Nano Contestant - Episode 2: Ultimate Endurance (An Urban Futuristic Fantasy Sci-Fi Action Adventure Genetic Cyberpunk Techno Thriller) (Nano Contestant ... Fantasy Action Adventure TechnoThrillers))

by Leif Sterling

  Roland had already turned around and begun running.

  Skylar covered her mic and then put a finger up to her lips. “Coach, don’t say anything unless it’s necessary. He has to be incredibly focused in order to do freerunning.”

  Coach nodded and went back to watching the feed.

  Skylar pulled up all of Roland’s vitals on her terminal. She typed a few commands to set off alerts if any of his levels got too low.

  Roland took in a deep breath as he followed the green arrow in front of him. The Slow Mo plugin seemed to make breathing take even longer than it had before. He knew that it didn’t actually, but his hyperawareness made every moment feel like an hour. His HUD speed said 26 mph. A fence loomed ahead that surrounded the city park. His GPS was telling him to turn right and go around it. He jumped high, swung his legs over and dropped to the other side. The GPS immediately recalculated his position and guided him through the middle of the park. Roland knew that the fastest way to the finish line would be a straight line. He bounded over any jumpable obstacle in his path. He cleared park benches like they were hurdles at a track meet. Another jump and leg swing and he exited the park. His position showed that he had moved up to 83. He saw a small group of racers ahead. They were running hard on the sidewalk. The eight racers crowded together on the skinny cement path. Roland was gaining on them.

  The group of racers began yelling at each other and jostling each other for position. They came to a busy four way traffic intersection and stopped. Their sidewalk was gone and the traffic was going too fast to cross.

  Roland couldn’t believe it when he watched one of them reach out and hit the crosswalk button. They all just stood there and waited for the light to change and the traffic to stop so they could cross. One of the ones in the middle got tired of waiting and shoved another racer into the road just as a city bus was coming by. Roland heard a loud scream that was cut short by the man getting crushed by the bus’ steel belted radial tires. More yelling ensued by the other contestants, then the light changed and the traffic stopped. The group sprinted across the street.

  Roland saw another way. He came up on a small side street. He jumped from the sidewalk onto the roof of a small blue sedan that was turning in front of him. He used it as a stepping stone and jumped towards the side of a small store where a fire escape ladder hung about eight feet from the ground. Roland grabbed the bottom rung and quickly climbed to the top of the roof.

  The store was only a single story and had a flat roof with tar and gravel. Roland hit the roof running. In between each store was a three or four foot wall. Roland jumped over the first and continued running. Three more walls and he reached the edge of that building complex and the beginning of the busy four way intersection.

  Roland did not even pause. Instead, he vaulted himself off the ledge and out over the street. Another city bus was coming through, and Roland bounced off its roof, launching himself to the other side of the street. He could see the red tire tracks that the cars were making as they ran over the dead racer in the road. He jumped off another small car’s roof and then grabbed hold of the fire escape ladder on the next set of buildings. A few pulls and he had hoisted himself onto another flat roof. The jumping and climbing had winded him a little, and he had to slow down to catch his breath. He tried to not let the speed on his HUD drop below 20 mph. After four or five stores, Roland passed the group of runners on the sidewalk. His position now showed 76 as he passed mile five of the urban section.

  Coach covered his mic as he leaned towards Skylar. “He’s making progress, but not enough. We’ve got to figure out how to get through this maze faster!”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:

  JUMP

  ROLAND CAME UP on another city park. He ripped open his second coffee gel packet and squeezed it all into his mouth. The coffee flavor was strong enough that it made his mouth sting and tingle as he swallowed it. He cleared the park fence and hit the ground running. His HUD showed his speed was 25 mph.

  Skylar watched Roland’s vitals. “Roland, your calorie and energy levels are low. The Slow Mo and the Leapfrog are burning through your reserves really fast.”

  Roland nodded and cleared another park bench.

  Coach alternated between watching Pinnacle’s race data and Roland’s feed. Roland was moving fast, but he still needed to advance at least another thirty positions to secure a spot in the Tech Games. “Roland, four more racers have just finished the race.”

  Roland shook his head. “Can’t go much faster.”

  Coach crossed his arms. “Yes, you can. You’ve just got to use your head. We need to use your environment to your advantage. That’s what Spectra did.”

  Roland hurdled a trashcan. “How?”

  Skylar looked over her plugins. She covered her mic and whispered to Coach. “The plugins are almost all maxed out. We are redlining Roland and the nano system.”

  Coach nodded and then gave a half smile. “Roland, you’ve already done it once today when you were going down the volcano. You hit 42 mph.”

  Roland jumped to the top of the park fence and swung his legs over. He made for an alley he saw ahead. When he reached it, he ran three steps up the wall and then jumped off the wall towards the opposite side of the alley. The steps boosted his height enough to grab onto the ledge of the balcony that protruded from the side of the building. He pulled himself up so his feet rested against the balcony’s vertical surface. Then Roland launched himself back across the alley, this time landing on the first building’s roof. He took a second to catch his breath before he started running again. “That was downhill though.”

  Coach watched as the cars rushed past Roland’s rooftop position. “Roland, use the cars’ momentum. Run on top of the cars that are moving in the direction you want to go.”

  Roland started running across the roof. “Ok, Coach. Here goes nothing.” He felt the caffeine from the coffee gel kick in. He pushed himself to increase his speed. The gravel on the flat roof crunched underfoot as he settled into his stride. The loose bits flung up behind him as he ran. He grabbed the edge of the short wall that separated the buildings and swung his legs up and over. He swung over two more and then the building ended.

  Roland could see the road ahead. When he reached the last wall, he jumped to the top of it and then jumped as far as he could out away from the wall. He came down hard on top of a small SUV. The force of his landing dented the top of the vehicle. He took a step and then jumped to the red car next to him. It was moving the wrong way, so he jumped down onto the sidewalk. Jumping on the cars wasn’t all that difficult but getting on the ones going in the right direction was another matter completely.

  He took in a deep breath to clear his head. Roland watched the cars going by. He had to do this, or his chance to save his father would be gone. He jumped on the bed of a pickup as it passed by. Then he ran and jumped to the roof of the vehicle. It was heading in the right direction. He paused, waiting for another car to come alongside the truck. His HUD speed read 38 mph, even though he wasn’t running. I can make this work.

  Skylar motioned for Coach to look at her terminal. It showed that Roland had just burned up the last of his calorie reserve. He was now just running on the caffeine from the coffee gel.

  Coach nodded. There wasn’t anything that could be done about it now, so there wasn’t any point in distracting Roland. He was going to have to pull this off on sheer willpower.

  Roland jumped to the roof of a passing car. He ran down the hood and leaped from the car to the top of an SUV. The SUV began to turn the wrong way, so Roland jumped to the roof of another small car. The timing had to be perfect, or he’d land on the road and be crushed by the oncoming vehicle. He mapped out six more cars in front of him that he could use. He took a flying leap from the roof of one to the next, pausing only long enough to take a step and jump to his next target vehicle. His GPS overlaid the road, giving him the directions to take. The Slow Mo made it easy to identify which vehicle to jump to and judge his timin
g. As he jumped he saw his HUD speed was up to 50 mph.

  Skylar stopped typing and watched Roland as he jumped from car to car. “Coach, I can’t believe he is moving so fast. He’s already moved up another ten places to position 66!”

  Coach nodded. “I think this is working. How’s his energy levels?”

  Skylar turned back to her terminal to check Roland’s vitals again. She raised her eyebrow. “Well, that’s strange. Despite him moving so quickly, he’s actually using way less energy to do it. Maybe I better run a diagnostic or something.”

  Coach shook his head. “No. It’s what I was expecting. He uses less energy this way, because he is only taking a few steps and then is airborne again. Taking steps are what burns the calories.”

  Skylar watched as Roland bounded from one car top to another in long strides. “That’s very good. He’s already coming up on mile seven.”

  Two digital female racers on the sidewalk saw Roland pass them and decided to try it themselves. They both jumped on a parked car and paused while they waited for another car to come by. The first jumped out and landed on the roof of the car. Then she jumped to another nearby car. Her target car was moving faster than she had anticipated, and she lost her footing and slipped off right as a cement mixer was speeding up. She screamed as she fell, but it was silenced by the reinforced steel bumper on the cement mixer. Her teammate yelled for her, but it was too late. Then she turned away from the gruesome sight and got back on the sidewalk, all the while yelling at her NAV to send help.

  Roland breathed deep and focused on his next jump. He watched the speed on his HUD alternate between 48 and 52 mph depending on whether he was jumping or landing. His odometer showed that he was at mile nine. Just another mile. He had gotten his position down to 53. I only need to pass five more people to get into the Tech Games. I will pass them. I’m my dad’s only chance.

  After two more turns, Roland could see the final checkpoint. The red light in his arm lit up as he neared it. He jumped off the last car and ran down a street that was framed by multistory buildings on either side. The checkpoint banner read, “Welcome to the Final Checkpoint! 1.2 miles to the finish.” The light in his arm flashed to green and then went out as he passed under it. This is it!

  CHAPTER NINETEEN:

  SPRINT

  THE FINAL STRETCH was a perfectly level asphalt road. Manicured turf lined the edges of the road. Every tenth of a mile was marked by a white sign displaying the distance to the finish line. Roland switched off the Slow Mo and Leapfrog plugins so he could devote every ounce of his being to sprinting the last 1.2 miles of the Tech Games. It took a few seconds to readjust to the normal rate of thinking. Once he turned it off, it felt like the world was rushing at him. Roland blinked a few times to clear his head and then settled into his stride. His HUD speed read 27 mph.

  Roland inhaled deeply. The O2 plugin filled his lungs with compressed air to be able to extract more oxygen from every breath. Fast Twitch pulled his muscles tight so when they contracted they would provide a more explosive movement, thus propelling him further with each step. He ripped into his last coffee gel packet and squeezed it all into his mouth in one motion. The caffeine rush hit within two strides of swallowing it. Roland edged the speed in his HUD up to 29 mph.

  Skylar put her holographic terminal with Roland’s vitals up next to Roland’s feed so she and Coach could watch them both. She covered her mic with her hand. “His levels are still low, but I think he’s got enough to finish.”

  Coach nodded and muted his headset. “It’s really up to him now.” He took a sip of water and took his headset off of mute. “Roland, you got this! Get into your rhythm and focus.”

  Roland nodded. He focused down the road towards the finish line. He could not see it yet, but he knew it was there - waiting for him. He passed a lanky hybrid. His HUD showed his position was now 52. Four more to go. He could feel the sweat running down his face and back. He passed his second distance marker.

  Skylar watched the marker go by. “One more mile, Roland. You can do it!”

  Tunnel vision started to set in as Roland pushed himself. His HUD speed was up to 31 mph. He could feel the stitch in his side aching with every breath. He inhaled as deep as the O2 plugin would go. His head cleared a little. His HUD position showed 50 as he passed two more contestants and the .8 distance marker.

  Two hover cams flew in front of him. They began circling him.

  Coach’s brow furrowed. “Roland, look past the cams. Keep your focus.”

  Roland stared hard ahead. He blocked out everything except taking the next step. He thought about his dad in the courtroom. He remembered watching as the judge slammed his gavel down. It began to replay in his head. He could hear the sound of the gavel echoing around courtroom. His jaw clenched at the memory. Adrenaline surged through him.

  Roland changed his hand position from a runner’s fist to a sprinter’s straight hand. His hands sliced through the air as he pushed to gain every shred of speed he could. His HUD speed edged up to 32 mph. He passed another racer and came up neck and neck with number 48. The contestant looked over at Roland, scowling. Roland never looked over. They were matched, stride for stride. Their steps almost seemed to be running in time to some inaudible cadence. In Roland’s mind, he heard the judge reading his dad’s death sentence. All the hurt and injustice rushed over him again. He took in a deep breath, pulled from the deep reservoir of anger and willed himself forward. Roland began pulling away from the other contestant. His speed showing 34 mph. Now his position showed 48! 48! I did it!

  Skylar and Coach began clapping and cheering!

  Skylar was beside herself. She jumped around the room. “Yes! Roland, you’re in! Take us home!”

  Coach smiled. “Roland, you got it! Only a half mile to go!”

  Roland kept focusing on his breathing. He passed two more racers and then three more. He edged into the grass to pass a group of five that were jockeying each other for position. His HUD position showed 38. Then he heard yelling behind him. Roland turned his head briefly to look over his shoulder.

  “Leprechaun!” Duke plowed through the other contestants in front of him like a charging rhino. The other racers were scattered into the turf. Duke laughed loudly at the sprawling racers. “No nano contestant is going to make it into the Tech Games.”

  Roland pushed hard to try and widen the gap. He looked over his shoulder again.

  Duke put something in his mouth.

  Coach slammed his hand down on the table. “No! He’s got nitro ephedrine!”

  Skylar looked worried. “What’s that? Isn’t that illegal?”

  Coach ran his hands through his hair. “Roland, go! Do not let him catch up to you!” He turned towards Skylar. “It’s a mix between the nitrous oxide gas that drag racers use and a supped up ephedrine. It’s not illegal, but it should be!”

  Roland’s HUD still showed 34 mph, but Duke was rapidly gaining. He passed two more markers. All the while, Duke continued yelling insults as he caught up. Roland moved to the side of the road, hoping that Duke would just go right on passed him.

  Duke pulled right alongside Roland. The hulking behemoth of a man, that was more than half machine, stared down at Roland with bloodshot eyes. Then he started to smile hideously and laugh. “Look, the little nano racer is doing 34 mph!”

  Coach grabbed the table’s edge and white knuckled it to maintain his composure. “Roland! Get out of there now!”

  Before Roland could react, Duke pushed Roland to the ground. Roland skidded across the blacktop. He struggled to get back up. Duke stopped next to Roland and raised his foot and stomped down hard on Roland’s right ankle.

  Roland yelled in pain.

  Duke laughed. “You don’t belong here, Leprechaun! Don’t worry, the hover medics will be along shortly to carry you off.” Then he took off sprinting for the finish line, laughing and bellowing the whole way. No one else dared pass Duke.

  Roland got up and began limping forward. The red li
ght in his arm came on. The finish line was only a quarter of a mile away. “Sky, run that Healing app now.” Roland looked behind him. The ten other racers he had passed were rapidly catching up.

  Skylar began typing as fast as she could to get the nano cells rerouted.

  Roland took a step forward. The pain was excruciating in his right ankle. “Sky, scratch that. Don’t heal. Put every nano cell in my ankle for support.” He gave the thought command for Leapfrog.

  Coach ran his hands through his hair again. “Roland, favor your other leg if you have to, but get a move on! Go!”

  Skylar routed all the nano cells to Roland’s ankle, which was already swollen like a baseball and turning purple.

  Roland launched himself forward trying to take the brunt of his landing on his good leg. “Ahhh!” Pain shot up his leg as soon as he put any weight on his right foot. He took a deep breath and surged forward yelling as he went, both in pain and in anger.

  Skylar knew she needed to help Roland get past the pain. Two racers had already passed him. He was in position 40. “Roland, Ivan’s was much worse than this! Pull yourself together and remember why you are here!”

  Roland vividly remembered the needle in his eye at Ivan’s. He took another deep breath. She’s right. Ivan’s was worse. Push through the pain! He got into a stride with Leapfrog. Every step hurt. He thought about his dad being led out of the courtroom. How he had to leave the courtroom with his whole life ripped from him.

  Roland passed another distance marker. Three more racers passed him. His HUD showed position 43. He was able to get up to 20 mph on his HUD. He thought about the internal emails he and Sky had found that showed the judge getting paid off by Pinnacle. His eyes narrowed. He could see the finish line ahead. Two digital racers passed him. His HUD showed 45.

  Roland passed the last marker. He went into an all out sprint. He focused on the finish line. The checkered flags on each side of the road whipped in the wind.