Beside Medusa was a Paeseoan with bright, mustard-yellow skin, deep electric-blue hair, and strong purple eyes. Her tag read:
Hillary ‘Gravity’ Kaye
Delta Member
Level 112
183 RP— Feared
Calista didn’t remember her from previous Games. Maybe her first competition was just last Versus. Most new fighters didn’t get as much recognition unless they did something extraordinary or controversial.
The Paeseoan, Hillary, leaned over to Harrison, muttering, “Maybe you can request a switch?” Her accent was very much like an Irish accent, but with heavily rolled r’s.
“Right. Nuclear will just say, ‘Oh, sure, I’ll let you switch up even though I just said we need to work together no matter what’.” Yve gave Hillary a ridiculing look. Her native Seeyastian accent sounded sort of like a Swahili accent, except that her ‘s’ was pronounced as ‘sh’. Her live hair turned pale yellow, which contrasted starkly against her dark purple skin.
Calista felt weird seeing a Seeyastian with such expressive hair. There were Seeyastian Socializers she’d met over the years, and all of them were trained to keep their hair under control to avoid colors clashing with their skin, only ever maintaining shades that were pleasing to the eye— or matching with some ridiculous trend. Some modded their hair to remove the color-changing gene, which would dry their hair cells and require daily medications to keep it smooth and silky.
“We’re not switching anyone,” said Harrison. “Sorry about her.” He addressed both the new students, but Calista knew he mostly meant it for her.
She couldn’t let them down if she wanted to prove Hillary wrong.
-2 Rel-P
New Person: Hillary Kaye
Negative Acquaintance
The coaches turned on the Enhanced Reality Map Materializer— ERMM— in the gym. It was the same technology used to create game maps in real competitions, only much smaller, of course. It could create entire atmospheres inside a compressed bubble, giving fighters the illusion of stepping into another dimension, and fans a perfect, wide view of the action.
“Today’s game will be simple: Relay Maze,” Coach Julius Castro said. He was the only coach Calista had seen that didn’t have a call sign. “I know it’s not a combat game and that many of you will be bored doing it, but it’ll be a good introduction for your new teammates, and we’ll be able to assess your cohesion during these first impressions.”
“Probably dumbed it down for some new people,” Hillary muttered, casting a pointed glance at Calista. She pronounced ‘dumbed’ as ‘dumb-ehd’.
-2 Rel-P
“Simple. You send me out first,” said Lílitha, startling Calista. She’d appeared right next to her. Seeing her jump, Lílitha gave her a look. “What?”
“Nothing, I… nothing.” Calista cleared her throat.
-2 Rel-P (Lílitha)
“Actually, you should go last. Those are the critical seconds. I can go first, Hillary can go second, Medusa’s third… how’s your speed stats?” Harrison looked at Calista and Emily.
“I’m a solid seven,” Emily said with a shrug.
Calista checked her Speed stat. Embarrassed, she murmured, “I’m a five.”
“Not bad,” said Harrison. “Calista, you go before Emily, then.”
+2 Rel-P (Harrison)
“Shouldn’t she go first? She’s the slowest,” Hillary said.
Gee, thanks. Calista looked at her indignantly.
-3 Rel-P (Hillary)
Approaching Hostile Acquaintance Status
“And put us at a disadvantage from the very beginning? I don’t think so,” said Lílitha.
-2 Rel-P (Lílitha)
Calista sighed. Of course she wouldn’t back her up. She didn’t blame Lílitha; she’d humiliated herself in that duel.
“So it’s me, Gravity, Medusa, Calista, Emily, and Lil.”
“Team 3 vs. Team 6, step forward,” Coach Taraji announced.
“What’s our team number?” Calista asked.
“Seven,” Harrison answered.
She sighed in relief. She needed to observe this game closely. She’d never played or even heard of this game before, but everyone else seemed familiar with it, as if it were as simple as DanceSim.
The teams lined up at opposite ends of the ERMM. Once the timer above counted down from three to zero, the first two players rushed in. Calista’s throat dried again. She couldn’t see what was happening.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
After a few seconds, the second players rushed in, but the first people didn’t exit the barrier. Would they all be in there?
She leaned towards Harrison. “Um… so… what’s going on in there?”
He looked at her, his brow quirked. “Have you… played this before?”
“I… not in a long time, I guess.”
Lílitha’s lynx-like ears twitched as she overheard the conversation, and she gave them a ‘Really?’ look. She then turned away, and even though her pupils weren’t visible, Calista knew she was rolling her eyes.
-3 Rel-P (Lílitha)
“Okay, well… first person goes in, gets to the first checkpoint, and finds a specific object— that’ll be me. Then I’ll press the button and let Gravity in. When she reaches me, I’ll give her the object and run to get the door for her, then we run to the next red checkpoint. And the cycle keeps going until everyone gets through. First team to get out wins. You with me?”
“Yeah, I think so…” Calista only got half of that. She’d focused on Harrison’s eyes— they were a sharp blue, like sapphires studded in his irises. They went so well with his brown curls…
What on Earth?! She was supposed to be focusing!
“Team 2 vs. Team 7,” Coach Julius called.
Harrison’s team went to the right end of the ERMM barrier. It was shimmering in gold, preventing anyone from seeing what was inside. Calista lined up behind Yve, whose hair was currently a mix between pink and gray, the locks slowly curling like snakes.
The timer counted down and Harrison rushed inside. In no time flat, the doorway opened and Hillary went inside. They were moving way too fast. Calista’s heart pounded loudly in her chest, thundering in her ears.
So… she needed to get an object— no, that was Harrison. Then he gave that to Hillary, then Yve would get it, and Calista would get it from her, right? Where would she find her?
Yve ran in for her turn, leaving Calista in front of the glistening barrier. She glanced behind her at Emily and Lílitha, the latter of whom was eyeing her with great irritation.
“Medusa gives me the object, right? What’s the object?” Calista asked them shyly.
Lílitha pinched her nose, her ears flattening against her head, while Emily stared. “You seriously haven’t played this before?” she asked.
-2 Rel-P
Approaching Outcast Status
Calista turned away, her ears burning. “Never mind. It’ll come back to me…”
She glanced up at the timer: Yve had twenty seconds to reach Hillary. Calista hoped it would run out and that it would automatically make them lose so she wouldn’t have to-
The doorway opened. The timer reset. Calista froze. Her feet wouldn’t move.
Task Acquired: Reach Yve Rayelyn— No XP
“What are you doing? Go!” Emily pushed her into the barrier. She stumbled and spun with dizziness when she entered the new atmosphere. Looking behind her, she only saw a shiny gold doorway.
The maze was dark and eerie, with tall stone walls covered in moss and vines. In front of her was a blue, glowing square in the brick floor. She shivered at the misty air. How realistic were ERMMs, anyway?
She shook her head. She needed to run. She sprinted forward and followed the path until she came to a crossroads— which way? She chose the right path, but wound up at a dead end, forcing her to circle back. How did they find their way through so quickly?
-1 EP
-1 EP
After a few twists and turns, she finally found Yve waiting in one of the clearings, her feet on a glowing red square. The girl’s hair was bright red. “Where the glitch were you?!” Her hair snakes waved wildly.
“I-I got lost…” Calista panted.
-2 Rel-P
Negative Acquaintance
“In Relay Maze?” She groaned and shoved a small, gold hammer into Calista’s chest, pushing her back a couple steps. “Stay here. I have to find the next doorway for you. As soon as the square turns blue, run like your life depends on it. Do not step off until it does.” She bolted away.
“Wait, aren’t I supposed to…?” Calista trailed off. Yve had disappeared.
She kept her eyes on the square below, ready for it to change. Once it did, she followed Yve’s instruction and ran forward, but the twists and turns confused her once again. She finally found the next red square, but Yve was nowhere to be seen.
-1 EP
-1 EP
She completely glitched the team up. She felt a lump press in her throat, but she refused to cry. She never cried, and she definitely wouldn’t start now, not at this school.
Emily ran up to Calista. “That took a while. What were you doing?” She held her hand out.
-2 Rel-P
Negative Acquaintance
Calista stared, clueless, then realized she was waiting for the object. She gave her the hammer and hesitantly ran forward, maneuvering to the next checkpoint. On the way, a glowing button in the wall caught her eye, making her stop. Was she supposed to press that?
What if it was some sort of trap? What if it was just decorative? It couldn’t be; there were no other glowing buttons like that. “Lindsay, what do I do?” she whispered. She received no answer; she probably wasn’t allowed to do that.
She sighed and pressed the button, anticipating a trap as she ran, but nothing happened. She reached the next red square and sighed in relief, panting and bending over.
-2 EP
-2 EP
Her Stamina was cache. She needed to get it up if she wanted to play actual combat games.
The rest of the game was simple; once the square turned blue, she had to proceed to the next one. She always had trouble finding her way through, somehow taking the dead end path first, but eventually made it to the end and passed through the barrier. When she got outside, the other three were sulking. Medusa’s hair was wild in red, with bubbles of pink rushing along the strands.
“How are we doing?” Calista asked.
Hillary scoffed. “The other team already won. They’ve been waitin’ there.” She pointed at the other end of the maze, where all six of the opposing team were sitting. They looked at them with mocking smiles, some whispering.
“Oh…” Calista’s shoulders sagged.
“Losing at Relay Maze… that’s a new one. Told you we should’ve made a switch,” said Hillary.
-3 Rel-P
“You know they’d never let us do that,” said Yve.
“She should’ve gone last.”
Emily and Lílitha exited quickly, Lílitha holding the hammer. Lílitha’s black eyes were narrow as she stormed over to Harrison. “They did this on purpose,” she hissed.
“Lil, don’t start,” Harrison sighed.
“You know they did. Nuclear has an issue, and everyone knows it.”
“Just forget it, Li. It’s just a class exercise. It’s not an actual Versus round. Not a big deal, okay?” Harrison motioned for everyone to calm down, but he was clearly embarrassed.
-3 Rel-P (Harrison)
Calista’s UI popped up with:
-8 RP
-8 XP
Status Unlocked: Disrespected— -36 RP
+Contempt II
+Rumors II
+Pranks II
+Dysfunction II
+Insults II