He could climb the pillars. His body groaned against the idea. He wasn't so sure he could manage much more. He glanced to Astral whose breath had steadied, reminding Seth of his own dire state. He could send her to scale one of the pillars and serve as a look out.

He brushed a mess of sweaty hair from his face. Not an option. They had abandoned their helmets to disrupt recording feedback. They could find their helmets first, assuming the enemy hadn't found them.

Too many obstacles in seeking out the enemy. Maybe he could draw the enemy to him. If they hadn't been called to the ridge when Astral blew the tunnels, what were the odds that they would come running? Were they waiting for a forfeit?

Seth snorted.

A forfeit would remain in their permanent record, labelling all team members as quitters. The social repercussions were dire, but the abuse the quitters would have to endure for the rest of the season would be brutal. They wouldn’t be able to quit the games without making the stigma worse. The only solution available was to transfer out of the Academy. Pride and desperation were the determining factors in that scenario.

Would the enemy welcome the end of the game? Would they accept their defeat or would they make a mad bid to victory? Seth peered at the timer between the competing squads. Four hours into a game that was usually over in forty-five minutes. The captain smirked. They had to be worried, if not a little desperate. The longest game in the history of the school lasted three months. The story is told with a note of pride. What the Gaming Commission left out was that both sides had chosen to starve to death rather than face the social stigma that came with giving up. It was a different time. The game that forced the incorporation of vital monitoring equipment took place some fifty years ago.

What would it take to give up on his team? If it were just himself, he'd rather survive than lay claim to some arbitrary trophy. Would Astral care? He cast a glance at her snoozing figure. She didn't strike him as the type to give up. Hell, she didn't strike him as the type to look kindly on those who would give up.

“Do you have any explosives left?”

Astral took in a breath, bringing herself back from the call of sleep. Sitting up, she search her satchel, pulling from it two beads. How she had managed to get live explosives into game was probably the same way she got her scythe through undetected. "Do you think you can get across if we blow one of the pillars?"

She was fast, agile, and was sure to have more tricks. She shrugged with an air of boredom, "Sure."

He frowned. "But you won't."

She nodded. "The games mean more to you than they do to me. You win the game."

Right. She couldn't betray her ruse. To the world of humans, she was some stuck up little rich do-nothing, who relied on other people to follow her orders. The lie needed to hold its credibility for as long as she could manage. A slow growth was what they had agreed to. Nothing that would tip off the Red Order or the Council's Law Enforcement Agency.

He gazed at the tallest pillar. "I have an idea. Get the rope then meet at that pillar."

Astral nodded and returned to the edge to retrieve her gear. He drew his pistol from its holster and gave it a solid smack. The power icon refused to light up. No power meant no sensors, which meant no ammo. They were at a disadvantage if the enemy happened onto them. What were the odds? After four hours wouldn't they have retreated to the safety of their base?

He kept the tallest pillar in site while keeping to southern edge of the field. He listened to the field as he slipped behind another twenty foot pillar base. A rusted steel ladder accompanied each base unit. He imagined the based once contained legions of lesser demons to train up the Military Regime's elite squads. He didn't have to listen hard to hear the whirling and humming of ancient machinery hard at work. Sometimes, a pop or clank would smash against the metal components inside, often startling newbie's.

He had grown accustomed to the odd clanks. But it didn't stop his whole body from freezing as though every fiber of his being was listening to the cages beyond the steel frames. He ignored the chill that washed over him. He listened to the quiet of the field as he peer between the fifty foot gab separating his position to the next pillar.

He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Since his last game, he knew that the games were insufficient for training. He felt that imposing the old training onto the games like in the old days was enough. Sure it would have weeded out less than serious players, but were the players a bigger part of the problem? Had they become complacent in their safety? Entitled to an easy victory?

His left eye twitched as Astral came into view. She knocked on the pillar while pressing her ear to it. "How did you get here so fast?" He fought to contain his voice, knowing that it would carry.

"I passed you ages ago." Astral knocked on the pillar again. The pillar was a composite of stone, concrete, steel, and various other metals, shaped in a jagged ellipsis with a narrow base. The bases, Seth assumed, were there to support the pillars.

Astral smiled to herself and stepped away from the structure. "Don't get too friendly, we're going to blow this one," Seth told her.

Astral's smile sank and her eyes behind dark tinted glasses hardened. She didn't object. Perhaps she couldn't. Abandoning their helmets only meant that their conversation and their screen recorders wouldn't be recorded while in the tunnels. There were eyes on them always, for their spectator's viewing pleasure. Sound would be harder to capture, but not impossible.

"Rope," he ordered and gestured for her to take one end of the steal rope and circle around the structure. He adjusted the height of the rope to bind above his head. The captain pressed the binding nib at the end of the cable. It unravelled and wrapped itself around the section of rope that Seth intended to tie off. One end of the rope held in Seth hand, while the bound section melted into one seamless piece, removing the fear of a knot coming loose.

Phase one done. Now to tie off the rope. The metal rungs of that served as a ladder would probably hold. He stared down at them, noting the odd gaps along the climb. It wasn't like he needed the rope to support the pillar. It just needed to be strong enough to support their combined weight.

He tied it off against a sturdier looking steel girder that ran up against the ladder that severed as cover and offered some peek holes to spy the enemy. Regina might find shooting a target through them a smidge difficult, but not impossible.

"Okay." He felt his confidence waver under Astral's watch. He hated the way her eyes felt on him, judging his every action for its effectiveness. He hated himself for craving her approval.

Would this elaborate plan of his work in the field or was it taking too long to set up to be effective at all? He wouldn't ask. He wanted to know, but he didn't want her to know how desperate he was for her feedback. He was sure she'd share her opinion whether he asked or not. Anything to break him down.

"Blow the pillar," he ordered, proud that traces of his doubt seemed to be deeply hidden. Remembering her ruse, he added, "Don't miss."

She watched him a moment longer before turning her attention to the pillar. She looked at the beads in her hand, then back at the pillar. With a heavy sigh, she strode toward their target and stuck the bead to it.

"You'll want to get down and make sure the cable isn't locked."

She had to add in her two credits. He wasn't completely useless. He checked the cable compartment anyway, finding that he did leave the rope free to run with the pillar. The explosion rocked the platform just as Astral slid over the edge and took hold of the edge.

She grimaced as she strained her grip, forcing herself against the side of the rusted metal sheets. Seth shut his eyes against the falling debris. The rope next to him became taught as the pillar broke free from the steel base with a series of loud cracks.

Over the platform it fell, then slid into the canyon with a series of crashes as the ridge gave way. The cable whirled excitedly next to the captain, signalling that everything had gone according to plan

Astral pulled herself up to the top of the platform. Seth climbed up. He beamed at her. She blinked at him, then directed her attention to fallen pillar. The whirling cable stopped with a ping, signaling that the pillar had finally reached the bottom.

Seth pulled his gun from its holster and use it to slide down the cable.

His feet searched for the pillar's rough bottom, hoping to slow his momentum before he collided with the other side of the canyon. Seeing that he was safe, Astral mimicked him, using her gun to slide down. He debated if he should catch her. For show, it would make sense that he would ensure that his newbie could manage a safe landing. On the other hand, was it too much show? Would the crowds read into the action more than what it was? Would he do the same for his other team members?

He wasn't sure. Hope, for sure. Regina, maybe. Erik...not so much. Gemma? Gemma would laugh at him for trying. But these were all experienced players. Astral was a first year. He was over thinking this.

Astral landed with the same failed grace he had managed. She gave the cable a jerk watching it vibrate over the chasm. Her lips pressed tightly together, fists against her hips, she stared up at the distance separating them from the other side.

Seth smiled a crooked smile and arched a brow, hoping that she'd turn to him and nod, or say something uplifting. Instead she said, "that rope cost me a fortune." She lowered her head and took a breath. "Might as well start climbing while I figure out how to get this back without taking my head off in the process."

Seriously. She couldn't even manage a 'Good job, Seth'. He wanted to shout at her. 'How's that for use of the environment!' He ground his teeth, forcing back a few choice words and the urge to kick her into the rapids bellow.

Anger fueled his ascent. He glared at the clouds and the fluffy white snowflakes as they drifted by.

A small shape dashed past his line of sight.

Pling! It called.

He narrowed his eyes at the shape, noting the rigid steal rope that hung from it. Astral's laughter infuriated him as she zipped passed him. What the hell?! He didn't know what was worse, finding out that they didn't need to climb up the wrong ridge in the first place, or learning that Astral made him climb it knowing she could use her rope to automatically pull them up.

That's it. No more coddling, that bitch is going down!

He pulled himself over the ridge, too angry to pay attention to his body's complaints.

He expect to see Astral standing over him, grinning like any maniacal sociopath would. Body heaving for air, he spotted Astral sitting in the shade of pillared structure. She hadn't noticed him. She would have cracked a smile. She would have gloated. She deserves William.

He forced himself not to stomp toward her, controlling each step until he was sure he could manage a silent approach. If she looked up, she'd see him coming. She remained still, head cocked to the side and chin lowered. Was she...sleeping?

He glared at the clock over head. It had taken him another hour to climb that damned cliff. "Wake up!" his blood boiled.

Astral snorted awake and wiped the sleep from her eyes. "Took you long enough." She couldn't help herself, could she.

He couldn't find the right combination of words to tear into her. He had to make do with half formed words and wild gesturing to get his point across. Astral watched him with the air of a child on the verge of tears. His heart sank. "Look, I'm sorry."

Astral climbed to her feet and smeared the mud on her trousers a little more evenly. He suspected he was duped. "Race you to the exit," she ventured with a note of playfulness. Before he could counter, she had taken off at a full run.

Seth glowered at her retreating form and fished the key card from his coat. Figures. He was the only one who could end this misery.

The lazy drift of the first snow turned wet, leaving a trail of half frozen footstep trailing behind him. The chill of his ordeal sank into his tired boned. His torture was payback. It had to be.

She had to know that he planned to lock her from the system, severing her access to the ghost in the machine. Little good it would do her to exhaust him. He locked her out after the last session. At least, if she was right and the machine intended to killed him, he would be the last. He couldn’t deal with the machine in his state. He needed to recover.

He couldn’t manage another step, collapsing to his knees. His world threatened to fade into black.