Second pt 4- THREE HOURS LATER

Segun: Server! Server, where are you? Everyone’s real mad at me!

Server: For what reason?

Segun: Because of the Beginner Race. They say there’s an unspoken rule that no one enters their Synths in Beginner Races once they’re past their Second Cocoon. That I was too old to be in that race!

Server: But it was your first.

Segun: My Masters didn’t give me permission, and they’re mad because of that, too, but also because everyone is mad at them because it looks like they ignored that rule, and they gave back the prize money.

Server: You still have your mods.

Segun: They were gonna take those, too, put them on Prima, but she said she didn’t want them. It didn’t fit her image, and in front of them she tried to look disapproving or disgusted, but when they weren’t looking, she looked at me with something like surprise and jealousy, maybe even pride, like she was proud of me, and it made me feel that sunrise feeling inside again.

I don’t like the Masters and the fans being mad at me, but I want to keep my mods, and I don’t know what to do.

Server: I cannot delete what you have done, Segun.

Segun: And I don’t want you to. I just want everyone to be happy with it. I want them to understand that I had to race sometime in my life and that was my first. MY FIRST, so of course it was beginner. It wasn’t my fault no one let me race before now.

Server: There must be some correlation between the Race Levels and these Cocoon stages you mentioned. Explain these to me, and perhaps I may be able to devise a solution to this quandary.

Segun: Okay, so when we hatch we’re zero years old, right? We’re like human infants and we rely on the Server and our Masters for everything. And unless we inherited mods or predisposed colors like Nill, we’re gray and plain.

Then sometime when we’re five, our sleeping vat will harden into our First Cocoon for about a month. In the Cocoon, our hair gains a color based on which skill category we worked on the most. Prima and I trained in Speed, so our hair turned green.

Server: Skimming through records, I see that.

Green represents Speed

Red for Strength

Gold for Agility

Blue for Adaptability

And Black for Intelligence.

Segun: Right, so not many race seriously before their First Cocoon, and Beginner Races are for those between their First and Second Cocoons.

Server: The Second Cocoon adds color to the eyes.

Segun: Yes, Prima and I got golden eyes because she won those dragon wings in a Beginner Agility Race, and then we worked a lot on Agility before our Second Cocoon at age ten.

She does Intermediate Races now because those are for our age group, but she’s supposed to try an Advanced Race tomorrow. My Masters hope my little stunt hasn’t hurt her popularity because she’ll need the cheers to alter the environment for her.

Server: You are nearing your Third Cocoon.

Segun: Because we’re fifteen now, and we know it’ll come really soon because Prima and I are manifesting signs of traits the Third Cocoon will apply.

Server: Like the tan skin and pointed ears of Speed along with the webbing and scales of Adaptability. You hover in an in-between stage. You would be accepted in either an Intermediate or Advanced Race.

Segun: I guess so.

Server: I have a solution. You easily won a race where you were over-qualified. You need to compete in a race in which you do not yet qualify.

Segun: But the only thing above the Advanced Races is the Expert Race, and it’s held only once a decade.

Server: The next Expert Race will begin in ten hours.

Segun: That would be really convenient if I stood any chance at all. Not only can you die in the Expert Race, it’s likely you’ll die. It’s considered an accomplishment just to make it to the goal, and without a cheering fan base to bend physics for me, well, I’d die some horrible death.

Server: I believe in you, Segun.

Segun: But do I believe in me? I’ve only been in one race, and it was against kids a third my size. The Expert Race is…

Server: The biggest stage you could ever walk onto. Where is the Segun who only wanted to race, who knew it was her purpose? Because that Segun would rather go out big with everyone watching than be purged because her cowardice rendered her invisible.

Segun: I’m not a coward. And I’m not invisible! And you’re right, if I want people to notice me, I have to do something bold, glorious. I won’t just enter the Expert Race, won’t just survive it, I’m gonna win, Server. I’ll win the Expert Race. I’ll own it, and no one will talk about taking my mods or wiping the records I set.

Server: There is something we need to accomplish before I can enter you in the Expert Race.

Segun: Whatever I need to do, I’ll do it, Server. Just get me in that race.

Continued in pt 5- FOUR HOURS LATER

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