36 Elimination Round

Jayce yawned deeply and stretched his sore muscles. Though a sun did rise over major hub one it was almost always obscured by the clouds that clung to the mega skyscrapers. Jayce had often thought that if San Francisco had advanced 500 years in a single night then this is what it would look like. At least that's what he guessed as he could only go off pictures that he had seen. His mom often talked about San Francisco since she was born there. Jayce had often imagined the two of them exploring the city together. Sometimes he even pretended his dad was still there to see the Golden Gate Bridge with them.

Jayce scanned the hallway to make sure Jenira wasn't around before scurrying to the bathroom to quickly shower. He didn't have to worry though because Jenira and Micu were busy watching the TV where a passionate Leon Roberts was delivering breaking news. "It's true! For the first time since I've been reporting for Human Daily, I can report that we have officially entered elimination rounds this early in the exam!" Leon was red-faced and seemed on the verge of having a nervous breakdown. He had received the news literally six minutes before his normally scheduled morning talk show was to air and he had to scrap everything he had prepared.

"So that means that instead of the last six rounds being elimination the next nine will be!" Leon was about to burst with curiosity about what had prompted the teams to change the format so suddenly. His source had only told him that it was all but two of the teams that voted to approve the change. "With that change, it also means today's challenge is changing! It was scheduled to be the jungle gym course. But now it is going to skip right ahead to the Coliseum round!" Leon wiped his brow with a handkerchief and then rotated his chair to face the closest camerabot. "I for one can not wait for this event!" I would guess we're about to see some very interesting teams rise above the rest and those that we thought highly of stumble!"

Leon then smirked into the camera, "Maybe it won't even be worth it for Tara Sourcurl to interview that team anymore." He winked at the camera before the broadcast turned to commercials. Micu and Jenira sat stunned and slowly looked at each other. A long moment passed between them before Micu jumped and ran up the stairs shouting, "Jayce! Ralnas! Wake the hell up!" Jenira flipped on her watch and opened the capability exam app.

It had a notification that read the same as the report that they had just seen. Jenira sucked in her breath as she read it twice just to makes sure she was seeing it correctly. She then glanced through the team names until she found theirs. "Chiron's Chosen: participants in the last time slot. Expected begin time is 5:30 pm HST". Jenira sighed with relief. At least their time hadn't changed and they still had most of the day to prepare for the Coliseum. She then quickly flipped on the cook robots and had them begin making a match day meal.

Protein, lots of carbs, low sugar and lots of water. All four of them were very familiar with the optimum human meal before important events. It had been one area where Chiron was adamant that his way was the only right way. Jenira cycled through the options available before settling on the best meal that fit her criteria.

Food from Earth was now considered a delicacy since the animals that produced it weren't native to the simulation. A scientist had to recreate the DNA, raise the animals, have it meet safety criteria, and then they could finally bring it to market. Thus the most common food here was a variety of bird similar to the chicken but was native to coastlines and had wings like a penguin. They had long been domesticated so their meat and eggs were common to the markets and diners of every area. Humans affectionately called them Cococlucks due to their color and the sound they made when kept in pens.

This was what Jenira picked out to eat. The eggs of the clucks cooked into an omelet and their meat mixed in. Various plants that other races had cultivated mixed in and then topped with her favorite brand of salsa in the simulation. The robot cooks quickly set about preparing their meals with a buzz. Jenira smiled to herself imagining what kind of crazy meal Ralnas would have come up with if they let him pick it out. Last time he had spent 45 minutes on his watch looking up different recipes that had been popular on Earth before making them some sort of casserole that was absolutely disgusting. She looked up the stairs where there was a commotion taking place.

Jayce had just gotten out of his shower when Micu had sprinted up the stairs yelling his name. Quickly drying off he peeked his head out the door looking at Micu, "What is it?" Micu had just said, "You need to get downstairs. Now." Before he started banging on the door to his room to wake up Ralnas. Jayce quickly dashed to his room and threw on a pullover hoodie and sweatpants before descending the stairs. He wasn't last to arrive and watched the robots cook them breakfast as they waited for Ralnas to show.

Jayce noticed the meal was a very similar one to another that Jenira had picked out before one of their toughest exams at Chiron's and his mind started whirring. He glanced at the muted TV where a passionate Leon Roberts was talking into the camera. On the crawl underneath his face was a simple headline, "Elimination starts now." Jayce's eyes opened wide and he looked over to Jenira. She nodded to him and then pointed to her watch. Micu was pacing back and forth like a madman and they both knew better than to disturb him in this state.

Ralnas finally descended, his body language was strained and he seemed to be on full alert after being woken up so suddenly. Seeing Micu pace in the kitchen he immediately knew that there was some big news. He slid into a chair next to Jayce and then the three of them looked to Micu. Micu finally stopped his pacing as his mind found the right approach for the Coliseum. He looked up to his three friends with a confident smile. "Time to win three in a row." Their grinning faces confirmed his previous decision.

"Now the Coliseum is unique in that you can't use any weapons that have gunpowder origins. So no guns, cannon, grenades, etc. Make sense?" Micu asked them intently. The other three were very familiar with this stage of the exam because it was usually where the future stars started to stand out from the crowd. Micu nodded to himself, "Then this is going to be our formation. Ralnas you're on tanking duty, we need to make sure we can eliminate whatever they throw at us as quickly as possible so you distract them." Ralnas nodded with determination. This was his usual role in the squad when there was no shooting and he was very confident in his abilities.

"Jayce you'll take a spear or greatsword, up to you. But you need reach to exploit the holes that Ral opens up. I trust that you'll be able to balance attack and defense if he gets into trouble." Jayce smiled at his friend. "Micy I swear you change my role every round. One day you'll decide where I'm best." He winked at Micu. Micu rolled his eyes. He trusted Jayce to be the glue no matter where he put him and didn't ever consider his friend's feelings when it came to the best way to victory. Plus he was curious how much Jayce could handle. His attitude and confidence seemed to have grown in leaps and bounds since he discovered his potential.

"Jenira you'll be surgical strikes. I'm thinking short blades but if you think there's something more suiting to your own style then go ahead. You need to be able to move around the arena and attack from blindsides." Jenira nodded contently and then glanced over at her brother. "Make sure you taunt them with all your terrible jokes." Ralnas grumbled but said nothing aloud. Micu laughed and then looked back to Jenira, "I think they're going to figure out fairly quickly that humans have a weakness to flying creatures so be prepared to throw some things too."

He then sat down across from them as the robots served their food. "I will be taking a bow. So I can watch the battle and direct us around the area. Any special items we receive from completing rounds should be to ensure Ralnas survives before anything else." He nodded comfortably before looking to the three of them. "Any questions?"

He got three thumbs up as a response and the four quickly dug into their food. Though only 16 years old they were veterans of simulated battles. Chiron had almost raised them on competition and the ability to get themselves ready for battles was second nature. Jane had often worried about her sons future when he came home covered in bruises and cuts from practice. Jayce had brushed it off as the only future he was interested in pursuing was a fighter so some physical pain was nothing in his eyes if it led to the ultimate glory of becoming a champion.

They each left the dinner table at their own pace to begin preparations for the Coliseum. Micu had one of the robot butlers go out to acquire their usual match prep gear. By the time that they had finished breakfast four large boxes were neatly stacked next to the stairs with a receipt for the goods. Jayce was the first to finish and he deftly grabbed his box and headed to his room.

For Jayce, the look mattered as much as the function. His vanity had earned him quite a bit of teasing throughout his years at Chiron's but his favorite reply was, "look good play good." And he stuck to that mantra as though it was law. He wrapped both of his wrists with the black athletic tape he loved. Then his thumbs to ensure his grip was strong even after sweating. He then meticulously applied black paint below his eyes to prevent himself from being blinded by the bright lights of the Coliseum. Having decided to embrace the spider tattoo that had decided to call his chest home he also applied thin lines on his hands that made them look like they were covered in webs. He then began working on his hair to make sure that no matter how sweaty he got it wouldn't look bad.

Micu was second to finish his meal and he efficiently grabbed his box and proceded up the stairs in one smooth motion. He had been one of the chief antagonizers of Jayce and his pregame rituals. Micu applied everything for a purpose. Therefore the only things he did was meditate and apply tape to his thumbs to prevent chafing from the bow. He was in his parent's room so he wasn't disturbed and he quickly went over the main issues their team had faced in similar situations before in his mind. Trying to distill the issues to their core and think of workarounds in case they occurred again. He hardly moved and sweat beaded from his brow as his mind worked overtime to claim another first place victory.

Jenira patted her brother on the back before grabbing her small box and heading to her room. Though her hair wasn't long she still loved finding interesting ways to braid it before competitions and she often spent time researching looks from Earth to match the theme of the event they were to participate in. Though she knew it was silly she still imagined it was her mom who was braiding her hair as she had done before her little league games. This helped relieve any tension she felt about the coming event and put her mind in a focused state.

Ralnas sighed to himself as he sat alone at the table. He had a different ritual before big competitions. He picked up the heavy box that was left remaining and climbed the stairs. He turned the speakers in Micu's room as loud as they could go so no one could hear him. He then kneeled on the ground and talked to his parents with tears pouring from his face. His dad's face was beginning to blur in his mind's eye but his voice was as clear as ever. "I will always be proud of you as long as you try your best." It was the last thing he had said to him the day before Earth ended. Ralnas treated competition as an homage to his family and before events that made him nervous he would talk his fears aloud to them. Ralnas lowered his head to let the tears hit the ground as he spoke through the events since the beginning of the exam with the ghost of his parents.

After he felt that he had relieved his burdens he began putting on the thickly padded clothes that he had requested. Ralnas took a somewhat perverse pleasure in the pain of battle. It felt like he was releasing some of the guilt he carried from not being able to better provide for his sister. He sometimes wondered if it was because he felt that he deserved to feel pain for all that he had experienced but never explored the thought too deeply. Padded fingerless gloves were always the last part of this ritual and he had these custom made when he had guessed his hands weren't going to grow any larger. A human hand made out of a synthetic bone cut in half decorated each glove with his and Jenira initials on the palms. Though they made significantly better combat gloves than the ones he wore these had sentimental value and Ralnas had personally repaired them many times. None of his friends dared tease him about the gloves.

Being teammates for so long they had acquired an intimate understanding of each of their pre-match routines. Almost as if on command all four exited their rooms fully prepared to descend into the maelstrom of battle. The silently marched down the stairs until they reached the front door. Jayce turned to back at his friends, a murderous smile lightly resting on his lips. "You ready?"