I was getting my ass kicked. I was fighting a training drone and to be blunt, it was winning. I was totally defensive. Every punch I thought about throwing back at it left me open for a counter punch. It was faster than me and more accurate. It never missed and each hit that it landed on me hurt a lot. I tried feinting a punch to try and knock it off balance, but it seemed like it was mocking me. It felt like I normally trained at level 8 or 9, and this thing was at level 20.
I curled my arms in front of my face and tucked in my elbows to protect my stomach. It just switched to my kidneys and sides though. I winced with each hit that landed and I snapped a jab at it. It dodged it and I lost my temper as I threw a clumsy and fully committed right hook at it. I missed, of course I did and for my reward, I received a counter hook to my face that landed with painful power and accuracy. I heard myself grunt as I took the hit.
My head twisted to the side from the impact and without missing a beat it followed up with a left which connected perfectly. I felt my legs crumple underneath me with no control from me. Damn, that hurt. Before I worked out what was happening I felt my ass land on the mat and then my back as I flopped onto my back. "What the fuck?" I questioned out loud. I was questioning myself as well as the trainers who were overseeing this very one-sided fight.
"Get up Sophie," was the only reply.
"What the fuck?" I repeated as I sat up and stared at the drone that was in front of me. It was a wheeled, tracked humanoid machine that had two arms that ended in boxing gloves There was a head-sized orb on its shoulders, but it didn't use that to see or think. It was fully automated, the ability of it was controlled remotely and it was enacted by a powerful AI.
"Get up Sophie," he repeated in monotone.
"Come on Sophie, get up Hun," I heard Rachel say, "You got this."
I really didn't 'got this'. This thing was kicking the shit out of me. I am not sure if I was having a bad day, if I was ill, or what, but I was not on the same level. It hit harder than me, it was faster than me and I hate to admit it, but it was smarter than me. That is nothing to be ashamed of. Behind the machine was a supercomputer, but even so. "What the actual fuck?" I said out loud again. I was fighting in a bra and panties and as I had been knocked down I reached up behind my back to unhook the bra.
"Keep the bra," a trainer said. I looked at him puzzled as a knockdown in training usually cost you an item of your clothing. I was only wearing two items and of the two, bra would have been my choice. Did they want my panties? I rocked back onto my back so I could remove my panties, but again he stopped me. "Keep those as well."
"Get up," Rachel said, "Come on girl, you got this. Focus."
I got to my feet. I was well outside of the ten seconds but this was training, the count wasn't in force. I shook my head and bounced on my toes a few times as I psyched myself up to go again. I danced and threw a few air punches to loosen up. The machine didn't move, it just stayed in front of me, its left glove was held high waiting for the tap to continue. I tapped it and swung a left at it. It simply stepped back and returned a right at me. I did not avoid it and I felt my teeth rattle. Spit and sweat sprayed from my face as my head snapped to the side as it knocked the sense out of me. I swung a right but it wasn't even aimed. It was a "what the fuck was that" punch as my brain rattled around my skull. I followed the momentum of my right and just fell forward in a very undignified and uncontrolled manner. The machine moved out of my way and let me eat the mat again as I face-planted. I barely got my hands out in front of me and I was very pleased the mat was very padded as my face bounced off it.
Yeah, that hurt. I just laid how I had landed as my brain tried a hard reset. "What the fuck," but that one was silent and just in my head as I was unsure how my mouth worked. "Get up Sophie," I heard, but it sounded like I was under water.
I moved my leg underneath me so I was on one knee. Moving my other leg so I was chest down ass in the air for a second I pushed the mat with my left fist and then my right as I struggled to all fours. I swung to the side and sat on my ass as I touched my face with my left glove and checked for blood. That was still stinging now. I shook my head to try and kill the ringing that was surrounding my entire being. I stared up at the machine that was destroying me and shook my head again. "You good Soph?" I heard Rachel ask.
I shook my head. Not in reply to her question, the question barely registered, just to clear my head. "I'm good," I lied. I was far from good, but I was not a quitter. I was also working out how my legs worked.
"Get up Sophie," a trainer said again in a flat monotone voice.
I reached both of my hands behind me and used them to lever myself back onto my feet again. That was a lot less graceful and had this been a real fight that would have been a very legs-open view that would have just been broadcast around the world. I had panties on, but even so, there is not a lot to them when my legs are open.
My left knee buckled, but I caught it and I achieved verticality. I shook my head and my arms and bounced on my toes again. I clearly had less energy, but I was on my feet and I was ready to go again. I mentally switched my approach. I would just counter, try and get some punches in. I bounced as I tried to convince myself I was still in this and I tapped the glove again.
It whipped another shot in and I dodged it, I landed a left. It was on target and I gave it everything that I had, but it had zero power. I felt the lack of power even though it was all I had. I smiled to myself as I realised I was done. I was out on my feet and I was suddenly very aware of that fact. That was weird to be so aware of how beaten I was. My name is Sophie, that I am sure of, and I have just had the shit kicked out of me by a machine.
My head snapped to the left as the punch landed and I don't even remember hitting the floor. I was out cold. I woke up in a medical bed and saw Sonia. "Hiya, you okay?" she asked.
"Uh-huh," I nodded. "What the fuck was that?"
"An ass-kicking," she said with a grin. "You have the good drugs on tap, they will auto-administer. You are wanted back in training."
I thought she was joking but she wasn't. Normally that would be the day over, go to bed and see you tomorrow., but no, apparently I was still required. I got off the bed and apart from a little bit of stiffness in my legs I was good. I went back to training.
"Hi," I said as I went back into the training room. It was still set up how I had left it complete with the machine that had just given me a hiding. It was paused how I had left it, left glove in the air waiting for the tap to continue. I shot it a look of disdain as I wondered what was next. I was probably only gone for ten minutes or so. I would have been brain scanned, nanotech checked and when all was clear I would have been injected with the wake-up juice and here I was.
"Hello," a trainer said as he looked at me, "Debrief."
"Okay," I said as I reached up behind my back again to remove my bra. My panties would be next. Defeat was a naked debrief and a heavy defeat like that was usually a cold walk home with your arms tied behind your back so you can't cover yourself.
He held his hand up to stop me though. He shook his head, "Determined to get naked aren't you?" He said, "Stay dressed. Room four, we will be there in a minute."
Rachel handed me a robe so I wasn't walking around in my underwear and then I went to the debriefing room. There was a replay on a loop of my fight. It was so fast, its reactions were insane. It was faster than me and stronger. It took me apart. Okay, it was only highlights that I was watching, and it was very much not my best performance, but my only appearance on any of the highlights was as I took another punch. I threw very little back and I landed even less. I had just been very outclassed. The final punch was shown a few times and I winced at the memory. What little of it I retained anyway. That was brutal. That was not holding back. It didn't follow up with a second one though, it held back as it knew I was done. It had access to my medical condition in real time and I am guessing the report was "Yep, she is done."
The trainers came in and smiled at me. They sat down and I looked at them. "Questions?" one of them asked.
"Just the one," I said, "What the fuck was that?"
"That was an elite male opponent," he said.
I processed that for a second. Why was I fighting a male opponent? "Why?" I asked.
"We needed a baseline," he said.
"Am I going into mixed?" I asked.
He shook his head. "No, not imminently," he said with a warm smile. "Don't panic."
I smiled back at him. "Cos that really fucking hurt," I said. "How did I do?"
"Good," he said and then someone else interrupted.
"Better than good," they continued, "Seriously well actually."
I grinned at that. Considering that is a version of the best in my discipline I didn't do too badly. Relatively.
"You would still be ass in the air getting it fucked though," Rachel said as she came in and smiled at me. "But yes... he would have at least earned it."
"What was it a baseline for?" I asked.
"Never you mind," she said with a warm, but scary smile. I decided not to press for a reply. I am not sure I would like the answer so I would rather not know.
I was debriefed and my training plans were updated before I was dismissed. I hesitated at the door for a second. "Am I keeping my clothes?"
"Yes," Rachel said, "That was not a fair fight."