Dusk by Ashanti Luke Page A

conflagration that would push his
streamer-sporting adversary to his flash point.
six
    • • • • •
    — Darius, how did you score in the seventy-fourth
percentile?
    — I don’t know.
    — You don’t know? What does that mean, ‘you don’t
know?’ I would think between the two of us, you would have the
clearest idea. Don’t tell me you don’t know.
    — Why are you so serious? It’s just seventy-four.
It’s still above average.
    — Above average? Where is this coming from? How
would you feel if I took your HoloStation and gave you a Viewdeck
instead?
    — I don’t know.
    — You don’t know again, huh? Darius, ‘I don’t
know’ is the stupid man’s mantra when he’s backed into a corner.
You know full-well what you would feel like if you had to play vids
on a Viewdeck. You wouldn’t like it, would you?
    — I don…
    — Don’t you say it, boy. You own up. You answer me
like a man and stop dodging. Would you like it if someone took your
HoloStation and gave you a Viewdeck?
    — I guess a Viewdeck is okay, if all you got is a
Viewdeck. But if I had a HoloStation, especially a HoloStation
Prime, and it got traded for a Viewdeck, I guess I wouldn’t like it
much.
    — Why?
    — Because a Viewdeck is bunkus compared to a
HoloStation.
    — Exactly. And here you are, a nominee for the
Rothschild Laureate, and you’re handing me scores like a
Freeschooler.
    — Thought you said there’s nothing wrong with
Freeschool.
    — I did. Just like you said there’s nothing wrong
with a Viewdeck. But backtracking is… what’s the word…
bunkus.
    — I don’t get it. Why do I have to be the best all
the time? Why don’t I get a break?
    — You get a break when the job’s done, son. It’s
that simple. And you have to be the best because you are the
best—at least better than most when it comes to understanding and
reasoning.
    — But the job’s hard and it goes on forever. Soon
as one thing’s done there’s some other boring thing to do. It’s not
fair.
    — Fair? What’s not fair is being given the gift of
aptitude and not using it. There’s some kid right now wishing he
were half as capable as you. Why does that Genivere Lim girl always
beat you, huh? Do you even know?
    — Please Dada, not again.
    — Yes, again. Again and again and again until you
get it. It’s because you don’t have the killer instinct. Because
you don’t know how to get the job done under tough circumstances.
Not because she’s smarter than you, but because she wants it more.
She needs it just to get through the day. Needs it because she
isn’tsmarter, and that’s all she has to cling to.
    — Then she can have it.
    — And she will. And you, you will always be second
seed.
    — Maybe second seed is enough.
    — You ever wonder why I never bought you the
HoloStation Prime you’re always asking for? It’s because you don’t
deserve it. Because you don’t get the job done.
    — I don’t see what that has to do with what you’re
talking about.
    — And that’s precisely why you still have a
HoloStation Beta. The day you realize that sometimes you have to do
things you don’t want to get the things you do want, that will be
the day l get you anything you ask for within my power.
    — And when will that be?
    — Ask yourself.
    • • • • •
    As Cyrus hit the ground, pain struck out from his
shoulder blade, through his wrist and hand, and out his fingers,
letting him know immediately that something had gone wrong. He
rolled over the opposite shoulder and to his feet, avoiding his
right arm completely. As he turned to face Dr. Tanner, he exhaled
starkly, extended his left arm in front of him, and then assumed a
defensive stance. His right arm hung limp against his side.
    “That doesn’t look good,” Dr. Tanner relaxed
his stance.
    “I can still fight.” Cyrus lunged forward
with a kick, and then, as Tanner blocked, Cyrus ducked around to
the left and fired a left hook beneath Tanner’s elbow. Tanner
dodged to