That’s when the Green. He fell. Not to the floor-he fell into the hole. He never saw it coming. He screamed, but kept his wits. He caught the edge of the opening with his arms. His arms and shoulders were above the floor, the rest of his body dangled below. But he was trapped. I saw him kicking to try to get a leg up, but he couldn’t get leverage. He wasn’t going to fall, but he wasn’t getting up, either.
I realized with horror that he may not have been in danger of falling, but in seconds he was going to be cut in half. As soon as that piece of floor jammed back into place, he’d be history. It was almost over. I was seconds away from winning the Grand X.
The reality of the situation hit me hard. This guy was about to die. I would be the champion, but at what cost? Another gruesome death? In those few vital seconds I realized there was an opportunity here. Which would have more impact on the people of Quillan? My victory in the Grand X? Or a selfless act that would demonstrate yet again how things were going to be different? I could win the competition and let Challenger Green die, or I could save him and be a hero. Even if I ended up losing the Grand X, I would have made my point. The choice was easy.
I quickly crawled across the floor and grabbed Challenger Green by the arms.
“What are you doing?” he growled.
The floor piece started moving. I pulled back hard, but the guy was heavy. He quickly realized I was trying to save him.
“Pull! Pull!” he commanded.
He got one leg up onto the edge, and had nearly brought up the other when I heard the crunch.
“Ahhhhhh!” he screamed as the flooring slammed home, crushing his foot.
I heard the cracking sound, even above the music. It was horrible. The poor guy lay on his back, his foot jammed between pieces of floor, trapped. I tried to force open the pieces of floor, but they wouldn’t budge. Challenger Green screamed in agony. There was nothing I could do to help him… except to win. When the game was over, I had to believe he would be released. It couldn’t have been a better situation. I not only saved his life, but the game was mine to win. I quickly left him and climbed up the mound. The silver disks seemed to be coming from every angle. I didn’t bother ducking or dodging. I was either going to be lucky or I wasn’t. I got to the top of the mound and saw the lights. All I had to do was press the final red light and it would be over. My finger hovered over it. The game was mine. But I didn’t push it. I suddenly remembered what Nevva said. If the competition was tied going into the last round, the final game was always a match to the death. If I pressed that button, the competition would be tied. By saving Challenger Green and winning the game, I might have set myself up to die.
I kind of wished I had remembered that a few seconds before.
I looked down at Challenger Green, who was clutching at his shattered foot. The guy was in a lot of pain. Whatever the next competition was, I was going to have a pretty big advantage. I wondered if I had just saved Challenger Green from a random death, only to be put in a position where I might have to kill him myself? I had never killed anyone in my life and didn’t want to start. Had I made a huge blunder?
There was only one thing to do. I pressed the red light.
(CONTINUED)
QUILLAN
Fourteen worked to seal up the slice in my leg. The cut was clean, and luckily not very deep. He used a device that spit out a gluelike substance that sealed the wound and deadened it so I felt no pain. I was good to go, but I still didn’t know for what.
We were in the dining hall of the castle. I refused to go back to my room, or anywhere else in the castle. I didn’t want to be surprised by any more trapdoors or falling beds or killer clowns leaping out to bite me. Whatever was going to happen next, I wanted to see it coming.
“You saved Challenger Green,” Fourteen said. “Why? By letting him die you would have won the Grand X.”
“Lots of reasons,” I said. “I think mostly it’s because I’m not cut out for this warrior business.”
“But you are fantastic,” Fourteen said. “I have never seen anyone like you.”
“Thanks. I’ve got the tools, but I don’t have the killer instinct. I don’t even like putting lobsters into boiling water.”
“I do not understand that,” the dado said.
“What I mean is, I’m not cold enough for this.”
Fourteen nodded and said, “You are not like the others. I knew that from the moment I saw you. I believe if there were more like you, Quillan would be a better place.”
“There are more like me,” I said, putting on my pants. “You’re going to see that pretty soon.”
Veego entered the dining hall, followed by two security dados.
“You have succeeded,” she said coldly.
“At what?” I asked. “I thought it was all tied up.”
“You have succeeded in destroying us,” she said bitterly. “Wagering is nonexistent. People are taking to the streets, demonstrating against the games. Against Blok. Crowds have broken into Blok stores to ransack them. Several of our gaming arcades have been overrun and destroyed. You have somehow… inspired them to insurrection.”
I sat down on the dining table to get off my leg and said, “This was going to happen whether I was here or not. If it wasn’t me, it would have been somebody else. People can’t live like this. Fear works for only so long. Blok became powerful out of greed, but you can’t build a civilization on that.”
“But they did,” Veego countered.
“No, they didn’t,” I said quickly. “They tried to destroy one. And they almost did. But you can’t crush people’s spirits. At least not forever. It may have taken a long time, but the people of Quillan are going to take back their territory. Ending your games is just the first step.”
Veego shook her head as if she couldn’t believe it could be true. Her world was crumbling.
“It can’t be happening again,” she said. “First Veelox, now here.”
“No, there’s a difference,” I said. “The people of Veelox did it to themselves. Every last one. Nobody forced anyone to stay in Lifelight. But here on Quillan there’s only one enemy. Blok. Blok took control of their lives, and now they’re fighting back.”
“But none of this was our doing!” she said. “We were just doing our job and filling a need.”
“Yeah, well, that need is about to go away,” I said. “And don’t act all innocent. You kidnapped people and set them up to kill one another. For profit. That’s not a job, that’s a crime. It doesn’t matter if it was your idea or not. You made it happen. And you know what else…”
I walked toward her. The two dados straightened up so I didn’t get too close.
“Maybe you didn’t know what you were doing, but taking things from other territories and bringing them here could lead to a catastrophe. You’ve brought in raw materials and animals and ideas that don’t belong here. They’re not natural to this place. I suppose you can’t really be blamed, because you just don’t get it, but trust me, what you’ve done is a crime against humanity. Unless we can figure a way to purge everything you’ve brought here, you might have started a chain reaction that will make what happened on Veelox look like a party.”
Veego looked shaken. I was glad. She was a criminal. So was her goofy brother. I supposed they couldn’t totally be blamed for mingling the territories, because they didn’t know better, but still. When Blok was brought down and these guys put out of business, I sure hoped they would meet some kind of justice.
“LaBerge and I have been called to meet with the trustees first thing tomorrow,” she said. “I have no doubt we will be relieved of our responsibilities and the games taken away.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “I don’t think the games are going to be around much longer anyway. You’ll be lucky to get out before it comes down around you, and the people start storming the castle the way they’re tearing apart your arcades.”
Veego shot me a frightened look. She hadn’t thought of that.
“Well,” she said curtly. “At least there is one bit of consolation I can take from all of this.”
