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THERE WAS NOTHING IN THE SKY, and not just because it was almost pitch black. But Jayde and Jaaspar saw something that Thebe and I couldn’t. They were adamant that a multitude of beacons illuminated the Earth, but Thebe and I were convinced they were hallucinating.
“Jaaspar and I see them,” Jayde said, still in awe. “It’s just you two who can’t.”
“We have to go to them,” Jaaspar demanded.
“Is it safe?” Thebe said worriedly. “We don’t know what they are. For all we know, only you and Jayde can actually see them.”
“I think I know why we can’t see them,” I said aloud, even though I wondered if I should have kept it to myself. But we came into the games together, so it was only right that I communicated everything with my alliance. “Thebe and I don’t have an advantage in this game.”
Jayde, Jaaspar and Thebe all looked up in realisation, and Anyma glanced at me as if she already knew that vital piece of information.
“Jayde and I have the advantage,” Jaaspar said.
I nodded.
“Fate, the beacons probably lead to the space bridge portals,” Anyma said, only loud enough for me to hear.
I remembered what Rubie told me just before the drop pods left Second Earth. She said to ask my friends how to complete the game and confirmed that Jaaspar and Jayde would know.
“Those beacons,” I began, repeating what Anyma said, “I think they lead to the portals we have to find.”
“We have to go to them,” Jayde said.
“Wait!” Jaaspar called out as he pointed behind me. “A beacon is moving.”
“If those beacons are the portals, and if other players have the advantage, then we aren’t the only ones who can see them. Another player must have gotten to it first,” Jayde said.
“Let’s move,” I demanded. “How far is the closest one?”
“It looks like it’s just past that tree line,” Jayde said.
“I can’t see anything, not even the trees,” Thebe complained.
“The beacons have lit up the entire Earth for us. We can see everything clear as day,” Jayde reassured.
“We have to move quickly. One day to find three portal pieces each might not be enough time, especially if other players can see the beacons too,” Thebe said.
“There must be plenty of pieces. I’m sure the game makers have scattered them around pretty far,” Anyma said.
“Thebe, there might be a way to solve that,” Jaaspar began as he combed his fingers through his hair. “I can see three different colours of beacons, red, blue and yellow. Jayde, do you see three different colours?”
“Yes,” she answered.
“I’m guessing that each colour beacon leads to a different piece of the portal we need. So, we need to collect each colour to make one portal.”
“That doesn’t sound too bad if that’s also part of your advantage,” I said.
“Would it be faster if we split up?” Thebe asked.
“I was thinking the same thing,” I responded. “Jayde and Jaaspar, you two can see where the space bridge portals are, so you’ll have to lead us to them.”
“If we split into two groups, then we have a better chance at making it to the next game. But... I think we should stick together,” Anyma said.
“It’s easier to split into two groups. It means less work, less walking and fewer pieces to collect,” I continued.
“Fate, I’ll be with you, and Jaaspar and Thebe can scout together,” Jayde suggested.
“You better keep up with me, Jaaspar,” Thebe joked.
“I’ll join Jaaspar and Thebe,” Anyma said to me. “It’ll be good to change it up a bit.”
“Okay, let’s head off in separate directions, so we don’t double up on the beacons.”
“We’ll see you two soon. Good luck,” Jaaspar said as his group continued forward while Jayde and I turned back in the direction of the drop pods.
“You’re going to have to guide me where to walk because I can’t see anything,” I said, laughing so that she wouldn’t think I was being too harsh.
“Watch out!” she yelled.
I jumped up and screamed in fear at her warning, but she laughed uncontrollably.
“I’m joking, you idiot. Of course I’ll tell you where we’re walking. We are in this together,” she said as she nudged my shoulder.
“You gave me a heart attack, you know,” I laughed.
“Alright,” she began as she narrowed her eyes and pointed in the distance. “There is a cluster of three beacons, all different colours that way, but we can grab an extra blue one if we go around this way. No, wait, that one is moving; someone else must have gotten to it. We can get this other one over here.”
“Yeah, I’m fine to go wherever you say. Just lead the way, and I’ll follow.”
“Perfect, follow me then.”
The ground beneath my boots felt the same as it did when we landed, and the same pine smell tickled the inside of my nose. Jayde occasionally moved branches and leaves out of my way so I wouldn’t stumble into them, and she warned me every time we were close to a fallen tree. That’s how I knew we were on a different path; there were no fallen trees when we walked away from the drop pods unless I had been too preoccupied with the beauty of Earth to notice.
“How much longer do you reckon until we reach the first beacon?” I asked.
“Another hour maybe. It doesn’t look like it’s any closer than before. Once we reach the first one, it will be easier to gauge how far the others are.”
“We may need to get some rest too,” I said, and she snickered softly.
“Let’s get to the first beacon so that we’ve made progress, and then we can find somewhere to camp for a few hours. But we don’t want to sleep for too long. Losing time means losing our lives.”
“Okay, we can grab the first piece, and then we can rest for a while. My legs are killing me, and I didn’t sleep last night at all,” I said.
“How could they already be hurting? We landed here not long ago. And didn’t you sleep after Thebe and I left last night?”
“They were hurting from before. I must have pulled something earlier. And no, I couldn’t sleep. I was panicking about today.”
“Right,” she said sarcastically before changing the subject. “What do you think happened to Earth? Why didn’t humans return sooner?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” I calmly said as I looked into her eyes, which reflected the lights from the hovering cameras. “The planet is much more sustainable now, but I’m not sure why we didn’t come back. I have heard stories, though, about how the Earth was initially destroyed.”
“I’ve heard a few as well. Back home, we had some interesting personalities that came up with theories on the end of the world,” she dramatically said as she lowered her voice and laughed.
“You were part of level forty-four, right?”
“Yeah, I was one of the lead mechanics.”
“So, how did you end up in the Exogames?” I asked cautiously, unsure how she’d react. Jaaspar had told me about her crimes back when we were on Mars.
“It’s a long story.”
“We have all night. There’s time.”
“I was wrongly accused. My crime, apparently, was that I murdered three of my fellow coworkers,” she began. “But they died at different times, and I was nowhere near them when they were killed. I had alibis and witnesses to prove my innocence, but the High Judges didn’t believe me. They still sent me to Mars to serve one hundred and seventy-five revolutions.”
“Shit, that’s over three hundred Earth years!”
“Yeah, I couldn’t believe it either. But when the opportunity arose to enter these Exogames, I jumped at it. I need my freedom back since it was unjustly stolen from me.”
“From us. I hope we can all make it out of these games alive. We deserve our freedom.”
“What about you?” she asked. “Why were you sent to Mars?”
“It’s a shorter story than yours. My name was on the passenger list to journey to the asteroid belt. I never asked for my name to be put there, and I wasn’t supposed to be on any ship leaving Second Earth. But the ship exploded soon after take-off.”
“How did you survive?”
“I wasn’t on the ship,” I answered, squinting to see the silhouettes of logs and trees.
“And that makes you a criminal?” she asked in confusion.
“Apparently, it’s a crime against Second Earth.” I mocked the way Tethys, my interrogator, had said it.
“Reminds me of Jaaspar’s crime. Actually, not his crime, but the fact that he also said he was innocent,” Jayde said as she demonstrated air quotation marks with her fingers.
“When he and I were on Mars, he told me why he was sent there and that he was wrongly accused. Now we are in this game of life and death, competing for freedom that was already ours,” I said.
“Now that’s three of us, Jaaspar, you and me, who shouldn’t even be here.”
“Perhaps this isn’t a conversation we should be having out in the open,” I said as I pointed to the hovering cameras I had forgotten temporarily.
“We’re almost at the first beacon,” Jayde said as she began to half-jog in its direction.
I followed her as we disappeared into the foliage. Jayde crouched down next to a small bush that was covered with thick branches and waved her hand over it.
“The beacon is coming from here,” she said, trying to grasp it like it was a string.
I crouched beside her, moved away the branches and dug through the bush at its roots. Jayde must have noticed it before I did because she reached into the centre of the leaves and pulled out a trientsphere not too much bigger than her palm. It was the same shade of gold as the hovering cameras and had a latch on both of the flat sides. It was decorated with grid lines that were evenly spaced on the curved side, exactly how lines of latitude and longitude look on the planet Earth. I recognised it from my younger years back in school. Geography was not my strongest subject, and none of us students really cared because we were never supposed to return to Earth. But the more I thought about it, the more it seemed plausible that it was all planned from the beginning.
“One down, five to go,” Jayde said.
“Let’s find the other ones. No rest tonight,” I said through my fatigue.
“Are you sure?” she asked. “What about your legs? Aren’t you tired anymore?”
“I am, but we need to find more pieces before the other players. I just pray that Jaaspar can find the pieces too.”
“Jaaspar can see the beacons as well, so they’ll be able to find the portal pieces much faster than the players who can’t see them,” she responded. “I hope he makes it out alive,” she whispered under her breath.
“What was that?”
“Oh, nothing,” Jayde answered hesitantly.
I raised both my eyebrows at her and didn’t respond.
“Alright, but you can’t tell anyone.”
“Okay, my mouth is shut.” I was taken aback. I could tell Jayde was about to share something personal with me, and I wasn’t prepared for it.
“I think I like Jaaspar,” she said, speeding up her words towards the end of her sentence.
“As in... romantically?” I asked.
She nodded, and her cheeks filled with light pink pigmentation. I wasn’t sure Jayde and Jaaspar would look good together because he was much shorter than she was, but if Jayde felt that way about him, then it was worth giving it a chance.
“I was in another relationship that didn’t last. Don’t date anybody from work,” she laughed.
“No way. Everyone in my department has... interesting personalities.”
“Good. Don’t fall into the same trap I did. I kind of wish Jaaspar didn’t have the advantage. I wish you had it so that I could partner up with him and search for the portal pieces.”
“Wow, thank you for that reassurance. It really gives me a confidence boost,” I said sarcastically as we both laughed. “He’s going to need someone to love him. He’s been through a lot.”
The hovering camera’s flashlight glinted in her eye, and I froze on the spot. Jayde’s secret had been broadcasted to all of Second Earth.
“Oh no,” she said in disappointment. “I completely forgot they were there.”
“It’s alright,” I tried to reassure her. “Nobody will tell him.” I was lying. Jaaspar was sure to find out the moment we arrived back on Second Earth.
Whoever couldn’t see the beacons was at an enormous disadvantage. There was less than one day left to find three matching pieces to make a portal back to Second Earth. Even with the advantage, our time seemed limited.
“Alright, we have to keep moving. The cluster of beacons is that way,” she said, pointing to my left. “I can’t see any other moving beacons around it. If there are any players around there, then they either have no portal pieces, or they can’t see the beacons.”
“I hope it’s the latter. We need them, desperately.”
I shot up from where we were crouched and felt piercing pain in my leg. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want Jayde to feel that we had to stop just because of my injury. Jayde got up just as eagerly and walked in the direction we needed to go.
“The ground here is smoother than before.” She used the beacon light from the portal piece we found as a flashlight — the beacon light only she could see.
“Perfect. It’ll be easier on my feet.”
“So, back to our conversation from before,” she began.
“Yeah? About Jaaspar?”
“On how we think the Earth was destroyed, or rather, why humans left,” she corrected. “What were some of the stories that you’ve heard?”
“I’ve been told that it was a doomsday event,” I said dramatically, as I waved my hands around. “Apparently, according to the ancient Mayan calendar, the end of the world was supposed to happen way back in the year two thousand and twelve. Massive earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, tsunamis as well. All terrible natural disasters that should have split the Earth in half,” I answered as I laughed.
“Clearly, that didn’t happen since the Earth is still here,” she said, laughing with me.
“I know. What about you, what stories have you heard?” I asked.
“The same. Natural disasters were meant to end the world. But another theory I heard was that there was a frightening war between all the nations here. A nuclear war ended the human population, but the wealthy people that knew what was going down set up Second Earth, and many escaped to it.”
“That theory sounds a bit more credible,” I said as I accidentally tripped in a small ditch and lost my balance.
Jayde caught me by my shirt, and I almost choked as the collar dug into my throat. We walked in silence for a bit afterwards because it was slightly embarrassing.
“Something must have changed, though. Not much of the population on Second Earth is wealthy,” I said, coughing and massaging my throat to release the tension.
“Well, you know the High Judges probably confiscated everyone’s money. That’s why they’re in control.”
Through the eeriness of dense brush and towering trees, only the cry-howling of outcast wolves fractured the deafening silence, a sound that made me jump out of my shoes and sent my stomach turning. My insides flipped, and my knees became weak.
“The show begins,” Jayde said as she looked around to find where the sounds originated.
“We better start moving faster.”
“Run,” she whispered loudly.
My legs followed hers into the abyss. I ignored the pain and pushed through my emotions with all my strength — every ounce of it that I could find. Dry leaves cracked under my boots once more, and I knew we had strayed from the path to the cluster of beacons. At least, I assumed so because Jayde had said that the path ahead was smoother.
“Okay, we should be alright now,” she said as she attempted to catch her breath.
I struggled to breathe as well. We had gone from a casual stroll to sprinting through bushes and jumping over logs. I wasn’t cut out for it. I should have listened to my father’s health tips when he was still alive, or at least trained with Jaaspar back on Mars.
“What did you make me run for?” I asked.
“This isn’t our territory anymore. The Earth hungers for blood. The wolves were close. Would you rather be their dinner? Because I sure as hell wouldn’t,” she explained.
Once we both stopped huffing and puffing, we continued at a regular pace towards the cluster of beacons. Or so Jayde said. I trusted her because she had gotten us to the first portal piece. If she wanted me dead, I’m sure she would have killed me by now.
“I have a feeling you want to ask me something, Jayde,” I said, recognising her hesitation because it was something I felt all the time.
“What makes you say that?”
“You’re never this quiet, and you keep looking at me as if you’re about to say something. Even though it’s dark, I can still sense your glance.”
“The most likely reason for the Earth’s destruction was a nuclear war, which means that this planet must be flooded with radiation right now,” she said.
“Nobody has been on Earth in about three hundred years. The radiation would have disappeared by now,” I reassured her.
“Sometimes radiation can stay in an area for thousands of years,” she said, convincingly, although it was unlikely that the Earth was still radioactive.
“If there were still radiation here, we would surely die.”
“I think we’re immune.”
“How are we immune to radiation?” I asked.
“When we lived on Second Earth, we were exposed to the sun’s rays without any atmospheric protection. Humans have been soaking up the sun’s radiation for centuries. It’s a miracle we haven’t died yet.”
“If we don’t get superpowers now, then I’m going to be very disappointed.”
We chuckled at my joke, which I didn’t think was very funny, but Jayde had warmed up to me and seemed less intimidating. I think she considered us as more than just acquaintance, or allies in the games. She was softening and warming the frost around her heart, and gradually pulled down her walls.
“Hey, I know before I said we should keep moving, but do you reckon we should stop and rest for an hour?” I asked.
“We’re almost there, Fate. I promise once we get those portal pieces, we can stop and rest,” she said.
She was tired too. Although I couldn’t see that she was physically exhausted, I heard it in her breath. She tried to cover up her heavy panting by stomping her feet louder, but that just made it more obvious.
The wind was colder in this part of the forest. It was a nice breeze that cooled down my overheating body. It made the sweat under my armpits more noticeable and extremely uncomfortable, but I was just grateful to be alive at this point.
“There is another beacon moving closer to the cluster,” Jayde said as we paused for a second. “We have to move faster. Quick, Fate, we have to move!”
I limped through my strides and breathed at an uneven pace through the forest. Jayde was much faster than I was, even though she was slightly shorter than me. I imagined Jaaspar was faster than me as well. He was the most athletic of all of us.
The howling of the wolves echoed through the forest once more, much closer than before. Jayde continuously nudged me away from trees that seemed to appear out of nowhere and directed me towards the beacons.
“Here. We’re here,” she said as she slid to the ground and crash-landed on what sounded like a rotten log and small twigs.
She punched through the log’s side and pulled out another portal piece. It was the same shape as the first one, with the exact same etchings over its curved side.
“The other two pieces are just over there,” she said as she turned around and pointed ahead.
In a small crevice underneath tree roots was another portal piece, and the third was just further up and wedged in the crack of a giant boulder.
“Here, you take this one,” she said as she handed me the first piece we found. “These three have different colour beacons, so I’m assuming they connect with each other. The one you have is blue; we just need the red and yellow ones to go with it.”
“How far are the closest red and yellow beacons?” I asked.
“There,” she slowly said as she brought up her hand and pointed to one of the mountains in the distance.
Those mountains looked relatively far when we landed. In the dark, they looked even further away, blending with the black sky.
“That one is red; the closest yellow looks like a twenty-minute walk from here. From yellow to red, maybe an hour or two, depending on how bad your leg feels,” Jayde answered.
“What about the wolves?”
“As if I would know. I don’t know how to fight off any animals,” she said with a bit of a scoff.
Frankly, I didn’t either. None of us was cut out for this. But I supposed it was a faster way for the game makers to get rid of us one by one.
“Get some rest; we will need it for that hike,” she said.
“What if some of the other players try to get our beacons?” I asked.
“We’ll sleep in turns. I’ll take the first shift,” she said. She tried to start a fire but couldn’t manage to ignite any sparks.
“Just leave it. We don’t need a fire,” I said, slightly shivering through the cold.
“Will you be alright without any heat?”
“Sure. I’ve slept in plenty of cold places before,” I lied.
I hated the cold, but I would have rather suffered freezing to death than watch her struggle at attempting a fire. Life skills wasn’t a class taught in school back home. It had been many years ago until it was scrapped because superiors didn’t think humans would return to our home planet. They didn’t want a repeat of the Titan expedition where we lost contact with the entire crew.
“The beacon that was moving towards us turned away.”
“That player probably realised we got here first,” I said as I patted the ground and smoothed my hand to brush away any leaves from the dirt.
Jayde looked at all three pieces in her possession and brought them close to each other. This was technology nobody on Second Earth had, not even in aerospace, so it was just as intriguing to me as it was to her. The pieces locked together magnetically with a high-pitched click, and Jayde pulled her head back.
“Woah,” she said in awe. “The beacon... it’s brown now.”
“How does the portal open?” I asked as I rolled flat on my back and rested my head on my palms.
“Not sure. There’s no button on it. I can’t even pull the pieces apart anymore,” she said, struggling to pry them from each other again.
“We’ll figure it out; don’t stress,” I said, nodding to her as my heavy eyelids shut.
“Goodnight, Fate.”
* * *
I EXPECTED TO WAKE UP to Jayde nudging at my shoulders to take her shift so she could rest, but it wasn’t her that woke me. It was the huffing of a creature only a few metres from my feet. Its low growl reverberated through the air, and its sharp white fangs sparkled brighter than its piercing white eyes.
I carefully brought my legs closer to my body and pushed myself up with my hands. I saw its eyes follow me as I tiptoed to Jayde, but I didn’t want to show any fear that might provoke it. Its fur was black in the darkness, but when the hovering camera shined a light over the wolf, it reflected a white-grey mane.
Jayde was asleep on the ground, too tired to notice. She was as exhausted as I’d presumed, but she was pretty good at hiding it.
“Jayde,” I whispered as I crouched beside her and tugged at her arm.
She jolted back into reality and rubbed her eyes.
“What is it?” she said aloud, unbeknownst to her that we were moments away from imminent death.
“Shush,” I whispered with my finger on my lips.
It took a second for her to notice the wolf that I hadn’t broken eye contact with, not for a moment. She slowly got up, looking as ready to sprint as I was. It was our primal instinct.
“Fate, what are you gonna do?”
“Not me. You need to activate the portal and get us out of here. I don’t know what to do.”
“But only one of us can go through, remember? It’s one portal per player.”
Far out, I thought with frustration and on the edge of losing control of my emotions. There was no way out of this, at least without one of us ending up dead.
“Alright,” I began as I came up with somewhat of a plan on the spot. “You take the portal and get back to Second Earth. I’ll figure something out.”
“I’m not leaving you here,” she begged.
“Jayde, please. It’s the only way. That thing looks hungry, and I don’t want you being its dinner.”
The wolf took a few steps towards us as we maintained the distance and stepped back. From what I’d read years ago, wolves travelled in packs. Either this one was all on its lonesome, or its friends waited eagerly nearby to pounce.
Its growls grew in volume until it barked thunderously loud, booming and echoing. The wolf’s eye twitched, and I broke my eye contact with it.
“Run!” I screamed.
The wolf chased us through the entire forest. I didn’t care if branches slapped me in the face or if I lost my balance. Whenever we took a sharp turn, the hovering cameras would whizz past our ears before turning back to follow us again.
“I’m going to let it chase me. You go back home,” I shouted, hoping she would have listened to me.
“You’re crazy! It’ll get you; let it follow me,” she said as she split away from me, going left as I continued straight ahead.
The huffing wolf stopped following me, but I didn’t realise it until I slowed down. Its barks continued to my left as it pursued Jayde. I feared for her life. And as I waited for something to happen, I realised that there were probably more of these dangerous creatures in the forest, and I feared for Jaaspar, Thebe and Anyma, too.
As I stared in the direction Jayde had run, I wondered if she’d made it out alive. The wolf had stopped barking, and I didn’t hear anything from Jayde either. For too long, there was silence.
The wolf got her. Terrible thoughts crept into my mind, thoughts that I wanted to get rid of almost as immediately as they entered.
Suddenly, an enormous triangular beam of light emerged in the distance and closed just as quickly. In the few seconds that I could see it, I recognised the other side — Second Earth was the same as it had been for the last twenty-two years of my life. I wiped away some of the blood from small scratches on my arms and face, and I sat, with relief, on the hard soil. I rested easily, knowing Jayde had made it through the first round, and I just needed to do the same.