Sarah and Billy inventoried everything we thought we'd need for the trip. A fifty-meter grappling hook, three machetes, an assortment of antivenins (you know something's an emergency item when you hope it never gets used), water canteens, everything-proof, camouflaged clothing, an absolutely topographical map, a guide to rainforest food, three compasses, and a copy of The Rules. Billy re-read the rules, hoping that they'd magically change into something easier. They didn't.

And, not surprisingly, my mind was roiling with possibilities. And so I did what I seldom do- I sat on the floor, folded my hands, realized that there wasn't even a hum of a jet to distract me, and just thought for three minutes straight. I thought about why they did this, who decided what would be on the tests. I thought about possibilities, about what we'd do if we got seen, about what would happen if we got slowed down. I didn't come to any conclusions- I simply didn't have enough information, and this was starting to look more and more like an insoluble trap, one that I wouldn't get out of even if I did make the 200 miles. I got up.

"Got everything?", I asked Billy and Sarah pointlessly.

"Yeah.", Billy answered.

"Let's go." We grimly walked out of the house and entered the plane, letting an Enforcer do the piloting. There was no talking for a while- I was still trying to think, daydreaming about all the assorted shit they could throw at us. These are, after all, the Illuminati. Never expect any test they give to you to be simple, even if the previous one was. They are unpredictable and cruel, and they wouldn't survive any other way. But I'm not really sure if they know what they're doing- the first test was tough, yes, but it wasn't.. it just didn't seem to be much of a test in my opinion, just a month of torture. It made me wonder if they knew what they were doing- I pushed the thought from my mind. I can't wonder that, because I can't afford to treat them as if they don't. But something told me that dealing with them will be a whole lot easier when engineereds are at the helm.

Assuming they know what they're doing- which I have to- they wouldn't give me this kind of test without a chance. "I do have a chance, you know.", I said aloud, and I was shocked at how impotent my voice sounded.

"No fire, no food, no help. Howard, are you sure there's not someone else they'd want to be Dominator?", Billy said, creating new fear in my mind, even though he's asked that question before.

"When you asked me that three weeks ago I figured no. Now I'm not even sure if they want one at all. Damnit... damnit, DAMMIT!!!", I shouted, with more fear in my voice than I would have liked.

"It's possible.", muttered Sarah. "All we have to do is just keep going and forget where we are." She's right- we have to forget, lest we slow down too much looking for traps and such.

"Sarah, how the hell are we going to get across two very large, piranha-filled rivers without being able to ask someone for a boat?", I asked.

"Well.. most species of piranhas don't attack unless they see blood or wounds, Howard. Didn't you look that up?"

"No, almost everything else though. But most species. With my luck.." Or some happy Illuminatus going ahead of us and filling our path with some super-hungry ones.

"Yeah, there's that and the fact we'll have no light! I think someone's really out to get you, not in the usual sense. I just want to know how the hell the rest of them could authorize something like that. We'll have about eight hours, every day, with no source of light at all in deep forest, in the flood season at that. And then there's predators, we'll probably kill them but they might call attention to us."

"Maybe I should have brought Fido..", I replied.

"Howard, dogs don't have the stealth we need, especially white ones. Also, he can't climb if we meet a rock wall or something."

"Yeah, you're right... oh, damnit all, sum pr\'e6cipito, the Hall is just waiting for me.."

"What does pr\'e6cipito mean?", Billy asked, not having gotten around to that word yet.

"Directly translated, it means falling. But it really means, Billy, that I'm doomed. I'm going down. The ten-year lifespan of the Inheritor is going to be cut.. either by simple killing, something out there has my flesh in its jaws.. or I'm just going to fail or crap out and .. live in the worst zoo there is." At any other time, I probably would have laughed at the prospect of myself talking like this. But now, everything seems as if I don't have very much hope, particularly since I have no idea what lies in store.

"Howard.. I've never seen you depressed before. You're worrying me."

"What do you care? I thought you wanted me dead.."

"Yeah.. still sorta do, but if you croak, what happens to us?" Ah, good old self-interest. I am in familiar territory once more.

"You get.. given away, or traded off, or sent to Northberg for experimentation.. or something. I don't know how you'll end up or who you'll end up with."

"Howard, four weeks ago, you commanded us to follow the rules of the tests and save your ass in case it needed saving. Well, it does. I can't let you give up." A brief spark of rage emerged- give up, how dare he suggest that I could possibly- and then died down into hard resolution.

"I can't let me give up either, Billy. There are, after all, many ways to look at this, and here's two that are correct. Two ten-year-olds and a thirteen-year-old left in the middle of nowhere, to go two hundred miles in one week, not knowing exactly where we are or precisely where to go, unable to seek help, light fire, or even have a flashlight. The other way is three highly-engineered Illuminated creations walking only about 30 miles a day in a nice climate in a food-abundant place."

"In other words, the only way to survive is to look on the bright side."

"I think you're getting the hint." I think I'm getting the hint, too. The answer is, as the megacorp's commercials say, to just do it.

A couple of hours later and I was thinking that there wasn't that much of a bright side to be found- but I didn't care. I'm not going to die to this mess. It can't be completely unfair- and even if it is, they're dealing with someone who specializes in unfairness. I'm probably going to have to deal with lots worse shit than this eventually- I'm not going to fall now. But speaking of falling, it's about time I fell...

The thump of the plane's landing woke me up.