Nightfire Warriors (Remastered)

12.

The next day, the crew sends me to a dressing room where I change into my warrior uniform Laury had designed for me. I'm taken to a garage where the cameras are set up. The wall adorns the word NIGHTFIRE in blocky, dark purple letters. This must be what Jace called confessionals.

A little director's chair is waiting for me to sit in. When I take my place in front of the embellished wall, the camera immediately starts recording, and I'm asked a series of questions.

"We need you to speak in present tense," the interviewer instructs me. "Talk about the experience as if it's happening right now."

"Oh, okay," I say. "Um—I feel great right now that I did the task quickly." I'm looking directly at the interviewer while saying this. "And, um—Hopefully, it's fast enough to be safe this week." This feels very weird to do. I'm talking as if I don't know the outcome yet, and I must act like I feel ecstatic right now, even though I'm low energy. I'm speaking for hours on end. They offer me water and coffee to keep me alert.

"Can you explain in your own words what was happening when you were talking to Kitty about Frankie?" the interviewer asks.

I have no idea what he's talking about. "What?"

"You don't remember?" he says. Right on time, the assistant hands him a laptop without hesitation. Not sure what's on the screen, but he's reading it aloud anyway. "This is what you said that day: He cheated on his last boyfriend, so the relationship ended from there. You were insinuating that Frankie is gay. Can you tell us about that?"

They are like stalkers. How is it they know every word I said? Do they have someone writing down everything I'm saying while the cameras are on me? Maybe that's precisely what's happening.

"That wasn't true," I admit. "We went to high school together. He was insulting. There was a window of opportunity to get back at him. I did." And just for Jace, I add: "Cranky Frankie was a very cranky man."

"Great!" the interviewer says. "Now, I need you to repeat that in present tense."

It takes me a while to get used to it. The interviewer is rarely proud of himself for a catchy quote he produced and asks me to say it a certain way. That's the closest I've seen this show scripted.

Later that day, I found out my confessional wasn't as bad as Kitty's. The producer body-shamed her for a reaction, going as far as judging her gender. Even Tyrone had a discriminative experience. I'm not the only one bullied around here.

It's easy to say everyone's overall objective is to win the tournament. However, right now, everyone's small goal is to look good in front of the warrior scouts. According to Abigail, every year, the Seeker Leader, A'Dimsyte—who is also named after the galaxy—chooses one lucky warrior from the entire universe to be a part of his training program called Joffrey. Whatever scouts he's sending, they're not coming for three more weeks. Three of us aren't going to be in the tournament long enough to show them what we're capable of.

"The Joffrey is one of the premier fighting programs in the universe!" Tyrone tells me during lunch. He's very colorful when he's excited., and his voice raises an octave. "Its reputation is unparallel. It really can give one of us an opportunity!"

I take a bite of my burrito and munch quickly. "But," I say, wiping my face. "I hear everyone keep saying Ryan will get it."

"Oh, he will," Tyrone promises. "Whenever Nightfire is mentioned, Ryan is typically the first warrior everyone thinks of. He's the face of the team. The universe favors him, and now it's a messed-up system. It's always about Ryan. No one will admit it, but everyone is trying to be the new Ryan. And somehow take his spot. That's never going to happen. Abigail will always make sure he has a clear path to stardom."