10. Girl talk #2
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.
Zhu, are you here?
“Always, Bakuh.”
Just had to check if you followed me here.
“You’re more like me now.”
How so?
“Ascend.”
Of course that’s what you would say.
“You are nearing green.”
What about Ralia and Sha?
“Sha is an enigma. Investigate if you can. My old companion has been distant as of late.”
Alright, but you’re still close with Sun and Bei?
“There is so much you do not see.”
“Perfect timing,” Ralia said, pulling me from my conversation with Zhu. “No wonder those assassins were rushing after you with the end of this approaching. Good timing on our part, too.”
I nodded. “I’m glad we didn’t miss today’s batch. How do you think everyone else got here?”
“Noting that they didn’t kill us? Whoever is running this thing must have set tasks for these wannabe scholars to accomplish.”
“Think we’ll figure out who’s running this?”
“If we can win.”
“With you, we’ve got a shot.”
“Awe, babe, thanks. I mean, don’t we already know it’s the Correction? Someone behind Pure Knowledge? It’s basically the same thing as education.”
I scoffed. “You think the guk they were teaching at Water Hills qualifies as knowledge?”
“Zeg, no, which is why these people are so hungry for Pure Knowledge.” She lowered her voice. “We already know the whole zegging world is a lie.”
“True. You think any of these people have an inkling of that?”
“I would say no, but the fact that they’re here means they must know that there is something to know.”
“That or they’re a bunch of pompous shacs who want a… title? Certificate? I dunno, some zegging thing to show that they are enlightened.”
I smirked.
“What, you think I’m wrong?”
“About the mass? No, but there might be some exceptions. If good people like you can be caught up in this, there’s destined to be a couple, right?”
She kissed my cheek and left a hand on it. “Awe, babe, you must want something complimenting me like that, don’t you?”
“What makes you say that?”
“I know you’re too cynical for that.”
I shook my head but couldn’t get rid of my smile. “Come on, even if they all killed someone like our failed assassins, we’re proof that good people sometimes have to do untasteful things.”
She raised her eyebrow. “Still not fishing for anything with that compliment? There, it is, now your face is going back to that sad-boy look. What is it?”
“I know it’s still a sore topic, but are you connected to Sha here?”
She took a deep breath, but I was relieved to see that her smile did not diminish. “Yes. I’m on better terms with him now.”
“Really?”
“Don’t get your hopes up, hun. We are business partners who recognize the need for collaboration. Boyband is a lost cause for keeping on that level, but I think you should try to remain as wary as possible. You have no reason to trust yours.”
“Except that the Luxists called them the Journeymen and got pretty excited that they attached themselves to us.”
“And we should just trust everything the Luxists say? I’m not saying we turn away from them. I think they have the best in mind, but they’re not all the ancient scholarly monks they wish they were. They led us to Water Hills for the wrong reason–”
“We’re still figuring that out.”
“Regardless, my point remains. They’re tools. Weapons, even. Look at your Bite. It gives you supernatural abilities, but it has a cost. Don’t you think these things have a cost?”
“I get it, I get it.”
Her familiar frivolity was gone. “I’m serious, Pet. Don’t brush this off. You said you wouldn’t be here without me and my help, take this as a piece of that advice. Use it responsibly, you plug?”
I nodded.
She kissed me on the cheek. “Let’s wander around a bit, get a feel of the place, maybe chat. We’ve got, what, thirty or so more minutes to burn? I’ve gotten intimate with plenty of people in less.”
“You mean–”
“Hihow!” she greeted the first person who noticed her.