I shouldn't be here, Eniola thought.

But here she was.

Holo-screens spun around the huge pods that enclosed the seats. A glowing cylinder table took center stage in the middle. The ceiling shifted in multiple tiled colours above them and attendant droids rolled up to them and escorted them to their huge seats. Eniola and Lucia both made excited eye contact with one another before they made it to their seat pods.

Eniola observed the seat as it surrounded her privately. Turned out the comfortable seat could be stretched into a bed for the long hours they would be on the flight. The holo-screen floating in front of her was connected, had a variety of net dramas and movies to choose from, and there was even a link to connect virtual reality goggles to explore anything you wanted. It then shifted into flight information before it replayed a flight video in both English and Korean.

"Refreshments?" Eniola jumped out of her thoughts to see an attendant-droid holding a silver platter with a cup of bright blue liquid.

"Don't mind me," Jay said nonchalantly, reaching forward and sipping on it slowly. Eniola took one too and drank the blue liquid. It was unusually sweet and fizzy and burbled on her tongue. It was like some drinks Theo served at the Puzzle.

Damn. That felt so long ago. Eniola didn't realize she missed it as much as she did until the nostalgia started washing over her. They didn't have a hang-out spot now that they were cruising around the world. Perhaps, when the next California championships happened, they could reclaim their spot. It felt so long ago and like yesterday at the same time.

More people piled onto the plane, such as business people and other people whose profession she could only describe as "rich". Eniola realized she was simply a teenage gamer in a sea of people who had actual business to do in Seoul.

But what they didn't know was that aside from SCOPE, someone in South Korea was one of the few people in the world, aside from them, who could defeat Paradox and stop the glitches. It was all deciphered after a wonderful birthday.

Eniola sank back into the seat with a satisfied smile, before looking over at Jay. Wait? He was next to Iris, who was next to Eniola.

"Iris," Eniola whispered to Iris, who turned over to her.

"What's up?" she said.

"Can I switch with you?" she asked, and Iris stopped for a moment before looking at the pod next to her.

"Of course," Iris huffed, as Eniola grabbed her bag and did a quick switch with Iris before ending up in an identical pod, playing the last loop of the security video.

The auto-pilot system made announcements that the plane was going to take off soon. Eniola clutched onto her seat armchair, digging her nails into it and shutting her eyes to will away the situation. It was just a liftoff. Eniola enjoyed travelling by air, save for the initial launch.

The plane soon took a vilifying launch into the air and Eniola felt her stomach rise and fall before it was weightless. She allowed one eye to open and let out a heavy breath. She was still intact. Good.

Eniola looked into Jay's pod before getting up from her own and knocking onto it. It opened immediately.

"Hello," he said smiling, opening it further and moving into his seat so she could have room. She slipped into his arms and onto his lap easily and sighed against him.

"What are we going to do for the next 15 hours?" Jay asked, putting an arm around her.

"I don't know," Eniola admitted. "Maybe we can have an existential crisis about having to save the world. Again."

"I'm kind of looking forward to Seoul," Jay said. "I was supposed to go when I was younger."

"Why didn't you?" she asked.

"Soyeon wanted to show me it. It was where she grew up and who our people were," Jay began. "But then she left, so that never happened."

It was kind of weird how Eniola didn't realize Jay would be going to South Korea, where both of his parents were from, especially his mom. He stopped, and they were silent together for a moment before Eniola broke it.

"Do you have any more family there?" Eniola asked.

"Yeah," Jay admitted. "Just some cousins, aunties and uncles, and pissed off grandparents because my parents got pregnant at 19 with me before they were even married. I don't even know if we'll have time to see them."

"Oh."

"Yeah," he agreed. "I have another disappointing cousin who moved to China to do some shady stuff. He's the only person I talk to."

"I was the disappointment cousin when my parents found out I played SCOPE," Eniola said, and Jay chuckled.

"You're great in my eyes," Jay revealed before kissing the top of her forehead.

Later they started watching some old movies from 50 years ago. It was about a hacker and a warrior who realize the world they've been in is fake. It's because robots were taking over the world and breeding humans for energy. It's weirdly interesting and Eniola couldn't peel her eyes away.

It was oddly familiar in a way that makes her spine shiver.

Eniola didn't know why humans back then had this odd fear of AI uprooting them from their lives and taking over. It was the plot of every sci-fi movie. Androids lived among them now, but they weren't humans and Eniola knew enough about their programming to know there was no danger of a rebellion.

Maybe Paradox could prove the last part wrong. And maybe Azira and Rogue could prove Paradox wrong.

Eniola's phone vibrated, and she checked her phone just to get it out of the way.

Kain Harrison.

Fear immediately swelled in her chest. There was no ominous message looking at her. Instead, it was a single image. It was a black capital P in artistic font over a red background.

Eniola would've deleted it immediately. This might've been a trap. But before she did it, she ran it through the search engine. Nothing came up, of course. Then she deleted it.

"What's that?" Jay asked.

"It's from my brother," Eniola lied, putting away the phone. "Let's just watch the movie."

◣

"Welcome to Seoul, South Korea!" a chirpy bright-faced attendant in a smooth red hanbok and a slick bun greeted them as they enter the airport.

Security droids flanked the airport, blocking off droves of fans waiting for SCOPE players touching down today. She spotted American flags in the crowd and people vaguely screaming her name through the crowd. Eniola tried her best to give warm smiles amid the flashing from camera drones taking photos.

Thick glass panels curved on the ceiling and led down to window panels, revealing a glittery city passing with sleek hover-cars Eniola was sure that hadn't reached North America yet. The city in the daytime was lit off with warm-toned holo-boards displaying advertisements for body modifications and beauty products, all in unfamiliar characters.

They followed the lady leading them through the crowded and lively airport with holo-boards informing people of incoming flights and other information accompanied by pictures in Korean. She turned back to them for a bit. "You are the 20th SCOPE team to arrive in Seoul today."

"If this is the airport, then I wonder how the country will be," Jay whispered, moving next to Eniola.

The attendant turned back to them. "My name is Jiwon, and I will be your attendant until you leave today. I understand that you all have a language barrier."

She then took out something from her pocket and revealed 5 smooth and impossibly thin lenses. She handed them to all 5 of them and in Eniola's hand. They felt moist and smooth to the touch. What was it?

"Translator goggles that connect to the ears and eyes to understand everyone in every language," Jiwon explained. "Simply put them over your eyes."

Eniola eyed the lenses before she looked up at Jiwon, who was still smiling at her. Eniola did what she said and put them over her eyes.

They latched into her eyes before they spread out over onto her ears like smooth, wet gel. Eniola gasped at the weird sensation as they absorbed into her skin. Eniola touched her face before looking up at everything. All the unfamiliar Korean characters have now turned into English.

"Woah," Lucia said, looking around. "I don't even know they're there."

"You don't!" Jiwon exclaimed before she looked at Iris with the big and slightly creepy eyes paired with an off-smile.

"I'm a cyborg," Iris confirmed. Jiwon nodded.

"Your car will be here soon," she said, as they follow her through the rest of the airport. Eniola observed the lines of bridges above them and the rest of the bustling airport with lines of fans. It was so lively and so full of life. Eniola wondered what the internationals might truly be like. Eventually, they exited out into the dayglow streets before they approached a blue hover-car resting on the ground.

"Here is your ride," Jiwon said. "Have an amazing day!"

"We will," Theo replied. "Thank you for all you did!"

She sits there for a moment and a smile crept onto her face and her eyes for a brief second. "Thank you's improve the performance and rating of JIWON, your android assistant. Thank you!"

Before they could register, she walked away again, back into the airport.

"That was an android?" Lucia asked with her jaw hung open. It made sense to Eniola once she thought about it. How she smiled and blinked at the perfect moment and waited creepily for them to answer her.

"Woah," was all Theo said.

They entered the hovercar before it lifted into the air. The sensation was weird, being levels off the ground instead of on it. It floated them away to wherever they would go next, which Eniola didn't know. In the meantime, they occupied themselves with one another.

The car stopped in front of what looked like a solid black gate bordering what Eniola could see as the tip-tops of buildings.

"Where are we?" Iris asked.

"I think we're in the dorm," Theo said. "But this doesn't look like a dorm."

Slowly, the black gate began separating down the middle before the hovercar began driving inside it on command. Inside, they were immersed in what looked like a neighbourhood of houses built from geometric rectangles, triangles, and circles, all combined to look aesthetically rigid and pleasing. The front of each house had a holographic flag, all of which were from different countries.

"This is fancy," Jay said, as they all looked out the windows to see the houses on either side.

The hover-car halted in front of a small house with the American flag floating in front of it and the doors opened upwards automatically and they all slipped out and observed the community. Soon, an android whirred over to them. It was the new and taller model, and it was a basic white, but they embedded the American flag onto it.

"Welcome to South Korea, SCOPE Team USA," it announced to them. "I'm Yuna and I will be your attendant droid during your stay. Please follow me into your housing for your stay."

It turned around swiftly, and they followed it, as Eniola looked down at the neatly placed cobblestone floors leading up to the white door. It slid open on command before they entered a wide-open space.

The house was enormous, with white walls that stretched to a smooth black ceiling, shifting in natural landscapes. It currently featured a green landscape of a jungle. They made the floors of smooth marble, which fuzzy carpets laid atop some parts. Blue couches that looked absolutely god-tier soft surrounded a holo-screen floating dormant in the living room in a semicircle. Eniola's gaze then moved over to the staircase spiralling to what seemed like a second level.

"Here's your house within the SCOPE village," the android-Yuna told them. "This is a free-living space provided to you for all days of the competition. Please ask for help or take advantage of the complimentary services provided to you in the house and this village. However, there are rules."

Eniola drowned it out, hearing them over and over for every competition before walking up the curvy steps of this house-her house for the next few days. She left her luggage downstairs for Yuna to haul up. Eniola walked down the marble-floored hallways, where several doors were laid out in a narrow but long hallway. Eniola pressed its dial.

A spacious room took its place, and it was glorious. There was a vast bed taking up the middle, surrounded by what looked like a mini-fridge and a desk-side table. A holo-screen like the one downstairs took center stage in the room's front. Eniola immediately flopped down onto the bed and let out a tremendous sigh, releasing her nervousness and excitement into the air.

It was all hers. It was no dorm, not even a hotel room. It was even better than New York, it was an entire house for the five of them. Who knew Seoul was this nice?

A doorbell sound blared throughout the house and Eniola sat up from her semi-rest before exiting her room, just like everyone did now that they had unpacked their stuff.

"Who could that be?" Eniola asked.

"I just hope that Theo doesn't change the doorbell sound to an anime soundtrack," Iris mumbled.

"I have no complaints," Jay replied.

They all piled down the stairs before Theo got to the front door and pressed the dial to slide it open. Two extremely beautiful people, a guy and a girl smiled at them from the door. They both look similar with raven black hair and light amber eyes, with slightly tanned skin. They were both very tall and broad.

"You guys are from Greece!" Theo realized before Eniola could recognize them. "You're the Greek SCOPE team!"

"That's us!" the guy introduced in an accent. "I'm Stavros, and this is my twin sister Artemis!"

"Nice to meet you!" Artemis exclaimed.

Eniola put the pieces together. She knew little about them, but she knew they were super popular in Europe and the Middle East. They were part of a team called Helios, and people called them the "bridesmaids" of SCOPE because they always won regionals but never nationals. Eniola guessed they finally managed it.

"We are such huge fans!" Artemis exclaimed again. "We've been following you since California and we wanted to meet all of you."

"Greece is cool," Jay said with an extra stare over at Artemis. "So, you're a fan?"

"We are!" Stavros confirmed. "We've been trying to meet as many SCOPE players before the opening ceremony tomorrow."

As they talked further with Stavros and Artemis, it surprised Eniola to learn many new things about them, not at the internet's disposal. They've both been playing SCOPE since they were 11 years old and have won 5 regional championships with Helios. It was also their first international as well.

It was cool connecting to another team and not just seeing everyone as a competition to eliminate. Theo and Stavros also seemed to connect as leaders.

"We have to go," Stavros announced after. "We have a team meeting, and as the leader, I shouldn't be late."

They said bye to them as they ran from the hotel room and to their meeting.

Despite the friendly welcoming, Eniola realized it might've been for show. Now it was time for the actual competition to start.