“What difference does it make?” I say passionately, glancing from her to the Atlanteans actually present in the room, who in turn are staring at me curiously. “Whether it’s a gazillion points or three hundred, I’m still screwed. Everyone in the Game Zone is going to be after me. You might as well stick a flashing sign on me and push me outside that door now.”
Brie swats me on my arm again. “Don’t be stupid.” And then she looks around at the others meaningfully. “Right?”
Zaap and Kokayi freeze, looking back with unreadable faces, while Lolu stares with a hard expression. Only Chihar’s face remains neutral and composed as usual.
“Tell me none of you are thinking of giving her up,” Brie says in a dangerous voice.
“Giving her up—or claiming the Kill myself. Ah . . . both rather tempting,” Kokayi says at last, easing his breath and craning his neck slightly in a thoughtful manner. “However, both are problematic. The person who makes the Kill and gains the AG points will himself become a target—worth that many points, and taking on the role of the next Favorite Kill, and everyone will be after him in turn. I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather ride out this Stage with low points and little public notice. I’m not quite up to defending myself against Deneb Gratu, Hedj Kukkait, or any other major player who would immediately descend upon our safe little haven here. The Imperial Lady is welcome to keep her Favorite Kill status and all the points that go with it.”
“You make no sense, Entertainer. They’ll descend upon this Safe Base anyway,” Lolu says. “She is here, and she already has all those crazy points. Those others—they are all coming here, even as we speak.”
“Well yes, there’s that.” Kokayi tugs at his nearest long braid. “But it would be her, and not me, with that lovely burden. However, that’s irrelevant. The second problem is, if we’re to give her up we would have to unlock and open this door. The moment we do so, we lose our only advantage of safety.”
Lolu pauses to consider, then nods. “Your second point is more convincing.”
“What if we all kill her together?” Zaap says. “Would we get to split the points evenly?”
“Oh, man, I can’t believe this!” Brie exclaims.
“Good question,” Chihar says, ignoring her. “However I don’t believe Contenders are permitted to split Kill points. The person who is established by the surveillance tech as the one who makes the Kill will be awarded the full amount—”
I listen to them argue about what to do with me, and I should be angry and terrified. Instead, a strange calm has come over me. Suddenly I don’t give a damn.
Really, I should just get up right now, and unlock that door myself, and leave them the hell here. . . .
Just as I feel crazy enough to think about it, there’s a scraping loud noise, followed by regular tapping. It comes from directly above me, from the ceiling.
Whoever’s on the roof is trying to force their way in.
“Quiet!” Brie says. “On the roof! Whoever’s up there is trying something.”
Everyone goes silent for a few heartbeats as we all listen.
“What can they do, unless they find the air vent?” Chihar says. “I don’t think we need to worry.”
Zaap considers, his expression sullen. “What if they already found the air vent?”
Lolu shakes her head. “It’s not on the roof.”
“How do you know?” I ask, speaking for the first time in a cold voice—since they were arguing about giving me up just now, and I’m not in the mood to be nice.
“Because I checked the roof for the air vent when I was setting the traps.”
“What traps?” Zaap says.
There’s a cry of pain and a heavy thud on the ceiling. It’s followed by another yell and another thud, then a series of thuds—the kind that might be made by a body rolling off the roof.
“Those traps,” Lolu replies, rolling her eyes up. “The two idiots who climbed up there a few minutes ago, triggered the toxin traps. But they didn’t know. They just sat there, looking around while the toxin penetrated their skin. Takes a few minutes to kick in.”
“Great,” Brie says. “Good thing you’re on our side—at least for now.”
Lolu shrugs. And then she stares at me again with her intense unblinking gaze. “So, what do we do with her?”
I feel a sudden angry swell returning to churn my gut. . . . Only—can I blame her, really? Can I blame any of them? After all, I’ve got all those damn AG points on my head, and we’re just in a temporary truce, all of us. They don’t owe me anything. No loyalty, no respect, nothing. They don’t know the last thing about me, except that I’m some kind of privileged Earth Bride who’s in the Games on a stupid whim. . . .
“Nothing,” Chihar says, in a weird echo of my thoughts. “We do absolutely nothing with her. We keep the door closed and hope to sit this out for as long as possible. It’s the only sensible thing to do under the circumstances.”
“But—” Lolu begins to protest.
“I think he’s right,” Zaap says. “If we open the door and give her up, we risk them taking her and still killing us as they take over this Safe Base.”
“Yeah, that’s pretty much guaranteed,” Brie adds. “No one—I repeat, no one out there will come to bargain, only to take everything. So, do the smart thing, everyone. Besides, I’m not letting you do the other thing. Lark here’s under my wing. You got that? She’s all mine. If anyone’s gonna kill this baby it’s me.”
I glance at Brie with sarcasm. “Thanks.”
“Any time, sister.” And then Brie again looks around the room. “Stay cool, okay?”
“All right. Whatever.” Zaap looks away and goes back to brooding and boredom.
After a few suspenseful seconds, the others also relax their postures. Chihar makes a pronounced sigh and then stretches his hands and yawns, leaning back loosely against his part of the wall. However, he keeps one hand protectively over his equipment bag. Lolu returns her attention to the surveillance screens and starts scrolling through the arena views. Kokayi resumes flexing his limbs and moving in place—not exactly fidgeting, but engaging in some kind of fine muscle exercise routine.
Meanwhile, outside our Safe Base, several Contenders move around the perimeter along the veranda, tapping and scratching on the walls of the structure, pounding the door periodically, and searching for any vulnerabilities. They step over the dead body that had fallen from the roof, probably not realizing his cause of death, but taking more precautions against the unexpected. Another body is still up there, but they likely don’t know it, or don’t particularly care.
Even if they do, I think, they’ll still keep coming.
“Are there any more traps outside?” Zaap asks Lolu, as he too watches the action right outside our door. “Did you set more?”
The girl nods silently.
“Why aren’t they going off?”
“They are. Just undetectable and slow-acting,” Lolu says with annoyance. “This way it gets more of them without tipping them off to the danger. The ones walking right outside are already dead and don’t know it.”
“Good,” Brie says. “It would help to have more dead bodies piling up around the Safe Base. Gives us more street cred.”
“More what?” Zaap says, once again misunderstanding Brie’s attempted translation of Earth slang.
But Brie just rolls her eyes and watches the screens.
In about fifteen minutes, it’s just as Lolu promised. The half a dozen Contenders surrounding us start dropping to the walkway floor. They twitch with convulsions, foaming at the mouth. Their moans and cries, often coming from right outside the door, grate on the nerves like a constant scraping at a raw wound. . . .
I watch with sickening dread as they die—relatively quickly once the symptoms of the toxins manifest.
In a few more minutes it’s dead silence around the Safe Base, literally.
In contrast, the gunfire and explosions elsewhere around the arena stand ou
t even more when compared to our weird little quiet spot.
“Wow,” Brie says, as we zoom in on the different angle views around our structure’s perimeter. “Serious carnage. Lulu, you just racked up a ton of AG points for all these Kills.”
“It’s Lolu, not ‘Lulu,’ ignorant Earthie.” The Technician gives Brie an annoyed, searing glance. “And yes, I earned many points for all of them. Even though these idiots are all probably low-level Kills, together they still add up.”
Chihar acknowledges this also. “Impressive,” he says. “But, keep in mind, the next wave that comes to attack us will be more careful.”
“I know,” Lolu says. “And my traps will run out eventually. I’m sure, even before they run out, the smart ones will figure ways around them.”
“By the way, if we go out there now, how do we avoid being poisoned also?” I ask.
“I’ll give you the anti-toxin,” she says. “But, best if you don’t go out for a few hours.”
“Hah, you don’t have to convince me, amrevet,” Kokayi says. “Happy to stay here for the next three days.”
And so we sit back and wait, and watch the outside world on the screens. Minutes tick away, and we lose track of time. We chat idly, take turns using the toilet hole—one of the blankets from the stack in the corner is stretched out as a privacy barrier, thanks to Brie’s clever thinking. And then we wait, and wait, and wait for new enemies to approach.
“Maybe a dumb question,” I say to the room in general. “But, how do the others out there even know I’m hiding in this Safe Base? I thought we’re not supposed to be tracked by other Contenders.”
Zaap shrugs. “There are ways. Sure, not official ones. But some people have their own tracking equipment.”
Lolu nods in confirmation. “They send out micro drones to scope out the arena for potential targets in the beginning, then mark them, so the drone stays on your tail, follows you around, and you won’t even know. All the major celebrity players are tracked by dozens of such gadgets.”
“But the celebrities don’t care, they just assume they’re targeted by everyone, so they don’t hide anyway.”
“Also, as a Favorite Kill, your location is probably shown on the arena screens,” Chihar says.
I sigh. “Okay. . . .”
“Hey, check the scoreboard. How many points is she up to now?” Brie asks.
Lolu brings up the screen, and the number is now over 700.
Brie curses.
I just shake my head. “So,” I say. “Whoever kills me earns 700 plus AG points. But then they get to be hunted down.”
“Correct,” Chihar says. “Every Kill we make earns not only the basic 5 Kill points but whatever points the dead Contender has accumulated at the time of death. In your case, that would be 704 Favorite Kill points (and counting) plus 5 Kill points, plus whatever AG points you’ve earned so far today—a combination of Kills made by you, obtaining a water ration, occupying this Safe Base, and so on.”
“Good thing the Games tech is keeping track of all this crap,” Brie says.
“So, if I took an extra water ration,” I muse, “I would forfeit my next meal, as they announced . . . but would I also lose points?”
“Hmmm.” Brie raises one brow. “Good question.”
“We can’t take more than one, or we’ll be penalized,” Zaap says. “Don’t test it.”
I rub my forehead. “Okay, but think about it, it might be worth it to take a lot of extra water and then give up one meal turn just so that you get enough to drink now, and really fill up that water bottle in your bag—”
“So, what are you suggesting, Lark? That we all ignore the penalty rule and steal extra water next time they serve it?”
“Sure, why not?” I say. “If the point is to maximize our chances of survival—”
I grow silent. The surveillance screens show more Contenders approaching our structure from all directions. They climb the scaffolding and circle the veranda around the Safe Base. But seeing the bodies, these newcomers move with great caution.
“We’ve got more company,” Brie says. “So far so good. But—how long before they find the air vent?”
Zaap makes a grunt sound.
“As long as it takes, we wait in safety,” Chihar replies. “It will be dark in a few hours. That’s when the major players will come.”
“Yes, they’re too smart to attack a Safe Base this early in the Stage,” Lolu says. “Why waste their resources? They know how it works. They let the lesser Contenders deplete our traps and pile up the bodies.”
“Not to mention, grow the AG point count,” Kokayi says. “Some of them are probably occupying other Safe Bases themselves, biding their time, sitting in comfort.”
“Yes, such comfort. . . . This Safe Base is definitely a four-star luxury resort.” Brie snorts. “And these guys are here to turn down our beds and leave chocolates on our pillows.”
The Atlanteans look at Brie without comprehension. “What? Earth humor,” she says with irritation.
I smile tiredly.
“Right.” Chihar continues. “They bide their time. Then, they come when we can offer the least resistance.”
And so we ignore this latest wave of attacks. Once again, the remaining traps activate and in a short period of time more Contenders fall victim to Lolu’s clever poison gadgets.
We chat casually, watching the screens, watching them die right outside the door. We listen to the swells of noise in the arena, the gunfire and the audience roar.
By the time twilight comes, boredom and tedium has replaced much of our stressful anticipation.
It’s a false sense of comfort however, and we all know it.
Soon, the real attack will begin.
Chapter 43
“Hey, more coming,” Zaap announces periodically, glancing at the surveillance screens. He’s taken over while Lolu’s on a break, chewing something from her equipment bag.
By now we’re hardly reacting to the new arrivals. Seems like every few minutes new Contenders climb the scaffolding to level five. . . . They try our defenses, see the piles of dead bodies, and park themselves on the walkway, staking their claim to the siege.
At some point they either make the mistake of getting too close and activating the remaining poison traps—in which case they get added to the morbid scenery, minutes later—or they waste a lot of effort and resources trying to get in. Eventually they start fighting each other for the rights to occupy the walkway, and yeah, more dead bodies are added to the piles. Only a few of the smarter ones decide to give up and leave.
“There goes another bunch of losers,” Brie makes snarky running commentary, for our ears only. “Bye-bye Red and Green, thank you for flying the fifth level walkway express, and don’t forget your luggage. So long, Yellow, how about cleaning up after yourself? You made a bloody mess with that Green and Blue, no dessert for you, little girl! At least push that big dead guy over the ledge, will yah? Sheesh.”
I hardly listen, nodding off, in a kind of weird state of heightened unrelieved stress and exhaustion. I keep one eye on the surveillance screens, seeing portions of the arena, watching the quality of the daylight change from blinding sky-white to faded gray and then the beginning of a teal sunset. . . .
As the voice of the Games commentator comes on loudly and often to announce various major developments, we try to flip to the screens showing that portion of the arena where the current action is.
“Sarpanit Latao has a tough fight on her hands, as not one but three hostile teams headed by top-notch Contenders converge from all directions on the current Red Grail holder and her team. . . .” the announcer speaks with rapid-fire enthusiasm. “Meanwhile, just take a look at Tiamat Irtiu, our favorite blue-haired goddess in Entertainer Green, as she casts her insane wrath upon a whole crowd of Contenders who are simply no match for her. Yes, Grail Games worshippers, it’s one against at least thirty in this little whirlwind matchup, and no one has ever said Thalassa doesn’t have a se
nse of humor! Look at how she dispatches them, taking a delightful little bow afterwards! What a stunning Kill count. . . .”
I zone out again, leaning my head back against the wall, and the next time I open my eyes, I hear a dull roar as the stadium crowd reacts to the transition of lights in the Game Zone. Apparently I missed the moment when full twilight hit and artificial lights started to bloom all around the arena.
The artificial lights are plentiful around the stadium, but they are not overwhelming day-bright. Instead, they cast a soft glow, so that many shadows emerge, and there are places around the arena remaining in complete darkness. In addition, the various four-color zone beacons have brightened several degrees, adding heightened contrast.
“So what, is it officially evening now?” Brie asks, flexing her arms.
“Yes.” Chihar sighs. “And with it, the most difficult portion begins.”
Lolu merely yawns. “Nothing really changed, just the lights. We’re still safe.”
“For how long?”
“They still haven’t found our air vent, which is good.”
“Where is our air vent?” I say. “Do we even know?”
Zaap opens his eyes and starts paying attention.
There’s a little pause.
“Yes, I know where it is,” Lolu says.
“Where?”
She shrugs then gives me a hard glance. “It’s better I don’t say it out loud. We’re being observed always, and I don’t want to accidentally transmit our only vulnerability to the outside world.”
I nod. “Okay, I understand.”
“But you’re sure that information is safe now?” Brie says.
Lolu blinks, then widens her eyes in annoyance. “Stupid question, Earthie. I’m sure of nothing. But I can hope for the best. Let’s not talk more about this and give anyone who’s looking and listening any ideas.”
“All right, all right.” Brie slaps her leg and starts drumming her fingers.
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