Page 276 of Light Leech

I would have time with her later. Now was time to spend with one who was so much more than a mere friend. That itch for a socitab was gone. It did not mean that it would not return, but it was silenced by Ralia. If I had been in my body, I knew I would have felt a burning warmth in my chest, the kind that reminds one what it means to be alive.

This was what I lived for. People. Friends. Family.

I had a purpose beyond causing others to suffer. That pain would return with a familiar dental hunger, but I could worry about that later.

I was living. This was in a digital format, yet it was still life. A life I was thankful for after what felt like years of self-loathing since I gained my Bite. My hypothalamic implant was not me. My life had a price, but I felt like an occasional tooth was a better alternative to Gongtide’s efforts to turn the world to waste for their god’s consumption.

Small talk kept us occupied until the end of the path. I loathed senseless conversations and the tendency others had to talk about the weather, but with Ralia, it was refreshing. It was as if we were accepting that there could be time to speak about things other than business. Entertainment. Leisure. Love and the pursuit thereof, though she would not disclose her romantic pursuits. All of it was enjoyable. Enjoyment could still exist for people like us.

She stopped before a blue veil of light that stood like a door in the bright cube before us. “Looks bigger up close, doesn’t it?”

“How big do you think it is?” I asked. “Stadium size?”

“Nah, I’d say at least half a district. It’s fat and I like it.”

“Why?”

She shrugged and smirked. “The bigger it is, the bigger the mystery?”

“Ready to go in?”

“I don’t see why not.” She led the way, transversed the veil of light, and I followed.

Despite the cube having only one door visible to us, multiple lined the wall that stretched on behind us. More people entered through other doors, but there had to be at least a hundred already inside. It looked like we were in a massive white cube, as we saw before, but the ceiling was lower than the cube’s height. The only other feature we could see was a massive violet staircase that led up to the ceiling with no outlet.

“Hihow!”

We jumped as the enthusiastic person to our right appeared in a flash of light. Their body was made from blue light and featureless, despite a mouth in a cartoonish smile.

“Hihow.” Ralia collected herself. “Mind telling us where we are?”

The being laughed. “The Standardized Test, of course! Thank you for your timely arrival. Only thirty nine minutes remain until this batch of competitors will be allowed though!”

“And if we would have missed those thirty nine?” she asked.

“There are two more testing periods for this year. One tomorrow and another the following evening. Thank you for your timely arrival.”

“You already thanked us,” I said.

The being laughed again. “Thank you for your timely arrival. Please make yourself comfortable. The next floor will open in thirty eight minutes.”

“What are we supposed to do until then?”

“Mingle! Greet your fellow competitors. Most will fail out within the first round, but it is best to know your enemies and those who might become your future acquaintances.”

“How many rounds are there?”

The being shook its head, a smile stretching wide. “No cheating.”

“What’s the passing rate?” Ralia asked.

“While a failing group is common, we have had as many as five competitors pass in previous rounds.”

I had so many questions but held them back, fearing they would give away how unqualified I was for all of this. I had already thanked Ralia for all she had done, but if we had any chance at success, it would be because of her. I was no scholar. She might not have been either, but her intellect was sharp enough to deceive even the most rigid of systems.

The floor pushed us forward as if our square of ground was on a track. Looking back, I saw the greeter speaking with a new entrant. No one else entered with a companion like me, but the greeting sentinels hadn’t said anything about it. As long as I had Ralia, I had hope.

She started to walk, keeping us in the gaps between crowds, though there were plenty of “competitors” who stood alone and looked like they wanted to be left as such.