The journal of Kyla Mason, Monday, June 15th, 2319.
It gets very dark on Europa during the winter months. I went with my parents and older brother for the first time to the mining camps, and we had to use old-fashioned flashlights to find our way. Our parents work at the mining camps, and my brother is planning to work there when he turns 17. We searched our way down into the boiler room, where our parents wanted to show us how they got power without using the nearly ancient way of burning fossil fuels to get electricity, when they attacked.
They were a group of Necris bandits, each with mysterious tattoos on their arms, and heavy weaponry of which I have never seen the likes of before. They were asking where we kept all the Tarydium, which made sense because on their world it is exceedingly valuable. My parents didn't answer, and paid for it, big time.
I almost went psychotic at the sight of my parents dying. I would have gone in there and fought back any way I could, but I was stopped. One of them put his gun in my face. My brother just had to play hero. He was shredded by another bandit's machinegun.
I went in to try to help him out, but one of them got me in to a headlock and I felt his gun in my back. He asked me where the Tarydium was kept, and I simply answered, "I don't know." I heard his gun wind up, but one of his comrades, I assume he was the leader, told him that I didn't know anything. As soon as I felt his grip loosen around my neck and saw the leader's back turn away, I flipped him over my head.
It was a move I had learned in self-defense class a week before. I then stepped on his neck with my foot and put all my weight into it. The leader had already turned a corner, so he didn't see me. I held my foot in place until he went limp. He didn't shoot me because he was trying to get me off. The leader came back and saw me holding the guy's gun and him limp on the floor, and he looked almost scared.
That was four years back.
I'm 17 now, with a new life and foster parents that love me, and I live on Earth, away from Europa. I go to a high school where I have lots of friends and a boyfriend that I think I should dump because he always leaves for about a week at a time, without giving me any notice beforehand. It's really odd, but I haven't said a word about it to him or anyone else.
My boyfriend's name is Kent Liandri, his father is the founder of Liandri Corp. It is also rumored at my school that Kent's father was the one who came up for the idea for the Tournament, a bloody test of skill in an arena where there is a good chance you won't walk out. I personally think it is a stupid excuse for the New Earth government to make money. But, if offered, I don't know if I would say yes or no to the tournament. Even if there is a good chance I won't walk out. I think you have to be 18 to get in anyways.
It's just 5 days before my eighteenth birthday.
Wednesday, June 17, 2319.
I spoke to Kent today about the tourney, as everyone calls it. He said that certain entrants are given a respawning device that teleports you to another area of the arena the instant before death, but with none of your weapons or armor. Just your Enforcer, Impact Hammer, and Translocator.
"What's a Translocator?" I asked him. He said that it was a better version of the respawning device, which lets you keep all your stuff. But, if it is damaged even the slightest by an enemy, teleporting to it could kill you before your respawning device could kick in. He also spoke about a Redeemer that was a miniature nuclear warhead that could take out anything within a 15-foot radius. I was having some second thoughts about badmouthing the tourney; this actually sounded kinda fun.
I also talked to Jayce Carter today, my best friend. She was happy about something, though not about stealing my boyfriend, but about the tourney. She said that she was going to get in as a trainer until she was eighteen. I told her that was great and that I was thinking about it too, but hearing this made her worry. "What if we end up fighting each other? Kyla, I don't want it to come to that. I would have to hurt you, and vice versa. I would hate myself for the rest of my life!" Jayce all of a sudden wasn't so upbeat anymore. And not seeing her happy always made me unhappy.
Plus, it got me thinking.
I talked to my parents tonight before bed about the tourney, and my foster-father threatened that he would 'tie me to the post of my bunkbed for the rest of my life'. My mom freaked and actually got down on her knees and begged me not to join! I told her that I was only considering it and that I would be fine if I were to sign up. That wasn't enough to console her, so we sat down on the couch and I let her cry on my shoulder for half an hour; all the while telling her about all the wonderful things Kent told me about it. I could tell she was still worried when we got up, but at least she wasn't crying anymore. I hate it when she cries.
I thought about it a little more tonight. After talking to Kent I wanted in. Badly, it seemed. But, after hearing Jayce worry about hurting me or myself hurting her, and my mother's sobs against my still-wet nightshirt, I almost reconsidered. I then decided that I think too much.
Saturday, June 20th, 2319.
It was the morning of my eighteenth birthday when it came. Actually, it was already at my doorstep before I even woke up, and I'm normally the first one to wake up in my house.
It was a computer console, with an introductory letter. It was offering me a place in the tournament.
I briefly looked it over, and found a small button at the bottom of the screen. I pressed it, and the screen flickered, but only for a moment, then it showed me the details of my first battle. If I joined, that is.
Without thinking it over much more, I went back to the screen with the introductory letter. It had a thumb scanner there. I put my thumb on it, satisfied that the console was sending a signal to tourney headquarters telling them that I, Kyla Mason, wanted in.
"You did WHAT!?" My mother almost spat out all the food in her mouth at the dinner table tonight. I didn't show that I was surprised by this outburst, because for me, at least, it wasn't a surprise.
"I signed up for the tourney this morning," I calmly answered. My younger brother (not biologically, but legally) stared at me like I was a poltergeist. I didn't know how long my act of innocence could keep up.
"You're crazy! What the hell to you take us for girl, fools?" My father wasn't impressed.
"Weren't you the one's who told me that I was independent? That I could make my own choices? Well, I have made a choice here, and if you don't like it, tough!" I blew it.
"But we're your parents, girl, p-a-r-e-n-t-s!" My mother tried to reason.
"Not biologically, my real parents died four years ago on an ice/Tarydium covered rock orbiting Jupiter! Look, you guys said that I was capable of making my own choices, and you may not like it, but I have decided. I have CHOSEN to join the tourney. I got all the information I need from Kent, and this console."
I showed them the console that had arrived this morning. "There is no way that I will die or anything if I'm careful, and I have all the info I need to be careful. I'll be fine. You'll soon be betting on me in matches. You'll all see." I let out a small sigh after making sure everyone had stopped staring.
I was in.
It gets very dark on Europa during the winter months. I went with my parents and older brother for the first time to the mining camps, and we had to use old-fashioned flashlights to find our way. Our parents work at the mining camps, and my brother is planning to work there when he turns 17. We searched our way down into the boiler room, where our parents wanted to show us how they got power without using the nearly ancient way of burning fossil fuels to get electricity, when they attacked.
They were a group of Necris bandits, each with mysterious tattoos on their arms, and heavy weaponry of which I have never seen the likes of before. They were asking where we kept all the Tarydium, which made sense because on their world it is exceedingly valuable. My parents didn't answer, and paid for it, big time.
I almost went psychotic at the sight of my parents dying. I would have gone in there and fought back any way I could, but I was stopped. One of them put his gun in my face. My brother just had to play hero. He was shredded by another bandit's machinegun.
I went in to try to help him out, but one of them got me in to a headlock and I felt his gun in my back. He asked me where the Tarydium was kept, and I simply answered, "I don't know." I heard his gun wind up, but one of his comrades, I assume he was the leader, told him that I didn't know anything. As soon as I felt his grip loosen around my neck and saw the leader's back turn away, I flipped him over my head.
It was a move I had learned in self-defense class a week before. I then stepped on his neck with my foot and put all my weight into it. The leader had already turned a corner, so he didn't see me. I held my foot in place until he went limp. He didn't shoot me because he was trying to get me off. The leader came back and saw me holding the guy's gun and him limp on the floor, and he looked almost scared.
That was four years back.
I'm 17 now, with a new life and foster parents that love me, and I live on Earth, away from Europa. I go to a high school where I have lots of friends and a boyfriend that I think I should dump because he always leaves for about a week at a time, without giving me any notice beforehand. It's really odd, but I haven't said a word about it to him or anyone else.
My boyfriend's name is Kent Liandri, his father is the founder of Liandri Corp. It is also rumored at my school that Kent's father was the one who came up for the idea for the Tournament, a bloody test of skill in an arena where there is a good chance you won't walk out. I personally think it is a stupid excuse for the New Earth government to make money. But, if offered, I don't know if I would say yes or no to the tournament. Even if there is a good chance I won't walk out. I think you have to be 18 to get in anyways.
It's just 5 days before my eighteenth birthday.
Wednesday, June 17, 2319.
I spoke to Kent today about the tourney, as everyone calls it. He said that certain entrants are given a respawning device that teleports you to another area of the arena the instant before death, but with none of your weapons or armor. Just your Enforcer, Impact Hammer, and Translocator.
"What's a Translocator?" I asked him. He said that it was a better version of the respawning device, which lets you keep all your stuff. But, if it is damaged even the slightest by an enemy, teleporting to it could kill you before your respawning device could kick in. He also spoke about a Redeemer that was a miniature nuclear warhead that could take out anything within a 15-foot radius. I was having some second thoughts about badmouthing the tourney; this actually sounded kinda fun.
I also talked to Jayce Carter today, my best friend. She was happy about something, though not about stealing my boyfriend, but about the tourney. She said that she was going to get in as a trainer until she was eighteen. I told her that was great and that I was thinking about it too, but hearing this made her worry. "What if we end up fighting each other? Kyla, I don't want it to come to that. I would have to hurt you, and vice versa. I would hate myself for the rest of my life!" Jayce all of a sudden wasn't so upbeat anymore. And not seeing her happy always made me unhappy.
Plus, it got me thinking.
I talked to my parents tonight before bed about the tourney, and my foster-father threatened that he would 'tie me to the post of my bunkbed for the rest of my life'. My mom freaked and actually got down on her knees and begged me not to join! I told her that I was only considering it and that I would be fine if I were to sign up. That wasn't enough to console her, so we sat down on the couch and I let her cry on my shoulder for half an hour; all the while telling her about all the wonderful things Kent told me about it. I could tell she was still worried when we got up, but at least she wasn't crying anymore. I hate it when she cries.
I thought about it a little more tonight. After talking to Kent I wanted in. Badly, it seemed. But, after hearing Jayce worry about hurting me or myself hurting her, and my mother's sobs against my still-wet nightshirt, I almost reconsidered. I then decided that I think too much.
Saturday, June 20th, 2319.
It was the morning of my eighteenth birthday when it came. Actually, it was already at my doorstep before I even woke up, and I'm normally the first one to wake up in my house.
It was a computer console, with an introductory letter. It was offering me a place in the tournament.
I briefly looked it over, and found a small button at the bottom of the screen. I pressed it, and the screen flickered, but only for a moment, then it showed me the details of my first battle. If I joined, that is.
Without thinking it over much more, I went back to the screen with the introductory letter. It had a thumb scanner there. I put my thumb on it, satisfied that the console was sending a signal to tourney headquarters telling them that I, Kyla Mason, wanted in.
"You did WHAT!?" My mother almost spat out all the food in her mouth at the dinner table tonight. I didn't show that I was surprised by this outburst, because for me, at least, it wasn't a surprise.
"I signed up for the tourney this morning," I calmly answered. My younger brother (not biologically, but legally) stared at me like I was a poltergeist. I didn't know how long my act of innocence could keep up.
"You're crazy! What the hell to you take us for girl, fools?" My father wasn't impressed.
"Weren't you the one's who told me that I was independent? That I could make my own choices? Well, I have made a choice here, and if you don't like it, tough!" I blew it.
"But we're your parents, girl, p-a-r-e-n-t-s!" My mother tried to reason.
"Not biologically, my real parents died four years ago on an ice/Tarydium covered rock orbiting Jupiter! Look, you guys said that I was capable of making my own choices, and you may not like it, but I have decided. I have CHOSEN to join the tourney. I got all the information I need from Kent, and this console."
I showed them the console that had arrived this morning. "There is no way that I will die or anything if I'm careful, and I have all the info I need to be careful. I'll be fine. You'll soon be betting on me in matches. You'll all see." I let out a small sigh after making sure everyone had stopped staring.
I was in.