Chapter 4: Wait For It

A hologram of steaming red water formed under Nova’s boots. She knew exactly which one they were replaying. Fake lava, real dread.

That meant her hologram self was out. But to her relief, the crowd was silent. Her shoulders dropped an inch. They were bored. Had to be. These wolves had been sitting through replays all day. Yes, the issued slave gear was thinner than ideal for a stadium-sized hologram. But every slave before her had worn the same suit. A bigger version of nothing was still nothing.

She almost laughed. Crisis over. Moving on. Famous last words.

"That’s a SLAVE? Replay the walk. Slow. I have money."

"They gave the princess eight minutes and this one a tarp. Be serious."

"I’ll buy her right now. How much, Starborne? Hell, I’ll buy the hologram too."

Nova’s face caught fire under her hood. Then she heard herself at stadium volume and the heckles died.

"If I go through the water, it doesn’t break a rule. Could you confirm?" Her tone was kind. Polite as a Sunday. But the way she phrased the question suggested she had read the rulebook and came armed.

The hologram-proctor blinked. Looked at his rule sheet. Looked at the slave girl in silver cuffs who was, apparently, mid-trial, asking about the regulatory framework of the obstacle course.

"There’s no rule against it."

Hologram-Nova didn’t wait for him to finish. She jumped into the steaming red water and walked to the other side holding onto the rope.

The fastest time was 3 minutes, 12 seconds.

BUZZ.

She hit the button on the other side at 2 minutes flat.

Then the arena erupted in laughter. Probably at the proctor’s face. She had almost laughed during the test.

"SOMEONE GET THAT MAN A DRINK! HE IS NOT OKAY!"

ELECTRIFIED BARS

The terrain changed into fog, which meant they were showing the electrified bars challenge.

Half a mile of monkey bars over fog with a taser kink. Random bars flashed blue and went electric. The further you went, the more it happened. Designed for wolves with supernatural grip strength who could skip multiple bars at a time with no issues.

This one had such an obvious solution, Nova couldn’t have been the first to think of it. Surely not. It was common sense.

The arena watched hologram-Nova climb to the top of the bars and run across them like they were a sidewalk. Rubber gym shoes meant no shock.

The hologram-proctor’s mouth opened. Nothing came out.

The arena lost it again.

"SHE’S FUCKING JOGGING! NOT EVEN BREAKING A SWEAT!"

"LOOK AT THE PROCTOR. HE DOESN’T KNOW WHAT TO WRITE."

A Wavecrest warrior stood up, turned to his pack, and yelled, "RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU FEEL LIKE A DUMBASS!"

Every hand in Wavecrest went up including the Alpha’s, plus two neighboring packs who had not been invited to the self-own. He sat down and facepalmed with his whole soul.

THE MAGNETIZED WALL

Hologram sand covered the arena floor, which meant this one was the magnetized wall.

A three-hundred-foot circular wall stood in the middle of sand like a giant middle finger. The wall repelled anything metallic including silver. No handholds. Wolves climbed it by punching holes on the marked X spots where the wall was thinner.

Punch hole. Build a ladder. Try not to think about how stupid that concept is.

Hologram-Nova attempted to punch the first but her hand flew backwards due to the silver cuff on her wrist, so violently she stumbled.

The crowd started to laugh. Nova didn’t need to see the hologram to know what they were laughing about. She agreed that her first attempt was funny. She had, with a straight face, attempted to put a hole in a concrete wall that repelled silver.

A knowing smirk bloomed across the hologram-proctor’s face that translated to: finally the exam found this bitch’s ceiling.

Hologram-Nova didn’t spare him a glance. She was in puzzle-solving mode.

The crowd started cheering at her hologram like they were watching it live.

"SHE’S THINKING! EVERYBODY SHUT UP, SHE’S THINKING!"

"WAIT FOR IT."

She looked at her wrists. Looked at the wall. Then she reached higher than the place she was supposed to punch.

It didn’t push her away. It pulled so hard she gasped.

Bingo.

The wall alternated. Repel. Attract. Repel. Attract. An accidental magnetic ladder hidden inside.

She climbed without having to punch into anything. Every move was the same: skip the handhold, reach above it, let the wall grab her bands and hold her weight.

Her legs followed, using the silver bands on her ankles.

The smirk on the proctor’s face vanished.

"HIS FACE! TAKE A PICTURE OF HIS FACE!"

"SEVEN-SEVEN-OH-NINE!" Stomp stomp. "SEVEN-SEVEN-OH-NINE!" Stomp stomp.

It spread like wildfire. Wolves who had been sitting all day were standing on their seats. Boots hit stone in unison like a drumline, shaking the arena floor. Registration numbers aren’t supposed to become war cries but this one just did.

The fastest time was 3 minutes flat. A clock ran on the jumbotron as Nova climbed.

"THE CLOCK! WATCH THE CLOCK! SHE’S GOING TO BEAT IT!"

"TEN SECONDS OUT!"

CLANG.

She hit the button at the top and the sound cut through the arena like a gunshot.

2 minutes 59 seconds on the dot.

The crowd went from roaring to deranged.

Of all the things Nova had expected today, getting a standing ovation from an entire stadium was not on the list. She couldn’t see the standing part of the applause but she felt it, and it landed in the exact place the booing had hit earlier. Same spot. Same ribs. Same girl.

Ten thousand wolves were cheering for her like she mattered, even if it was strangers, even if it was temporary, even if they forgot her registration number by morning. For one second, she let it in.

That’s when it happened.

The silver bands on her wrists and ankles activated and an electric current hit her body. Level 10. Maximum voltage. She had never experienced it to this degree before.

Every muscle in her body fired at once and the scream that came out of her was high-pitched and part sob. Her knees buckled, her spine locked, and she went down like someone had cut her strings with a blowtorch.

The cloak swallowed her whole. A heap of fabric, twitching.

Ten thousand wolves just watched the girl they were chanting for drop mid-ovation and nobody knew if this was part of the show.

Alpha Starborne stood from his seat with the practiced calm of a man who had rehearsed this moment in a mirror. He placed one hand over his heart, shook his head with visible sadness, and addressed the Elders.

"This is what we were trying to prevent." His voice carried through the runes, warm and paternal and absolutely dripping with concern. "She has episodes. My daughter warned you. My family has managed her condition for years and this is exactly why. Please, allow my guards to retrieve her before she hurts herself further."