Seven days before the Selection

I don't know what I was thinking, waiting outside the courtroom fifteen minutes before my dreaded hearing and expecting Ryan to be here. Of course he wouldn't be here. He's never early—if he ever shows up.

With a sigh, I begin making my way to his living unit. I should've done that first.

This stupid hearing is causing me to miss the start of morning practice—hopefully just the start because I have no idea how long a hearing lasts or what to expect. And I can't afford to miss any practice with the Selection coming up. My practice attendance is probably part of my records too, so this is yet another stain on it.

The longer I mull over this, the angrier I become with Ryan. Stupid, irresponsible, buttface—

"Lara?"

The familiar voice stops me in my tracks. I spin around and jolt my back upright. "G- General Caelum! Good morning!"

General Ariandelle Caelum glides toward me. Red locks of hair spill over her uniform like waves of a waterfall. Wrinkles crinkle along her temples as she gives me a gentle smile. "What are you doing here in the general living quarters area? Are you perhaps skipping practice?"

"No, I'm not, General, I'm- I'm finding Ryan, for... um..."

General Caelum holds a finger up and tilts her head. She must be listening through her earpiece while her Rea talks to her. She's the only other person I know who consistently wears the rule-enforcing AI earpieces, and it's not surprising considering she was the one who gave them to me years ago.

When she speaks again, her smile is gone. "So, I've been told that you have a court hearing, is that right?"

"Yes, General, but I'm settling it right now! That's why I'm finding Ryan. He's going to help me clear my name."

My answer does not appear to satisfy General Caelum. "Hm." She clicks her tongue disapprovingly. "Find me after you're done."

The command sends a chill down my spine. "Yes, General." I stand at attention as she leaves.

Panic sets in once again. I'm already anxious about my hearing, but now I'm also scared about what comes after. Why does General Caelum want to see me? Is it because she's fed up with me constantly losing to Sánchez and now missing practice and even having a hearing? Has she decided against sponsoring me in the Selection?

Tears warm my eyes as I quicken my pace. Stupid, irresponsible, buttface. If Ryan's actions cost me a potential sponsorship from the General Caelum, I'll never forgive him.

When I reach his living unit, I pound on the door, venting all my frustrations on it.

"Yes, yes, I am ready," Ryan calls from inside, "just wearing my uniform, you don't have to keep pestering me, San—" The door opens and Ryan freezes mid-sentence. His general uniform is only half-buttoned, but at least his mess of a hair is brushed and he doesn't look like a complete disaster. "Oh, Lara, it's you. I thought it was your friend coming to yell at me again."

I frown as I wipe my tears away. "My friend?"

"Yeah. Oh, we have two minutes left. Let's go." He disappears, only to materialize again with a sheepish smile. "Ah, sorry, forgot you can't teleport. Let's run there instead."

We race down the hallway, with Ryan clumsily fastening his uniform. I am so glad we didn't bump into General Caelum, or anybody at all, on our way. When we arrive at the court's entrance, the door slides open. We made it just in time for the hearing.

Our footsteps create a haunting echo throughout the courtroom as we approach the judiciary bot. There is a strange heaviness in the atmosphere. Like the rest of the Tower, the walls are glaring and white. Framed photos of the NovaTopia Board of Directors hang on the wall as if they were watching us—judging us. Cameras and rifles are mounted on all corners of the room. The security in the Tower is usually high, but it is noticeably heightened here.

The judiciary bot sits at the end of the room. It is a large humming block with a web of wires protruding from its back and a single speaker and camera as its face. The cursed bag of marijuana is lying on a table in front of the bot.

After swearing to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, the judiciary bot gives its spiel about how much deep trouble I could be in for possessing an illegal substance. Then, I am allowed to defend myself.

"Your Honor, even though this item was found in my living unit, it does not belong to me. It belongs to General Ryan Lorensky." I shoot Ryan a death glare. If only looks can kill.

"Yes," he says, "that bag is mine, uh, Your Honor."

The camera light on the judiciary bot blinks a few times. "Your statements are noted. However, the item was found in Cadet Lorensky's unit, not General Lorensky's unit."

"I understand, Your Honor, but General Lorensky left the item in my unit. It does not belong to me."

"Yeah, what she said," Ryan chimes in. "I accidentally left it at her place. My bad."

A few more flashes on the screen. "Your statements are noted. However, the item was found in Cadet Lorensky's unit in the presence of Cadet Lorensky. General Lorensky was not in the vicinity at time of retrieval."

Heat rises from my neck to my ears. "He left it there and then teleported away!"

"I teleported away and then accidentally left it there," Ryan corrects—as if he is not already annoying enough."The order is very important."

"Your statements are noted. However, per our records, General Lorensky was not in the vicinity at time of retrieval."

I let out an exasperated groan. This is futile; I need a witness. Rea! My personal rule bot records everything I do. I wonder if I should give it up as evidence...

"Please check the fingerprints on the bag, Your Honor," Ryan says. "You'll see that it only has my fingerprints and not Lara's."

Oh, he's right—I didn't even touch the bag! Hope swells in my heart as an arm from within the judiciary bot emerges to grab the marijuana.

"Your statements are noted. As per your request, I will send the item to a forensic bot for processing. You will be notified of the result and the time of a second hearing."

My mouth drops. A second hearing? I need to miss practice to be here again? All semblance of hope vanishes, and rage takes over. "That's bullcrap! I can't keep coming back here, dang it!"

Ryan places a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, just let them do their job, Lara."

"But it's not fair! This thing is clearly not mine; I won't ever break the rules like this. Everyone knows that!"

"That's not how this works—"

The bot emits a sudden beep. "Orders received. The charges for Cadet Lorensky are dropped."

"Wait, what?" My gaze darts from the judiciary bot to Ryan; he looks as confused as I am.

There is another beep. "Orders received. Transferring Cadet Lorensky's charges over to General Lorensky. General Lorensky has been sentenced to..." —the bot pauses— "one hundred and twenty hours of service on Ground Earth."

Ryan groans. "Oh, come on, I already work overtime."

Guilt gnaws at my heart because I didn't expect that my charges would simply be transferred to him, but the punishment does not sound too terrible, so I'm slightly relieved. "Hey, be glad that it's just more work and not anything terrifying! I bet you got off easy because you're a general."

"First of all, having more work is terrifying. And second, I bet it's because they need more generals doing their dirty work on Ground Earth, and I'm the only general who doesn't put up a fuss going there. Unlike a certain someone." Ryan tilts his head at me with a knowing look.

He must mean General Caelum. She hates Ground Earth with a passion, and I cannot imagine her accepting a mission to go to Ground Earth.

"Well, speaking of that someone, I need to find her now," I say, the dread returning to me. "I bumped into her right before this, and she said she wants to see me after the hearing."

Ryan's jaw tightens. There has always been an uncomfortable animosity between him and General Caelum. They must have had a better relationship in the past though, because General Caelum sponsored Ryan during his Selection twelve years ago—the same sponsorship I'm currently vying for.

"I see," he says. "Be careful."

"Of what?"

Ryan shrugs. "Her Gift is dangerous."

I roll my eyes. How dangerous can it be if he was happily using it during his Selection? "Super cool, you mean."

"Nah, mine is cooler." He winks at me before teleporting away.

Show off.

I leave the courtroom and trudge back to the general living quarters. General Caelum's living unit is much further than Ryan's, and it takes me a good twenty minutes to get there.

The door slides open the moment I reach it. Like Ryan's place, the room is spacious and has floor-to-ceiling windows with a stunning view. Unlike Ryan's, General Caelum's living unit is adorned with customized furniture and decorations. Rows of weapons, many of which I've never seen before, embellish the white walls of the living room.

General Caelum is sitting in an armchair and reading from a virtual reader. As I approach, she swipes the reader away and swivels her chair to face me.

"How was the court hearing?"

"It went smoothly, General. My charges were dropped."

"Good, I'm glad my orders went through."

A small gasp escapes my throat. "It was you?" I should've known she would be the only person capable of commanding the judiciary bots like that. After all, she is General Ariandelle Caelum, the longest-serving officer in the Tower.

She gives me a serene smile. "Well, the person you went to for help is a liability, so I figured you could use some extra assistance. And I had to make sure you're clean. After all, I've made my choice." Her smile widens. "I finalized my decision. I'm picking you to sponsor this year, Lara."

I let out a louder gasp than before. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, General!" I exclaim. "I won't let you down."

My nervous heart is now soaring with joy. I have been working so hard to maintain a clean record and be the top performer during practice so that General Caelum will choose me to sponsor. And now that she has, I will definitely win the Selection—the same way Ryan did when she sponsored him.

During the Selection, every general gets to sponsor a candidate of their choosing. They will temporarily bless the candidate with their Gift for the final one-on-one matches—and among the four generals in the Tower, General Caelum's Gift is the coolest and strongest of them all.

And unlike Ryan, she is powerful, respected, and will not leave marijuana in my room. A true NovaTopian resident and a proper general.

"My top choice has always been you," General Caelum says. "Now, you need to secure your win in the Selection for me. One of the things you must do is to keep your distance from your brother. I cannot keep helping you clear the charges he brings to you."

I lower my head, unleashing a stream of curses towards Ryan in my head. "Understood, General. I... I'll try."

But what can I do? Ryan is my brother. No matter how annoyed or angry I am at him, I can't possibly cut off the only family member I have. Even if he is stupid, irresponsible, and the worst buttface brother to ever exist.

"Well, it's alright." General Caelum leans back on the armchair. "After you win the Selection, you'll have nothing to do with that guy. He can't bring you down with him by then. Anyway, are there any other issues I should know about? Anything that may stop you from winning the Selection?"

Sánchez's taunting smirk flashes in my mind, and I bite my lips. "Yeah... There's this person in the cadet class with me who's been beating me every day. Morgan Sánchez. They're..." —it suddenly feels like there are stones in my mouth— "very good, both with close combat and long-range weapons."

Admitting that felt like a gut punch. I need to get back to practice right after this. I need to keep training. I need to beat Morgan Sánchez.

"Morgan Sánchez?" General Caelum pauses to recall. "Ah, that Ground Earther? Don't worry about them. No one would ever sponsor a Ground Earth dweller. You'll win once you get my Gift."

I purse my lips. Being sponsored by General Caelum is an absolute honor, and I will always seize the chance to excel during the Selection, but I also want to fight Sánchez and beat them fair and square. At least one more time. I still have a week to train anyway. I will beat them.

"You don't look convinced, Lara." General Caelum misinterprets my concern. "You must have forgotten the true power that comes with my Gift. Here, watch."

She stands up and saunters over to her wall of weapons. There is a small section showcasing her sword collection. With a finger, she touches a blade. Smoke sizzles from General Caelum's hand, and a burning smell fills my nose. My eyes widen as I watch the blade slowly turn bright red.

The ledge holding up the blade melts. Before the sword can fall, Ariandelle grabs the hilt with her other hand, swings it around, and points it at me. The blade is a few inches away from me, but the intense heat radiating from it makes my skin tingle and buzz.

This is General Caelum's Gift. Supernova.

And this is only scratching the surface of what her Gift can do—I've seen past candidates she sponsored burst completely into flames, engulfing the entire arena. But I get why she chose not to show me that ability inside her living unit.

"That was so cool, General!" I gush.

Her lips curl into a proud smirk. "With my Gift, you will burn anybody who even grazes you. There is no way you can't win with this."

As General Caelum lowers the sword, I notice her free hand quivering on the side. The finger that was heating the blade is completely charred. A strange smell of burning meat wafts into my nose.

"General," I ask softly, "does it... does it hurt?"

The general glances down at the hand. I can see the wound becoming smaller. It's healing, albeit very slowly.

"You get used to it," she says with a shrug. "You'll get a few days to practice with it during the Selection." She props the sword against the wall. "Anyway, you should get going now. Be sure to make up for your lost practice time by working doubly hard from now on."

I huff out my chest. "I will work triply hard, General!"

She chuckles. "Good." She taps my shoulder with her good hand and strides away.

The door opens; it's my invitation to leave. I march forward, fueled by a renewed sense of determination. It's time to practice.

It's time to beat Morgan Sánchez.