The Change: Episode one by Angela White

aquatic
life…and all of it was bloodthirsty.
    The aquarium was off limits to the public on
any other day and I had the front of the glass screen to myself.
Designed in 3’ x 3’ cages that magnified the view down into the
water, each small partitioned pane held something I was both
fascinated and repulsed by.
    The first was the seahorse pen, and I
watched the tiny life forms tear apart a fallen sprite with teeth
half the size of their curved heads. The water went red, and I
turned to the next window.
    Inside were half a dozen crabs, the big kind
with long claws and remorseless features. These were trundling
along the bottom, no longer able to come out of water and survive.
To make up for that, nature had given those pinchers a dose of
lethal poison that sent a type of wasting sickness. One of their
victims was hovering in the corner, a carp with gills all over its
flushed tail. It seemed to shrink up before my eyes, and I quickly
moved on.
    Behind me, the door opened, and I tensed.
This area wasn’t completely deserted, I could hear the occasional
voice or step, and I stayed aware as I peered into the third
window.
    Squeak!
    I grinned. The octopus had lunged forward
and latched onto the glass like it was my face. Big and yellow, it
looked just like the pictures in books, except it now had ten
extending arms searching for the prey it had sensed.
    “ They’re one of the few
that can see through the distortion.”
    The Blonde Bombshell stood a bit behind me,
and I turned to face her with eyes that immediately flashed to
pink.
    She took a step back, and it threw me off,
made me give her the chance to speak.
    "Your parents may be
protected, but the girl isn't."
    I stared at her for a moment, trying to read
that icy façade, and then I moved by her. I didn’t know why she was
warning me, but I doubted it was a lie. Angelica was in
trouble.
    She watched me leave - I could feel it - and
the sense of gloating came, but there was little I could do from
these halls, and I made sure my steps weren’t hurried. The more I
appeared to care, the higher the odds went on them killing Angelica
to hurt me.
    I wondered at the Bombshell’s motives. If
she thought she’d get the Head Defender’s job by being generous or
compassionate, she was in for a shock. The Network didn’t play that
way, and neither did I.
    “ She’s gone.”
    My Father’s tone as I entered their chaotic
room was only slightly accusing. He knew not to push right now, and
I looked to my Mother. She knew as well as I did that the chances
of getting Angelica back unharmed were small if I won. If I lost,
she would absolutely be killed. Faced with hard choices, I sent my
guards away and talked to them without the eyes and ears we’d had
since stepping through those big glass doors.
     
    4
    "Cage Match Six!"
    Feeling the rage build, I stepped into the
ring with The Defender. Unlike the others I’d faced, this fighter
didn’t show off for the crowd, but stood impassively near the bars
now sliding down. When I stepped into the cage, she got set with a
good stance and the alert eyes of a life-long fighter, but I had
the rage of ten years of grief to drive me, and I grinned for my
fans.
    The roaring jeers increased, and I watched
her face harden as the crowd displayed their dislike for her, the
need to see her pay for her mistakes. I waited, not about to rush
in and give her the edge.
    I sort of owed this former guard a favor,
but there was no sympathy in me as I stared at her stoic, hawk-like
profile. I wouldn’t sacrifice Angelica’s life to save Daniel if I
could help it, but little would stop me from earning my slot on The
Block.
    Pushing away the flare of guilt, I tried to
goad her into death. “Baker says hello.”
    Those who’d heard, laughed at my tactics,
but The Defender didn’t. She answered me.
    “ Tell him not to forget his
promise.”
    I stared stupidly as she attacked.
    The harsh blow to my forehead knocked me off
my feet, and I slammed against the