The next three days were nothing short of agonizing. Calista had to endure the rant from the three other SociaLights— not much so from Elizabeth, but Danica was as screechy as ever, Rebecca backing her up every few seconds. Thankfully, their mothers’ reputations were enough to get them accepted into the school without Calista. If they had been pulled out along with her, they would’ve had more reasons to torture her.

  Along with them came rants from her family; grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, even great-aunts. The few that supported her weren’t allowed to talk to her at all. As added punishment, she was forced to get on the Hub and see all the hatred the Medleys’ followers were directing at her.

  Well, not really forced. Since she was locked in the house, Calista didn’t see anything else to do. Unbeknownst to the family, she logged on a guest account and watched everyone react to her coming out of that AU Projector building. It was as if she’d murdered someone.

  She would understand such hatred if she really had done something unthinkable, like trying to restart the War of Ten, or favoring slave planets. But all she did was try to get a spot in a sports school. She never comprehended why Socializers were so hateful towards fighters. She even did her own research to dig to the cause of it all, but from what she found, Socializers and fighters simply didn’t get along.

  In binary code, fighters were tough, disciplined, confident, and uncaring about popular opinion. Socializers were outgoing, vain, insecure, and obsessed with popularity. The Versus Games were too violent for most humans back in the day when the Treaty was signed, and they compared it to stories their ancestors wrote about killing for pleasure.

  Old stories and novels were all they had to compare the Versus Games to. There was only one instance when a competitor died, way back in the 22nd Century, when a fighter’s helmet malfunctioned and they took a severe blow to the head. Socializers always circled back to that one event, as if clinging to a lifeline to make their argument work.

  Calista felt numb as she drank in the hatred and spite from the Hub screen. Death threats, wishes for her nonexistent birth, jokes about her siblings, her comparison to an Aelket— a notoriously unattractive, unintelligent humanoid species—, among other things… she’d seen it all. She’d been faced with a lot of judgment and criticism over the years, but it had never been like this.

  She soon got bored and decided to go to the SociaLights channel. She’d long since been banned from the editing side and the newest broadcast was titled ‘Life without Loyalty’.

  Oh, please.

  “Hey, Lights!” the three girls greeted, as always, displaying their hand signs for their respective values— a heart for Danica, a peace sign for Rebecca, and a dove for Elizabeth. Calista’s sign used to be a fist on her chest. “Welcome back,” Danica continued. “You may be wondering why there’s only three of us today— if you’ve been living in a smartphone. You probably know this already, but Calista has, sadly, left the SociaLights.”

  “More like, we permabanned her,” said Rebecca.

  “Uber-permanently. We’re really, really sad to say this, but Calista’s betrayed everyone. Us, you, and the entire Socializer community. She got caught at the AU Projector yesterday… taking a test for the Versus Games.”

  “Obviously, because one of us was a total virus this whole time—” Calista scoffed indignantly at Rebecca’s words— “we understand if you guys don’t, you know, fully trust us. We never expected someone like Calista Medley to do this.”

  “We know you have a lot of questions, and we’ll answer as many as we can so we can be completely honest with you. Unlike Calista, we’re not fake.”

  Calista chortled. These girls were anything but real— even in the literal sense. Danica wasn’t born with the smooth skin she had, nor was Rebecca born with her perfect hair. In fact, Calista was the only one that had never done anything artificial for her appearance; except for the Thinners, but everyone did that. Even Elizabeth had work done after meeting them. The girls had insisted her hair was too ‘ginger’ and that she had to change it to a ‘purer’ red.

  “Let’s go with Addyson Eior’s question,” Rebecca said, pointing to the side as a question appeared: “‘Are you guys true to your signs? Because Calista’s sign was Loyalty and she’s obviously not a loyal person.’”

  “I’d like to say, yes, we’re very true to our signs,” Danica answered. “Unfortunately, you’re going to find masky people everywhere, that’s just how it is. Not everyone will stay true to what they’re committed to or what they claim to be. Calista was Loyalty, and she wasn’t loyal. It’s sad. But trust me when I say that we, as Love, Peace, and Freedom, will never abandon our purposes.”

  Calista’s green eyes rolled to the back of her head. What a fake, buggy, masky…

  “Next question; Dennis Martel. ‘Do you know if Calista got into Fistborn Academy?’” Danica’s smirk showed a hint of condescension. “We haven’t heard anything yet, but I don’t think she’ll make it. The fact that she actually trained so uber-hard for it, too. Poor thing’s probably desperate for a spa day. Can you imagine all the scars she hid on her face?”

  “Who cares about scars? Imagine the ugly bulges all over her body now,” Rebecca snorted. “Without us, I don’t think she’ll look as pretty as before.”

  “And Jennifer Zyben’s not going to let her go, even if she did get accepted. Imagine betraying your own mom like that.”

  “I know, right? She deformed her body for her, and she does this?”

  Yeah, her mother was so mad at her that she wished she’d never saved her from the Hajjian terrorists.

  The logical part of her knew that her mother didn’t truly mean what she said, based on her reaction afterwards. The words hurt, even so, digging into the deepest part of her heart. Jennifer wasn’t exactly Mom of the Year, and she’d said plenty of things that hurt, but that had gone too far.

  Originally, birthing pods were incorporated into Earth’s technology to save women from the many risks and complications of pregnancy— and, of course, the excruciating pain of childbirth. High-risk pregnancies benefited greatly from the pods, bringing healthy babies into the world and keeping the mothers healthy. There were many debates about it, political tension running rampant, but over time, the population warmed up to the idea and wound up fully migrating to birthing pods. As soon as a mother would discover her pregnancy, she would go to the nearest birthing pod center to transfer the baby.

  But for some reason, the Socializer population declared natural births completely ‘immoral’. Anyone that chose a natural pregnancy was reviled by the vast majority of Socializers, even more so than Versus Games supporters. Pregnancy deformed an otherwise ‘perfect’ body, and the beauty of a woman’s body had to be preserved.

  Calista knew her mother had gone through a lot when she made her decision to protect her from extremists. But now that she’d said what she said, Calista feared the underlying reason. Did Jennifer really regret having her? Was she harboring a secret hatred because of what she was put through by her family and her fans?

  The AIDA interrupted her silent musings. “Calista Medley, you have a message from… Fistborn Academy. Would you like to view the message now, or save it for later?”

  There was absolutely no way. It was impossible.

  Her mother would’ve heard this. She was closely monitoring the girls more than ever. Calista would get a lecture regardless, though. “I’ll see it now.”

  The screen opened, displaying President Chrisman’s stony face and icy, huge eyes. “Miss Medley, it is my pleasure to inform you that you have been selected to advance to the third section of Fistborn Academy’s application process for the Versus Fighting School. Your pressure exam has been scheduled for Thursday, August 25th at 3:00 PM. Please proceed to your nearest TelePort to arrive in person in Washington D.C. We look forward to seeing you.” The screen closed.

  Calista stared ahead once again. There was no glitching way. She did horrible on that exam. They couldn’t have…?

  Was it Mr. Kalley? Why would he risk his code for her? Did Katelyn do some hacking? No, she wouldn’t do that after what happened. Besides, she didn’t have any way to hack right now.

  As if reading her mind, Katelyn came through the wall. Calista sat up, confused. “That wall’s locked.”

  Katelyn held up a scrambler in response. “She still hasn’t found my stash.”

  “Why aren’t you in your room?”

  “I heard the message.”

  “How-?” Calista stopped, giving her sister a look. “Tell me you didn’t hack me into this exam.”

  “No, I didn’t do anything. Hand to God.” Katelyn raised her palm. “I just made sure she wouldn’t see it.”

  “She didn’t?”

  Katelyn shrugged. “Had a bit of help from Dad.”

  “Dad…?” Calista sighed, shaking her head. Her confusion was reaching new heights once again. “I really passed?”

  “Apparently. Maybe you didn’t do as bad as you thought.”

  “No, it was bad. I know it was.”

  “Then… you did something well enough that they advanced you.”

  Calista slumped. What was the point? She would’ve been less disappointed if they told her she was the worst failure they’d had. “I guess I was good at fighting after all.”

  “You’re not happy?”

  “Kate, I’m stuck in here. Who even cares?” She moved from her sleep capsule to her hovering chair.

  “I care. And Quincy and Dad. We’re all rooting for you.”

  Calista smiled a bit. “Thanks. Doesn’t get me out of here, though.”

  “We could still go.”

  “Huh?”

  “Dad couldn’t talk sense into Mom, but he’s still our dad. As far as we’re concerned, we have his permission to go. And since Mom’s not in a good state of mind right now…”

  “Yeah, but she locked down the house. She changed the access, so Dad can’t override it. How are we…?” She shook her head, realizing what kind of conversation this was. “What are we, crazy? We’re talking about running away? She could be listening.”

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  “She’s not. I promise.”

  “This is crazy, Kate. And it’s not worth it. I’m not going.”

  “Yes, you are. It’s not like you have anything to lose anymore. The family hates you, the girls hate you, and the fans hate you.”

  “Thanks for the reminder.”

  Katelyn sighed and sat on Calista’s sleep capsule. “This is your shot. You don’t have anywhere to go but there. If you fail, then you’re back here; fine. But what if you get in? That’s your way out of this joint.”

  Calista chuckled. “What movies are you watching? Prison breaks?”

  “Let’s do it,” Katelyn smirked.

  This was crazy. Katelyn was right, though. She had nothing else to lose but the chance of actually getting her dream— the impossible dream that she’d given up on for her mother’s.

  “What time are we busting out?”

  ===

  The Medley siblings planned their escape overnight. Calista worried for Katelyn; if something went wrong, her last secret stash of hacking tools would go into the cachebin, and she would lose contact with the rest of her friends from Cosmos. She had to hope their mother would be distracted enough for them to make it out.

  Katelyn planned to send an urgent message from the Committee of Socializers Dedicated to the Betterment of Humanity— some charity with a stupidly long name— which their mother was a part of. These people usually preferred to meet face-to-face rather than through an AR meeting, so Jennifer would step out. That would give them at least forty-five minutes to override the house’s security protocols, head to the TelePort, and get to D.C. before Jennifer realized what was going on. She wouldn’t be able to contact SECURE about them running away, since that risked another blow to their reputation. Once they left, she’d have no choice but to just let them.

  Because of the security protocols, if the girls attempted to leave, SECURE was already programmed to return them to their residence. Katelyn would only be able to disable the protocol for fifteen seconds, so to keep the drones from following the girls, Quincy would also run away and distract them. If Katelyn’s friends did their jobs on the other side, they’d be able to keep SECURE drones focused on Quincy and have them forget about the girls.

  In the morning, Katelyn stayed secluded in her room, as she had been the past few days. As soon as Jennifer finished her breakfast, Katelyn sent the message. Thankfully, their mother bought it and set out for the fake conference right away.

  Once their father left for another grueling overtime at work, Katelyn started her hack. She went through all the house’s firewalls— with help from Jaylo and his expensive hacking tech on the other side— and managed to turn off the lockdown for thirty seconds, a bit longer than they’d expected. The hack extended outside of the house to the SECURE drones on their street so the girls would have enough time to run to Scaaskal’s getaway Air-Car.

  “It’s about a minute’s run,” Katelyn said as they grabbed their things and headed to the front teleporter. “Quincy should hold them off until we get to Scaaskal.”

  “You sure he’ll be okay?”

  “All they’re supposed to do is teleport him back home and report it to Mom. He’ll be fine.”

  “Yeah, don’t be so worried,” Quincy said, waiting for them at the front. “It makes me sick.” He fake-gagged and held his stomach.

  “Shut up.” Calista ruffled his hair, causing him to whine.

  “You ready?” Katelyn asked.

  “As I can be.”

  They left the house and ran full-speed down the street. Quincy ran in the opposite direction. Calista was surprised when she saw him shoot off like a laser. Being the lazy kid he was, she never expected him to be so fast.

  Scaaskal’s Air-Car waited for them about four blocks down. Looking back, Calista saw the SECURE drones flying around with red alert lights, shooting towards where Quincy went. She shuddered as sweat formed on her forehead. She wiped it away and her stomach turned. It felt so slimy and… just gross.

  Hearing beeping behind them, both girls looked over their shoulders, finding two drones flying straight for them.

  “I thought your friends were taking care of that?!” Calista panted.

  “They are! I don’t know!” Katelyn ran faster.

  Calista squeezed her eyes shut as she put all her strength into her legs. She’d gained a lot of stamina from walking perfectly down runways for hours almost all her life, but this was pushing her to her limit. She was running on pure adrenaline, which increased as the buzzing of the drones got louder.

  Quincy appeared in a hologram projecting from Calista’s Pet, which hovered alongside her. “I’m home. Did you get there?”

  “Already? You couldn’t hold them off a little longer?” Katelyn yelled.

  “It’s not my fault there’s, like, a hundred! I ran as fast as I could!”

  “Let him load, Kate, it’s not his fault,” Calista defended him.

  “Whatever! We’re almost there…”

  Calista’s legs burned. She could feel her sweat spreading along her skin, oozing across the various ointments and lotions that coated her like a whole other layer, probably washing it off and replacing it with gross and stinky slime. Why did sweat have to be so gross? She should’ve taken Danica’s advice from a few years ago and had her glands genetically altered. Danica always smelled good— though she always complained about her skin itching fiercely at night.

  Scaaskal finally noticed the ongoing chase and ordered his Air-Car to get closer, but he couldn’t get too close without being arrested. The girls reached the vehicle and got inside, just barely escaping as the drones shone their red lasers after them. Both girls wheezed, catching their breath.

  “Holy glitching Trojans,” Katelyn cursed.

  “You guys okay?” Scaaskal asked.

  “What’s going on? They were supposed to… take care of that!”

  “They did. They slowed them down. SECURE firewalls aren’t a joke, Sati.” His seat rotated so he could face Calista with a smile. “I believe it’s time we properly met.” He stuck his hand out. “Scaaskal Tira. One of Katelyn’s favorite customers. Sorry about the little beating at Cosmos; it was your sister’s idea.”

  Calista shook his hand and waved dismissively, still panting. “It’s fine… I know what happened. Thanks for putting up with her craziness.”

  “Hey, that ‘craziness’ got you a career,” Katelyn told her.

  “I’m not in yet.”

  “You will be.”

  “I agree,” said Scaaskal. “You did pretty good when you fought us.”

  “You guys were going easy on me.”

  “Eh, not that easy. We should be there in a few minutes. By the time your mother is back, you’ll be off to D.C. Good luck on your test.”

  “Thanks.” She wiped sweat off her forehead again and grimaced. “Do you have, like… a disinfecting laser? I’m uber-gross.”

  Scaaskal raised a neon green brow and asked the Air-Car for a cleaning laser, which shone over Calista and cleared the slime off her body. She signed in relief and instantly relax.

  “Word of advice; you’ll have to get used to sweat if you want to fight,” the Martian man said. “Cat’s told me about your… phobia.”

  Calista blushed and smacked Katelyn’s arm. “Yeah, I know. And it’s not a phobia.”

  “It’s an aversion you’ll have to deal with.”

  They crossed over to the Travel District, which was nothing more than a large field with various small buildings with teleporters inside. Calista raised her brows when she saw the TelePorts 3 and 4 packed with people. There were regularly a lot of people travelling back and forth, but these were a lot.

  They left the Air-Car, bidding goodbye to Scaaskal, who went to the launchers that would take him home to Genesis X. The girls went through the security scans before entering the teleportation room. The queue was fast, sending out five families at a time; it seemed that the energy levels were incremented to accommodate more people.

  Calista glanced up at the hovering letters over the teleporter, swallowing. It changed intermittently from ‘TELEPORT 3: FISTBORN ACADEMY, WASHINGTON D.C.’ to ‘VERSUS PRESSURE EXAM TAKERS ONLY’.

  She looked around at all the people waiting. Some were travelling alone, others were with their families. They varied in terms of age, height, and size, some looking stronger and bulkier, others weaker and leaner.

  How did she get there? They’d sent her the grades; they were not impressive. Did they really let her in just because it was a passing grade? It was no wonder Earth’s schools were rumored to be lackluster compared to the other planets’.

  When it came time for the sisters to teleport to Washington D.C., the AIDA scanned them and counted them. Two pairs of foot indicators positioned themselves in their slot.

  “Please proceed to your respective indicator. Do not step outside the boundary, nor insert any object within the teleportation laser line. Failure to comply may result in malfunction, injury, loss of limbs, or death.” The indicators had their names hovering over them, accommodating their heights and sizes. “Preparing to teleport.” The machine whirred as a blue protective barrier separated them from the rest of the waiting crowd. “We ask again for you to keep limbs and objects inside your circle to prevent malfunction, injury, loss of limbs, and/or death. Other waiting travelers must keep a safe distance from the teleporter behind the yellow indicator line. Do not move away from your foot indicators during teleportation, do not speak, and stand with proper posture to avoid intense nausea, dizziness, or other discomfort and/or side effects.”

  The machine whirred loudly to the point that Calista’s ears pinched. Protective spheres were activated to shield their eardrums and eyes. “Teleporting to: TelePort 16, #16 West, Travel District, Washington D.C.” A bright light flashed around them, swirling around them like a blue flame. Calista closed her eyes, waiting to reach the other side.

  After a few seconds, they arrived, the blue flames disappearing. The protectors deactivated and they stepped out into the empty room. “Teleportation complete. Welcome to Washington D.C. Please proceed to the security scanners before meeting your transportation outside of the TelePort building.”

  They walked out to meet the rest of the families and test-takers, who boarded triple-decked Air-Buses in groups. The buses were blue streaked with red and white, with ‘Fistborn Academy’ glowing on both sides. The words then changed to ‘Welcome to D.C!’.

  She was really here. She’d actually done it. She ran away from home— literally—, avoided SECURE drones, and was now about to go to her childhood dream school to fight someone.

  She only hoped this was worth losing all of her friends and fans over. If she didn’t pass… what would she do when she got home? What would her life be like? What would Jennifer do now that she’d betrayed the family and hurt her career— even more so now that she’d run away?

  She pushed the thoughts away. If she got anxious now, she couldn’t see this through. It was now or never.

  Calista and Katelyn went up to the second level and sat at one of the circular tables next to the window. She relaxed in the comfortable seats, doing her best to calm any stress she had. She wished she’d had more time to study and train. She’d only gotten a light workout and simulation in that morning.

  It was indeed a pressure exam. She could feel the pressure since she got the message. Mistakes weren’t permitted if she wanted a spot in the freshman class. Everyone else taking the test would be going in with the same attitude.

  The pressure exam was the last stage before being accepted or rejected. Every prospective student would battle the 150th best student in the school— the worst-performing member of the latest country team— in front of all the continuing students at the school, who started two weeks earlier than new students. The pressure exams had been going on for about a week now, and they would finish at the end of August, followed by the board’s decisions.

  The bus sped off so smoothly that they didn’t even feel it move. Calista swallowed to try and dry her throat, her sweaty palms wringing together. Now that they were actually going to the school, her nerves had skyrocketed along with her heartbeat.

  “Calista, calm down,” Katelyn said softly, covering her hand.

  “I can’t.” She shook her head, breathing in deeply. “I… I think I’m starting to… panic.” She paled when she realized she wasn’t breathing at all, rather, she was hyperventilating. Everything she had just done caught up to her. Her future. Her life. Her family. Her happiness. Everything was at stake. If she failed, she would be… nothing.

  “AIDA, give us a panic tonic juice,” Katelyn quickly said, moving to hold her.

  “What flavor would you like?”

  “Rasp…” Calista gasped.

  “Raspberry, please.”

  The drink materialized in front of Calista. She grabbed it and gulped it down greedily. Her sister held the glass to her mouth, her own hands too weak to hold it. “You alright?”

  Calista nodded, feeling the effects relax her. “Yeah, yeah… I’m fine.”

  “I think you’re overthinking this test.”

  “I’m not overthinking it. This… this is too… I shouldn’t have done this. I should’ve stayed home.”

  Katelyn leaned closer and lowered her voice. AIDA took this as a private conversation and promptly activated a soundproof bubble. “Cali, listen,” she said. “All these people here? They’re just as scared as you. Who knows, maybe they bugged up worse on their other tests, but they still got a chance. A lot of people are going to embarrass themselves today. Most of them are gonna be crushed the second their fight starts.”

  “And that could be me,” Calista countered.

  “Stop it. Look, you’ve trained and studied more than ever, and I’ve risked my code a lot, too. Now show them what you’ve got.”

  Calista nodded and sighed, her anxiety diminishing. Of course, that was the drink, not Kate’s words. She wished with all her heart that she could call her mother and reason with her, maybe call the SociaLights and beg for them to take her back. It was unlikely that they’d ever forgive her. If her own family wouldn’t, why would they?

  She didn’t think her life was so empty. The realization was like being doused in ice-cold water. Did she really center her whole life on appeasing her mother? Was she really good at nothing else other than fighting and looking pretty?

  After driving through a line of trees, the academy was revealed. Calista’s anxiety instantly returned when she saw the building, but at the same time, awe and exhilaration washed over her.

  It was a huge expanse of buildings, all colored in different shades of blue and red. The main building in the center towered over all the others with a sky-blue domed ceiling. The FBA crest hovered over the top spire, circling slowly.

  She was actually at Fistborn Academy. A school that held not only talented and famous fighters, but all sorts of respected scholars and professionals that dabbled in all lines of work in the planetary militia.

  And Calista was about to fight the 150th best fighter of the Versus in front of everyone in that school. Their whole first impression of her would be based off of this fight.

  She began to hyperventilate again. “AIDA, another, please!” As she gulped down the second tonic, she tried to keep calm for the test.

  No pressure… no pressure…