Ryan and Sophia were still catching up—Ryan could have kept talking with her all night—when they heard a faint whirring by the door. In flew a fist-sized red and white drone carrying a camera. Following behind it, looking straight into the camera, was Marvin Blackwood, the captain of Sad Cake Binge Gaming. Two more members of his team entered behind him. They both had their own mini-drone: one blue and gold, one dark purple and black. The drones were AI piloted and programmed to follow them around. Presumably, they were using them to live-stream their entrance to the party. “And here we are!” Marvin said into his camera. He kept talking, but Ryan didn’t keep paying attention to what he was saying. Max walked off the stage, where he had been dancing, and over to greet the entering team. Sophia stared at them.

  “You’re thinking of pulling something?” Ryan said to Sophia.

  “More like daydreaming,” Sophia said. “They’re good sports. They can handle it.”

  Marvin went to the dance floor. The other two headed toward the swimming pool. Ryan wished he could use the pool himself, but he hadn’t thought to pack swim trunks.

  Ten minutes later, the music by the dance floor stopped, and Max’s voice rang out in its place. “Hey, everyone, the annual Battle Royale game will begin in about twenty minutes. Everyone should find their teammates and prepare to meet me in the lobby.”

  Ryan sighed. “Do you think I can get away with not seeing Mitch until we’re in-game.”

  “No.”

  “You’re probably right.” Ryan had agreed to come here. He needed to think about Lisa. He filled up his punch glass and packed some thickly sweet chocolate pastries onto a paper plate, and then he and Sophia made their way over to the corner where Jay and Mitch each had an arm around the other’s shoulder. They adopted a chaster posture when they saw Ryan and Sophia approaching. Ryan had expected some kind of glare from Mitch, but instead, the look on his face reeked of awkwardness. He was shorter than any of them, including Sophia, and had neither a chin nor cheekbones. He wore a gaudy light blue shirt under his jacket.

  “Hey, guys,” Sophia said, sitting down on the couch next to Jay.

  “Hi,” Mitch said. Ryan took a seat on the chair next to the three of them.

  “Glad you guys came right over,” Jay said. “We should spend a moment discussing strategy before the match starts.”

  “I guess,” Ryan said.

  Some things went unspoken. They were playing Red Arachnia, which, in a Battle Royale match, was a very good thing. Battle Royale matches differed from standard ones. All eight teams would be set loose in one giant map, and they would go around trying to kill each other, with each player’s death eliminating them from the match. Eventually, only one team would still have living members, and that team would be the winner.

  In this kind of match, it was normally a good idea to try not go get into too many fights, and of all the factions, Red Arachnia was the best at stealth. They would have been even better off if they didn’t have Zap among them. However, Zap could be stealthier than his size would lead one to expect. He was immune to radar tools and wasn’t loud.

  Breach-bot would have designed the map so that hunkering down and hiding in one place would be unlikely to work, but that didn’t mean a stealth-oriented strategy couldn’t be effective. If they played well, Unbroken could avoid fights, set a lot of traps, and wait around while the other teams killed each other off. Of course, then they’d have to take on whoever was left, which would probably be one of the strongest teams in the match. However, they’d go into that fight fresh, unlike their enemy.

  “Reigning Fire is obviously the biggest threat,” Mitch said. “And since there’ll be another Gray Fungus in the arena along with them, we need to be very concerned about infection.”

  The other three agreed.

  “At the same time,” Jay said, “we don’t want to do anything that will slow the spread of infection in the arena.” Infection was a status effect, meant to represent the Gray Fungus assimilating you into their hive mind. Several of their abilities could affect you with it, and if they did, you would lose some control of your avatar. If you tried to harm Gray Fungi, or help your teammates, there’d be a chance you’d seize up for several seconds. If untreated, infection grew worse over time, and once it reached its final stage, you’d turn into an NPC drone, controlled by Breach-bot and allied with the Gray Fungus. In a normal match, you’d then respawn as though you’d died. Indeed, the infected often killed themselves to begin the respawn counter early rather than put up with the status effect. In a Battle Royale, there was no respawning, so infection was all the more powerful. As a robot, Zap didn’t have to worry about it, and Dash’s cybernetic components meant that he couldn’t be taken over completely, but for Mitch and Sophia it was a very serious hazard.

  However, Jay argued, if they made sure they were properly prepared to resist infection and then forged an alliance with one of the Gray Fungus teams, where they would help spread infection in exchange for being left alone, they would seriously harm the other teams.

  “I don’t feel like Reigning Fire would be up for an alliance like that,” Ryan said.

  “I see where you’re coming from,” Jay said, “but I think you’re wrong. I take it you met Joss?”

  “Yep,” Ryan said. “Would it be bad form to talk to Epidemic, or Reigning Fire I guess, out of game and coordinate this?” Ryan asked.

  “Probably,” Sophia said.

  “I’m not so sure,” Jay said.

  “Maybe you should ask Max,” Ryan said.

  “That would mean letting him know we’re doing it,” Sophia said.

  “If it’s allowed, most teams are probably doing it,” Jay said.

  “Fair point,” Sophia said.

  Jay rose from his couch. “I’ll go find him.”

  He walked off.

  Mitch scooted away from the chair Ryan was sitting on and crossed his arms. “Objectively, the second biggest threat is Ours is the Glory,” he said. “But for us specifically, I think to us it’s a toss-up between Dying Gravity and Sad Cake Binge Gaming.”

  “Agreed,” Ryan said. Sophia scooted closer to Mitch, as if to provide him moral support, and only then did Ryan realize what was going on. He tried to think of something mildly encouraging but non-awkward he could say. “Where Ours is the Glory and Pheonix are concerned, I think we just need to be careful to lay enough traps to keep them from fighting us at full strength. That’s your job, of course.”

  “Right,” Mitch said. “But back to the Pickciez teams. Hiding from them is going to be a problem. Do we have any particular strategies in mind.” Pickciez were harder to hide from, because they were fast-moving and could search and area efficiently.

  “Be lucky, so they don’t happen across us” said Sophia.

  “That’s always plan A,” said Mitch. “Failing that, though…”

  “Our best answer is probably raw power,” Ryan said. “Especially if we have an alliance.”

  “And if we don’t?” Mitch said.

  “We can still probably take them in a straight fight, so long as they don’t catch us by surprise. We just have to be wary enough not to let them sneak up on us.”

  “Stealthy approaches are sort of Sad Cake Binge’s whole thing.”

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “I’ll have my all-around vision. Depending on the map, that’ll be enough on its own.”

  “I guess.”

  The conversation paused when they saw Jay coming back over to the couches. “He said no,” Jay said as he sat down next to Mitch and grabbed his hand.

  “Drat,” Mitch said.

  Sophia told Jay what they’d said while he was gone, and by the time she was done it had been fifteen minutes or so since Max’s announcement.

  “Do we know where the bathroom is?” Ryan asked.

  “No,” Sophia said.

  Ryan stood up. “Alright, I’ll see if I can find it. I’ll meet you in the lobby.”

  “We’re cheering for you,” Sophia said.

//////////

  When he was finished in the bathroom, Ryan headed back to the ballroom. He didn’t make it back to the couches before Max got back on the microphone and told everyone to gather in the lobby. Ryan got together with his team. All eight teams, save Ours is the Glory, gathered outside the door to the ballroom. Ryan could identify the Epidemic kids by their age. Only one of them had to be eighteen to force the team into the senior league, and it was easy to tell which one that was.

  We Rise as One stood next to them. The youngest member of that team was middle aged. They were also the best dressed. Actual suits. The only other people wearing those were the business executives and investors. Dying gravity were dressed the most casually.

  “Thank you all for coming,” Max said from the top of the balcony that overlooked the lobby. “And thank you for indulging this little tradition of mine. I’m sure you know better than I do how much the fans love this.” For just a moment, he looked directly into one of Sad Cake Binge Gaming’s camera drones. “Please, follow me upstairs to the theater. The helmets are in there.”

  The theater was large and dark, with eight rows of luxurious dark-grey leather reclining chairs. They faced a large projector screen, like an old movie theater, but each one also had a holo-helmet built into its headrest. Even all eight world championship teams would only take up half the seats. Why did every chair have to have its own helmet? When did Max use all of these at once?

  “Take your seats,” Max said, himself walking down to the front row and sitting on the rightmost seat. Ryan took the closest seat to the entrance. The rest of his team funneled in next to him. Ryan reclined his seat all the way, then lowered the helmet over himself. It fit over his head snugly, making physical contact with his neck and, microscopically, his spine, through which it would affect his brain. He switched it on and closed his eyes. The world around him faded all at once, like he was falling asleep, and a dream was beginning. For a moment, he was weightless and blind. Then, in an instant, the full proprioception of Zap’s body kicked in. The sudden perception of weight made him stumble. Once he’d gotten his balance, the black interior of a ship popped into existence around him, along with hum of electronics and the sound of working metal pipes. The room was caked with rust, though the metal pipes in the corner seemed to have had recent maintenance. Below Ryan, there was a red-brown metal floor. Above him, bright strips of light on metal planks. To his right and left, his teammates, each half his height: Sophia as Boost, Jay as Dash and Mitch as Spark. Behind him, another wall with a manually-operated sliding door. In front of him, a holo-terminal. A hologram of Blast appeared in the center of the cabin.

  “Greetings, Comrades!” she said.

  “Hey,” Ryan said, in Zap’s robotic voice.

  “Greetings, Comrade Zap. I hope you’ve all been enjoying your leisure time, but I’m afraid I must end it. There’s a resort planet called Ju-Tai 2, and there’s a Terran general on it. This is a particularly nasty one. He once glassed a mining colony, killing about a thousand families, because he believed I was being harbored there. I wasn’t, but I still took the gesture a bit personally. The scumbag is allowing himself some R&R, because he doesn’t think we can figure out where he is. We did. He’s in a little cabin in a lovely valley. Beautiful forests, and the most spectacular waterfall you’ve ever seen. Shame to visit it with violence, but I think we’ll be doing the place a favor by scrubbing it free of this odious lump. He’ll have a few guards, but I trust you can take care of that. I’m sorry to send you on a mission with such little notice, but we only just discovered this opportunity, and we need to act now. We don’t know when his vacation will end. You will arrive there in a few hours. Equip yourselves for the fight ahead, Comrades. I’ll be in contact with you once you’re on the planet.” Her hologram went away, and the four equipment selection terminals lit up.

  Ryan walked up to one. As he chose his items, the main factor in his decision making was longevity. This was going to be a long match, and he might get into several fights. He would prefer to avoid choosing items he could only use a limited number of times. His minigun would never run out of ammo. He selected that. His grenade launcher wouldn’t run out of its standard grenades, but it would run out of special grenades, including stun grenades, which were one of its main benefits. “I’m going mini-gun and rocket launcher,” Ryan said. Rockets were more accurate and did more damage than grenades. With special grenades out of the picture, that made the rocket launcher a better choice.

  Ryan took two packets of healing potions hoping that would last him multiple combats. The expandable shield was so broadly useful it was a must-have in any scenario, even though it was single-use. Ryan also got a grappling hook. “I have a grappler,” he told the others. Him selecting that meant they didn’t need to. He was large enough that they could all ride him while he climbed something. Not needing their own grappling hooks meant they could use that slot for air filters that would prevent infection, or for the potion that healed it.

  When he was done selecting his tools, Jay had everyone list their choices. Everyone agreed with Ryan’s decisions. Mitch and Sophia made a few adjustments based on Jay’s advice. Everyone but Ryan had an air filter and at least one anti-fungal potion. Sophia had taken the spell that suppressed de-buffs.

  Jay told Breach-bot that they were ready. Blast led them on a short walk through the ship to a hanger bay, where they boarded a landing craft. Once the craft took off, they had nothing but a display screen through which to see the outside world. Their ship had stopped at the edge of Ju-Tai 2’s solar system. They traveled swiftly toward its center, passing a bright blue gas giant surrounded by three concentric rings. Their destination came into view. It was a tiny green dot. They approached. The planet looked like the earth, but with the blue and green switched. They made contact with the planet’s atmosphere. “You should be down there in just a few min—” Blast began, before being cut off by a burst of static.

  “Ma’am, you cut off,” Jay said.

  Another burst of static.

  A glob of Gray Fungal biomass came into view from the corner of the viewscreen, careened toward the ship and slammed into the hull, making the viewscreen go to static, and sending the lander tumbling end over end. An alarm sounded. Ryan grabbed Sophia, Jay and Mitch and held them to his person to keep them from tumbling around the ship and taking damage.

  “Warning, impact imminent,” said the ship’s computer. Everything shook. The lander roared down toward the planet’s surface. A shield similar to Zap’s invincibility shield appeared around the four of them as their ship crashed into the valley. The ship disintegrated around them, exploding, throwing their bubble off into the distance. It hit the ground and popped, the four falling out onto a still clearing. They were surrounded by the strange and varied chirping of alien crickets and the cawing and hooting of alien birds. Ryan let go of his teammates. All four of them stood. Below Ryan was bright-green curly grass. Above him was an open sky in the midst of a radiant pink and orange sunset. Forest stretched off into the distance all around them. The horizon was dominated to the left by a giant, black metal dam which seemed to seal off the bowl-like valley. Blast’s voice echoed through Ryan’s head, fizzy and quiet.

  “…hostiles surrounding you, and we cannot retrieve you any time soon…” and with one last burst of static, she disappeared.

  Other than the forest, the main feature of their surroundings was a small dusty cabin, the size of a single room. “Do you think the General is going to be important?” Mitch said into his helmet’s communicator. His helmet was sealed, so if there were any enemies around, they wouldn’t overhear him.

  “Probably, or he wouldn’t have been mentioned,” Jay said.

  “Maybe We Rise as One is protecting him,” Ryan said.

  “Yeah, probably,” Sophia said.

  The others looked around to get their bearings. “I’m not seeing anything notable about our surroundings besides that cabin, the woods, and that dam,” Jay said. “Anyone disagree?”

  “The sunset is pretty,” Ryan said. “That’s about it.”

  “Our first order of business is to find a good hiding place,” Jay said. “From there, we can figure out how to contact one of the Gray Fungus teams.” The valley seemed to be big enough that, if the teams were distributed equally, they had a decent amount of time before anyone stumbled across them.

  Sophia conjured a blue-gray ball and tossed it at Ryan. This was a buff that would make him quieter and lighter on his feet so he wouldn’t leave tracks. “Thanks,” he said, but as they went into the forest proper in search of a suitable hiding place, Ryan still had trouble not leaving evidence of his passing. Zap was agile for his size, but moving through the forest required some tight squeezes, and he occasionally knocked over a rock or crushed a bush or bent a pair of trees away from each other while trying to squeeze between them.

  After about ten minutes, they hadn’t seen any sign of other players or of an obvious hiding spot. “We need to figure out a direction to head toward,” Mitch said. “Wandering aimlessly is just making metal-head over here leave more tracks for the other teams to find us with.” Ryan held in his offense.

  “You’re right,” Jay said. “Does anyone remember which way the canyon wall was closest?”

  “West,” Ryan said.

  “We’ll start heading that way, then. There might be caves in the valley wall to hide in.”

  They changed direction. “Do you think it’s possible break the dam?” Sophia asked a few minutes later.

  “What makes you ask?” Jay asked.

  “I mean, if I were Breach-bot, and I was going to design a set-piece for this big important showcase match, I might make a giant destructible dam. Plus, if we can break it without hurting ourselves, we might kill off everyone else.

  “Maybe,” Jay said. “Hmm. We’ll head that direction if we don’t find a cave.”

  A few more minutes passed.

  “Get down!” Ryan said, falling flat against the path below them just slowly enough to make no noise. The others followed suit.

  “What is it?” Jay asked.

  “We Rise as One,” Ryan said.