the game

and so it begins

KATIE

The air sticks to my skin, humidity clawing at the window panes. The sun burns through onto the old wooden floorboards. I'm in thermos, the city that's closest to the capital.
There's a groan.
"Katie, can you go shut the blinds, I forgot," Amy moans into her pillow. I chuckle as I step towards the window.
Amy is a mess of sheets, shorts, and a loose t shirt. Underneath her is a pile of thaw ice she positioned using her beloved freeze ray.
Her hair is a tangle of brown that started in a bun when she fell asleep.
I close the blinds and head back towards my bed, coated in a sheen of sweat.
"Curse my cheap skate of a father," Amy yells into her pillow. "Can you go turn down the ac? If he asks about it say I threatened to cover the room in thaw ice if you don't." She's still talking into her pillow. I roll my eyes and get up again.
Waiting for the silver metal doors to slide open I step down the quiet hallway towards the ac dial.
The floor is cold under my feet, the floor light a gleaming white.
Walking down the hallway reminds me of this same night a year ago. The night I was severed from my family. The night that someone found my mom, one of the heads of council that ran away. Most believe that she started the war That's torn this world apart for years, but I know she never even knew it was happening until that night.
... I sigh and turn down the dial, retreating back towards the bedroom. It's odd to think of how much has changed since then.
I have powers now I didn't even know existed then. I have a best friend, which I definitely didn't have before. And I don't have my family...
I know my dad and siblings are safe in the other world, staying in Amy's parents house. We're currently staying in their vacation home.
It's been an odd summer. Hot, humid, and full of practice. I have to be able to control my powers by the time school comes around and I already know that no amount of practice will bring me up to the level of control everyone else has. Amy finally figured out how to make gloves for me that make my powers weaker so I can control them easier, but even then they're sporadic and occasionally burn through the gloves anyway.
Amy can't teach me much about how to use them either because she is a blank, someone that doesn't have powers that flow out of them. She's a technician who specializes in hacking.
I haven't seen anyone else from school since graduation... they won't talk to me, or even let me explain myself, but that all changes tomorrow.
Tomorrow is the first day of school... and two weeks from then is our first week in the game.

TERRENCE

I've been prepping all summer. This year I'm hunting down whoever killed my dad. I know they're connected with the government now, from the conversation Luke and I had with his dad we found out that whatever killed her was in the capital building. There has to be more to it, and from what I'm guessing, it has to do with ken's mom's death somehow. Even though mr. Devre didn't know anything about the machine, this year I'm going to figure it out—whatever that metal monster is.

Tomorrow is my first day at Jaden university. I'll be seeing Kassie again too, which is nerve wracking. Now that we'll be going to the same school I'm sure that we'll be able to date now. They can't say I'm subpar. But I am worried about something, she is Veronica Kelly's daughter which means she's a child of the council. She'll probably be next in line and in that case she might not be able to date me because she's pursuing her future with all of her strength.
I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

Other than that I've been trying to crack the code in my father's watch with no success. There's nothing I or Amy can figure out about it.

Although she lives in thermos I've been able to take the shuttle and visit her and Katie most weekends. It's fun having friends and figuring out these things together. It's so much different from when I was younger. When I was alone.
Amy can't figure out the code either though, which means both of us have been banging our heads against a wall that refuses to come down. Katie says we should ask Amy's dad but I tried once when I first met him. It was an odd moment.