Nyxia by Scott Reintgen

Author:Scott Reintgen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2017-09-12T04:00:00+00:00

DAY 99, 4:35 P.M.

Aboard Genesis 11

As we get closer and closer to the Tower Space Station, we learn that this is a competition of highs and lows. Bones break, ankles twist, muscles pull.

Babel pushes us over cliffs and expects us to fly. Sometimes we do.

I stand in front of the mirror. There is no longer a gut for my suit to tighten. The ribbed leather six-pack actually represents the muscles underneath now. Babel and Karpinski took my soul’s softness in weeks. It’s taken a little longer to remove the physical softness, to carve me into something hard and powerful.

Vandemeer waits in the living room with Kaya. Every morning we train. Every night we study Eden and the Adamites. Every day the two of them help me claw my way back up the scoreboard. Our alliance is earning its weight in gold. After crunches and push-ups, Vandemeer quizzes me on the climates of Eden. The more I learn, the more of a mystery their world seems. Eden isn’t Earth. The Adamites aren’t humans. The similarities are there, but underestimating the differences might get us killed. It helps knowing that almost the entire Adamite population lives in one massive city. It helps knowing their average age of mortality is more than double ours. Even little things, like the fact that they never communicate through head nods or hand motions, could matter when we’re on the surface and face to face with another species.

We walk down to breakfast together. The others have changed too. Katsu’s still massive, but muscle has formed in his arms and chest. Kaya was right about him. There are days where he can’t hide his sadness behind clever jokes. On those days, he’s darker and more bitter than any of us.

Bilal has actually grown a few inches. He’s tall and goofy-looking now, but still always smiling. Jaime’s face has thinned. The change emphasizes his cheekbones, makes him look even more like a medieval prince. I’ve been slowly setting aside my natural distrust of him. He’s been slowly forgiving me for all the early accusations. Only Azima looks the same. She claims this kind of chaos is in her blood. She says she was born to survive far crueler conditions.

I used to think that was true of me.

Vandemeer’s training isn’t only physical. It’s mental too. One lesson that won’t stick is his request that I don’t obsess over the scoreboard. In spite of his reminders about psychology and positive thinking, I glance at it after every activity, every meal, every anything:

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