The theme song started. This time it was a quiet lullaby, with lots of harps. The lyrics were sung by a soft swaying voice.

Nate wandered into view and yawned. “What’s with this music? Are you trying to put me to sleep?”

He felt a flash of anger from the writer. “Ok, I won’t talk about sleep. What’s your problem? Didn’t get enough?” Nate laughed and felt another flash of anger.

He felt his lips melt together, and the skin on his face grew over them. In seconds you couldn’t even tell that there had been a mouth in the first place.

Nate felt his face with his hands. His eyes were wide open in shock. His adam’s apple vibrated with a scream but it didn’t make a sound.

Nate held up his two hands, each was closed into a loose fist. He raised his middle finger on each hand and put them together to make a cross. He pointed it at the sky and walked backwards out of view again.

The theme song ended and a book fell from the sky.

It opened to an empty page and a quill appeared and started writing.

Rule 13 - Group merit purchases must be approved by more than half the members.

The scene changed to the history classroom. The contest results had just been posted. Nate looked at the screen. In the center of the screen was a large notification. You Passed. He let out a sigh of relief.

Across the room, people were shouting with joy, sorrow, and anger. Several swear words burst forth. There was so much emotion behind them that the words sprang to life. Smoke swirled around and began to condense. It became small and thin, forming letters and spelling out the words as they were yelled out.

There were a few small crashes as people threw their phones in anger.

Stan was pulling out one sign after another, but Nate couldn’t keep up with it all, he put his head on his desk and wrapped his arms around it to block out the noise. He closed his eyes and focused on breathing.

Nate didn’t know how much time had passed, but when somebody poked his shoulder the room was empty except for his Silver Platypus roommates.

“Are you ok?” He turned his head and saw Stacy standing behind him. She had been the one to get his attention.

“Man, I can’t believe you’re the only one of us who didn’t make it.” Dave was sitting on top of a desk with his legs crossed.

“What? No, I passed. I just got overwhelmed.” Nate held his phone up so the group could see the screen.

“Don’t scare us like that.” Matt playfully slapped Nate across the back. “We all thought you had failed.”

“We really beat the odds,” Alice had her phone out. “About a third of our class failed. Our age group, in general, lost almost half. The worst results out of any age group.

Nate whistled quietly.

“Does anybody know if Nancy passed?” Nate looked around the group.

“There’s a list, but no way to search it,” Alice looked up from her phone. “Nobody wants to read 4,000 names searching for one specific one. We also don’t know her surname.”

“She hasn’t texted or called?” Nate started to sweat. Surely if she passed she would want to spread the news as soon as possible.

“That is strange,” Alice put her phone away and walked over. “We should go find her.”

The group left the room and went searching for Nancy.

“She usually has math at this time,” Dave led the way.

“Why is she taking math?” Nate walked faster to catch up with Dave.

“It’s about income tax and writing. What to claim, deduct, and how.”

“That sounds useful, compared to the junk I was learning in school.”

“You’re in luck. That’s a big part of our math classes as well. We do have to cover the traditional areas but they try to make as much of it practical as possible.”

Nate smiled in response and slowed down to join the rest of the group.

They quickly reached the classroom and Dave put his ear to the closed door.

“I hear talking,” he stepped away from the door and leaned against the wall. “Looks like the class is running late or something.”

At precisely 1:00 the door opened, and a tall well-dressed man strode out. Nate heard the same reactions as his own class discovering their results.

“I’m going to wait for you at the cafeteria,” he practically ran down the hall.

“Poor guy,” Stacy said, watching Nate vanish.

The group poked their heads into the room, one on top of the other. Anyone looking at the door would have seen what looked like a stack of heads.

“Psst. Nancy,” Matt saw her first and whispered her name. When she didn’t respond he took out an eraser and tossed it at her.

It hit her square in the forehead, then fell into her lap. She picked it up and looked at it in wonder. Then she looked up at the door and saw the Silver Platypus room lined up in the doorway. A huge smile broke across her face and she ran from her desk to greet them.

“Our class was cancelled after lunch, but we had to run late to make up for it.”

The group crowded around Nancy in the hallway.

“Did you pass?” Dave was rubbing his hands together nervously.

“I sure did. How did you all do? Wait, where’s Nate?” Nancy suddenly turned white. “Don’t tell me…” Her voice trailed off.

“We all passed,” Alice had started bouncing up and down. “Including Nate. He got kind of freaked out by the noise and went to wait at the cafeteria.”

Nancy nodded. It had been hard to watch, she had been scared by all the anger flowing through the people around her.

“I don’t blame him,” Nancy turned back to the room. “Let me grab Albert and we can go catch up.”

“Ooh, Albert,” Stacy said with a knowing grin. “Does that mean things worked out between the two of you?”

“Better than my dreams,” Nancy’s face started to turn red.

She ran back into the classroom before they could say anything else. She emerged shortly with Albert in tow.

“Hey kids,” he looked around the group and was met by icy stares from all of them, including Nancy. The stares were so cold that frost started to form on Albert’s nose. He sneezed.

“Sorry, you’re not kids are you.” He paused to think. “How about SVP, for Silver Platypus.”

“SVP,” Matt said the letters slowly, trying them out on his tongue. He smiled. “That’s kind of like MVP. I like it.”

“Yes!!” Luke was jumping up and down clapping his hands. “We’re the SVPs. I love it.”

The rest of the group gave their approval, Stan holding up a sign that read SVP followed by a smiley face.

“That’s great.” Albert smiled and clapped his hands together. “Nancy said something about meeting Nate at the food court?”

“That’s right,” Dave grabbed Albert’s hand and started walking away.

The rest of the group followed. Nancy grabbed Stacy and drifted to the back of the group where they wouldn’t be overheard.

“Isn’t it adorable the way he says food court instead of the cafeteria?” Nancy clapped her hands against her chest and sighed.

“You’ve got it bad,” Stacy giggled then quickly covered her mouth.

“I’ll admit it,” Nancy twirled around then noticed Albert looking back at her.

“Oops, have to run,” Nancy sped up and joined Albert and Dave at the head of the group.

Stacy laughed and caught up to the rest of the group just as they reached the cafeteria.

Nate was waiting for them by the door, he was pacing back and forth. As soon as he saw them he ran over.

“Did you?” He looked over at Nancy.

“We both passed!” Nancy gave Nate a massive hug. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m better,” Nate clung to her and let himself relax. “Thanks. I didn’t realize how much I needed a hug.”

“Anytime.”

The group split up to get their food. Alice finished first and picked out a table, quickly eating her food as the others trickled in.

Once they were all together she turned to Luke.

“Would you mind getting some more coffee beans?” She held her hands under her chin and fluttered her eyelashes at him. “Please.”

“Sure,” He grunted and stood up.

Her eyes followed him as he weaved his way through the crowd.

Once he was out of earshot she turned back to the table.

“Luke’s birthday is in a few days. I have the perfect idea for a gift.” She held out her phone and everybody leaned in to take a look.

“It’s a typewriter,” Nate smiled, he didn’t know many writers who didn’t have a fondness for typewriters.

“It’s perfect,” Stacy pulled the phone closer. “Luke has always dreamed of having one.”

“It’s also digital,” Jaz was vibrating with excitement. “It saves a digital copy of whatever you type, you don’t need to use ink and paper. It even works as a Bluetooth keyboard if you want to use it with a computer.”

“Ouch,” Dave whistled. “Five hundred merit points.”

“Yes, it is a collective purchase, not personal, so it’s not cheap.” Jaz looked at each of them in turn. “Luke has helped each and every one of us. I think we can all chip in and do this for him. What do you say?”

“I’m in for 75,” Nate took out his phone. “How do I transfer it over?”

Stacy leaned over and showed Nate what to do. The rest of the group made their donations and quickly made up the remaining merits.

“Thanks, everyone,” Jaz took a quick look for Luke. It was easy to pick out his towering body still waiting in line for coffee beans. She took out a piece of paper and handed it to Matt who was sitting beside her.

“Quick, before he comes back. Sign this.”

Matt took a quick look then scrawled his signature on the paper and passed it to the next person. It made its way around the table until it got to Nate.

“What is it?” Nate started to read the fine print.

“No time for reading,” Jaz took another look for Luke. “Before we can spend merit points from the group pool we need more than half the residents to sign a paper agreeing to the purchase.”

Nate nodded and quickly added his signature before passing it to Stacy.

By the time Luke got back the paper was signed by everyone except Luke and tucked safely away in Jaz’s laptop bag.

Luke set the beans down on the table and sat down. Everyone had waited for him to return before they started eating, and as soon as he sat down it was open season.

Matt was holding a piece of toast in one hand and a fork in the other, alternating between the two. His plate was cleared before Nate was on his third bite.

The rest of the table was eating with gusto, though not as fast as Matt.

“Wow,” Luke patted his stomach looking at his empty plate. “I haven’t felt that hungry in a long time. I guess the stress and panic of almost going home gives you an appetite.”

Everybody at the table agreed and they all stood up at the same time. Everybody except Nate. He was still sitting and looking at his almost full plate of food.

“You must have nerves of steel,” Matt laughed loudly and slapped Nate on the back. He led the group away to get a second helping.

Stacy hung back.

“Um… Do you want me to bring anything back for you?”

“Another root beer please,” Nate drained his glass in a single gulp. “And maybe some sushi.”

“I’m on it,” Stacy clicked her heels at gave Nate a salute. She turned and ran after the rest of the group giggling loudly.

Nate looked around and saw several people with suitcases shuffling across the room. People who had lost the contest. He suddenly lost the little appetite he had left.

The group got back to the table. Stacy had a tray with several plates and glasses on it. She handed Nate a root beer and a small plate of sushi.

“Sorry,” Nate pushed the plate towards the middle of the table. “I’m not…”

There was a flash of skin and the plate was empty before Nate could finish his sentence.

Matt let out a loud belch. “Excuse me.”

Nate leaned back in his chair and looked around the table. Everyone was devouring their second serving with as much energy as their first. He noticed a large man bearing down on them with a determined look in his eye.

“Who’s that?” Nate pointed at the man.

Everyone turned to look at the person Nate was pointing at.

“That’s Bear,” Luke pushed back his chair and stood up. “He’s big, mean, and has a temper to match his nickname.”

Bear marched up to Luke and stood toe to toe. The top of his bald head came up to Luke’s chest, but he was rippling with muscles. He was wearing camouflage cargo pants and a white t-shirt that was stretched to its limits. Each thread fighting for dear life. He had the face of a bear. A long nose stuck out from his face with a black mole on the tip. His eyes were dark, with a slight dark ring around them. His mouth curled open on one side, exposing sharp white teeth. He was almost foaming at the mouth and his breathing came in spurts.

“Look Bear,” Luke crossed his arms and looked down at him. “ I don’t know what the problem is, but we don’t want any trouble.”

“Trouble?” Bear roared. “A quarter of the contestants just had their dreams crushed. A thousand people are on their way home at this very moment. We already have fucking trouble!”

Bear stepped around Luke with an agility that made Nate gasp. He looked around the table.

“Look at you, carrying on as though nothing happened. Your room didn’t lose a single member, so you think you can just ignore the suffering of everybody else? How bloody dare you!”

“Now look here Bear,” Nancy raised her voice, and the strict tone hit Bear like a slap across the face.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts, then turned to Nate.

“I’m the only one left. I’ve lost every friend on board. And it’s all your fault!”

He punctuated the statement by slamming his fist into the table. The wood splintered and when he lifted his hand a large impression of his fist was embedded in the table.

Nate felt a calmness flowing through him. He looked Bear square in the eyes. Bear’s voice wavered momentarily, but he quickly pushed through it.

“If you and those other two new people didn’t do so well they wouldn’t have started phase two. They would still be here if it wasn’t for you.”

Nate held up his hand before anyone could speak. He could see a murderous look in several of his roommate's eyes.

“If they went home, they didn’t deserve to be here,”

Everyone at the table gasped.

Bear’s face turned beet red. Steam started rising from the top of his head.

“This is a competition, not a vacation!” Nate’s voice was firm, unwavering. “Every day is a fight to prove that you belong here. I’m sorry that the last contest had such a drastic outcome, but there is no room for people who don’t measure up.”

Bear reached his limit and exploded.

“Why you insolent little twerp!! You say every day is a fight, well it’s time to prove that you belong here. I challenge you to a Word War, the loser resigns from the contest.”