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MY FATHER WALKED ME THROUGH the tunnels within the underground bunker of Titan. The walk was quiet, but it wasn’t because there was nothing to talk about, it was because I had too much to say and didn’t know where to begin. It would have been awkward for him as well because he hadn’t seen me for more than a decade, and there was too much of my teenage years that he never got the chance to be a part of.
“For thirty-five years trapped on this moon, Libra has built a real fortress here,” I began, trying to break the uncomfortable silence.
“Well, a foundation has to be built on something,” my father said.
“What if, one day, Second Earth comes here to search for the shipwreck from the expedition?” I asked.
“Second Earth has no reason to come here. It’s been thirty-five years, and they know the expedition was a failure. Aerospace has other projects to worry about. By the way, who is still there?” he asked.
“We’ve still got Halley — I don’t know if you remember her — and we’ve also got Vesta and Juno, the twins,” I answered as I kept my eyes on the stairs to avoid slipping.
“What about Supervisor Narvi?”
“She’s gone. I’m not sure where she went though. Maybe she transferred to another zone. Hoba replaced her position; he was promoted a few years after your Exogames.”
“They promoted Hoba?” my father said in shock as he swung his arms around. “He didn’t deserve it, not for the little amount of work he used to do. There were so many other good choices.”
Before we made it to the bottom of the bunker, the entire population of Titan had congregated around the scaffolding. Their voices echoed until they were cut off by Libra, who had stepped out of her office.
“What’s going on?” I whispered to my father nervously. I didn’t know if her announcement was important or part of the regular routine for the population.
“Citizens of Titan!” she announced with both her arms up and palms extended out.
Her voice projected effortlessly to all our ears. There was no doubt that everyone would be able to hear her.
“Tonight, we welcome a new member of Titan. As most of you will know, the Exogames were once a method of removing criminals from Second Earth. You were saved from death and brought here, but we haven’t had a player come through in a while. The High Judges have hosted another event, another Exogames, another chance to ‘cleanse’ Second Earth. Only one player made it to the final game of his Exogames, and we welcome him with open arms.” She pointed at me all the way on the other side of the scaffolding, quite a few levels below where she stood.
All eyes were on me. I didn’t have to look around to know everyone was staring. The whispers began, and I looked at my fingernails as to not appear nervous.
“As many of you may know,” she continued, “Scorpius has been mending the shuttles to return to Second Earth for one reason and one reason only. To see his son again. Well, that is no more! Because his son, Fate Artemis, joins us!”
The entire crowd cheered with a thundering roar. The bunker trembled like the beginnings of an earthquake, but the foundation was strong and secure, so I didn’t fear that it would collapse.
“Thank you all for joining me in this congregation. You are all free to return to your stations,” Libra concluded.
Everybody shuffled through each other to get back to wherever they needed to go. Most people welcomed me to Titan and hugged me with respectful greetings. Some just smiled at me as they walked by. There was no point in all the pleasantries; I wouldn’t know them once I returned to Second Earth.
“Why would she announce that?” I asked my father as we manoeuvred through the tide of people.
“It’s sort of a tradition. Every time we welcome a new player, Libra announces them to all of Titan,” he answered.
“I’m leaving here anyway after we repair the shuttle.”
“Not everybody needs to know that, Fate. You still have about a week and a half in Earth time. Try to get to know some people; there’s still time before you need to leave,” he said, speaking to me as if I were still a child.
The entrance to the workshop was at the bottom of the scaffolding, hidden away from the other doors. If my father hadn’t led me to it, I never would have found it.
Noises of drilling and heavy machinery escaped the room as the door opened. It wasn’t the only door. There was a second one after that. My father passed me some ear plugs and a pair of goggles for protection, which I put on without hesitation, knowing that we had the same rules on Second Earth. The goggles were blurry, and the ear plugs hurt my ears, but it was safer than permanent damage.
The second door opened, and I wasn’t sure if the ear plugs were working because the noise still pierced my brain. I guessed it was because the protective equipment was from thirty-five years ago. If only the people of Titan could see how far technology on Second Earth had advanced. Halley’s invention, the afticuvos, would have surely changed the game for the workshop in Second Earth.
My father reached for a lever on the wall closest to him and pulled it down. All the noise quieted to a silent buzzing as the power was stripped away, although the lights remained lit.
“How do you guys have electricity here?” I asked curiously.
“We have generators and solar panels. The generators aren’t working as efficiently as they used to, but the solar panels are quite reliable,” he answered.
I realised my question was stupid. It was pretty obvious to me that after thirty-five years, the people of Titan would have found ways to create electricity and sustain it. After all, they had an enormous mothership buried somewhere underneath the bunker.
“Alright, team!” he addressed everybody inside.
There were only about ten workers of differing ages and varying heights. They all stared at me with their foggy glasses, probably wondering who I was, then I realised they might not have been at the announcement earlier.
“My son, Fate, has found his way here. If you heard Libra’s announcement moments ago, you will be aware that he was the only player to finish his Exogames.”
They cheered and clapped, roaring as I stood beside my father awkwardly.
“Sage and Uilliam, you two will help Fate repair one of the damaged shuttles so he can return to Second Earth. The rest of you, take the remainder of the day off,” he concluded.
Everyone disappeared out of the workshop except for two people.
“Fate, this is Sage.” He introduced me to a girl in her twenties with blue eyes and blonde hair who smiled at me continuously.
“Jealous,” Sage said in excitement as she grabbed hold of my arm and felt my suit. “We didn’t get these fancy costumes for our games.”
“I must be special,” I laughed, trying to break the ice.
“And this is Uilliam,” my father said as he pointed to the other guy.
Uilliam was of medium build and didn’t speak much. The tattoo on his right arm disappeared underneath his sleeve, and he had short, curly black hair that reminded me of cinnamon rolls. His slivery blue eyes looked like they could hold the entire universe.
“Nice to meet you,” he said as he shook my hand.
“The pleasure is all mine.”
“How many players did you have in your Exogames?” Sage asked.
“Sixteen. We didn’t have a lot of players compared to other games,” I answered.
“Yeah, that isn’t a lot. Uilliam and I came through together, and we had over a hundred players. Most of them didn’t make it past the first game, of course. But we had about ten of us—”
“Eleven,” Uilliam corrected.
“Eleven of us saved by Titan,” Sage concluded.
I swiftly glanced at both of their ankles to find any evidence of scarring from where their trackers would have been removed to confirm that they did play the games. Uilliam had a scar in the same location of my father’s, however, Sage’s pants ran all the way down to the soles of her boots so I couldn’t verify her story.
“I’ll leave you two with Fate. Be nice,” my father said as he exited the workshop.
“We’ll take good care of him. Don’t you worry,” Uilliam said.
“Uilliam and I formed a great alliance in the games. We made it through all four rounds so easily. Did you have an alliance?” Sage asked.
“I did,” I said softly. “There were four of us. The others didn’t make it.”
“Oh no. Poor thing. I’m so sorry.” Sage was trying to sympathise, but it felt distant. “Let’s get started on the shuttle, shall we?”
The workshop was smaller than the aerospace department back on Second Earth. There was an array of machinery with what looked like random parts of ships dangling from the ceiling.
“Which shuttle should we get started on?” I asked as I kept my head up.
“None of these,” Uilliam answered.
“Your father has been working on a special one. It still needs a bit of work, but it should be fine for the journey,” Sage said.
They took me up to a mezzanine with a smaller shuttle, much like the ones from the fourth game. There were wires hanging out of it, and it was split into two parts. The front half sloped over, looking sad, while the back half was attached to the wall.
I walked around and examined as much of it as I could. It looked like my father hadn’t done anything to it, but in reality, there was much less work for me to do than starting from scratch. It would have been a pain to start again using the hung-up shuttles on the lower level.
“As you can see, he hasn’t got too much to go,” Sage said. “He’s done pretty well.”
“I’m not sure this will get me to Second Earth in time,” I began as I inspected the shuttle once more, looking for a specific function. “This shuttle doesn’t fold spacetime; it just flies. Getting to Second Earth from here is going to take at least seven years. I’d die without food or water.”
Disappointment took over as my body went cold. My father had been here for ten years, and not once did he fathom the time it would take to get back to Second Earth? It was quite rudimentary, and we would have had to start from the beginning.
“Not to worry, Fate. We can check the other shuttles; they might have the ability to get you back home in a few seconds. Those pieces have been repaired already, we just need to join them together,” Sage said.
“Ships that fold spacetime were very new when these shuttles were built. It’s going to be a miracle if at least one of them has that capability,” Uilliam explained.
Sage’s words took the disappointment away and replaced it with relief, and Uilliam’s statement ripped it away but gave me a tiny bit of hope. Moments ago, I thought there was no chance of getting off Titan, but now that she’d confirmed the hanging pieces were already repaired, I saw the finish line of the Exogames.
“Speaking of food and water, who’s hungry?” Uilliam asked as he rubbed his belly.
“I’m starving,” Sage answered, sounding exhausted.
“I could eat as well,” I said.
* * *
THE FOOD HALL WAS VERY different to the one on Second Earth. Tables and chairs were sort of glued together from old pieces of furniture brought from the original expedition, and everyone would eat whenever they were hungry; there were no assigned time slots for meals.
The hall was barely full when we entered, and there were plenty of seats available, which was surprising because on Second Earth it was lucky if there was one seat left. The cooks served us a mixture of mashed vegetables and a piece of bread, which I hoped was edible.
It wasn’t as chaotic as Second Earth’s food hall, which was calming because we didn’t need to rush to finish our meals. I sat with Sage and Uilliam who introduced me to someone else from their Exogames. Her name was Amethyst, and she had light purple eyes and dark black hair. She explained that her eyes used to be blue, but a medical condition made her corneas bleed which permanently stained her irises, turning them purple.
“So, you must be the new recruit. Scorpius’ son, right?” she asked.
“That’s me. I’m Fate Artemis.”
“I know. All of Titan is talking about you.”
“Good things, I hope,” I chuckled.
“Always good things. Your father wouldn’t stop mentioning you. Sometimes it got annoying, but I understand why he wouldn’t stop,” Amethyst said.
“Amethyst used to work in the biomedicine department back on Second Earth,” Sage said.
“I wanted to move up to medical, but I thought it over too many times and decided to stay where I was. Now I’m one of the schedule supervisors here, and there is nothing better I could ask for,” Amethyst said.
“Biomedicine?” I asked eagerly.
She nodded to confirm.
“Did you work with someone named Jaaspar?”
“Jaaspar Nosna?”
“Yeah, that’s him,” I said as my eyes brightened.
“I did. He was actually one of my superiors. I reported all my work and project concepts to him for approval. Why, do you know him?” she asked.
“He was in my alliance these games. He died in the fourth game,” I said miserably, regretting bringing up his name.
“I’m sorry, Fate. He didn’t deserve to die.”
I just smiled at her so she wouldn’t feel that she brought the mood down.
One of the cooks brought us a tray of metal cups and a jug filled with a thick green liquid. He then smiled at me and welcomed me to Titan before he walked back to the kitchen.
“What’s this?” I asked, looking at the drink with caution.
“Lime vodka,” Amethyst answered as she poured each of us a full glass.
“It’s not really vodka. Don’t tell the cook,” Sage laughed.
“Bottoms up!” Amethyst said.
I took a sip and immediately spat it back into the cup.
“Yep, that’s definitely not vodka, and it doesn’t taste like lime,” I said in disgust.
The others laughed at me as they chugged the rest of the drink. Uilliam had the rest of the jug, and he tilted his head back to drink the remainder of it.
“It will take a while to get used to it,” Sage said as she packed our cups back onto the tray. “It’s not for everyone.”
“Nobody I know would be able to drink that,” I said.
“Not even Jaaspar?”
“Not even Jaaspar,” I repeated.
“Have you taken him to the hall of players yet?” Amethyst asked Sage and Uilliam.
“What is the hall of players?” I asked curiously as its name sparked interest.
“Come with us,” Sage said.
All four of us walked through a narrow passageway that wasn’t normally open to anybody. I assumed it was alright to show me because I was new, and also because I was Scorpius’ son. My father clearly had some form of authority here since he was able to change Sage’s and Uilliam’s schedules, and everybody in the workshop listened to him when he addressed them all.
The tunnel opened to a domed room with four warm lights bright enough to fill the entire space. Words were etched on the wall, names that stretched to the ceiling.
“This is the hall of players,” Amethyst said.
“Were all these players in the Exogames?” I asked, feeling the inscriptions deep in the rock.
“Everybody from the past thirty-five years that didn’t make it here,” she answered.
Sage walked over to the opposite side and placed her hand on a group of names.
“This was my alliance,” she said.
Uilliam looked up to the names on the ceiling as his eyes followed them down to the ground. I don’t think he’d ever had the chance to examine all the names before.
In the very centre of the room, propped on a pillar, was a sharp flint big enough to hold firmly in one hand. Amethyst dragged it off the pillar and walked slowly to an empty spot on the wall with purpose. She dug the flint into the rocky foundation and etched a new name.
“Here,” she said as she held the flint out towards me after she finished.
When I moved closer to her, the name ‘Jaaspar Nosna’ was inscribed into the wall.
“Write everyone’s name from your Exogames,” Amethyst said. “We’ll leave you so you can remember them in peace. Do you know how to get back to the workshop?”
I nodded slowly as all the players’ names flooded back into my brain. Of course, I started with my alliance. I scratched the names Jayde and Thebe in a group with Jaaspar. Then I placed the other names around them with the number ninety-nine underlined for a heading because they were the games we played. I included everyone. Even Badru, who tried to steal my portal pieces in the first game. Even Kuiper, who killed Cobalt out of spite. Even Neon, who the rest of us found annoying. Although some of them shouldn’t have had the honour of being remembered as an important player, I also didn’t want them to be forgotten. Everybody knew that death was a possible outcome, and they took the chance because of how desperately they wanted their freedom which was stolen from us.
Lastly, I carved Anyma’s name at the bottom of our group, because even though she wasn’t really a player, she helped me get through the games.
Beside the names of the players in my Exogames, there was more empty space on the wall. The numbers ninety-seven and ninety-eight had no players beneath them. Libra had mentioned that I was the first player to be rescued in a while, but I didn’t want to believe it when she said it.
“The hall of players is quite something, eh?” My father’s voice echoed as he entered the hall.
“All these players, there has to be hundreds of them,” I said emotionally.
“Nine hundred and seventy-eight, last time I counted.”
“Almost one thousand deaths that the Council of High Judges are responsible for.”
“Be thankful that you weren’t one of them, Fate,” he said, trying to stop my rage from erupting.
“I’m about to die if I can’t get off Titan, Dad. None of the players in my Exogames had to die, and I’m sure you can probably say the same about yours.”
“I had alliances too, with many of the players in my Exogames. And most of them ended up dead, burnt up or lost in deep space. There were things I did in the games that I’m not proud of, Fate. But I did them to get my freedom back.”
“There’s never any freedom when it comes to the Council of High Judges. Second Earth is a false paradise. You know even if we won the Exogames, they’d never give us our freedom back.” I wasn’t quite yelling, but my throat was scratchy. “What did you do anyway, that got you into prison?”
“The Comett is what got me into prison.”
“The ship that was meant to be the largest of the fleet? I’m familiar with it. That is what sent me to prison as well.”
“It had many technicalities that nobody was prepared for. I needed to prevent it from leaving Second Earth or else it would have exploded.”
“The Comett is no more. It already exploded.”
“That would have been impossible, because I took out the stop switch.”
“Nobody knew the stop switch was missing because the Comett was never used for voyages. It would have been the first time the Comett left Second Earth. That stop switch would have prevented the deaths of seventy-seven passengers and crew. Do you know what you have done?”
“I prevented the ship from imploding and destroying all of Second Earth.”
“Don’t call yourself a hero.”
“I didn’t say I was, Fate.”
“You implied it.”
“What about you then? Why did you get sent to prison?”
“I told you already. I was framed. My name was on the passenger list for the Comett before it exploded.”
“Lucky you weren’t on it.”
“The problem is that I never requested to be on that ship. And with the stop switch missing, the investigators put together a strong case against me.”
“I knew they’d try to frame you, but why?”
“That’s what Halley and I are trying to figure out. She only recently started believing my innocence.”
“You wouldn’t have been in the Exogames if you didn’t go to prison, and you wouldn’t have gone to prison if you were proven innocent,” my father said. “Is Moirai still the head game maker?”
“Yes. Well, not head game maker, but he is still one of the game makers.”
“Do me a favour when you go back to Second Earth. I want you to kill him.”
I gulped and widened my eyes because I had never seen my father this way, not when I was younger or since I’d reconnected with him on Titan.
“He’s not in charge. He’s just following the orders of the High Judges,” I said.
“He would’ve had a part to play. Nobody with that much authority is innocent. As long as he is around, the games will continue.”
“As long as the High Judges are around, the games will continue,” I corrected. “They can always get new game makers.”
“They all deserve to pay for what they have done. For all these deaths,” he pointed around at all the names on the wall, “and for getting you involved with my crimes.”
“Don’t worry; they will pay. When I get back to Second Earth, I will make sure of it. But I am not going to kill a man because it’s not in my nature.”