we still loved each other. And thus we came to helping each other perfect our moves.
"Thrust outwards more." she suggested as I did the energy blast. "Think of the blast as an extension of your arm."
I tried again, with no success. My blasts were significantly weaker than my sister's, which could tear a hole in the wall. Mine could barely zap flies.
"It's no use." I grumbled, sitting down on the floor. The basement was empty, so we could practice without destroying anything. I got the feeling that my father didn't want us relaxing either.
"David, play my favorites soundtrack." I called. My personal artificial intelligence system responded with an "Okay." and started playing music.
I got emotional when I listened to music. Not like crying emotional, such as the girls in my class when they watched The Notebook, but determined. Stronger. Faster. Energetic.
I tried the blast again. The sizzling crater in the wall matched my sister's.
"Hmm." Katherine looked at me with praise. "Not bad."
"Shield throw?" I suggested.
"Sure." she replied.
"Enjoy." my mother delivered a plate of sizzling steak onto my plate. Katherine's appeared a second later.
I dug in. Training was hard. Life was hard. I needed food.
Welcome to my life.
Long ago, there were two brothers. Extremely smart. Ahead of their time. They worked together to create an elite team. Everyone specialized in something. Then the brothers had a fight, kind of like modern politics.
I was a part of the second brother's descended group. Some call us the bad guys. My father prefers to view it as a different way of thinking. We are allowed to kill to get the job done, use guns, and resort to violence if necessary. Our sector relies on brute force.
The other brother's descendants thought otherwise.
They are all peaceful in their battle, use hurting but not killing weapons, and rely more on technology. Their AI systems are more advanced, weaponry more high-tech, and take recruits from anywhere.
When my request letter came, my father was proud. Katherine's came on the same day. Being twins, we were inseparable, so it was good that they came together. My mother, oblivious, didn't know what went on when my father went out with us on Saturday nights. She thought we went to a swim club.
My mother has had a fear of water her whole life. She has seen the beach exactly once.
Obviously, she didn't question our trips.
As I flicked up a forcefield and my twin sister tested it, I wondered. What was the point of all of this?
All my life I had felt more a part of the other party. I was more of a blue than a red. More peaceful than violent. More technological than a fighter.
Obviously, some people on our current force were like me. They made all of the technical advancements in our headquarters, were respected as top-notch engineers, and weren't required to fight.
But I didn't want that.
"Oh, yeah, Lauren wants to go to a movie on Friday." Katherine told our parents.
"Fine." My father said. "You can go."
"Don't watch anything too scary." my mother warned.
Katherine rolled her eyes. "Mom, I'm thirteen!"
"Still a minor." my mother warned. "Your brother doesn't watch anything violent."
"Allen has no life!"
"Hey!" I kicked her under the table.
Her eyes blazed as if she were going to take out her armband and blast me in the face.
My sister was the complete opposite of me. She preferred fights to peace. Once, I was being bullied in school. My sister took care of that. She had a short temper, fiery eyes, and a pretty complexion. About half the boys in school had a crush on her.
Meanwhile, I was the nerdy kid who always dropped his books, raised his hand in class, and didn't know social media from radio media.
In a way, she was right. But I had friends. I hung out with people. I didn't study all day, like most people in my grade thought I did.
Including one certain girl.
Sean
"Welcome to the annual Global and Champion Party Convention!" a voice boomed over the loudspeakers.
Global Party. Champion Party. What was the difference? Honestly, I didn't see how we were so split. A long time ago, two brothers had a fight, blah blah blah. I couldn't care less. We have the same job - to protect the Earth. So why are we in two split groups that hate each other?
Most people would call these thoughts traitorous. I once stated them out loud when my father had some fellow party members at his house. They laughed and said that I would learn when I was older.
I was six then. I am thirteen now. I still don't see what they see.
Yes, so the Global Party is more strict on killing than the Champion Party. Yes, the Global Party is more technologically advanced than the Champion party, and yes, members of the Champion Party are generally stronger than members of the Global Party.
But that doesn't mean we have to hate each other.
I glanced over at Lauren, a fellow Global Party recruit. Both her parents had never been part of either program, so she had no one to take her. My mother stepped in and volunteered to take her.
She was dressed in a blue dress - the color that represented the Global Party. Her hair fell across her shoulders. She looked stunning, even with her mask on.
Not that I liked her, of course. I had seen the stares she got from kids in our school. But she was a friend, not a romantic interest.
Besides, I already liked someone else…
I scanned the crowd. There seemed to be an equal number of blue wristbands as red wristbands, the same number of blue shirts as red dresses. Global and Champion party members relaxed, had drinks, and enjoyed food.
This once-a-year gathering had been suggested by our brother, who was naturally more peaceful. After a lot of planning, they agreed on a certain day for a meeting - the day exactly in between their birthdays.
Luckily, the date was not split between two days, and the gathering day was affirmed. No fighting, no skirmishes, just relaxation. Making some lifelong friends. Having a good time.
Of course, this was just a mask. In reality, the heads of our parties had conversations about battle plans, emergency situations, and debated issues.
It wasn't just for us to meet Champion party members, either.
"Dylan!" I yelled, running to embrace my friend. "What's with the suit?"
Dylan was wearing a sparkly blue blazer with matching pants. Under the suit, he wore a white shirt and a matching sequined blue tie. Only his mask wasn't sequined.
"My mom picked it out for me." he said uncomfortably.
I laughed. "At least it was blue."
I had no blue shirts that fit me, and I refused to wear a light blue sweater of my sister's. So I had donned a black shirt and hoped I would be able to pull it off.
"You always wear black anyway." he grunted. "Where's Lauren? I want to say hi while I can."
I smiled at him and point over to Lauren. "She's over there. Why? Are you finally going to get the guts to ask her out?"
"Nah." he said. "I've moved on."
"To who?" I asked, nudging him. "Someone at your school?"
"Yeah." he sighed. "You wouldn't know her."
I headed to the punch table after my conversation with Dylan. I still had a lot of catching up to do.
That's when the kid smashed into the table.
"Dude!" I protested. "I just wanted a cup of juice!"
Some angry-looking Global Party members were glaring at the kid. Other Champion members took this as an invitation to attack. They accepted.
A full-scale riot was started as I helped the kid to his feet. He looked familiar, but with the mask and all, I couldn't see.
"What happened?" I asked.
"I tried to make peace, that's what happened." he grumbled. "Guy in the suit blasted me."
My heart lept into my throat. The guy in the suit was my father.
"Are you sure?" I asked. "My da- I mean, he doesn't seem like someone to start a fight."
The kid brushed himself off. "I dunno. I guess some of my party members said a few wrong things."
Lauren joined the battle, trying to minimize collateral damage. I saw other red and blue suits rushing to the scene, either to aid or to fight the skirmish. Dylan leaped into battle, wielding a glowing sword.
"That's my sister." my newfound friend groaned. "I have to stop her."
He ran off towards… her.
No wonder the kid looked so familiar. He was known as the nerd in our school. And his sister was the pretty one.
If I was going to start a relationship with the girl, I might as well start now.
I followed on the kid's heels.
"By the way, what's your name?" I shouted over the din.
"Allen!" he called back.
Lauren
Thwip. One force field generated
Smack. One Champion down.
Blast. Two Champions down.
Clang. Three Champions down.
I saw Sean running after a Champion kid out of the corner of my eye. Without thinking, I sent a laser blast his way.
Faster than I could react, a shield went up and several rays came at me. I barely had time to put up a forcefield before they hit.
Sean gave me a look. Sorry, his eyes seemed to say.
"Anais, scan area for possible peace plans."
"Sure." my artificial intelligence system responded. "Leaders of conference are in soundproof room."
"No wonder." I said out loud. "Anais, activate Iron Man."
I didn't like how the names were based on fictional heroes. However, I did enjoy running around in a giant metal suit. Yes, it drained my power, but who cares?
"Large mass of artillery detected." Anais said.
I turned around to see a giant red tank.
"A tank?" I yelled. "Who brings a tank to a peace meeting?"
As I watched, the same kid who I had tried to blast worked with Sean to delay the tank. They were both in suits, flying around and intercepting the tank's artillery. The tank fired, and missiles intercepted the shell in midair. It wasn't Sean's technology, so it must have been the other kid's.
A piece of shrapnel flew and hit Sean in the chest. Luckily, he was also wearing his Iron Man suit. Unluckily, he sank. The kid flew to aid him, and the tank fired into the fray.
More missiles intercepted, this time recognizably from Global Party members. Drones dropped little packages that exploded on contact with the floor. Cannons fired, lasers shot, gunfire was audible, and it was all I could do to stay alive.
I reached the entrance to the hall the same moment another girl did. A Champion girl. At first, she seemed like she wanted to punch me. Then, our eyes met, and she nodded.
The door was sealed shut. The girl smashed it open with a battle mace.
The next door needed an access code. I hacked that in a matter of minutes.
Lastly, a large brass door stood in our way.
"It seems too easy." I said.
"Why don't we just charge in?" the other girl asked.
"I think it's trapped." I warned. "We might have to work together to get in."
"There's no such thing." the girl snorted. "A Champion and a Global, working together? That's funny."
"It makes sense. No one side can enter. You need to have a legitimate concern." I said. "It's a test."
"Maybe." the girl relented.
She threw her mace over to the doors. It hit them with a clang and fell to the floor.
"Try a drone." she suggested.
"Yeah." I said. "Technology makes more sense."
I tried to fly a drone over. Moments after its launch, it was vaporized.
"This seems pretty dangerous." the girl remarked.
"We could climb on the mace." I suggested.
"Shut up." she said. "Let me see your wristband technology."
"It's more of an armband, really." I said, just to annoy her. But I gave her my arm.
She looked at it. "Activate laser."
Her ray gun popped out of her armband. Mine did a second later.
"Are we going to gun down the doors?" I asked.
"Maybe." she said, with a glint in her eyes. "Blast on three."
"I don't think this is proper use of technology." I said.
"You're the one who wanted the use of technology." she smiled. "Three!"
The doors opened before we got a chance. Several Champion and Global party officials stepped out of the room.
"Hey." the girl said. "There's a riot going on, if you didn't notice."
One of the Champions in the front waved his hand. "Let them fight it out."
Everyone glared.
"I'm kidding, yeez." he said. "Let's go."