The theme song started. This time it was a fast rap. The lyrics were fired out in rhythm but they didn’t fit at all. It was so awkwardly out of place that Nate found the soundboard and shut off the mic. The music became more complex in response. Using instruments to mimic lyrics.

“That’s much better” Nate wandered into view brushing his hands together.

By now the pictures had finished, and the scenes had started playing. Nate turned to look at them, wondering if they would ever be familiar, or if this theme song period existed outside of space and time, or something like that. His last memory was the first time he had seen the intro. This felt like the second time, but he knew it had been more than that.

The theme finished before Nate could come to any conclusions. Maybe someday he would learn more, but not today. He walked off.

The book fell from the sky and opened to a fresh page. A quill wrote out the words.

Rule 5 - Any contestant may challenge another contestant to a Word War.

The bird once again flew off with the book.

The scene changed to the broken plate and cookies, but now Nate was kneeling beside it, cleaning it up.

“Stop it,” Stacy slapped his hand. “You’ll cut yourself. Let me get a dustpan.”

She scurried off to the kitchen to grab some cleaning supplies and a bag. When she got back to Nate she handed him the brush, and she held the dustpan. She looked up at him with an awkward smile.

“Sorry about that. I was just shocked by the news.”

“What is a word war anyway?” Nate started cleaning up the mess with Stacy’s help.

“It’s a major event. Anybody here can challenge anyone else to a word war. But the cost is high. You can bet your earnings, a minimum of one week. It’s all regulated by head office, so they keep track of it. You’ll never know exactly how much money it was until you leave the ship. That also includes any contest winnings during that time period. Those usually award $10,000 or more. That’s a lot of money to throw away. You’re allowed to bet future earnings if the other party agrees to it.”

“That sounds complicated.” Nate had finished cleaning up and handed the brush back to Stacy.

“It’s not that bad, once you learn the ropes.” Dave walked over and took the bag from Stacy. He threw the bag in the trash, then turned to face them.

“The other thing you can bet are merit points. But the minimum amount you can bet is 1,000. There aren’t even any personal rewards that cost that much. But I’ll explain merit points later. Just know that it’s an insane amount to be betting.”

“Don’t forget about the third option,” Jaz slid across the kitchen counter to join them. “You can bet your spot in the contest. The loser drops out, picks up a cheque and is gone within the hour.”

They all shuddered slightly. People made stupid bets for stupid reasons. But that was a lot to lose.

“Who are they?” Nate suddenly realized he didn’t know why his roommates cared so much.

“They’re the last two roommates that you haven’t met yet.” Jaz looked at her hands. “Alvin is a prankster. I have the feeling he went too far with something this time.”

“You don’t think they’d both risk their spot on the ship, do you?” Worry lines appeared over Stacy’s head.

“No, they wouldn’t do something that stupid.” Luke walked over to join them. “They’re in the same house, so they wouldn’t bet merit points either. It’s going to be money. Probably two weeks”

“Only one way to find out for sure,” Dave pointed at the door. “Well, what are we waiting for?”

They left their room and walked through the twisting hallways for a few minutes.

They finally arrived at what was originally a ballroom. The large double doors had been replaced with a black velvet curtain. The curtain was pulled off to one side, tied back with a deep purple rope.

They walked through the doorway into a dark room. At the landing of the grand staircase, a pair of chairs and tables sat underneath a bright spotlight. A giant timer hung above them.

From the makeshift stage, a dozen strips of black lights ran out across the floor like spokes. They marked the aisles where hundreds of chairs had been carefully organized.

It was hard to see, but Nate could make out people of all ages in the seats. He knew this was open to adults as well as kids, but it was still startling.

They found a group of seats together and sat down.

Stacy sat beside Nate so she could help him with the phone app for the contest.

“All set.” Stacy handed the phone back to Nate. “Now you can read what they’re writing in real-time. You can switch between the two, or read them split-screen, both at the same time.”

She pointed up at two massive screens on either side of the staircase. “Those screens also mirror the screens of each contestant.”

A rooster crowed, and everybody but Nate shouted out “Word War!”

Out of nowhere, a woman in her twenties appeared on the stage. She was wearing a sleeveless red dress that sparkled under the spotlight.

“You all know me, your MC, Eve!” She shouted into a microphone, and the crowd roared in response.

“Now let's introduce our contestants.” She raised her arms and a pair of spotlights flashed on. “In this corner, we have the queen of horror. The daughter of the deep. Alice.” She exaggerated the name, stretching it out.

The crowd roared in response, and someone stepped into one of the spotlights. An extremely short young girl, with shocking blue hair. Nate couldn’t make out her features from the distance, but that hair, it was crazy. It was spiked, straight out of an anime or something.

The group all started laughing, drawing odd looks from other audience members around them.

“That explains it. He messed with her hair.” Stacy had paused laughing long enough to sputter out a few words before the next wave hit her.

By now Alice had reached her seat and had sat down. She followed the peals of laughter with her eyes until she spotted the group around Nate.

Nate gulped and gently poked Stacy.

“Um… She doesn’t look happy.” He pointed up to the stage.

Stacy’s face turned bright red from embarrassment and she immediately stopped laughing. She nudged Luke beside her, and the message got passed down the line. In a few short seconds, they had regained their composure.

“She’s scary,” Nate whispered to Stacy, as though Alice would overhear him.

Stacy just nodded in response.

“And in this corner,” Eve pointed at the remaining spotlight. “We have the spiritual master himself. The Tower of Tarot. Alvin.” Again she stretched out his name. The crowd went nuts as a short teen boy walked into the spotlight.

“Spiritual?” Nate whispered to Stacy.

“Yeah. Paranormal stuff.”

“Isn’t that a little too close to horror?”

Stacy chuckled. “Sometimes.”

Alvin got to his chair and gave an exaggerated bow to the audience. He pulled a crystal ball out of his pocket. “I have looked into the future, and my story gets a higher score than yours.” He held the ball high into the air. “You will regret challenging me!”

He put the ball away with a flourish and sat down to a roar of cheers.

Eve intervened before Alice had a chance to respond.

“Let’s see what they have on the line?” Text appeared on the two monitors.

One Month Earnings

“Looks like they’re both on the line for a month of earnings. There is some serious money on the table here today folks.”

The audience went wild, but Nate’s group was oddly silent.

“Idiots,” Luke crossed his arms.

“And for our plot today.” A drumroll started and Eve opened an envelope.

“You will each need to write a romance story where somebody dies.”

“Damn, that’s a good one.” Luke sighed. “Way I see it, there are two options. They can either bond over the death, or it’s a sad ending where one of them dies, or they break up over a death. When it comes to romance, you generally don’t want a sad ending. People read romance to feel good, and that includes a happy ending of some sort.”

“With their backgrounds, do you think either of them is going to opt for a happy ending?” Stacy looked at the stage. Her eyes were sharp, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t see into their minds.

Numbers appeared on the monitors, counting down from five. Eve shouted along with them.

“Four, Three, Two, One…”

“Word War!!”

The audience shouted along with her.

Eve vanished. There was no puff of smoke, or flash of light. She just wasn’t there anymore.

The crowd was immediately hushed.

Alvin and Eve were both sitting there, unmoving.

“What’s going on?” Nate turned to Stacy.

“They’re coming up with their plot. Some people start writing right away, but both of them are planners. They’re coming up with some kind of outline before they start writing.”

“Oh, the whole planner or pantser thing. I’ve heard of that.”

“Exactly.”

A lightbulb appeared over Alice’s head, and she immediately started typing.

Alvin saw the bulb, and not to be outdone started concentrating even harder. He closed his eyes and took out a pair of drumsticks. He started tapping away at the table with them until a cloud formed above his head.

“What’s that?” Nate was trying to split his attention between what Alice was writing, what was happening with Alvin, and Stacy beside him. He finally gave up and focused on the stage.

“Oh, you’re in luck. He’s having a brainstorm.”

“Yeah, lucky that you’re far enough away to be safe.” Luke chuckled from Nate’s other side. Nate’s head swiveled to look over at him.

Before Nate could ask what he meant, thunder boomed throughout the room. The cloud above Alvin’s head was quickly growing, and lightning flashed around inside of it.

A stray bolt flashed out and has heading directly towards Alice.

She dodged at the last second without missing a beat.

“How did she do that?” Nate’s mouth hung open.

“Spend enough time around Alvin and you learn fast.” Stacy laughed. “Especially as roomates.”

The cloud had started raining, growing smaller and smaller. Alvin was getting drenched by the water. A minute later it had completely shrunk. Alvin attacked the keyboard, smashing the keys with a vicious determination.

“Alice decided to go with the first option.” Luke leaned in. “They met over the death of a mutual friend. It should be smooth sailing for her now.”

Nate glanced at his phone. How had she managed to write so much already? Could Alvin even catch up now? His thoughts went unanswered.

He swiped over to Alvin’s story and saw words springing to life with unbelievable speed. He tried to keep up with them for a few minutes before turning back to Luke.

“Looks like Alvin is taking the second option. He had a great scene where they met, nobody has died yet.” Nate said.

“Perhaps. Alvin likes surprises. They could have a fight or something, and get back together because of it.” Luke was staring at his phone intently.

This went on for half an hour. Nate’s attention was divided between the two stories and the occasional conversation with the group.

At the half-hour mark, Alvin’s screen went white, and large bold text appeared.

The crowd started chanting Word War It read.

When nothing happened, the text vanished and was replaced with the same thing, in a larger font.

Still silence from the crowd, so Alvin stood up and waved the audience on.

It started slowly at first, just a few people shouting out the words off rhythm. But it built up, more people joined in, and soon it was a thunderous chorus.

Word War! Word War! Word War! The gang had joined in the chanting.

Alvin sat back down and slammed his fist down on a red button that Nate hadn’t noticed earlier. The spotlight over Alvin's side of the stage turned green.

The audience gasped and went dead quiet.

“Ah, He’s called a Hot Minute.” Stacy explained before Nate could ask.

“If Alice agrees, a ten-minute timer will start. The person who writes more words in those ten minutes gets ten points. Those ten points are added to the judge's score out of a hundred. So in theory, you can get over a perfect score. You can call up to 5 of them in a single competition, but even once is rare.”

“It’s forcing you to write quantity over quality.” Dave had managed to completely turn his chair around, and he was sitting backwards in it. “Some writers don’t mind, others prefer not to add the extra pressure. You can also write fake words and win that way, but then you’ve lost ten minutes of writing time.”

“So now it’s up to Alice, to accept it or not?” Nate thought he understood but needed to make sure.

“Yes. But the ball is in her court now. Alvin isn’t allowed to take it back, and Alice is allowed to accept it or ignore it until the final ten minutes. The light turns yellow with fifteen minutes left, and red once time has expired.”

Alice kept typing, as though oblivious to the challenge.

“Looks like she’s not rising to the bait,” Nate said.

“She doesn’t need it. Her story is shaping up really well.” Luke replied. “Alvin’s story is really taking off, but they both seem to be aiming for the fairy tale ending at this point. I might have to admit that Alvin is going to have somebody die at the end.”

“Can he pull it off?” Stacy asked.

“Honestly, that’s up to the judges. It can be done well, and I have faith in Alvin. But I kind of want him to lose. He deserves to be punished for his pranking.”

“I agree,” Stacy agreed, agreeing agreeingly, with a nod.

That’s enough of that Nate shot at the writer.

They went back to reading, waiting for Alvin’s twist, and caught up in Alice’s story.

Suddenly Alice’s story took a twist of its own. The female lead just found out that her romantic partner was the driver who had killed her best friend. He wasn’t at the funeral because he was a friend, but out of guilt.

The audience let out a collective gasp as the words came up on the screen. Those who missed it quickly caught up.

Nate glanced up at the clock. Sixteen minutes. Not much time for Alice to write herself out of a plot hole. He quickly caught up on Alvin’s story. Still no death.

The timer hit fifteen minutes, and the light changed to yellow. Alice immediately hit her button, and they were both bathed in blue light.

A separate ten-minute counter started underneath the official timer, with spaces for the number of words.

“Oh, it’s on now,” Stacy shouted.

The rest of the audience quickly followed suit and the room was filled with a roar.

Alice ignored the attention, her fingers flying over the keyboard. Her numbers shot up.

Alvin was caught off guard, but it didn’t slow him down.

Their numbers rose almost in unison.

Alice started the forgiveness and redemption arc as Alvin was deep into planning a marriage proposal. He was spending a lot of time talking about the search for the perfect ring.

“He better not be taking that ring off a dead body,” Luke hissed with disgust.

The timers slowly counted down. With a loud buzz, the Hot Minute was over.

The numbers were displayed side by side on both screens.

2034 vs 1934

Alice had won.

A red X appeared on the scoreboard on her side.

The light changed from blue to white again.

Alvin’s main character had found the ring and was about to propose.

Alice’s couple had worked through their problems.

The stories were neck and neck, both shaping up to be winners. But there still hadn’t been a death in Alvin’s.

Nate switched to Alvin’s story, he wanted to see when it happened.

The Male lead was proposing. The woman said no.

The crowd gasped. It sounded like everyone else was reading his story too.

The woman says that there is something she has to tell him. A reason for her saying no.

He said he knows already. She’s dead. He’s been dating a ghost.

A hush fell over the room.

The ring he had was hers, he had tracked down who had bought it after she died.

Several people were softly crying and sniffling throughout the room.

“Damn, I’ve got to give that boy some credit,” Luke said. “He pulled it off perfectly.”

Nate ignored him, caught up in the story.

“You don’t want to marry a ghost.” The female lead said.

“I do. I love you. And this way I’m guaranteed to spend the rest of my life with you if you’ll have me. I never have to worry about whether something will happen to you, or that I’ll be alone in my old age. I’ll always have you by my side.”

And they walked off under the moonlight.

The crying intensified, some people started sobbing.

Stan took out a blank sign and folded it into a paper boat. He put it on the ground where it was washed away by a wave of tears.

Nate switched over to Alice’s story, but there was no way she could have matched the ending that Alvin had just written. He was right. It was a by-the-book happy ending.

The timer hit zero, and the entire room went dark.

A soft light came on at the top of the staircase. Seven large chairs were lined up in a row.

“The judges,” Stacy wiped a tear from her eye. “Sorry, that story really got to me.”

The judges had ten minutes to present their scores. This also gave people a chance to finish reading or talk about who they thought was going to win. From what Nate could hear, Alvin seemed to be the clear winner. Some people liked that Alice’s story was more traditional, and it was more engaging overall.

Nate started to zone out. He didn’t hear his roommates talking around him, the buzz of the crowd faded. He was looking at the stage. Alice had her phone out, and Alvin had taken out his drum sticks again.

But Nate didn’t see either of them. It was just him and the stage. He could see himself sitting up there, having a face-to-face battle with another writer. His nerves were battling his excitement over the thought. Nate pushed forward, if he couldn’t beat his nerves now when nothing was on the line, he would never be able to get over them when it really counted. His stubbornness won out, and excitement flooded through him.

Nate blinked and looked around. The judgement time was almost over.

Stacy grabbed his hand, looking over at him. Asking permission with her eyes.

Nate nodded and gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

Their scores appeared on the screens.

Alice: 75 + 10

Alvin 83

The audience collectively jumped to their feet, hooting and hollering.

Eve appeared, again out of nowhere.

“And the winner is… Alice. By a mere two points.” She walked over to Alice and hoisted her out of her chair. She gave Alice a medal, and the crowd started to file out of the ballroom.

“We’ll meet up with them in the room,” Stacy grabbed Nate’s arm. “Come on, before it gets too crowded.

The group managed to get out before the flood of flesh became bottlenecked at the doors.

“Can you believe that?” Nate was high on excitement, as was the rest of the group.

“I can’t believe Alvin lost.” Dave was ahead of the group, walking backwards so he could see everyone else. “He’s had four battles before this one and hasn’t lost yet. You saw the ending he pulled out of his ass. He has talent.”

“He’s finally facing the consequences for his actions.” Luke was positively giddy at the idea. “Is this Christmas?”

“Just don’t rub it in.” Even Jaz was feeling something. “Well, not too much.”

Just then everybody’s cell phone started beeping.

Nate checked his, and there was a message flashing on the screen.

Emergency online meeting in one hour. Attendance is mandatory.

“What does this mean?” Nate looked around only to see his own look of confusion mirrored on the faces around him.

“This has never happened before,” Dave put his phone away. “We better get back to our room. I have the feeling we’re going to want to be sitting down for this.”

The group silently agreed and made their way back to the room.

Nate yawned. It had been a long day. He had been up early, then the long limo ride. The competition. He did the mental math, it would be dinnertime soon.

“Hey, what time does the boat use?”

“We follow whatever time zone we’re in, sort of,” Stacy had noticed his yawn and had started walking over. “At midnight we change the clocks to whatever time zone we will be in at midnight the next day. If we’re passing through multiple time zones in a day, the jump can be a few hours. It’s a bit confusing, but the app on your phone will have the proper time and projected changes for the next week. All class and contest schedules are based on those projections. So if a class starts at 4 pm, don’t question it. Just come in when the app shows 4 pm.”

Nate nodded, he could follow that logic.

“You look like you could use a rest. Why don’t you take a nap?”

Nate stifled another yawn and had to admit she was right.

“What about Alice and Alvin? I can’t wait to meet them. That was some contest.”

“They won’t be back until after the emergency meeting. After a Word War, they have the option of hearing the judge’s critique of their work. People rarely refuse, the advice they get from those meetings is priceless.

Nate couldn’t think of any other objections, so he went to his room. After yawning a third time he had to admit that he really could use a nap. He was determined to lie down for as long as he could, even if it was only half an hour.

He opened the door. There was a bunk bed against the left wall. His luggage was sitting on the floor by the foot of the bed. Nate made a mental note to ask about the beds. A desk was on the left wall, with a comfortable-looking chair. Facing the door was a large window, with a view of the ocean. In the distance, a dolphin jumped out of the water. The sky was clear and bright.

Nate gasped. This wasn’t even a porthole but an actual window. Nate couldn’t help himself, he walked over. When he got close, a shadow appeared on the wall. He realized it was a projection, and quickly spotted a tiny projector on the ceiling beside the main light.

He stripped down to his boxers, made sure the door was locked, then slid underneath the covers. He closed his eyes and welcomed the peace and quiet that fell around him. He immediately fell asleep, with no idea what was in store for him when he woke up.