Calista hadn’t even thought about the changes to her body. Bringing up a mirror screen, she carefully studied herself. There were muscles popping through the fabric of her sleeves and her pant legs. Her abdomen felt tougher. Her waist was wider, no longer the pencil-thin size, and Calista realized her body didn’t ache like it used to anymore. The pain had gradually faded as she continued therapy through her diet and exercises. Her PT was still lower than it needed to be, but she was nowhere near as bad as when she started nearly three months prior.

  With these new muscles, she felt inspired. She could make an exercise bra-and-shorts pair to show off her new abdomen. Or maybe she could use 21st to 22nd-Century athletes’ uniforms as inspiration. Many of the old Earthian sports had died out over the centuries, replaced by new ones and hybrids from other planets, as well as the Versus Games. The old sports’ outfits could create a great new look.

  “Oh, right! I make my own uniforms!” She jumped on her toes. “I started on Utopia Day, and since then, I’ve just been loving it…” Eagerness washed over her and she went into her clothing selection station to change into the different variations she’d made up for the uniform— the one styled in 22nd-Century flair, the one with the skort and white cushion shoes, and a new one she’d recently started showing off: a sturdy blue tank top that melded with white tights, which were flexible enough for Calista to fight in. Her shoes were red and there was a red slash across her top, the Fistborn logo in the middle.

  Next thing she knew, she was telling her siblings everything they’d missed: the rumors the school spread about her, her reconstruction therapy, joining the Kappa Guild at Harrison’s invitation, training with him, hanging from that stupid bar, starting dance-fighting, Rosalina’s challenge in the Favorites’ Lounge, Lílitha deciding to join— all the way up to the week prior, when she finally hesitated.

  “Then what?” Quinlan prodded.

  “Then…” Her elation faded into dread. She wanted to cover it up, but she felt masky about it. She couldn’t hide this— what if they’d already heard about it and were simply pretending not to? She wouldn’t break their trust after everything.

  But she felt so ashamed…

  “I… fought Gravity. You know, Hillary Kaye. There was this huge fight…” She struggled to spit out the words as she told the whole story, from the confrontation between Rosalina and Lílitha to when Calista had shattered her knuckles on Hillary’s nose. They were healed now and the gauntlets were off, but still ached occasionally, requiring further meds along with her normal reconstruction therapy to fully repair them.

  Her gaze was fixed on her white cushion shoes at the end of the tale. She couldn’t meet their eyes. What would they think of her? Despite what they’d been through, they’d still been raised as Socializers. Their mother, their family, everyone around them had filled them with the anti-violence rhetoric, denouncing the slightest physically aggressive gesture as severe violence that wouldn’t be tolerated.

  “You did that for me?” Katelyn asked quietly.

  “I just hated her talking about you like that. I hated when she talked about me… but when she brought you up— both of you— I just lost it. I was so tired…”

  Katelyn’s holographic hand passed through Calista’s chin, and despite the lack of contact, she still raised her gaze to meet hers. To her relief, there wasn’t any of the disappointment, fear, or disgust she expected. There wasn’t pride, either; only tenderness and compassion.

  “You’re only Earth-” Katelyn hesitated, glancing at her brother, then said, “Human.”

  The word didn’t make Calista flinch anymore, but it still bothered her. She’d gotten used to hearing it throughout school, yet it still made her stomach turn. She didn’t understand why. How long would it take until all that cache Socializers programmed into her finally deleted itself?

  “Humans have flaws,” Katelyn continued. “And that’s okay. What matters is that we patch up our mistakes and keep going. We try… try… not to repeat them again.”

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “How do you think we survived this long?” Quinlan added.

  “Everyone has weaknesses, Cali. The important thing is that you don’t let them stop you.”

  Calista stared at her. She’d heard that over and over again throughout school. Nearly every professor, coach, and student echoed it— weaknesses did not define a fighter. They could be used to one’s advantage. One could work past them. She’d tried to internalize it and program it into her psyche, but it never stuck.

  Hearing them from her sister, though… it felt different.

  It was far past midnight by the time they were ending the holo-call. Calista had ignored Lindsay and AIDA’s warnings of sleep deprivation. She’d endure the consequences if it meant finally talking to her siblings. They updated her on the Youngblood family, their father, and their entertainment during their two-month lockdown, which involved outdoor freeze shots, HARP movie nights, and DanceSim contests, among other fun things. She was relieved that they weren’t completely miserable throughout the whole thing.

  “Oh! Calista, before you go… about Thanksgiving,” Katelyn began.

  “Yeah! We have a week-long break,” Calista told her. She was especially excited for the holiday. The Medleys used to celebrate it when she was a child, but had stopped after Socializers deemed it too ‘human-like’ and a ‘reminder of their soiled past’. Calista had been looking forward to celebrating it again and gobbling up all the food she wanted instead of pretending to eat a Generated version of a meal and eating weight-therapy slop instead.

  “I can’t wait to see that cabin! And Aunt Ellie, Uncle Shay— it’ll be great to see Soko and Gliss. A lot of people stay in school, but there’s no way I’m passing up the chance to-” she continued.

  “Mom’s coming,” Quinlan interrupted, answered by a shove from his sister. “What?”

  “Don’t just dump it on her like that!”

  Calista’s excited smile dropped. “Mom’s going?”

  “Maybe. She didn’t confirm anything.” Katelyn wrung her hands. “She… she called us this morning, after SECURE lifted. She said she missed us, and that she wanted to see us.”

  “To… to Thanksgiving?”

  “Dad said no at first,” Quinlan continued. “Afterwards, she begged so much that he decided to give her a chance to hear her out. She wants to see you, too.”

  Calista grinded her teeth. Her mother wanted to see her? After eighteen years of modding her, training her, fixing her, all the way up to publicly disowning her on Whitley Geanna’s broadcast?

  She wasn’t sure what her mother had to say to her, but she didn’t want to hear it. She didn’t want to see her. Her mother probably hoped to try one more time to convince her to quit or apologize, and Calista wouldn’t give her that opportunity.

  But she was dying to see her siblings, even her father, despite how distant they still were. She wanted to see her aunt, uncle, and cousins after so long. She longed to spend time with them after nearly three months of grueling training and Reputation chaos in the academy.

  “Cali, we understand if you don’t want to come over,” Katelyn told her. “Besides, you’ll be here for Christmas break. Mom won’t be coming then.”

  “You sure?”

  “She kept yapping about some benefit for Geanna she’s going to. You know how she makes everything about her.” Quinlan rolled his eyes. That was a comfort, at least.

  Calista’s stomach twisted with guilt. She hated to selfishly choose to stay in the academy during break, leaving them to face their mother without her. Maybe she would go just to keep them from dealing with her.

  “If you don’t want to see her, don’t come to see her. She’s hurt you more than any of us.” Katelyn’s eyes were soft. “We can handle her.”

  “Yeah, we’ll just not talk to her. Or we’ll wear Masks so she’ll think we’re total strangers. Or we could hack her sleep capsule so it doesn’t give her the weight therapy meds overnight, then she’ll think she gained an ounce and get all depressed, then she won’t talk to anyone— that’ll be a good one.” Quinlan smiled eagerly, rubbing his hands excitedly as he looked up at Katelyn. Her look instantly silenced him.

  “Don’t do that,” Calista warned him.

  “Just a joke,” he shrugged, though Calista knew he meant every word. She feared he’d try a lot worse.

  “You should keep an eye on him.”

  “Trust me, I will.” Katelyn nudged Quinlan’s shoulder.

  Calista felt her heart crushing itself as she said, “If Mom’s there… I don’t think I should go. It’ll just ruin everything for you guys. We’ll probably be arguing and bringing all this tension…”

  “It’s alright. We understand. Everyone else will, too.”

  “I also kinda want to focus on Leveling Up. I can get some extra training and XP. Harrison said he’d be staying for break, too, and they have a dinner here for everyone staying… I guess that’s okay.” She smiled optimistically, hiding her disappointment. It seemed that her mother would continue interfering with her life even when she’d stopped being her ‘perfect little heir’.

  “We’ll see you for Christmas break, then. You should get some sleep. It’s already really late.”

  She nodded. “I love you. I love you so much.” She smiled shakily. “Call tomorrow night, okay?”