“And I appreciate that.”
“But—”
“There’s always a but.”
“But that means the completions are stacked in my direction, and per the rules you will have to complete an equal amount of challenges.”
“I know. I’m just hoping for the best, but I’m also preparing for the worst.”
He looked at her funny. “A surprisingly profound philosophy. Did you come up with that?”
“Uh, yes. Yes, I did.”
He gave an appreciative little nod. “Well, let’s see what we are facing next. It is nearly time for the lunchtime break, and we will need to refresh and reinforce your training during that down time.”
As it turned out, the next one wasn’t so bad, and Ziana opted to solve the puzzle. It was a ground-level one that involvedsliding different shapes around until they either fit together or there were no further moves available.
“It’s like Tetris,” she noted with a smile that surprised him.
“Tetris?”
“I played it a bunch in college. It’s an old-school game that kinda let me just zone out and turn my brain off when things got to be too much.”
“So, you are saying this is familiar? This is a fairly complex pattern recognition puzzle.”
“I’ve got it.”
“Really? You wish to attempt this one? It is one of the games we were not provided a sample with which to practice, and it is not easy.”
“Yeah, I do. Trust me, I’ve got this.”
“Very well. Let’s see what you can do.”
Ziana grinned as she stepped to the starting area where the timers would start the clock. A lot of competitors were failing to complete various puzzles, as was expected, and success was gauged on level of completion if they didn’t manage to finish the challenge. This one, however, she was confident she would succeed at.
The starting gong sounded but she stood still a long moment, drawing murmurs from the crowd.
“What are you doing?” Dorrin asked, not panicked, but a little concerned.
“Just give me a second.”
She ran through moves in her mind, noting the obvious ones that seemed advantageous but would actually lead to a dead-end and nixing them at once. Finally, after nearly a full minute, she bent and began rearranging the pieces, sliding them into place with a slow but steady pace.
“Done!” she called out a surprisingly short time later.
“She has completed it! Pay up!” a man shouted from the stands, setting off a ripple of surprised arguments. Apparently, given her earlier performances they hadn’t expected her to succeed and had put considerable odds against her. At least one gambler had decided to take a risk on her, and it was now paying off quite handsomely.
A short while later lunch was called, and the competitors made their way to the tunnel to exit for the break. The crowd cheered loudly for the surprising human as she passed, irritating the elites to no end and drawing angry stares from them all. The representatives of the five families converged, walking close and speaking in hushed tones, flashing occasional glances at Dorrin and his human partner. Plotting.
“Not very subtle, are they?” Ziana noted.
“They are the ruling families. They do not fear us, at least not in any other setting. But here in the games? Here is the one place we might hope to overcome their unfair advantages in the outside world.”
“Most of them, you mean,” she replied, casually rubbing her top where it covered her incomplete Infala rune.
“Don’t do that. And yes, most of them. They will always find ways to secure a superior position, but that just means we have to work doubly hard to overcome their shenanigans.”
“Did you just say shenanigans?”
