Free Shadows of Atlantis: Emergence of the Engi by Donsha Hatch Page A

weapons. The Slyphs then walked into the war hall grumbling loudly.
    “I apologize for the misunderstanding. It’s nice to finally have some Turan muscle around here. I hope to see you all at tryouts tomorrow.” he nodded.
    “Thanks. We’ll be there.” said Eiris.
    Glover then nodded to them as he walked back into the war hall. Eiris and the others decided it was probably best to go another time under the circumstances and went back to their personal cubes instead. Eiris used the opportunity to study the rules of Electroball carefully and also sent a thank you message to Marz for his gift with his smartwatch before laying down. As he looked at the ceiling of his personal cube, he thought about how much his life had changed literally overnight. He also thought of his parents and imagined how proud they would have been to see him enrolled in their academy. But the last image that came to his mind as he drifted off to sleep, was of that beautiful girl he saw earlier-the mysterious girl of his dreams.
    The next day Eiris woke up and got prepared for the day. With the Electroball uniform on, he met the rest of the xenos in one of the academy cafes for breakfast. Walking with his Electroball helmet in hand, he found them sitting at one of the far tables.
    “Hey.” said Eiris as they all responded.
    “What’s up xeno? You ready to play?” smiled Kezzy.
    “I hope so. These are some pretty cool uniforms.” smiled Eiris.
    “Indeed.” smiled Dex. “The tech is called bioflexium but we just say bioflex for short. It’s a biotechnological protective suit created to be sturdy, but also light and flexible. Developed from the cutis anserina or goose bumps phenomenon, the suit adapts and reacts to your physical environment as well as strong internal emotions experienced by its wearer such as fear, anger, or sadness.” he informed.
    After explaining the suits to Eiris, Dex saw an opening so he spoke up.
    “Hey Kezzy, may I ask you a question?” asked Dex from across the table.
    “You already did.” Muttered Kezzy as she read a holobook, barely looking up.
    Dex then sighed in defeat and began talking to Azonei instead. After breakfast, Eiris and the others headed straight for the Electroball Arena. As they got closer to it, he was amazed by the colossal globular arena. It rivaled even CenturyLink Field. Walking inside, they saw everyone in their uniforms tossing around the plasma ball that was used to score the goals and practicing their vaults over the arena obstacles.
    “This is epic.” smiled Eiris.
    “Indeed it is my friend.” nodded Dex.
    After they warmed up, a loud horn sounded. Everyone then gathered around Glover.
    “Everyone, thank you all for being here. Electroball is the Undarian choice of sport for many reasons. But, the true purpose of Electroball is to encourage teamwork and strategic creativity while simulating the consequences of real battle. As you can see, scattered throughout the arena field, are randomly assorted ramps and barriers that provide strategic advantages and disadvantages. There are fifty players on each guild team and sixteen starters are in play on each side. Of those sixteen, are five offensive-oriented runners, six defensive-oriented defenders, two dual-oriented sport bike riders, one defensive-specialist called an enforcer, one goalie which is my position, and one dual-oriented drifter. The drifter is also considered by many to be the star athlete of the team. Now, I trust you all read the rulebook but in case some of you didn’t, the rules are simple. The first team to three goals wins the game, each goal marking the end of a period. If the score is a tie at the end of the regulatory four periods, there’s a sudden death between the drifters of each team. Shock chargers are allowed to be used but only behind the first contact line. Currently we’re accepting tryouts at all positions, but we are especially in need of a drifter. Are there any questions?” asked Glover.
    No one