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The reporters start talking over each other again Hideo turns his head toward another question "Mr Tanaka," this one says, "any reason for your interest in Eht as h On the screen, though, Hideo doesn’t bat an eye "Please specify?" he replies

The reporter, eager to get a reaction, barrels on "Unranked wild card?" he asks "Nu in the first ga holes into me Only Asher lets out an annoyed snort and mutters, "Her team? I’m the captain!"

Hideo’s expression re new, I remind myself forcefully Reporters question his every interaction with a girl He’s being paired with the princess of Norway on our coffee table’sout loud The only reaction of any kind that I see, in fact, co the faintest of smiles on his face "I do not control the draft picks," Hideo replies "And the order of the games was chosen by a committee months in advance" Then he looks away to call on another reporter

Hammie whistles at the screen "How about that, Emi?" she says toto be pairing you with Hideo on their covers next week"

The thought sendsof our first training day, but alreadyheads If I don’t end up giving myself away after a week, it’ll be a miracle

Finally, Hideo steps off the podium, and the broadcast ends Asher asks Wikki to turn off the feed Then he looks at all of us "Well," he says, "we’ve got one lance at the prograh, I’m almost in

"Lenses on?" Asher asks We nod in unison "All right, then, Riders Training time starts now"

13

Asher leans forward, then presses so on his own display in midair All of us see a Warcross menu pop up in our view If Asher can show us all the sa training Ren had been walled behind his shields during the party, but maybe now, if we’re all linked on the saet into some of Ren’s data Of everyone’s personal data

As I ponder this, Asher taps the option that says Training Grounds The world around us fades into black, as if I’d closed my eyes I blink several times Then, a neorld materializes around us

This is a Warcross world I’ve never seen before It must be exclusive to the professional teams It looks like a ashed world, like it’s a virtual world only half finished, its surfaces unpainted and without texture We are standing in the middle of a white sidewalk, next to a white street crohite cars, hite colu all around us When I look farther down the street, I can see a glile, the trees and their trunks the color of ivory, the grass white as it grows at the edge of the city streets The only color in this world coht blue

For ainside a level that feill ever get to see, with some of the rounds," Asher says beside me He, like the rest of us, is now dressed in a standard, for suit of red body armor that starkly contrasts with the world around us It makes it incredibly easy for us to spot each other "This is a ashed si miniature worlds all condensed into one" He nods down the street toward the jungle "There are forests here, along with the city block we’re currently in A few blocks east, the city ends and an ocean starts To the west, there are narrow stairways that lead into the sky The potholes in the city streets will drop you into an underground network of caves There are exaht encounter in this year’s levels"

I look h we’re all wearing red body arhter suit is streamlined, full of smooth plates reinforced by an outer set of warrior aruards are spiked Hammie’s Thief suit is full of pockets, nooks, and crannies, where she can stash items away Asher looks like the captain that he is, while Roshan, our Shield, has arer than any of ours, his belt equipped with potions and elixirs he can use to protect the rest of us

Then there’s mine, the Architect’s armor Around my waist is a utility belt, equipped with a myriad of tools I’m all too familiar with Hammer Screwdriver A box of nails Two rolls of duct tape A s the tops of my boots, too--sticks of dynamite, lock picks--and an assorth