I shrug. “Other priorities.”
“Like?”
“Exploration. Didn’t you ever just play as a child?”
“Only when I was very young. Before I was taken and thrown into training.”
“That sucks.”
“Just life.”
“Made you into one hell of a hottie,” I remark.
The buzzer goes off. I climb over the rail like the others.
“What did you call me?” Aura asks.
I wink back, enjoying teasing him.
I don’t head for the gates like the others do but instead scale the net up the wall, pull myself over the edge, and put my feet down on the battlement. To either side are rope bridges.
Women climb over the one closest to the keep, so I turn the other way. Cameradrones hum all over the fortress, watching players.
A hand grabs my ankle from below and throws me off balance. “Hey, bitch! Thanks for selling me out!”
I look through the ropes to see Cora glaring up at me from atop another woman’s shoulders. “Wasn’t me. Three of us ended up in the medical wing last night.Younever told me about the side effects. I trusted you!”
Cora pulls, and I fall. She lets go and disappears onto the bridge as I snag a foot and swing underneath it. The disorientation makes it difficult to find a handhold, but I scramble for anything so I don’t fall to my death.
A cameradrone zips underneath me as I catch a rope on the underside of the bridge. “Are you good?”
I gasp and nod. “Yeah, thanks.”
Fuck you, Cora!
I crawl to the nearest pocket in the netting as it weaves under the tower above a gate. Women run below me as I shakily make my way through the dark upper story of the fortress toward what I hope is a place where I can set my feet down and steady my shaking body.
The cameradrone buzzes off, leaving me alone somewhere I’m not sure I’m supposed to be. I consider calling Aura to see if he can catch me. I’m too high up to jump down without serious injury.
A metal glint catches my eye. It’s an oblong shape. Curious, I inch my way across the net toward it. Inside the gatehouse tower, as my eyes adjust, I confirm what I’m seeing.
A golden egg?
“Son of a…”
I scramble up, balance as best as I can on the ropes, and assess the pegs on the wall. It’s a struggle to climb up to the shelf, but I manage to grasp the egg. It barely fits in one hand. Climbing back down with one arm is not my favorite. So I stuff the egg in my suit, weave my way down, and crawl over the net toward the gate again.
The ding of a bell sings through the air. Women stop climbing and start back to the waiting area. But I’m still stuck.
Hanging from a rope by my knees, I catch the egg as it slides out of my suit, then call for Aura.
He comes running toward me like a fucking freight train, slams to a stop beneath me, and reaches up. When he sees the egg, his terror shifts to confused delight. “What happened?”
“Cora pulled me over. Then I found this.” I drop the egg into his hands.
Another ding goes off. A cameradrone flashes in white and opens a cargo panel. “The first egg has been found! Please deposit the egg. Congrats, Jovie of Earth. You have won 1,000 credits.”
Aura does as he’s asked, then reaches up for me.
