After the Second Fall Pt. 01.2

"Why wasn't I told?"

"You will be, tomorrow, by Director Humbolt. I overstepped by telling you tonight, but I didn't want to lie to you. And no, you don't have to feign ignorance: just tell him that I told you tonight and saved him the hassle of arguing about it."

John leaned forward, resting his head in his hands. Eventually, he sat up and looked to Lilith. "Can you tell me the main reasons? I don't need to know, but it would help me get fully on-board."

Lilith looked at him seriously before responding. "John, I will tell you, but you need to know that when I do, I am risking everything I've worked for over the last 20 years. If anyone on the Council learns that I told you, they will throw me out in the street. Do you understand?"

"Lilith... you don't have to tell me."

"Actually, John, I feel like I do. You need to be completely behind Pip on this, and if you are second guessing the motivation for the fight from the beginning, Pip will pick up on it."

She took a deep breath, then began. "In the extreme Northwest of our territory, we have a mining camp that has been excavating limestone for a long time. The district in which this camp sits is bordered by Marbelo on the West, but since limestone isn't particularly scarce, there was never reason for them to challenge for it. So why did they do so at the last forum?"

John shook his head.

"We didn't know either, until we dug deeper, as in, by using mining equipment. We excavated several exploratory pits right at the border, and instead of limestone, we found iron. What's more, the ore has more than 50% iron."

John whistled appreciatively and Lilith nodded. "Now you're starting to understand. It's not a make or break challenge, but the winner will control the entire deposit, or at least everything we currently know about. We had planned to put a mid-tier Adam into the fight --"

"Lance" interrupted John without thinking.

Lilith barely paused before continuing. "That's right, because we didn't want to risk one of our top Adams on low value challenge. However..."

John nodded, satisfied. "I understand, and you're right that there is a good reason. So why Pip and not Stash or Rix?"

"Well, that is probably Max's fault. He's kept Director Humbolt informed of Pip's progress." John nodded. "Apparently, Max is very, very impressed. He doesn't know what you now know, but he made it clear to Director Humbolt that Pip is ready for the Arena. What's more, he thinks Pip could beat any of the others -- I believe he said nine times out of ten."

John continued nodding. "Okay, I'm with you. The rub is that Pip is going to be going up against their best, or close to anyway. I'll talk with Geo tomorrow, and then Max and I can start the final prep." He took a deep breath. "Okay, so we have three weeks to prepare.

"Lilith, I'm afraid this is the time when my job is all-consuming. I won't be able to see you very much in the run up to the fight -- I hope you understand."

Lilith smiled as she stood. "Of course, John. This is what all of the effort is about." She pulled him down by his shirt front and gave him a sound kiss. "Good luck, and let me know if you need anything."

John nodded and smiled, but she could tell that his mind was already elsewhere. As she reached the door, she felt his hand on her shoulder a moment before he turned her around and picked her up, kissing her again, this time much more passionately. "Thank you for trusting me. It means more to me than I can easily say." He looked deeply into her dark eyes before giving her a final kiss and setting her down again. "Goodnight, Lilith."

She smiled warmly. "Goodnight, Honey."

When the girls found out, their reactions were mixed.

One might have thought that Maggie would be used to the Adams getting ready for fights, but this was the first time that her Adam would go to the Arena, and she was an absolute wreck. Gone were the bubbly personality and the carefree attitude, replaced instead with an almost obsessive need to be around Pip as much as possible.

Rosie was much calmer, having full knowledge of Pip's altered perception of time. While she did have some growing anxiety as the fight approached, she found that the biggest issue to be tackled was comforting Maggie.

It turned out that Rachel was the one that broke through, with nothing more substantial than her unshakable faith that Pip would return. Maggie didn't understand it, but it was the lifeline that she hung onto as the final days passed.

For Pip, it was essentially business as usual. The rigor of his training wound down dramatically so that his body would be fully rested for the fight. In place of sparring, he did cryotherapy. Weight and resistance training was replaced with deep tissue massages. Instead of the bed in his room, he slept in a hyperbaric chamber. All-in-all, Pip wasn't finding fight preparations too bad at all.

The thing that bothered him the most was, oddly enough, that he wasn't bothered by the prospect of the fight itself. If historical averages were to be believed, there was a fifty percent chance he would die during the fight. That should have made him anxious, or nervous, or scared, but it didn't. He talked this through with John and Max, and subsequently received a long, stern lecture on overconfidence, but Pip didn't think that was the issue. It was more like a general feeling of rightness. He was finally going to be able to do what he had been designed, born, and raised for, and that by itself was tremendously satisfying.

And, if Pip was being honest with himself, he was also looking forward to vindicating himself, and John, and all the others who had kept him in the program, despite his obvious physical limitations. So, as the day approached, Pip was quite content.

The day after John learned about Pip's selection, so too did everyone else in the Complex. Many of the staff started finding excuses to be around wherever it was that Pip found himself. In particular, the Courtyard was busier than he had ever seen it during midday as more and more people started eating outside.

At first, it was John and Rachel eating with him. When Maggie found out about the "lunch date," she invited herself and Rosie to join. A week later, Max was called over when he happened to stroll by, and in the final week, Lilith began attending as well. Of course, other colleagues would join their group from time to time if they happened to be in the area. Oddly enough, thanks to some sort of pseudo-precognition that Pip couldn't figure out, Rachel always had enough food.

By the time Lilith had joined them, it was common for more than seventy people to be sitting in the grass or standing at the ever increasing number of tables. Immediately after the announcement, it was evident that most of the conversation centered on Pip, given that people would sneak glances at him when they thought he wasn't looking. After days of ignoring it, Pip became annoyed and decided to turn the tables. In the middle of lunch, he clamped down on the Effect and surveyed the field in front of him, spotting a middle aged woman looking at him over a half eaten sandwich. Without warning he stood up, knocking over his stool, and snapped his hand up to his face, pointing his first two fingers at his eyes while staring intensely at the woman in a classic 'I'm watching you' gesture. The woman's mouth fell open, and when he pointed at her, she dropped her sandwich.

It was only a moment before Pip dropped the stare and smiled at her, finishing with a wave before picking up his stool and resuming his meal. While he sipped his carefully prepared protein and mineral shake -- the worst part of fight prep, in his opinion -- the others at the table stared at him with wide eyes. Except for John, who just shrugged and kept eating the newest offering that Rachel had gotten Madame Snow to prepare: stuffed peppers.

"What was that, Pip?" asked Rosie, alarmed.

"She was looking at me, but trying to be sneaky. I don't care, but it bothered me that she thought she was getting away with it."

"Makes sense," John said. "You're the talk of the Complex. Why wouldn't they want to see you up close?"

"Yeah, but it's the sideways glances, and the pretending to be looking at something over my head.

"John, I'm five or more hands taller than most people when I'm sitting down; there isn't much that is over my head."

John waved a fork full of food at Pip. "Fair enough, but is it really that bad?"

"Not really. I was just having some fun." Pip grinned. "Did you see her face, though? I feel a little guilty about it, but it really was funny."

Rosie punched him in the arm and gave him a stern look, then laid her head on his shoulder. "Meany."

"I am not. Look, watch this." Pip raised his arm, the one that Rosie wasn't leaning on, and motioned for the woman to come over. After the third time motioning to her, she slowly stood and walked toward them, looking as if she was going to the Headmaster's office. Pip smiled brightly at her and introduced himself and the others around the table, offering her some food, which Rachel quickly produced from the magic food dispenser on her cart. The woman apologized for being nosy, but Pip just waved it off, apologizing himself for startling her. In the end, she walked away with a smile and a stuffed pepper to replace the dropped sandwich.

"See, I'm not mean at all."

"You better be, come fight time," stated John matter-of-factly.

Maggie shot him a dirty look, then turned back to Pip. "How did you know she was looking at you?"

Pip shrugged noncommittally. "Peripheral vision."

"Pip, she was almost all the way to your left. Nobody's peripheral vision is that good."

"Well, mine is." Maggie gave him her best 'get over yourself' look, which he responded to with a smug grin.

"Prove it."

Pip sat up. "Right now, there are..." Pip squeezed down on the Effect again momentarily to provide the time he needed to to examine the extreme edges of his vision. "...four people looking at me: the two women dressed in green on my left, the big guy on my right who is pretending to be reading, and sandwich woman. Again." Pip pointed as he spoke, clearly surprising the first three. Sandwich woman, whose name was Anna, waved back cheerfully, as did her two companions.

"Unreal," said Maggie, astonished.

After that, it became a game. People in the crowd would sneak glances at Pip, and if he didn't catch them, they would celebrate. If he did spot them, he would point at them, and if it was their first time being caught, would motion them over to introduce themselves. For the first several days, there was a lot of high-fiving, as it was incredibly difficult for Pip to eat (drink) his lunch, have a conversation, and play the ever evolving game. By the time Lilith joined them, it had been two days since Pip had missed someone, despite the larger crowd.

Lilith was absolutely baffled by what was going on. Every twenty heartbeats or so, Pip would point at somebody, and sometimes two somebodies, without pausing what he was doing. It was no more than a quarter bell until her patience ran out. "Enough! What is going on?" To John, she said, "Is he having a breakdown?"

Maggie quickly stepped in to explain what Lilith was seeing, followed by Max's explanation of how Pip's situational awareness had improved dramatically over the preceding week with the constant practice and multi-tasking. Now calm, Lilith's only reaction was, "Huh, how about that?"

The words were no sooner out of her mouth when there came a whoop and the sound of hands smacking together. Pip stood up quickly, pointing at a man with a full brown beard about twenty paces to his left, who was standing smugly with four colleagues, all dressed in white lab coats. "Doug, you didn't look anywhere near me. You were looking over..." Pip's words trailed off as he turned further to look over his left shoulder, only to find another man in a lab coat holding a full length mirror and smiling. "Well, I didn't think of that. Come get some food."

Pip sat down while the six men jogged over, congratulating each other. The day's prize was chocolate cookies, still warm from the oven. Rachel was completely in her element passing out the treats, which were handled with reverence by the recipients. "Are they really that good?" Lilith asked.

Maggie nodded. "Yep, and since Pip is getting so good at catching people, we've been getting the leftovers." Pip just harumphed dramatically and continued sipping his pasty gray lunch, occasionally pointing out another hopeful.

Chapter 16

On the day before the fight, Pip said his goodbyes. Maggie was on the edge of tears, and Rosie was especially quiet, while Rachel gave him a cheerful wave. The biggest surprise of the morning was Director Collins, who gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and a hug, before offering a quick word of encouragement.

With a smile for the ladies, perhaps his last, he turned and walked with John and Max to the transport that would take them to the Arena. As the armored vehicle rolled along, Pip still wasn't afraid, but was certainly ready for the entire ordeal to be over, even though the official pre-fight requirements had not yet begun. "Any questions?" John asked.

Pip shook his head. "No. Max walked me through it a couple times, so I know what to expect. More or less, anyway." John nodded and the trio spent the remainder of the three bell trip in silence.

As they disembarked, Pip got his first in-person look at the Arena. It was smaller than he expected given it's importance to global politics, but that didn't make it less impressive. The entire structure was almost white, constructed of poured concrete. Directly in front of him was an entrance adorned by Rieckenberg's flag, tall enough that Pip could have ridden through on Max's shoulders without ducking. Not that he would ever do such a thing, but the thought did turn up the corner of his mouth.

On the opposite side, his adversary would enter through an identical entrance draped with the Marbelo colors, and in-between was only the Arena, a small control room, and separate waiting rooms for each fighter's support staff. In Pip's case, this would consist of Doctor Shepard, an assistant, and two retired Adams, who would arrive shortly before the fight.

After his brief appraisal, Pip held out his hand to Max, who shook it firmly, looking Pip squarely in the eye before giving him a nod, which Pip returned. Pip turned and offered his hand to John, who looked at it for a moment, then back up at Pip.

"Good luck, Pip," said John as he stepped forward to give the young Adam a hug. If Pip was surprised, he didn't show it, and returned the hug with only minimal awkwardness. "I'm not giving you a kiss." Pip smiled and nodded, then started walking toward the door, clapping John on the shoulder as he walked past.

When he was gone from sight, John and Max stood side by side, not yet ready to go back to the city, the smaller man rubbing his now tender shoulder. "I think he did that on purpose."

Max nodded. "Probably. Maybe he figures it'll be something for you to complain about when you see him tonight."

John nodded without enthusiasm. "Real opinion time, Max. Do you think he has a chance?"

Max responded immediately. "Better than just a chance. I can't get near him anymore. I know I'm a step slower than I used to be, but even in my prime I wasn't that fast. And for a little guy, he hits hard." He took a deep breath. "Do you know the expression 'a puncher's chance?'" John nodded. "That's what we're hoping against. Whoever he's staring across at will probably be half again as big as he is, and if any one thing goes wrong, that could be the end of it." Max let that unpleasant thought hang in the air for several heartbeats before continuing. "But to be honest, Pip is as close to a sure things as I've ever seen."

Inside the Arena building, Pip came to a closed steel door. On the wall next to the door was a shiny steel sign with instructions.

Disrobe and leave your clothing and belongings below this sign. Then pull open the door and enter the room in front of you. Close and latch the door, then look for additional instructions.

Pip complied and found a longer list inside, preceded by a strongly worded statement.

Notice: In this examination room, full compliance with contest regulations will be ensured. Violations will result in immediate disqualification from the contest and death for the competitor.

1) All waste is to be deposited directly onto the grate in the corner marked Waste. Failure to deposit both liquid and solid waste prior to the contest will be considered a violation.

2) A blood sample is to be deposited directly into the tube in the alcove marked Blood. Using the provided razor blade, fill the tube completely. Failure to deposit an adequate amount of blood will be considered a violation.

3) Sustenance is available in the alcove marked Sustenance.

4) Water is available in the alcove marked Water.

5) The time until the contest is shown on the Timer.

6) When the Timer reaches zero, the door marked Arena will open and the contest will begin.

Pip quickly took care of the required samples, finding that a small nick on the bottom of his hand provided more than enough blood, which was whisked away through the wall as soon as it reached the fill line on the designated tube. Just to be sure, Pip filled the tube again, but nothing more happened. With the proscribed activities completed, Pip sat down for what the Adams referred to as 'The Long Wait'. For Pip, this amounted to just over six bells before the door would open, and he found himself wishing that his ability to affect time could also be used to make it pass faster.

Pip tried to sleep, but the floor was cold and hard, so instead he meditated, reflecting on his life. He spent a long time considering Rosie and Maggie and the way their relationship had come together so quickly. He thought about Rachel and Director Collins, Max and John. Thinking of John standing outside the Arena, dead serious, rubbing his arm, Pip couldn't help but smile.

When the Timer reached two bells, Pip was at peace and had no trouble falling into his familiar long-form stretching routine.

With half a bell to go, Pip began to elevate his heart rate with a tailored plyometrics sequence.

As the final time trickled away, Pip's skin was damp, his heart was thumping, and his mind was blank. Then the door opened and he strode through -- knowing that it would only stay open for a short while -- and was in the Arena for the first time.

The Arena itself was circular and fifteen of his paces across, with straight walls going up to just higher than he could reach and then coming together to form a dome. It was entirely white, and entirely empty, save for his opponent, who was already charging across the room at him.

Pip quickly used the Effect, slowing time so that the man was barely moving. Naked like himself, the man was at least as big as Max, and likely broader, with bulging arms and thighs. He had a professional, determined look in his eyes, like you might find in an assassin. 'Apropos', thought Pip, given their shared profession.

Pip let time move forward more quickly and began to close the distance himself.

For Pip's opponent, this must have been a dream scenario. The man across from him was clearly a runt, probably chosen as a sacrifice given the low apparent value of the disputed territory. So when he saw Pip obviously telegraph an initial punch with his right hand, he knew instinctively that it had to be a feint, and decided instantly to absorb the blow while using his superior body mass and strength to win the fight. In a feat of tremendous athleticism, the Marbelan launched himself forward at Pip's midsection, arms wide, while they were still half a dozen strides apart.