Our Contest

by Phillip Murrell

  Seal Pup’s ego sinks as he watches Mag Pulse roll out from behind his cover and fix Knight Terror with a stare. It doesn’t take long. Knight Terror reverts to Power wearing his comfort suit. The paralyzed man collapses to the floor. He looks up at Mag Pulse with frustration as Mag Pulse “kills” him with a slice of his long sword.

  “Good job,” SOT encourages. “The rest of you find an opponent and remove the opposition.”

  The rookies gleefully obey. Xibalba sprays Stage with smoke canisters connected to his forearms. This simulates his power, and Stage is allowed a respite from Catharsis’ nerve attack.

  Swap approaches Stitch.

  “Sorry, girl,” Swap says.

  “Just do it,” Stitch responds through gritted teeth.

  Swap taunts Stitch by swinging her turquoise war fans, ones that match her armor. She eventually goes for the “kill” and slices at Stitch’s throat. Another Templar falls.

  Thumbnail quickly draws a flamethrower and pulls it out. He aims it at Nijigen. The simulator adds flames when Thumbnail “fires” it and soon Nijigen is another casualty.

  Hide vanishes from sight and reappears behind a quivering Gallery. He grabs the Templar in a headlock and simulates snapping her neck. She stays alive because the simulation rules that her augmentation would keep her alive after the attack. In fact, the red glow on Hide’s armor indicates he’s now wounded. Hide opts to aim his assault rifle at Gallery instead and fires two full magazines of fifty rounds each into her. Eventually he gets credit for the kill. The simulator calculates the attack would overwhelm her augmentation.

  Roids easily dispatches Caliber with a single swipe of her sickle. Seal Pup hears the Gudz warrior’s disgust by how easily she was felled.

  Seal Pup is all that remains. He figured SOT would keep him for last. To his surprise, Mule approaches him instead.

  “I’ve been planning this one for some time,” Mule gloats.

  Seal Pup doesn’t have time to deduce the meaning of the taunt. Mule soon reveals his intentions by transforming into a hybrid of two animals. His head is now a Shih Tzu puppy, but the back half is a baby seal. The literal seal pup flips in the air and slaps the Templar across his face. The moment the attack is over, so is the assault by Catharsis. Roars of laughter fill Seal Pup’s ears. He stands with a smile beneath his own helmet.

  “Good job, rookie,” Seal Pup says. “It was the obvious joke, but I never saw it coming.”

  “Naturally,” Mule says as he performs a victory dance.

  “Good job, recruits,” Votary says from the middle of the simulator once more. “That went about how I suspected. Now why don’t we try it again from my perspective?”

  Seal Pup instantly knows what Votary means and is glad for the payback.

  “Sure, old man, we’ll kick your ass again,” Hide jokes.

  “We’ll see about that,” Votary comments. “This time will be melee weapons only. You’re gonna see what it’s like to fight inside one of my bubbles.”

  “Oh shit,” Roids says.

  “Hell, yeah,” Gallery screams.

  “Take your beating like Templars,” Nijigen adds.

  “Knight Terror, I won’t make you go through this. Please have a seat with us,” Votary says.

  “Yeah, whatever, man,” Power says as he walks over to Mitch. “Y’all bitches is lucky he sidelined me.”

  “Alright,” Votary says. “Wait for the chime and begin round two.”

  This time Votary stays inside the arena. The simulator erects hard light barriers to keep all combatants in a closed, fifteen-meter perimeter. It’s cozy, exactly as Seal Pup likes. He grips his practice trident, and the other Templars follow his lead.

  The alarm chimes, and the two forces charge each other. The rookies’ easy victory is completely reversed into a pathetic defeat. The veteran Templars can barely control their laughter as each opponent swiftly falls.

  First, Seal Pup charges SOT. He knows she’s the brains and wants to take her down before she can bark any orders and possibly give an excuse to rally. He knows she’ll be a challenge and is thankful that he catches her unaware while she tries to organize a mini-phalanx. Seal Pup hurls his practice trident at her and is satisfied when it bounces off her chest and the computer awards him a point. He thinks he can see her pouting beneath her helmet as she storms out of the way.

  Xibalba charges the now unarmed Seal Pup and swings wildly to avenge his fallen commander. Seal Pup easily catches the man’s bident and yanks it out of his hands. The force of the tug throws Xibalba off balance and sprawls him onto the floor. Seal Pup drives the twin prongs of the bident down on Xibalba and scores a second easy point for his team.

  Swap swings her war fans at Stage. He parries her attacks with his shillelagh club. The geriatric Templar uses his significant range advantage to trip Swap by striking her ankles with the heavy end of the five-foot long staff. Once Swap’s head strikes the mat, Stage follows up with a swing to her helmet. He has to strike her multiple times, but eventually gets the win from the computer.

  Catharsis attempts to run out of bounds, but she’s not permitted by the limits of the hard light arena. Stitch eliminates her from the match with her hatchet, then ducks a near “fatal” attack by Mag Pulse’s long sword. Stitch ends up in the splits as his blade sails over her head. She brings the bladed head of her hatchet into Mag Pulse’s crotch. The computer chimes a win.

  “Not very sporting of you for a team medic,” Mag Pulse grumbles as he escorts Catharsis out of the arena.

  Mule wildly swings bagh naka tiger claws at Caliber. Caliber chooses to fight without a weapon and blocks each swing. She mocks Mule by keeping her non-dominant hand behind her back as she easily evades or parries each attack. Caliber seems to tire of her opponent and executes a hand spring. While balancing on her hands, she wraps her legs around Mule’s neck and forces the man to the floor. Caliber places each wrist at the softer points around the neck. The simulator counts her hidden, spring-loaded blades as a kill technique.

  Seal Pup can barely keep track as Nijigen bounces around Thumbnail. His katana is a blur. Seconds later, the computer disregards Thumbnail’s presence.

  Seal Pup does a quick head count. His team is still one hundred percent, but the recruits only have Hide left. The loud mouth recruit faces off against Gallery. She ignores his juvenile advances.

  “Hey, baby, why don’t we wrestle in private instead?”

  Gallery rests Apollo’s bow on her shoulders, then violently whips it around. The end of her weapon turns Hide’s head when it connects. He swings at her, but she slides under the punch and trips out his legs. Hide falls face-first into the floor. Gallery picks up Seal Pup’s trident from the floor and uses it to end the scenario.

  “Woo!” Gallery cheers as she holds Seal Pup’s weapon over her head.

  “That’s how you do it, baby!” Mitch cheers while giving the veterans a standing ovation.

  “As I suspected,” Votary begins, “we have a tie. Curious how we’re gonna resolve this?”

  Many hands go up, and Seal Pup finds himself raising his own.

  “I think you’ll like it,” Votary teases. “If Shot Caller taught us anything, it’s that betrayals can happen. If you need another example, ask Caliber about it.”

  “What did I do?” Caliber asks.

  “The final round will be decided as individuals. You’ll begin at separate parts of a maze. Everyone is your enemy. Whichever team owns the sole survivor gets the win. The team will get a special reward. The sole survivor will get an additional bonus. The rest of you will wish you fought harder; however, there are no teams. Don’t spare someone you consider an ally because that’ll eliminate both of you,” Votary says.

  “Alright, vets, don’t embarrass me,” Seal Pup cheers.

  “Again, don’t forget the word again. It’s important,” SOT counters.r />
  Seal Pup gives SOT a nod to show respect for her quick wit.

  The floor lights up with orange octagons. Each Templar takes a position on one. Walls entomb each of them, then randomly move throughout a new arena depiction with full walls. Seal Pup tries to keep a relative position of where he is as the walls and floor moves. It’s a losing battle, and he soon opts to just prepare for the fight instead.

  The walls eventually drop around his platform. Seal Pup finds himself alone among the unfamiliar environment. He taps into his inner discipline and slowly walks through the maze. He listens for any indicator that someone is nearby.

  A chime sounds, and the computer announces, “Stage has defeated Swap.”

  Good job, Paddy, Seal Pup thinks.

  “Woo, Stage!” Seal Pup hears Caliber shout.

  Damn it, you’re supposed to be better at this than any of us, Seal Pup thinks.

  Seal Pup slowly rounds a corner and sees Caliber’s back easily presented to him. Seal Pup regrets having to eliminate a teammate, but he isn’t willing to go against Votary’s rules. Seal Pup sneaks up behind her and thrusts his trident at her back.

  “Seal Pup has defeated Caliber,” the computer says.

  “Yes,” Seal Pup hears Mag Pulse whisper.

  Do any of these people understand the concept of silence? Seal Pup wonders.

  Just as he did to Caliber, Seal Pup sneaks up on Mag Pulse and removes him from the competition. The computer announces this result, along with Xibalba beating Hide, Gallery, and Knight Terror.

  He’s good, Seal Pup admits to himself. I better find him before he finds me.

  “Xibalba has defeated Nijigen.”

  Seal Pup slowly creeps along the wall on his right side.

  “Stitch has defeated Stage.”

  Damn, another case of fratricide, Seal Pup thinks. Just Stitch and I left against SOT, Xibalba, Catharsis, Mule, Roids, and Thumbnail. It’s not looking good.

  “Mule has defeated Roids.”

  “Xibalba has defeated SOT.”

  At least Julie got what was coming to her.

  “Stitch has defeated Catharsis.”

  “Mule has defeated Stitch.”

  Damn, all alone.

  “Xibalba has defeated Mule.”

  Seal Pup does the math again. Only he, Xibalba, and Thumbnail are left. Speaking of, Thumbnail stands in front of Seal Pup as both turn the corner at the long end of a mutual corridor. Seal Pup sees Thumbnail scribble furiously on his pad. Seal Pup doesn’t afford him the time to finish his drawing. He sends a simulated tidal wave at the rookie Templar. The water slams into him and instantly freezes. Seal Pup then sends frozen shards into the weak points of Thumbnail’s armor.

  “Seal Pup has defeated Thumbnail.”

  Just me and Xibalba left. He’s gonna be tough.

  Seal Pup presses himself into a dark corner with moderate concealment and waits for his prey to come to him. The wait seems to last forever. Ten minutes at least pass without any sign of Xibalba. Just as Seal Pup decides to go on the hunt once more, he hears the heavy footsteps of a cocky opponent. Seal Pup follows the sound and sees Xibalba strolling down the corridor as if he isn’t in a crucial training session. Seal Pup’s intuition suggests he should wait until the Templar passes him.

  Xibalba doesn’t seem to notice him as he walks just a few feet from Seal Pup. Seal Pup takes the opportunity. He jumps up from his crouched position and wraps his arms around Xibalba’s neck. He hears the satisfying chime that he was waiting for.

  “Yes!” Seal Pup cheers.

  Smoke rises from the canisters on Xibalba’s wrists.

  “Xibalba has defeated Seal Pup. The rookies win.”

  “What?” Seal Pup complains as he hears the cheers of the opposing team.

  The walls vanish, and the Templars converge on the applauding trio of Abel, Votary, and Mitch.

  “Almost, baby,” Mitch says as he hugs Seal Pup.

  “Almost my ass,” Seal Pup complains. “I won. I snapped his neck.”

  The other Templars laugh. Seal Pup doesn’t understand why.

  “Something I’m missing?” Seal Pup asks, still annoyed.

  “I put at least a hundred rounds into Xibalba,” Power says in his human form. “He turns to smoke when attacked, so my hits didn’t count. Then he took me out with his power.”

  Realization dawns on Seal Pup. He hadn’t considered the safety defense of the various augmentations, but apparently the simulator did consider them.

  “Yeah, I got the drop on him, too, but blades just pass through smoke,” Nijigen says.

  “Why do you suppose he walked around making as much noise as possible?” Julie asks with her helmet rescinded.

  “So, we never had a chance, did we?” Seal Pup asks Votary.

  “Stage might have been able to take him, but he was already out before he had the opportunity.”

  “That’s because this cute hoor took me out,” Stage says as he points at Stitch. “That hurt, lass, it really did.”

  “So, what did we win?” Hide asks.

  “More important, what did I win?” Xibalba adds.

  “The rookie team gets to go back to Earth for a twenty-four hour pass. You’ll get to leave tomorrow. Double check to make sure your teleporter tags are functional and have fun. Xibalba, you get to spend fifty thousand dollars, which I’m sure The Enterprise will be willing to donate,” Votary explains.

  “How convenient,” Julie says. “Sure, and the rest of the winners can have ten K each as well.”

  “How generous,” Power says. “You never hooked me up like that.”

  “You never deserved it,” Julie counters.

  “Alright, go get cleaned up,” Votary says, then adds, “I’m proud of all of you.”

  Votary grabs Mag Pulse’s arm as the man walks by.

  “Would you mind helping me with something?” Votary asks.

  “Sure, what?”

  “Follow me.”

  Moments later, James follows Votary with his helmet rescinded into his armor. The technology is marvelous and thankfully doesn’t take as long to get a helmet back into position. He wonders what the Templar mystery wants as he realizes they’re heading toward Votary’s room.

  “What are we here for?” James asks.

  “I need help with my bath.”

  James gulps. “Hey, man, I’m sorry if you got a vibe, but I don’t swing that way. I like the ladies.”

  Votary activates his door. “Follow me.”

  James reluctantly follows Votary into his quarters. He looks around at the room. It’s exactly as James would have suspected. The room is meticulously neat, with barely any personal items. In fact, the only exceptions are some small animal figurines next to Votary’s bed.

  Near the clock, James sees an elephant squaring off against a rhinoceros. The two look as if they’re about to charge each other. Near the duo are three more animals. A lioness and a leopard both circle a buffalo from opposite sides. James is startled when Votary speaks again.

  “I like to collect. I have more at home, but these are my favorites.”

  “Sure, man,” James says. “Whatever works for you. Why am I here?”

  “I told you, I need help with my bath.”

  “Yeah, that’s what scares me. How exactly am I supposed to help you?”

  Votary takes a step toward James. The new Templar falls onto Votary’s bed as he takes a step backwards to avoid him. He hears Votary laugh at him. An awkward sound as it hisses out from his helmet.

  “Relax,” Votary says. “I don’t need that kind of help. I need to make sure there aren’t any cameras in here.”

  “What?”

  “Even our old armor is meant to be worn for extended missions, but there are limitations. I’ve never gone this many weeks befor
e in it. I’d like to take a bath, but that would require me to take off my armor. I’m not ready to share that with any of you other than Father. I sweep for bugs, but SOT’s intelligent and could have found a way to hide one from me. I need you to blast the room, just the room, then leave.”

  Votary steps into the bathroom and begins to fill his tub with instantly hot water. He walks back and faces James.

  “You sure about this?” James asks.

  “Yes. You may want to take your armor off first. You can just set that bundle of circuits in the corner and come back to get it after dinner. You won’t need it anymore today anyway.”

  “What about your armor?”

  “Your blasts aren’t permanent, right?”

  “Well, no. Killeen recovered eventually, but they had to replace a lot of stuff, I was told. You still sure?”

  “That was human technology. Gudz is a bit more resilient. If not, well, it’s not like I don’t have more of the standard gray suits. Yours can easily be replaced as well. It may even be an enlightening test of Malignant equipment.”

  Votary taps his chest for emphasis. James notices that the light gray drones are absent from their attachment points.

  “Alright, man. I guess that makes sense.”

  James activates the release from inside his armor. It quickly peels away from his body. The suit is designed to fall off quickly to get a marine out of a tight space.

  “Too bad they don’t power up as quickly,” James nervously jokes.

  “It is a pity,” Votary agrees.

  James places his armor in an open corner. It was easy to find one. The only corner occupied has a bed.

  “Are you ready?” James asks.

  Votary nods. James focuses on an invisible sphere in the core of his body and extends his arms and fingers. He’s not sure if he has to do this, but it makes him feel powerful when he does, so he’s kept the ritual.

  Within seconds, everything in Votary’s room that requires power blinks off. This includes the sound of flowing water. The room is eerily quiet for a few moments, then James hears a crack and sees a soft green glow. A few more cracks and James sees Votary lighting the path to his bathroom, which conveniently has a full tub of hot water.