by Azalea Ellis
"Will you two meet me in the real world? Tomorrow?" I asked.
"Why?" He asked.
"I've got something I want to talk about, a proposition I think you'll want to hear. Just come and listen. I'm not going to force you to do anything, but if we're talking about who owes who…maybe you'll remember a little note in your locker?" I knew it was him from the combination of name and the twin to his butterfly knife, which I had hidden in my closet.
His eyes widened. "That was you? You thief! You stole my—”
"I saved your ass," I snapped. "They were about to do a locker check on you."
That gave him pause. "Well, do you still have it?"
I nodded. "I do. If you come tomorrow, I'll bring it for you."
"How do I know I can trust you?"
"Well, it's obvious, isn't it? You don't know that. But come anyway. You won't regret it."
He thought for a while, and then said, "Where?"
"I'll message you the information. Give me your contact info."
He did, reluctantly, and then I turned to Jacky. She grinned like the Cheshire cat and said, "Give me your contact info. I’ll call you in the morning, and you can tell me the meeting place then."
I laughed, letting some of my tension out. It was unavoidable, and when Jacky's infectious snorting joined me, even Adam couldn't hold back. I stood up and walked to the cube. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."
My bones vibrated as the cube returned me to my room, back in the dark, and alone.
* * *
My legs trembled as my body realized that the danger was gone, for the moment. A window popped up, telling me I'd gained three levels. The Seeds appeared from the ether, and I tucked them into the back of my bedside drawer. I'd decide what to do with them later.
"More importantly…" I murmured, and picked up the small mirror I'd set to recording. I hit 'stop,' and then 'replay' in fast forward, to see what had gone on in my room for the hour or two I'd been absent.
I saw my nervous self from before the Trial disappear like the product of special effects, and then a few minutes of empty, silent room, and then I was back again, stumbling, dirty, torn, and tired, and full of relief. "What? That can't be right," I muttered.
I rewound it to the beginning and played through again. Only fourteen minutes had passed in the recording, but I knew the Trial had lasted for at least an hour. "Maybe it's broken."
I checked the time on my clock. Less than one hour had passed since I left for the Trial, and I’d already been back for half of that time.
I showered and laid down to try and sleep, my mind spinning with the possible implications of my discovery.
Chapter 14
Our torments also may in length of time
Become our Elements.
— John Milton
“You want us to do what?” Adam snorted incredulously.
“Join me.” I said again, looking at the four others I’d called together to China’s backyard after school. Adam, Jacky, Sam, and of course China herself. Her parents had gone to her grandparents’ house, so no one would be able to observe us.
“I want to create a team that works together to survive the Trials and the Game. People that we enter every Trial with, who can have each other’s backs in the Trial, and in the real world, with the ones behind it. We’ll be organized. Prepared. It would increase our chances of survival,” I said.
“How do we know we can trust any of these people?” He looked at the others. “I don’t know them. Why should I trust them to have my back, with my life? How do I know I can trust you? This could be a trap.”
I resisted the urge to grind my teeth. I’d known he’d be difficult, but I’d still asked him to meet, and more than ever I wanted him for my team.
Before I could say anything, China spoke up. “We’re not tricking you. What would we gain from that anyway? We want to team up, not make enemies.”
“Even if that’s true, what would I gain from allying with you? I’ve been playing for months, and I’ve gotten by just fine on my own. It just creates more risk for me if I’ve got to look after someone else along with keeping myself alive.”
I settled back in my seat at one of the benches in China’s backyard garden. “That may have been true in the past, Adam. But you’re vulnerable right now.” I looked pointedly at his arm. “You wouldn’t have made it out of that last Trial if not for Jacky and me.”
He opened his mouth to respond bitingly, but I held up a hand and continued. “And we wouldn’t have made it without you, either. That’s exactly my point. We all gain if everyone in the group looks out for the best interest of everyone else. You can trust us because you know that by looking out for you, we’re really just looking out for ourselves. A symbiotic relationship.” I stared into his eyes, knowing that my honesty would be more compelling to him than any reassurance of my good nature and morality.
Any such reassurance would be a lie, anyway. My own survival was my top priority. I didn’t feel guilty for that; it was just biology. I smiled after I judged our silence had gone on long enough. “Plus, I know you understand the importance of gathering more information about our…situation. I have some things I’d like to share with you, that I think you’d find valuable.”
He stayed silent, but scrutinized me with narrowed eyes.
I turned to the others to allow him time to decide. I didn’t know how to persuade him further. “China, I know you’re in. What about you, Jacky?”
She leaned back on her perch atop the back of a bench and shrugged. “That all sounds good to me. I know already you make a good teammate. I’ll go with you, for now. But,” she leaned forward, suddenly serious, “I won’t be confined. I will not be trapped in this. I will leave when I want. I will follow what orders I want. I will not be forced.”
I nodded. “That is as it should be. If you will listen to my reasoning and consider it, that is all I ask. The Game is quite enough enslavement for all of us, I think.”
She grinned and spat on the ground. “Screw the Game.”
China repeated it, the vehemence extra shocking coming from her child-like frame and angelic face.
Adam laughed, the barrier he’d been holding around himself seeming to fall away. “Screw the Game,” he said with relish. “I guess I’m in.”
I turned to Sam, who’d stayed noticeably silent until then. “Sam, what about you?”
He smiled, but shook his head. “I don’t think being part of a team is for me, sorry. I’ll be going.” He turned to leave.
“Wait, Sam,” I called out. “Why don’t you want to work with a team?”
He looked at the ground for a second, and then back to me, but I’d caught the white-knuckled fist he made and then quickly released. It wasn’t anger. He had the type of skin tone that blushed at a moment’s notice, and would have flushed with anger. Instead he was pale beneath his tan. “I don’t work well with others. Honestly. I’m better off alone.”
What secret was he hiding? “I don’t expect you to be best friends with any of us. Just to work together so that we can all live.”
He frowned. “That’s the problem. I’m not the one you want to have at your back in a life and death situation.”
Ah, maybe that was it. I could understand fear. “Sam, I know what you can do. I don’t want you fighting at my back during a life and death situation. I want you safe right beside me so that when I need you, you’ll be ready and able to help. We’ve got fighters. I didn’t ask you here to be one of them.”
He shuffled his feet. “But still, I don’t think—”
“I have no doubt that you’ll save all our lives at least once. If you walk away now, you’ll be leaving us to die without you if something happens. We need you, Sam. Please join us.”
“You’re kinda manipulative,” he said wonderingly.
I smiled widely. “I am. But I’m also being honest. I want you on my team. I want each of you, specifically. That’s why I called you here.”
He still h
esitated, and I rolled my eyes. “You know you want to, Sam. Just say yes.”
He took a deep breath. “Okay, yes. I just hope you don’t regret it.”
I settled back in my seat again, legs and arms spread wide to show my confidence. "I won't. I made a promise to myself to never regret anything again."
“Bunny, you heard all that, right? I’ve got a consenting team. Register us.”
ALREADY? YOU MOVE FAST.
—Bunny—
“I’m single-minded.” Singly focused on my own survival, to be exact. But I didn’t say that last bit aloud.
A window misted into existence like a mirage in front of my face.
YOU HAVE BECOME THE LEADER OF A TEAM.
SPECIAL CONDITION ACTIVATED
YOU HAVE GAINED THE SKILL “COMMAND”
A new Skill? My eyes widened and I sat forward. “Display Skill Window,” I murmured under my breath.
Command:
Mundane Class
Allows leader access to the Team Management Window. Leader can communicate with team members through Game Windows, see location of team members on Team Management Map, and is able to access basic Game Information of team members.
My tongue twitched with the desire to display the team management Window, but I held myself back. “Did you guys get a Skill?”
China tilted her head to the side. “It says we can communicate with our leader via Game Windows.”
Adam frowned at the invisible screen in front of his face, and then at me. “And I suppose that would be you,” he said resignedly.
“Yes. It is me.” I hadn’t known the leader would be appointed like that, but I wouldn’t apologize that it was me. The situation and my seeming power play made me a bit uncomfortable, but I kept it hidden and tried to begin as I meant to go on, with outward confidence and control.
Sam shuffled his feet and looked between Adam and me nervously.
Jacky chuckled. “Did you expect different? It’s not like anything changed. There’s just a pretty label on it now.”
We stared each other down for a moment, and then Adam relented. “So I’m your subordinate now. What information do you have that you thought I’d be interested in?”
“You’re my ally,” I corrected. I very deliberately took off my link, and handed it to China, who put it in her bag.
Adam’s eyes widened, and he did the same.
When everyone in our group had removed their links with varying levels of understanding why we were doing so, China carried her backpack away, out of the links’ audio receptors’ range.
“Everyone, be careful to shield your thoughts from Bunny. Just consciously acknowledge that you don’t want him to overhear this.” When China returned, I looked to her. “What I have is a name, I believe.”
She knew immediately to what I referred. “Mendell.”
“Mendell? One name? Is that first or last? What context is the name in? How, exactly, is something like that going to be useful?” He was rolling a coin over and between his knuckles with angry energy, tiny sparks of static electricity jumping off it.
China replied before I could. “My sister was taken by them, by NIX. We think that’s the name of the people who run the Game.” Her voice wavered in the beginning, but strengthened as she continued. “Eve was there when it happened. And then people in masks came to my house to make it look like my sister ran away. They were talking about what they would do with the ones they’d taken, and we listened. They said they’d be taking samples from them to Mendell. That’s the context.”
The irritated look slipped off his face, replaced with intense focus. “A research lab, maybe? A place, or maybe a person…” he muttered. He’d already begun tapping on the ID arm sheath link clamped onto the cast around his arm, entering in information.
“That’s what I want you to find out,” I said.
He took a deep breath and held his hand up in the air, and as he let the breath out, his hand started to spark visibly, and his curls started to float upward from the electricity coursing through his body.
Sam and China watched him with avid curiosity, while Jacky stepped back in alarm, probably remembering her last incident with his abilities.
Adam laid his hand onto his arm sheath, and though his body was still, his eyes twitched back and forth with bug-like, skittering speed, focused on nothing in the real world.
I pulled up the team control Window under my breath while the others were all focused on him.
PLAYER NAME: ADAM COYLE
TITLE: NONECHARACTERISTIC SKILL: ELECTRIC SOVEREIGN
LEVEL: 58
SKILLS: HYPER FOCUS
STRENGTH: 13
LIFE: 11
AGILITY: 28
GRACE: 13
INTELLIGENCE: 19
FOCUS: 22
BEAUTY: 8
PHYSIQUE: 13
MANUAL DEXTERITY: 15
MENTAL ACUITY: 29
RESILIENCE: 14
STAMINA: 10
PERCEPTION: 8
He obviously focused his points in the mental Attributes and Speed, and Electric Sovereign would be the Skill that allowed him to manipulate electricity. Hyper Focus was also self-explanatory. But the irritating thing was the average level of his Attributes was far above mine. He must have started out with high points, and only added from there, because even fifty-eight level-ups didn't explain those numbers. If he hadn't broken his arm, he would never have needed protection from Jacky and me. He was definitely the highest leveled Player in the group
Adam fairly vibrated with the intensity of his concentration for a while. Then, he took his hand away from the ID sheath and its connection to the Internet and let out a shuddering breath. He rubbed now bloodshot eyes and then looked at me. "I've found something."
We all leaned forward in anticipation, holding our breath after the display he'd just given us.
He continued, "A person. An engineer, slash physicist, slash biologist, former genius that's been out of the scientific community and the public eye for a while now. It's not much, but he's suspicious. I hacked into the city property databases, and I found a place under the name of his deceased sister that's paying extraordinarily high electricity bills. Which doesn't mean much, but when I tried to figure out where the money was coming from to pay those bills, I couldn't."
I nodded, understanding the direction his thoughts had gone.
Jacky pursed her lips. "So? That doesn’t tell us nothing."
He smirked. "I'm able to understand the electrical impulses that run through a computer, and manipulate them. There should be no hiding the money trail from me, but it was in the form of a large credit deposit from a company I'd never heard of, and beyond that I couldn't track its path." He paused for emphasis. "It was purposefully hidden. Now, who would want their mysterious payments to a genius hermit researcher to be untraceable?"
China bounced on her toes and grabbed my arm in excitement as if to stop herself from flying away. "Oh my god. Yes! He's connected to NIX. He has to know something about Chanelle, and maybe she's even there right now, being held in some sort of research lab…" She tugged on my arm. "Eve, we have to go get her, before it's too late."
I refused to bring the team that very instant to look for China’s sister. She would have rushed to Mendell’s secret lair alone, but I was able to dissuade China with a compromise that we would go after the team had some time to prepare and gain information.
"But I'm not going to keep waiting indefinitely, Eve. If my sister's in there, I'm going to save her." She frowned at me with that face identical to Chanelle’s.
I nodded and laid a hand on her shoulder. "I know. But if she is there, it's better that we wait until we're actually able to save her, rather than making an attempt and failing, and her being trapped forever."
Adam snorted. "I’ll go there with the team, but no way am I risking my life for some random girl I don't even know."
I smirked, but said nothing. What was it exactly that got him that brok
en arm? Saving some random girl he didn't even know, if I remembered correctly. If the situation arose, I'd bet credits that Adam would save Chanelle and a hundred others, grumbling about it all the while.
But Sam knew him even less well than I did, and frowned. "If there are people there that need our help, we have to help them. We have the responsibility to do what we can."
"Right. While you're being a martyr, I'll be keeping myself alive,” Adam said.
I raised a hand. "Guys. We don't even know what we're going to find there yet. We’ll deal with that when we come to it. Right now, let's get to know each other better, so I know exactly what we're working with and how best to allocate our limited manpower."
Jacky tilted her head back and forth to crack her neck. "So basically you want us to tell about our Skills, right?"
"More or less. Skills, Attribute point delegation, any other special skill or ability you might have…basically anything that might be useful for me to know."
Jacky gave a mischievous smirk and grabbed a short branch from a nearby decorative tree, ripping it off.
I pulled up her statistics in the leadership Window, to compare her real stats with what she told us. Her Characteristic Skill was “Gravitational Autonomy.” When I touched the Skill, the words “Kinetic Class” appeared, but that was it.
She squeezed hard enough that her arm trembled with the effort, and her fingers sank into the wood, sap leaking from between her fingers and dripping onto the ground in milky spatters. With another smirk, she opened her hand and showed the pulverized wood pulp within. "I’m strong. Really strong, and sturdy enough to support my own strength, so I don’t rip my own muscles and bones apart. My points are almost all in the physical Attributes. My Skill lets me change the force of gravity on my own body, just a little bit. I can’t fly or nothing, but it’s good for fighting." She wiped her sap-covered hand on the ground, and then moved to me and placed her hands on my shoulders. First, she bounced up and hovered just an instant longer than she should have, and the weight of her on my shoulders was surprisingly light. Then she pressed down on me, and I had to strain to keep my posture straight under the pressure her significantly smaller frame exerted on mine.
