Chapter 74

Two people acted next. The first actions I will describe are mine. I contracted the muscles of my suit, the power was immense. My momentum already driving me upward, combining the two, thrusting my arm, I continued to spear to the sky, traveling foot after foot, my speed dropping as that bitch gravity tugged at me. But I drew level with the lip of the cone, my right hand grasping firmly. My left, useless, still held my sword, and my right hand augmented my trajectory, driving me over the lip and onto the gentle slope of the cone.

I had to scrabble; gravity wasn't done with me yet. She pulled me back toward the lip, undoing my work. I found purchase by using CUT, driving my sword into the surface of the cone, and I was safe. Safe for now at least, there were still minutes left before Mario would call a halt.

The next set of actions I describe will shame me. You won't need me to explain why they shame me, though I will probably do that as well. I couldn't actually see what happened, what with my face being pointed upwards as I very distinctly saved my own ass at the expense of two people that, only a few chapters ago, I had tentatively described as friends, or something of the sort. While I soared to my own selfish intentions, Lauren spun in the air. The force of the repulsion from my shield had actually lifted her higher, so she rose for a few moments before she began to fall.

Katya had hit the wall; she was sliding down. I've watched this over and over on replay, and I am certain she could have jumped from the wall. With the strength of her suit and her lithe little body, she could have pushed off from the wall and reached the handhold and been up there with me, ready to fight another day, have another chance at the suit, Lauren falling to death or grievous injury, one less to contend with. But she didn't.

Lauren had started to fall, accelerating at very close to 10m/s², air resistance obviously tugging that down a notch, but a mighty rate of speed gain per heartbeat all the same. By the time Katya reacted, there was no way for her to reach Lauren by falling. Even streamlined in a diver's pose, Lauren would be a puddle on the ground before Katya could reach her.

So Katya flipped over on her slide down the wall, chest to the wall, facing down, facing that insane 300-foot drop. She coiled the powerful muscles of the suit and pushed off, using that initial surge of force to add to the universal 10m/s² gravity acceleration. And she also did the whole diver's pose thing, hands in front of her, making herself into a spear.

Two forms plummeted, one flailing, far from the walls of the tower, the other an arrow, pointed straight down, between the first form and the tower. Remember, the tower narrows as you ascend, so it widens as you descend. Katya reached out, somehow, in those perilous precious moments, Lauren became aware of her, and reached out for her hand.

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And then they were both just falling, plummeting toward a shared death. But around level 4, the tower had widened enough that it was close enough to Katya for her to stab it with CUT. She plunged her sword into the tower wall and used it to break her fall. With the momentum shift, she swung Lauren to the wall of the tower, and Lauren mimicked her, stabbing her sword into the tower as well.

Their swords cut into the surface of the tower, but their momentum carried them on. Their swords cut long jagged lines along the surface of the tower. Screws and metal banding exploded with the torrent of splinters that sprayed from the cuts. Sparks flew as the blades glances off metal. Their feet scrabbled urgently, trying to aid the braking action of their swords. And then they were slowing. A moment later they had stopped.

Mario wasted no time, he barked, "Lauren and Katya, 10 seconds remain!"

They were at the bottom of the 4th level, with no hope of ascending to the top in just 10 seconds. They remained there for a moment, pinned to the wall of the tower, still hand in hand. The light line kept climbing up the tower, not that far from me, here on the cone. They were an eternity away from the where they needed to be.

I had become aware of what was happening during the frantic braking. I had looked down, understanding what I had done, what Katya had done. My heart burned with shame at my actions, and my inactions. I had nearly killed Lauren. I had done nothing but serve myself, instinct or intent, it haunts me to this day.

As the final seconds ticked away I could only wait. They seemed to wait as well. As Mario counted down, they just stayed there. Tears threatened me, guilt and shame wanted to metamorphosize into grief or rage.

Mario's voice boomed, "Lauren and Katya, disqualified!"

The crowd had a mixed response. There was a series of cheers and whistles, those who wanted to see all but the people's champion take the prize. Others booed or moaned. Some had put money on one of the girls. Some would only be happy when Lance was finished. Some would only be happy when I was done too.

Lauren and Katya began to descend the tower. They looked like such lonely, forlorn creatures as they climbed down with no hint of the urgency that had been on them as they climbed.

I had done this. They had never turned their alliance against me, not once. And I had ended their chance at the suit. Not Lance. Me.

My guilt twisted into something darker. Rage started to boil in me. I hated Father for sending me here. I hated my trainers for the instincts they had hammered into me. I hated the voice for its mockery. I hated myself for this damnable desire to win.

But I hated one above the others...

As I turned, I saw Gideon crash to the ground. Lance stood over him, smiling that same brash smile of his. He wasn't even thinking about me. Or Lauren, or Katya.

It was so easy to turn the hate towards him. If my rage was lightning, then Lance was the perfect lightning rod. My lips trembled as they curled back into a snarl. I bared my teeth, felt my face contort into pure anger.

"LANCE!" I screamed.