At the moment of detonation, I feel a sudden tug forward as Naomi pulls Tala with me, allowing me to focus on powdering the few stones we can't avoid with my railgun.
Maybe I should rethink which weapon is my primary...
I giggle hysterically as I realize we're all alive. We've survived! I conquered the most dangerous threats in the arena that weren't my sister!
"I'm unstoppa-" SLAP!
Naomi's hand dazes me as she kills my mental victory lap, leaving behind flashing lights.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?! You could have killed us!"
"Clearly I didn't. You had plenty of time to jump ship or protest."
"Would you have listened to me if I did?" Naomi shouts.
"Well we'll never know because right now there's a crater where two of the biggest sticks this school had are smouldering."
"And for what? So you could prove something?! They're zero points!"
"We got plenty of points together, I'm sure of it. Think of all the bots we smashed."
"We smashed or your stolen bot?"
"Possession is nine-tenths of the law..."
"Aggh! You are the most frustrating person I have ever-" Naomi cut herself off and drew her wrench. I saw ahead that she was about to turn and stomp away.
"Where are you going?" I ask, realizing Tala has appeared behind my back.
"To get real points! There's no time."
"Wait, we can still help each other." That gets her to turn.
"Why should I accept any help from you?"
I lower my voice to a whisper. "Because we're already passed."
Naomi crosses her arms, her wrench bobbing a bit. "You have ten seconds."
My argument is already composed. "Look, how do you think they determine scores."
"It's based on the number of bots we killed," Naomi said.
"No it isn't just that. Night Woman said we'd be evaluated on our performance. There's more to being a hero than taking out the bad guys, right? Saving people. Coordinating with each other. And they can't track all of that with cameras, so what do you think they use?"
Tala's ears suddenly perked up. "The trackers in our uniforms!"
"That's right. Based on our proximity and movements, they can tell which of us are working together and who's on their own."
"So why you toss your uniform, ke?" Naomi's accent seems to grow heavier out of annoyance.
"Because I don't want to wear anyone else's symbols but mine. I may have tossed the uniform, but I kept the one bit of tech inside it." I pull the tracker out of my left pocket.
Naomi gawks at me for a moment, before clicking her tongue. "You are absolutely trying to piss off someone big, aren't you? Sure you're not a villain? Why do all this?"
"Because you've got a good head on your shoulders, and I'd rather not be completely alone when I conquer the engineering track."
Naomi shook her head. "We're going to see a lot of each other after this, aren't we?"
"You're free to jump ship or protest," I reply.
She bursts out laughing. "You're crazy, but I think maybe you will do what you say. Fine. Just don't turn that crazy on me."
"No promises," I smile.
We head to the middle of the arena, unopposed by students and machines alike. The reason for the latter is that they probably ran out.
With nothing left to kill, and Fiona resting on a pile of heavy bots and a few varieties I didn't get to see, everyone in the exam seems to circle up, most of them eyeing Fiona with either jealousy or adoration, likely based on how comfortable they felt with their scores.
Her two fangirls cheer and praise her, and it's with a little blush that Fiona waves to them.
Ugh, you deserve better friends than corporate hires, I think uncharitably.
We're about three minutes from the buzzer when a big set of screens descends towards us, hovering above the center.
Night Woman's snore comes across before it sounds like someone wakes her.
"Wha? Is it over?" There are sounds of muffled talking before she returns. "Oh, uh, looks like we're out of robots so... Let's just call it here." A tiny click sounds and confetti and sparks shoot out of the floating screen platform, along with a blaring fanfare of trumpets. And then... "What do you mean there's a second part? I thought that was next week."
More muffled talking ensues before Night Woman speaks again. "Oh, uh. Here are your scores... Are you sure this is right?"
A red line appears on the screen. The test scores come up, and I'm tied at the top with Naomi and Oil Stain of all people. Fiona has a 98, and the lowest score is actually Tala, with a 79.
She whines a little, seeing the red line right beneath her photo, which makes her look like a good girl, yes it does...
Focus, Ash! She's not a pet.
The Practical exam scores pop up, and Fiona dominates the top of them in combat points. Tala gets a healthy sixth place, but as the scores get lower and lower, a bad feeling starts to fill my stomach.
My combat points come up as 5, right below Naomi's 7. Well below the red line.
Naomi bursts into tears. "You lied to me. I shouldn't have..."
"Score's not over yet," I cut in.
The screen slides our pictures and a new criterion appears. Rescue Points.
At the very top are me, Naomi, and Fiona, sharing first. Tala hovers in a tie at 10th place.
Damn, if we came together sooner.
Tala is all howls of happiness and Naomi looks at me incredulously. "So you really did know. How?!"
"Trade secret," I wink.
"What, you're Crusader's kid. Obviously, he told you."
"Nope. I'm not relying on that guy for anything. Not if I can help it." I point my thumb at the board again. "Check out the last category."
In technical points, I'm at the top, with Oil Stain, some guy I don't recognize except for his grass hair, and Fiona bringing up the immediate slots behind me. Naomi is a solid 5th place, likely because, to my guess, no one knew who was doing what inside Kaiju, but I was clearly in the pilot seat while she was sitting at what I assumed was the comm station.
"Congratulations, students. You've all done your best, so, uh, wait there for the rankings. And medics." With a slight grumble, Night Woman's voice grows quieter as she speaks in a direction away from the mic. "I'm getting overtime for this, right?"
There's an indistinct comment. And then...
"What do you mean 'No'?!"