Majestic bone-white pillars and stone walls rose into the sky. It had originally been designed to be a replica of the Roman Colosseum, but the Federation had outdone the Romans. The PKU Coliseum was twice the size of the original and perfectly restored. Since it was built in the last century, it was also equipped with all the latest tech.
<Now arriving at Peking Coliseum. Sosh: 91.> Urban’s retina display informed her.
She had seen it on her vid feed every year as she followed the Games. But, in person, the coliseum seemed even bigger than she’d imagined.
“Stop gawking like first years,” Blossom hissed at Urban and Hazel before zigzagging skillfully through the crowd. Urban and Hazel followed close behind, still sneaking furtive glances at the massive structure.
As they approached the huge arched entryway, the crowd began to funnel into narrow lines. Urban’s tatt vibrated as she passed the scanner, then she was inside the building.
They found seats and waited for the rest of the spectators to file in. It didn’t take long until the lights dimmed. A gust of cool air howled through the room. The crowd applauded in excitement. The disjointed clapping synced into one thunderous rhythm.
With a swirl of mist, a hole in the iron-gray smart floor opened, and a woman on a platform came spiraling upward. Lights of all colors played across the coliseum as the platform rose higher.
“Good evening!” The woman wore a dazzling golden gown, her black hair pinned up by a traditional silver brooch that resembled a delicate butterfly. A matching silver pin glowed with jewels.
“It’s her! It’s Hong!” Hazel shouted in delight.
Another disapproving glare from Blossom, but Hazel didn’t notice.
“Welcome, students of Peking University!”
The stadium went wild.
“Let’s have a little fun tonight, shall we? Awaken Samson!”
Amber light bathed the coliseum.
“For you first year students, our homegrown AI, Samson, is designed specifically for the Games,” Hong announced. “Few universities can rival Samson or our talented team. The Dragons are currently the Global Games Champions eight years running.”
The crowd roared. Some showed their school pride by raising their left arms in salute, tatts glowing red. Urban wondered how they changed their tatt color like that and made a note to ask Lillian later.
Hong waited for the noise to calm down. “Now, what to select? Should we enable training mode?”
There were several boos from the audience.
“Or how about entertainment mode?”
The crowd jostled and roared at this.
“What’s the difference?” Urban asked.
Hazel shrugged, but Blossom leaned over. “Entertainment mode is what you see on the vid feeds. Samson detects the participants’ enhancements and chooses courses, tasks, and obstacles that play to those enhancements. If someone is strong, they’ll be tested in strength. If they’re smart, they’ll be given a challenging puzzle.”
“What’s training mode then?” Urban shouted over the deafening roar.
“That’s only for practice. It’s where Samson pits the participants against obstacles that they’re weak in. For example, someone with strength will be given a mental problem to solve. And someone smart, a physical challenge. It’s how the team actually trains most of the time. It has a lot more people failing and instantly ending the game.”
Urban nodded, her eyes glued to the stage. If only I had been Enhanced, then I could try out for the Games.
“Today,” Hong’s voice was declaring, “is a special day. It’s the back-to-school party!”
More cheering from the crowd.
“Let’s bring out a lead from each gene pool on the team. Starting with . . .” she waited until the crowd grew silent before announcing, “Flyers!”
The cheering resumed, and the sound of wind filled the air as all the Flyers in the stadium, in unison, beat their wings. A man clothed in sky blue traditional hanfu robes flew over the crowd to land on the stage.
When the beating of wings subsided, Hong continued, “Next we have Inventors!”
A man with a pompadour haircut and wearing stained silver robes, stood only a few rows down from Urban. Several students shrieked as what appeared to be mini mechanical doll arms lifted him onto the path and carried him to the stage.
Urban noticed the Inventor was the same subtype as her father and sister. She wondered if the team had any of the mental type—the philosophers, researchers, and great thinkers of their time.
“That’s not creepy at all,” Hong said with a shake of her head. “Moving on before I have nightmares, Camos!”
The platform began to shimmer and change colors. Suddenly, a woman appeared directly beside Hong, who jumped in surprise.
The crowd laughed as the woman clothed in a camouflage-green qipao bowed.
Hong looked around the mini raised platform. “How . . . how are you going to get down from—”
Before she could finish, the Camo disappeared.
A few seconds later she reappeared standing next to the Flyer and Inventor on the stage below. The Camos all cheered.
“And I specifically had this platform built to stay out of the way.” Hong flashed a smile. “Next up, and I think I’m safe this time, we have Artisans!”
Confetti showered down, and brightly colored streamers fell from the ceiling. Hong looked up in dismay. “That’s not on the eco-approved list.”
The Artisans in the crowd whipped out all sorts of musical instruments and began playing. A woman cloaked in elegant orange robes danced her way gracefully onto the stage to the beat of the music. Upon reaching her spot next to the others, the music stopped.
“Next we have Aquas!”
A portion of the arena floor turned into a translucent bowl. A waterfall appeared from the roof, pouring down into the arena.
The crowd gasped as a man fell over the waterfall. He dove into the pool, then sank to the base of the bowl, where he stood facing the crowd. The tips of his cobalt-blue robe undulated around him like the arms of a sea creature. Urban watched the Aqua and shivered, reminded of her brother.
The man let out a roar that cracked the giant bowl into a thousand spider webs, which exploded into a million pieces, splashing some of the students.
“And that is one of the many reasons you should never sit in the front,” Hong said with a laugh as students scattered to avoid getting wet.
“Next, Givers!”
The crowd fell silent.
“I said, Givers!”
Still nothing.
“I do believe we have a Giver representative for the Games today?” Hong turned around, searching for the missing Giver.
There was a commotion near the middle of the coliseum, and Urban saw someone clothed in silken purple robes making her way toward the front. She stopped at a recycling bin where she dumped a bunch of paper towels. “Sorry, just helping clean up a mess.” She hurriedly made her way to the stage, nearly tripping twice before reaching it.
The crowd laughed.
“Adorable.” Hong’s tone was unamused.
“Amazing how these bumbling absent-minded folk win so many games.” She looked up, eyes exaggeratedly wide. “Whoops, was that out loud?”
The crowd laughed again. But it was a well-known fact Givers won nearly half of the Games. Their brains had specifically been enhanced to experience greater empathy, which would allow them to be the best life coaches, mentors, and caretakers. An unintended side effect of this enhancement was that their frontal lobe, which allowed for creative, out-of-the-box thinking, was more developed. This out-of-the-box thinking was the hardest for the AI to predict and thus win against.
“And next we have . . . Supers!”
All the biggest students cheered and pumped their meaty fists in the air. A huge woman in the front row, clad in red, leaped over several rows to arrive on the stage. She landed with an earth-shaking thump. The Supers went wild.
“And last but not least, the ones who allowed for all of this to happen—”
The mic cut out.
A man near the front, with shaggy blond hair and wearing white robes, stood. “Inceptors!” he finished for Hong.
The crowd cheered.
The man strode confidently toward the stage.
Hong’s mouth moved, but her microphone was still disabled. She fiddled with it, frowning.
“Welcome class of 2124,” the Inceptor said to the crowd in a slightly accented voice. “No need to be nervous. This has all been approved by the school board. Relax, Hong, I know you’re stressed, but don’t let it get to you. What is it? You can tell me. Is it graduating next year? Pressure from your parents? Your boyfriend? Ah . . . so it’s your man.” The Inceptor nodded knowingly.
Hong’s face grew redder by the minute.
“Yes, rumor has it you two have been dating for a while now. Could it be you’re having doubts? No, that certainly isn’t it. Or could it be . . . No, it is! He’s going to propose soon? No need to worry, darling. It won’t be tonight.”
The crowd hooted.
“By the way, your mic should be working again,” the Inceptor said with a smug smile.
Hong covered her face with her hands. “Get out of my head!”
“Darling, I’m just helping you relax. I told you, he won’t be popping the question tonight.”
“I don’t get paid enough for this,” Hong muttered. The Inceptor walked haughtily to the other Gene Pool Leads.
Hong plastered on a big smile. “Enough of my personal life! Back to the real reason we’re all here. Let the fun begin!”
Everyone jumped to their feet and cheered.
“For tonight’s games, we have a team challenge,” Hong announced. Several flying bots distributed red armor suits and helmets to each of the eight students. The suits fit snugly over each contestant’s silk robe. Then they donned their helmets, which displayed the hammer and sickle emblazoned in gold.
An impressive group. While Urban hadn’t watched any of the recent Games, she didn’t remember the last team being this formidable. Or maybe they just looked more intimidating in person than on the feeds.
Hong stretched out her arms. “Let the AI Exhibition Game begin!”