Lucas waves his hands, urging me to him. I stand up and sprint as the girl on our team stumbles along the wall to regain her balance after dodging another sphere. The blue players stampede behind her. I channel all my strength into my legs. I need to run. Just run.

“Fifty players remain,” the headset voice declares. “Players have twenty seconds to evacuate Level One.”

Sweat drips down my face. I gasp and clutch the stitch in my side. I’m cramping up. Eating dessert was a bad idea.

A timer shimmers in my headset display. 20. Left turn. 17. Right turn. 14. Right turn.

A ramp rises at the end of the aisle in an open square of the stadium. We beeline for it, but the blue players are hot on our heels. A marble whizzes past me and barely misses Lucas’s shoulder.

9.

The marble bounces straight back, and Lucas snatches it.

5.

We turn and dart up the ramp. Lucas expands the marble into a sphere.

3.

The blue players reach the ramp. Gort still leads the pack, panting as he clambers up. Sweat runs through his beard. Lucas stands above him, poised to throw.

“Sorry, bud.”

The sphere slams into Gort’s chest as soon as the countdown reaches zero. Level 1 flashes red. One of the blue players jumps, grabbing at the ledge, but his fingers slip and he falls to the ground. All of their suits turn white. Two players drop to their knees, defeated.

Lucas shrugs and fakes a sympathetic sigh. Gort stares at him, but he’s breathing too hard to form words. That, and the blue players have to clear the area before they’re called for interference.

The girl beside me shrieks. Her suit flashes white and footsteps thud behind us. I duck sideways and take cover behind a barrier as a second marble zooms between me and Lucas, then peek around the corner, counting the seconds. At three, I shove off the barrier and run. The blue player tries to tackle me, but the barrier flashes red and a spray of Hologis marbles erupts above him. Several bounce off his head, and his suit deactivates.

“Blue Team eliminated,” the headset voice says.

The player count drops to 32.

Lucas catches two marbles and offers me one. I expand it into a sphere as he points at the shelter down the aisle he came out of, breathing heavily.

“In there… Yellow guy… Want him?”

I nod and go stand beside the shelter. From here, I can see the yellow glow illuminating the wall near the entrance. He must be in the back of the shelter, keeping by the window slot. I need to be fast—and accurate. If he escapes, the shelter will purge me.

Breathe in, then out.

Go.

I lunge sideways. The shelter flashes red. I shove off the wall. Lock eyes with my victim. He scrambles for the window—and doesn’t make it. I tag his suit and the shelter goes dark.