The Systems Challenge

Michelle sighed as she left the training mat. She'd been waiting to get her first assignment for a week now. She'd been warned that she might not get anything for a while, but with nothing worth going home to, getting an assignment would help make going home, even for a short period, unnecessary.

"Baker!" Michelle heard someone call out to her, startling her out of her thoughts. Maybe she had an assignment now.

However, it turned out to be the person she disliked most in the training class. Cynthia Willows. However, just because they didn't get along didn't mean that they were at each others throats. Or well… not all the time.

With nothing better to do, Michelle walked over to Cynthia. "Need something Willows?" Michelle asked.

"Even think about having a private match? Just you and me?" Cynthia asked.

Michelle sighed. "You know anything like that would be considered a fight on the base. You wouldn't be trying to get me in trouble, would you?" Michelle asked. Irrespective of Cynthia's flaws, she was never that stupid. If she was serious about it, then that meant she had an idea of how they could do that and get away with it if they were caught.

"It'd only be a fight if the requirements meet it. If we wrestle, then it wouldn't ever reach the level that would make it a 'fight.'" Cynthia said, her eyes looking Michelle over.

Right, Michelle said to herself. One thing about Cynthia she frequently forgot was how she loved 'wrestling' with the other women. Not against any of the regulations or code of conduct, but usually was frowned on by most others, even if it didn't impact their careers in the military any. As far as Michelle knew, Cynthia had 'wrestled' with all the other girls in their class, but while Michelle didn't mind sleeping with other women and Cynthia had a figure that she wouldn't have minded to get to know more intimately, she didn't care for all the other baggage that Cynthia would bring to the table.

"Sorry, not interested, Willows," Michelle replied calmly.

"What would make you change your mind?" Cynthia asked.

"What makes you think I can be bought?" Michelle asked. The only thing that would make her consider the offer was if it could get her an assignment, and she couldn't see how Cynthia could make that happen.

"Because everyone has a price. Even if it's a price I'm not willing to pay," Cynthia replied.

"Then we'll consider it a price you're not willing to pay and move on with our lives," Michelle answered.

"How about a bet?" Cynthia asked.

"What would be the wagers?" Michelle asked, only letting this conversation drag on because she didn't really want to head back to her room. She'd have to start packing if she made it there at this time.

"If I win, you wrestle with me," Cynthia said. "If you win, I'll do everything in my power to see you get an assignment. Everyone knows you're itching for one, even if it's on the front line against Trush."

Trush was the current war in the Aura kingdom. Not exactly large in terms of soldiers sent there, but it had lasted for three years and Michelle was suspecting the leaders didn't want it to end, as they could easily do that if they sent the number of troops required for that. Yet, no one, even the news media, seemed to know what the conflict was about. Michelle had in mind that if she got sent there, which was considered by most to be the worst assignment possible, she could make a difference wherever she got put.

"What would we be wagering over?" Michelle asked. "And don't say stip poker. I know all about the last five 'wagers' you had involving strip poker."

The incidents Michelle referred to were about how Cynthia would lose all her clothing and still somehow claim her side of the wager, even though she'd lost. Michelle wasn't sure how Cynthia had done it, but she was sure she didn't want to find out.

"Relax, Honey Buns," Cynthia replied. "I was thinking obstacle course 8."

Obstacle course 8 was one of the most grueling obstacle courses there were. It was reserved for elite training, but anyone could try it any time they wanted, if it wasn't currently in use. Many who were interested in applying for elite training would try it themselves, but most attempts, even for those in elite training weren't able to complete it. In addition, it typically was murder on any clothing and often required a visit to the medical office afterwards.

"Are you looking at going for elite training?" Michelle taunted with a smirk.

"Of course not," Cynthia protested. "It's just the hardest obstacle course would be the easiest way to show that there weren't any underhanded tactics used."

Michelle couldn't argue that point. There were safeguards for most of the obstacle courses to stop any outside influences, but with obstacle course 8, anyone who tried doing that would first have to get through enough of the course to where they would try something, which, according to legend on the base, had yet to occur without the person in question getting caught in many of the traps and obstacles on the course. Although, anyone who decided to give up on the course could walk to the edge and jump in the ice cold clean water that surrounded it and was about 20 feet below the course.

"When would you want to go for it?" Michelle asked, certain Cynthia had something in mind. Cynthia had never done something she hadn't already taken measures to increase her chances of winning as much as she could.

"How about right now?" Cynthia asked. "I mean, those who don't get assignments need to be leaving tomorrow, right?"

"Fine, let's get it started then," Michelle replied, not surprised that Cynthia insisted on a time where Michelle had used up some of her energy already while Cynthia, herself, hadn't done anything to tire her out yet.

Michelle led the way over to the plank bridge that led to the start of obstacle course 8 and waited for Cynthia to get in place.

"Remember, Baker," Cynthia said. "Whoever gets the farthest wins, okay?"

"I got it," Michelle said, wondering what would happen if it was a tie.

"Looks like we have two new challengers to obstacle course 8," the robotic voice that always announced for the obstacle courses. "Just to recap the rules, in case it's necessary, each participant can leave the course of their own volition at any time. However, if any participant fails to reach the next checkpoint before time runs out, they'll be disqualified from having a time entered for completing the course."

Michelle had heard all of this before, so wasn't that worried about it. What worried her was the look that Cynthia had on her face as they waited for the signal to start.

"And go!" The mechanical voice cried out suddenly. "And the participants are off! Bake has taken the lead. Willows is moving for leisurely? Who in their right mind moves at a leisurely pace on this course?"

Michelle had started running for the first obstacle as soon as the voice had indicated the timer had started. She didn't pay any attention to Cynthia. That would only distract her and get her the win she wanted.

The first obstacle was technically a series of stepping stones over a mysterious liquid. The liquid wasn't deadly, but it had properties of oil and would dissolve rubber, leather, and clothing, but somehow wouldn't affect living skin.

The real first obstacle was the fact that the ground was slippery all the way. It was difficult to build up any real speed, and if you did, it was rather a challenge to keep from falling because of the slippery surface.

As Michelle reached the first obstacle, she heard a ding, indicating she'd reached a checkpoint. Then as she hopped over the stones, the began to shake and move when she reached the halfway point. Some moved up while others moved down, reducing the amount of surface above the liquid.

Michelle had watched several others attempt this course, so the change in the elevation of the stones wasn't surprising. What was surprising was how Cynthia overtook her by jumping over her when she was forced to work with one of the stones that had lowered.

However, Michelle pushed that out of her mind, as she didn't want to consider anything other than the obstacles in front of her. Focusing on Cynthia or the cheering crows that always formed whenever anyone attempted this course would only make her attempt on this course harder.

As soon as Michelle had cleared the last stone, she wasted no time in getting to the next obstacle. Swinging ropes over sand. Not all the ropes were secure or in condition to be used, but that was intentional. What you didn't want to have happen was to end up in the sand. It wouldn't kill you, because you would stop sinking once you reached your waist, but if you did get caught, you had a high chance of losing all clothing from the waist down when you were able to pull yourself out of it.

While it was always embarrassing to even see that happen to anyone, the worst part is that you needed your boots to make the third challenge not so difficult. Michelle took a random rope and pulled hard on it, making sure that it wasn't going to break under her weight.

The third rope she tested finally didn't break and she swung out, mildly amused as she realized she passed over Cynthia, who was in the sands already. Then pushing that thought from her mind, she looked for the next rope to take hold of. She already knew not to take the last ones, as those were always trapped. Instead, she took one around midway across the sands and was pleased to find that it held her weight.

Then as she reached the end of her swing, she let go of the rope. There wasn't anything that she could see that would catch her, but she'd watch these enough to know that there was something that would. Maybe it was ' leap of faith' scenario whoever designed this course was going for, but even knowing it was there, took a lot of courage, especially with how if she did fall into the sands there, she'd have to bail on the entire course.

As Michelle landed solidly, apparently in midair, she breathed a sigh of relief as she continued on her way to the next obstacle. A 'ding' sounded as she reached it, signifying another checkpoint had been reached.

The third obstacle was a rocky cliff she had to travel across on, without using any ropes. To make it more difficult, there was icy water flowing along the surface of it. The only blessing of this obstacle was that if you wanted to give up, you were right above the icy water below and didn't have to go very far for it.

The cliff face was also shifting. Sometimes foothold or handholds would move upward, sometimes downward, and other times would move into the cliff completely. If you lost your boots to the sands, you would have to deal with freezing feet in addition to freezing hands as you moved along this.

Occasionally someone would make it without their boots, but everyone who lost their boots and reached this point, lamented later how cold their feet had gotten.

When Michelle was almost across, the only handhold holding her up as she dangled, reaching for the next handhold that would bring her to the next foothold suddenly started moving into the cliff, making her jump for the next handhold.

As she caught it, she had a momentary sense that she was going to not be able to hold on and fall headfirst into the water below. Yet, she surprised herself with how she was able to hold on.

She didn't have any real trouble after that, but as she approached the next obstacle, she felt herself start to panic inside. It was a hole she had to crawl through. There were several options, but some led right back to the beginning and some led right out into the water. Once you started in tunnel, unless you ran into another participant, the course wouldn't let you turn around and go back the way you came.

Then in addition, there were roots, rocks, and other objects that would catch your clothing and tear it as you moved through the tunnels. Rumor had it that the tunnels moved around, so you never could tell which tunnel led to one of the few that would let you move on to the next obstacle.

Behind her, she heard a loud splash and as she glance behind her, she saw Cynthia in the clear water below. Now that she didn't need to continue on to win the wager, she wanted to see how far she could go. Especially since if she somehow completed the course, that should increase her chances of getting an assignment. So, shaking her head in amusement at Cynthia's misfortune, she decided to look closely at the holes she'd have to travel through. Each one had a different color, so she wasn't sure if that was significant or not. Maybe afterwards she could see if there were any colors on the holes that opened up out above the icy water.

In the end, she couldn't say which ones would be what she needed, so she just picked a hole that was emerald and hoped for the best. Especially since she knew she had a limited time to get through this. Aside from the fact that she also had a hard time in close spaces, but not enough for it to be marked as anything like claustrophobia.

As she moved through the tunnel, all sources of light quickly disappeared. Occasionally she felt something catch on her clothing, but each time she pulled it through, not caring to consider the sounds of the cloth tearing, although as her bra got caught in one, she had a harder time ignoring it, but still pressed on.

By the time she could see a light at the end of the tunnel, she could tell her pants were in tatters and her top was threatening to fall off, with her bra completely torn apart on one side.

Breathing a sigh of relief as she crawled out of the hole, she had a brief moment of panic as she suddenly found herself falling. As she landed in the water, she found herself just floating on the water, a little dazed and not sure what she should be doing.

However, the next surprise was that Cynthia was still in the water and she swam over to help Michelle back out of the water. Even though she could feel parts of her body rubbing against Cynthia, she didn't mind, because with how she landed, she probably would need a minute before she could start moving to the edge of the pool herself.

As she felt a blanket wrap around her after she was out of the water, she felt herself close her eyes and fall asleep against the warmth of the towel. Despite what had happpened, she felt relaxed and peaceful. Like things were finally going to start going her way.

Yet, when she opened her eyes next, she was in the room and completely naked. The only piece of clothing was an oversized shirt that once she had it on, it barely came down to maybe an inch past her hips.

Whatever had happened, she was certain this wasn't an assignment she'd been given. This was something else, and she wasn't going to let it sop her. Even though she had no clue as to what she could do at the moment.

However, shortly after that is when the announcements introducing the participants started.