(Announcer) “20 years ago the world had fallen under the rule of an artificial intelligence called ZAM (Zorda Artificial Minds). Advanced microchips were implanted in people's brains. These chips give humans benefits, such as better health and a much longer lifespan, however they also have their disadvantages. Over population has become a big problem due to the extended lifespan the chips provide, so each year there is a competition the people of the world can enter. Once they turn 15, each individual person has an opportunity to enter the competition. Starting in Nnovember, contestants must kill each other, this will continue till the start of a new year. The microchips implanted in your brain allows you to see other peoples death counters and health status, this will help you decide whether they will be useful to you or not. If you decide to, you can give others in your group your kills. The person with the most kills total will win a cash prize of 1million dollars, they can keep this or split it with their team. ANYTHING is prohibited so be sure to watch your backs and be safe, it's kill or be killed out there people. Good luck.”
Jay turned off the small radio he carried in his backpack “How do you guys think we’ll do this year?”, he asked, not bothering to turn around.
“I’m sure we’ll fare fine, we are the most notorious killers out there.” Lyra smirked. “With the four of us working together, nobody else has a chance.”
Jay and his friends were the strongest and most feared of their age group. The four of them had been entering this competition for about 5 years now, and they came out on top every year since. Each one of them had specific roles to play which is why they were always so good in the competitions. Lyra designed protections and came up with plans for the team, everyone gave their kills to her so they had a better chance at winning. Shya and Jay were the hunters; they went out to fight and got most of the team's kills. Zach’s position changed a lot; with his background in fighting, he could be very useful on the battlefield. Sadly, with the loss of his arm he usually stayed with Lyra as backup. The group entered a big stadium where the competition started.
“Hello players!” A woman's voice echoed throughout the massive stadium. “Welcome to the 21st annual Zordathon! All of the non-participants have been relocated and are in a safe place. If you do not remember the rules you can check your chips, they have been programmed with a complete list. The competition will start in approximately one minute, good luck!” The room filled with excitement and bloodlust as they awaited the buzzing of the timer.
“You guys ready?” Shya turned to the rest of the group who nodded in unison, “Then let’s go kick some-.” Just then the timer buzzed. The teams all set off with a certain hunger in their eyes, a hunger that could only be fed by killing.
The four friends started walking to the base that Lyra had found them earlier. “How much farther is this base!” Zach whined.
“It should be right he-” Lyra stopped dead in her tracks.
Jay was confused, “Lyra? What's wrong?” Then he saw it. A spear going through her body. She collapsed trying to breathe-- her left lung was punctured. Blood poured out on the ground blending in with her fire red hair. A tear fell from her eye right before she stopped breathing. Shya bent to the ground and cut a slit in Lyras head after a minute she stood up holding a microchip.
“Let’s go.” she said as she began to walk away
“What do you mean “Let’s go” !?” Zach cried “We can’t just leave her here!”
“Well that’s what i'm gonna do, you can stay behind. Jay, you coming?”
“I-I-” Jay studdered “... sorry Zach.” He ran to catch up with Shya.
It had been about 3 weeks since Shya and Jay went off on their own; they had heard nothing from Zach yet and were beginning to get discouraged.
“What's your kill count?” Shya looked at Jay inquisitively.
Jay tapped his microchip, “Thirty-eight.” he said quickly “How about you?”
“Forty-two.” There was a long pause “I wonder how Z-” Just then an announcement began.
“Hello contestants!” The woman spoke, “Your chips should have a new file, please view that now. The file you are looking at is the list of surviving players. Please check this list; there will be a follow up announcement in 10 minutes with a surprise.”
Jay's face turned a pale white, Zach’s name wasn’t on the list. “Shy-” he turned to see tears streaming down her face, in all the years he knew her he had never seen her cry.
“Jay… it was my fault.” Tears rolled down her cheeks as she spoke “I never should have left him there alone.”
“We both left him..We can’t change the past,” Jay said somberly. Just then another meeting was called.
“Hi again players. As I said before, we have a surprise that could be good or bad for some teams. The competition will be ending in two hours, due to a few reports of chip malfunctions. Get as many kills in as you can before then. Good luck!”
“Two hours!?” Jay exclaimed, “There’s no way we can win this in the amount of time!”
Shya wiped her face “We have too, we’ve lost too much not to win this.”
With that they set off and for the next hour and a half they got another 30 kills each.
Shya punched the wall, “UGH- we are still 3 kills behind!”
“Yeah, but it looks like the top spot is camping so we still have a chance.” Jay said
Shya sighed “Ok, let's split up and meet back here in 15 minutes.”
Shya went out and got one kill only to see Jay in a two on one fight. She jumped in to help out but it was too late. Jay had a deep wound from the fight “I got two kills…” he said weakly “You got one, right??”
Shya nodded “Yeah, there's no way to win though we only have 5 minutes left anyway. To think we were only on kill awa-” Jay transferred his points to Shya
“Do it.” he said wincing in pain “I’m going to bleed out anyway so just get it over with.” Shya looked at the clock.
“Two minutes remaining.” She had to make the most important decision of her life in 2 minutes.
“One minute remaining.” Fear filled her body. She never had trouble killing before, so why now? Why was it so difficult to kill when she actually needed to?
“10 seconds remaining.” It was now or never…
“Time is up!”
“And that marks the end of the 21st annual Zordathon! I’m sure you're all wondering who the champion is, and for that, we welcome...Shya Crawly!
Shya stood on the stage she had stood on many times before, but this time felt different somehow. Her friends weren’t beside her and they would never stand there again. The sounds of voices cheering were muffled and distant, she had won, but at what cost?
The End
