Chapter 8
Ariella sipped her Earl Grey tea as she watched Joel’s feed on her Onyx TV. He was doing better than she expected. Especially considering he had so little training over the last month or so. Most of the competitors had been preparing for something like this their whole lives. Joel had just received powers a couple of months ago, and right now, he was skulking around the outside of a huge prison fortress, dodging drones and sentries as though he had been through training at Quantico.
To an outsider, the living room of her apartment in The Spire would seem more like a jungle than the high-tech loft it was. Animals roamed the massive open space. Various plants covered almost every inch of the walls and ceilings. A cat resembling a small leopard rubbed up against her leg. Ariella stroked its fur.
“You can read my mind, can’t you?” Ariella joked to her cat. The cat simply rubbed its head in her hand, demanding more physical attention, the purring now acting as a siren song. “I bet you can!” She gave in to the temptation and continued to pet the little monster to appease its desire as well as relieve her own anxiety.
Just then, a ringing sound came from under a small flower pot on a shelf in Ariella’s built-in entertainment center. Hmmm. She wasn’t expecting any calls. She wondered who would be checking in now while The Culling was still live.
Ariella muted the feeds, got up, and used her powers to retrieve a mobile phone that was in a lockbox, buried in the pots that housed the base of a climbing grape vine. The screen read “Agent 11 - Ghost Friend.” She smiled and pressed the green button to receive the call.
“Hello,” she greeted. “How are your travels.”
“I’m finding them to be both entertaining and somewhat fruitful so far.” The passphrase spoken by the gruff voice on the other end of the call checked out.
“The line is encrypted on my end. You can speak freely.”
“Great.”
“So, I don’t believe you sent me your itinerary before leaving,” Ariella figured no matter how good the security was on the line, she might as well stay as vague as possible, just in case any meta-ears were listening to her end of the conversation.
“In Greenland now. I got word that Aurora was holed up somewhere in the North, where the cold lasts year-round. No dice so far, though. Not even a whiff of her evil twin.” the caller said.
“That's unfortunate. It’s always nice to have a buddy while traveling abroad, even if you aren’t besties.” Ariella thought about how to discreetly ask the question she really wanted to know, but Agent 11 beat her to the punch.
“Indeed it is. Luckily, I located The Big Man. Although, he’s off planet at the moment, so it does me a not even a lick of good.”
“That is bittersweet news indeed. I’m holding down the fort here. The new kid is doing rather well in the first challenge. Although he seems tired. And, speaking of the challenge, you may need to cut your travels short. I hear they are looking for Council members to guest host their own events. The event next month will honor The Healer, so you have at least until after that to continue on your trip, but I know you don’t want to miss The Armory’s event, being such a big fan of his.”
“Fuck.” The gruff man sounded annoyed. “I told Flint he could fuck off with this whole concept. But, if you think I should be there..”
“I do! It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other. And I know our whole friend group would just die seeing you pop up here after so long!”
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“It’s that dire, huh?” he asked.
Ariella loved working with professionals. It made her job so much easier. She glanced over at the muted screen to see what Joel was up to. Wait, was he summoning power? Squirrel’s nuts! That kid was about to do something idiotic!
“I’ve got to go! Check in again soon. Bye now!” Ariella hung up without waiting for a response, unmuted the show, gripped her tea mug tightly, and held her breath. Just as Joel was about to release the built-up power, the screen cut to The Show on stage with the woman Ariella recognized as Info, congratulating the contestants for surviving the first trial of The Culling.
Ariella jumped up excitedly, violently upsetting the small leopard cat on her lap. “Holy deer dung! He made it past the first trial!” Her pet, fur standing on edge, sulked to a different seat in the apartment and curled up with a frown on its face. Realizing that she had just spilled tea everywhere, Ariella cleaned it up as the scene on TV changed to The Show being interviewed by someone Ariella didn’t recognize.
“Hello and welcome to our program! I’m Nate, your host..” Nate smiled a practiced smile to the camera as he paused for applause from the studio crowd. He was like a real-life Ken doll, with good looks and a charming personality. Ariella wondered if Nate was made of plastic.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow your roll, Nate. You’re the host when I’ve got important council matters to attend to.” The Show jabbed with an even more practiced, wider smile than Nate’s. Funny how Flint could turn anything into a competition, Ariella thought.
“Yes, of course, my mistake!” Nate nervously laughed, “Anyway, let’s get into it. I’m sure our audience at home is eager to hear what’s coming next in The Culling. But first, Network, what, in your opinion, was the biggest surprise of the event so far?”
“Well, Nate, the sheer size of the crowd that showed up in the first place! I knew people wanted to be a part of our great organization, but I honestly didn’t realize just how many of them had the determination and desire to put themselves through a year of challenges to do so.” The Show laughed, “After all, we can’t just accept anyone! We need to find the best of the best. The genuine diamonds out there in the rough.”
Ariella narrowed her eyes, trying to make The Show’s head pop like a balloon. She had never liked Flint. From the day they met, she had gotten a bad vibe from him. It was her job, after all, to make sure no one tarnished or destroyed the grand tradition of The Council.
“What inspired you to produce this huge year-long spectacle designed to fill your best friend’s seat on The Council in the first place?” Nate asked
“This is a rare opportunity. Never have we had a council seat be vacant like this. In the past, the seat would either have been passed on through inheritance or, failing that, open seats would be filled through our academy pipeline.” The Show continued, “While yes, there is an aspect of that still in place through our All-Star selections, I wanted to get some fresh blood in the mix. It’s an arduous process to become a Herald in the first place, so I was curious to see what would happen if we opened it up to the American public.”
“That is amazing!” Nate said. “I know there have been some people out there lobbying for reform for a while now. They must be happy that this contest is taking place!” Nate sensed The Show’s irritation at mentioning the reformers, quickly adding, “But, circling back to the All-Stars, any word on who they will be?”
“You know I can’t tell you that!” The Show laughed. “But, I can say that we are going to reveal three Heralds that have been hand-picked by The Council this Sunday.” The Show paused as applause rang through the small studio. “That’s right, in just two days, the first of the All-Stars will be known to America and the world! After that, anyone with access to the Onyx Network can go to ‘TopSeed dot tv’ to vote for your favorite Heralds to fill out the rest of our All-Star roster.”
“I, for one, am super excited to see who America chooses!” Nate responded. “Okay, I’ve got one last question for you.” Nate leaned in to reinforce the shift in tone. “Do you think this competition will really find a worthy successor to Eclipse?” The studio audience followed his lead, and a hush fell over the crowd. This was hard-hitting journalism, wasn’t it? Ariella was disgusted. She could see right through this callous manipulation of the American public.
The Show took a moment to think about the question and then leaned in to give his earnest answer. “I do, in fact, think that we will find a worthy successor to Eclipse. First of all, our Culling was designed to weed out those who couldn't hack it. Second, our All-Stars will all be worthy holders of the title. And third, this year-long competition will test every quality needed to hold a seat on The Council. Eclipse was my best friend. I wouldn’t be co-signing this event if I didn't believe it was the very best way to honor his memory. Perhaps we’ll even be able to finally put this long debate about reform to rest.” Ariella didn't see the end of the interview, as she had just crushed her tv with vines. She stared at the broken screen with fire in her eyes.
After she had calmed down, she used the vines, as if they were appendages, to throw her busted tv in the trash. She then headed to her laptop to order a new one. After all, she still needed to monitor Joel’s progress in the upcoming trials.