Free Nova Project #1 by Emma Trevayne

Miguel how small he is. Small is good. Unimportant is good.
    Small means no guilt when he leaves.
    Forty-three minutes. It’s almost silly to wait, but it feels . . . symmetrical, somehow. Neat, even, as defined as the edges of the nearest Cube a few blocks away behind him. Chimera is the most fun he’s ever known, full of adventures he’d never have experienced otherwise. His parents wouldn’t have let him climb mountains, swim lakes, run through labyrinthine buildings as fast as he could. But in the game it was okay, it was just Chimera, and who knew? Maybe it would help him earn the heart he needed.
    But not now. He can’t sit by and watch the competition, or ignore it while he tries to make progress that will suddenly feel slow. Ignoring it would be impossible anyway, it’s going to be everywhere.
    And if Nick gets in, Miguel will be that much closer to it.
    Enough. In a few minutes none of this will matter anymore. His useless heart can finally give up, like it has threatened to do for years. He can rest. Everyone likes it when he rests.
    He’s ten steps from the edge of the roof, give or take, and he needs all the remaining minutes to drag himself that short distance. Life doesn’t give up willingly, he learns. There is no reset button, he won’t wake up on the floor of a small room with a message asking him if he wants to try again.
    But he’s there. He steps up, and his toes curl over the ledge.

CUTSCENE
BLAKE
    B lake is still deciding. He has one remaining hour in which to pick his candidates, half the chosen ones for the competition. Lucius is elsewhere in the building, surely making those same choices.
    Actually Lucius has probably had his chosen since the final medical report came in. That’s the kind of man he is. The type to do his homework early so that he can go over it again to make sure he’s done it right.
    Blake prefers instinct, but his is giving him some trouble right now. Really, he’s picked most of his, but he has one spot left to fill and two potentials with which to fill it. One did all the right things on the testing level, the other . . . the other is an interesting case.
    He still has time.
    At Chimera headquarters he steps onto the private tile in his office that will raise him up to where Lucius choosesto work. He doesn’t warn of his arrival, he never does. What would be the fun in that?
    Lucius is used to it. He’s difficult to surprise.
    â€œAre you ready?” Lucius asks.
    â€œI will be. You?”
    â€œOf course. I was just reading a book.”
    Blake simply shakes his head. Of course he was. Something heartwarming, probably. He’ll never understand his friend’s taste.
    Friend is the wrong word, but it’s close enough.
    â€œI think this will be exciting,” says Lucius. “I’ll win, of course.”
    â€œDream on. No, really, do dream. You’ve always been so good at it.”
    Lucius smiles. “Making them come true has always been more my specialty.”
    â€œYes, yes, you’re a regular saint. I’ve seen how much you donate to charities from the company accounts. I need to go out for a while. I’ll be back in time for the announcement.”
    â€œMake sure you are, or I’ll fill the list with everyone I like.”
    â€œYou wouldn’t.” But Blake isn’t completely convinced of that. It would go against Lucius’s nature, but Lucius hasn’t hung around him all this time without picking up a few tricks.
    Blake has no plans to speak to either of the people he’s going to visit, but much can be learned from observation. Thefirst is almost boring, easily found from geoloc tags, sitting in a park, holding hands with a girl. He watches them from overhead, staring down through the glass roof. The second is more of a challenge, but tracked down soon enough with Blake’s collection of fancy toys. He hasn’t updated in hours, which makes it