VARSITY 9 | BL

THIRTY-TWO | ELIMINATION

"Three."

"Two."

"One."

"Zero." The moment the simulation was activated, the soldier drew her pistol and shot a student in the back of the neck. The student released a yelp and clutched his neck while an automated voice sounded from the speakers in the walls and ceiling, "Contestant Jarri Blanken: eliminated."

As the first student to be eliminated hurried to the sidelines where he could seek safety outside the boundaries of the arena, Commander Zera's simulation leaped into the arena from where she had been standing at her activation point. The students frantically raced away from the golden holograph as she aimed her pistol at her targets.

"Whatever you do, don't let her get above you," Kean warned Wen quickly before racing away from the brown-haired. Wen watched Kean run further into the second level before turning back to observe Commander Zera's simulated holograph.

"Contestant Laci Mitters: eliminated."

"Contestant Jace Drivers: eliminated."

The longer the second phase lasted, the more students were eliminated. Will she run out of bullets? Wen wondered if the holograph's supply of ammo would be never-ending as he continued to watch the holograph fire at her targets. Within one minute of the phase beginning, the majority of the students had retreated to the second level. With no more prey left on the ground level, the simulation ran toward the stairs where she began leaping up toward the second floor.

With the arrival of the simulation on the second level, several students began racing for the second set of stairs located at the opposing side of the training room. As students left their hiding places to flee the simulation, Zera opened fire. With the tenth bullet, the holographic gun clicked, indicating it had run out of ammo.

So, there was a limit. Now that the holograph had lost her long-range attack, Wen's chance of survival increased greatly. Ten students had been eliminated, leaving just over twenty. Eleven more need to be eliminated. Wen retreated deeper into the second level of the training room after doing the math of how many eliminations he would need to survive.

"Contestant Annia Bhattari: eliminated." A female student grimaced as one of the simulation's hands made contact with her back. After eliminating the girl, the holograph quickly pursued the remaining students deeper into the second floor.

Wen slowed to a jog as he reached the back of the second level. There was nowhere else to run. Turning back, Wen saw six other students racing toward him with Zera hot in pursuit. If he stayed there, he would be trapped. He needed to somehow get past Zera and run back to the rim of the second floor.

What to do. What to do. Swiveling his head every which way, Wen quickly scanned his surroundings. There was nothing he could use to distract the simulation. Zera was designed to pursue heat signatures, and her heat indicator could not be easily fooled.

An idea popped into Wen's head as he noticed a stack of boxes piled against the back wall. Turning back to face Zera, Wen saw her eliminate two of the six students. Eight more. Wen updated the count of eliminations left as the surviving four students joined him in standing against the back wall.

As Zera charged for the group of students huddled against the back of the second level, Wen turned toward the wall and leaped onto the lowest stacked box. The boxes contained heavy training material, so they were quite sturdy and allowed Wen to easily scale them. Upon leaping onto the highest box, Wen looked down to see Zera eliminating another contestant. Seven left.

As Zera chased the remaining three students huddled against the back wall, Wen leaped from the stack of boxes. Wen tucked his knees to his chest as he jumped over the simulation and fell toward the ground just behind her. Underestimating the height from which he jumped, Wen realized the landing was going to be painful. Opting to break his fall with a roll, Wen hoped he would not sustain too bad of injuries as he continued falling toward the floor.

The next second, when Wen had expected to hit the floor, a body collided with his, and he ended up tumbling on the ground with the person he had hit. Landing on his back, Wen caught his breath as he saw who had broken his fall. "Kean...?" The raven-haired had landed on top of Wen as a result of the tumble. He had seen Wen attempting the high jump while running past and had broken his fall to keep him from sustaining any bruises.

Kean recovered from the fall in a split second, and he immediately took Wen's hand and brought the brown-haired to his feet. Zera eliminated the last of the three huddled against the back and turned to see Kean and Wen running away.

Four more. Just four left. Wen was so occupied with outrunning the simulation that he did not realize he was still holding Kean's hand until the two reached the rim of the second floor's overhang. Brix and Stryke ran past the two as Wen realized he was still holding onto Kean's hand. Quickly releasing his grasp on Kean, Wen whipped around to check on the simulation's status. Zera was hot in pursuit; she would be upon them in a matter of seconds.

Wen quickly scanned his surroundings for a means of escape. He and Kean were pressed against the rim, and either staircase was too far to run to. Zera would surely overtake them before they could reach the stairs. While Wen searched for a means of defense, Kean grabbed him by the waist and pulled Wen into him.

"What the-"

"Climb the railing," Kean told Wen as he set his foot on the middle rod of the rim's metal railing. "Hurry!"

Following Kean's lead, Wen quickly climbed the railing. As the two reached the top rod of the railing, Kean tightened his hold around Wen's waist and kicked off from the railing. Wen's eyes widened as he followed Kean in jumping from the rim of the second floor. The two jumped in the nick of time; Zera's simulation reached the railing just as Kean and Wen jumped.

The moment the two were airborne, Kean flipped them over, so their backs faced the ground. Keeping his left arm around Wen's waist, Kean lifted his right arm and shot a thin, black cord from the base of his holowatch. The cord wrapped around one of the vertical rods of the railing and slowed the two's descent. Kean released the cord as he and Wen neared the floor of the ground level. The two broke their falls with a quick roll before springing back to their feet.

Wen's gaze fell to the holowatch around Kean's wrist as he and the raven-haired ran back toward the walls of the training room where they could hide from Zera under the overhang of the second floor. I didn't know the holowatch had special features. I'll need to play with it some more when we get done with this.

"Contestant Neo Reyes: eliminated." A skirmish could be heard from above as the simulation hunted down those who were still hiding on the second level.

"Contestant Sammi Park: eliminated."

"Contestant Hanna Grace: eliminated."

Wen released a breath as he heard the announcements of the three new eliminations. One more.

While Wen and Kean found refuge under the second level, they noticed a lone student hiding under the overhand on the opposing end of the training room. Oh no, he's on the wrong side.

Kean and Wen had made sure to run beneath the overhand that was directly under Zera, so she would not be able to see their head signatures if she looked over the rim. Wen was about to warn the student that even though he was under the overhang he would still be in view of the simulation should she peer over the rim of the second level, but a bright, golden light zipped in front of him before he could motion for the boy to run.

Zera had leaped down from the second level upon discovering the student hiding beneath the overhang and raced toward him. There was nothing Wen could do to stop the simulation from catching the lone student. While Wen was relieved that it would be the last elimination needed, he was sad that the boy had come so far just to be the last one eliminated.

After making contact with the student, Zera dissipated into the air. The simulation was complete. There were nine survivors. Excitement filled Wen upon realizing that it was done. We did it!

However, just as quickly as his smile came, it left upon Wen hearing the automated voice's announcement. "Contestant Toma Ahn: eliminated."