Harrison wasn’t joking. After an intense warm-up, he started sparring with her. He showed her the flaws in her punches and kicks, gave her tips on balance, and adjusted her positions. The CDSim recorded her, allowing Harrison to show her holographic figure performing. The program let him point out the exact flaws he was teaching her to fix.

“Your fist is a bit low.”

“Keep your thumb below your knuckles.”

“Straighten your back.”

“Your leg isn’t firm enough.”

The program was especially irritating, the screen beeping and turning red whenever she executed a move incorrectly. She would punch the screen out of frustration, her fist going through the hologram, and it would beep again, as if out of spite.

With both of them being Earthians, Harrison was starting out with the Earthian fighting disciplines like karate, judo, jujitsu, boxing, and the like. Whenever Calista showed the slightest sign of boredom, he’d remind her: “Theory is just as important as practice.”

Despite only having an hour, discounting the cool-down, they covered a lot. The training was costly, mostly of the human girl’s patience. Harrison was a good teacher, but his smugness and arrogance really riled her up.

During their spars, she was pushed, shoved, and thrown on the mat numerous times. Worse, she couldn’t even use a healing bot to relieve her pain. “The healing bots are only for serious injuries. If you’re whining over a bruise, you’re not going to make it in the real competition,” Harrison told her. He was right, but her anger was reaching its limit.

She grunted as she was once again thrown on the mat, panting heavily. Harrison chuckled and stood over her, leaning down to talk. His handsome face was filled with so much complacency that she seethed.

“You know, maybe you should concentrate more on my fists than my good looks-” He was interrupted by Calista’s foot in his face.

She rose with a satisfied smirk. “Get over yourself, Prince Charming.”

He chuckled. “That’s more like it.” The AIDA bell dinged, signifying the end of the period. “We’ll keep going tomorrow. You can rest for a bit, then we’ll cool down and go to dinner.”

Calista gladly obliged, sitting up and generating a water bottle from the AIDA. Guild training was intense. She could only imagine what the other groups were doing. “I can’t believe no one’s signed up for your class,” she commented.

“Who wants an SC with a bad name?” Harrison pointed out. He sighed as he leaned against the wall with his own water bottle. “But it’s fine. Gives me more free time, you know? And because of the help you need, you’re lucky you get my time all for yourself. I don’t have to lend my attention to anyone else.”

“Thanks for this, Harrison. Really.” She raised her bottle to her lips. “Even if you were being a bugwad the whole time,” she added under her breath.

Harrison pretended not to hear her. “You remind me of someone, you know.”

“Really?”

“Someone… or something. You just seemed familiar when I saw you fight with Lílitha. I don’t know what it was. Something in the way you fought.” He sipped his water. “But there’s potential. You just have to unlock it. Don’t hold back, don’t doubt yourself. Go all out. If you don’t give your 100%, you’ll never make it anywhere.”

“Giving 100% is hard.”

“That’s why it’s 100%. It’s not easy.” He gulped all his water down and threw the bottle in the air, letting it disappear. “And in the Versus, you’re facing all kinds of people that have all kinds of powers. Hajjians breathe fire at you. Klausians shoot ice at you. Ilamikoans… bite you.”

“Seriously, what is it with Lílitha and biting?”

“It’s her best weapon. She likes to use it. You’d think that would make her predictable, but almost everyone gets caught off guard.”

“You guys seem like good friends. Why don’t you put her in your Guild?” Calista suggested.

“People say a lot of things about us, so… she didn’t want to.” He walked back on the mat and began stretching. “She’s like my little sister. We’re in the same year. Because she was the only Ilamikoan student, she would get teased a lot, and I’d defend her, so we got close.” He chuckled. “God, she’d kill me if she heard me say that. She sees me like a younger brother— she’s older than me. But I can’t help it.”

“She’s older than you?”

“Yeah, in Earthian years, she’s 23.”

“What?!”

“That’s the whole thing about their species. They look young, but they’re not.” He motioned Calista over. “Let’s start cooling down. And don’t tell her, please. She’d murder me in my sleep.”

“My mouth is a Yarus.”

“A what?”

“From Astrana. You know, the thing she uses to hide…?” She trailed off at the unfamiliarity in his eyes. “Never mind. I just mean that I won’t say anything.”

There was a pause. Harrison gazed at her as they moved slowly in sync, stretching and breathing to calm their heart rates. “I’m telling you… you can get on the team. You just need to work.”

“And I’m willing to.”

===

Calista couldn’t help the feeling of pride when she walked in with her Guild patches on her Practicum uniform, but it quickly dimmed with the reminder that she was the only member in Kappa. The large, packed Guild tables watched her as she looked between the human tables and the empty, newly generated, orange table.

Why did it have to be orange?

She glanced at Belinda’s group, all of whom were eyeing her with mockery. Belinda looked conflicted, as if unsure what to do. Calista soon made a decision and sat alone. Belinda’s Guild didn’t like her, and she wasn’t friends with the other humans, anyway. She didn’t want to be ashamed of her Guild already. She owed it to Harrison.

Rosalina entered the Mess Hall and instantly smiled at the sight of Calista. She walked over, leaning on the surface. “Well, look at you. The color suits you.” She flicked one of Calista’s patches. “It must be frustrating, though. Being a Socializer, you must be lonely without any little friends in your Guild.”

“I’ll live.” Calista didn’t want to give Rosalina another excuse to glitch up her day. After how confident she was the previous day, she wasn’t about to diminish that new image.

“Well, congratulations on joining the Favorites’ club.” Rosalina’s fangs flashed. “We have our own lounge in this building, you know. You should come by.”

Calista looked at her, confused. “What?”

“Did Harrison not tell you?” She smirked, glancing at Calista’s shirt. “Ah… he hasn’t gotten it yet. It makes sense.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, you’re the only Kappa in the school. Which makes you, by default, a Favorite.”

Calista blinked, shaking her head. “What? B-but… I just got into the Guild. That doesn’t make sense.”

“Of course it does. You’re his only student. Why wouldn’t you be Harrison’s Favorite?”

“I heard my name.” Harrison approached, nodding curtly at Rosalina. “Rosalina.”

“Harrison.” She smiled. “So, you haven’t told your first student the big news?”

“Big news?”

“About her being a Favorite.”

He paused, paling for a second. Calista crossed her arms, facing him. “Yeah, Harrison. Why didn’t I know this?”

He scratched his head nervously. “Well… it’s usually a huge honor and everything, so I wanted to surprise you with the badge in Guild Training today.”

“Aw, how sweet,” Rosalina chuckled.

“Stay out of this, Wiasod.”

“No need to be impolite. I will see you in class, human.” Rosalina waved her fingers and left.

“You could’ve at least warned me,” Calista said to Harrison.

“Yeah, I’m sorry. I just thought… like I said, it’s a big deal.”

She shrugged. “It’s by default, anyway.”

“Hey, don’t put yourself down like that. Even though you were a pain yesterday, I think it suits you.”

“I was the pain?”

“You are exhausting to teach. But you’ll improve in time.” He smirked, annoying her.

She flicked some of her food at him. “Go to your table.”

“You sure you’re good here by yourself?”

“Trust me, even us Socializers need to recharge every once in a while.”

“Okay. I’ll see you, then.” He left her at the table, alone.

Calista fingered her shirt fabric, imagining an orange Favorite badge pinned at the front. It would look pretty cool…

But how would any of the students respect her now? The Favorite position merely fell into her lap just because no one was in Harrison’s Guild. First her entry into the school, and now this?

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===

At the end of the day, Calista retreated to her dorm for some solitude. She’d kept a smile on her face and happily showed off her Guild patches, but after enduring all the looks and mockery, she was drained.

At Guild Training, Harrison gave her the new Favorite badge, which read, ‘Calista Medley, Kappa Favorite’. The feeling was surreal. It was only her first week at the school and she was already a Favorite.

She tried to feel proud about her new status, but it was hard. She had everything handed to her on a silver platter. She was sure she got randomly picked to attend the academy. She got freely invited into a Guild that didn’t exist before, making her an automatic Favorite. It was all so easy… and so difficult at the same time.

“A visitor is requesting to enter,” AIDA announced.

“Who is it?”

“Camelithia Courier.”

“I don’t know her.”

A pause. “She would like to… ‘meet you and establish a cordial relationship’.”

“Okay…” Calista approached her door cautiously. Was it a prank? “Can I see who it is?”

AIDA projected the security camera footage. She saw a Seeyastian girl with pink skin and fuchsia hair tied up in long dreadlocks.

“Um… okay, open the door.”

AIDA did so. Calista stepped back in surprise, not expecting the girl to be so tall. She looked to be a few years older. A very noticeable characteristic was her eyes. Her pupils were rhombus-shaped, traced within brightly colored irises that were half blue and half green.

“Hi, there!” she said enthusiastically, speaking with a cockney accent. “I’m one of your classmates. I saw you in Defensive Maneuvers. I hope you don’t mind… I asked permission to come up here, since not many people have really talked to you… my name’s Camelithia Courier, but if that’s a mouthful, you can call me Cam. Or Dropkick; that’s my call sign.” She stuck out her pink hand.

Calista hesitantly accepted the handshake. “Calista Medley. Nice to meet you.”

“Do you mind if I come in?”

“Oh, sure, go ahead.” She stepped aside.

Camelithia looked around her room. “So…” She plopped on the chair sitting at the foot of the sleep capsule. “How has it been for you? I’ve wanted to meet you for a while, but school always gets in the way. I sit all the way up at the back of the class, if you ever need help.”

“Thanks. It’s been pretty weird, I guess.” Calista sat next to Cam. “To be honest, I didn’t even expect to get in this school.”

“Neither did any of us.” She quickly checked herself. “Not that I thought you incapable. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend.”

“No, I got you. It’s, like… uber-weird.”

Cam seemed a bit off-put at Calista’s slang, but paid it no mind. “I heard about your spar with Hothead, though. People said you did quite good.”

“I did okay…”

“Don’t be so modest! Sure, she wasn’t taking you seriously. But you put her in her place.” She clicked her tongue. “That girl has some serious problems. It’s by her own mistakes that she’s ‘stuck on Earth’.” She made quotation marks with her fingers. “But she takes it all out on everyone else like it’s their fault.”

“What do you mean, ‘stuck on Earth’?”

“She’s on Versus parole.”

Calista raised her brows, expecting an explanation.

“You don’t know that?” Cam’s brows furrowed. “I’m surprised. That’s when a criminal is given the chance for freedom through the Versus. Fighting schools are good places to train them to control themselves. Rosalina was detained on Earth, so her planet’s government agreed to keep her here until she straightens out and graduates.”

Calista froze. “Wait, you’re telling me there are actual criminals here? From other planets?” The SociaLights had mentioned that, but she thought it was a lie. They always came up with the noobiest rumors and conspiracies about the Versus and the fighting schools. How could they be right?

“They have strict limits, though. If they do anything to break their parole, they’re in prison for life. So, she can’t beat you up outside of a combat setting, and she can’t kill you.”

“But there are criminals. Hajjian criminals. Here.”

“Like I said, they have eyes on her. That’s why she challenges people; it’s her way of getting revenge in combat. Even then, there’s a lot of things she’s not permitted to do. Don’t worry.”

After that bit of information, Calista was even more intimidated by her Hajjian schoolmate, and paranoid about everyone around her. Who else was a criminal using the Versus to get out? Who else could potentially murder her when no one was looking?

“Anyway!” Cam turned to face her fully. “Welcome to the club! I’m a Favorite, too. Eta Guild, Elisa ‘Double Dutch’ Fiosda.” She flashed her green Favorite badge and Guild patches. “I love your uniform, by the way. I’m thinking of borrowing some of your style, if you don’t mind.”

“Yeah, totally,” Calista said. “And… ‘Double Dutch’? Where’d she get that?”

“Oh, that was from last Versus. In one of the Chaos Rounds, we got a Multi-Dutch game. It’s a bunch of ropes whipping around to trip us.” She imitated the ropes with her hands. “Elisa was the only one that didn’t trip once. She used a lot of that in her following rounds, too.” Cam cocked her head. “I’m surprised. You really didn’t watch last Versus at all?”

“Um… I didn’t really have a lot of time.” The human girl wrung her hands together.

“Well. Tell me about yourself. I heard you were a Socializer before this. What was that like? How’d you train?”

She had quite the long story to tell… omitting some details, of course.

===

Lisa was getting tired of nodding every time a student greeted her in the hallway. One would think it was due to the massive respect everyone had for her. She was the Dean of this school, after all.

But underneath the polite “Good morning, Dean White” was hidden contempt for most higher species students, whether full-blooded or not. The human race had become such a ‘lowly’ identity in the eyes of the Utopia. Dumb, lazy rags who let machines do everything for them.

Lisa didn’t deny that humans themselves weren’t innocent; there were many that looked down on other species for no good reason. But the unwritten ranking was known by all. Earthians were close to the bottom of the food chain.

There were other species of the Utopia that were also held in low regard. Aelkets were one; while sentient, they had no direct way of communicating with other species, not to mention their unusual appearances and composure. Makakians were lower than humans due to their cowardly nature. They chose to remain slaves to Planet Hajja, too afraid to try and free themselves or establish relationships with the other Utopia members.

People said that humans were viewed as inferior because of their lack of abilities. They couldn’t wield fire, or ice, or shapeshift, or turn themselves invisible. But there were plenty of other species that didn’t have any ‘superpowers’, either.

Paeseoans and Seeyastians were like humans. They were even slave planets before the Utopia was formed. Yet, even they were more respected than Earthians. Perhaps because they discovered and created Kwantan and Utopaea, adding them to the Utopia as interspecies planets. Discovering uninhabited planets was quite a feat.

Earth had done many remarkable things over the centuries, but nothing that would impress other planets. The Versus was the only outlet now. It was the most hyped-up, studied, and revered event, making it the prime hub for interplanetary relations and reputation building.

Fistborn was the 7th best fighting school on Earth, dropping from its 5th place after Harrison’s controversy. Overall, Earth took the 12th rank out of 14, losing the previous 8th rank that Lisa had earned them.

That was probably the main cause of the higher species’ adamant desire to slander Harrison and insist on his ‘cheating’ through his first tournament. They couldn’t stand that Lisa had won against them four years prior, especially Hajja, who was on a losing streak since then. That Versus was their ultimate chance to exact revenge against Earth, and they did it, at the cost of a little boy’s reputation. They’d convinced nearly everyone that everything he did was fake.

Lisa stopped at the main gymnasium in the Training Center. It was 11 in the morning, the start of the short Break period students received. Many spent the break in the Studitorium, while others filled the gym to train.

Calista was one of the latter. Lisa watched her train with her Mearthian friend— Belinda, if Lisa remembered correctly. The Earthian was practicing her high kicks with surprising flexibility and balance. Her aim was a little off, but otherwise, it wasn’t bad.

Lisa had serious doubts about this girl. She’d never seen a fighter quite like her. Socializers and fighters were like the 0’s and 1’s in a binary code. Two completely different numbers. The Socializer movement had repeatedly tried to shut down the Versus in their history, but due to the lack of support from other planets, they always failed. They were one of the causes of the Earthian species’ low reputation.

This girl fit many of the stereotypes. The flamboyant personality, the obsession over her looks, the fashion choices— though, Lisa had to admit, she looked great in those custom uniforms. She wished she’d thought of that in her younger years. Currently, she was wearing her Guild uniform for practicum, with the same designs that resembled an old-fashioned cheerleading outfit.

Calista had already done a few impressive things during her first week at the academy. She survived a spar with Rosalina, got into a Guild, and made Favorite status. Considering her nature, Lisa was surprised she didn’t run away from Harrison’s invitation, knowing his Guild didn’t even exist.

She would have to prove she deserved her Favorite status, though. A default Favorite was never good. She had three months to do so. Three months…

That Ruhirian had to be wrong. Even Lisa didn’t think it was possible for Calista to improve so much over such a short period of time. In the vision, she was wearing Fistborn’s combat uniform, so she obviously would get into the school team. Would she get through the prelims, though?

The international preliminaries were already very tough. The interplanetary tournament was brutal, both on the fighting side and the political side. Would Calista have the strength for it? She was already struggling a lot with the way the other students were treating her.

So far, the woman had said nothing about new visions or any explanations about Calista. She hadn’t responded to any of Lisa’s encrypted messages. Lisa really hoped the vision wasn’t a scam. Ruhirians were known to be very honest, but selling visions was already a very serious crime. This woman could’ve lied about anything.

Calista grunted in frustration when the CDSim beeped red for her again. “Cali, you need more power. You’re too gentle,” Belinda told her.

“I am putting in… power,” Calista said.

“Not enough. You can kick a lot stronger than that.”

Lisa strolled into the gymnasium. It wasn’t uncommon for her to do routine checks on the students’ progress, but it always roused them whenever they were training, especially when it wasn’t during a class. She used her intimidating glare to scare the students back to work. These kids acted tough, and maybe thought less of her, but around her, they were scared little mice.

Her amber eyes glanced repeatedly at Calista as she reviewed everyone’s routines, giving a few pointers every now and then. She decided to visit the human girl last. No doubt the students would be quick to accuse her of species bias.

Calista hadn’t even noticed the Dean’s presence, continuing with her frustrated routine. While she executed most of the moves correctly and improved her stances, that power… that was missing. When the CDSim beeped again, she let out a startling shriek that turned all eyes to her.

“THIS THING IS GLITCHING BROKEN! EVERY GLITCHING TIME, THIS BUGGING THING HAS TO GLITCHING BEEP! BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, I’M TIRED OF IT!”

“Calista, calm down!” Belinda seemed panicked.

“You want more power?! I’ll give you more power, you piece of-” She angrily kicked at the screen, but lost her balance and fell. Snickers erupted as Calista’s face turned red from both rage and humiliation.

“Cali, it’s practice. Don’t get so frustrated so quickly.” Belinda helped her up. “Just calm down.”

“Is there a problem here?” Lisa approached them.

“N-no, ma’am! Sorry.” Belinda’s back went rigid. Calista froze on the spot, the red skin fading into pale white.

“You don’t have to be so nervous, girls.” The woman chuckled and looked at Calista. “You’re practicing your kicks, right, Miss Medley?”

She nodded shakily. “Uh-huh. I mean- yes, Ms. White. Dean White. Sorry.”

“Ms. White is fine. What’s the problem?”

“She’s doing the kicks right, she just doesn’t kick hard enough,” Belinda explained.

“Let me see.”

Restarting the training module, Calista got into position and kicked at the air. The Sim beeped again, the words ‘LOW FORCE’ flashing. Calista huffed.

“What have you tried?” Lisa asked.

Belinda shrugged. “I told her to visualize something she hated. Works for me every time.”

“It’s not working for me. I’m thinking of something I really hate, too.”

Lisa looked closer, noting a tremor in Calista’s limbs. “How about you take a break? Class starts in five minutes. I think you’re lacking force because you’re too tired.”

“But I need to get better.”

“You will. The Versus isn’t tomorrow, sweetie,” Lisa chuckled. “You have time. Give yourself a chance to rest. You don’t have to kick perfectly after only a week.”

“I guess…” Calista twiddled her fingers. Lisa noticed the nail polish glinting in the light, a peach color that matched her uniform.

Calista’s figure was perfect… for a beauty queen. For a fighter, her muscles were far too underdeveloped and her core looked too weak. She was probably too used to the Thinner doing everything for her.

“You need to do more workouts, and I’m not talking about training. Do some runs, stretches, any workout routine that builds your muscle mass. Warm-Up periods aren’t enough. You need to train your body, not just your combat skills. Your diet shouldn’t have any weight-therapy creams or anything like that, either.”

Calista blushed again. “Is it that obvious?”

Lisa smiled, patting her shoulder. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, okay? Break’s almost over. You should relax for now and take time for yourself. Do you have Theory or Practicum?”

“Theory.”

“Great. Go rest. You’ve thrown yourself into another routine. Your body needs to adapt. From now on, you’re training to get stronger, not trying to be thinner.”

“Yes, ma’am. Thank you.”

Belinda smiled at her friend, putting an arm around her. “Thank you, Dean White.”

“And Calista?”

They turned.

“Sweating is a good thing. Get used to it.”

Both smiled, Calista letting out a chuckle. As they left the gym, Lisa cast a last glare at the other students, halting their nearly-silent snickering.

She had her doubts, but if Calista truly was in the vision, then she’d have to help her fulfill it.