Codes (Book 2)

Chapter 4: Claire

"This is it, the culmination of all of our hard work. This is our big moment. We've made it this far, don't let Team Sloppie down," I told my teammates as we waited in the locker room before the start of the final game of the Glitchketball season. However, this was all just for show. I knew that this year's tournament was one-on-one. 

"Come on out, guys!" Lucy called, her voice had lost its usual cheerfulness. 

My teammates and I confidently strode out of the locker room and were met instantly with jeers from the Speedies. You couldn't blame them, though, they usually played the Codies in the Championship, and now they had been beaten by the worst division in WGO. As usual, the Cookies cheered wildly. There's nothing like a bubbly Cookie division to cheer you up. 

I watched Amanda walk out of the Government box and take a mic from a nearby Government reg. 

"Good morning, WGO," she smiled. "Today is one of the few important occasions for which our entire organization gathers in one place. The finals of the annual Glitchketball tournament."

The Cookies and Sloppies applauded generously, but the Codies on the other side of the court didn't break their cold stare. Vince's replacement- whatever her name was- pointed to us and whispered something to Iveya, who started laughing hysterically. 

Ugh, Codies. 

"Today, we are also making history," Amanda continued. "Team Sloppie, a Glitchketball team that has never played in the finals before and probably never will again, is playing today." The Codies and Speedies snickered at that last part, but the Cookies, our only supporters, remained motionless. Of course, nothing else was said, Amanda had erased everyone's memories of our little "revolt." 

"Let us begin," said Amanda, motioning to Lucy, who began the countdown. 

10...

9...

8...

I prepared my Aura around me, setting up a shield around the Sloppie hoop. I could see Amanda doing the same on Codie one, only her shield was much stronger and firmer. What was I thinking? I couldn't possibly defeat a girl who had been training to be an Iceheart assassin for eight years and a White Hot Flame Aura Warrior for four! But I had one thing she didn't have. The gift. And I knew that my only chance at defeating her was to awaken it. 

What did Queen Saralee do to awaken her gift? 

I searched through my memories, but didn't find anything helpful. One second, my mom was normal, and the next, her eyes were glowing blue and she was shooting Aura everywhere. 

"What do you want, gift?" I muttered, yet I didn't feel the inexplicable sensation of heat in my eyes and power in my hands that I had during my Awakening, the first time my gift was unleashed. 

5...

4...

"Come on, gift, awaken!" I commanded under my breath, frantically channeling all the emotions in my head, but it was of no use. 

2...

1...

"GO!" Lucy bellowed, and the game began. The Codies seized the ball almost immediately. Even though they were playing a team with a reputation like ours, they weren't taking any chances.

Just like in the Cookie game, I left the Glitching to Kelly and focused all my energy on my Aura. I blocked the Codies' first shot, but it severely damaged my shield. If they took the rebound and shot again, I probably wouldn't have been able to stop them. Luckily, though, Kelly was quick enough to get the ball to her regs, giving me time to recover. 

We were only ten minutes into the game, and I was already extremely tired. I wouldn't be able to keep this up for much longer: without my gift, my Aural power was nothing compared to Amanda's. 

I continued to try in vain to keep up shields and give my players little boosts, but Amanda was so much stronger. Now, she wasn't just helping her players, she was messing mine up. She knocked the ball out of their hands, tripped them with coils of Aura, and messed with their Code. I didn't know how she managed to focus on Coding and her Aura at the same time, and do both so well. 

By the time the first half of the game was almost over, the score was 0-8. People were leaving by the minute, no one wanted to watch a game where it was obvious who was going to win. There was no way we were going to make up eight points. We were going to lose. 

Before the realization could sink in, I saw Amanda send out a powerful jet of Aura at one of my regs. It hit her in the leg, grabbed her ankle, and pulled her painfully to the ground. I gasped in shock, until now, she had only been trying to confuse them. This was the first time she had tried to hurt a reg!

Lucy blew her whistle to pause the game and several regs came down onto the court to check on the Sloppie player. 

Why would Amanda do this? Why would she want an interruption in the game? I quickly CT'd her. 

Me: Why'd you trip her?

Amanda Lynne Myers: It was the only way I could think of to stop the game without directly interfering. She'll be alright, just dazed for a while. 

Me: But why stop it?

Amanda Lynne Myers: To tell you something. It's urgent. I was going to CT, but you did first. I know you're newly Awakened, so you can't sense other Lessaenites' Auras, so you probably didn't notice this. I detected a lot of Iceheart Auras hurtling towards us at a very high speed, which can mean only one thing. There's an Iceheart ship coming to Earth. Sierra Valior did her job, they know where you are now. 

Me: What do we do?

Amanda Lynne Myers: From my calculations they started a few days ago, so we have two months at most before they land. We need to be out of here at least a week before then to lose them. 

At least a week before they landed...I didn't know much about the Program, and how hard it was to escape it. They didn't talk about it much back on Lessaenes when I was a kid. However, I was sure that a little over a month probably wasn't enough time to make it out. 

Me: What happens if we don't make it out in time? If they catch us?  

Amanda: To put it in simple terms, we're screwed.