“X-32, you’re next” said the small round woman peeking out of a large black door.

It was time for the assessment.

Experiment 32, or X-32 was the name of an experimental human clone created by the Chinese government. Standing at just 5’4, her strength, senses, and reflexes amongst other things, were far superior to any human being, and all without the risk. She had no emotional connections to anyone, no baggage that would prevent her from getting the job done, no weakness. At least, she wasn’t supposed to.

Nearly seventy percent of all X-clones came out just a bit too human.

Weak.

So, the assessment was born. It was a series of tests. Reflex, Strength, and Endurance, all designed to determine whether the clone taking it had come out too human. Few passed, most didn’t and were hauled away to a deactivation camp to be terminated upon failure.

X-32 surveyed the room. It was dark, almost pitch black. The only time light came in was when AS-4, or assistant scientist 4, opened the big black door at the front of the room. It smelled damp and musty and the cool air blowing through the room would whip the scent around every few minutes. The chair she sat in was slightly sticky and tiny ants kept crawling up her legs.

However, none of this bothered her. The only thing she could focus on was passing, because those who didn’t were never heard from again. Nobody knew for sure, but there were rumors. Rumors that they didn’t just deactivate you, but that you were savagely tortured until they could get rid of that lingering bit of humanity left inside, before they brought you back as an X-clone. X-32 did not want to find out if those rumors were true.

“X-32, let’s go!” said AS-4 impatiently. AS-clones were known to be incredibly impatient. They were created specifically to conduct scientific tests so that the government wouldn’t have to get its hands dirty, social skills not included. She stood and as she did, her feet sunk into the rotting wood floors.

Inhaling deeply, X-32 walked into the room behind the door. The ground was covered in bright green grass, there were trees everywhere and birds chirped in the distance. She kept her focus. The air was warm and it smelled of summer. It was beautiful. X-32 knew better than to let that distract her. She surveyed the entire area, and noticed that AS-4 had disappeared. It must’ve been a simulation.

Out of nowhere, the wind savagely whipped about and X-32 knew the tests had begun. A large scrap of metal flew from the sky and directly toward her. Swiftly, she ducked, and it missed her head by just a few centimeters. Another metal scrap, this time smaller came at her full force, it’s jagged edges almost scraping her as it flew by.

Reflex

Before she knew it, projectiles hurled themselves at her in every direction, at every speed imaginable. X-32 was too fast for them all. The wind was freezing now and stung her cheeks every time it flew by. She blocked another projectile from scratching her face and fell to the ground as a giant scrap passed over her.

All at once, the trees and birds turned to dust and the icy winds shot  directly into X-32’s face. Tiny grains of dust assaulted her and stung her eyes and burned her nose, effectively blinding her. She resorted to her hearing to survive.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh

She could hear the wind clearly, but suddenly she heard a whip next to her face and fell backward onto the ground to dodge the projectile.

Her eyes and nose cooled immediately after and she realized the dust had gone. Her eyes opened and she saw that she was in a new place. A cold, dark street in the middle of a desolate neighborhood. It was dark, the only light coming from the impossibly bright glare of the moon. Plastic bottles and discarded wrappers litter the sidewalks and there were people talking loudly. So loud, but nowhere to be seen.

X-32 looked around for them but saw nothing. She looked up at the sky again and thought the moon was closer than before. It took her only seconds to realize it actually was. The sky was falling.

She ran into an abandoned building and searched for openings, somewhere she could hide underground. There were none. Glass fragments fell onto her and she looked up to see the sky crushing the ceiling. There was only one way to get out of this.

Strength

She planted her feet into the ground and prepared herself. A loud crashing sound echoed through the room as glass shards fell to the floor. The moon, the stars, the world itself plummeted towards her and as it hit, she pushed back with everything she had. She was shoved to the ground, glass piercing her body as she literally lifted the weight of the world.

The pain was debilitating. It seared through her entire body and pressed on her skeleton. She knew she had to keep going, it was the final test.

Endurance

One

Two

Three hours went by and just before her entire body gave out, everything disappeared and she was back in the small black room.

“I’ve passed! I’ve passed!” X-32 cried. She was bursting with intense happiness.

It was this show of such strong emotion that had given AS-4 her answer. X-clones were cold-blooded killers and emotion was a luxury they could not afford.

“Test failed” AS-4 said casually.

“What? No! Didn’t you see? I’ve passed!”

At that moment, X-32’s heart dropped into her stomach. The physical was never the test; it was what happened after. She had shown emotion, and that slip up had cost her her life.