Irenna Kalley was dead.
Her face was projected on nearly every Holo-Augmented Reality Projector screen and every part of the Hub. A face of apple-green skin, warm golden eyes, and ocean-blue hair that would shimmer in the sunlight, cascading down her shoulders in a perfectly straight waterfall. Even though she wasn’t Earthian at all, her name was known widely enough to be echoed across every planet in the Utopia.
Next to her was the culprit: robot-gray skin, a huge head the size of a watermelon, and huge, tan-colored eyes with the hugest pupils in the Utopia, as if staring into one’s soul. An Emitonian— not surprising. After all, Irenna had beat an Emitonian in her final tournament, winning the entire competition. A Paeseoan like her, with no special abilities or greater strength, never should have been able to beat a being with the power to move things with their mind. But she did, and even though that Emitonian was representing Earth, it still hurt her birth planet’s reputation.
The question was— why now? Irenna had beaten Josephine ‘Cruella’ Chrisman over three decades ago. Emitonians had perfect memories, but even they wouldn’t bother holding a grudge like that for so long. They’d deem it a waste of their time. The one accused— Hombit ‘Smasher’ Pairen— was a known rival of Irenna’s, but had long since stopped interacting with her. What would make him attack her now, especially right before he’d start his career as a Head Coach on his planet?
All these questions and more swam in Calista Medley’s mind as she walked with her family into the venue for the Sociapalooza opening remarks. Her fingers reached up to play with her necklace, feeling the cold, rough texture of her emerald-studded initials; ‘CM’.
Her emerald-green dress glittered along her body, turning all eyes to her. It was perfectly fitted against her flawless figure and the color matched her eyes beautifully. A dress like hers was far out of style, stemming from the pre-Utopian era, when Earthians didn’t even know for sure that aliens existed in the universe. It was a far cry from the modern one-piece bodysuits everyone wore. Her nylon black locks were tied in a thick bun set at her nape with a layer of glitter and a silver bow; simple, yet elegant.
The outfit was making Reputation Points flood in like a tsunami. Calista’s Pet, which was nestled in her dress’s inner skirt pocket, fed her its UI wirelessly through the Status Chip embedded in her neck. In her eyes, she could see her progress bar increasing steadily to Level 350.
Her three Battery levels, however, were at a low of 40% for Energy Battery and 52% for Social Battery. They’d run out quick if this day lasted too long, so she needed to find a time to recover by herself. It would be hard, though; this was why most people ensured their batteries were at 100% before the Sociapalooza started, but the extended dance rehearsals and fashion walk training wasted most of her energy.
Her mother’s sharp nail poked the back of her waist, making her shoulders shoot back and her chin lift up. She smiled and winked flirtatiously at the colorful Pets hovering around her, but inwardly, she wanted nothing more than to pull the palm-sized spheres out of the air, tear their transparent wings off the sides, and poke them right in the oval, eye-shaped lens set in their faces.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t. They’d get sued for property damage, have their reputation destroyed, and probably be forced into hiding for a few months at the least. So she pretended to love the attention and even blew a kiss at the Pets’ eyes, which glowed in blue as they live-scanned her for their owners to see. She felt goosebumps along her fair skin as their blue lasers roved over her to capture her figure. She felt blinded by all the bling and sparkle around her, hating the fact that this year’s Sociapalooza theme was Lights of the Galaxy.
At least her fake smiles were convincing; her Manipulation sub-stat increased to Level IV. It was one of the lowest sub-stats in her arsenal, which was a problem in a world like this.
The Medley family was probably one of the most famous families there. They were one of the most popular, powerful, and influential Socializer families, their career spanning over decades and generations. The ironic thing was, while the family name came from Calista’s father, it was really her mother who brought them such reverance.
Jennifer Zyben— now Zyben-Medley— won Miss Milky Way twice in a row in the late 20s, making her the first in her family to do so in generations. Paeseoans and Seeyastians, after all, far outmatch Earthians in beauty. Jennifer’s confidence, character, and personality drove her to win over superior species, making her one of the most respected icons in the Socializer world. Her Level was at a stunning 1,670.
Now Calista was expected to fill her shoes as the heir to the legacy, and that wasn’t something she was particularly looking forward to. After all, how could she live up to being the daughter of one of the most perfect women in the Utopia (by Socializers’ standards)?
She’d do it if it meant her sister didn’t have to, though. Her emerald eyes turned to her, watching her smile with the same trained confidence at the attention, waving her fingers gracefully. Her blond hair was curled in beachy waves and her inherited green eyes sparkled with fake joy. She wore a sky-blue mermaid dress that also awed the crowd of fans, making them gawk like idiots.
Katelyn had a natural charm. She could easily take the mantle of heir to the legacy and become the next Jennifer Zyben, but Calista wouldn’t let her do that. It would be the end of all her hopes and dreams. As the middle child, she was free to follow a career of her choice— there were still plenty of things she couldn’t do, but she could at least follow her passion in holo-architecture.
Their little brother, Quinlan, also had a lot less pressure on him. Being the youngest, on top of being a boy, he wouldn’t necessarily be pushed into male beauty pageants or a male Socializer career. He had the freedom to frown grumpily, his black hair messily falling on his forehead and hiding his gray eyes. He sulked in his glittering black tie suit, looking adorable enough for the Pets to focus on him for a few seconds at a time. He was only eight, yet he was insanely intelligent and irritatingly sarcastic.
Most men were simply there as accessories to beauty queens, much like their father, Henry; he simply walked alongside his wife in his glittering, navy blue suit that went perfectly with his blond hair and gray eyes. He was there to make Jennifer look better, not be the center of attention.
Lucky him.
Calista wished everyone could focus more on her mother than her. It would give her aching cheeks a break. Jennifer was clearly the crown jewel of the family in her one-shoulder, navy blue dress that sparkled like a sapphire. Her left shoulder was bare while her right shoulder was covered in lace ruffles that trailed across her body and around the skirt down to her feet. Her nylon black hair was in voluminous waves that reached her waist, and her eyes had been modded to sparkle just like her dress.
Calista knew her mother would likely make her do the same thing if enough people liked her eyes. The problem was how much sparkly eyes itched and left her inner eyelids burning in the mornings.
They took their places at the front of the crowd, facing the grand stage, where the current Head of the Board of Socializers would appear and greet them. There was an air of excitement like no other this year, and Calista knew why; Irenna Kalley being murdered was a hot topic for all the wrong reasons in this community.
For them, this was a huge step forward towards stopping the Versus Games. Even though it hadn’t happened during any competition, both the culprit and the victim were Legends, having achieved great fame and fortune through showing their strength and formidability in the tournament. They, along with thousands of other soldiers in different planetary armies, were the faces of the Games, and the murder had a ripple effect on everyone else that ever set foot in a Versus Games arena.
It was the second death that had ever happened within a decade. The thought gave Calista a chill. First Joanna, then Irenna— both Paeseoans. Joanna was half-Earthian, but it was still too much of a coincidence. And both were killed by known ‘top species’, species who despised people like Paeseoans, Earthians, and the like.
Joanna’s death was different; it had been an accident. Her combat suit malfunctioned during a Chaos Round, and when battling a Hajjian, she got blasted in the chest by his fire. She hadn’t died right away, but had to withdraw in an effort to recover, and sadly passed away after the tournament was over.
Socializers had been in an uproar after that announcement. They didn’t care much about Joanna— who was only 17— or her family, just the fact that someone died during a tournament and was ‘targeted’ by one of the most vicious species in the Utopia, even if it was confirmed to be an accident and the opponent had shown great remorse. It was a victorious moment, convincing many fans of the Games to question whether this really was the best way to prevent war between the planets.
Now that another fighter had died, the Games would likely be more controversial in the coming years. The Junior competition had just finished, and the next Interplanetary Games were in less than two years. It would have tension like never before, and would likely be the Peacekeeping Board’s last chance to prove that the 200-year-old tradition was the best way to keep peace in the Milky Way Utopia. If something else went wrong, that would be the end of the Treaty.
“Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the 170th Annual Earthian Sociapalooza,” the Artificial Intelligence for Domestic Assistance voice announced. “Please welcome the Head of the Board of Socializers and future Planetary Leader, Whitley Geanna.” Cheers erupted before she even finished the sentence.
Calista stood at her front-row seat and applauded, hiding her shock at the statement. ‘Future Planetary Leader’? The elections were a year and a half away, and they were already declaring her the winner? Her opponent, Thiki Burna, would have a lot to say about that.
Whitley Geanna emerged from below the stage on a slow anti-gravity platform. She floated gracefully in the air, waving her hand like a queen. Her perfectly symmetrical face was covered in a layer of light glitter, making her shine, and her amber eyes sparkled. Calista realized she’d modded her irises to be star-shaped, mimicking Seeyastian eyes.
Her long, silver dress shimmered, leaving her shoulders bare. It looked as if it were fused to her skin, naturally growing into a floor-length skirt and a train that floated behind her like a superhero cape made out of silver coins. Perched on her head was a large, silver sunhat with a hologram of ‘H’ for ‘Head’ reflecting on top. She took off the hat, revealing her hair, which made everyone scream— glittery, platinum locks trailed down to her waist, perfectly straight and perfectly shaped in every way.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
She floated down to the stage, her white-gold heels clicking lightly, and walked forward with the confidence of a lioness, smiling at the fanatic audience. She had her Level Progress on display above her head, which was increasing very rapidly to Level 7,082.
There was no limit to people’s Levels, so Calista wondered how high this woman would go before retiring. The highest recorded Socializer Level was 112,432, and that was a good hundred years ago. Whitley Geanna was twenty years older than Calista’s mother, yet she looked no older than twenty-five. She’d likely never retire, living past her 100s until she finally decided to take a break from life entirely.
“Thank you, thank you for all the wonderful love I am feeling today,” Whitley said in her accented English. She was from Sweden, born from a Swedish mother and an American father, but currently lived in Iceland. In 2284, when she was born, she was the ‘Most Malleable Baby of the Year’.
Evidently true; her Body Mod Integration sub-stat was probably very high. An outsider of the Socializer world wouldn’t be able to tell she was completely modded. Her beauty looked so natural that it increased her Aesthetic Value tenfold.
“We have recently received sad news…” Whitley’s face filled with grief. “A soul has been taken from this solar system. Another consequence of decades of normalizing violence and species hatred.” Contrary to her sorrowful expression, there were cheers among the audience. Whitley kept her mask on, but didn’t condemn the reaction. “After Irenna Kalley’s death, the first thing I thought was— maybe now they’ll listen. Maybe now they’ll see that all the Versus ‘Peace’ Treaty did was make fearmongers and trigger-happy murderers.” Her sad tone turned viciously dark, giving Calista chills at the change. It only seemed to fuel the crowd’s passion.
“With no doubt, our victory will be secure in the next election, just in time for the next tournament. After 2350, no one will ever want to cheer on any rager’s face again,” she continued. “This will be the year of our favor. The year when beauty and character will take place as definitions of our species instead of punches and powers.” Her platinum hair glowed in the light and her voice grew in power, sounding almost prophetic. Everyone looked up at her as if she were a beacon of hope— except Calista. She didn’t like the way Whitley looked.
“I’m counting on each and every one of you for our victory. It’s up to us to save our planet from imminent takeovers from other species. Hajjians, Dnilians, Klausians, even Mercurians— all of them want to control us and intimidate us. We won’t let them.”
Calista wouldn’t disagree in saying all of those top species treated Earthians like cache, but she didn’t think they were interested in any takeover. Most of them kept to themselves and only interacted with other species when they really needed to.
If anything, Martians and Paeseoans were the ones changing the Earth’s population. A lot of them made up the majority of Versus fighters on Earth’s team, and even in the Socializer world, they were considered superior in beauty and popularity. Calista couldn’t ever express that to someone, though.
“We are…” Whitley began, pausing.
Calista’s stomach turned and she resisted an eye-roll as she shouted back, ‘PEACE!’ with everyone else.
“We are…”
“LOVE!”
“We are…”
“TRUTH!”
“We are…”
“SOCIALIZERS!”
And also fakers, maskers, gossipers, pretenders… Calista’s dainty hands applauded gracefully; not too loudly, not too softly, with her nails glinting in the light so people could see them as she applauded— they were long and layered in soft green shades with silver micro-rhinestones.
The rest of the Sociapalooza’s first night was a blur of speeches, talking, smiling, and waiting to get away from thousands of both familiar and vaguely familiar faces. Faces of neon colors, people with shelves for shoulders, and ridiculous hairstyles came and went. Bright, creepy smiles with abnormally white teeth (among other colors) flashed in Calista’s face. Pets continuously zoomed right into their face, staring into her soul with the unblinking, single ovals that made up their eyes, blue lasers scanning over her every time.
“Are you going to the New York school soon?”
“Would you like to come see our channel’s showcase?”
“Would you sponsor our new channel?!”
“What do you think of Kalley’s death? You think it was karma?”
“Did you hear her brother wanted to kill the guy that did it? I say go for it! The less ragers in the world, the better.”
“Will you sign this petition to ban Hajjians from Earth?”
The warning Calista was waiting for finally appeared in her Pet UI lens, blocking her view of a man with a hideously pinked face and crossed eyes that were likely a botched mod he was trying to pass off as a unique style.
EB: 25% Charge Immediately
SB: 15% Charge Immediately
She pretended to see someone else she knew and excused herself from the conversation, keeping her head down as she pushed through the crowd of excited creators. The Private Gossip rooms were her only hope of finding some solitude; they were meant for trusted pairs or groups to speak without any interference.
Of course, they weren’t truly private. Micro-cameras were in every corner of every venue for the Sociapalooza, waiting for a juicy piece of gossip to broadcast that would make or break someone’s career. All Calista wanted was some rest and time for herself. She could charge up to around 30-40%, which would hopefully be enough to get her through the night before going to sleep.
She entered the cozy room, which was small with two armchairs and a table between them. She sighed and collapsed into one of the chairs, loving the softness of it as it melded around her body. For just a moment, she forgot where she was or even who she was, forbidding any thought to enter her mind.
“There you are.”
Calista jumped out of her seat, her hands raised in defense. She sighed and gave her younger sister a glare when she saw her green eyes staring at her from the entrance doorway. “That’s supposed to be locked,” she said.
“I have my ways.” Katelyn plopped into the armchair next to her.
“Did you get a low battery alert?”
“It’s always low,” Katelyn said. “I just wanted to talk to you. I know hearing them talk about Irenna like that must’ve been hard for you.”
Calista’s eyes widened and she looked around paranoically at the hidden micro-cameras, but Katelyn held up a small device that looked like a glowing blue spider. A scrambler, as she had defined for Calista years ago when she first discovered her sister’s penchant for hacking.
“You hacked the Sociapalooza? Are you out of your mind?!”
“Relax. They cheaped out on their SECURE programs. Any idiot can hack it.” Katelyn put the scrambler away.
“If we get caught-”
“We won’t. Come on, I know you need to talk about this.”
Calista stared at her sister’s sincere expression and sighed, feeling any remaining energy leave her, despite her UI telling her it was charging slowly. “What am I supposed to say? Everyone out there is sick? She didn’t deserve to die? I don’t think the Emitonian guy did it? What does that do, Kate?” She closed her eyes hopelessly. “I don’t see a point in talking about it. I feel like just sitting here and…” She shrugged. “Sitting here.”
“Suit yourself.” Katelyn leaned back and closed her eyes with a sigh, not saying another word. Calista smiled at her, appreciating the lack of insistence. She truthfully didn’t want to talk about Irenna. All it would do was make her feel worse. She never met the woman, yet her death affected her the way a loved one’s would. She couldn’t explain why.
EB: 45%
SB: 35%
“We should go back. People will ask where I’m at,” Calista said. “I should be able to last until the end.”
“You sure you’re okay?” Katelyn asked her as she stood.
Calista paused at the question, staring blankly at her sister, then smiled sadly. “Does it matter?” She went to the doorway and passed through the permeable wall.
In the hallway, she was confronted by a girl sitting on the floor against the wall, her legs curled up and her head hidden in her arms. Her brown hair draped over her shoulders and her red dress was wrinkling.
“Who’s this?” Katelyn asked, crouching beside the girl. “Hey, you good?”
The girl murmured, but her voice was muffled. Katelyn tapped her dress skirt, where her Pet was nestled, and the sphere flitted into the air and hovered over the girl, scanning her. It projected a human body silhouette, highlighting the head, chest, and stomach.
“Should we send her to Medic?” Calista asked.
Katelyn turned to look at her. “Her Mental Battery’s at-”
She yelped when the girl suddenly shoved her aside, scrambling to her feet. She panted wildly and looked around with wide, distraught eyes, as if having run for hours through the woods.
“Are you okay?” Calista reached out to her, but the girl stepped back, bumping into the wall. Katelyn stood, holding her hands out to calm the girl down.
“I-I-I… I… want to… go home…”
“Hey…” Katelyn gently placed her hands on the girl’s shoulders. “We’ll call a Medic for you, alright?”
“Kate, don’t touch-”
“NO! THEY’RE LIARS! THEY LIED TO ME!” The girl dug her fingers into Katelyn’s arms, screaming into her face.
“Get off!” Calista pulled her sister away and shoved the girl, sending her back a couple paces. “Calm down and back off,” she warned.
The girl ran out of the hallway, but stopped when she found the larger crowd of Socializers spread around the lobby. She panted loudly, trembling and turning like a scared cat. Everyone started taking notice of her and approaching her with a mix of curiosity, concern, and bewilderment.
“Bethany?” A woman at Level 1,267 emerged from the crowd, dressed in a modified red, sleeveless bodysuit with a layer of silk that made it look like a dress, and a large, black hat with a red feather. She reached out to the girl with her gloved hand. “What are you doing?”
The girl jumped away from the woman as if she were a masked killer, her hands raising to protect herself. “Get away! I want to go home, I want to go…” She panicked further when Pets zipped by her, their blue lasers shining over her frail figure. She wildly swatted them away.
Katelyn slowly approached the girl. “You’ll be fine, you just need to let us call a Medic-”
“NO MEDICS!” The girl lunged at Katelyn again, this time grabbing hold of her blond hair. “STOP WITH THE MEDICS!”
“Bethany, what on Earth?!”
“I said, get off her!” Calista didn’t feel like she was in control of her body anymore. She felt herself rush forward, swipe her arm down onto the girl’s elbow, and pull her away from Katelyn. Once the girl’s hand had released Katelyn’s hair, Calista shoved her a little harsher than she intended.
The girl landed on the marble floor, her face hidden by her brown hair, and she remained there, panting tiredly. The feathered hat woman ran up to her and coaxed her to stand. “Bethany? Come on, babycodes.”
“What the glitch did you just do?!” Another woman with impossibly high blue hair and a purple bodysuit dress stared at Calista with outrage.
“I…” Calista’s blood ran cold at the stares she was getting from people and Pets alike. All of them were a mix of outrage, disgust, fear, and anger.
In her UI, she saw her Level slowly and steadily decreasing, and her Flaw Level was below, increasing to Level 19. Letters flashed in warning:
Flaw Reveal: Violence
