Elemorts

Chapter XVII - Blind Spot

"Twenty-two cases of the Mad Diver's disease have been reported in the last few hours in Brivil," the newscaster was now saying. "As a result, this year's much-awaited Galactic Battle tournament has been postponed indefinitely as authorities are seeking to curb the spread of the disease."

"The tournament got postponed!" Pinz exclaimed.

"Oh? Is that good or bad?" Heraclark asked.

"I don't know. Considering my luck lately, I would say bad," Pinz replied.

She turned the hologram off and looked to the side where Puff was sniffing at some shrubs, occasionally pouncing on make-believe critters. Seeing her pet content eased her stress.

The woods were gloomy and dark, the campfire being the only source of light. The trees were widely distanced as their straight trunks shot up and disappeared into the night sky. The ground was coarse soil with sparse shrubbery. The woods echoed with the perpetual chirping of crickets just as a stream merrily gurgled by.

"Who is he talking to?" Pinz asked as she squinted over Heraclark's shoulder at the figure pacing back and forth in the distance.

"A friend," Heraclark replied absently. "Maybe."

"Could you just stand still, Jayrock? You're making me dizzy!" Gylith's hologram complained.

"Sorry," Jayrock said and halted. "You were saying?"

"So, I wired all the money from that account of yours into a new one. I just sent you the new account number and all the necessary details," Gylith said proudly. "Well, not all the money. I kept some to buy one of those Zapstromiss cars in that darned... what was that spaceship called now? Miracle?"

Jayrock stared blankly at Gylith's hologram. "Yeah, I—"

"Kidding." Gylith chuckled. "I bought it with my own money, thank you very much."

"Oh. I owe you one, Gylith."

"You owe me two," Gylith said. "I dug through some of Sandywick's classified files. The most interesting ones were about something called the 'Project Elemorts.' Anyway, your hunch proved right. The Brivil Arena doubles as a facility where they seem to be conducting experiments on supersoldiers. Actually, fighters who have taken part in the Galactic Battle tournament over the last few years."

"I knew it!" Jayrock exclaimed, pleased to know he was right. "What about the new fighters?"

"Blissfully unaware in Hotel Grande," Gylith said. "Intelligence reports suggest that experiments on new fighters aren't commenced until a few days before the tournament starts, which I hear has been delayed this year."

"I see. What about the layout?" Jayrock asked.

"Uploading to your phone right now," Gylith replied.

Pinz ran a hand through Puff's fur as she came scampering back to her and nuzzled against her hand. "You know she used to be my stunt double. Back when I didn't do my own stunts."

Heraclark lay down on his side and elbow, resting his head on his hand. "Really? You didn't do your stunts in, like, Deceptive Alliances? Or in Triple Threat?"

"Oh, have you seen those?" Pinz said happily. "No, I didn't. It was Seluna. She worked for a casting agency, but she also worked as a stuntwoman on the side. She left the agency for me. She was kind of the only one who believed in me back then."

"I'm sure that's not true," Heraclark remarked. "I, for one, did when I saw your first movie. Although, of course, you didn't know that."

"That's sweet." Pinz giggled. "But my father thought I was too immature to know what I really wanted to be. My mother wanted me to leave everything and assist her in her real estate business. My brother... ugh, my brother... I'd rather not talk about him."