Roland waded out a little deeper. “What about Duke?”
Coach fast forwarded his race footage. “He jumped really far off the rock and cleared the rocks below.”
Roland watched another racer try unsuccessfully to make it through the meat grinder. “I’ll use Leapfrog off that rock. I can make it.”
Coach switched back to Roland’s feed. “You’ll have to jump out as far as you can. Then cross your feet and put your arms across your chest so you go into the water as straight as possible.”
Roland nodded. “Got it.” He gave the thought commands for Leapfrog and the O2 plugin. He looked back and saw Bianca watching him. He nodded at her and then turned around and waded out. Roland had been inhaling since the moment he turned on the O2 plugin, and his lungs were full. He dove under the water.
Bianca watched him. “What is that crazy white boy doin’?”
Skylar had stopped all her typing and was just watching Roland’s depth gauge, which she had made to show up whenever he was underwater.
Roland swam downwards. He could feel the strong currents wanting to whip him into the meat grinder. As soon has his depth gauge hit six feet, he could feel the currents almost completely disappear. Then he figured out why. There was an icy thermocline below six feet. The deeper water was extremely cold. It must have been coming in from an underground source. It was also crystal clear, unlike the rest of the silt-ridden river. With so much air in his lungs, he was finding it hard to stay down. Roland began exhaling. His body began descending as his buoyancy decreased. He swam through the deep trough between the rocks fairly easily. He could see the large rock coming up. He got to the base of it and then slowly came up so that he wouldn’t get swept over the waterfall. He climbed onto the rock and looked down. The waterfall was deafening and the spray felt like tiny needles being driven into him. He could see the sharp rocks below, but Coach’s estimate was off. He used the Distance app to measure to the bottom. It was two hundred and fifteen below him. The rocks came out at least twenty feet from waterfall.
Skylar could see the data that Roland had collected. She covered her mic and leaned towards Coach. “That’s a really long drop. Can he make that?”
Coach nodded to her and then spoke into his headset. “Roland, you need to get moving. Jump out as far as you can on three.”
Roland nodded and swallowed hard. He could hear Coach counting. “One, two, three…” Roland hesitated another second and then sprang forward with everything he had. He could feel the muscles in his legs pushing so hard off the rock that they began to charlie-horse. As soon as he felt himself beginning to drop, he crossed his legs at the ankle and crossed his arms across his body. His stomach lurched up into his throat like it was trying to escape the captivity of his body. The wind whistled as it rushed by his ears. Roland gritted his teeth and pulled every muscle in his body tight. Through squinted eyes he could see the mirrored surface of the water rushing at him at an uncontrollable speed. His father’s face flashed through his mind. He took in a deep breath and held it in preparation for the water and out of fear. Roland broke through the surface of the water and plunged beneath it. The water was clear, and the sunlight reflected off the myriad of bubbles. He clawed his way to the surface and burst up from it. He splashed as his chest heaved to take in more air. Roland paddled to the bank and crawled onto it. He sat there for a second to try and catch his breath.
Skylar finally exhaled when she saw that Roland was ok. She looked down at her hands. She had been white knuckling her armchair. She let go. “Roland, are you ok?”
Roland wheezed a little. “Let’s not do that again. Ever.”
Coach let out a sigh of relief. “Nice work, Roland. Now you need to get moving again. You got about two and half more miles to the next checkpoint. Should be pretty easy terrain.”
Roland got up and started jogging on still shaky legs. He looked back at the waterfall and stopped. He saw another racer shoot over the top of the falls and then begin plummeting downwards. The man was flipping end over end and flailing. His screaming increased in volume as he fell. Then the contestant slammed into the rocks at the bottom of the falls. Roland could hear the man’s bones snap and shatter with the impact. Then his body was pummeled by the thousands of gallons of water from the falls. Roland looked up once more and saw another racer who had managed to leap off of the rock. She had a slender build and crossed her arms and legs as Roland had done. Then he recognized her. It was Bianca. She cleared the rocks and splashed nicely into the calm water.
Roland half smiled and then turned and began jogging. The terrain was nice. It was just a grassy field that ran next to the river. After a few minutes of jogging, he was able to pick up his pace, but he could tell that the twenty miles he had gone in the race so far was definitely taking a toll on him.
Coached watched as the checkpoint was drawing nearer. “You made good time on this section. You are now in position 398. You moved up another hundred positions or so.”
Roland saw the red light in his arm light up as he got closer to the checkpoint. The sign above the checkpoint read, “Welcome to Checkpoint 3: Active Volcano.”
CHAPTER TEN:
VOLCANO
ROLAND PASSED UNDER the checkpoint 3 banner, and the light in his arm changed to green and then went out.
Coach watched Roland’s feed and his race stats on his holographic monitor. “Roland, get some more calories. You are going to need them.”
Roland was already making a beeline for the snack tables. He slowed down to chug a few more sports drinks and then grabbed some more nutrition bars. There were no chocolate ones this time, only a tapioca flavor. He frowned and bit into it. He chewed a few times and then spit it on the ground. “Ughh! That’s awful! These are worse than the MRE’s I got in the Marines.”
Skylar wrinkled her nose. “What’s it taste like?”
Roland took another bite. “The white outside tastes like curdled buttermilk with a pound of sugar. Inside still tastes like sawdust.”
Coach crossed his arms, and his voice became more stern. “Roland, I don’t care if it tastes like sawdust dipped in bird poo. You need those calories. Eat all three.”
Roland sighed and continued chewing. He grabbed another bottle of water from the last table to help wash down the bars. Most of the other contestants looked at the nutrition bars but didn’t take any. He finished the bars and chucked the wrappers into the last trashcan after the snack tables. Then he got onto the dirt pathway that led towards the mountain. “NAV?”
Skylar was already checking Roland’s position on the map. “Stay on the dirt path. We are working out the best route.”
Coach looked intently at the three dimensional map. “Roland, we are looking at the map. There are two possible routes. The path will split in about a half mile. Going right will curve you around the base of the mountain. Going left will take you closer to the top and is more of a straight line.”
Skylar pulled up the course information that Pinnacle provided. “In Pinnacle’s official course guide, it says that the volcano has a continuous lava flow. The closer you get to the top, the worse it gets. It’s hotter and more dangerous, but it also says that racers are rewarded with a shorter distance by going closer to the top. The bottom route is safer but adds seven miles to this ten mile segment.”
Roland nodded. “Top.” He started to pick up speed to take advantage of the flat ground before the terrain worsened. His HUD read 20 mph.
Coach looked up at Roland’s feed. “Yeah, Roland, I agree. Taking the left route is better. It’s not worth adding seven miles. Stay on your toes, though.”
Roland veered left at the split. Immediately the path began to climb upwards. Then the dirt path disappeared altogether. He gave the thought command to bring his compass up on his HUD.
Coach saw the compass appear. “Good idea, Roland. This heading is right on. Try to stay on it as much as you can.”
Roland could see a lot of other racers ahead of him that were also m
aking the climb. The ones that made it this far were definitely a cut above the rest of the contestants. He also looked off to his right, and he could see that there were a lot more racers taking the low ground. Then he heard a terrible rumbling noise. The ground shook, and Roland fell hard. He landed on his right knee, and a sharp, volcanic rock cut into it. The top of the volcano exploded with hot magma, spewing it in all directions. The ground stopped shaking, and Roland got to his feet and started moving again. His knee was bleeding, but it didn’t hurt too bad. About fifty feet ahead of him, a skinny, female racer had also stumbled. Roland watched a huge blob of lava land on her legs. She began screaming in pain. She tried to push it off with her hands, but then her hands also burned. Hover medics began to arrive and carry her off to the burn unit that had been set up.
Skylar watched the woman get hit and then went to typing on her holographic keyboard. “Roland, I am turning your proximity sensors way up so you will know if that lava is headed towards you.”
Roland nodded and continued heading up the volcano. He looked down once more at the racers at the base of the volcano. Many of them were also getting pelted with smaller bits of lava or hot rock that had cooled in flight. “Looks like it’s not any better down there.”
Coach watched the other racers intently. “Yeah, I don’t think it’s safe anywhere on this volcano. Make time now before it erupts again.”
Roland turned up his speed as much as he could, but the incline and the uneven terrain wouldn’t allow him to move as quick as he would have liked.
CHAPTER ELEVEN:
KNEECAP
THE BLOOD FLOWED from Roland’s knee where he had fallen during the volcano’s eruption. He looked down and saw that it had begun to stain his sock. “Sky?”
Skylar saw the red trail leading down Roland’s shin. “Ohh, I see it, Roland. I’ll get the Healing plugin set up now.”
Roland nodded and then jumped over a rock. His pace was continuing to slow as the terrain got worse.
Coach was watching Roland’s feed. He covered his headset with his hand and turned towards Skylar. “He’s still moving ok. How bad is it?”
Skylar hit the mute button on her headset. “I’m evaluating it now. Hold on.” Her fingers typed franticly on the holographic keyboard. “This is one plugin that I haven’t been able to automate yet, because every time we need it, it is a completely different situation. I have to run a full diagnostic and then manually set up tasks for the nano cells to do.”
Coach nodded. “After this race, we should look into at least getting some batch scripts done to cut down on all those tasks.”
Skylar never took her eyes off her terminal but just nodded her head. “I was thinking along those same lines. We definitely need to improve our medical responses.” She hit the enter key. Then a three dimensional, wireframe model of Roland showed in the middle of the room. It was running and moving just as he was, but it was staying in the same place. The scanner was a green halo that was just wider than the holograph. It started at the top of his head and scanned downwards. Skylar had all the data from the scan put up on a holographic chart next to Roland’s feed. She and Coach leaned forward to see the data as the chart began filling in.
Coach looked over all the data. “He’s got a lot of inflammation, pretty much everywhere. Although, I would expect that since Roland’s done over twenty miles already.”
Skylar swiped her hand through the air to move the scan results. “Here’s the part about his knee.” She put her hand over her mouth. “Oh my.”
Coach moved next to her and looked where she was pointing. “That’s a fracture line! The patella looks stable though.”
Skylar zoomed in on the holograph of Roland’s kneecap. She slowly rotated it around. “How bad is it?”
Coach sighed. “I’ve seen this before. Usually, when I see something like this, even if it’s small, I halt their season.”
Skylar turned around to look back at Roland’s feed. He was jogging up the side of the volcano. His HUD speed read 12 mph. She could hear Roland breathing heavily with the exertion. She thought about Matthew, Roland’s dad. Roland had to get into the games in order to even have a chance at uncovering the evidence needed to free him.
Coach stepped toward Roland’s feed and picked up his headset. He turned towards Skylar. “We should pull the plug, Skylar. He can try again next season. If he continues, he will do permanent damage. I doubt the nanotech can repair bone.” He put his headset on.
Skylar grabbed Coach’s arm. “No! Wait. Let me try some things!”
Coach nodded. “Ok. Try them, but if they don’t work, I’m pulling the plug. It’s not worth him getting permanent damage. I’m just trying to do what’s best for him. You understand, right?”
Skylar’s fingers were a blur as she typed. “I’m trying to do what’s best for him, too.” She swiped through several screens of scan data. More than you know, Coach. More than you know. “You know he won’t quit anyway.”
Coach crossed his arms and adjusted his headset. “I know he won’t.” Then he turned off the mute on his mic. “Roland, we checked you out. It’s not good.”
Roland leaned his head right for more information.
Coach’s voice was serious. “That fall back there fractured your kneecap.”
Roland slowed down to a jog. “What? How bad is it?”
Coach watched Roland’s feed. “It’s fractured, but it is stable. But there’s no telling for how long. You could come off of a jump and split it clean in two.”
Roland looked down at his right knee. It had started to swell. He looked away from it so it wouldn’t show on the video feed. “I’m fine. It doesn’t even hurt.”
Coach looked over at Roland’s holographic scan data again and then back to Roland’s feed. “If this were any other kind of event, I’d pull the athlete now and cut their season short so they could heal.”
Roland kept moving up the volcano. His odometer showed that he had just crossed the three mile mark of the volcano section. “No way. Not happening.”
Coach sighed. “Skylar said you’d say that. Look, I admire your attitude and drive, but you’ve got to think about your future.”
Roland climbed over a large rock. “I am. And I’m either getting carried off by one of those hovering medic things, or I’m going to qualify in this race. Get me patched up, and let’s stop wasting time on this.”
Skylar stopped her typing and just stared at her holographic terminal. “Hey. I think I’ve got something!”
Coach looked over at her screen. “What is it?”
Skylar pointed excitedly at the graphs on her screen. “Those nutrition bars!”
Roland continued up towards the top of the volcano. He could see about twenty other racers ahead of him spread out in a line towards the top.
Skylar pulled up another terminal. “They were tapioca. That means they were extremely glycemic. They spiked Roland’s blood sugar really high. I am redirecting this insulin spiked blood to your knee along with extra nano cells. Having the nano cells in repair mode, while working in a high insulin environment, will be like strapping a rocket onto them.”
Coach nodded. “Sounds good. Think there will be any side effects?”
Skylar sighed. “Yeah. Roland, you will probably feel really tired, like you are dragging. Your body is using all that glucose as fuel right now. I am taking it all away to repair your knee.”
Roland nodded. “Can you wait until I start going downhill?”
Skylar shook her head. “No. It has to be now, or you’ll burn it all up.”
The odometer on Roland’s HUD said that he had just passed mile four. He had about a mile to get to the top and the halfway point. “Do it.”
Skylar hit a few keys on her holographic keyboard. “Done. You might feel kind of sick while the blood and nano cells are being moved out of your stomach to circulate around your knee.”
Roland nodded. Then he felt the first wave of nausea. His skin was suddenly drenched in swea
t. He began dry heaving. He wouldn’t allow himself to stop running though. He fought hard to maintain his speed up the volcano. His HUD read 9 mph.
Skylar covered her headset and leaned towards Coach. “He can’t throw up. We’ll lose all that glucose.”
Coach nodded. “Roland, do not throw up! You are going to need every bit of those nutrition bars.”
Roland’s dry heaving was getting worse. His HUD speed said 7 mph. It was hard to see straight. Everything seemed to be spinning. He could barely hear Coach.
Coach watched Roland’s feed intently. Roland was weaving back and forth while fighting back the strong urge to vomit. “Roland! Inhale deeply now!”
Listening to Roland’s dry heaving was too much for Skylar. She started feeling green. She turned away from the screen and hunkered down over the small trashcan in the room.
Coach never turned away from Roland’s feed. “Roland! Exhale slowly!”
Roland tried, but he couldn’t fight it any longer. He felt his stomach heave its contents into his throat.
As soon as Skylar heard Roland begin retching through the loud speakers in the room, she also began to vomit. She white knuckled the little trashcan and threw up all the food she had eaten that day.
Coach could hear Roland losing control. “Roland! No! Don’t throw up!”
Roland could barely hear Coach, but he reached up with both hands and clamped them down over his mouth. He could feel the bitter burn of bile at the back of his throat.
CHAPTER TWELVE:
LAVA
ROLAND FELT HIS nostrils burn from the inside as he threw up, but he didn’t open his mouth. His cheeks expanded as far as they could go. With his hands, he held a viselike grip on his mouth.
Skylar looked up from the trashcan.
Nano Contestant - Episode 2: Ultimate Endurance (An Urban Futuristic Fantasy Sci-Fi Action Adventure Genetic Cyberpunk Techno Thriller) (Nano Contestant ... Fantasy Action Adventure TechnoThrillers)) Page 5
