Calista Elise Medley

  First-Year One Student

  Level 2

  XP: 18/100

  HP: 100/100

  EP: 51/100

  RP Status: Ridiculed— -147 RP

  Weakness Lvl 20 MAX

  Harrison’s offer had kept Calista awake all night, despite the AIDA trying to put her to sleep in her capsule. She had wanted to instantly accept the offer, throw her arms around him, and thank him over and over again for even considering teaching her. But for some reason, she… didn’t.

  The offer loomed over her like a cloud throughout the entire weekend, as well as her constant worry for her family. She’d finally gotten some relief on Saturday, when Quinlan sent a brief AIDA Band message: “We’re okay. Need time. Will talk to you when ready. Love you. And KEEP TRAINING.” It made her feel at least a little better during such a tumultuous time for her.

  The other students’ treatment of her was pretty much the same, but they were ignoring her a little less. In Theory classes, if she answered a question incorrectly, they made sure to make her feel stupid by laughing or smirking. It was as if they always expected something stupid to come out of her mouth. In Combat class, the coaches were moving on to one-on-one sparring without CD-Sims, and most of Calista’s partners were a little rougher than they needed to be. Some of the more reputable students in her classes were starting to mock her more openly, particularly in Teamwork— Rosalina would loudly point out something she was doing wrong and Hillary would make snide jokes like, “Focus on the game more than your looks,” or “She wants to take some freeze shots while she’s at it.”

  In said Teamwork class, Calista avoided Harrison as much as she could. She didn’t have an answer for him yet, and she really couldn’t decide what she wanted.

  She knew that Reilly Campbell and Disaris Okione already had a less-than-cordial relationship with him. This would give them all the fuel they needed to destroy his name, and they had a lot of influence as the top two students in the Versus school.

  She wanted to get on the team herself, on her own merit… but she needed help, especially with her condition. She had no hope of even having a chance by herself. What if they all assumed Harrison was favoring her because they were the same species? What else would they say about her and her family?

  On Sunday, she hadn’t made her decision yet, but Lindsay advised her to simply visit the Guild Training room and see what Guilds were like. Calista wasn’t sure if she’d be motivated to join or desperate to stay away— only one way to find out.

  Task Acquired: Observe Guild Training area— No XP

  The Guild Training Rooms were in a long hallway in the Training Center, on the third floor. The Guilds made up over 40% of the Versus Fighting School, and would likely grow if a lot of new students were admitted this semester. Their personal tables at the Mess Hall were quite large, highlighting their popularity. Most of the Guilds had more than one table that belonged to them and only them.

  The only one that remained empty and lonely was an orange one, which Lindsay had informed was the Kappa Guild table— Harrison’s.

  When Calista arrived at the Guild Training hallway, her heart shot up to her throat. It was packed with patch-wearing trainees waiting for their Student Coaches to arrive. The hallway was lined with large, metal doors of different colors, each spaced out widely. The members were all waiting around whichever door matched their patches.

  She’d arrived too early. She should’ve waited until everyone was gone. She shouldn’t have come here at all.

  “Move your feet, Calista,” Lindsay told her. “They’ll look at you even more if you just stand there.”

  She gulped and unstuck her feet from the floor, walking towards the crowd. She didn’t even know what she was doing there. What was she looking for? She couldn’t just go into a random Guild room and see what they did— not that it mattered. Harrison’s Guild technically didn’t exist, and she’d apparently be the only member if she accepted his offer.

  A few people started looking at her, grins crossing their faces. “Is she going to beg for a Guild?” someone behind her sniggered. Another said, “Someone wants to be Miss Popular.”

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  This was a huge mistake. There wasn’t any point in coming here, and Harrison wasn’t even here, from what she could see. She turned to leave before someone like Hillary decided to pick on her.

  She bumped into a girl’s shoulder, which brought a piercing ache across her collarbone and spread it through her chest. She inhaled deeply and tried to bear the pain. “I’m sorry!” she exclaimed.

  “You’re fine…” The girl stared at her with a mix of confusion and surprise. She was a Mearthian girl, a few inches shorter than Calista, with shoulder-length brown hair and olive skin. Her eyes were Martian, lacking visible pupils, but she had brown sclerae and irises rather than black. If it weren’t for her eyes, she’d look like a full Earthian.

  In fact, she looked familiar, but Calista couldn’t place where she’d seen her.

  Belinda Adenifi

  Gamma Guild Member

  Level 131

  70 RP— Respected

  “I’ll get out of your way. Sorry.” Calista tried scooting past her.

  “Are you joining a Guild?” the girl asked curiously.

  Calista sighed. She probably wanted to make a joke or snide comment about it. “I don’t know. I was just checking stuff out, okay? I’ll leave now.”

  “No, it’s fine. It’s a good thing if you join. Guilds help out a lot.” The girl smiled. “I’m Belinda. I’m from Guild Gamma— you probably see it on my tag, anyway.” She showed her silver Guild patch; it said ‘Gamma- Delaine Evistroma’ along the top and ‘Belinda Adenifi, Guild 3’ on the bottom with an upside-down ‘L’ in the middle; probably the Gamma letter. “My coach’s the third-ranker, Delaine ‘Minx’ Evistroma. I’m in your Combat class, actually.”

  Calista’s mind clicked with the memory. She’d always be one of the ones that watched her with curiosity and some pity rather than contempt.

  +2 Rel-P

  New Person: Belinda Adenifi

  Positive Acquaintance

  “Which Guild were you looking at?” Belinda then inquired.

  “I was just… generally looking at everyone. I got curious,” Calista stammered out. So far, the girl seemed nice, but she didn’t know her true intentions. She could’ve been tricking her into blabbing Harrison’s invite so she could tell everyone.

  “Well, there are Level and Rep requirements to get in one.” Belinda winced, glancing up— Calista knew she was looking at the ‘Level 2’ on her tag. “But sometimes, the SCs make exceptions,” she said optimistically.

  “Right…” Calista nodded cynically.

  “You could try Lasso’s Guild.” Belinda nodded behind Calista towards one of the last two doors. It was colored in white, with a huge ‘I’ carved in the middle. Iota, if she remembered correctly. “Catherine Graham is known to be one of the nicest SCs in school. Don’t underestimate her, though; she’s tough when she needs to be.”

  Observance: Catherine ‘Lasso’ Graham reputably nice

  “St?sten Durchdenwald’s Guild is Theta.” She pointed at the yellow door next to Harrison’s door, which had an oval with a line across it.

  Calista knew she had no chance in that Guild; St?sten was in her Combat class, and he’d seen plenty of her failures.

  Observance: Theta Guild a no-go

  “What about that one?” she asked cluelessly, pointing at the orange door with a ‘K’ across from the Iota door. Maybe if she pretended not to know about Harrison’s Guild, she could get more info without revealing she was invited.

  “Oh… that’s Harrison Smith’s Guild, technically. He doesn’t really ‘have’ a Guild, per se… you know, because of how controversial he is.” Belinda leaned over, lowering her voice. “Between you and me, I don’t think he’s any cheater. He’s a great fighter. Sadly, the Kappa people didn’t think so, and they all dropped out of the Guild as soon as it turned over to him. No one’s joined since.”

  “That’s why the Guild is empty?” Calista felt a pang of sympathy. Being as young as he was back in 2346, that must have been devastating for Harrison.

  “I’m sure he’d teach you very well,” said Belinda, “but if you don’t want your Rep to sink any lower…” She shrugged. “You’d be the only one in there, too. No Teamwork progress that way. On one hand, because it doesn’t have any members, the requirements aren’t set, so technically, you could just join the way you are. But on the other… it wouldn’t be a good look. Just giving you a heads-up if you’re considering.”

  +4 Rel-P

  Observance: Rep Level will sink when joining Kappa

  “Thanks for the tips,” Calista told her. Looking at her tag, she noticed the Rep. Level had changed.

  65 RP— Respected

  Was that just because she was talking to her?

  “I’m going to… get back to my dorm. Thanks for your help.”

  “Sure. Good luck.”

  +15 Rel-P

  Achieved: Friendly Acquaintance Status

  +Interactions I

  +Association I

  Belinda smiled at her and went down the long hall to the silver door on the left. Calista could see many of the silver-patch-wearing members staring at her, probably questioning why she’d talk to the Socializer.

  Turning to leave, she stopped again when she saw the Student Coaches approaching in their red-and-blue uniforms, the members making way for them. Catherine ‘Lasso’ Graham went straight to her members with a big smile on her violet face, her curly blond ponytail swinging. St?sten was apathetic as he was scanned to open his door, not even sparing his students a glance when he let them into the room.

  Reilly Campbell’s imposing, pale gold eyes stared straight ahead, never bothering to even glance at the other students staring in admiration. His eyes only moved when he saw Rosalina waiting for him at the platinum-colored door all the way at the end of the hallway. Disaris ‘One-Punch’ Okione walked a bit near Calista as he passed her, surprising her with his height— he was just as tall as she was at 5’9”, dwarfed by most male fighters. His large muscles and clear Reputation made up for it, though.