8 Trials Deep

CHAPTER 19: I'D CHOOSE YOU IN A HUNDRED LIFETIMES

“Care to tell me what you’re doing?” C-13 asked Leta without looking at her. He was scanning his MA for possible upgrades he could add on it without it being confiscated during the Trials. He had watched Leta go around his room for half an hour. When she showed no signs of settling down, he pretended to busy himself with tinkering his MA.

The avatar had become somewhat skittish since their last ‘serious talk'. He had kept quiet and covertly observed for the past few days knowing Leta would become self-conscious if he told her.

“I’m scanning the room, making sure I didn’t miss any surveillance cams,” Leta said, very casually.

“And you did that for how many times already?”

“It’s only for the second time,” Leta finally looked at C-13.

“Hmmm..” hummed the man as he placed the tools on his hand on the table and assumed a thoughtful expression, “does your second time include all those times when you pretend to be scanning the room every time I get out of the shower or those times when I catch your staring at your man?”

“Whose man?!” Leta asked in reflex.

“Yours, me.” C-13 smiled devilishly, “I am your man.”

He knew Leta was still not used with the idea of them being together. But when it came to this matter, he was not letting her take it slow. If he stepped just an inch back, she was not the type to step forward. She would most likely take a leap back, and no way in high heavens would he let her. It was unsettling him that Leta seemed to have prepared for all sorts of situations, but not this. Not them being together. It probably meant that that she hadn’t though they’d go this far together. As to why she thought that way, C-13 would leave it up to her to tell him. He just hoped it was in her itinerary.

“You’ve been observing me,” Leta remarked. She had thought she was being casual but it seemed she had been the opposite.

“Yes,” C-13 replied, this time seriously, “and you me. We’ve been observing each other.” Then a smile crept on his lips again, “Nothing wrong with that. You can look at me for as hard as you want or as long as you wish. You don’t have to look away if I find you staring, rather, why not stare harder?”

Leta exaggeratedly groaned, “I didn’t know you had a crocodile’s hide for a skin and a generous reserve of honey in your tongue.”

“Why thank you,” C-13 replied smoothly. He eyed the Leta mischievously and said, “I didn’t know you could be shy as a turtle, it’s cute.”

“Who’s shy?!” Leta retorted indignantly.

A subtle expression that lasted only a fraction of a minute flashed in C-13’s face, nonetheless Leta read it, ‘Caught you!’

It was already too late when C-13 beckoned to her with a daring look, “Come then, sit.” He was not gesturing her to sit on a chair beside him, he was daring her to sit on his lap.

The heat had already spread through Leta’s face, her cheeks must be a pair of glowing embers. Even so, she pretended to not have noticed it and walked to him with her head held high. However, she did not sit on his lap but on the cushioned arm of the lounging chair he was sitting on.

C-13 gave her a resigned look but privately he was already satisfied, immensely satisfied. He knew if he motioned her to sit on the chair beside him she would undoubtedly take the sit next to it, the farther one.

He shifted his body to face towards her, giving her his full attention. Then he threw the ball on her court by saying, “Anything you want to talk about?”

“I weaved you surveillance feeds in a loop,” the other replied, seeming to have prepared her answer before he even asked.

C-13 just gave a half-resigned, half-exasperated laughter. Apparently, today was also not the day she was going to say something.

He nodded and asked, “Since when had you been securing my feeds?” He had already known that since Leta made her presence known to RF-06 in the room she must have somehow seized control of the surveillance already. So the real question was: how long had Leta been keeping watch?

“As soon as I decided to come back,” Leta said while looking away evasively. C-13’s smile grew wider. Leta knew that he knew she was a bad liar. Her whole demeanor gave her away. However, being with him had taught her that since she could not really lie well enough to make him believe that violets were peach she could still either side-track him, give partial answers, throw back the question or give him tomato when he asked for a vegetable. Tomatoes were, by nature, fruits that could pass for vegetables in terms of usage. And as of now, aside from giving her those knowing smiles, she had never heard him complain.

C-13 really wanted to reach out and pinch those tomato cheeks, but he could only look and sigh. He looked at her and said, “I missed talking with you.”

The other froze for a moment before squinting at him. She knew it was his way of telling her, ‘I knew you really didn’t leave but just kept watch over me those times we didn’t talk.’ And he was right, she had followed him around the whole time, silently watching him and keeping track of all those who monitored C-13. Once she recorded a complete feed duration of him in his room, she immediately modified the feed track to make it seem like C-13 had regular habits all throughout the time he spent on his room. This was not peculiar for individuals who have spent some time in military. Then she would insert a few actual feeds to add a few short variations, only robots without human interventions have perfectly flawless routine. The question was, how long had C-13 known that she was just hanging around the whole time?

With a smirk C-13 continued casually, “You know, normally people would be unsettled knowing someone is watching them. Still, you can keep watch over me for as long as you want. No, let me rephrase it: I insist, please keep me within your sight for as long as both of us still walk the land of the living.”

“You believe in afterlife?” Leta asked surprised. Her impression of him was not one that adhered to superstition or paranormal.

“It’s a figure of speech. Anyway, focus more on the implication,” replied C-13, refusing to be side-tracked.

“Then let’s say figuratively that there’s an afterlife, if one of us passes the land of the living, what now?” insisted Leta.

“You can’t go anywhere and leave me,” C-13 responded promptly, in all serious ness. “If you go first, you wait for me. If I happen to go first, I’ll wait for you. It’s more time efficient that way. None of us has to go looking where the other went.”

Leta chortled. She was right, he really was not into the supernatural. If he was he would at least know that the concept of time did not apply as much in the psychic plane. Or did it? She didn’t know either, they’ll probably only know when they were there. Frankly, she didn’t care as much if there really was an afterlife or whether time ran in the same way it did with the living. What was important to her was that it was ‘they’. Not ‘she’ or ‘him’ but ‘they’.

“All contenders check your flight gear,” the Trial proctor announced over the muted sounds of the engine. They were now on board an aerial carrier. Their transport had been traveling through the desert for hours and the sea of sand seemed to stretch far beyond the horizon, endless. This was to be venue of the 2nd Trial, the Devil’s Desert.

They had been jolted out of their beds hours before dawn by a blaring sound that rang through all the rooms. The first alarm had not yet ended but C-13 was already walking out of his room, so was RF-06. The two of them had already the built the skill of dressing within a minute hand rotation. In fact, if given another 10 seconds they would have been able to leave their rooms with the bed made impeccably and nothing out of place, like a hotel room waiting for the next guest. Meanwhile, a few were not able to make it to the transport before it set flight. They were automatically disqualified. Out of 856 that reported, 400 made it out of the first stage of elimination. But there were only 387 in the aerial transport, the rest who were not able to catch the transport were probably told to pack their bags and go home. It looked like elimination continued for as long as the clock ticked.

C-13 eyed his former bunkmate and casually sidled towards him, “There were 13 contestants eliminated even before the second stage started, congratulations for not being one of them.”

He could sense the other’s bristling resentment. “They sent a message to me last night through a butler, it’s going to be pretty obvious if I miss this one by sleeping in late. Besides, I never sleep in late.” This was followed by a deep frustrated sigh. “What if I just hang around the sand until I dry up, do you think that would work?”

The other replied with a sneer, “Your father would send an inflatable Olympic pool carried with all the air transports Pontus has. Ah, the life of a mollycoddled young master. While others are struggling to survive each stage this one just has to open his jaws and someone would bring the prized bacon to his mouth, warm and tender. And yet he wants to spit it out, how like a spoiled young master. Your highness, do you want me to spread my coat on the unworthy ground you stand in?”

RF-06 glared at him resentfully. As the level progressed, so did his bunkmates restlessness. According to him the other party had refused to take his communication request and he was not sure whether it was simply a silent protest on her side or whether his father really did start moving. Hence, the guy had become antsy as time slipped by.

“His lover just moved to the Regiis Capital and had her MA readjusted a few days ago. She can’t receive comm requests until tomorrow, should we tell him?” Let asked on his earpiece.

C-13 turned his back on RF-13 and walked to the farthest corner before replying, “No, he’s already conflicted as it is. If we tell him his girl came after him now there’s a good chance he’ll bail out of this. Truth is, if he cares about his father’s reputation he can’t get eliminated earlier than the 5th trials. He knows it but that doesn’t make it any easier for him.” A curve crept into C-13’s lips as he continued, “Besides don’t you think it’s fun watching him agonize between two paths when it’s quite clear where his heart is?”

“I didn’t think you were the sensitive emotional type,” Leta remarked.

A Cheshire cat smile appeared in C-13’s lip as he replied, “You think so? I think I just like watching him or people agonize. Their choices can surprise even a seer sometimes.”

“If it were you, what would you choose?” Leta asked without really thinking hard on it.

C-13’s eyebrow rose at the question while his sadistic smile turned mischievous, “Is there really a need to ask? You, of course I’ll choose you. If the twins don’t like having you as a sister-in-law then they’ll just have to deal with it.”

Leta was momentarily speechless before asking indignantly, “How did it come to that?! I was asking whether you’d choose the father’s reputation or the girl’s peace of mind.”

“You asked me, of course I’ll apply it to my situation. And I choose your peace of mind, the twins don’t really care for their reputation. I tell you in the development institute they’ve built a reputation for being the sinister two. Besides in my case I don’t think you’ll have to worry for this kind of things.”

Leta was about to rebut when a siren rang through the aircraft carrier and the hatch opened to reveal blue skies and a vast spread of sand stretching through the horizon.

The proctor once again gathered the contenders and instructed them, “As some of you may have guessed your next mission is to survive this dessert and somehow find a way to get back to the Regiis capital on your own.”

There was a uniform look of anxiety and some shocked faces on the contenders. The Devil’s Desert was one of the harshest environments on the planet. It boasted extreme weather conditions and unmapable terrain. It was also home to some of the most vicious creatures from poisonous reptiles to the most evolved predatory beasts. The desert stretched out for thousands of miles with only bandits and outlaws occupying small desert villages hidden in the sand. Since none of the great powers have claimed it the sea of sand was considered no man’s land. The law of the jungle was also the law of the desert.

The proctor continued, “Each of you will have to certify a Statement of Will stating the Regiis Royal Family shall not be held accountable in any case of injury, disability or death.” Some contenders were visibly shaken. That will meant that the trial as well as its setting was no longer within the control of the organizers. Hence they were now washing their hands from it.

The older man continued, “However, anyone who does not wish to certify a will can freely withdraw. It shall be treated as voluntary withdrawal in the vie for the position of Prince Consort.”

As the sentence ended one pale figure stepped out of the crowd and walked to the side. He had already decided to withdraw when the proctor issued his first sentence. He was already anticipating the ridicule he would be receiving. But it would not compare with the dread he felt towards Spotted Venom Scorpions and the desert was crawling with it. The first was followed by a few until a total of seven stood on the side.

The proctor nodded and continued, “With the start of the second trial each contender has 100 points with additional gained points from the first trial depending on their ranking. The points can be used to purchase provisions that can help you in surviving the desert. Or you can save them for the later stages, that is if you can qualify for the next one.”

The proctor eyed the young men thoughtfully, he was a retired military man and one of the few who had lasted more than a week being lost in the Devil’s desert. It had almost taken his life but he survived with a few scars and a reputation. Though he did not have the option of choosing aides during the time he had to survive the desert, a good number of the young people on the carrier did not receive the same training and toughening experienced he did.“There are two ways you can add to your current points,” the older man explained as a point tabulation appeared in front of everyone. C-13 saw his name a rank below RF-06. His former bunk mate had 150 points. He was at 145. The next 8 were 5 points less than the contender above them. The others started out with a uniform hundred points. C-13 noted that the prince was one of them. “First option: you or a patron can purchase additional points. Second: you can try gaining votes from the Trial viewers which can then be converted to points.”

A brunette young man raised a hand and asked, “How is the point exchange rate?”

The proctor flicked his hand and another table floated in front of them, most of the contenders gasped in unison.

“5 million Vis Currency for 10 points. 5 million viewer votes for 10 points,” the proctor confirmed the figures on the table. It was costly, the proctor privately admitted. A citizen could only vote once and in addition, he had to be of legal age. Even the monetary means was no easier. His annual salary working for the Regiis Administration just barely exceeded a million. Still if he were given a chance to add to his provisions during the time he had to survive the desert he would have poured out all his life saving without a second thought.

The proctor needn’t have worried, the points of several contenders rose steadily as their families and patrons scrambled to buy them points. The prince’s name climbed up the ranks as tens of points was added to his initial hundred. It only stopped when he was 10 points above RF-06. He was visibly gloating as he turned towards C-13. He had been infuriated by the outcome of the first trial. He could accept the son of the Pontus Prime Minister and some 3rd generation elites beating him in a round but not a mere reservist born from the commons. However, the subject of his derision was oblivious to it. The former second rank was already in front of the proctor in the process of trading points for provisions. It looked like he was fully engrossed by the task that he had not spared the prince or the point tabulation a glance.