“Yes,” he said. “That sounds right. Veego and LaBerge want to show the trustees how valuable they believe you are. It is nothing more than that. You will not be asked to fight again until-“
“Until I come back here.” I finished his sentence.
Fourteen nodded.
“Can you tell me what the Grand X is?” I asked.
“Yes,” he replied. “As you know, there are games played all the time, but once every two quads there is a tournament that pits the best challengers against each other. It is watched by more citizens than any other contest, because it is always the most exciting and closely challenged.”
“Sort of like the Super Bowl of Quillan games,” I suggested.
Fourteen gave me a blank look.
“Sorry,” I said. “You have no idea what that means.”
He continued, “Challenger Green has triumphed at the previous three Grand X’s, which has never happened before. Veego and LaBerge have been concerned that they might not find another challenger who has a chance of dethroning him-“
“Because if he always wins, nobody would wager against him,” I said.
“That is correct,” Fourteen said.
“So Veego and LaBerge want Challenger Green to lose?” I asked.
“I do not know,” the robot answered. “But I do know that it would increase the wagering if there was a chance that Challenger Green might lose.”
“That’s where I come in,” I said with finality.
Fourteen nodded and backed away. “I’ll wait for you in the corridor,” he said.
Great. I was the guy who was supposed to give the champion a good fight. Did Veego and LaBerge want to dethrone the champion? Or was I supposed to put up a good fight, only to be beaten in the end, kind of like that phony basketball team that always plays the Harlem Globetrotters. And to make it all so perfectly obnoxious, it was a Traveler who put me in this spot! More than ever I wanted to talk to Nevva Winter. She had some explaining to do.
I finished breakfast and went into my bathroom, where I had hidden the blocking diode Nevva had given me. I had no idea if I would need it on this trip, but I couldn’t take the chance. The loop on my arm may have been lightweight, but the idea of having something clamped on to my body that monitored my every movement made it feel heavier than it was. For the eight billionth time I tried to slip it off. For the eight billionth time it clamped tighter on to my arm as soon as I applied pressure. It seemed almost alive. I wanted to stick that blocking diode onto it right then, but that would have been stupid. I had to wait for the right time. I had hidden the diode inside an extra bar of soap in my bathroom. So long as nobody wandered in to take a shower, it was the safest and most secret place I could think of. I had to be careful taking it out, because I wasn’t sure if I was being watched. So I pretended to wash my hands in the sink, while digging the small clip out of the soap. I casually stuck it in my back pocket, and headed out.
Fourteen was waiting outside my door. We walked quickly down to the ground floor and the front entrance of the castle. Waiting outside for me was a black car that looked exactly like the car that had brought me to the castle originally. I hoped Nevva Winter was inside.
Fourteen said, “Veego and LaBerge have gone ahead. You will meet them at the Blok building. The dados will escort you.”
On cue, two police goons stepped out of the front seat and glared at me.
“You’re not coming?” I asked Fourteen.
“We service dados do not leave the compound,” Fourteen answered. “Do not worry, as long as you do as they say, you won’t have trouble with the security dados.”
Security dados. That’s the first time I heard what those creeps were called. I took a breath and walked down the steps toward the car.
“I’ll bring you back something special,” I called back to Fourteen.
“Special?” he asked, confused.
“Never mind,” I said. “It was a joke.” I forgot, dados didn’t get jokes. One of the security dados opened the back door for me and stood there, expecting me to get in. A quick glance inside showed me that Nevva wasn’t there.
“How ‘bout if I drive?” I asked the doll-faced robot.
He didn’t react.
“Man, you’ve gotta lighten up,” I said, and sat down in the car. I gave Fourteen a quick wave and saw him wave back an instant before the dado slammed the door on me. I didn’t bother to try to see if it was locked. As much as I didn’t want to be held prisoner by these sadistic monsters, I needed to be there. I wasn’t going to try to escape. Yet.
We drove out of the courtyard, across the wooden bridge, and along the winding road that led through the forest. I had gotten to know the grounds pretty well on my runs. It was a vast green oasis in the center of the gray city. I’d even say it was beautiful, if it weren’t for the fact that it was a staging area for games of death.
The elaborate golden gates that led to the city slowly swung open as the car approached. A moment later I once again found myself in the middle of the dark, depressing city of Rune. As we drove through the busy streets, I tried to memorize the route, but it was impossible. Every building looked like every other building. I didn’t even see street signs.
“How the heck do you know where you’re going?” I called to the dados up front.
They didn’t answer. They didn’t even turn around. Are you surprised?
“Hey!” I said. “Hit the radio. Let’s have some music.”
Still no reaction. I decided to stop trying to get a rise out of the security dados.
We drove for around twenty minutes. The only thing interesting to look at were the huge screens on top of the buildings. Each one showed the exact same thing, so it wasn’t hard to keep shifting my look from one to the next. What I saw was pretty much the exact same thing as when I arrived. There were moving multicolored geometric shapes, occasionally broken up by a talking head blabbing about the weather or something else just as boring. I was beginning to realize how important the games were to the people of Quillan. From what I could tell, the games were their only source of entertainment.
After we made one last turn, I finally saw something that was out of the ordinary. The long, wide street ended at a building. It was a huge structure that was much bigger than any of the surrounding towers. The thing was massive and dark, as if it were carved from a huge black stone. I didn’t have to ask the dado boys what it was. It was all too obvious. Near the top of the building, looming over the street, were shiny silver letters that had to be ten feet high. They reminded me of the silver signs that marked the various stores on street level. I’ll give you one guess as to what it said. Yeah, you’re right. blok.
I wasn’t sure if I should be impressed, or scared, or excited that I was finally going to get some answers. The car zipped right up to the building and screeched to a stop. A wide set of stairs led up from the sidewalk to the huge front doors of this imposing building. I took a peek out my window and gazed up at the massive structure. Everything I guessed about this Blok thing made me believe that whatever it was, it held a lot of power here on Quillan. This building only confirmed that. Blok = power. Power = control over people’s lives. Control over people’s lives = Saint Dane. I was getting closer.
My eyes traveled down from the giant silver letters to the top of the stairs, where I saw a welcome sight. Nevva Winter. She stood there looking very efficient, with a clipboard of some kind in the crook of her arm. I had to believe she was waiting for me. At least I hoped she was.
“Now what?” I asked the dado dudes.
Without a word the guy on the passenger side got out of the car and opened my door. I pulled myself out and glanced up at Nevva. She didn’t acknowledge me. Fine. I didn’t acknowledge her, either. The sidewalks were busy with people, yet as crowded as they were, none walked on the sidewalk in front of the big Blok building. Everybody stayed on the far side of the street, even though walking in front of the building would have been much easier because it wasn’t crowded. It was like they feared a plague was on this side of the street.