When in Rome - HG Competition Entry

Task 4: Gladiators

Dawn crept up on the world, slowly pushing the stars from the sky and announcing the arrival, or rather the return of the sun. The first tentative rays of its light struck the roof on which Jaiden lay half asleep, his mind wandering the cold metal and concrete halls of the power plant back home.

It wasn't until some of the control panels around him started chirping like birds that he wondered if any of it was real. His consciousness questioned the readings on the meters and shook its head, collecting itself once more and moving back in to the waking world.

Once arrived back in reality the mind was confronted by the cold the body had been feeling all along but hadn't wanted to interrupt the dream with; like the power plant, the body could run things perfectly fine for a while, left to its own devices.

Now that the time had come where it could use the mind's input on how to rectify the situation it had allowed the sound of birds to enter the brain to function as a polite cough which attracts the attention to one patiently waiting to be heard.

Body and mind once again functioning in unison Jaiden gave a shiver as he cracked an eye open to see what was up.

A few aches in his back told him he hadn't moved from his position in a long time. They, paired with the chill which seemed to have reached in to his bones, made him stir and roll on to his side.

When he remembered fully where he was and why he was there he made sure not to sit up too erectly to avoid attracting attention from down below. Stretching his arms and legs gingerly he looked around, trying to see if anyone had moved in to his area over night.

The spot where Valerie's body had lain was now vacant save for the blood that had gushed out. No doubt a craft had come to collect it during the night.

Memories of that moment where the two had met floated back in to his brain and he gave an involuntary shiver at the thought of her eyes.

Those eyes, Jaiden thought. He might eventually forget her name and her face but never those eyes.

Yawning, he twisted on to his knees and crept over to the ledge to let himself down off the roof. He landed with a soft thud on the yellow sands below and took a few steps back to look at the building that had been his temporary hide out. It looked like a temple to some goddess Jaiden had never heard of.

Now looking at the style of the statues and mosaics filling one of the walls he recognized it as being decidedly Roman in origin.

Roman ruins, he thought. Good setting to have an event like this.

After all the Romans were fond of people fighting to the death. Gladiators they were called. They would be either convicts, slaves or souls unfortunate enough to have displeased the Roman emperor.

In the tributes' case they ticked all the boxes, Jaiden figured.

A soft sound drew his attention. Fearing it might lead to more incredible noise Jaiden tensed up momentarily before looking up and noticing a small ball gliding down on a tiny, white parachute.

A gift from a sponsor?

Curious and happy to see that his strategy might actually be working he moved to where the ball was heading, snatching it carefully from the sky. He was about to open it when he remembered that this was precisely the sort of thing the people of the Capitol would be interested in seeing.

He needed to find a link to his audience. No doubt there were more cameras in the area than the one on the roof so he glanced around while cradling the metal ball in his hands.

Noticing that one of the mosaic figures' eyes was actually another camera he gave it a smile and wandered over to it casually, holding up the gift for it to look at.