There was a silence that fell over the room after Sergeant Myers gave his brief introduction. Amber clamped her hands together under the table, knowing that there was no going back, that she had made her choice. The finality of it all gave her some relief, but not enough to fully relax her. If Valerie’s life wasn’t potentially on the line, maybe she would feel better.

Sergeant Myers tapped on a remote, and the blank screen behind him lit up with the image of a wooded area, some sort of factory or industrial plant could be seen over the horizon of dying trees.

“These are the proving grounds, where your Gilding Trial will take place. Over the next few days, we are going to test your strength, your courage, your wits, and your skill.”

He tapped the remote again, this time there were several armored crates that bore the symbol of a lightning bolt splitting a cog in tow on the side of them.

“We will be dropping you, as well as a few other teams into the middle of the forest. Your job is to, well, be the last one standing.”

“So, you want us to kill each other, is what you are saying.” Amber said, as the sergeant shrugged.

“More or less, yes.”

The four contestants in the room looked at one another, sizing each other up. Amber was sure of her own abilities, and knew that Dane was going to be an asset. But the other two, the old timer and the one who looked like he needed another hit; they were just going to drag her down. But sadly, it looked like they were going to be joining her and Dane in that forest. She glanced over at Dane, who rolled his eyes as if he was thinking the same thing.

“Upon deployment to the proving grounds, you will be provided with a basic armor vest and a sidearm. However, anything else will need; such as medical supplies, other weapons, or ammunition will need to be found on your own. Or, taken from another competitor.” The sergeant said, holding his blank and professional expression.

Amber felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She had still been processing the fact that she had killed two of the Adlam brothers the other day, but the fact it was self defense made it easier. But this? This seemed cruel. Maybe if someone attacked her first she might feel better, but letting someone else get the first shot at her would be suicide.

The sergeant continued with his speech. “You will be extracted upon victory by attrition, or if you can manage to fight over the shuttle we will be sending in at an undetermined time. It might be the first hour, or it could be a week from now.”

“Hold on, a week?” The man that Amber had been thinking of as “Tweak” spoke up. “We’re gonna be out there a week? So we gotta look out for some wild animals on top of some other suckers who want to take us out?”

“The area has been cleared of any dangerous fauna.” Myers said confidently. “However, hazardous flora is still present.”

Tweak gave the sergeant a blank stare.

“That means animals are gone, but dangerous plants aren’t.” Old Timer said, his voice dripping with hostility. He sounded like he had smoked two packs a day since he was old enough to hold a lighter. Fear of her voice going gravely like that was one of the main reasons Amber had quit.

“Now, there are three main rules for your trial.” Myers said, commanding control of the conversation once again. “Rule number one: you are to never deliberately kill, injure, hinder, or abandon your teammates.” Myers flicked his remote, and a few simple animations of stick figures shooting and stealing from each other, or leaving one behind scratching its head. “Rule number two: Do not shoot the extraction shuttle, even if another team had made it on board.” The screen behind the sergeant then showed the stick figures shooting at a Peacekeeper shuttle, only for it to return fire and send the group flying in different directions. “And rule three: No prisoners.”

Amber felt bile rise in her throat as she watched the simple animation of one stick figure shooting another as it lay helpless on the ground. Once the sergeant had finished his quick introduction, the screen died and the lights came back on in the room.

“Any questions?” he asked, arms crossed behind his back as the four stared at him.

“Yeah, how many people are you dropping into that pit?” Dane asked as he leaned back in his chair.

“I am not at liberty to tell how many people may or may not be competing.” Myers said plainly.

“Yeah, I got one.” Tweak said, raising his hand. “What happens after we win this thing?” That question got a chuckle out of Dane, and a smile from Myers.

“If you are extracted from the proving grounds, you will be brought to a nearby facility for a medical examination, and then you will begin the process of obtaining citizenship for Aurum.”

“And our plus ones… right?” Amber said. Myers looked over to her, cocking a brow as if he were confused by the question. For a moment, she feared that Dane might have been wrong and that there was no such thing as a “plus one” for completing the trials.

“Ah… right. I’ll make sure you get the proper paperwork done before we ship you out.” He replied.

“Amber should have felt relieved at that answer, but something about his tone put her on edge.

“So, let me ask you this, son.” Old Timer said. “What exactly is the point of all this? Seems to me that if you want to find the best people to join your city, you might give us some IQ test or something that didn’t involve us killing each other.” He leaned forward, looking Myers dead in the eye, with a confident look that Amber saw when someone dropped their poker face to show their winning hand. “What happens if you just let the fox into the hen house, and the winner is more trouble than they’re worth?”

Amber swore she saw Myers' eye twitch. He straightened his posture more than it already was, and looked at the old man dead in the eye.

“Sir. I promise you that if you cause any trouble inside of Aurum city walls, I will personally see to it that you are held responsible.”

The group was let out of the conference room after the presentation was done, and it was made clear that they all knew the rules and after they had each signed a mountain of paperwork. Amber didn’t understand the legal speak of most of it, but she did pay special attention to the sheet that would allow Valerie to gain citizenship with her. There was no chance that she would mess up the only reason she even came here. Myers’ goons eventually led them down yet another bland hall to a holding room, like the cell she had been kept in earlier but with a set of bunk beds on either wall.

“Top bunk.” Amber claimed, quickly climbing to her sleeping space and laying down as Dane took his spot under her, and the other two claimed the adjacent bed.

“So,” Dane said, “If we’re going to be working with each other, we should probably know a bit about ourselves, huh?”

Amber glanced over, and saw that the other two looked at him as if he had just made the dumbest suggestion they ever heard.

“Hey, all I’m saying is that I want to trust the people who are going to be watching my back out there. I already know her, but I don’t know anything about you two.” Dane sounded as if he were accusing the other two of plotting against him, and this seemed to offend Tweak.

“James.” He said, looking over at Dane with a cautious glare. “Call me James.”

Everyone looked at Old Timer, his back turned to everyone on the top bunk, only glancing back to offer a brief reply.

“Don’t do names.” He said, and Amber wasn’t sure if he was making a statement about himself, or offering advice.

“Come on, Old Timer.” She said leaning against the railing of her bunk. “I’m Amber, this is Dane, and this is our new friend James. What’s your name?”

She heard the old man groan in his cot as he rolled over and finally let out a sigh. “If I tell you my name, will you promise not to call me old?” He snapped.

Amber grinned, holding out her pinkie finger into the air. “Pinkie promise.”

After a moment of silence, he suddenly spoke up. Almost as if he were forcing the words out of his mouth. “Clay. My name’s Clay.” He rolled back over, seemingly done with the conversation. Amber looked down at Dane, just just shrugged. It seems like that was all they were going to get out of him.

“And what about you?” Amber asked James. “What’s your story?”

James shook his head and shrugged. “Not much to tell. Grew up with some bandits, robbed some people, killed a few of ‘em. PK’s got me, and said it was either this or they send me to a factory.”

Amber’s eyes narrowed. Not only was this man a killer, someone that Dane and her would have taken great pleasure in beating to a pulp just last month, but he was caught by Peacekeepers and given the choice to undergo the trial. She kept her eyes on him, but wondered if Dane was having the same thoughts as her. She wondered why the PKs would let this man compete, and why they would want him living in Aurum in the first place.

“Why’d you sign up?”

Amber was pulled out of her thoughts, and saw her new “friend” looking at her and expecting an answer.

“I’ve got someone back home counting on me. Let’s leave it at that.” She said.

“What, you two got a sick kid or something?” James asked, pointing between her and Dane. Amber felt her ears burning as she began to stammer incoherently, while Dane was letting out a deep laugh from his belly. Clay slammed on his mattress, shouting at the two of them to shut up so he could rest. Amber buried her face in her pillow and groaned, hearing James let out a nervous chuckle, confused by the reaction he had gotten.

Amber heard the sound of scraping metal as a hatch at the bottom of the door opened, and a metal tray slid across the floor. She brought her face from her uncomfortably thin pillow, and saw four large bars wrapped in a foil sitting on the tray. Dane stood up and took it in hand, inspecting it.

“Guess dinner is served.” He said, tossing one of the wrapped bars to Amber, one to James, and tapped on the railing of Clay’s bunk.

“Hey, eat up. We’re gonna need it for tomorrow.”

Amber unwrapped her square and grimaced at the packed material inside. She wasn’t quite sure what she was looking at. Grains? Some kind of solidified paste? Whatever it was, James didn’t seem surprised by it, and Clay rolled back over to try and enjoy his meal in peace.

Amber took a bite, and found that the taste wasn’t that bad. It wasn’t good, but it was edible at least.

“You two ain’t been here long, have you?” James asked with a mouth full of food. Amber looked down as she nibbled at her bar and shook her head.

“We just got here this morning, brought us right to that room with Sergeant Stick-in-my-ass.” She said. “How long have you two been waiting?”

James shook his head in response. “Hard to tell, days kind of… blend together, ya know? If I had to guess, maybe a few weeks? But I just slept through most of it.”

Amber felt a sudden pang of panic as the thought of being stuck in this room with these three people crossed her mind.

“What about him?” She asked, pointing to Clay.

“Don’t know, never met this guy before.”

Clay then turned over for a brief moment, to speak one last time before falling asleep.

“I came here probably two weeks ago, been waiting around in a cell since then.”

“Hey, don’t worry.” Dane said, speaking to Amber as if he could read her mind, and her fears. “They seem eager to watch us tear each other apart. I’m sure we’re going to be out of here in no time.

“She certainly hoped so. While the Peacekeepers might have all the time in the world, Valerie did not.