The Revelers (Serial 1)

Act 2 - Chapter 32: Ari

"You right," Samza nods. "Time to break the system."

The two take out their tablets from their pants pockets and hack the workstation. In less than a minute, the strobing red lights around the hallways return to a natural shade of white. All the holographic monitors repeat the word OFFLINE on each block, and a message appears: ALL LOWER SECTOR DOORS UNLOCKED.

We proceed onward to the stairwell and to the next floor, following the suggested route from Mezos's holographic map. Security robots litter the halls but with their cyclops-like ocular heads pointing downward, and sparks flying from their joints. They are not moving — short-circuited by the hacking attempts by Samza and Mezos. Nearby, a few guards rush to our position, but something stops them from behind. They slump forward, crumpling to the floor, with knives impaled on their backs. Behind them stands Livia, clad in her favorite purple jacket, white shirt, black denim shorts, and simple sneakers.

"What took you so long?" Livia greets with a smirk.

"I thought you were being interrogated?" I say, scratching my head, wondering how she broke out of her energy shackles.

"When the systems went down, my restraints became loose. Anyway, I broke out, knocked out some of my sister's goons, and looked for you guys. Turns out you found everyone and even inducted a new smelly member for your fan club." Livia aims a sharp gaze at Milani, then returns her sights back to me.

Milani says nothing. Only shrugs.

Mezos adjusts his glasses. "So, what did those guys wanted from you, anyway?"

"A memory chip I took from Ruby's shattered porcelain mask. We're going to need that."

Samza raises a finger. "Where did you put it?"

"I hid in an acid-resistant bag and swallowed it. You'll have to wait until it comes out the other end if you want to access it."

"Ew. TMI!" Samza says with disgust.

Mezos shrugs. "I guess that's one way to hide important stuff from your twisted sister."

"Anyway, let's find Cithara," Livia says, taking the lead. "I know where she is. Follow me."

With our ragtag group of adventurers, we set forth through this enormous airship, following a maze of corridors and hallways while minimizing our confrontations with the guards. Yet time is limiting and Cithara can't be sitting cozily in her VIP suite forever. I'm sure Octavia would like to pay her a visit, assuming she knows of Cithara's stay at the suite. We can't get Octavia near her. I won't let that happen. Not now. Not today!

"This is the place," Livia announces as we enter a wide hall decorated with gold and silver statues depicting the WarGames' top players from previous seasons, some I recognize.

If this is what I think it is, then this must be The Hall of Warriors, the chamber where The Eyes displays statues of distinguished WarGames players dating back to The First Season. I've seen this room before, but never in person. Only in holographic photos and videos. The statues line in two long rows, the west side representing the American west coast players, Europe, and Africa; and the east side representing on the American east coast, Asia, and Australia.

At the far end, a taller gold statue of a woman in ornamental valkyrie armor stands. Upon further inspection, the statue resembles Gunhild. The feathers on her shoulder and sash. Her ornamental triggerblade. Why is a statue of Gunhild here? Perhaps The Eyes knows her more than I do. They probably see her as some kind of leader.

There's a silver statue of me on the west side of the room, erected when The Eyes declared me Clutch Warrior during last year's All-Star Battle Theater. However, I can't help but notice the statue of Livia on the east side — it's glossy black, like onyx. Normally, black statues represent players who have met an untimely demise, but I guess The Eyes didn't get the memo of Livia faking her death to join The Remnants.