18 The Tenth Room

Jayce shivered hearing her voice again. Ten minutes is not a lot of time he thought to himself. He looked around hoping that he would see the shadow again but nothing appeared before him. He sighed and then looked up to face what was in front of them.

It was the same room that they had started out in. Same throne, stone floor, even same tapestries. He looked around and took a step forward but the stones didn't collapse this time. Ralnas sighed in relief and then took a few more steps before the floor rumbled slightly. 'Everybody stop!" Micu shouted and then slowly knelt down to put his ear on the floor. He heard more rumblings beneath them. "I don't think this floor is very stable..." Just as he was about to take a step the floor below him dissolved and he fell in the blackness.

"MICU!" Jayce jumped to try and grab his friend's hand but he was already gone. Jayce was about to stand up when he saw the floor below Ralnas give way. "Ral! Jump!" Ralnas was already falling by the time he realized the floor was gone and he too disappeared into the blackness. Jenira jumped backward three steps before calling out to Jayce, "This room is the same as before it's just smarter!" He nodded at her and was about to try standing up when the whole area below him gave way and he tumbled into nothing.

Jenira was standing by herself now. She looked up at the clock, three minutes to go. She steeled herself and then charged forward. Before her stones fell in organized patterns trying to trap her in corners. She jumped landing next to one of the pillars on the side of the room. She watched it begin to crack and her eyes bulged. The stones below her started falling and just before she lost her footing she leaped and reached for the tapestries hanging off the wall. Hanging on by her fingernails she clawed her way up the tapestry before seeing the wall she was hanging off begin to crack like the floor below her. "You've got to be kidding me..." She pulled herself up onto the metal rack holding the tapestry and steadied herself before leaping towards the next rack. Just as she was about to reach it the rack crumbled before her and began to fall.

Panicked she wildly grasped for anything to find a handhold on. Her left hand found the remnants of the floor that remained. Hanging by her one arm she peered into the dark and tried to swing her right arm over so she could pull herself up.

The feminine voice rudely interrupted her efforts. "Competitors this is the final minute of the exam."

Jenira thought ruefully, "I could do this if I had more time." She swung her arm around and was finally able to get a grip strong enough to pull herself up. She heard the floor begin to crack again and knew she had seconds before she fell into the depths below. Swinging her legs back and forth she let go of the floor just as it began to give way. Arching through the air she pushed off the stone collapsing in front of her bouncing off each stone as though they were steps.

The room seemed to realize it was in danger and the whole of the floor began to crumble. Jenira grinned, "Is that all you got!" She continued to dance through the crumbling floor using the falling pieces as footholds. She saw the throne begin to fall and pushed herself off the stones to catch hold of it. Placing her feet in the seat she pushed off with everything she had to gain a few extra feet of height. Just as she was able to see the door the voice announced, "Five, four.."

Jenira reached out with everything she had to try and grab the doorframe.

"Three, two..."

She felt the doorknob in her fingers and then felt it slip through them.

"One. " Then the buzzer blared and the room Jenira had been in slowly faded back into the starch white room that they had begun in. Jenira sat down breathing heavily. It had taken everything to get that close and it still wasn't enough. She looked up just as she was tackled by her brother. "That. Was. Awesome!" He held her tightly. Jenira felt a tinge of red come to her cheeks and she hugged her brother back. "I didn't get to the door in time. I'm sorry everyone."

She heard a "pfft" sound come from Jayce's mouth before Micu spoke. "We didn't even help you. You almost beat the tenth room by yourself. I doubt any of us could have come even half as close as you did." Jayce piped up, "Honestly Jenira I didn't realize you were part ninja." His eyes had a flirty look in them as he looked on her. Jenira was about to tease him when the clock above them dissolved and a box robot entered the room.

"Congratulations to you "Chiron's Chosen" you completed nine rooms. This is enough to be tied for second place with 13 other teams." The robot pressed a button next to the door that they had entered through. A projected leaderboard appeared before them with their names near the top. The teams tied at nine were listed alphabetically so theirs was in the fifth position.

'Second place?" Ralnas asked. The robot created a laser pointer with its eye and circled first place. "No team has actually gotten ten rooms so far. So there is no official first place. Instead, you are all tied for second until either a later team gets ten or the judges review the film to determine who came closest to beating ten rooms." It then circled back to face them. "Are there any other inquiries that I may assist you with?"

Micu took his glasses off and polished them, "In fact, there is, what happens next?" He finished rubbing the glasses against his shirt and put them back on as he faced the robot.

"Your watches will notify you of the next competition in three days. Tomorrow is a rest day for competitors. The day after that is a scheduled tour of the elite team facility of "team Nuke". If you are interested in this free tour then please report to the Coliseum two days from now at 7:15 am HST. Are there any other inquiries that I may assist you with?"

Jayce looked to Ralnas who shook his head before moving to Jenira and then Micu who looked satisfied with the answers that had been given so far. "No thank you Mr. Robot. We're ready to leave." He stood up and moved towards the door.

"Please wait, Mr. Good. Your presence has been requested by the judges. Everyone else is free to leave. If you intend to wait for Mr. Good then your ID cards will get you back into the competitor watching area." The robot then turned and exited the room.

Jayce shrugged at his friends and they exited the room warily. "Text us when you finish!" Ralnas called out as he left the room. Jayce turned to face the room and it suddenly transformed into the throne room he had been in during the tenth room. Before him were four towering figures who were draped in black clothes that obscured every detail of their bodies. Jayce gulped with fear and glanced at each judge.

"Are you Jayce Good?" The judge on the left asked. Its voice sounded like it hadn't had water in decades. Jayce tensed at hearing it speak and then nodded in affirmation.

"How did you solve the maze?" The same one spoke. Jayce figured it was the leader so he stood and faced that one directly. "I uh, well it might not make sense but I followed a shadow man. I know it sounds crazy but it's the truth." He hoped that he wasn't going to get in trouble for using the shadows. He didn't know it was against the rules to use it. He didn't even know what it was.

"A shadow?" The judge turned to face the other three. Jayce thought he heard them speaking but it sounded more like dry bones scraping against each other. The judge then turned back to face Jayce. "Are these the same shadows you saw in the house that caused you to jump through the window?"

Jayce nodded, he had already forgotten about doing that. He was standing as straight as he could trying to make sure he looked as respectful as possible. The judges spoke again, this time the sounds were louder and Jayce wondered if they were arguing. He glanced at the door. He wondered if he could make it to the door in time in case he had to run. He started inching his body towards the door when the judges turned to him swiftly. Jayce froze stone still. The lead judge floated towards him. "Mr. Good, will you state your potential score for us please?" Its voice sounded like it had awe mixed in with the crackling dryness of before.

Jayce nodded, again, "Yes sir. I have a potential of negative ten." He glanced at each judge to try and watch their reactions. Two of them moved slightly further away while the lead judge and the other remaining moved slightly towards him. "I guess that's as much as I'm going to get from their body reactions..." He thought to himself before looking up at the lead judge. "Am I in trouble judge?"

The lead judge made a sound like wind flowing across a desert. Jayce hoped it was him laughing. "No Mr.Good, we were concerned you were cheating but it seems that we were wrong. It is interesting that your potential manifests as a shadow. You may go now." Jayce was about to bow but the judges were already gone by the time he had started to bend. He glanced around then quickly texted their group chat that the judges were done with their questions. He walked slowly out of the room wondering how someone could possibly cheat in this exam.

Jayce was waiting for his friends near one of the concession stands. Smells of popcorn, fried dough, and smells he didn't recognize wafted through the air. Jayce suddenly realized how hungry he was and thought seriously about buying himself some of the food. He checked his wallet tab on his watch and frowned. Two and a half credits were all he had saved up since graduation. "I need to cash those presents people sent me for graduating from Chiron's," he thought before sighing and eyeing the food on display with desire in his heart. He turned and saw the trademark red mane of Ralnas trying to make its way through the crowd. He smiled and started walking towards his friends.

Micu was the first to burst through the crowd. "Hey, Jayce!" He pointed towards the wall away from the moving hordes of spectators. Jayce slipped his way between people and creatures of all shapes and sizes before finally ending up next to the wall. "I didn't realize so many people watched the capability exam," Jayce said when he had made it near to his friends. Ralnas raised an eyebrow, "Really? This is like one of the most exciting things that happen during the off-season. I always watched it while you guys were on summer break."

Jenira looked at her brother, disappointment dripping in her voice. "You told me you were doing extra training!" Ralnas laughed softly, "Whoops..." Jayce and Micu laughed and then the foursome started heading towards the exit. "So, why did they want to talk to you?" Micu looked over to Jayce. "They thought I cheated." He shrugged, "I don't even know how you would cheat on this test." Micu was surprised and began to wonder if it was because of their performance in the maze that led them to think that. Rationalizing that if the judges weren't concerned with how he figured out the maze then neither should he Micu decided not to pursue the matter further.

As they made their way out in the cool night air the bright lights of the city gleamed back at them. Neon pinks and purples illuminated the buildings while hoverboards, hovercars, and winged races zoomed through the sky. Jayce stopped and looked out on the city. "You know it is actually a gorgeous place sometimes." Jenira slid next to him and nodded. Ralnas wrapped his arms around the both of them and looked out into the city. "And we're going to become its kings!" He shouted out into the night. Micu smirked at Ralnas before looking out with them. Each fantasizing about the future they were one step closer to realizing.