It had been almost a week since the incident at Cosmos. Both Medley girls had kept their mouths shut and Calista healed her bruises as fast as she possibly could, applying all kinds of treatments at the Thinning Spa to avoid scarring. Thankfully, it was enough to fool their mother.

  Katelyn had stayed home since then. Poor thing probably felt anxious without a job. Calista couldn’t get over the fact. What could’ve happened if she weren’t there? What happened over the past year?

  She herself had a lot of questions since the incident. She didn’t realize she’d retained so much from her self-defense and combat training. After four years, she expected to have forgotten completely. She fought a gang of possible criminals in a bar, on the spot, and escaped with not a scratch to her face. What did she do wrong in the past, then? Why wasn’t she accepted?

  It didn’t matter. Applications were closing soon and there was no way she could even try to make it into the 9% that got accepted into Fistborn’s fighting school. Not without her mother, grandmother, and everyone else finding out and ruining her life.

  At the moment, she was on a call with the other three SociaLights, brainstorming ideas for their channel showcase. They were mainly a gossip channel, talking about the latest controversies, romances, and theories about the bigger Socializers, but occasionally, they’d do something more unique than that. Elizabeth would be allowed to play her music every now and then, and in every single broadcast, they wore a new outfit Calista had whipped up.

  Elizabeth had some excellent ideas to spice up the channel a little, but neither of the other two girls approved of any of them. “That’s not what our channel’s about”, “We don’t think anyone will like that”, “That’s uber-old. No one’s gonna like that”. Calista didn’t have the same influence her mother did, so nothing she said convinced the girls to at least consider one of Elizabeth’s ideas.

  If they weren’t letting Elizabeth lend her own spice and style to the channel, why did they even add her? Why didn’t they just ignore her that day at the Sociapalooza? Did they just want someone to pick on?

  Besides, how did they expect to impress anyone by showcasing their usual gossip? Any Socializer could get a good scoop. It seemed that the girls were relying fully on their family names to get into the school, just like with the scholarship. Their mothers probably weren’t pressuring them as much as Jennifer pressured Calista.

  Their moms were best friends with Jennifer. Did they expect the Medleys to do everything for them? Did they expect Calista to carry the channel into the school so their daughters wouldn’t have to make any effort themselves?

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

  Calista nearly dismissed the notice, thinking Danica had sent some last-minute idea, but she took a minute to pause and replay the phrase in her head. “Did you say… Fistborn?”

  “Correct. You have a message from the Fistborn Academy Board of Admissions.”

  After another long pause, she only said, “Why?”

  “Would you like to hear the message now?”

  “Uh…” She looked towards the transient wall. “Put it in my Private section, please.”

  “Acknowledged. Moving message to Private section. Playing…”

  A hologram of a woman wearing the Fistborn jacket appeared. “Good afternoon, Miss Medley. We at Fistborn Academy are pleased to extend a special request for you to apply to our 2349 freshman class in the Versus Fighting School. We will guarantee a spot for you to show your skills in the second segment of our application process, provided that all your information is correct and up to date.” Calista’s mind glitched as she processed the information.

  The woman continued, not giving her any space to comprehend the message. “Your application is due by tomorrow. Since you have been specially requested by a board member, your application fee has been waived. Following the application will be a short interview, which will then give us enough information to assess you in your exams. If you pass all three of your exams with a minimum score of 60 tacks out of 100, you will be considered for a spot in the Academy’s new class. Should you have any questions, contact us through this message line. Thank you for your interest in Fistborn Academy’s Versus Fighting School. We look forward to seeing you in action on your examination day.” The hologram closed with a flash of the Fistborn logo: a dark blue circle with red letters outlined in white, diagonally spelling out ‘FBA’.

  Calista stood in the middle of her room, staring into space for a few moments. She then calmly left and went down the hall to her sister’s room. “Hey,” Katelyn said, doing a double take when she saw Calista’s expression. “You okay?”

  “Um…” Calista swallowed. “I’m sorry, I’m still trying to figure out what the glitch just happened right now.”

  “What’s wrong?” Worried, Katelyn stood and closed her program, turning all of her attention to her sister.

  “I… I just got this message from the school.”

  “Socializer school?”

  “No. The… other school.”

  It took Katelyn a couple of moments to realize. “Wait, the…” She brought up a screen on her AIDA band, then glanced at the wall— probably soundproofing it. “The fighting school?”

  “She can’t hear a thing? You sure?”

  “As sure as a firewall.”

  Calista brought up the message from her AIDA band. Once the screen closed, Katelyn’s lighter green eyes burst with elation and she hugged Calista tightly. “I knew it, I knew he’d come around! Cali, that’s awesome! They’re giving you a chance!”

  “Kate, don’t you see? If Mom sees this, I’m dead! Why in the glitches would they request me? I’ve never asked…” She trailed off, replaying what Katelyn said in her head. “Wait, what do you mean, you ‘knew he’d come around’? Who?”

  Katelyn’s smile briefly vanished. “Huh?”

  “You just said that. You were all like, ‘I knew he’d come around! Yay!’”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “I knew it, I knew he’d come around! Cali, that’s awesome! They’re giving you a chance!” Katelyn’s voice replayed from somewhere. The two looked around, confused.

  “Liar, liar, burn the wire.” Quincy came through the wall with a smug smile.

  “What the- how did you-”

  He held up a small device that looked like a metal spider. “Scrambler. You left it downstairs. Good thing I found it and not our parents.”

  “Give me that, you brat!” Katelyn rushed to the boy and snatched the scrambler away, twisting his ear. “You could’ve given us away!”

  “Relax. Mom’s in a conference and Dad’s not back in an hour. Besides, Dad wouldn’t leak your password. He knows how Mom is.”

  “Still! It’s none of your business, anyway, rude-face.” Katelyn shoved him aside and put her scrambler away.

  “Well? You still haven’t told me what you meant.” Calista crossed her arms and glared imposingly at her younger sister. She knew she looked very much like her mother that way, so she could easily intimidate her. Katelyn was a great liar, but if anyone could squeeze the truth out of her, it was Calista.

  Katelyn’s cheeks filled with air and she turned red. Calista didn’t break her gaze, keeping her face as impassive as possible. Eventually, the younger Medley sister broke and she released the truth in a burst of air. “I took you to the bar so Benson Kalley could see you!”

  The truth was more confusing than revealing. Calista’s thick black brows knitted and she shook her head. “Benson Kalley? What?”

  “Fistborn Academy’s Vice President.”

  “Yeah, I know who he is. But… you’re saying he was there at the bar?”

  “What bar?” Quincy asked.

  “Nothing. Get out,” Katelyn said.

  “Hey, I already know enough. Might as well tell me.” He then paused and smiled in realization, nodding. “So that’s your real job?” He chuckled. “I wasn’t buying that museum thing. I knew it.”

  Katelyn groaned in frustration. “Can’t you go play some AU games in your room?”

  “This is more fun.”

  “Quincy, just shush. Kate, I didn’t see Benson Kalley at that bar. I know what he looks like.”

  “He had a Mask on. He goes there in secret. I caught him one day at work and I convinced him to give you a shot and see you fight. That’s why I brought you.” Katelyn closed her eyes, tensing up. “Scaaskal’s my friend. All of them are. We staged the whole thing so Kalley could see you in action. I guess he liked your fighting and he requested a spot in the test for you.”

  Calista gave Katelyn a long look, blinking rapidly as she tried to form her anger into words. This girl scared the glitches out of her, making her think people wanted to beat her up, and it was all an act? The whole fight?

  “I am never trusting you again.”

  “Cali-”

  “No, that was sick!” Calista snapped. “That was a sick thing to do!”

  “It was the only way! You have so much potential, and I wanted you to get a chance before-”

  “I’m going to NYWS whether I like it or not, Katelyn! It doesn’t matter what I do, what you do, what anyone does! I risked everything for your lie. I should’ve known, I should’ve figured there was something going on…” How could she be so stupid? Devon Arfimez going to Genesis X. She should’ve known he was too sophisticated and high-profile for that. Something like that would’ve gotten out by now.

  What if someone recognized her? What if her Mask had failed and revealed her identity? Her reputation, her mother’s reputation, everything would’ve taken a serious hit. Maybe Katelyn and Quincy could get away with one mistake, but Calista already had two strikes: the way she was born, and her interest in the Versus Games as a child. If she glitched up one more time, her mother would have to disown her or do something to punish her. Otherwise, her followers would never forgive her.

  “I’m sorry, Calista… please. I just wanted to show you that you have the talent. You’ve still got it.”

  “It doesn’t… matter!” Calista ran her fingers through her silky black locks. “You said it yourself. Those were your friends. It was an act, not a real fight.”

  “They went a little easy on you, but they were making it as real as possible. I told them to. You were amazing. Obviously, the vice president of Fistborn thought you were good enough to request you!”

  “Okay, what now? I apply? Then what? I get rejected, and Mom finds out, or Danica and the other girls? What’s the point?”

  “You’re eighteen, Calista. You should be able to decide what you do with your life. You don’t have to go to that stupid school.”

  “I can’t decide.”

  “Why not?”

  “There’s no choice! If I go for it and I fail, what do I have left? What if I don’t get accepted, and they all find out? I’ll be left in a space station to live off charity digits!”

  “Mom wouldn’t do that,” Katelyn began.

  “Yes, she would. She wouldn’t like it, but she would. She has to. If she didn’t, she’d go down with me. And you know she won’t let that happen, especially with you guys.” Calista gazed at Katelyn. “If I’m out, you’ll be the next project, Kate. You’ll be the one taking runway classes and making portfolios and… probably end up with the SociaLights.”

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  Katelyn shrugged. “I like Liz, at least.”

  “You know what I mean. If I do this, you can do whatever you want. You can move out. You can escape and no one would really care. But if I do this… what about you? What about Quincy?”

  “We can all leave,” Quincy said, turning the girls’ attention to him. “If she disowns you, she’ll just have to disown all of us. Not have any kids left. Then one of our cousins can take the job.” He smirked. “They’ve always wanted it, anyway. They hate us because everyone wants us up there. They want you.” He looked at Calista. “Give them the throne. The followers won’t give a bug. They’ll forget about us eventually. They just want someone to talk about.”

  Calista sat down on one of the hovering chairs, clutching her head as a terrible headache exploded in her skull. It was too much pressure. She couldn’t lie to her mother. She couldn’t do anything.

  “Calista.” Katelyn crouched in front of her, taking her hands. “I’m sorry. It was wrong of me to lie to you and trick you like that. I know it was a scary experience for you.” A pause. “But I know that if you at least try… you could go so far. If you get up there, on the country team, on the planet team… they can’t say anything. You won’t be Jennifer Zyben’s daughter anymore. You’ll be Calista Medley, Versus fighter. And I’ll be your sister.” She smiled hopefully, bringing tears to Calista’s eyes. “And we can all do whatever we want, and no one can ever touch us. Not even the higher species. They don’t care about Socializers, but fighters? It’s so much more.”

  Calista inhaled, swallowing the lump in her throat. She couldn’t let her siblings down. She couldn’t leave them with such a depressing fate. “What if I don’t make it?”

  “What if you do? You used to be so sure of yourself.”

  “That was before.”

  “I’m telling you, you can do it. It’s not enough when I say it, then?”

  “Kate…” Calista sighed. “I just don’t want to let you down.”

  Quincy shrugged. “Cali, it’s just a test. If you pass, you pass. If you don’t, then just go to NYWS like Mom wants you to. We love you either way.”

  She shook her head with a small smile. For a nine-year old, he was snarky and aloof at times, but also wise beyond his years. “But we’ll get caught.”

  “Kate’s the best hacker around. She can fix something up.”

  Katelyn nodded. “Yeah. You have an interview after the application, right? I can make sure Mom doesn’t see you. I always get away with stuff. There’s so much I do that she’d hate if she knew, and it happens right on the same wave as hers. She doesn’t know a thing.”

  “Like what?”

  “For one, going to work at the bar. Um… hacking her followers’ accounts to get them back whenever they say something about her.”

  Calista laughed. “No way you do that.”

  “If I can do that, I can hide your interview, no problem. You can do it right here at home. Just trust me, okay?”

  Calista’s stomach flipped like a pancake as she squeezed her sister’s hands. Was she really doing this?

  ===

  Katelyn knew she was taking a huge risk. She could get arrested for this. She didn’t see another way, though. If she got caught, at least she could absolve Calista by painting her as a classic victim of hacking. Sibling rivalry was the best excuse. Calista was the star child, the next ‘titleholder’, and Katelyn was the ignored middle child. Easy as binary code.

  “Are you sure this will work, Sati?” Scaaskal asked. All Katelyn’s friends were there, keeping watch for SECURE. They were in a hacking lab in The Nebula, another space station, which was a bit closer to the prisons.

  Katelyn had resumed her job the previous day, taking a ‘sick week’ off, though her boss didn’t really care about absences. It was an illegal workplace, after all. Now that Calista knew, she had to be a lot more careful.

  “Our AIDA is the newest model around, so it’s junk. A baby could hack it,” Katelyn replied to her friend. She soon accessed her house’s security system, finding her sister in her room, ready for the interview. She’d applied to Fistborn under a disguised platform a couple days ago. So far, their parents had no idea.

  “That’s kinda creepy now that you say it.” Quincy sat off to the side, wearing an Ilamikoan Mask, given his age. Ilamikoans were the only species with a permanent childlike appearance. “If you make anyone mad at your job, they can just hack into our house.”

  “It’s easy for me because it’s our own house and I know its code,” Katelyn told her brother. “Besides, they don’t even know who I really am.”

  “You probably have a secret boyfriend, too.” Quincy rolled his eyes, bringing out his KidPet to play a game.

  “Why did I bring you again?”

  “Because I’m your excuse. I give you an alibi, you get to hack.” He’d given Katelyn the idea of giving him a ‘tour’ of the museum she worked at, with the excuse that it would be inspiring for a boy his age to decide what kind of Socializer he would want to be.

  “Our deal was you stay quiet. Don’t talk.” She returned to her hacking. “And put that thing away. SECURE will find it.”

  “I’m bored.”

  “Could someone take his Pet away?”

  Alina casually grabbed the sphere out of the air and put it in her pocket. “Hey!” Quincy punched her arm, immediately regretting it when his small knuckles scraped against her rough, rocky brown skin. Mercurians were usually black or red, but being half-Earthian, Alina had a different skin color. Quincy curiously picked up one of Alina’s long black braids. “How does your hair not burn?”

  “Quincy, stop being rude.”

  Alina laughed. “It’s fine, Kate. My body doesn’t get as hot as full Mercurians, so my hair doesn’t burn.”

  “Even then, you are quite hot,” Scaaskal’s brother, Temmen, said. He wiggled his blue brows flirtatiously.

  “Stop being such an idiot, Temmen,” said Jaylo. He was a Mearthian, so he looked mostly human, except his skin was paler than most and his eyes were blacked out, like Scaaskal and Temmen’s.

  “I’m just saying the truth.”

  “Guys, you’re distracting me,” Katelyn scolded.

  “You’re just watching a screen,” said Quincy, who still played with Alina’s tight braids.

  “I’m waiting.” She perked up when Calista received the call. “Start disguising… now.” To the AIDA network, Calista would be on a typical call with the SociaLights. As long as the projector was on, there wouldn’t be any proof. Katelyn’s left screen showed the hack while her right screen displayed the real footage.

  “Good afternoon, Miss Medley,” the proctor’s voice said.

  “Good afternoon,” Calista’s voice rang. Katelyn could see her twiddling her thumbs and practically shaking in her seat. She needed to loosen up. Fighters were meant to be more aware and in control of their emotions.

  “Please state your full name and ID code.”

  “Calista Elise Medley. ID 327CEL2331.”

  “Age?”

  “Eighteen. I’ll be nineteen in January.”

  “Alright, I’m going to ask you questions that’ll assess your fighting experience.”

  Katelyn winced. She hoped the two rejected applications to the Junior Versus wouldn’t hurt her chances too much. Not to mention her lack of training the past four years…

  They had to know who she was, or at least, who her mother was. Jennifer was very vocal about her anti-Versus views. No doubt fighters had heard of her in some way, unless they truly didn’t care about what Socializers thought of them.

  “Have you applied to Fistborn Academy in the past?”

  “No, this is my first time. I wasn’t old enough before.” Potential students needed to be at least fifteen Earth years old to qualify.

  “Have you currently applied to any other Versus-certified academy?”

  “No.”

  “Have you applied to the Junior Versus program in the past?”

  Calista hesitated, her cheeks turning red. “Yes. Twice.”

  “You weren’t accepted?”

  “No… I wasn’t qualified at the time.” She looked like she wanted to add something, but stayed silent. Katelyn nodded, relieved. The less said, the better.

  She glanced at the left screen, ensuring the projection was working. Danica’s annoying voice rang, prompting Katelyn to lower the volume. She couldn’t stand those girls’ voices at all.

  “Have any of your family members participated in any Versus?”

  “Not that I know of, no.” So they didn’t know the Medleys. That was best. They could simply reject Calista out of spite. That wasn’t ‘allowed’, but they’d find some excuse. All they had to say was that they didn’t think she was fighter material based on their professional opinion.

  “On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your fighting skill?”

  Katelyn squeezed her hands together. Knowing Calista, she would underrate her fighting ability. Self-confidence was key in being a fighter in a tournament like the Versus Games, with just a touch of humility.

  “I’d say about a… seven.”

  Okay… that wasn’t too bad. Scaaskal thought the same, commenting, “Not too high, not too low. That’s good.”

  “On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your reaction time?”

  “An eight.” That was true; Calista’s reflexes were on par thanks to the DanceSim games she always played.

  “How about your flexibility?”

  “A… 7.5.” Calista nodded to herself.

  “God, how long will this take?” Katelyn’s stomach grumbled from the anxiety. She constantly looked at the fake door, fearing that SECURE bots would burst inside and catch them all up in freeze beams. Her eyes darted from the screens, to the door, to her code screen, and to her brother, who was as calm as ever. It could be that he was panicking, but she’d never know. The boy wasn’t an emotional one.

  Quincy being a Socializer was a laughable idea. He’d never appeal to that crowd.

  “Please provide a personal statement on why you want to enter Fistborn’s Versus Fighting School and become part of USA’s Versus team.”

  “Here we go,” Scaaskal remarked.

  Katelyn wiped her sweaty palms on her pants. She prayed the statement would be impressive enough. Even though Calista had a guaranteed spot in the second half of the admissions process thanks to Benson’s request, everything in the process would affect her chances of being a student.

  “I…” Calista inhaled. “I could say I’m in it for the fame and the glory, like anyone would be. Hearing people screaming out your name, supporting you, lighting up when they see you… it’s a thrill to know so many people love you and admire your talents and efforts. And it’s true, a little part of me naturally wants that attention.”

  Of course, who didn’t like self-validation? Especially having grown up in this kind of world.

  Calista’s words got Katelyn thinking. Socializers were often called ‘narcissistic’, ‘people-pleasers’, ‘attention seekers’. But fighters relied on their fans just as much. Whatever fighter provided the most hype would reach the top. There was definitely more to it; talent, determination, strength… but the public’s opinion weighed in a lot.

  “But truthfully, I want this because… I want to show what I can do. I want to work for something great, something amazing, something my planet and country can use to become greater. That everyone can use to be greater. They can see me and be inspired to do the same, maybe even more. That’s what fighters have done for me all my life. Given me the incentive to be something I never imagined I could be.”

  Katelyn kept glancing at the projector screen, focusing on the hack, but she concentrated mainly on Calista’s words. She’d never heard her sister speak this way before. This was the first time she truly was… honest about what she wanted and what kind of person she wanted to be.

  “I don’t want to fit into the default form the Utopia has put my species in. I’m not lazy. I’m not mediocre. I work for my goals. I train long and hard until my skills are perfect. My goal is to show everyone what humans are made of, what we can do when we really want something.”

  Katelyn nodded in agreement. Scaaskal chuckled behind her. “That’s pretty good for something she thought of on the spot. Unless she had it saved?”

  “No, she… she wasn’t doing great with the statement. She didn’t know what to say. I guess hearing the question made it all come to her.”

  “I may not have special powers and advanced intelligence like some other species, but I know I can handle the pressure of the Versus, and I know there’s plenty of humans out there that are the same. I’m going to prove it. As a Versus fighter, I will make our academy and our militia proud— of our country, of our species, and of our planet.”

  Katelyn could see the proctor’s face in the screen. She didn’t change her expression, which unnerved her, but there was a brief silence before the next question. Hopefully, that was an impressed pause and not a ridiculing silence.

  The left screen beeped in alert as the projection glitched. Katelyn cursed and worked to get it back online. To her horror, the house’s entrance screen opened up, showing her mother teleporting inside.

  “Glitch!” Katelyn stood, panicking. “I don’t get it. Why is it…?”

  “Maybe you set something off?” Scaaskal stepped closer to help.

  “How? It was on a loop!”

  “Okay, relax. Jaylo, we’re going to need that chip of yours.”

  The Mearthian sighed, reluctantly pulling the small, black chip out of his pocket. “As promised,” he said, handing it to Scaaskal, who plugged it into Katelyn’s hacking device. It was a particularly expensive one that he’d bought off the black market.

  “Maybe it’s one of your scramblers,” Quincy suggested. “You always forget them and leave them lying around. Maybe Mom found one.”

  Katelyn cursed some more. It was natural for people her age to purchase scramblers to get past firewalls and do stuff that normally wasn’t allowed for minors, but if Jennifer saw the glitching projection in Calista’s room, she’d surely put two and two together.

  As Jennifer approached Calista’s room, Katelyn’s heart raced further. She burst out of her seat and got into the AU chair Scaaskal had brought. She plugged the hacking chip into the input, followed by the projection chip she was using to mask Calista’s interview.

  “Kate, please… DO NOT glitch this up,” Jaylo said. “That chip is practically my life savings. If it gets fried-”

  “I know, I owe you. I’ll pay you back monthly.”

  “No, if it gets fried, I’m dead. It has my name on it.”

  “Oh, yeah. Jaylo, if this chip is that valuable, then it should work. If not, that means you got ripped off.”

  “We’ve got five minutes to do this. If we go over, that’s it. You got it, Scaaskal?” Jaylo raised his brows.

  “Got it.” Scaaskal went to Katelyn’s hacking device to take over.

  Katelyn’s environment changed from the secret room in Genesis X to Calista’s room. Neither Calista nor the proctor would see the projection, being inside the bubble. At the moment, Katelyn was virtually controlling a projection of Calista so she could respond to whatever their mother asked her.

  The SociaLights’ faces soon appeared as Scaaskal got the projection back online. Just the sight of them made Katelyn roll her eyes. She turned when Jennifer entered the room. “Calista? Are you busy?”

  She turned as gracefully as possible, imitating her sister’s gentle and practiced movements. “Hi, Mom.” She switched her control to the other girls’ projections in the call screen, turning their faces to Jennifer. “Hi, Jennifer!” she squealed, perfectly imitating Danica’s annoying voice.

  “Hi, girls. I was just checking up on Calista.” Jennifer’s shoulders seemed to release tension. What was she tense about? Was she upset about something? “Sorry to interrupt you. Calista, remember our runway class later, okay?”

  Katelyn nodded, smiling demurely. “Uber-excited!”

  Jennifer smiled, her eyes glancing over Katelyn’s projection with a veil of suspicion. She smiled and waved goodbye to all the girls before leaving. Katelyn breathed out in relief, releasing control of the projection. Scaaskal re-installed the projection so it could loop as a call, deflecting any further suspicion.

  “That was close,” Quincy said.

  “Too close. She probably saw something weird in the SECURE app. Moms have that lie detector, you know.” Katelyn smiled at Jaylo. “Thanks for the chip. I owe you.”

  “Anytime, Kate.”

  “And you, too, Scaaskal. You did great.” She fanned herself. “I am sweating. AIDA, give me some water.” A bottle materialized in her hand and she gulped the ice-cold refreshment down.

  Thankfully, the interview came to a close and Calista finished her session with the proctor. She slumped into her seat, clearly exhausted from the tension of the situation. She wouldn’t have heard her mother, but she could still see the environment around her outside the projection bubble.

  “Well, that’s over. I guess all she’ll need is a Mask when she goes to the exams,” said Scaaskal.

  “You think she’ll get it?” Alina asked.

  “She fights very well,” said Temmen. “My nuts still hurt.”

  Katelyn spit out her water in laughter. “Yeah, I didn’t expect her to kick you there.”

  “Did Kalley say anything to you?” asked Jaylo.

  “No, but he watched the whole fight. I saw him there. He hardly blinked. He even left his drink. He must’ve been impressed if he requested her.”

  “I mean, I was, too,” said Alina. “A Socializer fighting like that? Not bad at all.”

  “Can I see it?” asked Quincy.

  “Yeah.” She projected the fight recording on her Pet for him. Quincy’s brows raised as he watched his sister defend herself. They were all going easy on her, but it was still impressive.

  “There’s gonna be a lot of people applying, though,” said Scaaskal. “Don’t be surprised if she is overlooked.”

  “It’s worth a try. It’s her only chance.”