Reception

Chapter 24 - Fine Print

"Wait, a fourth the size of the capitol?" Sarah's mouth fell open in shock.

"Roughly," corrected Joshua, "I said roughly one-fourth the size."

"Still, that means these bases are huge!"

"I was hoping for that effect," chuckled Joshua.

Alice and Joshua led the group forward, only occasionally stopping to study wall-maps. This pattern was repeated for the better part of an hour. Michael, Sarah, and Damien followed dutifully, watching the two Holos members weave their way through seemingly endless tunnels and corridors. There wasn't much differentiation along their path. They would reach a T-intersection and choose a direction seemingly at random. It was harder to determine their facing as they moved since, occasionally, they would turn ever so slightly. It wasn't impossible to feel, but very nearly just.

The granite walls shined whenever light hit them. Sarah supposed that the lights "hitting" them wasn't quite accurate. The light fixtures were just that. Fixed. Whenever, however, she moved with the group the lights seemed to follow, their reflections on her right and left. She would pass them, their absence signaling more dark before a new light would appear overhead, as if taking over guard duty.

The maps that they studied were mounted on the granite walls, built in for reference. They would flicker to life when someone approached them. Damien figured it was some sort of proximity sensor that made the maps turn on. The cartography that appeared was very in-depth. The digital display called everything into focus - from level and floor schematics, to on-board navigation.

Sarah's interested piqued, "Why do you check the maps? Don't you know the way?"

Alice giggled, "Actually, Joshua's the one who's lost." Sarah's brow furrowed in confusion. "We made a bet. He never knows where he's going. So, with that in mind, I dared him to navigate us to the main control room in under an hour an fifteen. My record is around forty-five minutes - give or take a little."

"Wait, doesn't that mean he has like, three minutes now to get us there?" Michael made a quick calculation. Sarah's TED glowed violently in response. Michael grinned, "I love when I think. It makes her TED go all crazy."

Damien agreed. It was cool.

"I think that's why he's sweating," continued Alice, "He almost had it, then took a wrong turn."

"Did not," Joshua snapped softly, "This is a shortcut."

"To what, a longer path?" quipped Alice. She had a grin stretching from one ear to the other.

Joshua huffed and ignored her. He traced his finger, looking through pathways and information on the wall-map.

"Why not have it pull up navigation?" Sarah offered.

"He can't," responded Alice simply, "It's part of the bet."

"He did it earlier, though?" questioned Damien.

"Yes, he can for the first half. The second half is the actual trouble."

 "Wow, you're harsh," noted Michael. "I'd hate to make a bet with you."

"Most people do," sang Alice as she took Joshua's hand and led his finger to a path he had skipped over at least a dozen times. "You might want to try there."

He huffed and folded his arms. The defiance didn't last long as he breathed out a sigh, "You win. There's no way - even if we ran - that we'd make it to the CC in under two minutes."

Alice danced happily at her win as she guided the group through the corridors once again. She eventually stopped skipping when Joshua stopped responding. It was far too much fun teasing him.