The next day, we were woken up and given jumpers of different coloreds. It had everything in it, including several ropes to pull on to modify the dressing. The first place we were taken to was the control system.

  A grey haired man with a rolling gait and a pot belly seemed to be our professor. There were some staff in there, but as soon as he came, they all excused him. Everything we learnt that day, we were to put into practice without the help of the staff.

  "Good morning, and welcome to your first class. I am professor Charles, and today, we would be understanding the algorithm's behind our transport. I am sure by now, you know the reason why you are here? It was not easy selecting people for this program. You of all people should know how grueling and competitive it was, to select only ten people from the entire globe. You must all be special. And a number of you might have an inflated sense of importance."

  He peered at all of us. I was only curious. I had never seen anyone act in such a manner.

  "I want to tell you that if you feel that way, it is better to drop out now and give your space to someone more deserving."

  I heard a few whispers and the shuffling of feet behind me. It was obvious no one wanted such an option.

  "The way I see it, there are a lot of things you would see that would humble you. And, we need collaboration from everyone. This is not a competition. But, we are always on the lookout for the most outstanding person. Demonstrating high intelligence and integrity would make you standout. News flash, we love that."

  He walked to a wall and touched it. The wall seemed to come alive, like one of the digital blackboards. On it, a sequence of numbers ran vertically and horizontally for two seconds. Then, the screen went off.

  "That, what you have just seen, is what holds a quarter of this entire program together. You have to know every single thing in there. Does anyone?"

  There was a hush.

  I raised my hands shakily. Professor Charles peered at me with his intense green eyes. "Yes?"

  I cleared my throat. "There were five thousand seven hundred and five sequences there. And that is not all because the permutations of every number in there is also represented in the final algorithm, which makes the total up to millions."

  I proceeded to recite the first hundred, without a mistake. Somehow, by looking at it for the first two seconds, it seemed to get stamped into my brain.

  When I stopped, professor Charles scoffed. He had an incredulous look in his eyes. Everyone in the class fell silent.

  "What's your name?"

  I pointed at my tag. "Emma Mckinny."

  "Emma," Professor Charles began, "you demonstrate excellence in information learning. Keep it up."

  I nodded.

  Austin leaned in to whisper to me, "They are adding a few points to you. They're watching, you know. Bravo."

  Akio gave me a thumbs up. Alyonna shot me a look I could not decipher.

  "So," Professor Charles continued, I am quite certain you all have a knowledge of geo positioning and extraterrestrial geology?"

  He continued to speak, filling us in on the numbers, the science behind them, and how they all fit into the grand scheme of our plan. Professor Charles was clearly in love with what he was doing because his eyes lit up and he became more and more animated as he spoke. The class lasted for three hours. After that, we all filed in for planetary studies. We were told beforehand that it was one of the most important classes we would take. We had to pay attention because the bulk of what we would do was going to be centered around our understanding of how the planets worked.

  This time, our teacher was an AI. She was slim, bald, and had on sparse make up. She reminded me of a course Xavier had once taught me, titled the history of AIs. She looked very much like Sophia, the first robot to get a citizenship. Although, she was much more sophisticated and her movements were fluid. Well, Sophia existed decades ago. Her silicone skin was smoothly parched. There were no overlapping edges or snatches or steel or wires at the back of her head. She was more humanoid than a robot. When she spoke, she sounded like...

  "This is definitely Scarlett." Austin said.

  Alyonna overheard him. "That's because Scarlett donated her voice waves when the robot was being built. They cloned her vocal cords. You should read more about the UNCF operations." Alyonna said with a smug look.

  Before Austin could respond, the robot began speaking.

  "Hello, I am XA23:8"

  "Hello, XA23:8." We all chorused back.

  She blinked. "Today, I will be teaching you about the Medusa Merger galaxy which is your final destination. The target planet is the Genus-8, which is the 8?th? orbiting planet in that solar system.

  "You should also know that there are several plants adjacent to the target space ship."

  When she mentions the space ship, a knot tightens in my stomach. I think of the list of names Xavier called out for me in the car. People stuck in the entrails of time, not knowing when they would return home, not knowing if any one was coming to search for them at all. Xavier had already told me some details about the Medusa Merger Galaxy, and I doodled on my desk as she XA23:8 spoke.

  "Pay attention." Austin signaled to me with his hands. The robot was still speaking. "The medusa Merger Galaxy was coined from certain features. One, from Mary Merger, the first discoverer who unfortunately died in its toxic fumes before we learnt how to stop it. Two, the apparent structure of it. The galaxy is made of a central core with stars and black holes extending from the circumference of it, similar to the folklore of Medusa, the goddess cursed with snakes on her head. Now what is interesting is the fact that, at certain seasons, these tentacles retract into the core, and it appears to be a normal galaxy, just Like ours. But when the tentacles are out, it gives off toxic red fumes that melt anything within 500 km radius of its path. Well, it's a good thing we discovered how to circumvent that with a Windem. But Mary Merger did not. Thankfully, she changed history and we will forever remember her for that legacy."

  The robot paused. The whole class was transfixed in an awed silence.

  "Now, to the adjacent planets around the Genus-8. To the left, we have the genus– 7, And to the right, the Genus-9. If you look two places down, you find the Lotus-Barj, and the Kranks to the left, and Marque, and Pluto-rej to the right. Pluto-rej is so named because it is similar to the now extinct planet Pluto."

  She folded her hands. "Now, to the real deal. Reach under your desks, everyone of you. You will find a helmet with your name attached. Put it on and strap on. We will now take a tour of what we have discussed with a virtual simulator."

  There is an excited murmur passing through the class. I reach under the desk for mine and as usual, it is navy blue. I see that each of us has been assigned a colored. Alyonna has a red jumper, and everything given to her is also red.

  I strap in my helmet and lean back in my seat.

  "Are we ready?" The robot asks. "In 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..."

  A hot white light flashes across my eyes. There is an ethereal feeling I get, as though I am leaving my body, shedding off the dead weight of my flesh and bones. I can still hear the teacher's voice.

  "I would need everyone to stay calm. Do not panic. I repeat, do not panic, or your consciousness could be trapped in this realm. We can always get it out but be assured that we would be sending you home immediately after such incidents. We want brilliant scientists, not casualties."

  I can hear my own breathing.

  We are in a dark space, floating, tumbling, weightless. I can see the outlines of the Medusa Merger, which we are inching towards. The teacher's voice continues to guide us. She points out all the planets she has mentioned, and I see everything except the target space ship.

  Where is it? I think to myself.

  "It is not part of this simulation, Miss Emma McKinny. You get to see it in real life. It has been scrapped from this teaching lesson for confidential reasons. And yes, I can hear your thoughts."

  I swallow.

  After pointing out everything, she wraps up.

  "Alright, people. We have come to the end of this class which you may be surprised, lasted only one hour. Our classes are quite short. Professor Charles is quite the talker. That's why you got three hours." She laughs. "You are all going straight into survival skills class."

  Someone speaks up. The voice sounds like something coming from far away. It belongs to the middle eastern boy. His name is Khalid. I had spotted it on his jumper during professor Charles' class.

  "I can't feel my hands. How do we get out of here since this is over?"

  Others murmur their approval for his question. Their voices sound like it is coming from a vacuum. It is because they are using their physical voices and we are far removed from our bodies here.

  "Well," the robot says, "That's how we introduce the survival class. You have five minutes to remove yourself from this simulation, and get back to your bodies, all without help. Good luck."

  She logs off and people begin to panic. I can see Alyonna, working mechanically at her new simulation body, trying to find controls on her jumper that could lead her back to her body. It is made even more difficult because there is no gravity.

  Khaled is freaking out. He is slapping at himself, swearing and crying and jerking.

  "Relax." Austin says to him in his simulation voice.

  I stare down at my arms. We seem to be stuck in space with absolutely nothing. An idea occurs to me, and I act on it.

  I start to inch towards the core of the Medusa merger.

  "Two minutes left." A mechanical voice drones above us.

  Zuri is hyperventilating.

  "Where the fuck are you going? Are you crazy?" Someone screams at me. It is Alyonna and I pay her no need.

  "Are you sure that's safe, Emma?" Austin asks in a flurry of panic.

  I do not answer. My mind is consumed by that singular task I need to do. I worm my way closer to the hot core.

  The tentacles spread and hot red fumes begin to come out.

  "58 seconds left." The mechanical voice taunts.

  Zuri yells at me to get back.

  "It's not fucking real!" I scream back at them, surprising even myself.

  That seemed to shut them up for a while. Still, I can feel their almost palpable fear, oozing out and forming a suffocating cloud right behind me, just like the red fumes in front of me.

  I stand in the middle of the vast space of it, and put my hand through it.

  I had expected to fall through nothingness and into a place that revealed the planets. Instead, I touched a glass wall.

  "30 seconds left."

  Austin was behind me now, followed by Alyonna, Zuri, and another boy whose name I had not learnt yet.

  The wall blinked red lights. It requested for a password.

  "What the actual fuck? What password. Oh my God, I am freaking out." Zuri said. She was still hyperventilating, finding it difficult to breathe properly.

  "10 seconds left."

  "That's it!" I screamed.

  "What?" They all asked simultaneously.

  There was no time to answer. The countdown was already at 3. I imputed the password that came to my mind like a strong, irrepressible urge.

  It worked.

  We all got our bodies back and slammed our heads against the desk. It was a good thing we were protected by the helmet.

  I took mine off. The others did.

  There was a man in front of the classroom now, at the same spot where the robot was. He clapped and looked at us with an unflinching gaze. "Welcome to survival skills 101."

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  I fought the urge to break down and cry.

  The whole class turned to me.

  "What was the password?" Alyonna asked aloud. The others wanted to know too. I felt uncomfortable being stared at by so many people.

  "The teacher." I finally replied.

  "What?"

  "The teacher. XA23:8, that was the password."

  Everyone seems to sigh collectively. The survival skills teacher smiles.

  "My name is professor Dan. Miss Emma McKinny, you have demonstrated a mind-blowing ability in basic system control. Bravo."

  Austin reached and squeezed my shoulders. I do not know how to feel.

  Professor Dan began to pace to and fro in front of the class.

  "I am certain most of you are disgruntled, feeling discouraged, or generally angry at such an unexpected turn of events. Well, news flash, that is how it is in the real, final stage. Anything could happen. You could run out of oxygen, get hit by a meteor, collide with another spaceship, get attached by a foreign element, die. ANYTHING could happen, and it is our responsibility to prepare you for that eventuality."

  He pauses.

  "The name of your planetary science teacher was the password. That should teach you two lessons. The first is, there are always clues in nature. If you get to a new planet and there is nothing to eat, and you finally stumble across something that could be edible. Let's say, a black plant with spikes, growing out of a rock. How do you detect that it is not poisonous?"

  Nobody answers.

  "You build upon what you have always known.

  "The second lesson is that, you just never be afraid of challenges. Miss Emma McKinny walked right into the red fumes of the Medusa Merger. Now, common sense should tell you that you must never do that in real life. You would need a Windem to combat the fumes. To protect you. But this was a simulation, and our goal was to test your courage, to test the extent you would go in the face of fear. Miss Emma demonstrated incredible bravery."

  Professor Dan taught us a lot. I could feel my mind expanding with so much knowledge being poured into it. He taught us about navigating our way through a space accident, fighting off alien species, surviving in a foreign location where we knew nothing about the food, water, sand , or air.

  After the class, we all pack up, famished and desperate for lunch. I recall with regret, my pile of food I did not get to eat during dinner yesterday. For breakfast, I took a peanut butter sandwich, an Apple, and a cup of creamy coffee. Alyonna had looked at my choice of food with disdain, balancing her own exquisite choices on her tray. I did not pay her any attention. It was something I was getting used to and was surprisingly good at.

  I am about to leave when Professor Dan calls me back.

  "Emma?" He calls, rolling up his sleeves before he picks up his briefcase.

  I turn to face him.

  He clears his throat and adjusts his horn-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose. I look at him now, really look at him. He has a hook shaped nose and pert, tiny lips. There is a large mole on his chin, resplendent in all its glory. It is further amplified by the fact that professor Dan has no beards, but he keeps his mustache Hitler style.

  "So, the team and I communicated this instant. I mean, the management and I. We have decided that you are quite exceptional. We are all watching, you know. We watch your every move. You needn't tell the rest but Khalid will be going home soon. He doesn't have the emotional depth to endure all that is to come. Anyway, you have stood out for us, and we hope to train you in the best way possible. That being said, we would be putting you directly under the mentorship of the field engineer, Mr. Seamus. You would work under him and subsequently learn much more. Is that okay?"

  "Yes, yes." I reply enthusiastically, flustered and unsure how to react.

  Professor Dan grins. "You see, we are not trying to be partial or discriminatory. We have looked at each and every one of you, and you are being organized according to your strengths. And this strength, whatever capacity you exude, it is our desire to hone it and make the very best out of you. Never get the impression that we are trying to put anybody down, or uplift some at the detriment of others. In the case of Khalid, we don't want another dead or missing kid on our hands."

  When he says the last sentence, I feel the blood drain from my face. I get a sick feeling in the bottom of my stomach, and professor Dan has a grim expression on his face. I thank him hurriedly, pick up my things and leave.

  The artificial sun is not so hot today. In fact, it comes with a little chill. A thought suddenly occurs to me. What if we are all training under a distorted reality of time? We had watches and devices that showed the time, but the controller could decide to make it night or evening if he liked. He could make the sun shine longer and give us longer hours of classes and training. Besides, we relied on our circadian cycle to sleep, right? All they had to do was bombard us with so much light and energy and we would find it virtually impossible to sleep or rest.

  The others had gone far ahead of me to the cafeteria, and I walked slowly behind. Finally, I catch up with them. When I am about to order my food, one of the serving robots looks up at me with dark inquisitive eyes.

  "You are quite tired, Miss. Emma, aren't you?"

  "Yes." I reply, smiling weakly.

  "Alright. We highly recommend that you rest in your room. If you have read the prospectus, in section 6.3a, it is stated that participants of the space exploration program in the class of 2140 can always order for their food by room service. Now you go on, Miss Emma. I would bring you...."

  I look around at what is available. "Clam Chowder. I want a Clam Chowder."

  "Very well. I will bring up your Clam Chowder in the next thirty minutes."

  I say thank you to the robot, feeling like I have been bestowed with some maternal warmth for the very first time in my life.

  In my room, I peel away the jumpers and slot it into the laundry basket, where it will tumble downwards automatically to wherever the washroom is located. After three hours, I would find it neatly washed, scented, pressed and folded in a compartment just beside the laundry basket.

  I take a quick shower and lie on my bed, internalizing everything that has happened. I pick up Xavier from the place I hid her under my bed, and turn her on. I feel sorry for doing this, for hiding her way this way. But I snuck her in and it was not particularly allowed. The authorities probably foresaw that the kids bringing their AIs would be an avenue for a lot of pranks and mischief to happen. It was a necessary rule, but I knew I could not live with myself if I left Xavier to gather dust in my bedroom, all alone with nobody to debug, clean, or fix her. Mother and father would certainly pay her no attention.

  I brought her as a companion too because I figured I would be lonely. I cannot help but feel as though I have betrayed her. What with Austin, Zuri, Akio, and the number of new faces I am now familiar with.

  "Hi, Xavier." I whisper, as she opens her two slits for eyes.

  "Hello, Emma."

  I cannot read her expression, but I wonder if she feels betrayed. Disappointed, even. I wonder if she feels I have abandoned her for other endeavors. I make a promise to myself to keep her with me all the time. She could fit into my palm so why not?

  I jump in fright as a knock comes on the door. I hide Xavier under the duvet, and when I open the door, I find a robot bearing a plate of steaming Clam Chowder.

  "Miss Emma McKinny?"

  "Yes." I say. I grab the food, mutter a thanks, and dig into it. The robot leaves, and I suppose it is satisfied.

  When I am done with the meal, I sit with Xavier. We play a game, and read a little.

  By 9:00pm, it is lights out. Everything grinds to a halt and suddenly, the voices get filtered out and a slow, almost indiscernible lullaby begins to play from my speakers. I find that I detest it so I put it off immediately. Only Xavier knew what to play that would lull me into a deep sleep. So, I lay awake, Xavier still playing an audio book into my ears, the night, hanging thick and dark against my window.

  We stay in this position for about two hours. Sleep does not come. I reconsider putting on the lullaby again, and I decide not to. Perhaps, it has stopped. Two hours is a long time to induce sleep.

  I am still thinking when I hear a soft knock coming from the door. I sat up at first, startled. Of course, my first instinct is not to open the door, but I do not feel terrified either. There is a calm curiosity about me. The first thing I do is say goodnight and thank you to Xavier. I turn her off and sneak her under the duvet. My mind begins to rush with a number of possibilities.

  What if it was the management coming to question me on why I had a prohibited AI in my possession? What if I had broken one if the rules: stayed too long at something, spent too little on another? Or, more grimly, what if the camp had been sabotaged and a vicious alien with a sickle was now knocking at my door?

  I whisper a little shut up to myself. I get up, put on my slipper and the navy blue robe provided for me, then I brace myself and open the door. Alas, it is none other but Austin. His eyes shine brightly in the darkness, and his skin looks extraordinarily pale. He grins at me foolishly.

  "What the hell, Austin? What are you doing here?"

  He grins again, and offers me his hands. "Come on. I want to show you something."

  "By midnight?" I wrap my robe tighter around my body. I am hesitant about taking his hands.

  "Yes. You wouldn't get the chance to do this again. Trust me."

  I sigh. "Can you give me a moment let me change into real clothes then?"

  "Nah, you're alright."

  It is then that I notice that he too is clad in nothing but a pajamas. I have a thick robe over mine.

  "Fine." I say.

  "Yes!" he exclaims.

  He takes my hands and we pad down the stairs and into the darkness. There are lights illuminating some areas, but other parts are shrouded in black.

  "Where are we going?"

  "To have fun."

  Against my natural rigidity, I giggle.

  We walk stealthily, avoiding the lamps and penumbras, creeping like night insects; quietly.

  Austin takes me to the bridge that links the main buildings.

  "Who would have thought I could ever show up here dressed in PJs and a robe." I say.

  Austin laughs. "Living spontaneously is quite fun, isn't it?"

  I shake my head. "What was it you wanted to show me?"

  Austin places his hands on my shoulders. "Now easy, Tiger. It's just right here."

  He guides me to the criss cross of bridges and stairs, and tells me to sit.

  "What's going on?" I say. My voice does jot hold a tinge of panic. I am actually looking forward to whatever it is he wants to show me. I have never gotten a surprise in all my nineteen years on earth. Austin knows that my questioning is coming from a place of thrill and excitement, and he takes his time.

  He reached under the bridge and manipulated a few buttons.

  "Isn't this illegal?"

  "Where is it written in the prospectus?"

  I take a deep breath. "Section 12, subsection 1a, 'No student should be found around the official premises after lights out.' For subsection 4a, Do not tamper with the equipment unless you are asked to. This includes the robots, jetpacks,'"

  I go on, listing and listing while Austin watches me with a wistful expression. When I'm done, he grins.

  "So you got it all in your head, huh?"

  I do not answer. There is a peculiar way Gus' hair falls over his eyes and I am watching it.

  "Listen," he says, "One of the things I'm going to teach you is nonconformity. Yes? I worked in the security force for some time. And you know how it goes. Discipline, punctuality, integrity." He pauses. "But that is not all they need. If you have all that, you'll be fine. However, you won't go up the ranks quickly. So what do they need? A little bit of danger. They want to see that you can think outside the box they have specially carved and placed you in. They want to know if you can save lives, regardless of the instruction of your superintendent. Now, it is very tricky and you must know when to stop being foolhardy. Of course, they tell you you must never disobey your superintendent, but sometimes, even those superior to you can have errors in judgement that could cost lives, that could result in a really huge mistake. When it comes down to that, it is your reckless impulse, your foolhardiness that would save the situation. Although they do not like to admit this so that people don't go doing stupid things, they actually appreciate a person that has a mind of his own. A person that beats the system."

  The bridge begins to assemble together silently. All the links, the chain of transparent stairs, the bridge, they all merge into one big slide.

  My eyes are huge with wonder, and Austin does nothing but chuckle.

  He continues, "I don't know about here. Perhaps they love people who do everything by the book. I highly doubt that because our first survival 101 test proved that. You proved that. Anyway, all I am ever sure of is that we all need to find a way to have some fun."

  As he says that, he pushes me down the slide and I go down, giggling like a child. I climb back through the now constructed ladder from behind and push him too. He laughs. Soon, we are going at it like kids. I have never had this much fun, even as a child.

  Eventually, when we are exhausted, we both lie at the bottom of the slide, watching the stars as they configure in the sky. He brings out a bag of chips and we share it.

  "I never knew you worked with the security force." I say suddenly, breaking the silence.

  Austin chuckles. "Well, there's a lot you don't know about me."

  I turn to face him. "Can you tell me, then?"

  He sighs. "Okay, where do I begin? My name is Austin Choi..."

  I cut in, laughing, "I know that."

  "I was born in the east side. Grew up there, spent a large chunk of my life there."

  "What was your childhood like?"

  He shifts. "Well, pretty normal, I would say. It was normal for the first decade. My parents were the absolute best. My mum, she was quite the rockstar. She used to come for PTA meetings and cause quite a ruckus because she would be dressed to kill." He laughed. "I remember her gingerbread, the way I would come back from school to find cookies and warm milk on the dinner table, the way she resolved petty fights between my siblings and I. She had such beautiful, beautiful blue eyes. And really soft hands." He swallows.

  His eyes are shimmering. I do not know if it is from budding tears or the reflection of the moon in his eyes. I don't ask.

  "You speak of them in the past tense." I say, quietly.

  "Yes. They both died when I was 10. Suicide."

  I am shaken. "I'm so sorry."

  "It's okay. It was a long time ago. I remember being a scrawny little kid, always hiding behind my mother's apron, thinking everything was out to get me. It was a miracle I was never bullied in school, considering how frail I was. But my mother was also very understanding. I could always stay with her, draw some warmth and comfort. I should have known that she was the one who needed comfort more than anyone else. She was the one who needed protecting. She was bipolar, you know. And we were too poor to afford the new drugs that provided a balance for a period of five years. So she just stuck with the regular antidepressants and what not. We were poor but I never even noticed. That was how awesome home was. Well, she killed herself eventually."

  I place my hand gingerly on his shoulders.

  "I found her, handing from the ceiling in the attic, her apron was tied around her neck." He laughed but I could see that it was slathered with pain and anger. "Out of everything, she used that apron whose strings I terribly loved to tug on and hide behind.

  "After that, My sister, Joyce, and I moved in with my grandmother. We call her Ma Choi. She had arthritic knees, gnarled fingers, and she was always in pain. But she raised us single handedly. I owe her a lot, you know. Then four years ago, the east side was attacked. You heard about the extraterrestrial menace of 2136, right?"

  "Yes." I said. Recalling how the news was awash with it. Their sills had been infiltrated. Farms had been poisoned with radioactive chemicals, food supply was short, and people in the east side were losing their jobs. All because of some stupid alien infiltration, and they were not caught eventually. The only tightened security measures.

  "My family was hit. Our funds were cut off, and I had to go out there and find a way to look after all of us. I got recruited into the security force temporarily. It was quite fun, I tell you. This provided a stable income for the family until the threat passed and I was let off. With the knowledge I had acquired, I interned with a place that dealt with the mechanics of machines. It was a workshop owned by one of my retired superintendents in the force. He was the one who taught me about the need to have a mind of my own, to stand out and follow my instincts and now merely conform to everything.

  "So when I heard of this space exploration program, I knew I had to convince my boss to get my name in. I had to. I also had a lot of experience so I guess that helped. My motivating factor, you must already know. If I make it past this stage and selected among the crew that would actually get deployed to the Medusa Merger, my family would be offered financial support for life. That's it. I am doing this for them, for my Grandma Choi especially. She is everything. I guess the contract was made so because we could die at any point in there, right?" he says grimly and laughs.

  I punch him playfully. "Don't be so pessimistic."

  "Think about it. My theory makes a lot of sense."

  We get quiet again.

  "What about you?" He asks. "What was your childhood like?"

  I shrug. "I was adopted as a baby. I grew up with my dad and mum. My dad is finicky with finances, my mum hardly speaks. She isn't mute, but she gets lost a lot so she is always in solitude. My best friend, teacher, only companion, is an AI named Xavier. We both made the applications and I ran away from home to come here. Not like it matters. I'm pretty sure my parents aren't looking for me. Ever since the government funds for adoption stopped when I turned 18, they haven't really cared what I do with my life."

  "That sounds really lonely." Austin says.

  "Yea. It's cool though."

  We sit on the bridge for some minutes more. Suddenly, a bright light gets flashed in your direction.

  "Hey!"

  "We have been caught!" Austin whispers. He grabs my hands and we begin to run, stumbling and laughing. The torch bearer does not pursue, but his incredibly bright light does not leave our retreating figures.

  "Don't look back or they'll see your face." Austin says, breathless.

  "They know!"

  I stumble and he catches me. We are running, laughing, our hair flying in the wind we have created with our velocity, adrenaline surging through our blood stream. This is my first real dangerous escapade.

  We make it to the dorms and finally, to the doors of our rooms. Austin and I stare at each other and burst into a fresh round of laughter.

  "They know. They're always watching. They know we were there all along and they just gave us some time. They provably thought we were about to start having sex right there on the bridge and they came to be destroy it." Austin says, laughing.

  I blush, embarrassed at the mere imagination of me and him being intimate on the bridge.

  "Who cares?" I say, mimicking his nonchalance.

  Austin grins, "That's the spirit."