said RTIFIS as everyone in the squad assembled in the living room.

“Gwher?” Maqsud echoed. “They really must be running out of names.”

PLANET GWHER

TEMP.: 9C AV. GRAV.: 96% ATM.: 0.29 ROT.: 29.3 HOURS SURF. H2O: 17% REV.: 786 DAYS BIOMARKERS: NONE NAT. SAT.: 1 (56% LUNA)

“Yo, our first target!” Jarek exclaimed. “So, this is what we’ll be fightin’ over, huh?”

Maqsud idly shuffled his deck of cards in the background. “‘At the end of time, we’ll fight over the best black hole to orbit.’ Bret Xiong. 2400s. Titan.”

“It’s like a smaller, drier Earth,” Perri observed. “Just without life, obviously.”

Nic knew that in all of humanity’s explorations of the galaxy, both manned and autonomous, no one had ever discovered any definitive signs of extraterrestrial life. It was quite possible they were alone in the galaxy. Maybe even the universe. That prospect both unnerved and comforted him; it made for a lonely colonization, but it also meant that his species had first dibs on stellar territories.

To fight it out amongst themselves.

“RTIFIS, what can you tell us about our opponents?” Jarek asked. He used a more serious and businesslike tone than Nic had heard out of him previously.

“How do we win?” asked Maqsud.

“I just assumed it would be another Arena,” Perri interjected. “Most kills wins, right? I mean, that would make sense.”

“RTIFIS, please list the additional modes,” said Nic. “We need to know what other games are waiting out there for us so we can practice.”

RTIFIS replied plainly.

Nic sighed and folded his arms. “Just like the Final. They want us going in blind.”

“We made it through that, didn’t we?” Jarek offered.

“Yeah.” By the skin of our teeth.

Maqsud stepped forward toward the living room’s screen, scratching his chin. “RTIFIS, how, then, do you suggest we prepare for games we know nothing about, other than discussing the fundamentals of Arena?”

Everyone exchanged a glance as the AI continued.

Nic scanned his squadmates with the start of a grin forming at the corner of his mouth. “Look, I know we just started our card game, but...”

“Are you thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?” Jarek asked.

Nic nodded. “Team Scarlet, let’s run some Arena drills.”

They made their way back to the Simnasium at the other end of the Corvette’s main floor. It was understandably smaller than any Simnasium Nic had seen back at Paradigm Prep on Ayrus; those were larger facilities built into the massive underground city of PPI. This one, however, was designed to fit snugly within the confines of a Class I starship, the smallest interstellar spacecraft known to humankind. They would have to make do with a modest semicircular room equipped with five SimSuits and a holo-UI by the door.

But they didn’t need a wealth of elbow room when virtual reality was limitless.

The Arena of the Final Exam was played using SimSuits, Nic thought, but we were connected to real-life proxybots. Let’s see if we can replicate that experience in a purely virtual sim.

He made sure the others donned their helmets and SimSuits before he put on his own, and when he did, he relished the feeling of the rubbery ensemble shrinking to fit his form, making him feel like he was wearing a suit of stretchy armor. It was an old, familiar, comforting sensation. The helmet came last. When his HUD loaded, it appeared as if his role as Squad Leader granted him administrative control over the Simnasium as well.

TEAM SCARLET: (5/5) CONNECTED

SQUAD LEADER, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO NEXT?

>INITIATE FREE PLAY CHOOSE GROUP SIM EJECT PLAYER(S) OPTIONS

“Give me a second to load us in, gang,” said Nic. At times, his new leadership role came naturally to him, but at other times he felt like he was being scrutinized. He worried that the others would get impatient with him and his lack of preparedness. I should have already used this Simnasium at least once to practice. Let’s see here...

He selected the Group Sim option and RTIFIS guided him from there.

PLAYER(S): TEAM SCARLET (5/5) ---SIM LIST--- -WARGAME- -SQUAD FAVORITES- >ARENA ELVENCHANT [LOCKED] HYDE N SEEK [LOCKED] FURFLOWER ISLAND [...] [...]

“Confirm Arena,” Nic said with more confidence.

RTIFIS replied.

A new array of options appeared before him.

-ARENA- >LIVES: PAIN: PRIMARY: SECONDARY: GRENADES: VEHICLES: UPGRADE LOADOUT: UPGRADE PAKS: TIME LIMIT: DIFFICULTY: TEAMS: AI OPPONENTS: WIN SCORE: (RESTORE DEFAULTS)

“No,” said Nic. “Continue.”

By the time the AI finished its verbal reply, woefully slow compared to the speeds at which an AI could “think” or complete any number of complex tasks in the background, a virtual Arena had already loaded before Nic’s eyes. He looked around and saw four proxybots nearby. Glancing down at his own hands, he wiggled his virtual metal fingers, then observed passively as the game forced his hands behind his back to unstrap the SMG from its magnetic holster.

It had only been a couple of days since the Final Exam, but he already felt such distance from it, the spacetime of his memory distorting like the wormhole warping them to their first mission. It felt good to be back in the Arena.

“This is awesome!” said Jarek. Nic heard him through the crystal clear in-sim comms, unfettered by the limitations of proxybot speakers like they’d used in the real Arena. “You can change the settings around, too, right? Are we gonna mess around with different variants?”

“Did I see something about vehicles?” Perri asked deviously. “Because those are kind of my specialty. Just saying.”

Nic grinned silently at their mounting eagerness. “We will. I promise. First, though, we’re going to work on the basics.” He hooked his finger around the trigger of his SMG. “Team Azure won’t know what hit them.”