The Dangers of Winning the Game

Chapter Two

The blast of red light above signaled the start of the game. 

The students leaped into the air, elbowing each other, jostling for position. Just at that moment, however, Samara Piekny shoved Zara Vals so that she lost her footing. Zara flailed, her arms and legs going everywhere. In addition to being shoved, her bruised tailbone hurt and her toe throbbed. She had trouble getting any speed. 

"You're doing it wrong." Samara spoke down to Zara as if scolding a child. "You have to snap your feet." She pointed to Zara's dirty Gravedads. "That's how you get those stupid shoes to catch on the air."

Samara charged above Zara, stepping on Zara's face with the pointed heel of her Stygs, her beautifully tailored quads pumping spectacularly.

Zara spat the metallic taste from her mouth and pedaled frantically, trying to make her feet snap. She trained for this. She studied incessantly for weeks, practicing with her supernatant shoes. The antimatter pods were designed to balance her weight, allowing her to run through the air. But no matter how hard she studied, no matter how much she practiced, it wasn't working for her. Her feet didn't snap properly. Not like Samara. Not like anybody else. 

Xavier Mayor, the one tormenting the girl whom Zara had defended, climbed to a big early lead. His magnificent muscles powered him upward with fluid choreography; his supernatant shoes climbed the air like the rungs of a ladder. He was breathtaking to watch. Meanwhile, Zara slugged along at the bottom of the pack. She couldn't catch her breath. 

The game challenged the students in many ways. First, it stressed their physical endurance, because it was a competition among the various stations floating throughout the large and billowing classroom. The students raced from one learning station to the next.

And second, the game tested their academic proficiency. The stations were arranged by subjects—math, language, history, science, and of course, the government of Axion. They were tasked to complete every station acceptably before they could run to the finish at the top of the room.

To add another dimension, once they completed their first station, they were encouraged to duel each other with painful stunners. Anyone who got hit would be out of the game, losing the potential scores from their remaining stations and flunking the game for that day.

And just to make everything more interesting, the teacher put barriers in their paths such as big balloons or things with long, fraying branches like a tree, spreading out quickly and getting in their way. Often, the objects sprouted stinging tentacles. Other times they were sharp needles that jabbed or maybe boulders that fell from the ceiling.

The teachers believed mind and body grew together. It encouraged the students to provoke each other. Competition made them sharper; challenge caused them to work harder. It wanted them to be strong. It wanted winners. Losers would be whipped and admonished to perform better tomorrow.

The girl whom Xavier had tormented grabbed Zara's hand. "Here, you helped me, now let me help you. I'm Medora. Come with me. Follow my lead."

With Medora's help, Zara performed somewhat better. Still, the pair arrived nearly last at the math station. It was a holographic test center like a floating island halfway to the high-bay ceiling. When they crawled up to the platform, it bustled with so many other students that they barely fit. Most used brain implants with memory modules to assist with complex formulas and calculations. Xavier and Sarama boasted top-of-the-line augments—they performed the best.

Zara couldn't afford those, but she had studied to the point of exhaustion. And for the others, their advantages only made them weak and lazy.

As she opened up a portal, the equations flowed through the air in front of her—multi-dimensional calculus, dynamical systems, and combinatorics. She completed each of them, zooming through the problems, drawing the solutions with her index finger, writing them on the holo board, and getting most of them correct. 

The class had spread out amongst the stations, most like Zara and Medora starting with their best subjects. Although Zara arrived towards the back of the pack, she worked the math station so quickly that she gained ground. She even finished ahead of Medora.

She waved to Medora and sped for astrophysics. Fortunately, sprinting across the air proved easier than climbing straight up. Her tattered shoes provided enough lift for running laterally. She worked them like a pedaling action. propelling her forward.

But before she reached the next station, she got a big break. Samara had completed the math station before her and ran out ahead in the open air, bound for history. Samara didn't bother to use the cover of obstacles.  She didn't expect that anyone would dare to take her out.  

Zara trod the air, softly pedaling, just enough to keep from sinking down. She didn't want Samara to notice as she removed the stun pistol from her pocket and aimed carefully. Then she took her shot.

Samara cried out, whirling around, a snarl on her sculpted face. "You're nobody. How could you-?"

Stunned, unable to pedal, Samara flipped over, her shoes still holding her aloft but upside-down. Her overturned angry frown appeared like a smile congratulating Zara as she slowly sank downward.

Zara took a deep bow. "I'd like to introduce myself, I'm nobody, and I just took you out of the game."

Zara swam closer. "So how are those Stygs working for you? Not so good? They look kind of clunky, upside down like that. Maybe you should get a new pair? Would you like to try my Gravedads?" She modeled her dirty and beat-up shoes for Samara, sticking them in her face so she could get a good look. "What do you think? No? Too bad."

She left Samara dangling in the air as she raced after Xavier.