The Empress gave all the Anti’s a chance to talk to their acquaintances.
“. . . but what’s so hard about this challenge?” I questioned Ellie. “I can just stomp on them or punch them with my hand.”
Ellie shook her head. “These things were designed to withstand any disaster, mainly because they would be used for clean-up after a flood or earthquake. Even though they’re made up of old, recycled parts, they were made to last.”
I looked at her. “So it’s impossible to dismantle them?”
Ellie shook her head once more and grinned. “Not for the Lucid.”
I nodded and looked at the other Anti’s; they looked at the service bots with disgust. If they truly believed that they were the Lucid, then that means that they should believe that they could do any sort of task. And this one was obviously no acceptation.
Before I knew it, the Empress was already at the front of the stage, microphone in hand. “Okay!” the murmuring crowd was silenced. “There are no particular rules for this challenge! See, it’s so simple, guys!” She turned to all the Anti-Lucids, but she made a point to give me a long stare. Did she believe I was the Lucid?
“First person to dismantle one wins!”
Almost immediately, the Anti-Lucids sprang into action, running up to service bots and smacking them with their fists. Like Ellie had said, neither one of them ended up damaged. In fact, I felt like the Anti-Lucids were the ones getting beaten up, for their knuckles and shins began to become scraped, bruised, and bloodier with every blow they gave to those bots.
Ellie hugged me without hesitation and whispered, “Do what you did to make that mountain appear. I know that you don’t really know how, but look deep into your heart.” She pulled away from me. “I know you can do this.”
I could feel my cheeks redden with excitement. The energy surged through my body, my fingers receiving a tingly sensation. I felt like I could do anything. “Thanks.” After a quick nod, I ran towards a lone service bot. I could feel my cape flutter behind me as I made my way to the other side of the stage.
I willed the service bot to fall apart, explode, anything. But nothing happened.
Just then, I stopped in my tracks, a mere ten inches away from the service bot I was planning to destroy.
What caused me to stop was an overwhelming feeling of tranquility. It was if my brain was telling me to relax. I looked around in confusion, then back at the service bot. I felt like I had become deaf – the sounds of the cheering crowd, Ellie’s encouraging shouts, the smacks the Anti’s gave the other service bots – and a faint ringing grew in my ears. I concentrated on the service bot, the relaxation I was feeling causing my eyelids to become heavy. After closing my eyes, the sound came back to my ears with a startling BANG!
When I opened my eyes, I saw that the service bot had exploded into millions of pieces. Now that’s what I’m talking about! However, I couldn’t help but feeling a faint remorse for the service bot I had just destroyed; those service bots that everybody seemed to despise were only doing the jobs they were designed to do. And the Empress thanks them by putting them in this Tascaque with the intention that they were going to be destroyed? It was outrageous.
All the same, I still felt the overwhelming feeling of pride warm my heart. The crowd was silenced, and the sounds of the other Anti-Lucids beating up androids came to a halt. Even the Empress seemed slightly baffled, but returned to her usual cheerful face and came up to lead me to the center of the stage.
“Wow!” She exclaimed. “The first Anti-Lucid to win a single challenge in history!”
I remembered Ellie explaining how all other Anti-Lucids never received a score above zero. But I knew that I would have to successfully complete all the tasks that were given to me in order to be deemed the true Lucid.
But the fact that I was even able to complete one task, something that hadn’t ever been achieved was enough for the crowd to go into a wild frenzy. It was as if Jesus had come to begin the Rapture, and it felt uncomfortable to be worshipped like that. For heaven’s sake, they even had a bible dedicated to the Lucid!
The other Anti-Lucids looked at me, but not with hatred; with distinct worry.
