She let out a sigh and turned the speech off, standing and pretending to practice her choreo. Katelyn entered her room, Quinlan following her while locked on his Pet screen. “Come here.” She took the other hoverchair and scooted up to Calista.

  “Kate, I don’t want to hear it. Whatever other ‘opportunity’ you found for me, I want you to shut it up and shove it down-”

  “Just listen!” Katelyn summoned her electric blue-colored Pet, which played an audio AIDA message. “Calista Medley, you have a message from… Fistborn Academy. Would you like to play it?”

  Calista’s eyes widened. “Are you bugging insane?!”

  “No one can hear this! Come on, play it!”

  “How did you even-”

  “Well, I wasn’t sure if we’d get anything related to Cosmos, so I intercepted the AIDA to make sure no one would hear anything. And I was right.” She waved her hand to her Pet. “You gonna play it or not?”

  Calista checked the timer: 9:28. Hesitantly, she said, “Play the message.”

  A hologram of an Emitonian woman wearing the Fistborn jacket appeared. “Good afternoon, Miss Medley,” she said in an English accent, which was surprising to Calista; Emitonians weren’t usually looking to raise their children on Earth. “We at Fistborn Academy are pleased to extend a special request for you to apply to our 2349 freshman class in the Versus Fighting School. We will guarantee a spot for you to show your skills in the second segment of our admission process, provided that all your information is correct and up to date.”

  The woman continued, not giving Calista any space to comprehend the message. “Your application is due by tomorrow. Since you have been specially requested by a board member, your application fee has been waived. Next will be a short interview, which will then give us enough information to assess you in your exams. If you pass all three of your exams with a minimum score of 60 tacks out of 100, you will be considered for a spot in the Academy’s new class. Should you have any questions, contact us through this message line. Thank you for your interest in Fistborn Academy’s Versus Fighting School. We look forward to seeing you in action on your examination day.” The hologram closed with a flash of the Fistborn logo: a dark blue circle with red letters outlined in white, diagonally spelling out ‘FBA’.

  Calista sat staring into space for a few moments. Her mind was blank, then finally whispered, ‘What the glitch?’. She blinked and squeezed herself; her shoulders, her arms, her hands. She was awake, as far as she could tell.

  Katelyn took her shoulders and started shaking her. “HE SAW YOU! IT HAS TO BE HIM! CALISTA, YOU’RE GOING TO BE A FIGHTER!”

  Calista slapped her hand over her sister’s mouth. “Will you be quiet?!” She felt herself hyperventilating.

  “No one can hear us. This is incredible!” Katelyn squealed.

  “H-how is this possible? How did…” Calista questioned.

  “Maybe he was there? Maybe he saw you kick butt!”

  “I didn’t kick anyone’s butt; we almost got killed!”

  “Cali, you got a chance now! You have to apply!”

  “I agree,” Quinlan interjected.

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  “No. This wasn’t supposed to- I don’t even- I just- this isn’t happening!” Calista paced. “I can’t just abandon you guys. I can’t just go off and take tests for a school I’ll probably never get into. If anyone knows I tried-”

  “Calista, we covered up the fact that we were in a raid on Genesis X. This is arguably a lot easier.”

  “Wait, what? Where?” Quinlan closed his Pet screen, his gray eyes wide. “What were you guys doing there? You didn’t tell me that!”

  “Not your code, not your problem,” Katelyn said.

  He scoffed. “You’re talking about it right in front of me-”

  “We should kick you out, then.”

  “I already know too much, don’t I?”

  “If you say one word of this to anyone-”

  “QUIET, both of you!” Calista pulled on her long, black locks. “I can’t do this, Kate. I’m sorry.”

  “You took on an Emitonian and beat him,” Katelyn reminded her.

  “You beat an Emitonian?!” Quinlan exclaimed.

  “I didn’t beat him, I just poked him in the eye. Anyone can do that,” Calista defended.

  “You’re insane if you’re giving up the one chance in a million to get out of this family,” Katelyn said. “I didn’t convince a fighting school vice president and spend hundreds of digits on a Mask and almost get killed in a raid just so you can make up all these excuses to not go.”

  “I was pushed into this. I never wanted to go.” Calista looked away, facing her window.

  “No one can push you into something you don’t want.”

  She paused. Something inside her set off. She stood still, her eyes fixed on the light from her large window.

  “Oh, yeah, Kate?” she said quietly. “Then explain my whole glitching life. The years I’ve spent acting and dressing and doing stuff I don’t want, that I hate, because we don’t have a choice.” She whirled around, sticking her shaky finger at Katelyn. “Don’t you dare tell me I can’t be pushed into anything I don’t want,” she whispered.

  -5 Rel-P

  There was a long pause as Calista sunk into her seat and held her head in her hands. The timer was down to 6:27.

  “I’m sorry,” Katelyn said, her voice shaky. “That was really insensitive. I’m sorry, Cali.”

  She shook her head. “No… I didn’t mean to react like that. I’m sorry.” She looked at Quinlan, who looked frightened. Even though she hadn’t raised her voice, her face was enough to intimidate the boy. “I’m sorry, Quin.”

  He smiled a bit, trying to hide his emotion. “It’s fine.” As snarky and intelligent as he was, he was only nine years old. Calista worried his being here would put him way in over his head.

  “I want to go… believe me, I want to go.” Calista felt tears squeeze her throat, but she didn’t cry… not just yet. “I just can’t stop thinking about you… and our parents. I love them, even if they’re not the best parents in the world. It just feels so selfish.”

  “We can all leave,” Quinlan said. “If she disowns you, she’ll just have to disown all of us. Then one of our cousins can take the job.” He smirked. “They’ve always wanted it, anyway. They hate us because everyone wants us up there. They want you.” He looked at Calista. “Give them the popularity. The followers won’t give a byte. They just want someone to talk about.”

  Katelyn took her sister’s hands. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have put you in danger. I know it was a scary experience for you.” She paused. “But I know that if you at least try… you could go so far. If you get on the country team— on the planet team… You won’t be Jennifer Zyben’s daughter anymore. You’ll be Calista Medley, a Versus fighter. I’ll be your sister!” She smiled hopefully, bringing more tears to Calista’s eyes. “We could all do whatever we want, and no one can ever touch us. Not even the higher species.”

  Calista inhaled, swallowing the lump in her throat. She couldn’t let her siblings down. She couldn’t leave them with such a depressing fate. “What if I don’t make it?”

  “What if you do? You used to be so sure of yourself.”

  “I just don’t want to let you down.”

  Quinlan shrugged. “Cali, it’s just a test. If you pass, you pass. If you don’t, then just go to NYWS like Mom wants you to. We love you either way.”

  +10 Rel-P (Katelyn)

  +10 Rel-P (Quinlan)

  Close Friend Status Unlocked (Quinlan)

  Calista gave him a watery smile, her tears finally releasing from their prison. “You think you can hack something up to cover that?”

  Katelyn smiled confidently. “Just trust me.”