Chaos Theorem

Chapter 11: The Leaderboard

I hated looking into Kat's eyes like this. I knew I'd never see them again. And I knew it would destroy her.
But there was nothing I could do; the train carriage I was in snapped off and I started to fall. Fall. Fall...
There was something jarringly exciting about it all. The rush of the air. The screaming feeling in my stomach. My life flashing before my eyes; my mother, my brother... It was like a rollercoaster for masochists.
I wasn't surprised that I'd been the first to fall, even if I really tried hard. I cared too much about others. I absolutely had to make sure that the others all made it, and now I was falling here.
It was an exciting death for sure. I'd rather go out fighting than by something boring. I wanted to feel alive, that was always my objective in life. Did I feel that I achieved that? Yes, yes I did. But did I want to die? No, not really.
I closed my eyes and a tear slid out from behind my glasses. Nothing had ever felt so hopeless...
It was the longest twenty seconds of my life, but finally the free fall stopped; the train hit the river and I hit the bottom of the train with a clang. There was brief pain.
I shut my eyes...
...
...
...
Why could I still hear things?
"I'm alive?" I asked nobody, opening my eyes wildly.
I could see! I could hear! I COULD STILL THINK ABOUT ANIME!
I sat up sharply, "I'M ALIVE- OW!"
My back was certainly in a lot of pain. No more sharp movements...
I stretched before I turned and looked around. The carriage was on its side, lots of the windows being smashed. The doors themselves had shut, but I knew that doors weren't the only exits. I just had to be careful not to cut myself.
The only issue was whether or not I'd be able to float to the surface. I'd spent a lot of time at home, including getting home-schooled when I was younger so I'd never had swimming lessons. There was no way I'd be able to swim up, and I was already sumberged beneath the surface. Water was filling up the carriage. I started to breathe faster. I had no choice but to go, did I?
And so I jumped through the glass window and into the murky water. The water moved fast; I had fallen into a river. The sinking wreckage above me was leaking oil and I could see fire on the surface. How would I be able to resurface?
Was the breath I'd taken deep enough? I'd started pulling myself up, but there was still a long way to go. The light above was dwindling, but not because of it dying out... I was blacking out.
My eyes started to shut a little. The water around me was dark, and I felt like I was flying through a deep void... a black hole...
I was suddenly five years old. My mom was sat on my right, her pretty, long blonde hair cascading down her shoulder. She was combing my hair, which was equally long at the time. She beamed down at me like the sun, and I felt her warmth enter through my skin.
On the TV was a movie about aliens. They were good aliens, who had arrived on Earth to fix its problems. They were funny looking, with three eyes sticking out like a snail and flesh purple like a pansy.
"Are you enjoying the film, darling?" mom asked me, her pearly whites showing.
"Can I meet an alien, mommy?" I asked, my eyes wide. I straightened my glasses. I'd gotten them a week ago and they were my first pair. It still felt weird to have them on.
"Of course you can, Penny. You can do anything you out your mind to."
I knew this memory very well. It was my favourite memory of me and mom. It was before she'd gotten her job as a scientist. This was when things were simple, and it was just us.
If only things were still like that. If only an alien would come swimming out of the blackness and take me back in time so I could be happy. I wished that I could feel her embrace one... more... time...
And then I shut my eyes, and the last bubbles escaped my mouth.

***

I knew it was a beach before I reopened my eyes because I recognised the sensation of rocks on my back. I imagined summer vacations gone by, before I drifted back to the present. I'd survived again, but this time I'd washed up onto the side of the river.
I opened my eyes and looked around. There were still a few flames dancing around where the train carriage had sunk, but there were no other traces. Would anybody know I was down here?
I then turned around. Clearly, someone did because a woman was sat on a stool, staring at me. She was of South Asian heritage, and her pretty skin was complimented by her dark eyes. Her hair was black and fluffy, and her outfit... was it a hazmat suit?
It was - it was bright yellow like a firefly and her boots and gloves were black like coal. Her knees moved from side to side idly, but there was something else idle about her. It took me a moment to realise it was those aforementioned eyes; there was something... vacant about them. It was really creepy, but she seemed nice. Well, nice enough from here.
I waved awkwardly, "Hi."
No response.
"...Was it you who saved me?" I asked, but I felt like it really wasn't her, "Do you even talk? Like, at all?"
She continued to stare blankly. The shivers told me to look away, and so I stared awkwardly at the strange, black rocks. There would be someone else who'd come.
"You're awake."
I turned to my right.
There stood a boy there of Asian heritage, his hair black and shiny like oil. His skin was pale and his eyes were dark, reflecting the water in a brilliant shine. His tank top was a dangerous red and his shorts were beige like gravel and stones. His shoes were simple and black. Everything was simple, actually, but there something about his face which showed complexity and interest.
There was also a man wearing a sci-fi esque helmet, a blue fleece jacket and a brown shirt and trousers. He was very muscular, and was flexing them idly, like he was obsessed with how he looked. The woman beside him wore a green and orange poncho which was fun and exciting, her mahogany eyes and hair contrasting casually. She seemed inquisitive and interested like the first boy.
And that wasn't all - there was a boy with a vivid head of ginger hair and freckles. His armour was teal like the ocean and the underlayer was a pale yellow like sand. He had something on his chest that was glowing turquoise; it reminded me of Iron Man with his manufactured heart. Beside him was a man in a hazmat suit like the woman's (were they together?) but a white like snow. Something about his plumper build made me think of pillows, and there was something very huggable about him despite his dark, soulless mask. He stood in a reserved stance, and watched the others to see what they would do.
"And you are?" I asked, hopping up and taking a step back. There were a lot of them.
"Yenn, and that's Stella who you're trying to talk to. We haven't got anything out of her either..." the boy who'd talked first - the one in the tank top - introduced himself, "And your name is?"
"Penny." was all I said.
Yenn nodded. There was something very self-assured about him that made him mildly threatening.
The less threatening hazmat guy stepped forward, "She did used to talk, in case you're wondering... I do miss her, but she's got us. So do you. By the way, I'm Matt! The lady in the poncho is Ava, the armoured boy is Adam and the guy with the helmet is Alpha."
Yenn walked in front of Matt and hissed at him, "Why did you do that? We still don't know if we can trust her."
"Oh- uhh, sorry. It's just- um-" Matt stuttered, hugging his body and squeezing himself.
I tilted my head sadly at him, "You can trust me. I also trust you, Matt, but I don't like you very much."
I think it was the fact that I specifically pointed at Yenn that ticked him off. Alpha sniggered beside him and Yenn glared at him.
"I'm Alpha," he continued to chuckle, "By the way, I saved you. And can I just say you are looking very pretty today."
"Are you seriously hitting on me right now?" I gasped, gobsmacked.
"You know it!"
"What the hell?" I snarled. I'd never been so outraged, "Please, die alone! Then at least you won't have to live your life alone as well!"
"See? Untrustworthy!" Yenn blasted.
"How does that make her untrustworthy? She's just defending herself." Adam rolled his eyes, confused.
"Oh, yeah! Because you're one to talk about trust! You lead us into a pipe containing a giant lizard!" Yenn turned on him and started flailing his arms and entering his personal space.
And then all four of the boys and men started to argue, each trying to be the tallest and therefore have the most power. It was a mess of colours and colliding clothing styles, and I started to get a little freaked out; I was litch trapped with crazy people. This was so not good. At all.
The woman, Ava, looked at me sadly as if to say sorry, and then frowned at the others. She whispered something to Yenn, and then he said something back to her, something I couldn't hear but it definitely took Ava aback.
That made her turn to me, walk towards me and then turn to the others.
"UM, HELLO?" Ava yelled at them, making them all turn to her, "We're all on the same side here, no use in arguing! We need to help this girl."
Silence. I felt really, really awkward. For a moment, I wished that I'd drowned in that river, but then I remembered that it was wrong to think like that. Yenn sighed and I returned to the full reality.
"I'm sorry, Ava, you're right," Yenn admitted, "And I guess I owe you an apology too."
"This place is... horrible. It's really horrible. I understand the tension, no need to apologise or anything." I assured him.
He nodded. He smiled, and it made me smile too. I didn't spontaneously smile like that all too often...
"So, uhh..." Matt stuttered, touching his two pointer fingers together, "We'll totally help you and that, but do you actually plan to stick around? Don't want to pressure you or anything..."
"I would, but I don't want to bother you. You have a nice thing going here, and I need to find my friends. I have no idea where they could be." I shrugged, and it was true. They could be near or far. Did they even already think I was dead..?
And also on a slightly unrelated note, I realised I'd referred to them as my friends. We hadn't been together very long, and I normally thought of myself as socially awkward... but I guess not here? There was something about how they all trusted me that made me like them. It made me trust them back. I smiled to myself again, not that the others here would understand. I had to find them again.
"We might have seen your friends, actually," Ava snapped her fingers and turned to me, "What are their names?"
I responded instantly, "Kat McGuffin, Nate Gri-"
And then I was interrupted by a chorus of phone buzzes. We all rushed to our phones, fumbling to get them on and get to the app. There had to be something important there!
And there it was.
Kat McGuffin at the top of a leaderboard. Who knew? My eyes widened in disbelief - I had no idea she was capable of competing in games back to back like that. And I looked at her name.
One thought crossed my mind; had she forgotten about me?

**KAT**

Oh no, I was in so much trouble... There was no way that Nate wasn't going to see that leaderboard, and then he'd know that I snuck out! Then he'd freak out!
I was trying my best not to freak out myself whilst sneaking back to the restaurant. The lights were low and there were no robots or life to be traced. Sliding in through the back door of the burger restaurant, I saw that the lights in there were also off.
Was I ok? Were they still asleep?
The light switch went click, and my eyes were drawn to the sight of Nate stood at the edge of the room. I winced under his sour gaze. He was a monster, hulking slowly towards me before plonking himself in a chair beside a pile of burgers.
Guilty didn't begin to describe my mood.
He didn't say anything, but he didn't need to. He got his message across pretty clear.
Realising he was waiting for an explanation, I lied, saying, "I just went out to get fresh air. Sorry I woke you, dude."
I wasn't in the mood for a conversation like this. Not now.
"I saw the leaderboard." Nate muttered, deathly slow. Apparently, he was in the mood for that conversation...
I looked down. This was why people shouldn't trust me. I'm far too impulsive. He didn't need to say that I could've gotten myself killed, I knew that perfectly well myself. My tired eyes searched the floor for a distraction from myself and him, but I couldn't see anything.
"What were you thinking? We've already lost Penny, do you think she'd want you wandering off like that?" Nate hissed, shaking his head in disgust.
"No!" I shot back, "And I wasn't thinking! I went to kill one of the robots to avenge Penny. She was my friend. She deserves justice."
"Well, how did it go?" Nate asked, tilting his head and eyeing me.
Had he already changed his mind?
"Actually, it wen-"
"Did you embarrass yourself? Again?" he interrupted. I pursed my lip, but he continued, "You care too much for other people. Have you ever tried a little something called 'practicing self care'? It's free... in most countries."
"Do you know what else is free?" I stormed over to the table and slammed my hands down, "Teamwork, and looking past what's right in front of you! Null and Elise cared that I wanted to fix everything. On the other hand, it seems that you don't!"
Nate stood up. Now we were on the same level, and his superior height made me feel weak and helpless again. We both waited, angry, and me still very much tired from the robot.
"I'm sorry. Is that what you wanted to hear?" I asked, sarcastically smiling at him.
He looked down at the ground silently. Then, he turned and spoke softly, "Never do that again."
And then he left the room, leaving me to suffer alone.

To be continued...