Post by Avery on Jul 11, 2013 13:33:08 GMT -5
Chapter three! 
Four will be up tomorrow around this time again.
Four will be up tomorrow around this time again.
3. Admin Alley
For a few moments, I didn’t move. I could barely breathe, barely think, as Hunty’s announcement rang in my ears and the drunken emcee stared expectantly at me from the stage.
“Carrie!” she repeated as my cheeks burned and I tried to force the breath back into my lungs, with minimal success. “Come up here, final player! Or we’ll have Komrade Killix put you in a chokehold like that newbie guy, ha-ha!”
No one laughed at her joke, and I was pretty sure Killix was this close to dragging Hunty off the stage and smacking the drunken woman. I wouldn’t have minded that. At least it would provide a distraction, a temporary delay to my doomed march to the stage.
But ultimately, Killix stayed seated. Hunty grinned at me and beckoned me up to take my place beside her and Celes. Even though my legs felt leaden, I forced myself to move. If I didn’t, I was afraid Killix would go hostage-taking again. And this time, she might make good on her threat to have Bacon shoot someone.
On the stage, Hunty patted me on the shoulder with far too heavy a hand and then turned to address the crowd once more. “Yay!” she squealed. “Yay! We have all our players! Now, for the next week, they’ll be training and stuff… you know, so that they’re all good and strong and whatever.” Hiccup. “Then, the Games will begin! One week from today, right at this minute. Or not this minute. 7am. Is it 7am?” She glanced back towards the more sober admins, who gave her curt nods and very much looked liked they regretted letting Hunty do the raffle. “Ok!” Hunty trilled on. “7am! And it will be televised all across the forum! Mandatory viewing, no less. And you guys can place bets, and laugh while they die, ha ha, die! And root for your favorites, I guess, the people you don’t want to die. You can even SPONSOR THEM! Anyway, at the end of the event, only one of the players will emerge victorious.” She turned back towards Celes and I and said sweetly, “May the odds be ever in your favor. Now, off the stage with you lot! Off where the rest of them went!”
I supposed she meant the wing, and sure enough, from the side of the stage, I could see admin-pet Mel gesturing Celes and I over. We exchanged with each other very uneasy looks, then started towards Mel. As we exited the stage, Hunty was telling the crowd that after one final message from Stal, they would be excused for the day, but to be on the lookout on TV tonight for the first training footage, yay!
As Celes and I were led to the backstage area where the rest of the players had been sequestered, Stal began to make his closing speech. But though his voice reached the rest of the players and me, I didn’t hear a word he said. No. All I could hear was the beating of my own heart, the blood rushing through my ears, the sound of my living, breathing body—the one that, next week at this time, might not be living anymore at all.
**
After Stal concluded his speech, all of the admins came back to look at their victims—er, players. Including Hunty, who immediately tried to drunkenly hug Jay, who tried to punch her again. Jay was smacked off her by Bacon, and Killix then snapped at Hunty to go ‘sleep off whatever it is you ingested, dolt’.
Hunty sullenly slunk off, after which Stal said, “You will have to begin training immediately. We’ve constructed a fine training center in Admin Alley. You will also find your lodgings for the next week there. Now, follow us to Admin Alley. Keep in mind, our lovely armed guards—Mel, Alyssa, Teow, and Bacon—will be flanking this nice group. If you try to run, you will regret it.”
My stomach soured once more. Admin Alley was practically my backyard, right under my nose. How had I not noticed the crazy, power-hungry admins constructing a training centre? The news about the training center was just the beginning of my shock and anger, though, because the admins then led the rest of the players and I through a dizzying maze of narrow streets, twisty alleys, and underground corridors I hadn’t even known existed. I’d been a mod on the forum for what, five and a half years? And yet all this had existed beneath my fingertips, hidden from me by the crazy administrators who were about to force myself and twenty-three others to fight to our deaths.
I felt sick. Truly sick.
Upon arrival to Admin Alley, I noted grimly that it had indeed been renovated in an extreme sort of way. What had once been a slightly abandoned corner of the city that made up the NTWF had had gates erected at the front of it—towering, spiked gates. And then there was the wall, some ten feet high and also spiked, completing enclosing it. Within the confines rose several buildings, the largest of which we were immediately led into it. The training center.
How had the admins pulled this off without anyone realizing? True, no one really ventured over to Admin Alley… but it was still only a half-mile or so from my house! At least I could sort of justify to myself not noticing the complete reinvention of Issues & Inquiries: it was a simple one-storey building, one way in and out, and seldom touched. But Admin Alley was… well, bigger. An entire city block, in fact. And it had also been redone in a much more dramatic way.
“Now,” Killix said once we were inside the training center, “here you will find numerous different stations to help you train. Weights. Archery. Rope-climbing courses. It’s up to you to train, or not train. Either way, at 7am one week from today, you will enter the arena. And from there, it’s a free-for-all. Only one of you will survive. Any questions?”
From the back of the cluster, one of the NT Staff call draftees raised her hand. She was a waifish brunette in her early twenties, with bright blue eyes and a tattoo of a bunny on her left arm.
“Um,” she said, “I have a question.”
“Yes, ask your question ah—Morgan, is it?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Well. This whole thing—um… it’s a joke, right?”
“Very good question,” said Killix thickly. She glanced towards Alyssa, who, along with the other admin pets, was standing loosely between the players and the admins, as if to make sure none of us would try attacking. “Lyss?” Killix said.
“Yes, Komrade Killix?” Alyssa asked.
“Do me a favor, why don’t you? Take your gun, and shoot that target.” She pointed to one of the archery dummies that was positioned a few yards away.
“Yes, Komrade Killix,” Alyssa said, and diligently fired the gun.
It went off with an ear-splitting boom; several of the other players clapped their hands over their ears and gawked at the target dummy, which now had a healthy chunk missing from its stomach.
“Now, Morgan,” Killix said. “Did that look like a joke? Hmm?”
“Um. No.”
“Precisely. And this game is not, either, and you best not treat it like one. Now, begin training. You will notice numerous cameras mounted around the training center. Those are there to record your pursuits and air them to the rest of the NTWF, so that they can begin betting and the like. After all, this is a game. And what is a game without betting?” She smiled. “So, begin!”
No one moved an inch. No one even blinked. And this did not amuse Komrade Killix. She scowled and turned back to Alyssa.
“Lyss?”
“Yes, Komrade Killix?”
“If these dolts don’t begin training, or at least moving, within the next twenty seconds… shoot them. Not a kill shot. Just in the knee, hm? Something to ah, motivate them!”
“Yes, Komrade Killix.”
“Good then! Now. 20…. 19…. 18….”
As Killix continued counting down, still no one moved—at least, for a moment. Then, when it hit us exactly what Killix had said, the clump of terrified players quickly disintegrated as everyone made a beeline for different training stations. Kozma and his board-mate, Tiger, headed towards the fire-starting area, followed by the newbie, Morgan. Ginz and Nova, both of whom still were occasionally staring at Dan in absolute disgust and disbelief, went to the archery station. A very large cluster, including Jina, Coaster, and Thundy, shuffled to the weights.
“How about we uh… climb some ropes?” I nervously asked the person nearest to me: Kristy.
“Um, sure,” she said. “Ropes are good.” She glanced towards Gelquie and Terra, who had also yet to break from the crowd (Killix was now on 10). “Wanna come?”
“Alright,” they replied.
We started off, and it was only when we’d made it halfway to the ropes, and Killix was on four, and everyone else had wandered off to various stations, that I noticed one person still standing in her original place, terrified and frozen: Sae.
Her princess costume was definitely not made for training. She looked so out of place, so scared and confused.
“Three!” Killix yelled.
“Sae,” I called. “Hey. Come with us. Come to the ropes.”
“Two!” Killix yelled.
“Sae! Now! Ropes!”
Sae moved in the nick of time, just as Alyssa started to cock the pistol. I let out a breath I hadn’t even known I was holding.
“This… is a very bad party,” Sae murmured. “I don’t… I don’t think this party is appropriate for a princess like me.”
“It is a bad party,” I agreed with a sigh. “A very bad party. And very inappropriate. Now, let’s climb some ropes, eh?”
For a few moments, I didn’t move. I could barely breathe, barely think, as Hunty’s announcement rang in my ears and the drunken emcee stared expectantly at me from the stage.
“Carrie!” she repeated as my cheeks burned and I tried to force the breath back into my lungs, with minimal success. “Come up here, final player! Or we’ll have Komrade Killix put you in a chokehold like that newbie guy, ha-ha!”
No one laughed at her joke, and I was pretty sure Killix was this close to dragging Hunty off the stage and smacking the drunken woman. I wouldn’t have minded that. At least it would provide a distraction, a temporary delay to my doomed march to the stage.
But ultimately, Killix stayed seated. Hunty grinned at me and beckoned me up to take my place beside her and Celes. Even though my legs felt leaden, I forced myself to move. If I didn’t, I was afraid Killix would go hostage-taking again. And this time, she might make good on her threat to have Bacon shoot someone.
On the stage, Hunty patted me on the shoulder with far too heavy a hand and then turned to address the crowd once more. “Yay!” she squealed. “Yay! We have all our players! Now, for the next week, they’ll be training and stuff… you know, so that they’re all good and strong and whatever.” Hiccup. “Then, the Games will begin! One week from today, right at this minute. Or not this minute. 7am. Is it 7am?” She glanced back towards the more sober admins, who gave her curt nods and very much looked liked they regretted letting Hunty do the raffle. “Ok!” Hunty trilled on. “7am! And it will be televised all across the forum! Mandatory viewing, no less. And you guys can place bets, and laugh while they die, ha ha, die! And root for your favorites, I guess, the people you don’t want to die. You can even SPONSOR THEM! Anyway, at the end of the event, only one of the players will emerge victorious.” She turned back towards Celes and I and said sweetly, “May the odds be ever in your favor. Now, off the stage with you lot! Off where the rest of them went!”
I supposed she meant the wing, and sure enough, from the side of the stage, I could see admin-pet Mel gesturing Celes and I over. We exchanged with each other very uneasy looks, then started towards Mel. As we exited the stage, Hunty was telling the crowd that after one final message from Stal, they would be excused for the day, but to be on the lookout on TV tonight for the first training footage, yay!
As Celes and I were led to the backstage area where the rest of the players had been sequestered, Stal began to make his closing speech. But though his voice reached the rest of the players and me, I didn’t hear a word he said. No. All I could hear was the beating of my own heart, the blood rushing through my ears, the sound of my living, breathing body—the one that, next week at this time, might not be living anymore at all.
**
After Stal concluded his speech, all of the admins came back to look at their victims—er, players. Including Hunty, who immediately tried to drunkenly hug Jay, who tried to punch her again. Jay was smacked off her by Bacon, and Killix then snapped at Hunty to go ‘sleep off whatever it is you ingested, dolt’.
Hunty sullenly slunk off, after which Stal said, “You will have to begin training immediately. We’ve constructed a fine training center in Admin Alley. You will also find your lodgings for the next week there. Now, follow us to Admin Alley. Keep in mind, our lovely armed guards—Mel, Alyssa, Teow, and Bacon—will be flanking this nice group. If you try to run, you will regret it.”
My stomach soured once more. Admin Alley was practically my backyard, right under my nose. How had I not noticed the crazy, power-hungry admins constructing a training centre? The news about the training center was just the beginning of my shock and anger, though, because the admins then led the rest of the players and I through a dizzying maze of narrow streets, twisty alleys, and underground corridors I hadn’t even known existed. I’d been a mod on the forum for what, five and a half years? And yet all this had existed beneath my fingertips, hidden from me by the crazy administrators who were about to force myself and twenty-three others to fight to our deaths.
I felt sick. Truly sick.
Upon arrival to Admin Alley, I noted grimly that it had indeed been renovated in an extreme sort of way. What had once been a slightly abandoned corner of the city that made up the NTWF had had gates erected at the front of it—towering, spiked gates. And then there was the wall, some ten feet high and also spiked, completing enclosing it. Within the confines rose several buildings, the largest of which we were immediately led into it. The training center.
How had the admins pulled this off without anyone realizing? True, no one really ventured over to Admin Alley… but it was still only a half-mile or so from my house! At least I could sort of justify to myself not noticing the complete reinvention of Issues & Inquiries: it was a simple one-storey building, one way in and out, and seldom touched. But Admin Alley was… well, bigger. An entire city block, in fact. And it had also been redone in a much more dramatic way.
“Now,” Killix said once we were inside the training center, “here you will find numerous different stations to help you train. Weights. Archery. Rope-climbing courses. It’s up to you to train, or not train. Either way, at 7am one week from today, you will enter the arena. And from there, it’s a free-for-all. Only one of you will survive. Any questions?”
From the back of the cluster, one of the NT Staff call draftees raised her hand. She was a waifish brunette in her early twenties, with bright blue eyes and a tattoo of a bunny on her left arm.
“Um,” she said, “I have a question.”
“Yes, ask your question ah—Morgan, is it?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Well. This whole thing—um… it’s a joke, right?”
“Very good question,” said Killix thickly. She glanced towards Alyssa, who, along with the other admin pets, was standing loosely between the players and the admins, as if to make sure none of us would try attacking. “Lyss?” Killix said.
“Yes, Komrade Killix?” Alyssa asked.
“Do me a favor, why don’t you? Take your gun, and shoot that target.” She pointed to one of the archery dummies that was positioned a few yards away.
“Yes, Komrade Killix,” Alyssa said, and diligently fired the gun.
It went off with an ear-splitting boom; several of the other players clapped their hands over their ears and gawked at the target dummy, which now had a healthy chunk missing from its stomach.
“Now, Morgan,” Killix said. “Did that look like a joke? Hmm?”
“Um. No.”
“Precisely. And this game is not, either, and you best not treat it like one. Now, begin training. You will notice numerous cameras mounted around the training center. Those are there to record your pursuits and air them to the rest of the NTWF, so that they can begin betting and the like. After all, this is a game. And what is a game without betting?” She smiled. “So, begin!”
No one moved an inch. No one even blinked. And this did not amuse Komrade Killix. She scowled and turned back to Alyssa.
“Lyss?”
“Yes, Komrade Killix?”
“If these dolts don’t begin training, or at least moving, within the next twenty seconds… shoot them. Not a kill shot. Just in the knee, hm? Something to ah, motivate them!”
“Yes, Komrade Killix.”
“Good then! Now. 20…. 19…. 18….”
As Killix continued counting down, still no one moved—at least, for a moment. Then, when it hit us exactly what Killix had said, the clump of terrified players quickly disintegrated as everyone made a beeline for different training stations. Kozma and his board-mate, Tiger, headed towards the fire-starting area, followed by the newbie, Morgan. Ginz and Nova, both of whom still were occasionally staring at Dan in absolute disgust and disbelief, went to the archery station. A very large cluster, including Jina, Coaster, and Thundy, shuffled to the weights.
“How about we uh… climb some ropes?” I nervously asked the person nearest to me: Kristy.
“Um, sure,” she said. “Ropes are good.” She glanced towards Gelquie and Terra, who had also yet to break from the crowd (Killix was now on 10). “Wanna come?”
“Alright,” they replied.
We started off, and it was only when we’d made it halfway to the ropes, and Killix was on four, and everyone else had wandered off to various stations, that I noticed one person still standing in her original place, terrified and frozen: Sae.
Her princess costume was definitely not made for training. She looked so out of place, so scared and confused.
“Three!” Killix yelled.
“Sae,” I called. “Hey. Come with us. Come to the ropes.”
“Two!” Killix yelled.
“Sae! Now! Ropes!”
Sae moved in the nick of time, just as Alyssa started to cock the pistol. I let out a breath I hadn’t even known I was holding.
“This… is a very bad party,” Sae murmured. “I don’t… I don’t think this party is appropriate for a princess like me.”
“It is a bad party,” I agreed with a sigh. “A very bad party. And very inappropriate. Now, let’s climb some ropes, eh?”
