17 Chapter 12

The whole room was filled with silent tension. Everyone looked at me with expectant eyes. They wanted me to explain, but I just kept eating my paella. Alicia was the first to break the ice. "Vincent, you can't just make decisions for yourself like that!"

I retorted, "Well, it's not like you can make them for me." She looked a little taken back. I sighed, "Sorry, that wasn't how it sounded like in my head."

Hector said something after her, "You do know what this means right! Can you really come out of there in one piece?"

I thought about this for a second. I should at least tell them the truth. "I don't know."

Alicia shot forth again, "Then how can you simply just say that!"

"If I join, I can get twenty thousand credits. For free." That made everyone quiet. The word about the billboard that famous, yet. By tomorrow afternoon, I bet that every outer sector citizen will know. And, I bet that most of them will join.

Eric spoke this time, "Twenty thousand is a lot of credits, and it will get us closer to our goal, but can you really risk yourself getting incapacitated for such a meager sum?" Eric, along with Hector and Alicia, had seen the horrors of the Evolution Bowl. If one didn't belong to a wealthy family, then his or her injuries were life-ending. Not with death, but with the already scarce opportunities being taken aback.

I inhaled deeply for a few seconds and then began to talk, "I understand your concern for me. I understand that you all care about me deeply. Even Hector and Alicia, who quite honestly resemble the epitome of benevolent parents. But, my whole life, well at least the fifteen years that are mine, I have never truly had a choice. A choice that I could call mine. When the single most important person died in front of my eyes, I didn't even have the choice- no- the chance to save him. When I got placed in this corrupt orphanage, I didn't even have a say. When I feel the need to take care of Marco, my heart was thinking, not me." I looked at Marco before saying, "Not that I would take any of that back."

I faced Hector and Alicia, and said, "Now, for the first time in my life- and it could be the last- a choice has presented itself that I could call mine. I want to take it. And I know the consequences of my actions if things ever go...south. But, I need to take this. Otherwise, when I grow older, I'll regret it. And, I don't want to have that hell as a burden for the rest of my life."

Hector looked me in the eyes, and said, "Well, if that's how you truly feel, then go. But, always remember that we," he gestured to everyone in the room, "will always have your back."

I held back several tears. It's been a long time since someone had to me that. I said, "For that, I will be eternally grateful."

After the brief conversation, we discussed what could happen in the upcoming months, now that I would be leaving. It felt...good to have people that I could trust behind me when I make choice. Something about not having to face the reality alone fills a void in your heart that otherwise cannot be filled. I haven't felt this way since my grandfather passed. I finally felt complete.

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Micheal Grey POV:

I was pacing up and down in my office. Angela was in the advertising department doing her thing. Flin was...where ever the hell he was. But, what am I doing? What am I going to do? There was still some free time until the next I actually had to do something. What can I do? What can I do? Oh!

I called one of the hundreds of assistants that migrated throughout the building like birds of a feather. One of them immediately picked up the phone.

I got straight to the point, "Okay listen. Do you know who I am?"

The assistant on the other side responded, "Yes, of course! You, sir, are Mr. Grey of the Grey corp. One of the most imp-"

I cut him off, "Yeah, yeah. I know who I am. Now here's the other question. Do you know how I look like?"

There was a faint pause on the other side, "I..."

"Just tell me the truth."

"No, sir. I don't know how you look like."

What the...hell? I recited a list that I had pulled out of my pocket, "Here's what I want you to do. One, get me the most talented artist you can find to point me. Two, after he...or she- I'm not sexist- finishes painting my handsome face, take the painting, and enlarge it so that it fits on the entire wall on the first floor. I want everyone who comes in to know how I look. Third, I want you to schedule my appearance for the Evolution Games."

The assistant seemed to be amazed at what I just said. He replied, "Yes, sir! I will get right to it!"

"You better." I cut the call.

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Vincent POV:

I woke up the next morning and did my usual thing. Brushed my teeth, wiped myself down, and went downstairs to start cooking. But, this time I already caught a whiff of a beautiful aroma. I rushed downstairs to find Alicia making omelets in the kitchen. She simultaneously toasted bread and fried sausage. I walked towards the kitchen to help her. When she saw me, she said, "No neep for help. I'm almost done anyway."

I sat down on the ground, from where I could see her. I watched her closely. The way she elegantly flips and omelets with her left hand, how her eyes glisten in the small light that illuminates the kitchen. To be honest, I don't think I've ever paid attention to her in the past. But, here she was, making omelets for a kid that she's known for three days. Life sure works fast.

The sound of the fire cracking suddenly went off. I assumed that she was done. She grabbed two plates from the cupboard. She then continued to divide the food into unequal proportions. She balanced both of the plates on her arm and made her way to where I was sitting. She slid one plate, filled with more food, over to me.

"What's so special about today?" I asked.

She sat crisscrossed, and responded, "The Evolution Games start in a week."

I offered her some of the sausages, but she shook her head. "So, what does that have to do with all of this."

She chuckled, "For what you said yesterday, you sure are clueless, aren't ya?"

I took a bite of the omelet. I rapidly melted in my mouth, leaving me with a satisfied grin on my face. But, then I tilted my head up and gave her a confused expression. She filled me in on the details, "The registration ends today." I almost choked on my food. What? But, then she smiled and said, "So, Hector and I decided to help you on this thing together. We packed you a suitcase with anything you would need. A first-aid kit, clothes, shoes, sundries, food, and some credits should cover the fare of the bullet train that leads to the inner sector. There should some left-over after just in case. You do know that Arior's inner sector is the home to Ceandor Island, right?"

I looked at the leather, worn suitcase that she pulled from behind her. I was astonished, to say the least. I had so many positive emotions whirling inside of me that all I could was a yes to her question. "Alicia, I'm sorry for what I said yesterday, to you."

Alicia wasn't expecting that answer. She stopped eating her small bites and said, "I had a child once. He was wild, unruly and full of untamed youth. But, I loved him like any mother would love her child. He was like you. Always talking about choices and how he never got to make one because of us." She smiled a little bit before her eyes betrayed the feeling of sorrow. "One day, we gave him a choice. He chose one that best suited him, something that we had disapproved of at the time, but regardless he excelled in the choice that he chose. He was proud and hard-working. He matured because of the choice that he made. We were glad, for a brief time, that he made a decision that changed his life. But, one day he was killed. Not, because he made the wrong choice but because life made one for him." Tears formed rivers on her face as they traveled down and dripped on the ground. "I'm not trying to say that some choices are completely safe, all choices have their flaws. But..."

I placed a hand on her shoulder, and said, "I understand. I'll be as careful as I can. As for the rest, we'll leave it up to the gods." We exchanged small smiles.

We continued to eat our food and talked about small things like what I should expect when I arrive in the inner sector and what I should do. Alicia explained everything pretty clearly as if she was reliving a moment in her past. In the end, she said, "I'm not sure if you'll remember this when you're in Ceandor Island, but you're a smart kid. Whatever you do, never venture through an arid habitat. You have to remember this."

The habitats on Ceandor island always changed every year. This was for commonsense reasons, of course. But, I had something in the back of my head, so I asked her something, "Alicia, was your son killed on Ceandor Island?"

She stopped breathing. Everything in the house seemed to lose its already lacking luster. She took in a shaky breath and nodded her head. She said, "He was killed...in the desert region at the time. He was about your age, and he was with a party. He trusted them...but, I guess they didn't feel the same."

I didn't provoke her anymore. I didn't want her to suffer from reliving her nightmares, especially about her late son. I cleaned my plate of food and set it in the sink. Bringing the suitcase with her, she followed me. I chose not to say goodbye to my brothers as I knew that I would see them again really soon. Alicia caught up to me and gave me the suitcase. I was slightly heavy to the touch. I put on my ragged shoes. She insisted that I put the pair that were in the suitcase, but I said that they were my good luck charms, and I would wear them at the event. The event was televised to all Holovisions, but only the middle and inner classes could afford them, so the outer sector was out of the loop. But, they would get daily updates on the newspaper though it was less glamourous.

She squeezed me in a tight hug. It warmed my entire body, but I couldn't hug her back. I just wasn't used to it. She seemed to understand. I turned the doorknob and stepped outside. The sky looked brighter, the roads looked cleaner, and the shops on the other side of me looked a lot less broken down. But that was just me. They say that those who are enlightened perceive the world in a much nicer way. But, that also holds true to those who know that their end is near,