“Cali, I’m so proud of you! We’re proud of you,” Jennifer gushed.

“Thank you.” Calista giggled modestly. After a soothing evening at the spa, which doubled as homework time, she was back in her dorm for the night. Her muscles were still a bit sore, especially her forearms, but she was okay overall.

“Are you gonna fight her again?” Carter asked.

“I don’t know. Hopefully not. If it weren’t for the coach stopping her, she would’ve killed me, I think.”

“Why’d she want to fight you?” Catalina asked, cocking her head.

“Uh… I dunno. She’s a Hajjian.” Calista shrugged. “I guess she likes to pick on new students. Or… she doesn’t like Socializers. The whole school hates them, so it makes sense.”

“That shouldn’t be allowed.” Henry frowned.

“It’s fine, Dad. I handled it.”

“Didn’t anyone help you?”

“It was a spar. The coach was fine with it.”

“Wait, so are people gonna keep fighting you because you’re a Socializer?” For the first time in a while, Carter showed concern.

“What? No.”

“It’s just… the way you made it sound,” Catalina interjected. “Not to mention all the stuff people say about you on the Hub.”

“Cat.” Jennifer gave her youngest daughter a look.

“Yeah, I…” Calista backtracked. This wasn’t what she wanted to talk about.

“Baby, have they been picking on you a lot?”

She gazed at them. She missed them so much. What she wouldn’t give to simply go back home and be with them, hug them, be surrounded by their love and protection… away from all of this.

“I-I… it’s not easy… but I can handle it.” Calista smiled, tears sparkling in the light of her screen. “I just need to toughen up. Be more like them. Most people just think I’m too… out there. For a fighter, I mean. And I-I don’t blame them… they probably saw everything I was…” She let her tears escape.

Jennifer reached out, her holographic hand passing through her daughter’s chin. She hesitated, remembering, and sighed. “Calista. You are a very strong, capable, resourceful girl. Look at you. You were thrown into this by… God knows who. Maybe it was his plan. And you handled it. You went for the tests, you earned that spot. That room, that school… it’s yours. You deserve it. Don’t let anyone make you feel less than.”

“It’s just hard. They’re all so… they’re not me. I’m not them, Mom.”

“Don’t be them,” Catalina said flippantly. “You’re not them. You shouldn’t be. As long as you know how to fight, who cares about the way you act? It’s not like it’s hurting them.”

“Exactly. You went there to learn how to fight, not to get their approval,” Henry supported.

“They think I’m stupid.” Calista’s voice cracked and she wiped her eyes. “They think I… I’m here as a joke or something. They say stuff like that all the time. I need to be more like them, and I try, but I can’t. I feel stupid.”

“You’re not stupid,” said Carter. “You’re just dumb.”

“Carter.” Henry glared at him.

“Very funny.” Calista rolled her eyes.

“What I mean is, you’re trying to be so much like them that you’re falling flat. That’s why it looks dumb. That’s not you. Like Cat said, you’re not them, you’re you. Stop pretending to be what you’re not.”

“What I’m not is a fighter.”

“No.” Catalina shook her head. “What you’re not is a hotheaded weirdo that thinks getting angry all the time and being judgy is a good personality to have. You’re a fighter. But you’re more fun and sweet.”

“I know ‘be yourself’ is pretty cliché to say, but it’s the first thing that pops into my mind,” said Jennifer. “If I tried to act like the other people in WSS, I wouldn’t have won the way I did. They didn’t think I would amount to anything. To them, I was too ‘quiet’, too ‘boring’. But they didn’t win. I did.” She playfully flipped her hair.

“They did?” Calista always imagined her mother to be this popular, confident queen bee at her Socializer school. She never thought the other Socializers looked down on her at all.

“Yeah. But I kept going with my style, and I won. Not that it’s done much now… but it happened.”

“Fighting is a huge career now, Cali,” said her father. “We know you can make the team, in your own way. The point is that you know how to fight.”

“I thought… I didn’t want to be the same person I was. I don’t want to be like the SociaLights. I don’t want to be a Socializer anymore… no offense, Mom.”

“Honey, I get it. Your generation’s idea of Socializing is not what it used to be,” her mother chuckled.

“We’re not telling you to be the same person you were, or be like the SociaLights,” said Henry. “We’re telling you to just… be. If you try to fit into someone else’s mold, it won’t work out, and you’ll be wasting a lot of time and energy. So just let yourself go and own it. When they realize it doesn’t bother you, they’ll stop trying to change you.”

Calista fell into thoughtful silence. “Calista, it is now 9:50 PM. I advise you to start your sleep cycle in at least 10 minutes to receive a full night’s sleep,” AIDA interrupted.

“We’ll let you sleep,” said Jennifer. “You going to be okay?”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “I think so.”

“You know you can talk to us anytime, right? Just call and we’ll be here.”

“Thanks, Mom. I love you guys.”

“Good night.”

===

After her spar with Rosalina the previous day, the academy buzzed with the news. Calista was pleasantly surprised when a few students complimented her the following day. Belinda was especially happy for her, staying as loyal as she had been from day one.

During Teamwork, Rosalina didn’t confront Calista at all, not because she was intimidated, but because she wouldn’t be allowed to for a little while. That at least gave Calista a bit more time to study and train before the next time the Hajjian would pick a fight with her.

It was now Friday, which unfortunately didn’t come with a sense of relief, since weekends were still school days. Calista’s green eyes opened at the AIDA alarm, still disgruntled at the early hour. As she sat up, stretching and smoothing her hair, she found herself staring at a Pet hovering over her.

She screamed and fell out of her capsule, crab-walking away as the Pet followed her. It beeped and two small, blue eyes appeared on a black screen on its face.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you,” it said in a young girl’s voice.

Calista screamed again, backing away faster. “Relax! Don’t scream so much,” the Pet said.

The human girl pointed at the flying sphere with a shaky finger. “Y-you talk.”

“Yeah?” It sounded confused. “You’ve never seen a talking Pet before?”

“No!”

“Seriously? They’re… oh, yeah, you’re a Socializer. But still, you’re supposed to go with the trends, right? Then again, you guys don’t want anything invented by Versus people-”

“Okay, okay, stop talking for a sec.” Calista stood. “What are you supposed to be?”

“Your Pet.”

“I have a Pet.” She detached her current Pet sphere from her belt and let it hover beside her, its small wings buzzing like a hummingbird’s. “This one.”

“I’m your Versus Pet,” it explained. “I have all the same functions as a regular Pet, but the special part is that I record and study your fighting patterns. I’ll track every aspect of your style; the way you move, your rhythm, your patterns, favorite weapons, everything. If you get on the team, you get to use me as a weapon. And I’ll keep developing the longer you stay in the competition. I’ll be even better if you get past the preliminaries. They started using us in the last Versus, so we’re pretty new.”

“Whoa, okay… slow down.” Calista approached the Pet carefully. It was blue and red with the academy logo on the back. “A Pet with a personality.”

“Yeah, well, we were basically a gift from Mars. They built us with artificial intelligence. You humans are so afraid of a takeover that you built… those.” It looked at Calista’s pink Pet, which still hovered silently in place. “At least you made AIDAS. That’s close enough, I guess.”

“So… you’re my Pet now?”

“Yup! I came a little late because you’re new. Everyone in the Versus school has one,” it said. “But I should catch up easily. You can name me if you want, or customize me. You can just send your other Pet back home.”

Calista glanced between the two. “O… kay. Um… AIDA, send my Pet back to my house. I’m keeping my Versus Pet.”

“Object: Calista Medley’s Pet marked for delivery.”

“I’ll just attach to your belt. During classes, you’ll want me in rest mode so I can properly study your movements,” it continued.

“Okay…” She changed into her uniform, still weirded out by this… new Pet. The Versus people got all the good stuff, didn’t they?

“Ooh, you look good in that skirt. Most girls in the Versus school don’t wear it,” the Pet observed.

“I noticed.” Calista rubbed the fabric between her fingers. “It could still use some…”

“What?”

“Something. Like… it could look better.”

“You can change it if you want.”

She looked up. “I can?”

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“Yeah. Ask the AIDA.”

“AIDA, are we allowed to customize our uniforms?” Calista asked.

“Uniform alteration is permitted under two conditions: that the student complies with their species’ corresponding Appropriate Attire Guidelines according to Fistborn Bylaws, depending on the uniform, and that the uniform retains the academy colors— with the exception of Guild colors— and representational crests, badges, or patches. Color alteration is not permitted.”

“Okay… sounds good.” Excitement built within her.

“Are you gonna pick out a name for me?” the Pet asked. “I’ve got a generator if you don’t know-”

“Ooh!” the human girl exclaimed. “Can I name you Lindsay?”

“Lindsay?”

“Lindsay Leigh! She’s Miss Milky Way 2348! She has one of the biggest Socializer networks in the Hub! She’s amazing. Her style, her talent…” She trailed off. The Pet’s eyes stared at her blankly.

“Lindsay it is,” the Pet finally said.

“Hey, I know you’re judging me. If you’re my Pet, you should be more supportive.”

“Sorry.”

===

“Calista, your uniform…”

“Yeah. You like it?”

Belinda gawked at her, completely blindsided by Calista’s sudden confidence and change in fashion. “O-of course, it’s just… wow. You know how to design.”

“Why, thank you.” Calista’s smile never left her face as they entered the gym. All of their classmates’ eyes turned to her.

Calista had taken her cue from the ‘cheerleaders’ ancient human schools had. They still existed, but their outfits now were vastly different from 200 years ago.

She’d blended the exercise bra and workout shirt together to make a blue and white midriff top with long sleeves, with red-rimmed letters spelling out ‘Fistborn’ that intermittently changed to a bald eagle— their school mascot. Instead of a skirt, she had a pair of blue tights with white lines running down the sides.

“But don’t you think it’s a bit… exposing? During combat, you don’t want your midriff open to attack,” Belinda pointed out.

She fingered an invisible fabric over her flat stomach, pinching it so it could become visible. It was a thick, transparent material covering her waist.

“Wha-” The Mearthian girl shook her head. “You’re unbelievable. How’d you come up with this so quickly?”

Calista flipped her high ponytail. “It was easy.”

“Sorry, but the Versus doesn’t have cheerleaders,” a girl called, mockingly smiling at her with her friends. “Unless you’re looking for a boyfriend?”

“Yeah, I’m looking for your boyfriend.” She flirtatiously waved to the boy holding the girl’s hand.

The girl’s smile instantly disappeared while her boyfriend snickered. She smacked his arm and stormed off, leaving him to chase after her.

“You’re a lot more confident than yesterday,” Belinda observed.

“I feel more confident. I figured, people are gonna make fun of me for being a Socializer anyway, so I might as well own it.”

“ALL STUDENTS, LINE UP!”

Everyone quickly followed the command, eyes still glancing over to check out Calista’s new look. Most of the males were especially curious. The coaches walked inside and stood across from them. They saw Calista, but didn’t seem to pay her any mind.

“Good morning, students,” said Coach Usda. “I hope all of you are ready for today’s Combat lesson. We will be concentrating on certain fighting disciplines, which include Earthian styles, Paeseoan styles, and Voraxian styles. Begin your stretches, please. And stop looking at Miss Medley’s uniform.”

The males still gawking at the human girl quickly looked away and stretched. Calista pretended not to notice, contenting herself with a smirk.

===

Fistborn’s Versus school was roused when Calista Medley arrived at the academy.

Everyone’s perceptions of Calista were different, but with one common denominator: they looked down on her. To most students, she was a stupid human girl fulfilling a dare, or a Socializer trying to tamper with the reputation of Versus fighters.

There were many rumors about her, enough to make everyone forget what truth really was. Many fighters were hoping for their family or friends to grab that last spot, and after Calista got it, they felt cheated.

The real question was: was she simply some digit-a-dozen wannabe Socializer? Or was she another dark horse underdog like Lisa White?

With that question in the air, Harrison was taking a huge risk. He had wanted to talk to her for a while. He knew he was crazy, probably stupid, to consider such an idea with his already troublesome reputation.

Her fighting technique was nonexistent and her reflexes were all over the place, but there was potential. His gut was begging him to just ignore her and focus on himself, but he couldn’t. What kind of human Versus fighter would he be?

He was trying to prove himself, and if he managed to get this girl on the team, it would say a lot about his teaching ability.

Or it would get the Utopia to call both of them cheaters.

The girl seemed more focused during their Teamwork period today, probably because of her new uniform. Her looks seemed to have great value to her. That wasn’t something generally encouraged among fighters, but if it helped her… whatever kept her system up.

When all the Versus students headed to the cafeteria for lunch, Harrison didn’t need to look for her. Calista came inside with her new formal uniform, her confidence as bright as the sun.

Her red skirt was an inch shorter, just at her knees, now decorated with a pattern of small, blue stars. Gone was the blue jacket. It was now a vest tightened slightly around her waist, the necktie matching the skirt, and the white shirt sleeves were shortened to her elbows. Instead of knee-high white socks, she wore blue leggings with red midcalf boots.

She approached the Gamma Guild table with a large smile as the members stared at her with open mouths. Harrison didn’t blame them; she went from the scared, nervous new girl to the professional supermodel of the school in two days.

“I’ll give her one thing, she knows how to attract an audience,” Li Mei chuckled.

“Looks like someone has a crush,” Catherine sang teasingly, pointing her fork at Harrison.

“Wha… everyone’s looking at her,” said Harrison.

“Mm-hmm.”

“She is hot, though,” said Kalis.

“Oh, please. Your call sign should be ‘Flirt’ instead of ‘Glaiver’,” Delaine mocked him.

“Come on, Minx. You jealous?”

“Jealous, my butt.” She flung some of her potatoes at him.

“What do you think, Harrison? You like her?” Elisa leaned forward, her green skin shining a bit more. Paeseoans’ skin colors had that effect when they were happy or excited.

“I don’t even know her,” said Harrison.

“Why don’t you get to know her? I’m surprised you haven’t talked to her.”

“Why don’t any of you?” Harrison retorted.

“I’m just saying. You’re that kind of person.”

“Well, you know what? Maybe I will.”

“You don’t have to be that sensitive, Smith,” said Melsen.

“I’m not being sensitive. I just don’t get why you guys are asking me to talk to the new girl. I don’t see any of you volunteering.”

“You have more in common with her,” Reilly said bluntly, eating. “It’s only natural.”

“I could say the same about these three.” Harrison nodded towards Catherine, Melsen, and Kalis, all of whom were three-quarters human. All it took was one fourth of alien DNA for them to consider themselves superior to Earthians.

“You still have more in common,” Kalis snorted.

“Alright, guys, quit bothering ‘im,” Catherine said. She then changed the subject, quickly adding, “Did you guys get the download for that new game yet? I love it!”

Catherine was the nicest out of all the SCs. She still hazed Harrison from time to time, persuading him to train her least favorite students, but she wasn’t nearly as bad as the rest of them, especially the highest ranks like Reilly and Disaris.

They would have a lot more to say once he went through with his plan, but at this point, he didn’t care anymore. He’d never be able to earn their respect anyway.

Once lunch ended, Harrison made sure to follow Calista out of the cafeteria. She stuck to her Mearthian friend’s side, her chatter never halting.

“Calista,” he called out.

They turned, instantly adopting confused looks. “Uh… hi, Harrison,” Calista said hesitantly.

“Hey, I was… could I… talk to you for a minute?”

She nodded at her friend. “See you later?”

“Sure.” The Mearthian glanced at him as she left them.

“What’s on the Hub?” Calista asked.

“I noticed you, uh… you did better in class today. So… good job.”

“Thanks.”

“And… you did well against Rosalina, too. I never told you that.”

“Thank you,” she chuckled.

“And… nice outfit.”

She nodded, quirking her perfectly trimmed brows. “Thanks…?”

Her Versus Pet suddenly popped off her belt, hovering next to her. “Oh, for glitch’s sake, just get to the point!”

Calista gawked at her Pet, turning red. Harrison was just as bewildered. “Is this what you do? You just activate without permission and embarrass me?” she asked the Pet.

“Don’t blame me. Blame the Martians that programmed me.” The Pet returned to her belt.

Calista smiled awkwardly. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s okay. Listen, um… I know you’re probably having a hard time adjusting to Fistborn, and catching up with classes and all that. And the Versus is only a couple months away. So… I was wondering if you wanted any help? From me?”

“From you?”

“I am a Student Coach, so… I could help you out. After dinner, all the Guild members go with their Student Coaches. If you’d like me to help you out, you could fit that in your schedule.”

“You want me to be in your Guild?”

“Yeah, why not?”

Well… Belinda did say that being in a Guild was very advantageous. But Harrison didn’t have a great reputation. And she’d probably make it even worse. She already embarrassed him enough that first day in Teamwork.

She needed help. If she wanted the rumors about her to stop, she needed to prove she could fight. And she highly doubted any other Student Coach would offer her assistance. There was no time to be picky or fearful.

“Thanks, Harrison. Sure. I’ll join,” she answered.

His face glowed with relief, accentuating his sapphire blues. “Great. After your last class, go to the Training Center. In fact, I’ll add it to your schedule.” He brought up his AIDA band. “Open your band for me.”

She did so. He flicked something from his screen to hers. Both screens flashed green. “There you go. Make sure to come in your Practicum uniform. We’ll see you there.” He smiled at her and went to the Mess Hall.

“Thank you. Really.”

“No problem.”

She brought up her schedule, seeing the new period integrated at the end.

7:30 PM: PC-GTK10 Kappa Guild Training— Kappa Training Room 10GT-P, Training Center— SC #10 Smith, Harrison

She entered the cafeteria and looked for Harrison’s Guild table. Would she eat with them from now on?

“One, two, three…” Not counting the Student Coach table, Calista followed the line of Guild tables until reaching a white one. She counted a couple more times to be sure.

“Alpha, Beta, Gamma— Belinda’s, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta… Iota.” There were only nine. No Kappa table.

===

Calista followed the highlighted route on her AIDA band to the Kappa Training Room with the other Guild members. She didn’t mention Harrison’s proposal to Belinda, so the girl was as confused as the other patch-wearing students in the hall.

“Calista?” Belinda approached her. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for the Kappa Training Room.”

“What?”

“Uh… Harrison asked me to be in his Guild.”

Her large black eyes blinked. “That’s what he told you?”

“Yeah, he said he’d help me out.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want to talk about it in front of your… friends.” She glanced at Belinda’s Guild friends talking about them in the corner.

“That’s great, Cali, but…” She trailed off.

“What?”

She shook her head. “Nothing. Harrison’s a Student Coach and a great fighter. He’ll help you a lot. Besides, having someone of your same species teach you is better. He knows your biological limits and abilities.” She glanced behind Calista. “You should probably go before Hothead sees you.”

Calista looked behind her, seeing Rosalina approaching from the opposite side of the hallway. “Good luck!” Belinda pushed her towards the orange Kappa door, which dissolved to let the Earthian inside.

The room was large, like a mini-gymnasium, with numerous mats lined up against the walls. A Changing Station and attendance screen were set up next to the door. Unlike the rest of the school, which was themed in the iconic red-white-and-blue, this room was themed orange— Calista’s least favorite color.

Harrison was doing stretches in the middle of the room with his practicum uniform… which was also orange. The FBA logo was on the right side of his jacket and the Kappa Guild symbol was on the left.

“Hey, Calista,” he said. “Right on time.”

“Where is everyone?” Calista looked around at the empty room.

“In their other Guild rooms.”

“I mean… your Guild.” She had a suspicion from the start, but she wanted the confirmation.

His smile never left his face. He finished touching his toes and started twisting his arms back and forth. “I assume you noticed I didn’t have a Guild table at the Mess Hall?”

“You don’t have a Guild, then.” Calista approached him.

“I do now. Congratulations, you’re my first student.” He got down on the mat and lifted his hips into a bridge. “Usually, new coaches just keep going with the last coach’s Guild. But because I’m Cheater…”

“Everyone left.”

“Joined other Guilds. You’re only allowed to change Guilds if the SC moves ranks, graduates, or drops out.” He stood. “None of them hesitated.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Nah, it’s fine. I have a clean slate. They were lousy.” He patted her shoulder. “I just need to log you as an official Guild member…” He scanned her with his Versus Pet, which was also orange. He opened his AIDA band and tapped a few buttons. “And… there.”

Orange Guild patches appeared on her sleeves. She turned her arms to see it. Surrounding a ‘K’ were:

Kappa- Harrison Smith

Calista Medley, Guild 10

“Welcome to the Kappa Guild,” his Versus Pet said. She felt an excited chill run down her spine.

“I never thought I’d see anyone wear one of those.” He tapped the patch. “Oh, and you get new uniforms, too.”

“I do?”

“Any Guild member can wear their colors. Although, most wait until finals week to wear them. For our practical exam, we fight each other in the arena. It’s a bit more intense for Guild members.”

“That sounds scary.”

He shrugged. “Scary but fun.” He tapped another button on his AIDA band. “So, you want to change from that… to this.”

Her customized uniform colors changed from blue and white to orange and white. Calista couldn’t help the grimace.

“You don’t like it?”

“Orange isn’t my color.”

He laughed. “Sorry. I didn’t pick. If I got to choose, I’d choose platinum… like Reilly’s Guild. But I can’t do that.”

“Maybe make it lighter?” she asked.

“Yeah, sure.” He adjusted the orange shade, slowly turning it to a lighter, cream-colored sort.

“Bit more… bit more… there.” Calista stopped him. It was now a strong peach color, the letters traced by a darker orange. Practically a light pink. The word ‘Fistborn’ was now ‘Kappa’, which changed into the FBA logo after a few moments.

Harrison chuckled. “All we do is train, train, train, and I expect you to be up for that.” His tone turned more stern as he crossed his arms. “Like I said, you missed a month of classes and you were a Socializer before this. You have a lot to work on. Are you ready for this? Because I’m not going easy on you.”

Calista stared into his blues. She expected herself to feel insecure, but she instead felt a rising strength within her core. She firmly nodded.

“Then let’s get to work.”