I wake up to klaxons and immediate disorientation. I am in a large bed in a strange, sparsely appointed, cavernous room with a semi-clothed Titus in the bed next to me, watching me, eyes unreadable.
"Did I go into a coma or something?" I ask.
"Yeah." Titus says, his mind firmly in his hands now, and closed to me. He still has hickeys on his neck and chest. "You slept for twenty-four hours.”
I tried to close those mental doors, put him back into the "big brother" zone. It was difficult this soon after waking. I kept remembering. "Are you alright?"
"I should be asking you that." He says evasively.
I close my eyes and conduct a quick self-assessment. "I should eat something. After that I should be fine. Unless something happened while I was out."
"You are in secure quarters." He says. "The Grand Producer was concerned with trade secrets getting out."
"Are we still on camera?" I ask.
Titus smiles. "No. We are a hit though. Our scene is being played all over the ship and for select subscribers."
He swings out of bed and walks to a compartment and pulls out several plastic wrapped bars and a couple of pouches of juice.
"Here you go." He says. "We're at Hellpit. You should start getting ready. They’re going to start staging the contestants in a few hours."
At "Hellpit" a spike of detectable fear and anxiety shoots through him, escaping his control.
I begin. “’Hellpit’ is the world where…”
“Bad shit happens.” He cuts me off. “And here I am again.”
Kaiju World equals Hellpit. I say aloud. "Oh shit."
"It doesn't matter that you've been modded up." Titus says. "Especially since you don’t even crest, Kryptonian, Daxamite, or Herald levels on your physical powers. "
"Where do you fall?" I ask.
"Olympian." He frowns. "You aren't even that... well actually they won't tell me what your ratings are. They moved you into secure quarters after they saw the love bites and my limp."
I mouth falls open, and he blushes and grins. "I told you to fuck me and I am damned pleased. I just don’t want to talk about it."
I nod. "So, what am I supposed to do here?"
"What did Rikkard tell you to ?" He counters.
"He told me to survive." I reply. "I survive and my all my debt is paid."
Titus frowns. "Wait... you don’t have a quota to bring in?"
I shake my head. "A quota of what?"
"No... don’t worry about it." He said. “This ‘Megafauna Spectacular’ is special production of a broader series called 'Bread and Circuses.' It is purest bloodsport with a very fluid cast. “
“And a very uncreative name.” I say.
“Only because you remember the history.” Titus chides me. “Listen. There is a starting area of silos surrounding an equipment cache, which in turn is surrounded by a force field. The producers have also had operatives in the wild harrying the local wildlife so they are in a hyper-aggressive state. They will have benen driving local wildlife crazy.
You guys will be escorted there by an android. You will emerge onto the field and after a countdown, the game begins."
Titus starts to pace. "The game lasts five days. You just have to survive to the end of that time. The problem is there are fifty competitors and they want to win."
"What is the win condition?" I ask.
"Be the last man standing, or kill ten Kilo Kaiju or larger." He replies. "Are you familiar with Godzilla?"
I nod.
"That is a Mega Kaiju." He says. "Godzilla, Mothra, Ghidirah. Those size monsters count, but the Kilos are more dangerous because they are smaller, agile, and all areenergy manipulators: Palkia, Giratina, Lugia, Mew." He shudders. "And they and others will be there because they know special food is there... you and the others. The Kaiju are psionovores."
"Does that mean they absorb psychic energy, or that they have to eat psychically active creatures?" I ask.
"They prefer to eat psychically active creatures." He says. "Thankfully, they are not invulnerable to psi, but they are big as skyscrapers, tough, and with powers on top of that... let's just say that some people think that being the last man standing is the easier win condition."
"What should I do?" I ask.
"Run in and grab a backpack with a frame." He says. "Those have the highest probability of having a complete survival kit including water purification chemicals. Grab the pack and then run out. Don't fly, the sky will not be safe. Hell you can burrow now, go underground."
"What are you talking... hey" I focus, images of plasticized earth moving around me filling my head. "Huh, that's not new, it's a more dynamic application of the warping effect I used on you when we met. I wouldn't have thought of it though."
"Rei says a new talent module was dumped in that did not directly interact with the previous installations." He says. "Rei said to tell you that the contractor said it was thanks for not being a 'question laden stupid thing.'"
Just thinking about Orai made me want to change the subject. "So, when will my escort arrive?" I ask.
There is a knock on the door.
Titus pulls on some pants. "Now I guess."
"Where are my clothes?" I ask.
"You go down naked." He says. "They don't want you taking anything with you."
"You could have at least made out with me to lessen the blow." I hint, trying to lighten the mood.
"That was a job." He replies with a bit of force. "And I won't be around when you get back. My contract has been sold to a small superhero outfit so, I'll see you in the pictures."
I give a half-smile. "Thanks for the therapy." It was the only thing I could not think of that was not bitchy or lewd sounding.
"Thank you for not being a shit... and I guess for the three orgasms." Titus says.
"Three?" I reply.
"Yeah." He says. "I actually came twice when you had me on my back that last time."
The knocking on the door came again. I walk over and open the door revealing a gunmetal grey humanoid but very mechanical-looking android.
"Are you ready to depart Lotus, Exalt?" It asks.
“Be sensible. Be sensible. Survive.” I chant inside.
I say, "yes."
"Follow me please." It says, and I fall into step.
I am surprised, that I sense a consciousness, a mind, in the android. It is unexpected, andI try to adjust my expectations and instincts accordingly. "Pardon me, but can you tell me where we are going?"
"To the train which will ferry us to the starting area and your personal silo." It says.
"I've never seen this show before." I continue. "I do not know what to do, or expect really."
"I would not worry about it." It says. "You have been in this solar system less than three months with no initial appearances, and no fan base. As Audience participation plays a role in selecting who manages to live and who dies, you are most certainly going to die."
I snort and say. "Am I going to die naked then?"
"No." It says matter-of-factly.
The halls are curiously deserted. I close my eyes, and reach out. "I cannot sense anyone around us."
"Yes." The android says. "We retrieved you and your escort from your vessel and he is now returning to your corporation's ship, parked in orbit. When you die, they will leave."
"So what is the most likely way I will die?" I ask, irritated. "I do not like surprises."
"One of the other players will remove you from the field." It says. "Probably a Talent with a near Kryptonian or Kryptonian inspired load-out. Chaff, such as yourself, are usually cleared out of these ‘Spectaculars’ in the first few seconds. It should be painless. Of course, the replays will be in enhanced-true life slow motion definition."
I do not want to know anything else, but, perversely I carefully, oh so carefully, touch its mind and I find a horde of conversation. “My” android was in communion with a network, communicating with other escorts, mostly complaining about the behavior of their charges.
We exit the hallway into a large, tracked, concrete tube and enter a pill-shaped vehicle that whisks us along track towards our destination. In my escort’s mind, I can actually see the map we are following of the underground track, several stories underground.
I just keep quiet, eavesdropping, listening, keeping my face either neutral or miserable.
"Oh no, he is going to start crying." My escort informs its friends. "Audience-Representative 14, why don't you ask Justicar Carnifax to put my idiot out of his misery as soon as the field comes down."
"Sure AR-5." AR-14 replies. "What does he look like?"
"Sending you a picture." It says.
"Oh!" AR-14 replies. "He is tiny!"
"Yes, he is a mistake, a result of meddling in the Culling process." AR-5 responds. "The technicians who did so were demoted to field Talent, and are with AR-43 and AR-50."
"And mine is bawling." AR-43 says. "He keeps chanting. 'All I have to do is survive. All I have to do is survive.'"
"Mine is rather stoic." AR-50 adds. "Although I do not think she expected to not be allowed anything. She has imbibed several psionic enhancement ampules. She may explode."
"Then we should hurry." AR-43 says.
The car accelerates. There is little light in the hallway. They continue to chatter. I wonder if they are actual androids, digital consciousness that possess the bodies, or just remote controlled. They do not think about the nature of their existence in passing. So I must be content to listen.
The tunnel ends at a concrete cylinder with a big, circular concrete door. We walk up a couple of stories of narrow, spiral stairs to a small chamber where a folded uniform sat on the floor along with underwear, slim boots, and food packets and juice boxes.
I get dressed. The clothing is a green jumpsuit with a stylized lotus flower in green and white on the back and on my upper-left side of my chest. The boots are sturdy with heavy tread. The jumpsuit has many pockets, so I store away the food. Not that I need it right now, but it may look look smart when broadcast.
AR-15 is pleased, actually radiating relief and pleasure, when I do not belabor getting ready.
"Please stand on the floor under the circular opening in the ceiling." AR-15 says.
The ceiling opens, but the tunnel it reveals is dark. I comply with the order and wait.
An enthusiastic voice leaps from the speakers in the walls. "Welcome to the special ‘Megafauna Spectaular’ edition of 'Bread and Circuses!' This surprise widecast to the entire sphere features representatives from most of the major entertainment concerns that work hard to keep you entertained!
Over the next five days, our contestants must survive against Kaiju World's flora and Fauna; plus some special creatures we seeded just for this event! Our contestants will also be fighting each other. Most-most importantly, our contestants must survive you, our viewers. It is rare that we let our Audience so directly decide fate. Take advantage of this opportunity.
Place your bets. Remember that live Audience events are ruled by simple majority and each vote costs, so check your budgets and act accordingly.
Now, here are our contestants!"
A roll call begins, each taking roughly ten to fifteen seconds. Much shorter for people like me who do not have a single credit to their names and are generally unknown.
If I were a producer, I would do this to prime the Audience members who have not been following the pre-show proceedings. "Surprise" or not, this event has probably been known about for months. The Audience probably being informed that old favorites have been dragooned into this, and if they want to save them they need to get ready to play.
Finally, with obscene glee, the voice almost croons. "It's showtime!"