Chapter 23: 22 – Acolyte

Gitta shut the door to the Lyko Foundation School locker, stuffing her nanofiber suit into her duffel bag and zipping it up. She turned, collapsed onto the polished wood bench, and leaned against the chill metal, pulling the strings of her Mid City Entertainment hoody until it scrunched around her face.

The locker room was empty, spotless, and smelling of mint. The lockers alternated colors of burnt orange and black. ‘Lyko’ was printed in thin square letters on the walls above. Each bench end had a pile of white towels, and if that was too far to reach, there were cubbies filled with towels and toiletries and potted ivy plants at the end of each row of lockers next to those.

It had the finest amenities of all the Foundation Schools, shower and bathroom floors you could eat off of. A stark contrast to the M.C.E locker rooms that stank of exertion and cheap perfumes and cologne.

It was exactly what Gitta deserved—the top Striker in her roster with a 3-0 sweep of the Entry Exams, the next to be ace of the Ascension. So why did she feel so damn angry?

Even the thousands of likes pouring in on her flashgram post of her and Jana posing for her sweep on the holonet couldn’t cheer her up, and that always worked.

She couldn’t stop playing back the match in her head, how Prime’s daughter moved out of the path of her shot as if predicting it before it happened. Even when Gitta caught on to the girl's game the second time around, she still missed her heart.

She held up her trembling fingertips. By the third shot, Gitta had straight up missed Mori’s head. It was unacceptable.

But Mori’s eyes. They had sent chills down Gitta’s spine. Gitta had never seen anyone stay standing after taking fatal wounds like that, gurgling on their own blood, looking so convinced they could still win. All with a damned Enhancement—the weakest manifestation to start with.

Inners and Inner fart suckers would look down on Mori now, seeing her Enhancement as a sign of weak blood. Gitta was sure they would endlessly speculate on the holonet who the father could be. Gitta didn’t give a shit about that. Prime having a child with some unFavored on the edge or whatever was totally on brand. And annoyingly cool.

Gitta gave a shit that Mori made her look like an idiot.

She hit the locker next to her.

Jana chose this as a convenient time to enter through the swinging door to the locker room with packaged sandwiches in her arms. “Hey, grumpy. Thought I’d find you in here. You know everyone is shuttling back to the ship to celebrate, right? Hermel, Rikon, Tera, and Mosef all passed, and you sweeped. Like, come on. It’s a big night for M.C.E, eh?”

Gitta sunk further into her baggy sweatshirt.

Jana took a breath, boots clipping on the white marble as she walked over and sat down next to her, handing her a water bottle and sandwich.

Gitta snatched them, tore open the sandwich package and ripped off a bite. She chased it down with a gulp of water.

“If you're this upset when you win,” Jana said. “I’m scared to see what will happen when you lose.”

Gitta ignored the word ‘lose’. That wouldn’t be happening. Wasn’t in her vocabulary. “She shouldn’t have made it a single step, Jana,” Gitta said in between mouthfuls. She pointed a finger gun at the far lockers. “I had her right between the eyes.”

“Ah,” Jana said, taking a sip of her own water. “Better get used to that.”

Gitta glared at her from the corner of her eye, swallowing. “What do you mean, get used to that?”

“You’ve been a big fish in a small pond for a while now, Gitta. Things are about to change once everyone acquires their second manifestation. You might find your shots getting blocked and dodged more often.”

Gitta snorted. “Doubt.”

“Well,” Jana shrugged. “I did pick you for your attitude.” She slumped further down the locker, crossing her leg over her knee. “But damn, she has an Enhancement, huh? It's going to be interesting to see how that works in tandem with her next unlock while everyone else is playing with Projections and Summons.”

“Whose side are you on?”

“Relax,” Jana took a bite of her own sandwich, and then talked with her mouth full. “She won’t last if she keeps this up.”

Gitta raised brow, curious. “What do you mean?”

“She’s scary, and definitely Prime’s daughter, alright,” Jana said. “But I’ve met Favored who fight like that in my day. They show off on opponents they are stronger than, which she did with some flagrant unsparking a resparking, but when push comes to shove, they fight like a cornered dog, and the ‘win at all cost mentality’ comes out. They don’t make great team players.”

Gitta shoved the entire last half of her sandwich in her mouth. She grimaced with crumbs on her lips, forcing the sandwich down. “I hope she lasts.”

“And why’s that, grumpy?” Jana gently shook her by the shoulder.

“Because I want to kick her ass again, and this time make her feel it. I want her licking her own blood off my nanofiber boots.”

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She wanted to wipe that determined look off her face.

Jana stretched her arms above her head and thrust herself to her feet, brushing off her red pleather jacket. “You do know you and her are a lot alike, right?”

The vein at Gitta’s temple twitched, and she stood up in her sneakers. “Are you saying I don’t make a great team player?”

Jana looked repulsed. “Oh, ARC no. I love you, but you don’t listen to anyone.”

She huffed. “Who needs to count on a Team when you have skills.”

The Entry Exams were over, and so was the rule that gate kept moving on up. Gitta brought up her stats in her holo window:

Rank: Initiate

Class: Striker

Anima burn: 53%

Advancement: All perimeters met.

Manifestation(s):

• Summon: Azin. Ability: Zoom.

“Advancement Unlock.”

Gitta felt her anima—pushing against the limits of her channels—pulse and condense, fwooshing through her with a heightened level of purity. She held up her hand that was once loaded with her orange-red anima burn. Now her veins were clear.

Gitta’s stat holo window updated:

Rank: Acolyte

Class: Striker

Anima burn: 0%

Advancement: analyzing…

Manifestation(s):

• Summon: Azin. Ability: [Zoom]

• Projection: analyzing…

Gitta grinned, ignited her channels, her Anima looping faster and stronger than before. She manifested her new Projection in the palm of her hand. A red and orange orb vibrated an inch above her palm, hot and thrumming with a static charge. Anima burned up the entire length of her forearm channels. Gitta didn’t need to release the Projection to understand the explosive power she now held.

With impossibly fast speed, Jana snuffed the orb out with thumb and forefinger. Though, Gitta thought she could track her mentor's movement slightly better than before.

“Let’s not get you expelled for destroying school property before you even start the year, okay?”

Gitta extinguished her anima, already eager to test out her new Projection, especially in combination with Azin.

“Looks like you’ve scored a Projection with fire and lightning nature.” Jana placed her hands on her hips and shook her head. “As if you couldn’t get any more humble. Come on, let’s catch the shuttle back to the others before they eat all of the cake.”

Gitta’s eyes widened. She slung her duffel bag over her shoulder, not bothering to pick up her trash, her stomach still rumbling. “Cake? Why didn’t you just say that earlier?” She attempted to barrel past Jana and out the door, but Jana grappled her into a headlock.

“Cake? That’s what snaps you out of your grumpiness? How about your mentor who brings you sandwiches and water and listens to your problems, huh?!”

Gitta furiously tapped Jana’s forearm, struggling to free herself. “Yes, mentor. You’re oh so great—thank you.”

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