Chapter 133 - 131 — The Arrow That Learned to Fly

Chapter 133: Chapter 131 — The Arrow That Learned to Fly

Time had not stood still in the silence of the laboratory. While the cooling system chilled the three ARMEX that had survived their users, elsewhere in the city the artificial universe continued revolving around its black hole. There too, enough time had passed for a race to begin, end, and leave behind a defeat.

The platform that served as the starting line and finish line lit up again beneath the feet of the human team. A white pulse traveled through their virtual ARMEX as the system returned them to their initial positions. In front of them, the seven extraterrestrial invaders waited in silence, unharmed beneath their organic armor.

A message of light appeared over the Ring:

«FIRST ROUND FINISHED. INVADING TEAM VICTORY».

All five had lost.

The system did not replay what had happened or explain the exact point at which the race had fallen apart for them. It only kept the result suspended above the track. That was enough to make it clear that the level of that training was greater than they had expected.

Valentina stared at the message with her shoulders hunched. She opened and closed her fingers inside the white gloves of her ARMEX before looking at the others.

—I’m sorry —she murmured—. I think I slowed you down. If I had run faster...

Sebastián turned toward her and placed a firm hand on her shoulder.

—You don’t have to apologize. We lost together. We’re here to train and help you.

Virka approached from the other side. Her fingers barely brushed one of the plates on Valentina’s arm, a brief contact that said more than she would have expressed with a speech.

—Don’t worry. Next time we’ll be better prepared.

Óscar rolled one of his robotic shoulders. The joint responded with a mechanical sound, and he opened his hands, as if that defeat were too small an inconvenience to carry with solemnity.

—Besides, if we had won on the first try, we would have paid too much for a very short race. That’s what we came for: to train, make mistakes, and have a little fun. Don’t take all the blame for yourself; leave some for the rest of us.

A small smile began to displace the worry from Valentina’s face.

Zaira kept her eyes on the seven invaders. She watched them with her chin slightly raised, measuring that defeat as a debt that could still be collected. Then she turned her gaze toward Valentina.

—One round does not decide who is better. It only shows what still needs to be corrected. Do not bear the defeat alone. We will repeat this as many times as necessary and improve until we defeat them.

Her golden eyes returned to the opposing team.

—I do not intend to let them have the only victory.

Valentina looked at the scoreboard again and then at the invaders. The guilt did not disappear completely, but her hands stopped clenching. She straightened her back and made a small jump in place, as if she needed to make sure that her avatar still responded to her enthusiasm.

—Then we do it again. And if we lose, we do it again until we win.

Óscar let out a low laugh. Sebastián removed his hand from her shoulder, Virka turned her attention back to the track, and Zaira stepped forward to the line.

The announcer’s voice crossed the virtual space.

—Human team, are you ready for the second round of Rakzar?

Sebastián lowered his center of gravity slightly.

—We’re ready.

Virka flexed her fingers, and her claws emitted a violet flash. Óscar raised his thumb as the thrusters in his legs awakened with a soft hum.

—Whenever you’re ready.

Zaira kept her eyes forward.

—You may begin.

Valentina raised a hand.

—Yes!

The voice turned toward the other end of the platform.

—Invading team, are you ready?

The seven extraterrestrials leaned their bodies forward. The plates of their organic ARMEX contracted at the same time, and a collective roar swept through the Ring.

—Both teams have accepted —the announcer declared—. Preparation complete. Let the second round begin!

The surface trembled.

The Ring ceased to be a uniform circular track. Several segments rose to form steep climbs; others dropped sharply toward lower levels, as if the path wanted to send the runners plummeting toward the black hole. Farther ahead, entire sections began rotating on their axes until they were inverted. The energy lines adjusted around them, fixing gravity to the surface to force them to run upside down over the void. Other stretches twisted and linked together in curves that no longer recognized a single direction.

The new track finished locking into place with a metallic impact that traveled throughout the entire structure.

The starting lights turned on one after another.

—Three.

The twelve runners leaned their bodies forward.

—Two.

The thrusters, plates, and training cores began releasing energy.

—One.

Valentina fixed her gaze on the first climb. Around her, the others waited until the final instant.

—Start!

The five humans and the seven invaders shot toward the transformed track, while the second round of Rakzar opened before them like a path incapable of preserving up or down.

The first climb greeted the twelve runners with an incline that would have forced an ordinary body to slow down.

The invaders did not. Their organic ARMEX released a synchronized pulse, and the seven gained height as an orderly unit, arranged in two lines that took turns bearing the strain of the climb. Three took the lead; the other four remained behind, far enough apart not to hinder one another and close enough to respond if any of them were caught.

The humans did not enter scattered either. Sebastián took the lead before the first burst ended. Virka closed in on his left, Zaira held the right flank, and Óscar remained behind, from where he could take in the entire formation. Valentina ran in the center, surrounded by the four of them, with shorter strides and her arms close to her body so as not to lose her balance during the climb.

The Arrow was born without them having to name it.

Sebastián could have climbed faster. Virka could have as well. Zaira had enough energy to shoot up the slope, and Óscar’s thrusters were already demanding a faster pace. None of them obeyed that impulse.

Their speed adjusted around Valentina, not as a clumsy concession, but as a shared measure. Every time her steps shortened, the point barely reduced its stride; when she regained her cadence, the flanks opened again and Óscar pushed from the rear.

The invaders moved several meters ahead. Valentina watched them gain ground and pressed her lips together, trying to lengthen her stride.

—Don’t chase them —Óscar said—. Follow the center.

She corrected herself before haste could pull her completely out of position. Sebastián did not look back, but he reduced his next step by a fraction. Virka matched the variation from the left, and Zaira restrained the pulse of acceleration that had just ignited beneath her legs.

The Arrow regained its balance in fewer than three steps.

The slope ended abruptly. The upper edge did not lead to a flat surface, but to a descent so steep that the void seemed to open before them. The black hole occupied the bottom of the drop, immense and silent, surrounded by the twisted light of stars that had never existed.

The invaders leaped first. Their bodies became almost horizontal as they descended, held to the Ring only by artificial gravity.

Óscar did not wait for the change to reach them.

—Split in two. Valentina, short steps.

Sebastián placed his weight on the first stride of the descent and released part of his strength toward the sides. He did not try to drag or hold them. The impulse traveled through the formation: Virka opened with him, Zaira received the expansion without firing her ARMEX, and Óscar adjusted the tail before it could compress against Valentina.

The girl spread her feet slightly and lowered her body as they had instructed her.

Five energy spikes pierced the Ring where the Arrow would have continued united. They did not emerge from the metal. They were fired from the void below, thin at first and increasingly wider as they approached the track.

Sebastián changed direction. Virka repeated the movement a fraction later; Valentina followed a smaller curve within the protected space, Zaira gathered the movement, and Óscar completed the oscillation from behind.

The Arrow became the Serpent before reaching the second spike.

The change no longer required a rigid succession. The first undulation traveled through the group, and the next began before the previous one had ended. Sebastián marked an amplitude wide enough to open a route; Virka sustained the transition and crossed toward the center when the trajectory threatened to come too close to Valentina. Zaira measured each acceleration to restore to the group what the descent tried to take from it. Óscar kept the tail aligned while his eyes shifted between the spikes that had not yet been fired.

Valentina did not imitate the others’ complete movements. She would have lost her balance on the first curve. She allowed the undulation to reach her in a reduced form, moving only as much as necessary to remain within the gap the others created.

When Virka crossed in front of her left side, the girl shifted her footing; when Zaira returned from the right, Valentina had already leaned her body toward the next space.

A spike passed behind her heels and exploded against the edge of the Ring. Valentina let out a short exclamation, but did not break stride.

—Good —Zaira said from the flank—. Maintain that pace.

The girl nodded energetically, although no one could stop to look at the gesture.

Ahead of them, one of the invaders miscalculated the final spike. The energy struck one of his legs and hurled him off the track. His body began falling toward the black hole, spinning among fragments of light.

Two of his companions abandoned their lines for an instant. One extended an arm, and the other used a burst from his organic thruster. The first grabbed him by the wrist; the second struck his back with enough force to propel both of them back toward the Ring.

The three landed separately, but the other four slowed down and absorbed them back into their structure without losing the advantage.

Óscar showed his teeth in a brief smile.

—They know how to gather each other up too. How considerate.

The descent ended in a lateral curve. The Serpent compressed while they were still turning. Zaira allowed her final acceleration to die instead of prolonging it; Virka closed in from the opposite side, and Óscar moved half a step forward. Sebastián received the force returning through the formation and projected it forward.

The Arrow reappeared all at once.

There was no pause between one form and the other. The Serpent’s final turn became the point’s first stride, and the five emerged from the curve with more speed than they had possessed upon entering it.

The distance between them and the invaders decreased.

Space responded.

Several tiny stars ignited their cores around the Ring. They were white points, barely larger than a fist, suspended at different heights. For a second, they seemed to be part of the scenery. Then their surfaces cracked with blue lines.

Óscar saw them before they finished opening.

—Close in. Impact above and to the right.

Virka was already crossing when he spoke. She abandoned the left flank, passed behind Valentina, and covered the indicated side. Zaira narrowed hers to give her space without colliding. Sebastián tilted the point, and the five compressed beneath a narrow cover.

The small stars exploded.

They did not produce fire. They released rings of energy that cut through the void and struck the track from several angles. The first passed over them. The second grazed Virka’s shoulder and scattered violet light from her ARMEX, but she did not lose her position.

The third struck Sebastián head-on.

The impact would have torn another runner from the Ring. Sebastián received it with his shoulder, drove one boot into the surface, and allowed the wave to break against his virtual body.

The blow forced him back half a step.

Nothing more.

The formation absorbed the loss. Zaira accelerated just enough to support the right side; Virka returned to the left before a gap could appear, and Óscar brought the rear closer. Valentina kept her legs moving within them, breathing quickly, but without shrinking back.

—Are you all right, Dad?

—Yes. Keep going.

The answer was enough.

They continued.

The invaders took advantage of the compression. Four maintained the lead while the other three slowed down and allowed themselves to be caught, spreading out around the Arrow. One descended along Zaira’s flank. Another entered from the left, targeting Virka. The third remained behind Óscar.

They did not attack at the same time. They feinted an initial advance, retreated, and waited for the humans to react.

Óscar did not.

His eyes followed the invader at the rear, but his attention was on the other two.

—They’re going to close in on the center after the next pulse.

The warning came before the movement.

The extraterrestrial on the right feinted a charge against Zaira and shifted toward Valentina. Virka was already crossing the formation. Her forearm struck the invader’s torso and deflected him before he could reach the girl.

At the same time, the attacker on the left lunged toward the space Virka had abandoned. Zaira ignited her thrusters, crossed behind Valentina, and arrived first. She did not receive the charge head-on: she grabbed the enemy’s arm, turned with his momentum, and hurled him into the wake of an energy wave.

The explosion lifted him from the Ring.

The third invader dropped onto Óscar from behind. He tilted his torso at the last moment, allowed the organic claws to pass over his shoulder, and caught one of the joints. He did not try to bring him down with force. He changed the angle of his leg, used the opposing speed, and sent him rolling toward the edge.

—Now —he said.

Sebastián turned around while running.

The Arrow opened around Valentina. The girl continued forward while Virka and Zaira occupied the spaces forming on both sides. Sebastián waited for the first invader to try to rise and drove his fist into the center of his armor.

There was no restraint.

The organic ARMEX buckled under the impact, and the extraterrestrial was sent flying into the void. He spun several times before activating his thrusters.

One of his companions in the vanguard returned to intercept him, caught his body against his chest, and used the fall itself to throw him back toward the track. Another covered the space they had both left behind.

The invaders’ advantage was reduced, but it did not disappear.

Sebastián returned to the point without demanding that the others arrange themselves behind him. He slowed down for a single step, transferred the impulse toward the flanks, and allowed the formation to close from the sides.

Virka returned first. Zaira arrived at the same time as Óscar. Valentina had never left the center.

The Arrow was complete again.

Ahead of them, the Ring widened and its surface divided into hexagonal plates. Green lines appeared around some of them; others remained dark.

Valentina lowered her gaze for barely an instant.

—The green ones are closing!

Óscar had already seen the pattern, but the girl’s warning confirmed which sector would be first.

—Serpent. Through the dark ones.

Sebastián shifted the point.

The change traveled faster than the previous one. Virka crossed, Valentina followed the gap left by her passage, Zaira regulated a short acceleration, and Óscar swung the tail around.

The green plates rose around them and formed energy cages, transparent cubes that trapped everything remaining on top of them.

One closed behind Óscar without catching him. Another descended in front of Sebastián and forced him to widen the curve. The Serpent stretched, but did not break.

Virka touched Valentina’s forearm as she crossed, indicating the change before the girl could look. Zaira passed along the opposite side and left an open hand at the height of her shoulder. Valentina brushed it as she completed the turn and used that minimal contact to maintain her cadence.

Two invaders were trapped.

The walls of their cages received blows from within, but did not yield. The five remaining companions altered their advance: three slowed down and spread out to prevent the humans from taking advantage of the imprisonment, while the other two returned.

One rammed the first prison from the outside at the same time as the captive struck it from within. The grid fractured. The second trapped invader did not wait for direct help; he ran along the inner wall, reached the top, and struck the point one of his companions had marked from the outside.

The cage opened in a burst of green lines.

The humans overtook them for the first time.

Valentina opened her eyes wide when she saw them fall behind.

—We’re winning!

—For a few seconds —Óscar replied—. Enjoy them without getting distracted.

She smiled, but kept her eyes on the track.

The Ring narrowed again and forced them to enter a corridor with raised edges. The side walls began firing alternating pulses. The humans returned to the Arrow to occupy less space.

Sebastián took the first blast and deflected the second with his arm. Virka ducked beneath a third, shifted her footing toward Zaira, and helped her maintain her axis when another pulse struck her leg. Zaira did not respond with excessive acceleration. She allowed the impact to exhaust itself, recovered her stride beside Valentina, and only then activated a brief burst to restore speed to the entire side.

The invaders caught up with them inside the corridor.

The violence no longer came in turns.

An organic body collided with Virka. She absorbed the blow, pivoted on one leg, and responded with her elbow against the enemy’s chest. Another tried to enter through the space the impact had opened, but Zaira abandoned the right flank, hooked her leg around the invader’s joint, and used the wall to reverse the turn.

Both adversaries crashed into each other.

Óscar leaned aside to avoid a swipe and pointed ahead with two fingers.

—Three pulses. Then it opens.

Sebastián counted the flashes without responding. He received the first on his forearm, allowed the second to pass in front of his face, and, when the third crossed the corridor, drove both legs against the ground.

The force of the impulse traveled through the formation. Virka and Zaira received it without allowing it to concentrate in them; they conducted it toward the center through their own footwork. Valentina felt the acceleration reach her in a reduced form, enough to lengthen her strides without tearing her from the ground. Óscar completed the transmission from behind.

The Arrow shot through the opening.

Three invaders tried to block it. Sebastián struck the first with his shoulder and hurled him against a wall. Virka brought down the second with a short sweep, without stopping to check his fall. Zaira feinted toward the third, waited for him to protect the center, and passed along his side with Valentina inside the open line. Óscar closed in behind them both and struck the invader’s knee just as he tried to turn around.

The five passed through the corridor.

They were no longer ahead of the seven, but they were not far behind either. The extraterrestrials had recovered again and were running only a few meters away, scattered around them. The halfway point of the course approached beneath a succession of white lines crossing the Ring.

Then the metal began to rotate.

It was not the tilt of a curve or another change in elevation. The entire section rotated around its own axis. The horizon tilted; the black hole rose along one side of their vision, and the stars seemed to fall upward. Artificial gravity kept their boots attached to the surface, but for an instant their bodies insisted on remembering a direction that no longer existed.

Óscar raised his gaze toward the lines lighting up between the plates.

—It’s not just an inversion. It’s going to split apart.

The warning came in time. There was no formation capable of preventing it.

Sebastián reduced the point and transmitted the order to close in. Virka crossed toward Valentina; Zaira returned from the other flank, and Óscar shortened the rear. The five managed to compress before the track turned sideways.

The white lines rose between them.

The Ring opened into twelve narrow strips that began to separate like the blades of a propeller. Each retained its own gravity while rotating toward a different position. One lifted Sebastián; another dragged Virka downward. Valentina remained on a central route that rotated in the opposite direction from Zaira’s, while Óscar was pulled toward the outer edge.

The invaders suffered the same rupture. Their seven bodies were distributed among the strips, unable to maintain the structure with which they had run until then.

Virka extended a hand toward Valentina. Her fingers came within less than an arm’s length of reaching her before two planes of energy rose between them. Zaira tried to reduce her acceleration to cross over, but the surface beneath her feet completed its rotation and carried her to the opposite side. Sebastián held the girl’s gaze from a track that was already beginning to move above them.

—Don’t stop —Óscar ordered.

It was the last thing they could hear clearly.

The Ring completed half of its inversion, and the twelve runners were left distributed around its structure, some sideways, others already upside down before the void. The Arrow had disappeared. The Serpent could not pass through the walls separating them either.

For the first time since the beginning of the second round, each of them would have to continue without being able to touch the others.

The strips finished forming a helix around the void. Sebastián’s remained above the rest, inverted; Virka’s descended toward the interior of the Ring; Zaira was left running sideways, and Óscar was carried toward the outer edge. Valentina’s route rotated until it became almost vertical, like a wall hurtling through space.

Her boots remained attached by the surface’s gravity, but her body took an instant to accept it. The black hole was no longer below or ahead. It occupied one of her sides, enormous and silent, while the stars seemed to fall in a different direction each time the strip rotated.

Valentina extended her arms to regain her balance and continued running.

She could not reach the others. She saw them appear and disappear between the planes of energy dividing the routes, transformed into brief figures within a mechanism too large.

The seven invaders had not remained together either. Five advanced along strips near each member of the human team; the other two took advantage of the helix’s crossings to move between routes and reinforce any attack that found an opening.

One followed Valentina.

The extraterrestrial ran along a parallel strip, several meters above her. His organic ARMEX contracted with every stride, accumulating energy beneath its dark plates. He could not cross while the two surfaces remained distant, but he maintained the same pace and waited for the Ring’s rotation to bring them close again.

Valentina looked ahead. The lights on her route lit up in groups, announcing changes she still did not fully understand.

She wanted to look for Óscar to ask what she should do, but found him far away, running on a surface that rotated beneath his feet. He pointed at two plates before they rose and changed sides in advance. The invader pursuing him fell between them when the space closed.

She could not hear him.

Even so, Valentina understood what was important.

She had to look ahead.

Three violet lines lit up in front of her. The first advanced down the center; the other two emerged beside the edges. Valentina chose the dark space before the lines rose and passed through the gap while three walls of energy divided the track behind her back.

The strip rotated again.

The wall became the floor for two steps and then continued until it left her upside down. Valentina hunched her shoulders. The void appeared beneath her hair, pulling at a part of her that still expected to fall even though her boots remained attached to the surface.

On a distant route, Virka received the same change without fighting against it. She leaned her body with the rotation, planted one hand, and allowed the movement to carry her beneath her pursuer’s blow. When she rose again, she was already running in the new direction.

Valentina imitated only what she could do. She did not try to move with Virka’s violence. She loosened her knees, stopped resisting the rotation, and moved with the track until her stomach stopped searching for a down that no longer existed.

The invader remained above her.

The two strips began to draw closer.

Valentina watched the extraterrestrial lower his body and spread his arms. The plates on his legs released a burst.

He jumped when both routes crossed and passed through the space between them before the separating planes finished changing position.

He landed behind the girl.

The impact shook the strip. Valentina looked over her shoulder and accelerated. The invader was taller, his steps covered more distance, and his structure seemed built to charge. She did not raise her fists. She knew that striking him head-on would only force her to stop.

Sebastián would not have stopped.

She caught sight of him for an instant at the top of the helix. He ran toward the end of his own strip even though two invaders were trying to block his path. He did not waste strength holding up the entire structure or wait for a perfect opening. He advanced along the shortest line, deflected the first with his shoulder, and struck the second when he moved into his path. Both were sent flying toward different routes.

Sebastián continued without looking at their fall.

Valentina pressed her lips together and fixed her gaze on the end of her strip.

She could not run like him, but she could maintain a direction.

The pursuer extended a claw. The girl ducked without breaking stride and felt the virtual air cut across her visor. When the claw returned, she moved toward the edge and allowed the extraterrestrial to prolong the attack.

He corrected quickly. One of his plates opened and launched a dark filament toward Valentina’s legs.

She ignited her thrusters.

The first burst was too intense. Her body surged forward, and one boot lost contact for a fraction of a second. Valentina opened her eyes wide, shut off the impulse, and planted her foot again before leaving the gravity field.

On another strip, Zaira passed through a succession of ascents that emerged and disappeared beneath her steps. Her thrusters did not remain active: she released short pulses, one to reach each rise and a smaller one to regain control when she landed. The movement seemed continuous precisely because she never released more energy than necessary.

Valentina tried again.

This time she applied less pressure.

The impulse moved her away from the filament without tearing her from the track. She took three steps, released another brief burst, and changed sides when she saw the next line light up.

Look ahead, move with the rotation, do not stop, and do not spend everything at once.

She did not think it in such orderly words. Inside her were only the images of Óscar, Virka, Sebastián, and Zaira, as simple as the instructions a child could retain while the world turned upside down.

The pursuer continued to draw closer.

The strip turned sideways and began to undulate. Each curve altered gravity: for a moment, Valentina ran along a wall; the next, the wall leaned over her; then it became a narrow floor again.

The girl used the changes to shorten her trajectories. She stayed close to the inside of one curve, allowed the next to lift her, and descended with a gentle pulse from her thrusters.

The extraterrestrial learned her rhythm.

He stopped attacking every time he caught up with her.

He waited.

The track announced the next turn with a white line. Valentina saw it and moved toward the side that would remain above. The invader feinted toward her back, forcing her to make the correction early, and changed the direction of the blow at the last instant.

His forearm struck the girl’s side just as the strip began to invert.

Valentina did not fall onto the Ring.

She flew off it.

Her boots left the gravity field, and the edge moved away from her hands before she could grab it. Her small body spun in the void. The strip continued advancing without her, carrying the invader with it as well, who regained his balance and continued the race.

Valentina extended her arms.

She found nothing.

For one second, she saw the entire Ring from the outside: the twelve routes twisted around the black hole, the runners distributed across incompatible surfaces, and the lines of light that kept them separated.

Virka struck a barrier when she saw her fall. Sebastián moved toward the edge of his strip, but the space between them grew before he could do anything.

Neither of them would reach her.

Fear closed her throat.

She did not want to disappear from the race. She did not want to return to the starting line while the others continued without her. Above all, she did not want to keep falling toward that bottomless darkness.

The two folded structures on the back of her ARMEX vibrated.

Valentina felt them and remembered that they had always been there, closed, like two pieces whose purpose she had not yet imagined. At that moment, she did not think about mechanisms or the system’s rules.

She thought about something much simpler:

Butterflies did not need the ground.

—I want to fly —she whispered.

The virtual environment responded to the image before she finished understanding it.

The structures opened. Their white plates divided into smaller segments and deployed two articulated frames from each side of her back. Between them appeared translucent surfaces crossed by black veins and violet lines.

They were not organic wings.

They were two pairs of mechanical wings with the broad and delicate shape of a butterfly, built by the same system that had interpreted her imagination to create the avatar.

Nothing had changed in the body that remained inside the capsule. It was the virtual ARMEX that was reconfiguring itself, using the pieces it already possessed to obey a new idea.

The wings extended completely.

The first movement was uncoordinated. One opened before the others, and Valentina spun around. She flailed her arms by reflex, closed her eyes, and wished with all her strength to stop falling.

The four mechanisms corrected their angle.

A violet discharge traveled through the veins.

Her fall slowed until it stopped.

Valentina remained suspended outside the Ring, with her legs floating and her hair raised around the visor.

She opened one eye.

Then the other.

—I didn’t fall.

A small laugh escaped her mouth, more surprised than victorious.

She moved one shoulder, and the wings on the same side responded. She tilted her body and advanced in a curve that was too wide. She almost spun again, but reduced the impulse as she had seen Zaira do.

The movement stabilized.

The Ring remained in front of her.

Valentina fluttered to one side. She did not fly with precision or yet understand all the responses of the new mechanism. She rose higher than necessary, descended when correcting, and moved her hands as if she could push against space. However, each mistake was smaller than the previous one. Soon, she managed to keep pace with the strips without touching them.

From that height, she saw the helix beginning to close.

Sebastián’s, Virka’s, Zaira’s, and Óscar’s routes gradually returned toward the same plane. Each reached the end of their section by different means: Sebastián passed through the final opposition without yielding his direction; Virka used a rotation to throw her pursuer against another strip; Zaira shut off her thrusters before the final descent and landed at the exact speed; Óscar abandoned his route a fraction before two plates closed behind him.

The seven invaders also survived the separation. The one who had knocked Valentina off crossed back toward his companions when the routes drew close again, and the two who had changed targets during the helix once again occupied the open spaces in their formation.

The twelve strips locked together with a roar.

The Ring recovered a single surface and a common direction. Sebastián reached the center of the route first. Virka occupied the left flank, Zaira adjusted to the right, and Óscar closed in from behind. The four reconstructed the Arrow while they were still running, without stopping to look for a fifth position on the ground.

Valentina was above them.

She descended until she was moving with them from the air, positioned above the formation’s inner space. Sebastián raised his gaze for an instant. Virka kept her eyes on her until she confirmed that the wings maintained a stable rhythm. Zaira observed the mechanism and then looked forward again. Óscar raised two fingers in greeting, with a crooked smile.

—I see you found another lane.

—I can fly! —Valentina replied.

—We noticed. Stay close.

She nodded so forcefully that she lost a little altitude and had to open all four wings to recover it. Below, the Arrow advanced; above, Valentina corrected herself until she matched its speed.

For the first time, the formation was not protecting her by enclosing her in the center. The four occupied the Ring, and she covered a space that none of them had been able to reach before.

Virtual reality registered the change.

Several small stars appeared at the same height as Valentina. Until then, they had remained scattered throughout the scenery, but their cores began to ignite one after another. Red lines sought out the girl and locked onto the mechanical wings.

Óscar’s smile diminished.

—Left, Valentina.

She tilted her body. The first energy pulse passed through the place she had just abandoned. Three other stars opened their surfaces and turned to follow her while new lights awakened above the Ring.

Valentina beat her wings and ascended above the Arrow.

Space had accepted that she could fly. Now it was beginning to demand that she learn how to do it.

The stars fired again.

Valentina closed the wings on her left side and allowed the first pulse to pass above her. The movement made her descend too far, but she opened the lower pair before reaching the Arrow and regained altitude with a clumsy jolt.

Below, Sebastián maintained the point; Virka and Zaira adjusted the flanks according to the shadow the girl cast over the Ring, and Óscar watched both the track and the lights that continued following her.

—Two behind you —he warned.

Valentina looked over her shoulder. The stars had already opened their cores.

—I see them!

She ascended before they fired and circled around the formation. Her curves were still too wide, but each correction came a little sooner. The projectiles pursuing her crossed over the Ring and forced three invaders to separate.

Sebastián took advantage of the gap without changing direction. The Arrow passed between them, and Valentina positioned herself above its center again.

The rest of the round continued that way. The four runners on the ground maintained the formation while she learned to occupy the space above. Sometimes she pointed out obstacles they could not yet see from the Ring; at others, she drew toward herself the attacks that would have blocked the path.

Whenever she descended too far, Virka followed her position until she confirmed that she had regained altitude. Zaira indicated with a word whenever she was using more thrust than necessary. Óscar anticipated the changes in the track, and Sebastián maintained a direction around which they could all reorganize themselves.

The invaders did not yield. They brought their seven bodies together again, protected those who fell behind, and attacked from both sides during the final stretch. Neither team managed to force the other aside.

The distance narrowed until the finish line appeared as a white strip in front of them.

The Arrow and the invaders entered together.

Light covered the Ring. For an instant, no result appeared.

Then the system projected two words over the finish line:

«TECHNICAL TIE».

Valentina descended with her wings spread and placed her boots beside the others.

—Does that mean we didn’t lose?

—It also means we didn’t win —Zaira replied, without taking her eyes off the scoreboard.

Óscar moved one hand from side to side.

—It’s a defeat that still can’t bring itself to admit it.

Sebastián watched the seven invaders, who were already returning to the starting platform.

—Again.

They did not need to discuss it.

The next round began before the feeling of the tie disappeared. Then another came. The Ring changed its ascents, moved the traps, and altered the order of the rotations, but it no longer seemed completely unfamiliar to them.

Not every attempt ended better. In one, Valentina opened her wings too late, and a blast returned her to the starting point. In another, the invaders broke the Arrow near the finish line and won by a few steps.

However, each restart retained something from the previous one.

Valentina stopped flailing her arms whenever she lost altitude. She learned to fold one pair of wings to turn and use the other to support herself. The four on the ground no longer looked up to find her: they recognized her shadow, the hum of her mechanisms, and the warnings that came from above.

She, in turn, stopped trying to follow all their movements. She found her own route that remained connected to the formation.

Time passed between starting signals, impacts, and returns to the platform.

In the final round, the invaders reached the final straight first. Valentina flew ahead of the Arrow and forced the stars to fire toward a lower altitude. The seven extraterrestrials had to spread out to avoid the pulses.

Óscar saw the separation. Virka and Zaira widened the flanks, and Sebastián passed through the center before the space could close. Valentina folded her wings, descended above them, and crossed the finish line at the same time as the four.

The invading team arrived an instant later.

«HUMAN TEAM VICTORY».

Valentina raised both arms, and the wings opened behind her.

—We won!

Óscar let out a low laugh. Zaira contemplated the result with restrained satisfaction; she barely raised her chin before looking at their opponents. Sebastián remained still, and Virka approached Valentina when the girl descended to the Ring.

Then a second notice appeared:

«SESSION TIME RECORDED: TWO HOURS».

The darkness of space began to recede. The Ring, the stars, and the seven invaders dissolved into a white brightness. The five avatars disappeared afterward, and the controlled sleep sustaining the connection gradually ended.

The capsules opened one after another.

Sebastián emerged first. There was no tension in his movements or visible signs of exhaustion. Virka left her unit with the same steadiness, although she immediately turned her attention toward Valentina’s capsule.

The girl took a little longer to sit up. When she placed her feet on the floor, her knees gave way slightly, and Virka caught her by the arms before she lost her balance.

—I’m fine —Valentina said, although a yawn interrupted the sentence.

Her body did not hurt. The exhaustion was concentrated behind her eyes and in the heaviness of a mind that had spent two hours responding to movements that had never existed outside the capsule.

Zaira took a deep breath and flexed her fingers to rid herself of a slight stiffness. Óscar rubbed one temple and rolled his neck until it cracked. Sebastián and Virka, on the other hand, did not seem to have experienced the same strain.

They returned to the changing rooms and changed without delay. When they returned to the reception area, they were once again wearing the clothes in which they had arrived. Valentina walked while holding Virka’s hand, still awake, although her steps had lost some of the enthusiasm with which she had entered.

The employee checked the record on the screen.

—Since you did not select a limit before beginning, the system kept an open session and recorded the time used. It was two hours for each of the five capsules. That is one hundred thousand units for the training and seventy thousand for the creation of the customized scenario. The total is one hundred seventy thousand units.

Sebastián brought his payment device closer. The employee confirmed the transaction and opened the private record.

—The only thing left is to assign a name to the scenario.

Óscar pointed at Sebastián with his thumb.

—Since he’s paying, they should at least let it have his last name.

Sebastián did not argue.

—Solís.

—Only Solís? —the employee asked.

—Yes.

The woman saved the name. «SOLÍS» appeared above the representation of the Ring before disappearing along with the receipt.

When they left the training center, the afternoon was entering its final hours. The lights from the establishments already dominated the third floor, although a faint brightness still descended through the shopping mall’s windows. The smell coming from the food establishments made Valentina raise her head.

Óscar placed a hand over his stomach.

—I think we’ve already completed the athletic part. I propose we continue with the edible part.

—I’m hungry —Valentina said.

No one objected.

They went down to the second floor and walked among restaurants, cafés, and display cases filled with food. Sebastián stopped in front of a simple-looking establishment, with wooden tables, warm lights, and a kitchen visible behind the counter. The aroma of bread, sauce, and grilled meat drifted through the entrance.

—That place will do.

They entered.

The table they were assigned was near a wood-paneled wall. Sebastián ordered a plate of spaghetti with tomato sauce, without any side dishes. Valentina chose a child-sized portion of the same pasta along with chicken fingers. Virka ordered a smaller amount of pasta and a considerable portion of grilled meat. Óscar chose grilled chicken with rice and vegetables, while Zaira ordered fish accompanied by potatoes and vegetables.

When the food arrived, the conversation began without them needing to look for it.

Valentina tried to wrap too much spaghetti around her fork and ended up leaving one strand on her cheek. Virka removed it with a napkin, and Óscar tilted his head with feigned gravity.

—Flying around a black hole and being defeated by a strand of spaghetti. It’s a strange race.

Valentina laughed and tried again with less pasta.

—Will my wings be there when we go back?

—The scenario retains the modifications —Zaira replied—. But you will have to learn to control them better.

—You can help me.

Zaira set her utensils down on the plate for an instant.

—I can correct your acceleration.

—And we’ll help you with the rest —Óscar added—. Now we have an aerial member. It would be irresponsible to waste her.

Sebastián looked at Valentina.

—First, you have to rest.

—Then I’ll practice.

—Then —he confirmed.

The conversation continued with brief comments about the rounds, the mistakes they still needed to correct, and the way Valentina had ended up flying. They did not make the victory into something greater than it was. They had won once after losing several times, and they all understood that the result did not erase what they still needed to learn.

Even so, the atmosphere remained light. For the first time during that outing, they were not planning, competing, or trying to prove anything.

Zaira participated without keeping herself apart. She responded whenever Óscar exaggerated one of the falls, corrected his version of the final race, and listened to Valentina describe her wings as if she had built them herself, piece by piece.

No one asked her about the club again.

When they finished, the plates were almost empty, and the light outside had dimmed a little more. Zaira placed her glass on the table. The sound was small, but it was enough to make the others look up.

—I’ve made a decision.

Óscar rested one arm on the back of his chair. Valentina remained still, holding the final piece of a chicken finger between her fingers.

Zaira held their gazes without changing her posture.

—Today’s training demonstrated that I can improve with you without abandoning my own goals. I will join the club and participate in the expedition, if the principal authorizes it.

Óscar’s smile appeared immediately.

—I knew you would end up making a good decision.

—Do not turn this into a victory of yours.

—I’ll try.

Valentina put down the piece of chicken and went around the table before anyone could stop her.

—Then you really are staying!

She hugged Zaira from the side. Zaira tensed slightly at the unexpected movement, but did not push her away. After an instant, she placed one hand on the hair divided between brown and white.

Sebastián observed the scene.

—We’ll include you in the proposal.

Virka nodded once.

—Good.

Zaira kept her hand on Valentina’s head for a few more seconds. She had not accepted because of insistence, obligation, or a promise that did not yet exist. She had run beside them, lost, tied, and won at their side. Afterward, she had remained when there was nothing left to prove.

The club’s first outing had ended.

The club no longer needed to wait for her answer.

________________________________________

END OF Chapter 131 The path continues...

New Chapters are revealed every

Sunday, and also between Wednesday or Thursday,

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