Mai lay on her bunk and casually scrolled through all the new skills and abilities she’s gained whilst training for the Culling. It was, in her opinion, stunning. Since she’d entered the Culling, her skill set had completely changed. She could now sweep the floor and polish a table whilst dismantling a rifle and killing a man – or woman – with her bare hands.

She realised that there was another change which had taken place. All of the training had been either on life-like targets, or her fellow cullers. None of them had held back.All this had made her somewhat sanguine about the actual Culling. It was due to start the next morning and instead of a spike of adrenaline, she felt a calm acceptance. Not only that, she knew she could kill in cold blood.

It wasn’t something to be proud of, no matter what other cullers in her bunk room were saying. Living with her actions was proving to be difficult. Simulated or not, everything she’d done was seared into her brain.

Probably change when it actually starts, she thought. Others weren’t as composed as her. Looking, she was mildly surprised. Some of the meekest members of their cadre had become the most feared warriors amongst them.

And not a few of the cocksure gangers, people she had been sure would have coped well with the Culling, had been reduced to nervous, pacing wrecks. It probably didn’t help that they had been told their nanites would be reduced to zero. If they wanted to be able to form weapons and tools to help themselves they would need to find BIO-BOOST.

Casting her mind back to the lecture, she ran through what they had been told by Gorilla.

He’d started with the words, ‘Whilst we have taught you to use nanites to form the weapons you need, there is a reason you all carry a physical knife.’ He’d paused, no-one dared say a thing. You could hear a pin drop, it was so silent.

“That reason is because when you enter the Culling, you will have your nanites reduced to zero,” Mai had gaped at that as the room erupted with noise. It stopped as suddenly as it had begun when he raised a finger. “This means you will have to carry out tasks to be rewarded with BIO-MASS boost. BIO-MASS boost will replenish your nanites. It will be a literal lifeline. Carry out missions, get to supply drops, steal it from other cullers. Do whatever it takes to get BIO-MASS boost. Or, as we like to call it; BIO-BOOST.”

And with that he had simply walked away, the stunned cullers staring after him.

The door to their bunk room opened, bringing her back to the present.

“Cullers,” Dragon Warrior walked through the door. “You have five minutes to prepare. After that you will be taken by dropship to your individual starting point. Die well.”

No one said a thing as she left the bunk room. Looking around, Mai could see that everyone else was as shocked as she felt.

“Emperor’s balls,” groaned someone out of sight. “The bookies have opened up.”

Mai rubbed her eyes, knowing it was a bad idea to look but unable to stop herself from blinking open the news channel on her retina and then picking the first bookie she could see.

A quick search brought up her name.

Dammit! 600,000:1 odds. No one thought she was going to survive. She wasn’t even sure that there were that many cullers left. Which made the odds against her even worse.

Dakota strolled over and sat next to her. “I’ve got 302,039:1 odds. What about you?”

Mai told her. Dakota laughed. Mai sobbed, and they had a quick hug.

CULLER – REPORT TO DROP SHIP 274 – INCESSANT MISERY

DO YOU ACCEPT YES/NO?

A wave of adrenalin hit her like a tsunami. She felt sick. She needed to piss. She wanted to run away. She wanted to challenge the sun to a fight.

“Hey,” Dakota laid a hand on her shoulder. “Just let it wash over you. Accept it. Acknowledge it for what it is.”

Mai looked up at her friend. “I don’t want to have to kill you.”

Dakota smiled sadly. “Babe, you won’t even see me coming.”

They both tried to laugh at the weak joke, but the laughter quickly turned into sobs as they hugged each other tight. Neither wanted to be the first to let go.

“If I see you in trouble, I’ll help,” Mai whispered into her friend’s ear.

Dakota nodded. “We better get moving. I dread to think what happens to cullers who bottle it.”

Wiping her sleeve across her face, Mai selected YES.

They hugged once more. Then Mai stood and followed her guideline. She was about to go out into the unknown for the first time ‘by herself’. She wondered if she had what it would take to survive.

The dropship was an ugly beast. It looked like a goblin covered with warts and blisters and she thought its name was sadly apt.

Other cullers already stood by it as a loadmaster checked their names against a clipboard. It was a quaint anachronism, but the government still insisted that there be a paper copy of everything it did.

As a result, the moon known as Du Lang, Lone Wolf had been colonised centuries ago to store all of the paper records and the servers which allowed the government to monitor every aspect of its subject’s lives.

I’m going to burn it to the fucking ground, the thought took her by surprise. She’d never have thought such a thing before, and it was unlikely she was going to survive the Culling. But … she was determined that she was going to survive and bring the empire to its knees.

“Mai Xio?” asked the loadmaster. It was a stupid question as her name hung above her in golden writing. However, when she didn’t answer, they just stood there.

“Yes.” The loadmaster nodded and made a show of ticking her name off their list.

“All cullers are to proceed up the ramp and to enter their pods.”

Mai did as she was told and once again followed her guideline where it led. Her fellow passengers were a mix of prisoners, soldiers, and civilians.

Yet again there was a direct contrast between the way the civilians acted compared to the way the former prisoners and soldiers did.

On the whole, the civilians were facing their destiny with stoic determination. Some of the gangers were whooping it up, but she could tell it was mostly an act.

Afterall, who wouldn’t be shitting themselves at the thought of what was to come?

But the prisoners and soldiers were completely different. It was like they were taking a pleasure cruise. As usual they ignored the civilians. And as usual they shared jokes, jibes, and acted as if they were actually excited at the prospect.

Have they had some sort of behaviour modification? she wondered as the guideline ended at the pod with her name. The inside of the dropship was filled with one-person pods. When the time came, the pods would be dropped through the hull of the dropship. Wings would then deploy, and the pod would fly itself to its occupant’s designated starting point.

It looks like a bloody coffin! She thought. For a second she considered running. It would be certain death. No one escaped the Culling. But if she ran now, she wouldn’t have a chance of getting back to Li. Nor of making the Empire pay for what it had done. And, strangely, the idea of revenge appealed almost as much as getting back to her sister.

Giving herself a shake she stepped in, sat, and pulled the overhead seat brace down.

Muzak played. She supposed it was meant to be calming, but instead felt like punching the speaker out of the wall. Only she couldn’t see it.

Fucking bastards, she raged.

There was a jolt as the dropship lifted off and her stomach leapt into her mouth as it suddenly plunged downward. Her hands slapped either side of her as she was overwhelmed by the feeling she was going to fall.

The next five minutes were sheer hell. It was as if the pilot was giving a display for the emperor. She could have sworn they inverted at one point.

POD DEPLOYMENT IN 5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1

BRACE!

Mai braced. There was a heartbeat’s pause. Then she dropped.