Old Friends

"The body should be in good condition, anyway."

Kalea signed a form confirming Huang was dead. At least when she checked. No breathing, no movements, nothing. Although if anybody could play dead, it was probably him. She walked back through a windowless sequence of white walls until she got to her room.

"Sooo, spill it. Come on, what's the payment?" Leonie asked, as giddy as ever while lying on her bed and kicking her feet in the air.

After a few seconds, her smile left her face, and she looked back to Kalea.

"Oh, don't tell me he survived that."

"Nope. The boss wants to see us."

The two of them left the district building after making sure no contestants were following them, being greeted by a helicopter.

"Staying on level 5, right?"

"Two girls for Arioch, please!" Leonie yelled.

"Whatever you say, miss." The driver replied.

After a short helicopter ride over the multitude of bland houses and college campuses, the two of them landed just outside of The Cave. A solid black dome that at this time of night looked invisible, as evidenced by Kalea walking into it. Leonie found the door into the city, and walked in. Kalea followed and was instantly blinded by what she saw. A luxurious area with bright lights seemingly adorned on everything, including lights adorned on other lights. There didn't seem to be any public transport, just an incredibly narrow road where people were walking towards their destinations.

"Oh. My. God."

A woman in impossibly tight jeans, bright pink hair and a leather jacket walked over to them, holding a cocktail in one hand, with the other being under her chin as she observed them.

"You two aren't the people in charge of the Gauntlet, right?" She asked.

"We are, yes." Kalea sighed; her eyes still not adjusted to the lights. "Would you happen to know where the…Moloch building is?"

"Oh, I'll tell you in a bit. How long do you two have, anyway?"

"We'll have to be back by the morning." Leonie replied. "6AM. And it's currently 9PM. Why, you got any plans?"

The woman laughed politely and took a swig of her drink, scowling at it. "Well, when you're in the area, you might as well go get a makeover, right? New clothes, the whole shebang."

"I mean, we were sponsored by Anticlique, so we'll probably get at least a discount, right?"

Kalea tried her best to snake away from what was coming next, but Leonie grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and dragged her into the boutique.

Once inside, Leonie instantly started excitedly looking at all the dresses within glass containers, all looking like pristine art pieces within.

"Kalea, are you seeing this?" Leonie asked, looking as Kalea stuck to the background.

"I'm seeing it." Kalea sighed, glancing at the price tags at once of the dresses. Eight hundred thousand tua.

"Is this some kind of joke?" She whispered to herself, before their guide appeared behind her.

"What? That's authentic purple silk with genuine rose quartz on it. The price sounds perfectly fine to me." She scoffed. "Anyway, pick what you want, I'm paying."

"Why, exactly?"

"What, you always question when someone offers you free stuff? I'll explain later."

Kalea walked past the dress area, and everything inside looked overly designed and garish. Getting some rich lady to blow her money on her sounded good, but none of it was nice looking. She looked through a row of hoodies, all of which with colour palettes that made her eyes want to tear themselves out, with the exception of a simple white hoodie with indigo paint splatters all over it, for a nice 8000 tua. It was awful pricing, but if she wasn't paying…

"Hey, what's the budget here?" Kalea asked the woman.

"I could buy everything here three times, don't worry about it."

"Cool, I'll just leave this here." Kalea dumped the hoodie on top of her head. "That's it, you can donate the rest."

"Donate to what, exactly?" The girl asked.

"Eh, something on the lower levels." Kalea shrugged.

"Ah. Caring, aren't you? How much have you donated, exactly?"

Kalea looked down at the floor. She promised herself she'd use some of her pay to help her hometown back on Level Two, but after the first few challenges she blew all of her money on drinks.

"Well, I'm not the one with three boutiques worth of money." Kalea replied calmly.

"Hey, I was born into wealth, I'll admit that. Not gonna beat myself up over it."

Kalea stood there for a few seconds, trying to process how someone even comes to that conclusion about the world.

"Hey girls, how do I look?"

Leonie stepped out, decked out in a frilly one shoulder dress that was crimson in the centre, and moved towards lighter shades of red as it spread out. Alongside the red were various streaks of silver sprinkles haphazardly thrown onto the dress.

"Amazing." The girl replied, placing her empty glass beside her.

"How much is it?" Kalea asked, already dreading the answer.

"Fifty thousand." Leonie replied casually.

"Alright, we'll match that with you!" The girl exclaimed, pulling out a cellphone. "Yep, makeover. I'm thinking hair dye, straightening, a little-no, a lot of moisturizing. Full package for thirty thousand? Done. Send somebody over."

"What was that?" Kalea asked, dreading the answer.

"Improvement people."

Just as she said that a wall of muscle in a tight tank top came into the door, picking up Kalea and leaving the room, not budging when Kalea locked into his face. The girl threw her hoodie onto her face, tossing the eight blue Tua bills onto the cash register.

"Maybe the makeover place can redo her personality, too." The girl laughed, taking their clothes to the checkout.

"So, why did you take us here, exactly?" Leonie asked, chuckling to herself.

"Think of it as a reward for such great entertainment." The girl asked. "And a small request to what'll happen next."

"Ooh, a request?" Leonie asked. "I'm interested."

"I want you to kill Valentina."

"Ah, that seems hard. She's a former Nova, and she's pretty high on the polls. Besides, I think we have an idea on who to keep out next."

"Former Nova, lady." The girl replied, taking a card out of her back pocket. "While I'm a current one."

Leonie went over the card with her finger for a few seconds. A genuine Nova card. Monika Nova-Rose.

"Look, we did a lot to get rid of her family. If survives, she'll eventually get back into power. So here's the deal. Make sure she dies, and I'll be able to get you everything you could ever want."

"Hm, tempting." Leonie whispered to herself. "Sure, I'll bite. It'll probably give bone guy a few things to think about. That'll probably make for some good television."

"Stellar, stellar." Monika sighed with relief. "Well, I'm not gonna keep you. Your friend is on Cain Street to the north. See you around."

Leonie followed her directions, and once she got to Cain Street, she saw a remarkably annoyed looking Kalea, wearing her white hoodie with indigo paint splotches, alongside having neon green hair, looking like a well maintained plant.

"So, we're going to the Arioch building?" Leonie asked cheerfully.

"Let's just get out of here." Kalea muttered.

The two of them found themselves in front of the biggest building in the Cave, probably the biggest building in all of Nova, going all the way to the ceiling. A building made of crimson brickwork directly in the center of the Cave, impossible to miss with multiple lights shining on it, with it's own lights looking at the city below.

The two of them stepped in, looking at the crimson walls and black felt couches and carpets all neatly placed under a gold chandelier.

"Hello, we're here for a Mr…M?" Leonie asked the receptionist, who looked on the verge of death.

"Sure." She replied just as defeated as she looked, punching some letters into the keypad next to her.

"He says you're an hour late."

"He never gave a time." Leonie replied calmly. She wasn't sure if that was true, and Kalea's confused face implied it wasn't. But it was something.

"He gives his apologies for not meeting you." The receptionist replied. "He's on the hundredth floor, you'll see it by going to that elevator there."

The two of them stepped into the elevator, and the doors closed with the most satisfying of 'ding' noises. The two of them stood in silence for the first few floors, but once the screen above the door said floor 27, Leonie thought it best to begin the conversation.

"So, you exited to meet the boss?" She asked.

"I'm just thinking about why a building needs a hundred floors." Kalea replied calmly. "Like, what do you even do with a hundred floors?"

"Keep people in them?"

"But everyone here has their own place." Kalea muttered. "This whole thing would be way better on one of the lower levels."

"Eh, maybe. But it looks nice up here."

"Well, that defeats my argument." Kalea sighed. She felt like arguing about how superficial all of this looked, but another gratifying 'ding' was heard once the screen hit 100, and the door opened.

Inside the room was the sound of jazz music played by blindfolded musicians, the chaotic melodies blending together into something truly beautiful.

"Wonderful, wonderful!"

The couch in front of them had the backs of two figures, one of which was enthusiastically clapping at the show as it ended.

"Wonderful! Great as always!" The voice announced as the curtains fell. "Ah, are those the footsteps of my favourite hosts?"

The man stood up, looking almost robotic as he did, and turned around to greet them.

"Greetings, ladies. My name is Mersache."

His hair, deep black, parted to the left side and ending at his neck. His skin, the same shade of deep crimson as the walls. His clothes, a black suit with gold linings across the sleeves and pockets. And on his face was a tattoo which looked like an ink splotch, starting at his eye, and ending at the start of his hairline.

"What the hell?" Kalea asked.

"Hm, is there an issue?" Mersache asked, his warm smile faltering slightly.

"Your…skin?" Kalea replied.

"Ah, yes. I forget people aren't used to that." Mersache replied with a soft chortle. "Anyway, I wish to discuss the next challenge to you."

"The test robots are working as intended, and the smiler gunk is off the walls." Kalea affirmed, standing up straight.

"Good to know, good to know. But I feel a change of plans is in order."

"Excuse me?" Kalea asked.

"Zeb, feel free to introduce yourself."

The other figure stood up and turned around to greet them, shaking their hands. Her skin was the same shade of indigo as Kalea's hoodie, with her own black hoodie having a cartoon bunny that looked different from the NeoBunny logo. She had yet to speak, yet Kalea was already terrified of her.

"As my...acquaintance said, my name is Zeb. I am in charge of another timeline, and one of my fighters got trapped within your game."

"T-timelines?" Kalea asked. "What does that even mean?"

"Oh, I feel like an introduction is in order." Mersache interjected. "I am in charge of this timeline, and Zeb is in charge of another. Sometimes rifts open up, or powerful individuals cause someone to slip between dimensions."

"In charge of…" Kalea stopped; she didn't even know what to say about any of this.

"We're gods, basically." Zeb sighed. "Apologies for my co-worker here, this cryptic bullshit is just a hobby for him."

"G-g-g-gods?" Kalea stumbled on her words.

"Makes sense." Leonie said, her hand on her hip.

"Oh, I didn't really take you for the whole…religion thing." Kalea replied, desperately trying to regain balance in her tone in front of the gods.

"Me neither, but it just makes sense to me." Leonie shrugged.

"Anyway, enough of the talk, I brought you in here to discuss the next challenge. I have a personal request for the two of you."

"The devices are set up to the specifications that NeoBunny requested." Kalea said.

"Scrap it. The next challenge is a scavenger hunt." Mersache replied coldly.

"A scavenger hunt for what exactly?" Leonie asked calmly.

Mersache held up his left hand, and a crimson orb manifested within it.

"Now, we need someone with a clear head to hold this, or it'll get rather volatile." Mersache informed calmly. "Leonie, I take it you're capable?"

Leonie took the orb without a moment's hesitation, and nothing happened.

"Good, good." Mersache nodded, handing her a sheet of paper. "Your instructions are there. Now run along, we have some business to finish discussing."

The two did as instructed, and Leonie bowed once inside the elevator. Once it's doors closed, Mersache sat back on the couch.

"So, are you excited for tomorrow?" Mersache asked, politely laughing to himself

"Why are you doing this?" Zeb asked, annoyed. "I want Ulrich back."

"I assure you, miss. Ulrich is a survivor. All he's done so far assures me that he will survive the next challenge. And if his luck runs out, I'll be sure to switch off the cameras and get him to you."

"Right." Zeb replied. "And why do you need me to see what he can do? I've witnessed it all firsthand."

"He reminds me of someone important, that's all. Being the most popular in the polls helps too."

"And if he dies, this an open and shut case to get him out of the afterlife, correct?"

"According to my studies, but it's been a solid two hundred years since I've been there, so something may have happened."

"If he dies and I can't get him back, you'll be responsible, and this whole Nova project will all go to waste."

"Correct, correct." Mersache replied, looking away for a second. "But on the topic of death, did you lose anyone on your quest to forge your own timeline?"

"I did." Zeb sighed.

"Well, the next Purgatourney is in three years. I hope to see you there."

"Are you going?" Zeb sighed.

"If you promise to." Mersache replied calmly.

"Sure, sounds good." Zeb responded. "Now, can you answer my question? Why are putting these teenagers in killing games?"

"Consider it a divine test of sorts. One of the higher ups- "

"Lucifer?" Zeb interrupted.

"The very same. But anyway, he has a theory that ordinary humans can awaken into a higher state under extreme circumstances. And what's more extreme than the youth repeatedly being forced to fight or die?"

"And if you achieve your results?" Zeb asked, trying her best to mask her disgust.

"I'll report them." Mersache replied. "And who knows, maybe I'll put it towards that little rebellion plan you just told me about."

"I'll...consider it." Zeb replied calmly, looking at the empty stage.

"You do that, I'll get us some drinks."