Zara held Xavier's delicious form in her sights, the prince of the class, the top student, his body tailored and his muscles augmented for matchless performance. She clutched the stun pistol in her hand, aiming at his wide V-shaped back, ready to take him out with a single well-placed shot.

She imagined how good that would feel. What she would say to him as he floated to the floor, upside-down, humiliated.

Unfortunately, while she dallied, he progressed too far away for a sure shot. She didn't want to miss. She didn't want to warn him that she was on his tail.

Besides, the astrophysics platform loomed between them, a holographic theater of star systems and galaxies. She leaped onto the station and quickly placed various stars and planets in their appropriate quadrants by marking their place on the holographic board.

She ran across the air on her supernatant athletic shoes and bounded onto the language station. She did okay with language, and a bit better with history. More importantly, she did them fast. That was where she made up ground. All that remained was government.

Zara focused so much on Xavier, so intently on speeding through the stations, that she forgot about any evasive measures from other students. After all, nobody took much notice of her. She had never been a frontrunner before. She couldn't imagine that she might be a target.

Until the stun hit her.

[https://i.imgur.com/tfRl1Yr.gif]

Pain shot through her body. Her arms and legs froze in cold agony. She could no longer pedal to keep herself aloft. She flipped upside down and drifted aimlessly downwards.

"Who are-"

She didn't finish because the paralysis took charge of her tongue. Although she might have seen him before, a nameless face in a crowd of students, she disregarded him. Thin and rangy, he wasn't nearly as spectacular as Xavier or Samara. How could he be, without any augmentation or skeletal tailoring? And his hair stuck out at weird angles. Didn't he know about electrostatic conditioners?

"Sorry about that, Squark," he said.

She wanted to tell him that her name wasn't Squark but her tongue didn't work right. He swam down to her, gazing directly into her eyes, his raw angular face peering into her upside-down one and smiling victoriously. He gently traced the outline of the mottled burn mark on her left cheek as she sunk slowly downward. She would have smacked him, but her arms wouldn't respond. She tried to spit on him, but her mouth had filled with cotton.

"I'm glad you didn't get it fixed, Squark. I think it's hot."

Then he sped away.

It took forever to float to the ground. She had to think about it all the way. Stunned and eliminated, as hard as she had practiced, as much as she had studied, she still lost the game. Even worse, she lost to some guy with floppy hair who called her Squark.

While she recovered from the stun, she stood in a crowd with other losers, including Samara, who took the opportunity to glare at her. "How does it feel, proton?" Samara clenched her hands into fists. "You got what you deserved. I hope you get whipped hard. I hope you cry. And I'm going to laugh the entire time."

Zara turned away. "I liked you better when you were upside-down."

Most watched Xavier, still in the lead, and powering so majestically through the air. But they also pointed to the guy with the floppy hair who had taken her out.

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"Isn't that Finn Komea?" someone said.

"Who?"

"Over there, coming up on Xave."

"Is he in this class?"

"Never seen him before."

"Protons, look at him run."

"Yah, and he's gonna catch Xave."

She quickly changed her mind about Finn. Xavier made his way with his tailored augmented muscles, but Finn flowed smoothly upwards. Finn held amazing command over each movement, not jerking and flailing like so many of the others. His arms and legs worked together in captivating choreography as if he danced with the air. She had never seen anybody move like that before, including Xavier or Samara. Not like Finn. She couldn't take her eyes off of him. Who was he? How did he do it?

Xavier knew he was in danger. He reached behind him and fired on Finn even as Finn shortened the distance between them. But Finn zigged and zagged, flipping backward and then somersaulting forwards, dodging left and jumping right. Finn moved with breathtaking finesse as he evaded each of Xavier's shots.

Then, when Finn returned fire, he nailed Xavier dead square. Xavier flipped upside down and floated downward while Finn soared to the top to claim the victory.

During the whipping that followed, wails echoed through the room. The teacher stood at the front of the class, waving its six rod-like arms with its round double elbows and its red sensors glowing from its stick-like. Each of them heard their own grades from the teacher. "Your punishment will be in accordance with your performance. The worse your score, the harder you will be whipped."

Zara knew that she deserved it. Finn had taken her out of the game. She hung her head as was the appropriate sign of her remorse. When the teacher spoke her grade, she felt like its bright red sensors glared only at her. A hot knife stabbed into her forehead, splitting her head wide open and slicing down through her neck and into her chest. The whipping wouldn't leave any physical mark, but the pain felt real. From there it spread like burning needles poking every muscle, her arms, her legs, her hands, and her feet, tearing her apart.

And then it was gone. "You may go now, Zara Vals," the teacher said. "I expect you will do better next time."

She nodded with the others, sure to keep her head down, careful to show her obeisance.

[https://i.imgur.com/SN0kl4Z.jpg]

Samara, however, being at the top of the class with Xavier, wasn't accustomed to the discipline. She didn't show her obeisance, and she got whipped harder and harder, again and again. During the entire punishment, Samara goggled at Zara. "You did this to me," Samara screamed as the whipping went on and on. "You made this happen to me."

"Look down," Zara said. But Samara didn't want to listen to her. Zara trooped over to Samara and got right into her face. "Listen to me. I'm trying to help you. You have to look down or the teacher will keep beating you."

Samara scowled, but when the punishment continued, she finally acquiesced and bowed her head. Since Xavier finished second, he only received a light whipping. Still, he cursed and swore at the pain, howling and shrieking. This might be his first time, but at least he knew enough to look down, to show the proper submission.

[https://i.imgur.com/FsmB8sM.gif]

That day, Finn dethroned Xavier as the new champion of the class. For his reward, the teacher elevated him to the top. Literally. The teacher arranged the classroom like a pyramid. The winners sat above everybody else. Successive rows of losers wallowed underneath each other's feet. Zara sat down towards the bottom.

And things were about to get worse for her, because after school let out, Xavier, Samara, and three other groupies pounced on her just outside of the classroom.

Before she thought to run, Xavier seized one of her arms while a massive girl with some huge modifications took hold of her other arm. This girl had so many augmentations she appeared hulky, not pretty at all, not like Samara. Zara struggled to break free, but her natural muscles were no match for their enhancements.

"You took me out." Samara grabbed a wad of Zara's uniform with her left arm and clenched a fist with her right, winding up to strike. "Now I'm gonna return the favor."

Finn came on them so fast that no one saw him coming, not even Zara. And although he appeared smaller than his opponents, he slammed a fist into all five of them before they realized who hit them.

After he ran her attackers off, he smiled charitably for Zara. "Hello again Squark." His floppy hair hung down over the angular lines of his face. "It's nice to see you right-side up. I hope you won't get into any more trouble."

He had already turned to leave when she reached out and grabbed his arm. As soon as her fingers touched his skin, electricity shot through her body. It was like a burst of exhilaration. It was like radiated euphoria. It was like lightning striking through her body. Instantly, she felt strong. She felt alive. It was the best feeling ever. She couldn't let go. She didn't want it to ever end.

"Show me how you do it."