Only when the smoke cleared could Maya really see the desolate state of the battlefield. Right behind the smoke screen, the man that threw the bomb stood, eyebrows raised, hands in his pockets. To his right, Ann stared wide-eyed at the site of the explosion. Behind them, a couple of people laid motionless on the ground, and a couple stood frozen in place.

"Well," the man said calmly, "that. . . was unexpected. I thought he'd pack a little more punch. I was sure he was that kind." He paused for a second. "Anyway, looks like I was wrong. Now I just have to finish what I started." He reached into the pouch on his back and Maya knew what he was about to do.

Before she could warn anyone, the leaves to her right rustled. And so did the ones to her left. And behind. Before anyone realised what had happened, a humanoid monster jumped out of the forest and latched onto one of Mark's lackeys. He screamed, but nobody paid any attention—a dozen more monsters leaped onto the beach. Made of black steel, their eyes shone with a crimson light.

Noticing that three of the monsters were charging at Mark, the man in the middle removed his hand from his pouch. “Luck is on your side today,” he said to Maya. And with that, he vanished. He reappeared in front of Mark and began fighting the abominations.

"We've got to get out of here," Ann shouted, running toward the group of three. "This is our chance. If we waste any more time, we're dead."

"You're right," Manny said. He turned and bolted for the forest. Simon and Ann followed. Only Maya remained, frozen in place, heedless of the black robot charging her.

The next thing she knew, Manny had rammed the robot to his side. It flew through the air, landing a few metres away. But it righted itself quickly, so Manny grabbed her like a sack of potatoes and ran. The fight was over. Now they needed to hide. They ran deep into the forest in a direction they hadn’t explored, desperately hoping for a moment of respite.

***

Mark massaged the back of his neck. "Are those supposed to be the RTDs?"

"It seems so," Mike replied calmly. He was sitting in the corner, his back supported by the dark wall of the spacious cave.

"Why do they look like that?"

"They do that all the time. They use the older models in the first part of the exam, the boring white ones, then the newer models in the second part of the exam. Makes the whole thing more authentic due to the added surprise factor."

"And you didn't think to tell me that?!"

"I forgot." Mike opened an eye to stare at Mark. "More importantly, what do you think your father will say if he finds out about what you've done?"

Mark wanted to retort, but the mention of his father made him freeze.

"I thought as much," Mike said calmly, closing his eyes again. "I told him you weren't ready, but you insisted. And now I have to babysit you."

"Do you think he's really dead?"

"God knows. I don't care either way. My job is to babysit you, not care about the other contestants."

Mark looked at the two of his companions who were passed out on the ground. They hadn’t woken since fleeing the beach five hours ago. He clicked his tongue and closed his eyes, too.

***

"He's dead," echoed a whisper in the dark forest. Maya sat on the ground, her back supported by a cold tree and her legs curled in front of her.

Manny sat down next to her. "It's not your fault. You know that." He glanced at Simon and Ann, tucked cozily inside their sleeping bags.

"He died saving us. Whose fault is it, if not ours? Mine?"

"Do you know why I decided to become an assassin?"

"What does that have to do with this?" Maya said, shifting in her place.

"Just answer the question."

"I thought you and Simon agreed on coming, but I'm not sure why."

Manny looked up at the night sky and smiled at the sight of the moon. “I came here to find someone. Someone I met when I was younger.”

Manny spoke evenly, but Maya could sense the suppressed sorrow behind his words.

“I’m sure you’re not interested in hearing my life story, but I can tell you that I am not lost. I didn’t wander here by chance. And even though Nathan looks like a kid, I’m more than sure that he isn’t a wandering puppy. Just like you or I, he came here with a clear goal in mind. And he must have known what he was doing when he jumped in front of that bomb.”

“But—”

“No buts!” Manny glared at Maya. “I am telling you, instead of sulking, man up. You came here to be an assassin. People die and once they do, there’s nothing you can do about it except to fight on.”

Maya subconsciously pushed herself away from Manny.

“I know this isn’t easy to handle, but you’re not making it any easier on yourself. I’m sorry if I scared you. Go get some sleep,” Manny stood up and joined Simon and Ann, heeding his own advice. As soon as he closed his eyes, the images flashed in front of his eyes—his parents. And that sentence echoed in his head:

“Listen to me boy. I can’t tell you what got them killed, but if you ever decide that you want to unburden yourself, find me.”

***

Somewhere else in the forest, a man with a scarred face navigated his way through dense foliage. His massive build made hiding in plain sight difficult. He’d been forced to spend an entire day looking for a suitable hiding spot, a place he could use when he needed to rest. Ideally, it would be concealed enough to prevent others from stumbling on it by chance—despite the fact that he was attempting to do exactly that.

He’d heard the scuffle at the start of the test. That blond kid and the ruffian had probably had their fight by now. Even though he was curious about the outcome, he hadn’t come here to watch other people fight. He had a more important goal, and passing this exam was crucial.

Leaves shuffled as he walked through the thick flora of the island. If he hadn’t grown up in the region, he might have been intimidated by the endless void around him. But for him, this excursion felt more like a midnight stroll.

He was just considering giving up when something peculiar stood out to him in the forest. Anyone else might not have noticed, but his years in similar environments had made him extremely sensitive to anomalies.

He bent down to inspect the ground below. There were a lot of leaves all around, but this place especially had an extremely thick layer of them, despite the single tree overhead. He bent down and used his arm to dig through the leaves, revealing something that resembled a hatch. It was made out of thick branches and seemed pretty sturdy. He was sure that even standing on it wouldn't break it. "That's odd," he whispered. The wood was cut using a saw. But the cuts were recent, as if it hadn’t been done more than two days ago. "No way."

The man wanted to stand up, but a cold object pressed to his neck made him freeze in place.

"I really didn't expect anyone to notice," a familiar voice said calmly. "What gave it away?"

"The leaves," the man replied just as calmly. "The pile here was a little too big. Almost as if they were stacked to hide something."

"Looks like I'll have to rework the entrance. Though I doubt anyone else would notice." The knife retracted, and the man was finally able to look at the person he was speaking to. "I watched you for a while,” said the blond youth with the knife. “You aren't like the others. You knew exactly how to navigate the forest."

"Same with you. Nathan, right?"

The blond kid smiled. His hair seemed shorter now, and there was a slight burn on his left hand, but it was definitely Nathan.

"And you are Peter Laughlin, if my mind isn't deceiving me."

"I'm impressed you remembered. I made sure not to make a spectacle of myself. The same can't be said about you," Peter chuckled. But Nathan was silent.

"If you want to ask what'll happen now,” Nathan finally said, “it's very simple. You show me your left shoulder, and depending on what I see, you might leave this place alive."

Peter glanced at his shoulder, but he seemed to have no idea what the odd boy meant. "I don't follow."

"Judging by your reaction, you probably will get to walk out of here. So show me your left shoulder and we'll be done. After that, I won't bother you."

"I'm not sure what you're after, but I won't just comply with anything you want. Why should I?"

"Because if you don't, I'll have to do it by force. And that means you'll have to die. I'm sure you don't want that, do you? That would put a wrench in your plans."

Peter gulped.

"Okay, so if I just show you my left shoulder, you'll let me go? How do I know you won't kill me?"

"You don't."

Peter hesitated for a moment, but then unzipped his running jacket and pulled up his T-shirt to reveal an unmarked shoulder.

"Just as I suspected," Nathan said, walking around him. "You're free to go now. And I hope you'll consider this a favour. If we both make it through, I would be happy to have an ally on the inside." Nathan walked towards the wooden hatch and lifted it in the air. Peter couldn't see well inside, but it seemed like a cave.

"Oh, and one more thing." Nathan turned around before he closed the hatch. "This place is mine, so you go find your own. And if anyone asks about me, I'm dead."