Tara sighs, “I was going to wait to announce this. But just participating and trying your best, and I mean really trying, Anna, will let you get one of the first Terrors to pick from.”
“Why should I care?” Anna wiggles a finger through one of her holiest pockets.
“Because it can help you! You want a sewing machine? Arachnette can sew for you. You want something able to carry stuff? A Flaurochs is tough and able to create baskets with its vines. Want a cute pet? Few creatures can compare to the sheer adorability of a Cerberuff puppy.”
Anna continues testing her pocket and I watch as her silently moving lips betray her thoughts. Debating with herself if a new pocket is worth trusting this glowing stranger. Then her pocket tears further and she walks to the line with an assenting nod.
I scan the crowd as the glowing obstacle course highlights the young faces below. A bigger crowd than I’m used to. And they aren’t screaming bloody murder. It’s… different. Kind of nice except for the nervous bubbling of my gut, sweat forming on my palms, and heart racing.
Pablo bares his teeth in a wolf-like grin at me as Anna walks to the line and leans forward. I stare ahead at the course. It’s similar to Sojourn’s obstacle course. The VR one when we can afford to run it. Honestly, I think Tara just reskinned our usual course. I haven’t run it in like a year?
Tara calls out, “Contestants are you ready?” Anna raises a hand. “Yes, Anna?”
“I’d like to test it first.”
Tara sighs, “Sure, Anna, go ahead.”
Anna steps forward like a cautious cat prodding a cup on a counter. She slowly places a foot above the audience. I watch the kids recoil from her foot and stare in amazement as the barrier glows beneath her foot. Some of them try to prod her shoe and get their fingers repulsed as if by a sheet of glass.
Tara calls out again, “Ok, come on back, Anna. Then we can start.” Anna glances back. Then she runs up the barrier beneath all the obstacles.
At least, Anna tries to. The barrier quickly proves too slippery and we all watch as Anna slides back down to the start, all the while scrabbling like a spider down a drain.
Anna looks back at us and shrugs, “Can’t blame a girl for trying.”
Tara is not amused. “Ten second penalty.”
Lee chimes in, “She did test the barrier though. That’s useful data, right?”
“That is why I am not immediately escorting her out of the Alpha test. Are we clear?”
“Yes, Tara.” Anna shrugs.
Tara’s brow furrows. “I cannot hear everyone. Are we clear that rules are meant to be followed?” Tara ends with a shout.
“Yes, Tara.” The audience echoes. It feels like being in kindergarten again. I hate it. I refocus on the course, already plotting my route with the knowledge Pablo would probably do his best to kick me off the course. I don’t remember any rules against it. And I don’t think a rule would stop him if he thought he could get away with it.
Tara claps her hands, Jerry shifts with the movement on her shoulder. “The race starts when Jerry signals. Get ready, get set, Dirt Blast, Jerry!”
A clod of dirt forms between Jerry’s paws before launching ahead of us into the climbing wall. Great, those clumps of dirt shift my plan. I sprint as the other contestants’ jaws hit the floor. You snooze you lose.
I cross over and reach the other side of the wall, maybe adding a half-second to my time. I’m worried the Rayment might mess with my movement. I settle at the bottom instead of leaping for the highest hold I can get to and approach it like a bouldering wall. I’d found an old climbing gym once and tried it out. I remember at the last moment not to use my feet.
Climbing feels effortless. My hurt shoulder doesn’t protest. It’s like the Rayment is amplifying every movement and muscle. My pace speeds up rapidly. I feel a thud and hear a grunt followed shortly by a whoomph as a contestant falls beneath me. Heh.
I don’t look down. I stay focused on the course and reach the summit first. They can’t attack me if I’m too far ahead.
I make it to the top and see the rotating barrel violently spinning beside the summit. There’s no way a normal human could stand on this. It would be like trying to stand inside a turbine. I watch it rotate for a few seconds trying to discern a pattern or best idea for crossing it. It’s long, about ten meters or thirty feet. It’s still odd converting meters to feet in my head, but that’s how they do things in this territory.
I could try to cling to it. The barrel is thin enough I could kind of hug it and slide across. Maybe? I doubt I could jump onto it and spring off. My foot would slip immediately if the projections don’t slap me off first.
Decisions, decisions. I hear another thud against the wall below. It’s higher than the last one. Higher than a normal human can jump. I think the world record long jump was nearly nine meters. For a normal human without a Rayment. My mind briefly struggles with the idea of a superhuman leap. I look back at the barrel. Then at the hovering translucent platforms. The first platform is angled enough I think I could land on it and it’s getting closer to the barrel.
Time for a leap of faith.
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