Calista swallowed and nodded, gripping Katelyn’s hands, and they rushed to the exit. They skidded to a stop when a male Emitonian suddenly blocked their path, nearly crashing into the two. A SECURE drone flew towards them, targeting the man.

  Calista gasped when she felt herself floating off the ground with Katelyn, wrapped in an invisible force that felt like a thick rope around her tiny waist. The Emitonian’s huge eyes were focused on them, his smile menacing. He shouted something to the SECURE drones— Calista had no clue what it was, but it sounded like a bunch of hissing noises.

  Katelyn cursed. “Put us down, you freak!” she shouted.

  The Emitonian turned to her, his smile growing. He released Calista from his telekinetic grip, instead pulling Katelyn forward into his fist, hitting her right in the stomach. She fell to her knees, all the wind knocked out of her. Her HP bar drastically decreased to 70 points.

  Calista suddenly felt a surge of rage at the sight. All the fear and pain dissipated. She ran to the Emitonian and threw her body weight onto him. She was only 110 pounds, but it was enough to catch the man off guard. She followed with a punch in his face, which brought a shock of pain to her arm, breaking her out of the sudden adrenaline rush. As she nursed her fist, she was thrown to the ground, pinned down by the man’s mental force. Now it felt like an invisible wall pressing down onto her, threatening to crush her and pop her whole body open.

  -5 HP

  -6 HP

  -7 HP

  WARNING: BELOW 60 HP

  “Stupid bleeding girl,” he said with a thick accent that drew his ‘s’ out in a hiss and gave a harsh spit to the other consonants. “You’re my ticket out of here.” He grabbed ahold of Calista’s long locks, pulling her up to her feet. Calista kicked her foot up between his legs, causing him to let go, and ran to her sister to get her to safety. She felt a mental rope around her neck, which painfully yanked her backwards onto the floor.

  “Cali!” Katelyn ran towards her.

  “Just get back home! I’m right behind you!” She just barely blocked a blow to her face, crossing her blood-coated arms in an X. If her mother saw any bruises on her face, she wouldn’t be any safer at home than she was here.

  She push-kicked the man’s chest, shoving him backwards. As she stood, Katelyn ran closer, pulling the white taser out of her pocket. “Catch!” She threw it at Calista.

  Unfortunately, Calista wasn’t adept at catching things. The taser flipped away from her fingers and clattered onto the floor a few feet away. The Emitonian took Calista’s arm as she went to grab it, squeezing to exploit her pain, and threw her into the wall.

  “For crying out loud, Calista!” Katelyn ran to the fallen taser, only to once again float in the air, unable to move. The taser was just inches away from her fingers. The man grabbed Calista by the throat, pinning her against the wall.

  -3 HP

  -5 EP

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  -3 HP

  She pulled on his bony hand, trying to breathe. She pleadingly looked at the nearby SECURE drone for help, but it was flying uncontrollably around the space, already damaged by other raiders, who were herding the remaining civilians into frightened circles in the atrium.

  The man’s large eyes menacingly stared at her, their pupils contracting to show his orange irises. Next to Calista, Katelyn was thrown up to the ceiling, crying in pain as the mental force bore down on her body, gradually getting stronger. The ceiling started to crack. Her Health bar was going below 60 points.

  Calista stared back at the Emitonian with equal defiance, digging her manicured nails into his bony hand and trying to lift her legs to kick him, but she couldn’t do anything while he used his-

  Calista’s mind then clicked. His eyes.

  She continued trying to lift her legs, hoping he’d get distracted.

  -2 HP

  -3 HP

  -6 EP

  WARNING: ALMOST 50 HP— MEDICAL ATTENTION NEEDED

  When his pupils flickered down, she shot her fist at his right eye, causing it to ripple in pain.

  +10 DAMAGE

  -20 EP

  He let go of Calista, who rolled over to cushion Katelyn as she fell. She was the younger one, but definitely not the lighter one. Once again, the wind was knocked out of Calista’s lungs.

  -10 HP

  -20 EP

  MAJOR WARNING: IMMEDIATE MEDICAL ATTENTION NEEDED

  Her vision swam as she looked at the Emitonian, who was rolling on the floor in agony, his eyes squeezed shut. Calista forced herself to suck in a breath as Katelyn rolled off her, also in pain.

  For a while, the Medley sisters remained on the floor, unable to move further. Calista felt her stomach heaving and felt even more nauseous when the acid burned her throat and her lips. She forced herself to swallow and suck in a breath, weakly lifting herself, and looked at Katelyn, who was also barely conscious. Her Health bar was almost at 50 points and her Energy bar barely got a boost from the adrenaline rush.

  Calista looked back at the atrium; it was still in chaos, with most SECURE drones damaged or destroyed. People still ran around in panic while many stayed in their circles, on their knees, with their hands on their heads. SECURE authorities would probably arrive soon, and they wouldn’t let anyone out of the station until they completed their investigation. The girls needed to get back down to Earth right away.

  With the little strength she had left, Katelyn stood and lifted her older sister, putting her torn arm around her shoulders. Calista’s whole body was aching horribly, but she forced herself to move. She looked back at the weakened Emitonian, who was finally teleported away by a still-functioning SECURE drone. She also looked for the cloaked stranger that had helped them, but it was impossible to pick him out of a crowd. Whoever it was, she owed him big time.

  The sisters climbed into one of the few exit spheres remaining in the station and Calista shakily input their area’s Travel District. It flashed red: ‘CAPSULES DISABLED’. She panicked, frantically pressing buttons on the control panel as her knees buckled. “No, no, no, we need to get home!”

  -5 EP

  -5 EP

  “Cali…” Katelyn leaned on the console and brought out a fingernail-sized chip. She pressed it into a small, green square at the top right corner, reading ‘LOCK’ underneath, the word changing to different Earth languages every few seconds. The console turned green and Katelyn input their home location. When the capsule shot out of the station, Calista was thrown back by the force.

  -5 HP

  -10 EP

  ENERGY DEPLETED: SLEEP MODE IMMINENT