"Okay, seems he's woken up."

Odebode opened his eyes, on the floor of what seemed to be the front room to a cinema. Cyrus was on the black leather couch next to him, arms folded, while Valentina was inspecting a row of old movie posters.

"I think there are cameras here, too." She sighed.

"What makes you think that?" Cyrus asked.

"All the posters here are for new movies. Look, 'Tales of the High Kings.' I saw that last month. And Heavy Heathens 3, Junkyard Samurai. These all seem new. I'm guessing we can watch these, and then have our reactions filmed as some kind of sponsorship."

"Where am I?" Odebode sat up, a pain in his back edging its way through him.

"Oh, you're up!" Valentina exclaimed, running over to him.

"How long was I out?" Odebode croaked out.

"Around…six hours." Cyrus replied calmly, looking at his watch.

"We found you on the floor, so we took to our hideout." Valentina explained.

"A cinema?" Odebode asked.

"Who'd look for someone to kill in a cinema?" Cyrus asked.

"Well, that makes sense, I guess." Odebode stood up, and the mild back pain decided to stab him with the intensity of a thousand needles.

"Oh, is your back okay?" Valentina yelled out. "Cyrus, could you get some ice?"

Cyrus reluctantly got off the couch, going out for ice after making sure nobody was outside.

Valentina sat next to him on the couch where Cyrus was.

"Mind telling me what happened?" She asked calmly.

"Excuse me?"

"Just tell me what led to us finding you on the ground."

"Got shoved off a nightclub roof."

"I see." Valentina replied, running her finger across her metal arm. "Who did it?"

"Excuse me?" Odebode asked.

"Who tried to kill you?" Valentina asked, her face growing stern.

"It was that Micah guy, you know him."

"Micah?" Valentina asked, deadpan. "The guy who placed last in the hotel and didn't even leave the starting point in the warehouse? That Micah? Was there anyone else there?"

"Wendy and Yun-Yeong." He mumbled, looking away.

"So, a fifteen-year-old and someone who's clearly sick. And also, Yun-Yeong. Any reason you ended up fighting her and Micah?"

"Well, they…I…"

"It's because they're blood types, isn't it?" Valentina replied, the tone cutting through him. Her glare piercing into his heart. Can't be a Nova without a little interrogation skills, he guessed.

"Well…I…yes." Odebode sighed.

"I see, I see. Any reason you hate blood types in particular?" Valentina asked calmly.

"Reason?"

"Yes. Did you come to this conclusion yourself? Or was this a family thing?"

"They killed my family." Odebode muttered under his breath.

"Excuse me?" Valentina asked. "You mind repeating yourself?"

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"They killed my sister!" Odebode shot out of the chair, falling back into it when the pain came back into his back.

Valentina's face briefly fell into remorse.

"Oh. I…I see." She replied. "I'm sorry that happened to you."

"We accepted them into the house, and then she went missing. I ended up finding her nearby."

"And I'm assuming she was killed." Valentina responded quietly.

"Not only killed." Odebode replied with enough venom to kill a horse. "It was only her head. They used her body as some kind of testing for a blood type. Draining her blood and then using it as a sensor to find the parts the others cut up."

"Oh wow." Valentina replied, horrified. "And were the police of any help?"

"No, they weren't!" Odebode snapped. "We tried calling them, gave them all of our evidence, and they claimed they couldn't find enough evidence to convict any of them. Then the statute of limitations ended, and nothing happened."

"So, what happened next?" Valentina asked, internally giving an educated guess.

"Can't say exactly, but I ended up here." Odebode replied.

"I see." Valentina replied calmly. "Well, I have a proposal for you, if you'll listen to me."

"What?"

"I want to see you fight." Valentina asked, resting her head on her metal arm. "I feel you have potential, but it's being misdirected."

"Misdirected?"

"Yes. You see, a perfect society is unobtainable. Things such as crime and bigotry are problems too big to go away completely. But the strong willed will channel that frustration into motivation to change the world. And you, Odebode Haruna, have more than enough frustration. But should you channel that, I guarantee you will survive this game. So, are you willing to join?"

Odebode looked at her for a few seconds, before giving a single nod.

"I accept."

"Good, good." Valentina nodded back. "We'll start in the morning."

The duo heard the sound of a door opening, and Cyrus returned, ice in hand.

"I'm back." He announced, holding up the ice.

"Great, great." Valentina replied, taking the ice and slowly placing it down on Odebode's back. it stung a little at first, but his back got used to it.

"Is this gonna work?" Odebode asked.

"If your injuries are too severe, you will be treated nearby. I checked the rules." Cyrus replied, hands behind his back.

"Cool, cool." Odebode replied.

"Can you move?" Valentina asked calmly.

"Should be able to." Odebode replied, standing up. It still hurt, but less. "We starting the training?"

"You aren't in good enough form for it yet." Valentina replied. "Until then, there are probably movie showings around here."

"They should be starting in an hour, miss Valentina." Cyrus replied quickly.

"Thank you, Cyrus. Now, what about the snacks?" She went over to the snack bar, saw the prices, and immediately left the snack bar.

"I'm going to the store. You two want anything?"

"Whatever your favourite is, miss." Cyrus replied.

"I don't eat sweets." Odebode replied.

"Got it." Valentina said, leaving the cinema.

"You not going with her?" Odebode asked, sitting back down.

"She's more than capable of defending herself. Besides, there are matters I wish to discuss with you." Cyrus responded, his brown eyes blankly staring into his.

"Like?" Odebode asked hesitantly.

"You are clearly capable of killing should the situation call for it. So, mind if I ask you who you would kill?"

"Who would I kill?" Odebode asked.

"Ignoring the blood types, naturally." Cyrus added.

"I suppose…Huang? The cult leader man."

"Interesting." Cyrus replied. "I've known about him for a while, but he doesn't seem to be much of a threat. To my knowledge, his record is quite clean. His only kills seem to be predators and he seems skilled at handling more outlandish members."

"You know that?" Odebode asked.

"I worked for Valentina on level five. That's all you need to know."

"Wait, so you have information on everyone?" Odebode asked. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Even if you know somebody's crimes, you aren't allowed to bring them to the forefront. But I feel the need to inform you of potentially the most dangerous person within these games."

"Who would that be?" Odebode asked.

"Are you aware of the woman named Amber Monet?"

"The shadow one, with purple hair?"

"Her, yes." Cyrus confirmed. "During the hotel challenge, she stole extra codes from the others on floor five, leading to the death of her roommate, Akemi Mizuno. And while I can't say what exactly she did, it would be beneficial to eliminate her as soon as possible."

"And you want me to do it?" Odebode asked. "Get me killed?"

"Not at all, sir." Cyrus shook his head. "I will take all responsibility. My motives are the safety of our city and allowing her to leave this game will only hurt it going forward."

"And are you telling Valentina?" Odebode asked.

"She can't know." Cyrus shook his head. "She'll try to end it before it begins."

"So how are you going to do this?" Odebode asked.

"On night two, I'll make my move. If I die, do your best to get everyone to vote off Amber."

"I…don't think I want in on this." Odebode replied. "But I'm not telling Valentina."

"That's good to know." Cyrus nodded. "Anything that guarantees your safety, right?"

"But if I find out that Amber is innocent of whatever you're trying, I will cut you down."

"Naturally, that is your responsibility." Cyrus replied. "Now, let us enjoy whatever it is we're watching."

Valentina came back with a small plastic bag in hand, handing Odebode a can of dingles. Classic salted flavour.

"You like these?" She asked.

"It'll do." Odebode smiled.

"And Cyrus, I got us some jellybeans. You cool with that?"

"Absolutely." Cyrus replied quickly.

And so, the three of them sat down to watch Junkyard Samurai. Valentina seemed to enjoy the story of the metallic man gathering other people's powers. Cyrus didn't seem to be that amused, choking down jellybeans. Odebode was enjoying the movie, but he was only half watching it, more focused on whatever Cyrus was planning.