Elian sat by the hospital slab, watching his father’s shallow breathing. He had been checking the medical log every day, and each time it delivered more bad news. His father’s lungs had been the latest issue, the alveoli inside were starting to become misshapen and warped, making it difficult to pull oxygen from the air. Despite this, it gladdened him to see the man before him still reminded him of his father, even though he knew that wouldn’t last. So far the damage had been internal, but the log’s predictions informed him that the outside would soon deteriorate also. He took his father’s hand in his own, the scars and calluses rough against his own skin, and the man stirred. His father opened his eyes, the man’s pale blue eyes finding his own, mouth pulling into a weak smile. Elian’s father had always been kind, quick to smile and slow to anger, but the smile that greeted him now was a shadow of what it had been. It was genuine, but struggled to hide the pain underneath. “Hello my boy,” the main whispered, immediately taking a big breath, gulping for air. The slab underneath the man glowed, as a system activated to push more oxygen into the man’s lungs. The gulping slowed, lungs aided by the system. “Hello dad,” he smiled back at him, putting all of himself into the gesture, as he felt tears begin to form in the corners of his eyes. They sat like that for a while, the man slowing his breathing, as Elian squeezed his father’s hand. “I saw the announcement,” his father whispered at last, “You know you don’t have to enter.” Elian allowed himself a short chuckle. His father had never been slow, and he knew Elian well. Elian smiled at his father “You know I did already. I understand the risks, but you would do the same for me, you already did more than that for me. It’s my turn to give back.” Concern flickered on the man’s face, and he took a breath as though to answer, but instead started coughing. The slab underneath glowed brighter, the system ramping up. “Besides,” Elian added, “Its unlikely that I ever make it anywhere near the Reseed. There’s what, 3000 places for us after the gems get theirs, with millions of entrants. I’ve already applied for more hours at the shuttle bay, and they would probably let me take additional training to work with microtech, if I signed a long term contract with them. We will make this work.” His father’s smile never disappeared, but the worry was obvious in his eyes “I can’t lose you too”, he whispered. Elian just squeezed his father’s hand, and reinforcing his heart behind the smile he wore. “I won’t leave you, dad.”

Light started to slowly creep its way into the room as the dark tint on the large, wall to wall windows faded, revealing a perfect blue sky outside. Zen woke slowly to the tickling at the back of his mind, as his implant transitioned his brain from a state of deep sleep to wakefulness. Composing himself, he sat up in the huge four poster bed and stretched exaggeratedly, both arms reaching up past his head, and like a well oiled machine half yawned, half shouted “Gooooood morning everyone, and thank you to all you loyal night watchers! Only two days until the first stage of the application process starts. Make sure you all keep watching to get all the latest updates! Q&A is in two hours, and make sure to stick around for the giveaway.” He mentally altered the angle of the stream, bringing it closer to his face. He smiled broadly, perfect teeth flashing as the sunlight continued to fill up the room “Here are some quick messages from today’s sponsors. Sit tight, I’m gonna go freshen up, see you all in just a few minutes.” He mentally flicked the stream to the preprepared string of advertisements, and sagged a little once he was sure they started to run. He took a breath, yawned for real, and started to make his way out of the massive bed. As his feet made contact with the heated floor, the wall behind the bed shimmered as the entire surface changed into a reflective surface. Humming to himself, he padded across the floor to sit beside the huge window, facing the mirror surface of the reflective wall. The seat molded to him as he sat, and holographic panels formed around him, floating at eye level. He glanced over them, and his implant internalized the data on stream views and ad revenue. Satisfied, he focused on the mirror and took in his appearance. Amethyst purple eyes under perfect eyebrows returned his gaze, and he ran a hand through his golden blonde hair, smoothing it back. Zen’s purple eyes were a clue to his heritage, and an indicator if his heavily edited genes. The Helios family of Dominia were the primary provider of the system’s gene editing and cosmetic surgeries, and the each member of the family was a walking advertisement for their services. He felt a buzz at the back of his mind, and stood in surprise as his mother entered the room. The head of the Helios family was absolutely imperious, the result of generations of effort in perfecting the human form. She looked like she was in her early thirties, but in truth she was pushing one hundred years old. He straightened further, reaching his full 6’7 height, and mentally tacked on two more minutes of ads to his stream “Good morning mother. I didn’t realise you would be visiting.” Zen saw his mother rarely, which honestly was a blessing, as it meant she either didn’t care what he was doing, or else he doing well enough that she had no reason to interject herself. She strode forward, coming to stand in front of Zen. She was tall, almost as tall as Zen, and her unflinching deep purple eyes met his “Zenith. Your father and I have been conferring, and we have decided to enter you into the Reseed.” Mentally reeling, Zen maintained a cool expression. He had planned to enter through the open application, which would have allowed him to stream the whole thing, and this ruined that. He opened his mouth to speak, but his mother cut him off “Yes, I know you wanted to stream the whole thing, but no. We are doing it this way, no reason to take any risks.” She waved her hand noncommittally, adding “The contract has already been written up, you can look over it, if you like.” Zen’s mother turned on her heels, and began to leave, clearly considering the matter resolved. She turned at the door, and looked at him, before delivering a blow that made his heart grow cold, absolutely ruining his morning. “Oh and by the way, you’ll be joining the First Legion once you enter the Reseed. Then, once you’re out, you’ll be going to the Legion Academy in the home system. You’ll be close by after the games are over anyway.” Zen allowed himself a full minute to wallow, before plastering a smile on his face as the advertisements ended, and the stream went live again.

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