Chapter 9: A Wasted Life

Lainee enters the cell with a purpose; steeling her will against the conflict she believes to be inevitable. Troy is a convicted criminal and she needs all of her strength of character to face him; not unlike her time her in this arena as a competitor where most of the others were vermin of one kind or another. She herself was a poor girl from the projects who wanted a better life for herself and her family and this was how she got the chance. She had succeeded where the rest had failed and while it hadn’t made her rich in itself, the sponsors had given her a monthly stipend that covers all of her expenses. What she makes as a personal trainer is above and beyond that and gives her a comfortable life in Sunset Valley. This “job” as overseer will give her a onetime bonus of ten thousand simoleons; which when added to what she has saved, will be enough to open her own gym.

She is ready to begin the second heat; where the winners of the second round face off to determine the overall winner of the round and will receive the prize, but she wants to give Troy the news before she does. The sponsors had called her last night and told her about their new idea and though she argued against it, was pressed firmly into acceding to their wishes.





He is napping with an open book on the bed beside him when she steps through the door and kicks the bed hard; waking him with a start. He rolls over with a grumble and glares at her as he opens his eyes. “What is it overseer, can’t a man get some sleep?” He growls and she just gives him a knowing smile. “You will have plenty of sleep soon enough… the long sleep.” She says simply, wanting to get this over with quickly. He gets to his feet and walks up to her, seeing her tense up a little. “I have come with good news for you…” She says, breaking the tension developing between them. “The sponsors have decided to let you and the other losers of this competition have a last request… within reason of course.” He gives her a flat look. “That is supposed to be good news for me how?” He grumps. “I am going to die in the next couple of days; I can’t see how this helps me at all.”

Lainee steps back as he moves toward her. “Well, perhaps with the right request it could help you feel better before you die, or help you die in the manner you choose.” He stops to consider it. “You have until midnight to decide, so we a decent amount of time to consider your request and find the best way to carry it out.” He just nods curtly and she leaves, joining K4T13 in the hall and locking the door again. She exhales sharply and feels the knots in her shoulders loosen up and goes to prepare herself mentally for the second heat.





It is only a half hour later before Simon is facing off against the more experienced Saraya. He has done a lot of practicing lately, more than all of the others and has pushed himself hard to try and make a good showing of himself. He starts off with measured strikes with his hand and feet, keeping her on the defensive and searching for an opening to exploit. She blocks each of his attacks with a little effort, keeping his hands and feet away from her. He is stronger and faster than he has ever been before, and more skilled so it is a little more difficult. She makes a slight miscalculation and takes a chop to the throat, retaliating with a punch to his sternum. He staggers back; gasping roughly and only barely manages to keep her hands and feet at bay. Her last point is from a head-butt to his forehead, sending him back against the edge of the ring.

Ayasha and Rowena take their turn in the ring once Simon is seated and the fight begins again in earnest. Rowena has been pushing herself for the last couple days, mostly to take her mind off of Blaze’s death so she is in great fighting form compared to Ayasha who has been doing who knows what; often disappearing for long periods of time. She seems a bit distracted and Rowena manages to exploit that to a two point victory without the other woman even touching her; one from a kick to the head and the other an elbow to the back. Ayasha seems truly surprised that she lost to Rowena, but simply walks off and sits down so Saraya can take her place.



Rowena is amped from defeating Ayasha, whom she always thought completely focused and disciplined and immediately goes on the offensive with Saraya. Though she isn’t nearly as skilled as the Olympic champion, Saraya can hardly keep up with her almost erratic attacks, switching to hand or foot in irregular patterns. Saraya knocks some sense into her with a short quick knee to her stomach and once Rowena settles into a rhythm, Saraya figures it is only a matter of time before the woman will fall into her traps. Rowena breaks out of the rhythm before Saraya is ready and delivers a wicked kick to her head and lashes out with the side of her hand, connecting with Saraya’s neck. The Olympian collapses in a heap and Simon and Ayasha come to help Rowena to carry the fallen woman to the barracks.



Just before midnight Lainee returns to the cell to find Troy awake and reading a book. The man asks about the contest and is given the run-down of who won among the winners and he is surprised to learn that it was Rowena. “You go girl.” He mutters under his breath. “Have you thought about anything you would like?” She asks and he smiles sadly. “Just tell my family that I did my best… and that I love them.” He says and she nods soberly. “Very well, I will take care of that myself.” She replies and turns to leave. “I was also hoping I could have a last phone call…” She hands him his cell phone; which had been confiscated and leaves the room. “Slide it under the door when you are finished.”

He slowly dials a number and thinking desperately of what he will say and when someone picks up, he is too choked up to speak right away; but they recognize the number and don’t hang up. “Raymond… I failed.” He croaks and the voice on the other end begins sobbing. Tears brim in his own blue eyes as he listens to the other man’s crying for him. He goes on to explain the situation and what is facing the following day. “Tomorrow I will be gone, but I hope you’ll forgive me for anything I have ever done to make you mad or hurt your feelings.” He sobs piteously, mirroring the other man’s feelings and actions. “There is nothing to forgive.” The other man says between sniffles once the actual crying lessens a bit. “Just know that I love you.” Raymond’s voice says softly on the other end of the telephone line. “I love you too… “He says simply and they cry together for some time before Troy hangs up the phone and cries some more; all of his emotions in utter and complete turmoil. He had always kept his sexual orientation from his family, since they were devout southern Baptists and believed that homosexuality is a sin against God and goes against nature. He had many women friends; mostly to hide his true self from the family but hadn’t even had sex with any of them. He knows now that his lifestyle isn’t a sin and isn’t anything to be ashamed of, vowing to come clean to everyone before his end.

He falls asleep dreaming of Raymond, his family and Xander Clavell in turns or all at once; having Christmas dinner at his mom’s house in Sunset Valley.



Meanwhile, Ayasha had returned to that secret room she had found with the intention of paying a visit to the scientist to see the status of her request for him. There are even more beakers and Petri dishes arrayed on the tables visible in the back and a large tank is filled with a vile green liquid bubbling and swirling around something dark at its center. She doesn’t even want to know, so just asks the status of the request her grandfather had asked for.



“Things are going well I believe and given another three or four days, we should see the outcome of this little venture. I am not yet certain how successful it will be I will keep you informed on my progress, but I am confident my skills are at their peak and this will be successful, just make sure to have the second stage of this plan ready for implementation.” She nods and since she is in a bit of a hurry, stays for only a couple minutes going over the basics of phase two.



She returns to the same room she left from using the same manner of departure. No one seems to have noticed her temporary absence and she goes about her training, sliding in front of a training dummy and beginning the slow buildup of activity as her hands and feet become blurs of motions as she falls into a familiar rhythm of her workout.



Not far off, Rowena just got out of the shower; ecstatic that she actually won the whole round of combat and so energized that she cannot sleep. She had hoped a warm shower would relax her still tense muscles, and it works for that, but wakes her up even more. She dresses goes looking for company, but everyone seems to be asleep, so decides to try and get a rise out of K4T13, who is in the training room with Ayasha and who needs very little sleep.





“Hey Rusty… what’s up?” She asks walking in to address K4T13, immediately angering the hot-tempered simbot. “I am not rusty.” She says angrily in her robotic monotone. “My gears and joints are in good repair… my self-diagnostic is functioning properly.” Rowena just feigns boredom. “There is more than one definition of the word Rusty… Rusty.” She says with a smirk and the Simbot draws near. “Look at me I am a simbot… I never need to shower… no wonder I’m rusty.” She mocks and K4T13’s eyes turn red. “Stupid human… I could crush you like an ant.” She warns threateningly, but Rowena knows the rules almost as well as she does and knows that if she attacks a competitor without cause, then she would be replaced. She is grumpy and starts to rant about how disrespectful Rowena is being, but the woman just pretends she isn’t listening; making her even angrier. The simbot storms away angrily and Rowena heads to the courtyard to be alone, suddenly not in such a good mood.



Antagonizing Katie had reminded her of Troy; who is in the cell beneath her feet and of Blaze, who had occupied that very cell only a few days before. Still unable to sleep, she goes to the fire pit that someone had set up and sits at the fire, watching Saraya sleep peacefully in her sleeping bag and thinking of Blaze. She had spurned him; thinking him an imbecile, but his own speech at the end had changed her mind and she still feels bad for him.





She skewers some marshmallows and tries to roast them, but her mind grows increasingly active with possible ways she could have helped him before the end and thinking of things she could have done differently; instead of spurning him, pretending she wasn’t interested. The flames hypnotize her and before long she smells a smoky sweetness and looks up to see that her marshmallows are charred beyond recognition and the stick is hot in her hand. Dropping them into the fire, she spends a long time staring into the flames, and it seems to her that she can almost see Blaze's visage inside those orange flames condemning her for her actions.



She grows weary from the flickering light and warmth from the fire that she grows tired and goes to get another sleeping bag, joining Saraya under the stars and soon dozes off into a troubled sleep filled with nightmares of Blaze dragging her into the fire with her and she seems to feel the searing flame on her arms and smell burnt hair those times the dreams waken her. She is awakened at dawn by the overseer; who is getting ready to begin the final ceremony for Troy.





It isn’t long before they are all sitting in a circle around Troy and like with Blaze, are meditating and channeling their energies to giving Troy strength to face his final end. The ambience gets heavier as time goes by with a tenseness felt by everyone present (except of course K4T13) and with Lainee controlling the ceremony, Troy soon finds himself in the chamber that had entered his mind most during the rite. Nicknamed the power room, it is a small closed off room with several electrical traps in the floor and only a small area to walk in, but no way out of the room.





When the energy fades, he gets to his feet and looks around bitterly; wishing he was somewhere else instead. He is angry with himself for losing, but mostly from discovering he is a coward. “This sucks… “He mutters under his breath, but there is no one in the observation room yet, so no one to hear him. One by one they shuffle in and sit on the benches provided and seeing their solemn faces makes him feel more relaxed; believing that they care about him at least a little. He has never really had many friends in his life; most were appalled by his choice of lifestyle, so he cherishes the six other competitors sitting in the next room behind two inches of unbreakable glass. He straightens up and knows it’s his turn in the spotlight, his phase of this ceremony.

“First I want everyone to know that I am sorry for anything I have ever done to make you mad or hurt you… and I hope you can forgive me. I am a simple man, not one for lots of big words, but I know I spent my life hurting people and don’t deserve forgiveness.” He trails off, tears welling in his blue eyes.

“Next, I want you all to know that I have been ashamed of who I am for a long time, but since I will die soon, I may as well dies as I am and with everyone knowing what I am. To the horror and shame of my family I am gay… I like men. I had a partner named Raymond in Sunset Valley for a long time but kept it hidden from everyone. I am telling you all now, so you can see what I really am and what I have done to deserve this fate.” He feels a great weight lifting from his shoulders and looks into the other room and sees only the sympathetic or solemn faces of those present. “Last, I pray to heaven that my pain doesn’t last long… though I am truly a coward to want that…” he trails off and steps to the side.





The electricity courses through his body, sending alarm bells into his head as a tingling sensation that works from his feet all the way to his head until his teeth are chattering inside his skull and his brain is on the verge of exploding. The last thoughts going through his mind are ones pleading to heaven above to take him away from this place and replace all the pain with love and pleasure. A white-hot pain is all he feels for several long minutes, but eventually everything in his sight turns black and he drops to the floor as a writhing, wriggling corpse. The other stand there motionless and watch until Lainee cuts the power to the room. Rowena turns and runs when it is over and Simon simply watches as Katie picks up the body of Troy and carries it up to the courtyard for interment.



Rowena barely makes it to the next room before bursting into tears. Troy didn’t seem to suffer much, not like Blaze screaming toward the end, but the jerking and spasming of his body seemed to last forever and she had forced her eyes closed towards the end. Already vulnerable from yesterday, she cries long and hard, not even hearing the other shuffle out the door behind her, heading for the barracks. She knows now she made a mistake thinking she could win this competition; today she had been lucky, but she will be gone within the next couple rounds… just like Blaze or Troy… and she wouldn’t deserve her death either. At least she would get a small measure of then fame she so desperately desired should that come to pass.



When she is more composed, she passes through the arena and into the courtyard, passing everyone without a word and climbs to the top of the battlements surrounding the courtyard, watching the sun go down over the water and finding it an apt metaphor for today’s events. The sun had gone down over Troy’s life and at the same time casting a shadow of doubt over hers. She hopes that she can overcome this and continue to do well… but at present only doubts herself more and more the longer she thinks.