by F. F. John
She stammers but I don’t let her speak, putting up a finger to silence her. Her mouth snaps shut.
“What makes you think I would ever do that, Neith?” This moment is mind-numbing in how strange it feels.
Her gaze is once again on the geese. One floats on its back, with its head submerged. It flips back onto its belly, the water around it rippling outwards in minuscule waves. The trick isn’t enough to make me forget the matter at hand.
“Listen. I’m not a cheater and if you don’t know this already, then that tells me you don’t know me.”
She lets out a defeated moan. “Please don’t say that, Invier.”
“I didn’t want to be a part of this but now I’m here. What I will not do is cheat to win. Not even if it means that I’ll lose.” Even if it means I’ll lose you.
She hustles over. “Fine, fine, we’ll do it your way. Whatever you want, Invier. That’s fine.” I study her eyes to measure the sincerity of her words. Satisfied, I let out a sigh and rake my hair once more.
“I’ve got to get ready for the first challenge.” I angle away from her but she grabs my hand.
“I love you.”
After a brief pause, I say, “Love you too.”
Chapter Six
Neith
Dropping back onto the bench, I let out a suppressed groan followed by a smile. His scent lingers—sweat and coconuts on my hands.
I knew a meeting with Invier would be difficult but fortunately, things went better than I expected. A loud quack reminds me to feed the geese and I fling the bread from my small orange paper box. The remaining geese scamper to nibble away in bliss. I put the box beside me and go to the water’s edge.
Tricking Invier was a big risk but it worked. He’s going to remain in the competition. I was so worried he’d quit last night. He’d held the scroll containing the words of commitment as if it was burning his fingers. I’d held my breath as he stalled before reading the oath out loud. After that, I relaxed.
And today, in spite of our argument, he told me he loved me. Then, there was the kiss. It made my knees buckle. I close my eyes and savor the way it felt. All of this—the lies, the disappointment—is worth it. He’s worth it because I love him.
The question that remains is how do I make sure he wins? Invier will be on the lookout for anything suspicious on my part. Him and his principles. He ignores the fact that you have to be willing to do anything to succeed. I learned that lesson years ago, from my father. He’s also lectured on the importance of seizing the moment when one presents itself. It was that lesson that gave me the courage to insist on a Pursual when the topic came up months ago.
I take in the plants framing the water’s edge. Their flowers shine under the warm morning sun. It’s time to return to my room before Bel wakes. If she finds me gone, she’ll get me to reveal my meeting with Invier and I’d like to keep this to myself for a little while longer.
Leaving through the tunnel of flowers opposite Invier’s entrance point, I pull off a ylang-ylang flower and inhale its strong aroma as a stiff gust cuts at me in the tunnel.
Chapter Seven
Invier
An elevator ride down from my suite reveals the expansive scale of the Participant’s building.
I’ve only ever felt this small at one other point in my life. It was during a space trip for science class a few years back. Along with my classmates, we’d observed the planet from orbit. Looking at the world from that perspective made me realize how tiny we humans and all our problems are.
Standing here right now, I have that same feeling. Luckily, I’m not the only Participant staring about in awe. Beside me, Seth is open-mouthed as he takes in the spacious auditorium. To his right is Loic, whose gaze is on the ceiling. I recall his squealed concern during orientation about having to share a suite with Mehrdad. I would have thought he’d be happy to room with a friend. With an upward glance, I forget last night’s silliness and the almost-squabble between myself and the rude Mehrdad. The auditorium’s roof is too high to be seen and I try to come to terms with its immense dimensions.
Ika stands between James and Mehrdad. James examines the structure sitting in the auditorium’s belly. Mehrdad is too busy snarling at his personal cheering section, which chants his name. They’re seated in the stands and haven’t stopped cheering his name since we entered the auditorium. In fact, when he walked in, flashing camera bulbs nearly blinded the rest of us. His welcome was matched only by Ika’s.
“The more Mehrdad scowls at them, the more desperate they are for his recognition,” Adela says dryly. To her left, Erhart cackles but soon catches himself. His eyes move furtively from Mehrdad to Loic who is the only person close enough who would let Mehrdad know what was said.
Snickering at Adela’s comment, I continue examining my surroundings. A gray concave wall circles the crowd. Unlike the Pavilion which had booths of all sizes to hold families, the auditorium has individual seats similar to those at stadiums. Neith, her father, and best friend sit on a series of red chairs. They watch us steadily. Titan Reffour takes his eyes off us when a bald woman bends to speak into his ear. My mother would caution me on staring but I can’t tear my gaze away from her. Shaved heads on women are an exotic rarity. She steps away from Neith’s father and disappears into a dark hallway behind their seating area.
Portan hurries over to sit beside Neith’s father. His attire is distracting. Today, he wears a long red vest over a matching pair of pants. He wears nothing under the vest but for a red line of paint from his chin and ends at the top of his pants. Feeling uncomfortable, I flick my gaze away to the structure located in the auditorium’s belly. James is studying it as well. It’s a long rectangular dome that stretches high into the air. While predominantly white, it is also covered in orange, yellow, and green lines that crisscross each other.
“I’ve never seen a virt construct this big,” James says under his breath.
“Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen of the great Nomes and Lower Houses.” Portan booms from the stands. “Welcome to the first challenge of the Pursual.”
A raucous ovation greets his pronouncement and many rise to their feet.
“It is my duty to tell you the rules of this event, Portan says. “The points system is organized so the winner of the first competition wins more points than the winners of all subsequent competitions. I strongly recommend that you all aim to win today.”
“Participants, behind you is a shell. It is a virtual reality construct that allows us to place you in any setting necessary for the competition’s purpose.”
I give the shell another glance over my shoulder. While I’ve dabbled in virtual reality, this is the most elaborate shell I’ve seen. What will we have to do once we go in? I know I promised to stay and do my best in the oath, but, I second-guess my decision. My voice, reading the oath last night, lights up my brain.
“I, Invier Nuele Floran, hereby commit myself to the Pursual of Scioness Neith Reffour.
I will observe and respect all the rules as expressed by the Games Master.
I will not renege my commitment and will apply myself completely to the goal of a Pairing with the Scioness and her nome.”
Doubt washes over me again. Portan mentioned a pass during the orientation. It can release a competitor from his or her oath without the need to renege on the public commitment to participate—something that would bring great shame to the participant and his or her family. Maybe I should have asked Neith to hold onto it for me. Just in case.
Looking up into the stands, my gaze meets hers and she offers me a small smile.
“Your objective, Scions and Scioness,” Portan says, “is to be the first to touch the Jaden Spitz.”
Seth whispers, “What in blazes is he talking about?”
“Please note the following, the participants will be ranked after each competition of which there will be six in total. Whoever gets the most points will be declared the Paladin and will be paired with our hostess, Scioness Reffour.”
The crowd cheers causing Portan to pause. After a moment, he continues, “All competitions will take place in the shell. Anyone who dies or is too badly injured to continue within the shell will drop to the bottom of the rankings.” Why is dying in the shell even possible? I can’t fathom the necessity of even a virtual death to find a suitable Paladin. Though dying in virtual reality does not mean a true death, virt deaths can be agonizing and their aftereffects can linger.
I look askance at the shell again. Whatever the case, it’s too late to back out now. Looking up, I see Mom, Song, and Dad. Their expressions are of excitement and anticipation. Happiness even. I’ll have to do well during today’s competition. Not just for Neith but for them as well.
“Under no circumstances, shall any of you take the virt life of another.” His impassive face wears me down. Coupled with the cold caliber of his voice, I’m tempted to demand that pass from Neith right now. My mind fills with imagined thoughts of what lies in wait for us within.
With the end of Portan’s speech, Loic walks over to the shell and steps through an opening. He’s followed by Seth, who is right in front of me. Neith shouldn’t have forced me into this. My stomach curdles in regret with every step that brings me closer to the dome.
I’m doing this so Neith and I will be together. So she won’t end up with someone who doesn’t love her.
“Move it, Floran.” Adela’s voice is a sharp whisper and it interrupts my internal pep talk.
The white light beyond the shell’s entrance is blinding. What am I walking into? My heartbeat is brisk and instinctively, I slow my gait even more in an attempt to delay entry into this unknown.
“Move!”
The light gets brighter.
“Best of luck to you all.” Those are the last words I hear before I cross the threshold.
Chapter Eight
Invier
Squinting doesn’t protect my retinas from the searing glow around me. I totter around slamming into something warm. Pushing away from it, I struggle to look past my five fingers. Tears slide across my cheeks as I blink several times.
“Aww, don’t cry, wittle baby.” Laughter accompanies the comment.
It’s Loic’s voice. I discovered how annoying he was during last night’s orientation. Today will be no different it seems. Someone grabs my shoulders and guides me through an alcove that zooms into focus. When my sight clears, there’s a red rock wall. One touch later, I realize the wall is the warm surface I stumbled into.
“Feeling better?” Seth asks. Guiding hands still on my shoulders.
“Yes, do you feel better now, wittle baby?” He looks upon me sloe-eyed with a satisfied grin.
After yesterday’s orientation with Portan, the other participants and myself went to a reception party to celebrate with our families. Dad told me I looked “flabbergasted.” Song said I had a “stupid look” on my face and that I was the talk of the reception, “but not in a good way.” Luckily, once I got there, the drunk guests had moved on to more interesting topics of conversation.
Sadly, this virt entry will fuel more teasing like that which Loic is peddling.
Scratching away at my tears, I suck in sharp, short gulps of air to get a hold of myself. I have never reacted to virt entry this badly. My sister once mentioned that uncomfortable entry lessens the more one enters a shell. Had I known I’d be in this situation, I’d have played more virt games to prepare.
“That was a wicked entry.” Adela steps out of a blackened cave. She, like the rest of us, now has on a white jumpsuit. It must be the default outfit in this shell. Sitting on her hip is a white utility belt with a water bottle, torchlight, and other contraptions. She’s followed by Erhart, who traipses out of the cave, eyes shut.
As I reach for my zippered pocket, he bends over and retches. Obviously, someone else doesn’t spend enough time in virt constructs.
“Yuck. Don’t come any closer, Erhart!” Ika’s arms are outstretched, his face pallid.
“Sorry,” Erhart whispers, his voice raspy, “my body has never liked virt constructs. This always happens.”
“Constructs don’t agree with me either,” Loic’s tone is hostile, “but I’m not puking my innards out.”
Having had enough of Loic’s commentary, I say, “There’s no reason to be unkind.” Still recovering from my virt entry, my voice isn’t as forceful as I’d like. Seth slides up to Erhart’s side and talks to him gently. Erhart wobbles for a few additional seconds but soon steadies.
“Oh, really?” Loic becomes high-pitched and mocks with the crybaby gesture once again. “What are you going to do about it, wittle baby?”
I step towards him, a flare of rage ripping through me. Seth is suddenly in my path. “No way.” Pulling me away from the group, he whispers, “don’t waste your energy arguing with the Idiot Coalition.”
Despite how I feel, I smile. Based on what I’ve seen of this lot; Idiot Coalition is a great nickname for them. “Nice one. I’ll be sure to use it” I tell him and he chuckles before turning serious.
“Are you going to be okay?”
“I’ll be all right,” I say and we head back to the others.
Certain sections of the wall are smooth as if polished for hours by artisans. Other parts of the walls have jagged pockets with sprouting sprigs of grass littering the surface all the way to the top. Above, a vividly blue sky hosts fluffy clouds that sail by without a care.
“Does anyone hear that?” asks Adela.
Listening intently, the sound of waves makes its presence known.
“Water.” One deep sniff later and I smell sea salt. There’s also another underlying smell of something else I can’t place.
“Thanks for telling us.” James rolls his eyes.
I ignore the jab. “Some of us should climb up the rocks and get a sense of what’s going on up there.”
“While you guys stay there talking, I’ll go ahead and find the Jaden thing.” Mehrdad scampers to the top, expertly navigating the holes in the wall.
The other members of the Idiot Coalition share a look and journey upwards.
No longer queasy, Erhart gets in line behind Loic, waiting to climb.
Adela surveys us all, arms akimbo.
“Seth, want to work together?” I ask.
His cheeks dimple. “Sure thing.”
“What about you, Adela? Working in groups is a better way—”
“Not today, Floran.” Adela doesn’t look at me. “I saw how hesitant you were to walk in here. I can’t trust that you’d have the right instincts needed to win.” With that, she shoves Erhart out of her way. She scuttles up to the surface in no time, leaving Erhart in flecks of red debris, which sink in the wake of her ascent.
He dusts himself off and soon sticks a foot into the hole closest to the ground. Repeating the process, he makes his way up leaving Seth and I.
“Are you familiar with this Jaden Spitz thing?” I lean on the wall.
“No.” He tugs at a tuft of grass in one of the wall’s numerous holes. “I’m familiar with the name Jaden though. It means heard by the universe.”
“How do you know?”
A grin tugs the corners of his mouth. “My mother considered the name for my little brother.”
“You’ve got a brother called Jaden?”
“Nah, she opted for Skyler instead.”
“Isn’t that a girl’s name?”
He scoffs amusedly. “Who knows, my mom’s … peculiar.” A shadow passes over his expression.
In an effort to distract him from thinking of his ill mother, I ask, “How about Spitz? Ever heard of that?”
“No.” He shakes his head, “Can’t help with that.”
He examines his utility belt. “What’s in here?” He unzips the pocket on his belt and reveals a compass, a mirror, and a lighter. After returning the items to his belt’s zippered section, he walks to the potholed path used by the others to go up. “Let’s talk when we get out there.” He snaps his head upwards. “We don
’t want to be too far behind.”
A memory tugs at me but I can’t figure out what it is. I push the tickling feeling away, concentrating instead on getting out of this hole.
As Seth pulls himself up, a crack splits the air followed by a rumble. We gawp at each other, understanding that we need to speed up. As he climbs, I look back at the dark hole we all walked out of, wishing I could go back. I follow him up the wall but my progress stalls when the alcove shudders again. This time, a loud whine accompanies the trembling.
“Invier!”
I want to tell Seth that I’m fine but it isn’t true. Gripping onto a small tuft of dry, brown grass, I stick a foot into a hole but the tremor forces my feet out. My lower body sways in time to the vibrations. I’m about eight feet off the alcove ground but still have at least another four to go. If I plummet right now, I might not injure myself too badly, but, any injury would make another climbing attempt much more difficult. Assuming this wall is intact once the rumbling ends.