No Sleep

7

Xander stood amongst the thousands of soldiers in the Mali Stadium. He was shoulder to shoulder with men that wore the same uniform as him, but he felt detached from the entire conference. Without Lupita there, there was no point to make a new friend or figure out the new inventions. He was well aware of what would be on display. Or an overexaggerated picture in his mind at least. His life long dream to stand with proud, serving men came true, and he was pouting about his friend.

Mali Stadium was exclusive to governmental and military conventions. It was placed directly under The Ternion, and this was Xander's first time experiencing it. He wasn't too fond of the same grayscale extracted from The Ternion, or the haunting chance of a poisonous underground bug crawling up his leg at any moment, but it was no less impressive.

He saw Elian sit in the Hana section across from him. Elian was placed awfully close to the Harland family--who sat with stoic and fustian poise--and was staring directly at Xander. Xander scratched his hair, he looked at his IaWatch, he made sure his shoes were laced up. Anything to dodge the eye contact, he did. He thanked the technicians for bringing the house lights down.

That thankfulness lasted until a blinding floodlight engulfed the entire stadium. Xander covered his eyes along with the rest of the crowd. As an opaque figure cut through the light and extended an arm to the ceiling, murmurs arose from the audience. A pistol revealed itself in the figure's hand, releasing a smoky puff of plasma. The boy next to Xander flinched so hard he shoved Xander over which caused a domino effect.

Another gunshot fired from the opposite side of the stage, which caused the entire audience to turn their head at the same time. A larger figure, who Xander assumed was Akan Yasin, stood at that end with a shotgun pointing up instead of a pistol. The floodlight dimmed to make room for various lasers that lit the runways to the triangular main stage. A low baseline rumbled the floor under Xander's feet, and the two figures jaunted towards the center. Camera flashes alternated on either side of the pistol-holder, Lupita Ulva, lighting her face one half at a time. Targets shifted into place around the stadium in mid-air, some a little too close to the audience. Lupita took out another pistol from her hip holster and stopped in her tracks.

"Soldiers, scientists, and politicians," an announcer started. "This is our future."

Lupita twirled the pistols before shooting the targets around her with expertise. Her shots followed a precise beat and, even with the kickback, Lupita's stolid face never twitched. She tumbled through the runway, shot crouching down, shot on her knees, shot in some of the most impressive ways possible. When her ammunition ran out, she threw the various throwing knives off her hip with precision too. And this was all supposed to be credited to the upgraded arm? Xander scoffed.

As the crowd oohed and aahed at Lupita's marksmanship,--despite the very imminent danger of her missing a target and shooting an audience member--the lighting shifted over to Akan Yasin. He used a scope, which extended from his arm, to aid his targeting. Xander wasn't going to admit it to anyone, but that perk was pretty impressive. Akan shielded himself from a brutal attack of bullets by making an X with his two upgraded arms. Not a single dent, or even blemish, was left on the silver-plated surface.

Lupita and Akan eventually met on center stage, shook hands, and stood back to back facing the audience.

The announcer's voice boomed, "Strength. Speed. Accuracy. Agility. This is Eluki. This is Victory at all Costs." An Eluki flag dropped over the stage and the crowd started to file out. While the soldiers shuffled into each other as they exited, Xander crossed his arms at the amazement he heard.

"That could still be you," Elian stated as he tapped Xander on the shoulder.

"It really couldn't though," Xander answered as he kept walking and clenched his jaw.

Elian shuffled up to Xander's pace. "It really could. Don't think I'm lying."

"No, it really couldn't."

"I could get you into the HQ this moment, with total clearance, and give you that upgrade."

"Okay. Did Lupita take ten-years worth of gymnastics or was that the upgrade?"

Elian stayed silent.

"And the precision shooting," Xander continued, "was that boot camp or the upgrade?"

"There's no way a girl who just graduated AIT can shoot with that much accuracy. Either way, I'm not saying you'd be Lupita. I'm saying you could easily be a better soldier. Akan has surely improved."

"Okay, but. Akan has been deployed before."

"Do you not want to get better?"

"Do you think I need to?" Xander stopped walking and twisted his body to face Elian. He raised his head up to stare his brother in the eye since Elian had a few lanky inches on him. The two brothers stared at each other for a while. Elian bit the inside of his cheek while he tried to muster up some rehearsed bullshit he probably learned from their mother, and Xander answered with the most patient scowl. Xander continued to walk. He knew the answer.

"Do you want to see Lupita?" Elian asked. "Right now?"

Xander stopped in his tracks and tapped his foot. He sighed, pinched his nose, and turned to face Elian. They parted through the crowd with authoritative ease, as Elian was a man who walked with purpose, until they arrived backstage. The area was rather dark and empty, so the light from her prep room framed Lupita's shadow clearly. The shadow paraded the arm by extending it up to the ceiling and flexing the fingers. As they got closer, Xander heard Cooper's voice.

"The kid seen you yet?" Cooper asked.

Lupita responded, "No, not since the surgery."

"So he ain't say nothin' 'bout him and Keiko?"

"About what?" Lupita yelled as she snapped her head towards the door where Elian and Xander stood.

Xander's eyes widened, "Hey . . . "

Lupita blew a gust of air out her nose, and Xander answered with his most charming smile.