Half-conscious, Rowan’s head lulled on the wall behind him, eyes tracking in Jeff’s general direction. Ikara sat in the water, head bowed, her tangled red-tipped ponytails almost dipping into the puddle. Kaidu tried to kill Jeff with his eyes alone, upright and immobilized behind the man.
“That Binding Mark? I say the word, and you’ll be in more daggum pain than you’ve felt in your short, pitiful lives. I hold it long enough, you’ll pass out. And that’s where things get in...
2021-09-11 20:01:00 +0000 UTC
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In a flurry of white, Kaidu dropped from the sky. Startled, Jeff leaped back, but too late. He shouted and raised a hand to his face. Blood spurted where Kaidu’s razor carved a line down his forehead and cheek, barely jumping Jeff’s eye.
The red circle around Rowan and Ikara faded, and Rowan found himself able to move again. They split in opposite directions, rushing away from the mark on the ground.
“Break Concealment,” Jeff growled.
Three forms faded in from the sh...
2021-09-10 20:00:03 +0000 UTC
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More and more water accumulated underfoot, until they splashed through ankle-deep puddles. Clutching his arm, Rowan stared at the sky and wished for the rain to end. The cut’s never going to close like this.
Ikara glanced over. “Is it still bleeding?”
“Huh? Yeah,” Rowan muttered.
Ikara drew out a needle and a thin, pale thread. “Hold your arm out and stand still.”
He obeyed, pausing under the rain.
Her eyes narrowed. She thrust the needle, ...
2021-09-09 20:01:01 +0000 UTC
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Another clone hit the ground. Rowan looked up, wiping the rain from his brow as he peered after Kaidu, searching for a snatch of white amongst the oppressive gray. Still no sign of Red? She should be around here somewhere.
He glanced at his upper right-hand corner, where the clone distance counter ticked down. Triple digits ducked into double as he watched. At least there’s plenty of clones around.
Ikara ran around the corner and shook rain off her hood. “Oh,...
2021-09-08 20:01:00 +0000 UTC
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Tossing and turning, Rowan finally gave up on sleep early in the morning. Scribbling in his notebook, he took down everything they’d discussed earlier: teams, composition, names and preference order. Staring down at the notebook, he blinked, then shook his head and snapped it shut.
In the bed beside him, Ikara rolled over, her face contorted.
Quiet, quiet. Rowan climbed carefully out of bed and slipped into the other room. Gills slept soundly by the door. Creeping up ne...
2021-09-07 20:00:03 +0000 UTC
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They’d barely settled the bed before the door clunked against it. Brown eyes and dyed red hair stared at them through the gap. Rowan recognized the woman immediately. Red!
“We’re full up in here, thanks,” Gills said, and slammed the door shut.
“Hey! Let us in! You can’t do this,” Red shouted, banging on the door.
“Anyone have a poison ability? I hate being underhanded, but it’d be nice to smear some on the doorknob to keep people out. Gardener?” ...
2021-09-06 20:00:05 +0000 UTC
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“No,” Kaidu snapped, not even a breath later.
“No thank you,” Ikara said softly.
Rowan looked up into the taller man’s eyes and shook his head firmly. “We came here to climb the Tower on our own. We don’t need a combat class to drag us along like dead weight.”
Gills backed away, putting his hands up. “Whoa, whoa, okay, I got it. I got it. Just trying to offer help, you know?”
“We don’t need your help,” Kaidu replied, eyes narrowed.
Gills...
2021-09-05 20:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Kaidu closed the distance. In the same moment, the man charged. They met in a clash of sparks. Too fast for Rowan to follow, their blades flashed. Swinging two-handed, the man lost in speed to Kaidu, but made up for it with raw power. Unable to match the man’s blows, Kaidu dodged and backstepped, slowly losing ground to the other man.
“Kaidu, counter!” Rowan shouted.
Kaidu’s hips hit the counter. He threw himself to the side into a neat somersault and came up to the man’...
2021-09-04 20:01:00 +0000 UTC
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“If you have anything you want to take inside, call it out now,” Kaidu said, a hand on the door.
Rowan paused, then held out his hand. “Manifest!”
His garden box plopped down into the road. The one plant in the box stood tall, much taller than he remembered it. A thick bud sat atop it, already as thick around as his thumb. The leaves curled in on themselves a little, and yellow spots stood out on them. As I thought, I need to take care of it regularly. Maybe a little m...
2021-09-03 20:01:00 +0000 UTC
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Rowan’s phone buzzed. At the same second, Ikara’s went off. Ikara fumbled hers out first. She squinted at the screen, then whispered: “From the northwest.”
“Which way’s northwest?” Rowan whispered back.
Ikara shrugged. “I haven’t seen the sun.”
Rowan glanced back at the street. “Well, as long as northwest isn’t behind us, I think we’ve got it.”
Ikara moved to the side, out of Rowan’s way. Rowan pressed his back up against the wall and held...
2021-09-02 20:01:00 +0000 UTC
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“Kaidu, you run into anyone?” Rowan asked.
He nodded. “I spotted ten teams. Three had high level gear, party cohesion, and well-built parties, so I marked those for avoidance. Four further were full parties with low cohesion and lower-level gear. Those are marked as possibilities. The remaining three were loose clumps of wanderers, single-climbers or larger groups cut into smaller groups. Two of those three began acting together, and so I marked those for avoidance as well, though...
2021-09-01 20:01:01 +0000 UTC
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After a few seconds, Rowan rolled his eyes. Alright, cool guy, I need more than that. He jogged up beside Kaidu and stretched out his legs, mimicking Kaidu’s long gait. The few inches Kaidu had on him made it harder than he expected, but there wasn’t enough of a difference for the white-coated man to leave him behind.
“The most dangerous part?” he cued.
Ikara caught up and struggled alongside them to listen in. Every few steps, she dropped into a quick jog, then w...
2021-08-31 20:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Shoulders wet, hair plastered to his forehead, Rowan blinked away the rain. It's not raining that hard, but damn, it gets annoying.
He wiped the rain off his forehead and shivered, just once. The apron dragged at his shoulders, weighed down with rain. His eyes drifted to a dry nook between buildings, out of the persistent rain, but he shook his head and turned away. I can't. I need to find a clone.
Another corner. Clones everywhere, but none of him. Rowan frowned...
2021-08-30 20:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Fuck. Game over.
The sword plunged toward him.
Rowan jumped back, drawing his hand spade at the same moment. The spade barely met the sword in time. Red’s blow overpowered Rowan’s parry, but the interception knocked her blade askew. It glanced across Rowan’s ribs, drawing a thin line of red.
“Shit, he’s real?” Red gaped.
“Red!” Blue shouted.
Rowan staggered back, his spade raised.
“Oh, well. Points are points.” Red rushed at him...
2021-08-29 20:01:00 +0000 UTC
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Through the door, he watched the ruined fountain vanish. The door swung shut, eclipsing the gray sky, the gray buildings, the half-moon golden windows. Jacob’s startled face filled up the silver of remaining sky, and then the door closed.
Down and down, on into the black. Rowan closed his eyes and opened them. No difference. Black all around. The sensation of falling, and nothing. On and on, plunging into darkness, only the wind on his hair and skin to tell him he hadn’t stopped.
2021-08-28 20:00:04 +0000 UTC
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A slender man in a loose-fitting t-shirt and torn jeans stood up from one of the tables, a smirk on his face. Rather than artistically torn, the jeans were half-sewn in some places and ripped awkwardly in others, more the pair of jeans kept around to paint the house in than fashionable. He sauntered over, hands in his pockets.
Rowan jumped. How long has he been there? I didn’t notice him at all.
Lancelot and Terry moved as one, pushing Morgan and Jude behind them. Summo...
2021-08-27 20:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Watching Terry approach, Rowan’s mind spun. Run now? No, he’s too close. And he’d almost certainly attack. Putting aside his stupidity, the game, points, yadda yadda, he’s no friend of mine. If I give him the opportunity to get away with a sucker punch, he’d do it.
Stay frozen? I don’t think he’s figured out I’m not a clone. Maybe he thinks I got lucky, and that’s why I’m standing still. If he thinks I’m a clone, he ought to mostly leave me alone. Terr...
2021-08-26 20:00:03 +0000 UTC
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“I don’t have any points,” Rowan grit out.
Another chuckle. “I don’t care about points. Got anything from outside? Snacks? News?”
“O-outside?” Rowan stuttered.
“Outside the Tower. Don’t be a fool.”
“Er…” Rowan reached over his shoulder and scrambled around in his backpack. He offered up a bag of beef jerky. Dammit, my emergency food!
A slender hand in a formal white glove took it from him. “Thanks, friend. Don’t turn aroun...
2021-08-25 20:00:03 +0000 UTC
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The stone city bustled with clones. Half-moon windows glowed with gold light. Drizzling rain and oppressive clouds left a perpetual haze over the world. Rowan walked evenly down the street, mixing in with the stream of clones, men and women he didn’t recognize and a few familiar faces. An Ikara and a Kaidu pushed past him, blank-faced, eyes gazing into the middle distance. He did his best to adopt the same lack of an expression, jaw slightly slack, looking at nothing in particular.
2021-08-24 20:01:01 +0000 UTC
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“The… Scenario?” Ikara asked.
“Wait, this is part of the game?” Rowan added.
Just as they asked, white text appeared in front of their eyes, floating in a green box.
Welcome to the Second Floor! Clone Game Begins!
One hundred clones of yourself are scattered across the city. Every clone you kill gives one point in the game and adds one temporary point to your stats.
To win, a team must gather 1000 points. The th...
2021-08-23 20:01:02 +0000 UTC
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This time, rather than falling, he stepped onto a floor exactly where the floor should be. He kept walking, confused. White light suffused them all around, glowing from all directions, no indication of the floor, or the ground, or distance, just the three of them floating in the white light. After a few steps, Rowan stopped walking, too disoriented to continue.
“Ugh. I don’t like this,” Ikara muttered. She staggered into Rowan and leaned against him, grounding herself.
Kaidu...
2021-08-22 20:00:04 +0000 UTC
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The line stretched out of the Tower’s doors and coiled around its side, half-full of cheery families with stuffed-full daybags, luggage, and sugar-buzzed kids, half-full of grizzled climbers in scared armor, grimly clutching weapons and weighed down with over-full backpacks.
Rowan sighed. Right. I forgot it’s the weekend.
Joining the back of the line, Rowan, Ikara, and Kaidu hit the midpoint between the two. Rowan checked his bags once more, just to be sure. Kaidu sta...
2021-08-21 20:00:03 +0000 UTC
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“Hey, Rowan?” Ikara said.
“Hmm?” He glanced back.
She walked behind him, kicking her feet, hands clasped behind her. At his glance, she looked up, ponytails bouncing. “Should we cook tonight? Something more than eggs or soup, I mean.”
“Oh, right!” Rowan said, remembering. We said we were going to cook, but that was a week ago, and we never did it. “Yeah, let’s.”
Kaidu glanced over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow.
Rowan cleared hi...
2021-08-20 20:01:00 +0000 UTC
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One Week Later
Rowan pressed his back up against a corner and peeked around it, holding the spade tight. A massive, clawed footprint cracked the asphalt ahead of him, revealing strata of asphalt, substrate, then dirt. Dirty water obscured the depths, thick weeds peeking out of the muck. Blinding sunlight reflected off its surface.
He glanced behind him. Heat shimmered off the city streets. No sign of Kaidu.
Have to keep moving. He’ll find me.
One la...
2021-08-19 20:01:02 +0000 UTC
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At the apartment, Kaidu glanced over his shoulder and scowled at them. “Find your own place.”
“We’re still broke,” Ikara reminded him.
“Once we beat another floor, we’ll find somewhere else to stay, I promise,” Rowan said.
Kaidu snorted. He unlocked the door and vanished inside.
Rowan caught it before it closed and held it open for Ikara. She gave him a nod and ducked inside.
On the far side, Kaidu was nowhere to be seen. After a moment, he reappe...
2021-08-18 20:00:04 +0000 UTC
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The sun hung low in the sky. Mouth hanging open, bruises all over his body, Rowan staggered over broken glass and sunk into an abandoned apartment, pressing his back against the cool sheetrock walls for a moment’s cool. A quick noise startled him back to awareness. He jumped and drew his spade.
“Dammit, this is my hiding spot,” Ikara complained, standing up from inside the ruined sofa. Bits of foam and torn upholstery stuck to her arms and undershirt. The leather jacket hung from ...
2021-08-17 20:00:03 +0000 UTC
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“Yeah? What, you don’t see it?” Ikara said, tipping her head.
“I mean… no. I guess I could understand ‘hot,’ but not ‘cute.’”
“What? He’s totally cute.” Ikara shook her head adamantly, her ponytail thrashing around.
This tiny girl has a lot of spunk, to call Kaidu cute when she’s so adorable-sized herself. Rowan shook his head. “Nope. Kaidu is definitely hot. A hundred percent.”
Someone cleared their throat behind Rowan. He stif...
2021-08-16 20:01:00 +0000 UTC
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Around the corner from the arena and tucked away behind a building, the three of them slowed to a halt. Ikara plopped down on the curb and sighed, breathing heavily. “Damn, that was scary! Awesome, but scary.”
“I know, right?” Katy agreed.
Ikara squinted against the sun up at Katy. “What’re you still hanging around for?”
Katy shrugged. “An autograph.”
“Right, right.” Ikara waved vaguely and propped herself back on her hands.
A large cluster ...
2021-08-15 20:01:01 +0000 UTC
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The three of them burst out of the window, Katy first, Rowan and Ikara close on her heels. Katy leaped high in the air and dropped down on the mass of monsters between them and Henry. Her spear flashed, and monster bodies went flying.
“Going out with a fight, huh? Then why don’t we throw a little more fuel on the fire?” Cackling, Henry threw his hands forward. Monsters crawled out from the stands all around him and charged at Katy.
Katy, you charge the center. You’re o...
2021-08-14 20:01:01 +0000 UTC
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Katy pointed her spear at the trio. “Stay back!”
Henry chuckled. “Oh, I will. I’ll stay right here until you call uncle and hand over those credits.”
He gestured. The monsters surged forward, fierce, sharp teeth bared.
“Quick, in, get in!” Rowan shouted, yanking Ikara back from the window. Katy spun and hopped through the gap, launching herself feet-first over the counter. She landed gracefully and lifted the spear.
“We can stay here all day, if you lik...
2021-08-13 20:00:05 +0000 UTC
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