Awakening: Prodigy

24: Champion's Folly

POV Seth

"Neither!" Seth blustered. It was ludicrous to even ask. He pulled his pistol from his belt and took aim at the virtual entity.

"They all say that," Videl replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Well, some of the time. Not as often as I'd like really. A lot less these days..."

Lasers sprung to life, carving two maps into the air above each cluster of portals. Glowing specks marked each player on the map. Structural elements were detailed, furniture marked, exits and windows all on display. In the few moments it took to create the visuals, the system had erased the doors. Both teams were now trapped in separate death chambers.

"You don't have a choice. Choose or both parties die."

A minute ago, Squad IX's server room had a glass wall lining the length of an enclosed office. Several desks were set in pods on the outside of the server room. The change had gone unnoticed because there hadn't been any source of natural light. Now, Squad IX's entire world was exclusive to the graveyard of servers.

Meanwhile, Squad VII had navigated away from the sea of cubicles in an otherwise open space, in favour of a smaller searchable area that had been sectioned off from the bulk of the staff. The rows of false walls and labyrinthine corridors gradually blocked the light from the far windows off. Seth's squad searched the tech littered enclosure from which they would never escape.

Walls overwrote windows, one by one, in a mock countdown. Both teams remained oblivious to the change in their environment.

Under the cover of darkness, Videl was going to get away with murder.

Seth shouted, hoping that Videl and his machine would see reason. "You knew you were going through the trials when you did, and you did them on your own! These people don't deserve to be dragged into this! There was less at stake for you! You're asking me to kill half the people who came with us, all because they showed up!"

"You're right. My choice..." Videl pondered. "I made it before I took the trial. I knew what was asked of me. Many people who didn't deserve to die, died that day. A lot more than the twelve lives on the line now."

Seth countered, "I don't know why I'm being forced through this trial! I didn't choose this! I don't want this!"

"Sure, you do. You want to survive the Killing Fields. So, tell me who dies today?"

Of course, he wanted to survive the Killing Fields, but not like this, not in exchange for the lives of his peers. Was this trial the reason the Academy had such a high ratio of returning soldiers? Seth's hands shook.

"What if I told you, this lot here," the virtual man gestured to Squad IX, "found a weapons cache, but unlike you guys, are armed to the teeth. Does that change anything?" His tone was oddly compassionate as he relayed the information.

"What are you trying to prove?"

Videl shrugged. "That you don't have what it takes to serve the greater good. You're no hero. You're just a self-serving little prick with delusions of grandeur. When push comes to shove, you'll blame everyone else for the decisions you couldn't make. For the actions you couldn't take." The venom in Videl's words resonated, but Seth got the impression that he was speaking about himself.

"I'm sorry," Seth lowered his weapon. "I'm sorry things didn't work out the way you had hoped. But you don't have to do this. They don't deserve to die because you regret your choice," he added gently.

"No one does." Videl shrugged, "But they'll die, anyway. They always do." The lasers drew in a long corridor, connecting both rooms from the southeast and southwest.

One door.

One path.

One inevitable fight to the death.

Neither team would suspect that the new door had never existed moments prior, assuming instead that they had missed it on initial inspection.

"I said NO ONE DIES!" Seth shifted his aim and fired this energy weapon at the machine. He emptied his load as the machine screamed.

"Shit!" Videl screamed, ran his hands down his face, slack jawed. His projection remained uninterrupted and solid. "Shit!" he reiterated, in case Seth misunderstood the severity of the issue. Videl ran to his machine and pounded on the consoles, rushing from one station to the next as he tried to minimize the damage. "SHIT!" he bellowed.

Now was his shot, while the virtual entity was distracted. Seth ran to the machine while activating his arm console, triggering the download option. If he could get close enough, he hoped that he'd be able to connect to the program despite its age. He'd have no time to try anything else.

Seth ignored the squad's screams until he heard gunfire. He glanced through the portals, terrified that the machine's trap had been sprung. The map fought to keep control, shifting between several versions of the parties' small world. The doors leading to the hall flickered in and out of existence before it remained gone. The corridor fought to remain in place, growing and shrinking, trying to keep both rooms separated.

Videl shook Seth, his grip too real, too solid. "I can't stop it!" He roared. "You have to go now! I can't let him have you! Not you!" He pushed Seth toward the portals. "I'll carve a path for you! Get them out! If it comes down to you or them, you have to live! YOU CAN'T DIE HERE!"

Videl pushed Seth toward the portals again, as they merged to form two separate gates. He'd have to choose...

The virtual entity returned to the consoles, working at stopping the rogue program from ruining everything. Was this part of the trial? Or was he successful in ruining Videl's plan? "GO!" Videl screamed. The desperation in the entity's voice rattled Seth into action. He ran toward his only way out. He shut his eyes, denying that he had made a choice at all.

He heard the gargled screams of the dying just as he passed through the portal.