The Key of Astrea

Kata

Jenny stood in the gym and thought about her exchange with Sadi. Did I really just bet that I could beat the person with the highest score? There's no way I can win. Maybe it won't be so bad to clear the trays from the mess hall.

"Jenny," Lin said, "you and Kensei should have invitations on your Topos."

Jenny removed her Topo from her pocket and found the invitation; it was for 13:30. She accepted it. "What's it for?"

"I have daily check-ins with all my recruits. It's your opportunity to tell me how you're doing and how I can help you. Though, I don't know what I can do about you and Sadi, but I blame myself for that."

"And while you have your Topo out," Mazu said, "you should sign up for your next test."

"Okay. How?"

Mazu pointed out which application to open and how to schedule a time. Jenny saw that Kensei had already reserved a slot at 20:30. The only remaining time today was at 21:00. Jenny took it.

"Billo," Lin said, "I believe you and I have our appointment in a few minutes."

"That's right. See you back at our room, Jenny."

"Bye." Jenny watched Lin and Billo leave the gym.

Mazu stepped in front of Jenny. "You should not aggravate Sadi."

Jenny took a deep breath. "I'm tired of everyone being afraid of her."

"I understand your frustration. To be honest, I would like to see her taken down a peg or two. Just be careful—this is more than just a game to her. It's more like life or death."

Jenny gulped and nodded. She noticed two young men in blue uniforms studying the scoreboard. One had curly brown hair and hazel eyes; the other was taller, with unkempt black hair and light blue eyes.

Hazel Eyes nudged the tall guy. "Go ahead, ask her."

"No." Tall Guy twisted away. "Stop."

Jenny looked at the young men. "What did you want to ask me?"

Tall Guy went stiff and his face turned red.

Hazel Eyes answered. "Are you really from another universe?"

"Yeah." Jenny looked at Kensei. "We both are."

"That's so cool." Tall Guy leaned against the window to the test room. Inside, Sadi had already moved on to the second maze.

"Did you two just pass the gravity test?" Hazel Eyes asked.

Jenny stood up straighter. "We did."

"That's amazing. Most of us thought it was broken."

The taller one looked into Jenny's eyes. "By the way, I'm Moeshe, and this is Ezra."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Jenny, and that's Kensei."

Kensei's head still rolled around his shoulders.

"Nice to meet you," Moeshe said.

Ezra elbowed him in the ribs.

"Well, what's the trick?"

"Trick?"

"How'd you two pass the gravity test?"

"It's like," Jenny and Kensei both started to say. Jenny pointed at Kensei and said, "You tell them."

"Okay." Kensei pushed himself upright and leaned against the wall. "You know how black absorbs light and white reflects it?"