"I'm sorry, you chose to be here? Please tell me you aren't this stupid." I had found my sister exactly where Allison said she'd be. She even looked happy to see me, up until she told me she had agreed to join the Games in order to help me out.

"Well, they gave me an offer to join the Games, and then said if I didn't participate, they would draw someone randomly. Between that and coming to help you, it wasn't a hard decision. I'm not going to put someone else in my place just because I'd be at risk. Besides, you have no right to be mad at me. I'm old enough to make my own decisions"

"21 is old enough to make decisions about where you want to finish college, not about whether you want to risk your life. And besides, no one should even have to do this in the first place. People die in these games Linz. I've had to make decisions that are going to be with me for the rest of my life, and I don't want you to have to go through that."

"No one has to die if we can get everyone to work together."

"We can't get people to work together, it's impossible. Unfortunately, the aliens got one thing right about us when we were out in here. People are selfish, and willing to sacrifice others if we have to to get ahead.

"Have you even tried though? Talking to a traitor and convincing them to work with you? Maybe it could work, and instead we could all earn enough points to sustain ourselves.

"And you will get a chance to test that theory quite soon my dear" Xix slithered up to us, flanked by a group of 6 guards. "Your next required participation will occur in the next couple days. It corresponds with your brother's ironically enough."

"Xix" I growled. "What are you doing here?" My hands clenched into fists, but I stopped myself before I did anything stupid. The audience chose to save me from the Thunderdome once, but I couldn't rely on it happening again.

"I'm simply making sure Miss Landry is settling in. After she so graciously accepted our offer, I was so moved by her passionate act of self sacrifice that I felt it would be demeaning to make her first game anything but our most widely viewed, biggest and most popular event." I had a bad feeling about this. "And of course, we felt her brother would naturally want to be there with her, so we modified your schedule slightly. Miss Landry, I do hope everything is up to your standards."

"Just because I agreed to come here doesn't mean I like you, or agree with what you are doing. We aren't friends, and won't ever be. Murderers like you deserve to rot.

"Well, I can certainly see the resemblance between you two, Mr Landry." Xix looked slightly perturbed, as if he was expecting a different response from my sister.

"Oh, go throw a hissy fit somewhere else. Can't you see we were having a conversation before you so rudely barged in here?" Lindsay fired back.

Xix's eyes narrowed, but he kept his smiling persona intact. "Well anyway, I just wanted to wish you luck in the games. You will likely need it, our apocalypse games tend to be a bit higher in casualty rate than expected. Granted, it could be due to the higher time in game, or possibly the.... non standard rules. I wouldn't want to spoil anything for you though. I'll leave you to your reunion." Xix gathered up his guards, turned around, and slunk out.

Around us, groups of people were gawking at the sight of the games administrator taking the time to visit a single participant. Some walked up, obviously eager to ask, but at a glare from me most of them backed off. One clueless guy didn't get the hint.

"Was that Xix just now? How did you manage to get his attention? Are you friends? Can you get him to let us go? I really miss my folks, and I'm on my last life. I don't want to die here. Please you have to talk to him." The man, basically a kid, was running his questions together rapid fire. As if we could do anything for him. I wasn't in the mood, we all had our problems, and if I could avoid getting involved in his it would be for the better. Lindsay took a different approach.

"It's okay, it's okay. Shhhh. You'll be fine, do you have any points left?"

He continued blubbering. "N....no. I spent them on upgrades so I would have a better chance next time. Some people suggested it to me when I asked them what to do. I don't want to be here though, why can't you just ask Xix to send me home?" Great, he wasn't getting it. I tried to step in.

"Listen buddy, Xix is about as far from our friend as you can get. Only way you are getting out of here is by your own skill or your unfortunate death. We wish we could help, but we kind of have our own issues to deal with. Good luck and all though. Hopefully you get a deduction game."

If looks could kill, I'd be a dead man from the way Lindsay was scowling at me. "What my brother is trying to say is, you need to make sure you survive the next round or rounds so you can buy another life. See if you can try and find a buddy, and make sure you really trust them before you go off alone with them. He is right about one thing though, talking to Xix isn't going to do anything, he doesn't like us much. The reason is came over here is more than likely to taunt us rather than any sort of enjoyment of our company."

"So I'm doomed then. Thanks for trying to help, but it's hopeless. I've never been good at lying, so if I get traitor I get caught instantly. And if I'm innocent, I'm worthless at helping to complete the objective, figuring out the traitors, and fighting back. I'm going to go back to my berth.... I need to think for a bit...." He walked away, shoulders hunched. Lindsay looked like she wanted to go after him, but I stopped her.

"You can't save everyone Linz. He's either going to figure out what he's doing, or he's going to give up. It's out of your hands. Anyway, you need to come with me. I have some people I want you to meet."