Free Grid Seekers (Grid Seekers Book One) by Logan Byrne Page A

peppier mood.
    “Well, I thought we could start the morning right and get you guys into a skimmer demonstration. Not only that, but you will be meeting your hackers today, as well as getting your team assignments. It’s a busy day! If you’d all follow me, we can get over there and get started,” Christian said.
    We all stood up, walking behind him through the maze of hallways. I quickly lost my sense of direction, knowing I’d be unable to find my way through this mess of a shiny white building if I somehow got broken off from the group. How Christian knew his way through here I’d never know.
    A set of doors opened and we walked into a large room, larger than the lobby by our rooms. The floor was made up of wide, black matte tiles and the walls were white with a silvery pearlescent sheen. The floor tiles looked texturized, not slick like all of the other tiles in the building, which was a much-needed change of pace. I looked up to see Quinn, one of the instructors from yesterday, the strategy woman, standing at the front of the room, giving off a slightly creepy smile as we walked near. She didn’t look as prim and proper as everyone else here, even Borgis and Petram, who weren’t exactly going to model anytime soon. She had slightly frizzy brown hair held back in a ponytail, although her hair was so thick that the little band could barely tame the mane on her head. She wore thin wire glasses and no makeup at all, not even a stroke.
    “Quinn, if you’d like to take it away, they’re all yours. I’ll be over here and out of the way as I watch on,” Christian said, before walking away to a corner, sitting with his digiboard.
    “Good morning, and welcome. I’m sure many of you know what a skimmer is. Whether you’ve seen them in past competitions, maybe learned about them in school, or even saw them on the streets, you should be familiar with one by now. If, for some reason, you aren’t familiar, let me bring you up to speed. This is a skimmer,” Quinn said, holding one up, the dim lights above shining on the metal surface. “It allows you, the users, to change the source code within WorldNet, within the competition, letting you change attributes of both yourself and your surroundings. To do this, you use these, your skim cards. They can literally be anything and everything, and can definitely save your butt.”
    Quinn pulled up a variety of cards, showing them to us, letting us see first-hand what they were really like. They had pictures on them, the name of the card, and a brief description of what they did. The cards looked like they were made of metal, their metallic surfaces shimmering under the somewhat dimmed lights above, as she moved them around.
    “You might be wondering how you get these cards. Well, for each stage of training you pass, you will be eligible to receive one skim card, up to a maximum of five to start with. The cards will be set out in rows, face down, and you’ll randomly pick the number of cards you’re eligible for. Once you’ve picked, those same cards will be replenished and then randomized for the next person, so everyone has the same opportunity to receive and get the same cards. Some will be great cards that will save your butt, and some will be basic cards that you might not even use. It’s all up to luck,” Quinn said.
    I was happy to know that we would pick the cards and that anyone could get the same card as the last person if they picked right. There was no favoritism and there was no apparent edge by going first or last in the picking. I wasn’t too thrilled, though, about some cards being totally random in usefulness. She said it was up to luck, and let’s be honest, I wasn’t exactly the luckiest person in the world.
    “What I have right now is a demonstration for you. This skimmer is currently hooked up to WorldNet, and inside we have a dummy simulation of what the competition will be like. I’m going to skim one of these cards, and the character inside the