Ulysses Kovar had a cunning plan, and this plan involved winning the battle royale and getting a job at Extech. Well it didn’t need to be at Extech, it could have been anywhere at the hundreds of thousands of companies of various sizes that were owned by Coca-Cola but Extech was the one he had chosen, or at least it was one of the ones that had chosen him. Originally Ulysses hadn’t been particularly hopeful for Extech, especially since it had been part of Amazon up until recently and was less likely to help him achieve his goal but certain irregular events had to potential to prove fortuitous. Much to his surprise, he realised that he might even have allies to his cause among the candidates. He needed to find them first.

The floor of Ulysses’ box, number seventeen, swung open and Ulysses dropped into the arena. He quickly looked left and right to ascertain how many candidates were around him. To his left, separated by a couple of boxes worth of distance, was the platinum haired candidate Cyrus Beem and further to his left was the one called Norm. Cyrus Beem went straight for Norm, meaning that Ulysses would be safe from attacks from the left for at least a few moments. The area to his right was a completely different story though as the three boxes immediately to Ulysses’ right were occupied, or more accurately had all been occupied until their contents had been unloaded less than a second earlier. Ulysses kicked off the wall and landed smoothly onto one of the many concrete branches that made up the upper layer of the arena. He turned to face his three opponents. One of them, a man with closely shaved dark hair who had dropped from box number eighteen, plummeted out of site without making an effort to grab onto anything.

Two opponents. Both of them had found similar vantage points to Ulysses. They prepared to fight, one flicking their wrists to reveal two long blades. They crackled with a bright energy. Plasma cutters. They were brave to walk around with those hidden up their sleeves. The other revealed their own hidden weapon, a long whip. Ulysses was willing to bet that it also had some extra features of an energetic nature. Ulysses didn’t draw his own weapons just yet, there was no need to reveal something like that straight away. Right now they were at a stalemate. With three combatants the one to move first, to one to attack one of the others, would open themselves up to attack from the remaining opponent. Or that would have usually been the case if not for Ulysses own weapons of choice. Ulysses caught a look, a small glance, between his two opponents. Yes there was always this option. Both opponents charged at him, weapons swinging and crackling. In a small moment they had decided to put aside their differences and work together to defeat one foe. It was the most efficient and safest way of obtaining tags. Of course they would betray each other the moment Ulysses was defeated but that was how these things worked. Usually. In a flash the blade wielding candidate embedded his weapons into the whip wielder’s shoulders. The whip wielder cried out in pain, shocked at quite literally being stabbed in the back. The blade wielder withdrew their weapons, from their victim’s back, pulled the tag from their neck and pushed them off into the arena below.

One opponent. Ulysses didn’t give them a chance to do anything further. He pulled out his two weapons. They were both Coca-Cola Protest Suppression Rifles Mark 533s. Ulysses opened fire with both. His opponent dashed to the side, hopping from branch to branch. They even deflected a few bullets with his blades. The bullets were rubber, a modification Ulysses had made, but it was still an impressive feat. More impressive was when the opponent deflected a bullet right back at Ulysses, hitting him in the leg. Ulysses stumbled back and, for a wild moment, he lost his footing. He managed to regain it but at that moment the blade wielding opponent was on him. Fortunately Ulysses had made some further alterations to his guns. He’d melded metal blades coated in diamond to the edges of the them, meaning that they could hopefully withstand his opponent’s blades. As it turned out, they could not. Half a gun went flying away, cut through with the aid of the plasma. This was not a good start. His opponent was far too close, for his own good. Ulysses had several capsules hidden in his teeth. He bit down on one and blew out into his opponent’s face. Sleeping gas. Ulysses himself had built up a resistance to such things but his opponent, judging by their fluttering eyelids, had not. Ulysses snatched away both tags from his opponent’s neck and laid the snoozing candidate down on a particularly safe branch. By the time he woke up the next tone would have sounded and he’d be taken out of the arena.

No opponents. Ulysses had lost half his offensive weaponry and had already used up one of his capsules. Not a great start though he’d managed to obtain two tags within the first few minutes. He hid them away, hiding all three tags in different places on his person. With this many tags he’d made himself a target already, and he wanted to make it as hard as possible for anyone to steal them away. With that done, he surveyed the area once more. No sign of any more candidates. He looked to his left but Cyrus Beem and Norm were nowhere to be seen. Regardless, Ulysses wasn’t interested in either of them. He began to make his way across the branches, looking for a safe way down. The person he was interested in finding had started in box number eleven, and he needed to move quick if he wanted them to still be around when he got there. He needed to speak to Millicent Lute, he had a feeling she would be instrumental in his plan.

His plan to assassinate Isaac Yamnson.

Originally the plan had a much larger scope. It was smaller now, as small as the plan to assassinate one of the richest and most powerful men on the planet could be. The time scale had originally been years but, now that Isaac Yamnson was here at Extech headquarters, now it might be mere hours. Ulysses had lived a pretty standard life. He could run marathons like any child could. Do complex computations like any child could. He grew up as expected and studied as expected and, aged eighteen, entered university to study degrees in biology, computer science and philosophy. The philosophy was an unwise choice, according to his parents, but Ulysses had always had an interest in the great thinkers of the past. It was while studying philosophy that Ulysses’ life took an unexpected turn. One of his lecturers, a shabby man with a beard virtually indistinguishable from the other shabby men with beards that taught philosophy, took an interest in the blonde student who, in his own words, “only had grey shadows under his eyes, not black”. What occurred between Ulysses and that lecturer would have been described as “inappropriate” by some and “radicalisation” by others. By the time Ulysses had graduated with degrees in biology and computer science, the philosophy department had closed after a couple of years, he was a trusted member of what his lecturer called a Union. A group of people who banded together to fight for the rights of workers. Upon his graduation he was given his mission. Infiltrate Coca-Cola, work his way up to the top and assassinate Isaac Yamnson. It would take years to work his way up that high but it would be worth the effort, there were other union members performing similar missions within the so-called big four companies: Coca-Cola, Google, Microsoft and the independent nation state Disney World. But now Ulysses had an opportunity to complete his mission years in advance. If he won the battle royale then, when he met Isaac Yamnson and was offered the job he would get his chance. He could kill Isaac Yamnson and send a message out to workers everywhere! No longer would they have to slave away under the oppression of corporations! No longer would their lives exist for nothing more than generating profit! Ulysses gripped the handle of his remaining gun tighter. The revolution was only just beginning.

Much to his surprise, Ulysses’ crossing of the arena was far less eventful than the first few moments of the battle royale, and the first booming, electronic tone came and went. In fact there were no events of any sort until he came across the one he’d been looking for. Millicent Lute. She wasn’t alone. Alongside her was the one she called Norm and the brown haired sword wielder. How she had become friendly with them, Ulysses didn’t know. This was a critical moment right here. He needed to speak to them, more specifically to Millicent Lute, but if he didn’t get them to stand down then he wasn’t sure he could take on three people at once, especially if he couldn’t rely on them to betray each other. So this first moment was key.

“Hey.” he said. Two of them, Norm and the sword wielder, reacted instantly turning ready to fight. “Wait wait wait!” Ulysses raised his hands to show he was unarmed, his remaining gun was stowed back under his jacket. “I just want to talk!” Norm and the sword wielder didn’t even react, they were already going for the kill. “Please I need to talk to you!” Ulysses screamed. He looked desperately at Millicent Lute, made eye contact with her.

“Norm! Don! Stop!” Millicent Lute called. Both men slid to a halt, Norm stumbling a bit and swaying. He always moved as if he was top heavy in some way. Either way they had stopped, and apparently on Millicent Lute’s command as well.

Good. Good.

“Millicent, isn’t it?” Ulysses ventured. He knew that was her name but he needed to start things in a less creepy way than instantly addressing her. It was something most people did. Even if they’d memorised every bit of information they could about you, since you could one day be an enemy, they would still pretend to struggle to recall information. It was a form of politeness. Millicent nodded the affirmative. Norm and the other one, Don, were still poised to attack. “Like I said, I need to talk to you.” Ulysses slowly walked forwards, hands up. He was still keeping an eye on the two opponents either side of him. They weren’t near enough yet to strike instantly but they were getting close.

“Talk? What do you mean?” Millicent Lute asked.

“After what you did in the waiting room, before we all came here…” Ulysses began, struggling to keep his voice measured. He didn’t want to trip over any of his words. “I knew that you might be able to help me. You are like me, are you not? You also hate this system we are trapped in!” he failed to keep his voice measured.

“What are you talking about?” both Millicent Lute and Norm spoke simultaneously.

“I want you to help me topple this system.” Ulysses began to recite the words his lecturer had spoke unto him years ago, “I want you to play a part in freeing workers everywhere, in throwing off the shackles we have grown so accustomed to wearing.” he took another step forwards, “The way of the world, run by those with money, for money, must end. We must rise up and take back the power and I need your help to do it!” Another step. He could tell that Millicent Lute was listening, that she was interested. Yes this could work. Along with her he’d gain allies in the form of Norm and Don. They weren’t the strongest but they could give him and edge in winning this battle royale and getting his chance to end Isaac Yamnson’s life.

Yes Ulysses’ heart was filled with hope for the future.

And his head was full of surprise as it was separated from his body and flew through the air.