Chrysalis

by Brendan Reichs

  Chrysalis didn’t need burly guards prodding its test subjects along. Human nature did the trick.

  Besides, I wiped the floor with that Nemesis Three chick last time.

  My opponent in the grid puzzle had been a skinny blond girl named Reese. That’s all I’d been able to learn about her before the challenge began. I’d grasped the fundamentals quickly and won without much trouble. To be honest, the cup-stacking challenge in my room had been more difficult, or any of the auditory games. If this was the best the other class had to throw at us, I wasn’t too impressed.

  I reached the giant gaming chamber and was met with a surprise—a handful of classmates in my testing group were facing off against a crowd of our black-clad adversaries. The two factions had gathered on either side of the invisible barrier, and it seemed like a good thing the force field was there. I heard raised voices. Saw clenched fists. Ethan was making a gesture that was not telling his opponent he was number one.

  I strode to the center of the room, doing a quick headcount. There were five Fire Lake kids with me on our side of the barrier: Ethan, Sam, Casey, Alice, and Floyd. They were staring down a much larger crowd of Nemesis Three members. I counted fifteen of them, including our old friends Cyrus, Jerica, Parisa, and Scott. Everyone in black wore matching scowls, although when Cyrus’s gaze slid to me, he gave a subtle wink.

  Interesting. But why are they here?

  Going by what Cyrus and Parisa had told us, this must be everyone left in their class. Then my eyes widened as I saw who else was standing with them, wearing the same black clothes. I now understood Ethan’s middle-finger salute.

  I pulled Casey aside. As I did, a tall copper-haired girl on the other side tracked me with sharp green eyes. Her hands found her hips as I whispered into Casey’s ear. “What are Cole and the twins doing over there?”

  Casey’s frown deepened. “They switched sides, I guess. I didn’t know that was possible.”

  Ethan continued to berate his former lackeys in explicit terms, but Chris just laughed while Mike silently rolled his eyes. Cole was staring at the ground with his arms tightly crossed, refusing to meet Ethan’s eye.

  “Whatever, man.” Chris ran a hand through his long ginger hair. “I like being on the management side.” But though he seemed amused, the other Nemesis Three kids did not. A palpable sense of rage filtered through the barrier. No one embodied it more than the lanky redhead silently staring death at me. She means trouble.

  Ethan glanced at me, then stormed over, his face a sweaty mess. “Can you believe those punk-ass traitors? Talk about disrespect.”

  “I think we’re past that now.” I nodded at the girl watching me. “Who’s that?”

  Ethan scowled. “Rose. She’s the one me, Tack, and Noah took prisoner beyond the Outpost. Be careful if you get matched up against her—she’s some kind of martial arts expert. She kicked the crap out of, uh . . . Tack in the woods.” Grudging respect entered his voice. “Rose is no joke, Min. Watch your back around her.”

  I nodded, making a decision. I walked directly toward the barrier. As if she’d been waiting for this move, Rose strode forward and met me in the center of the room. Talk died around us.

  “Hi,” I said simply.

  “I set this up so we could meet. Your next game will begin soon, but I wanted to see you face-to-face.”

  “Okay. Who brought the barbecue?”

  Rose rolled her eyes. “You’re Min? I expected someone taller.”

  I laughed. Suddenly I felt more at ease. I knew how to handle bullies.

  “Sorry. Floyd handles our shelf-reaching requirements. I like fitting into tight spaces.”

  Behind me, he called out. “That’s Big Floyd to anyone wearing black.” He pointed at a spiky-haired kid with an ugly bruise on the side of his face. “I met you already, when you tried messing with my boy Hamza in our village. I’m glad you’re awake again.”

  Spiky Hair flushed scarlet, sliding behind a clump of his classmates. Sam and Ethan snickered.

  If possible, Rose’s glare began to smolder even more. “You think this is funny? Your idiot class might destroy everything this station has planned to save the human species, and you laugh like it’s a comedy routine.”

  I gave her a level look. “If you’re hoping for sorrys because we didn’t surrender when you wanted to tie us up, you’re wasting everyone’s time. Consider it a lesson in diplomacy.”

  “Four of my classmates died because of you people,” Rose spat. “Someone intentionally flooded the lab area with a dozen kids inside. I know—I checked the opened valves myself.” Rose moved to within an inch of the force field. “You were down there when it happened, weren’t you Min? And somehow escaped without a scratch.”

  “I got scratched,” I said, quietly fuming. “We lost chessmates too, even if they were working for you. And not that I’d lose any sleep over it had I been responsible—since I was being held prisoner at the time—but I didn’t cause the flood. I nearly drowned myself. I have no idea how the water got in.”

  Which was true, as far as it went. I never asked Sarah the mechanics of what she’d done.

  “Get off your high horse,” I continued acidly. “Eight of my classmates died in that fishbowl habitat while you watched us struggle on TV. And are you forgetting the five who were crushed to death when you blew up our silo to begin with?”

  Rose flinched. “That wasn’t supposed to happen.”

  “Awesome. Tell that to Devin Carver. And Emily. And Kristen. And Melissa. And Tiffani.”

  Cyrus darted to stand beside Rose. He spoke in an overloud voice. “Mistakes were made on both sides, but we’re all under Chrysalis authority now. If Rose and I can forgive being assaulted and kidnapped by your friends inside the Terrarium, you can put our attacks aside as well. We have bigger problems ahead of us. Your actions forced us to break quarantine without the crew’s permission. Now we’re all at risk in these foolish contests.”

  I barely hid a smile. Cyrus was putting on a show. But then something he said tripped me up. “How are you at risk?”

  A muscular brown-haired boy stormed forward. “Because we failed to round you up properly, our colony spots are no longer guaranteed. We have to earn them against you, as if we haven’t done everything they’ve asked before now. It’s outrageous.”

  “Shut up, Gray,” Rose snapped. The boy shot her a dark look, but I was surprised when he stepped back and kept quiet.

  I squinted at Rose, unsure of what I was hearing. “So you’re . . . vying for spots? Does that mean you’ve lost candidates?”

  “Yes,” Cyrus answered quickly. Rose clicked her tongue but didn’t cut him off like she had Gray. “One of our classmates did not return yesterday, a girl named Reese Willette. We’ve been told she was selected for repurposement.”

  “Enough,” Rose growled. “They don’t need to know all our business. Although she was your opponent yesterday, right Min? Does it feel good to take someone else’s chance away?”

  I sighed. The girl I’d beaten at the puzzle hadn’t been mean, or nasty, or even rude. Just overmatched. What happened to her? What happened to all of them? I looked at Rose, and suspected that behind the glare, she was consumed by the same question. A little of my animosity faded.

  “They need to know how we’re all in danger,” Cyrus huffed, staring until he caught my eye. “There’s also a strange man running around that the crew can’t pin down. He’s free on the station.”

  Rose spun in irritation. “Quiet,” she hissed. “Sophia said that was private information.”

  Cyrus made a show of looking embarrassed. I pretended not to care about the news he’d “blabbed.”

  Sam spoke for the first time. “So you guys are getting weeded now, too? Tough break after selling out so hard to please them. How many do they want total?”

  Rose’s cheeks flamed. She seemed on the
verge of not answering, then spat, “We don’t know.”

  Cyrus scratched his head. “We’re not in the loop anymore, it seems.”

  Rose jabbed a finger at me. It slammed into the barrier. “Because of you. Your class, and the stupidity that drove you to break your own Program. But know this—I’m not losing any more of my people so that rejects from Fire Lake can hijack the future colony. We came out twenty strong, united and committed to each other. Nothing will break those of us that are left. You better pray there are other spots, because ours are reserved. Count on that.”

  She’d finally touched a nerve. I stepped forward until we were kissing close, with only the force field between us. “You must’ve slaughtered your own people in the simulation to get here, Rose. Twenty strong? Please. Doing anything it takes to survive is nothing special. Animals can do that.” I nodded back at my classmates. “We found a way to save our entire class. It took us a while to learn the right lessons, but we didn’t leave a soul behind. You call it stupidity, but it’s the reason you’ll never beat us. We’re simply better people than you.”

  Rose screamed in anger, slamming a fist against the barrier.

  I didn’t flinch.

  Sirens sounded around us.

  Cyrus grabbed Rose’s arm as the rest of his classmates bolted through the door behind them.

  “We have to go,” he said. “A test is about to begin in here. Only the people involved can be present or Sophia will learn about this meeting.”

  Rose shook him off with an icy smile. “You have to go. I’m where I’m supposed to be. I’m part of the next contest.”

  I got a cold feeling in my stomach. Rose glanced at my classmates, milling uncertainly behind me. “You five better leave. I wanted to meet Min, and only let you out because of how the door system works. Get back to your cells before the crew discovers you’re missing.”

  My feet were rooted in place. “And me?”

  Rose’s smile became predatory. “You’re right where you should be, Wilder. Reese is gone. I’m your huckleberry now.”

  Floyd and Casey approached. “You want us to stay, Min?” Casey whispered.

  “No.” I watched Rose retreat a few paces and begin stretching. “I think she’s telling the truth. Whatever’s about to happen, it’s a part of my regular testing. I’ll be fine.”

  They both frowned, but nodded.

  “Kick her ass, Min,” Ethan called out loudly, but then he sidled close to my side and whispered, “But seriously—if it’s some kind of fighting thing, you might want to go down early.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  Sam patted my shoulder, and Alice squeezed my arm—when was the last time I’d heard her speak?—but all five jogged to the far door and slipped through it. I turned around and took a deep breath. Just the two of us. Great.

  Glowing circles appeared on the floor, one on each side.

  “Please step onto the starting points,” the computerized voice intoned.

  We moved into position—me resignedly, Rose with hungry anticipation. A buzzer sounded, and a dozen thick ropes dropped from the ceiling. Rose and I were positioned at opposite ends of a straight line, each rope no more than three feet from the next one.

  “Reach the other player’s circle to win the game.”

  I watched Rose shimmy up the first rope like she was born among vines.

  “Oh. Great.”

  We’d meet in the middle, and I had a feeling it wouldn’t be a quiet passing.

  Rose was already lunging for the second rope. I grabbed the one hanging in front of me—a supple line that felt strangely tacky at the same time. Gripping it was easy and wouldn’t chew up my hands. All this tech, and they have us swinging around like Tarzan.

  I watched Rose snag the third rope easily. She was a quarter of the way to victory and I was still rooted to the floor. Get going.

  I’d always been a good climber, so the task itself wasn’t daunting. I could make it across easily, if not for the flame-headed Amazon slowly working toward me with other ambitions in mind. Ethan’s warning echoed in my head. Was there a place to hide until she won and I could slink back to my cell?

  I moved from the first rope to second. Second to third. Rose was drawing near, having crossed the midway point, where the barrier obviously no longer existed. She was taking special care to stay level with me despite having covered twice as much ground.

  “I’m coming, Melinda,” she called, swinging her legs out wide like a trapeze artist. “I want to talk up close.”

  “I’m kinda tired for a chat,” I lobbed back, climbing higher. “Next time for sure, though.”

  Rose matched my ascent. She wasn’t going to pass me without exacting a price. I decided to stay where I was near the top. It risked a longer fall if she kicked me off the damn course, but she couldn’t get above me, either.

  Rose moved onto the line directly across from me. There she paused, savoring my tension.

  “Better people, huh?” Her electric green stare burned into me. “There were forty-seven in my Program, Min. Huntwell, Wyoming was a very small town. I knew almost every kid from birth, and not all were good. Banding together to get rid of twenty of them was easy. More, it was the right thing to do. They were lawless, heartless bastards that I won’t miss.”

  I hung there silently, listening. I’d forgotten how hard our own Program had been, and the awful choices we’d made.

  “We weren’t perfect either,” I said quietly. “It got really bad before we . . . we changed our ways.”

  “There was no changing for us,” Rose said. “Two groups tried to annihilate each other until one failed. I didn’t like it, but I don’t regret it. I wanted to live. If that makes me a bad person, so be it. But I’m not the one on a high horse.”

  She swung out a leg before I could react, kicking me hard in the abdomen. My fingers fumbled and I dropped fifteen feet before regaining the rope. Rose slid down her line and kicked me in the shoulder, then attempted to stomp me from above. I ducked and shimmied sideways, her booted foot barely missing my head. Then I raced along the ropes just inches off the floor until I was past her, near the middle of the course.

  Rose sighed. “I’d hoped for one more good shot. Knocking you to the floor would’ve been a more satisfying way to win, but you ran away. Guess I’ll have to settle for lapping you.”

  My chest heaved as I hung from a middle line. I was about to sass something back at her when an idea occurred to me. The computerized instructions had only said one thing.

  Rose turned away, moving to the second-to-last rope. There was no way I could climb across the rest of the lines before she reached my starting spot. But did I have to do that?

  “Here goes nothing,” I murmured.

  I dropped to the padded floor. Rose’s head whipped around, her mouth widening in a mocking smile.

  Nothing happened.

  I grinned.

  “First one to the other’s spot wins, right Rosie?”

  Her face went sheet white. She released her rope and dropped like a rock, but I was already sprinting across the chamber.

  I stepped onto her circle a second before she reached mine.

  “Game to White.”

  The ropes retracted and the circles disappeared. I was on the opposite side of the room. Rose waited in the center, shoulders quivering, as I walked back toward my doorway.

  I tensed, expecting some sort of attack, but she just glared at me, eyes narrowed and chest heaving. I strode past her without stopping, releasing a pent-up breath only when I’d moved out of easy punching range.

  “Next time, Wilder,” Rose called out as I reached the doorway.

  I waved a lazy hand without looking back. “Looking forward to it.”

  24

  NOAH

  Another day, another test.

  I reentered the white
chamber to find the grid replaced by a large circle. When the opposite door opened and Sneer walked in, I realized I’d have to think of a new name for him. The arrogant overconfidence was gone. He looked ready to chew nails.

  “I’m still Noah, in case you’re interested. Noah Livingston.”

  The boy looked at me. “Gray West,” he growled. “Now shut the hell up.”

  “You’re a charmer.” But I folded my arms and waited.

  The room went black, except for my jumpsuit, which glowed in the dark. The same was not true of Gray’s midnight gear. I couldn’t spot him anywhere.

  The room divider abruptly changed from invisible to solid, except for a large circle at its center, which hung twenty feet above my head. The circle flashed bright red once before fading out, leaving a hole in the divider. Beside me, a pedestal rose from the floor cradling a gleaming ball the size of an ostrich egg.

  I picked it up. Heard a tone. Then nearly lost my lunch as gravity disappeared and I began floating up toward the ceiling.

  “Whaaa!” I gargled, spinning head over heels.

  The ball slipped from my fingers. I did another ungainly flip and my stomach threatened to unload. From the corner of my eye I noticed a glowing orb rise level with me, then rapidly expand in size until it smashed into my head. Gray’s laughter carried from the other side of the barrier.

  “Point to Black. One–zero.”

  I crashed to the floor. The ball zipped back onto the pedestal.

  “You really need to give people a heads-up on how this stuff works,” I called out, rubbing my cheek. I heard another chuckle from beyond the divider.

  The problem became clear. At floor level I couldn’t see my opponent, and he couldn’t see me. But when we floated up level with the circle—which I now understood to be an opening between the sides—Gray could track me glowing like a jellyfish in my white jumpsuit while he remained invisible. Then he’d peg me with his stupid ball.