Four days before the Selection

The door slams open only a few seconds after I press the doorbell, and I am greeted by Ryan's frantic face.

"Is everything okay?"

But his question is not as urgent as the fact that only a towel along his waist is covering his damp body.

"Ryan!" I screech, shutting my eyes. "Gross! Put on some clothes!"

"You never use the doorbell, Lara. I almost fell out of my bath when I saw you on the monitor. Is there an emergency? Is something going on? Are you okay?"

"I'll tell you after you put on some Earthing clothes!"

"Geez, alright." I hear him trudge away from me while he grumbles, "I'm your brother, Lara. I helped shower you when you were a baby too, don't you for—"

"If you keep talking about that, I'm leaving," I declare.

"Okay, okay." His voice is near again. "I'm clothed now. Open your eyes."

My eyes blink open to find Ryan leaning against the door frame. His hair is still wet, flattening his usual brown curls and soaking through the top of his crumpled T-shirt. He buttons his pants—the final step to being fully dressed—and rolls his eyes at me before motioning me into the room.

I carefully step in. The floor is sprinkled with water—Ryan must have run right out of a shower and dripped all over the place—and a small cleaning bot is going around the unit, wiping it dry. Wisps of steam lingers in the hallway leading to the bathroom.

We sit at the kitchen island as Ryan pours two glasses of water. Behind him, the sunrise paints the clouds a mix of orange and pink. Lights sparkle both above and below the clouds, but for the first time, my gaze is drawn towards the shimmer below the clouds. Ground Earth.

"Congrats on learning a new skill, by the way," Ryan teases as he hands me a cup. "The skill of pressing the doorbell."

"Shut up," I mumble.

"So, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

I take a sip of water and let out a soft breath. "Can you, uh, take me and Sánchez to... Ground Earth?"

Ryan stares at me as if I've grown a second head. "You want to go to Ground Earth?"

I shift in my seat. Ryan's shock is understandable, and this has been keeping me up all night as well. "Yeah, um, so, I don't know if you heard, but there was... an attack yesterday and I was thinking—"

"Wait, you know about the attack?"

"Uh, yeah, I was there when it happened—"

"You what?" Ryan jumps up and grabs me by my shoulder, examining me. "Are you okay? Did they hurt you?"

"I'm fine." I shake his hands off. "But I can't say the same for others. Many people died..." Images of the people on the floor rush back to my mind, and a lump forms in my throat. "I... I killed a- a few of them."

Ryan's shoulders slump. "Oh, Lara." His voice is the gentlest I've ever heard. He pulls me into a hug. This time, I don't push him away.

"It was self-defense," he says. "You did what you had to."

I close my eyes as I bury my head in his chest. How can he say that with so much assuredness? He didn't even know what happened. He didn't see the people I killed. The bodies on the floor.

I'm glad his T-shirt is already damp, so he won't notice my tears.

"And Sánchez had their cyberarm destroyed too," I mumble, "and it's my fault."

"Destroyed?"

"Yeah, and they can only get it fixed on Ground Earth."

"Is that why you want me to bring them to Ground Earth?" We break out of the hug and Ryan gives my body one last scan. "Okay, take me to them. Let's see what I can do."

He puts on a hoodie, and we head towards the medical facility. Once again, Rea warns me about going back there, and once again, I ignore it.

Sánchez is lying on the bed. As Ryan strides into the examination room, they scramble to sit up while rubbing their eyes. Their usual neatly styled hair now resembles a messy bird's nest above their undercut.

"General Lorensky? What are you—" Their sentence halts when our eyes meet. A faint blush seems to tint their dark cheeks. "Lorensky?"

"Hey, Sánchez," I say.

"Holy shit." Ryan skips the greeting and goes straight to examining Sánchez's missing right arm. "I thought it was just going to be partly damaged, but your arm was completely destroyed?" He turns to me. "How many days do we have till the Selection again?"

"Four."

"Okay, we have no time to lose." He turns back to Sánchez. "We have to go to Ground Earth right now to find you a mechanic and also give you some time to get used to the new cyberarm."

"Thank you for the offer, General Lorensky, but are you sure? I couldn't find you for the past two days, so I assumed you were on Ground Earth. I wouldn't want to make you go back down again."

"Oh, were you there for your sentence?" I ask.

"Yeah, but I was gonna go back again today anyway," Ryan says. "I have a new mission, and I can take you along with me."

"Another mission?" Sánchez frowns. "Why are they sending you down there so often?"

Ryan shrugs. "Hey, I may be a general, but I don't call the shots. If they want to work me to the bones because a certain prissy general refuses to take up a mission," —Ryan glances at me with a raised brow— "then that's how it is."

"You also smuggled marijuana into the Tower and need to serve your time," I point out.

"That too. Anyway, go get changed, Sánchez, and the two of us will—"

"Hey, I'm coming too!" I exclaim.

Silence fills the examination room. Sánchez stares at me, mouths agape, while Ryan folds his hands.

"Are you sure, Lara?" he asks. "Ground Earth, the ruins of nuclear wastes, the land of mutants. Are you not afraid of being tainted?"

I roll my eyes. "Says someone who goes there every other day or something. It can't be that bad."

"Well, it is that bad to that person. She won't be too happy with you if you come along."

I purse my lips. As much as I hate to admit it, Ryan is right. Even if I don't believe that Ground Earth would 'taint' me, General Caelum does. But after tossing and turning all last night, I've made my decision. Sánchez lost their arm because of me, and I'm going to help them get it back.

"I just... I just think I should go too, okay?" I huff. "I'll... I'll make an excuse up to her... or something."

"What about all your practice? You were so concerned about missing a few minutes of your practice just a few days ago."

"Sánchez will miss the same amount anyway, and they're my only competition. I'm not losing out."

Ryan sighs. "Your mind sounds made up, but I really can't bring you there, Lara. It's too dangerous."

"But I can fight! I'll be helpful. Ryan, come on, I never ask you for anything, and it's not even anything difficult. Just let me come along."

Another long pause settles in the room. My last plea appears to have worked, as Ryan's gaze drops to the floor, deep in thought. Meanwhile, Sánchez darts their eyes frantically between Ryan and me.

"Okay, fine," Ryan says finally. "You'll also have to get changed then—"

"Wait, General Lorensky!" This time, it is Sánchez's turn to cut Ryan off. "She can't go! It's too dangerous."

Their fervent protest feels like a pinprick to my ego. "Hey," I snap, "if you can go, I can too."

"You don't even need to go, so why would you put yourself in—"

"Okay, okay, pipe down, everyone." Ryan pulls me away from Sánchez. "It's probably not a bad idea for both of you to come along, to be honest, since I'll be busy with my mission. It'll be safer if you can look out for each other while I'm gone.

"So, here's the plan: I will submit a medical leave approval for the both of you, noting that you two were hurt during the attack yesterday. Since the attack is kept under wraps—to avoid panic or some bullshit reason—the medical leave will also be kept under wraps. This way, your absence won't affect any of your records and, hopefully, General Caelum won't find out either."

Ryan extends a hand for Sánchez to grab on. He pulls them up and instructs, "While I do that, both of you go back to your living unit, eat a very full breakfast, and find comfortable clothes to wear. Do not wear anything with logos of the Tower or NovaTopia. Remember, they cannot know that you are from the Tower unless you want to be attacked again like yesterday. If you have weapons that can be concealed, bring them. I'll see you both in an hour at the elevator next to the general living quarters."

He turns to me and winks. "And I hope you're ready for the hellscape that is Ground Earth, Lara."

***

Sánchez and I arrive at the elevator at the same time. They're wearing a black hoodie, with the right sleeve torn out. Their hair is back to its usual side-swept undercut.

"Hey," they say.

"Hey," I say.

They give me a scan. Since Ryan said to dress comfortably, I left my hair in the simple ponytail I always have, and put on my light pink sweatpants and sweatshirt, the most comfortable set of running clothes I have. Meanwhile, Sánchez's hoodie and jeans are casual yet sleek, especially with that well-styled hair. Maybe I should have worn something nicer...

"You're not wearing your earpieces," Sánchez points out.

"Oh, yeah." My hand unknowingly flies to my empty ear. "Rea was constantly telling me what a bad idea this is, so... I took them off."

The moment I entered my living unit and began preparing for my trip to Ground Earth, Rea was firing off incessant warnings about going to Ground Earth and its potential health consequences. With everything it was saying, it almost felt as though General Caelum was curating Rea's algorithm. And so, for the second time since I had Rea, I took it out.

"It is a bad idea," Sánchez chides. "You shouldn't come along."

"Shut up, Sánchez. Even Ryan said it's a good idea."

"He never said that. He's just spoiling you because he's your brother."

"What? No, he doesn't. He's a terrible brother."

"Jesus, you are so spoiled that you take him for granted."

Anger boils within me. What does Sánchez even know about Ryan or me, anyway? Before I can retort, Ryan's voice cuts us off.

"Alright, both of you are here already!"

I spin around and direct my anger towards him. "You're late, Ryan!"

"Nah, I'm on time. You two are early." He grins as he stops in front of us, his hands running through his tousled brown hair. He is wearing his general uniform, making my casual outfit feel even more out of place.

"I thought you said we shouldn't wear things with NovaTopian logos on them?" Sánchez asks.

"You two shouldn't," Ryan says, "but I have to, since I'll be representing them for my mission."

He scans his palm on a console. The elevator dings and the door opens.

Dread gnaws at my heart. All my life, I've longed to get into the elevator, but only to go in the other direction. I never wanted to go down, only up.

Now, I'll be entering the elevator to go all the way down.

Ryan, in contrast, is brimming with cheer. "Alright, folks," he chirps as he presses a button, "time to descend to Ground Earth."