Chapter Text
7. The seventh pick overall of the MSFL Commencement Draft.
Unbeknownst to Blink at the time, the viewers of the draft broadcast were clamoring about in the live chats about the seemingly random and very surprising pick. For both the newest fans and most knowledgeable people alike, Blink was an unfamiliar entity, a marble that was on no one’s radar.
For Blink however, she cautiously stood up from her chair, shuffling out of her row past Magnum, who wore a small smile on his face watching his freeze tag teammate rise up to the call. At this moment, all eyes were on her. Both cameras and marbles alike were staring at Blink as she rolled up to the podium, where the Starry Sky manager stood tall and proud.
Blink felt all eyes on her, even without glancing back, she felt the unnerving stares and discerning eyes behind her, following her every movement. When she reached the bottom of the sky blue painted steps, it was now when she realized just how large these podiums were.
It was now her moment to walk up the steps to represent their team, the Starry Sky. The open stadium sky shone brightly down on her, a sun completely uncovered by the milky white clouds in the sky. To Blink herself, nothing was louder than the sound of her own body and her inner heartbeat as she climbed up the warm yet firm steps above those who had yet to be drafted. The marbles who followed her every move as she walked before them.
To everyone else, the voice of the Commissioner was louder. As per usual, he had begun to explain Blink’s background. Through the megaphone to the marbles and managers and through the microphone to the live viewers, the crisp voice of the well-prepped Commissioner rang through everyone’s ears as he delved into Blink’s history.
“Coming directly from their small hometown of Laethai, the 7th pick of the MSFL draft Blink has been chosen as Starry Sky’s first round pick. Her competing experience consists of competing with amateur team Retinas and hometown racing.” The Commissioner explained. On the live broadcast, just like the 6 marbles who had gone before her, a statistics page popped up live on screen, an assessment of her physical, techincal, and mental capabilities from the ‘assessment’ she had completed 2 days prior.
If the viewers weren’t surprised enough before by the pick, the statistics page only further fueled their shock and curiousity by the unknown pick. Having played for an amateur team which only close friends and relatives of the Retinas even knew about, this moment was one that passionate analytics and devoted fans were looking forward to.
The statistics from various different aspects of the individuals capabilities ranging from one to ninety-nine, the highest one had seen so far was a staggering 99 grit, or the resolve of one’s mentality, from Icon. To most, any stat higher than a 90 was considered impressive, with the most experienced and accomplished marbles drafted thus far boasting many different statistics in the 90’s.
For Blink, who was considered a complete rookie to the professional scene, several years younger than her peers, people were expecting maybe 1 stat in the 90’s. However, to the shock of the live viewers, to the shock of the examiners 2 days prior, and even to the shock of the Commissioner himself when he was reviewing the data the night before, Blink’s statistics page showed impressive numbers in her balance, off-road ability, but most important of all, speed. What was arguably the most coveted statistic of all, speed, the ability to determine how fast a marble is able to go in an athletic scene where racing is key.
Immediately, the live viewers started talking in the chat about this discovery, the creation of social media posts about the unknown rookie’s legendary statistics page, and reaction comments from people all over had begun to flood the MSFL internet. Blink, the marble which was featured once on the MSFL news, the first time many had even heard of the name, had higher speed than almost all the marbles drafted so far, higher than the rising star and celebrity that was Icon. Only slightly below the marble that was considered to be the number 1 individualistic marble coming into the draft Alfa, it was a complete surprise to all.
On the screen, people realized that Blink was not just fast, but fast on the natural terrain as well due to her high off-roading skill. Labeled as an 88 overall with the consideration of all her stats, she would be far below the best shown so far, in the 93 overall rated marble Alfa, but the high speed and off-roading was what had garnered everyone’s attention. With the social media posts immediately reaching out towards marble racing fans of all kinds, ones who knew of the likes of Alfa and Icon but had not followed the MSFL draft live, Blink had just shaken up the racing world.
Blink herself however, was unaware of this at the time, taking her spot behind the manager of Starry Sky, Skylight. If there was one downside to being picked this early, she thought, it was that she had to stand up for the rest of the draft under the blazing sunny sky. Her new manager had given her a curt nod and his… attempt at a comforting smile as she climbed up the stairs to the podium, but nothing more was done in the brief interaction between the two.
As she tried to calm her beating heart down, adrenaline still coursing through her veins from being selected, the next pick of the draft was already being announced by the Commissioner. The Space Pirates, a dark blue space-themed team had selected Hare as their first pick and the 8th overall pick of the draft.
Rounding out the first round, the Shadow Hunters had taken Valhalla as their first round pick and 9th overall pick of the draft. Completing the first round, the Shadow Hunters had the opportunity to pick the first marble of the second round of the draft, going backwards in pick order due to the snake draft aspect of the Commencement Draft.
As a result, Starry Sky would be the 3rd team to draft their second marble of the MSFL. A couple minutes later after the Space Pirates had finally decided on their second pick, Skylight, unlike the first round where he had taken almost the full 4 minutes to decide, immediately submitted their second round pick.
Voxel, a marble Blink had vaguely recognized from the waiting room 2 days prior, was Starry Sky’s second round pick. With a calm and purposeful stride, the marble took up the Starry Sky uniform and rolled up to the right of Blink. Second down in the line of 6 spots carefully imprinted on the sky blue podium.
Her manager, which Blink did not have the greatest first impressions of, being a rather mysterious manager who did not show much through his body movements, gave yet another curt nod this time to Voxel. Who instead of simply standing on the imprinted spot like Blink had done, gave a slight bow in response. A polite smile on their face, eyes shut in the process, it was at this time when Blink had focused back into the voice of the Commissioner on the speakers, a noise which Blink had tuned out a while ago.
“...Voxel has worked with many different professional teams before, competing both at the top level and lower tier circuits. Starry Sky will most likely be looking at them to guide the younger marbles with their experience here at the MSFL.” An impression which Blink had gathered from the general vibes of the marble prior, was now confirmed by the Commissioner himself.
As the draft breezed on, with Magnum being picked by the Night Raid during round 2, and some other marbles Blink had heard of during her research, most notable of whom was Zyx, who had fallen down to round 3 of the draft, was a surprise to Blink who thought the marble would have been picked during the first round, maybe the second. It was at this point where the Starry Sky’s third round pick had arrived. By this point, Blink was already growing tired of the repetitiveness that was the drafting process, having already been over 50 minutes since she was drafted, she was seriously reconsidering her choices up until this point.
While it took longer than it did for the Starry Sky manager to submit their pick for round 2 of the draft, it was only a 2 minute internal deliberation before he finally decided to draft Hearth for the Starry Sky 3rd round pick.
A marble who Blink had personally not heard of, and was definitely lacking the flare that Icon had when he was selected, they had a boastful grin at hearing their name, standing up immediately and confidently rolled towards the podium.
The most interesting part of standing up on the podium to Blink was the part where she was noticeably taller than the ones below her, and got a much better view of her fellow competitors who were sitting below her. The whole process was only made bearable due to the slight cool that the breeze brought her, countering the heat of the bare sun.
Overall, the process was one Blink was glad she wouldn’t have to do again. Hearth looked extremely positive, and she was glad that her drafted teammates seemed like a positive influence, and wouldn’t be a drag to work with from first impressions.
Starry Sky’s following pick came shortly after, with Skylight deciding to pick a rather shy marble at first glance, by the name of Hush. Just like Blink, they quickly took to their spot on the podium as the Starry Sky’s 4th round pick.
It was at this point in the draft where the process became tediously boring for Blink, as her very limited knowledge and small amount of research only allowed her to learn about the bigger names coming into this draft, and many of the marbles at this point were marbles who came directly from academies or youth teams, rather than those who came from the popular professional leagues which everyone knew and loved.
Blink had become increasingly tired of standing through the whole process, after all, stamina was never her forte, and she desperately needed some water, but she didn’t want to interrupt the entire ceremony just so that she could quench her brief thirst.
Thankfully, the draft had begun to wrap up quickly, with picks being submitted much quicker than the earlier rounds. Skylight had chosen Aupa, who had almost tripped over someone else during the process, as the Starry Sky 5th round pick.
Just like the 5 marbles prior, Skylight gave a final nod to Foxtrot, rounding out the 6 marble roster as the officially completed Starry Sky MSFL Commencement Draft team.
To Blink’s great relief, the draft finally ended with Dap being selected as the final pick for the Moonwalkers, the remaining 6 marbles who did not get drafted were visibly trying to hold in their emotions, not wanting to create a scene on live television, with some to greater success than others. The 6 would go to free agency as marbles who could be signed to any team in any league for an agreeable contract, but likely worse conditions than the MSFL offered.
As Dap rolled up to the Moonwalker’s podium, the Commissioner would begin his closing remarks, not before letting a short commercial break roll on television for a couple of minutes however.
It was during this brief pause that the manager, the one who had remained aloof and distant the entire drafting process, finally turned around and began to show signs of not being an animatronic being through his sharp inhale and slightly gapped lips.
Through the corners of Blink’s peripheral vision, it seemed as though the managers of the teams next to them had turned around as well. It only momentarily piqued her interest, as her own manager had finally decided to pipe up after all this time.
“Greetings, you all.” His voice was noticeably shaky, eyes wavering the moment he began to speak, breathing ragged. Nonetheless, he pushed onwards. “I welcome you to the Starry Sky.” Another moment of hesitation, and while his voice was a light, but sombre tone, his body posture displayed anything but confidence. He wasn’t actively shying away from the marbles standing before him, but Blink did not feel very comforted by the demeanor of the one who had drafted her.
She was still not aware of how she fared compared to her teammates, the statistics page was shown online, after all. There was clear doubt in her mind about the selection of marbles on Starry Sky, while she believed she herself was a fine marble, her lack of any real competitive experience and being completely unfamiliar with her surrounding teammates plagued her mind with doubt.
“We have a long road ahead of us, but I believe we will be able to succeed, and I have faith in each and every one of you.” Skylight finally said, at last. It felt almost akin to a military introduction, while the intention was inspiring, the execution left a lot to desire. In the distance, she could hear another team chanting, a motto which was rather catchy, the voices of 6 marbles and their manager carried by the wind.
It was at this point that the commercial break had ended, and the intercom once again pepped up, speakers ringing loud and clear with the Commissioners voice.
“Thank you all for attending the MSFL Commencement Draft, our 9 teams will be competing in the inaugural event of the MSFL starting in 2 months from now. Please look forward to that.” It was this moment that the setting truly sank in for Blink. She would be competing against professional athletes on live television. Although she had hoped she would be drafted, a small part inside of her doubted whether she would even be chosen, let alone chosen round 1.
“Most importantly, however, let’s give a warm congratulations to the marbles who attended our draft ceremony, and for all those who were drafted to compete in the very first season of the MSFL!” The live television screen flicked to the small viewing parties across Marblearth. Random bars, gatherings, host events, were all collectively clapping and cheering through the speakers and the screen for the marbles standing below.
Like a domino trail, it only took one marble to begin cheering for the rest to join in. It was none other than Starry Sky’s own marble, Hearth, who began to celebrate first. The screen flickered back to the live ceremony, where marbles were seen forming group hugs and clapping their palms together.
Just like the others, Voxel joined first, then Foxtrot, Blink herself, Aupa, even Hush relented, and both Skylight and the rest of the managers joined in.
The atmosphere was certainly tense the last couple of days, as the world was waiting for them to appear on stage, job contracts on the line with their performances, but at last, their futures were secured.
These 54 marbles would be competing with and against each other for the MSFL’s very first season.
A few minutes of celebration and clapping later, when it had finally died down, the microphone came on again. “I would like to give a sincere thanks to the staff, faculty, workers, the people who have made this possible, but most importantly, you, the viewer, for tuning in. Thank you for watching as we drafted the marbles who will be competing in the MSFL. This concludes the MSFL Commencement Draft!” And the television screen shut down.
To the viewers on the other side, the broadcast had ended, and they rushed to the internet to discuss and theorize both the results of the draft and the upcoming season. For the marbles themselves, it was now time to figure out the next step and prepare for the competitive season.
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The soft feathery pillow and the envoloping mattress felt heavenly for Blink as she threw herself on the bed she had grown familiar with the past couple of days. The aftermath of the ceremony was almost as overwhelming as the drafting portion of the Commencement Draft. She let out a small groan as she felt her muscles relax from the constant use of standing all day, much longer than she thought she would.
After the broadcast ended, her manager would give some closing remarks to the team, and while it was still almost grating to listen to, there was already some noticeable improvement on the way he spoke. The most painful part would come immediately after, as it was then time for introductions.
As the first round pick, she would be the one to go first. It didn’t make her nervous per se, but she was lost on how she should introduce herself, as she wasn’t expecting to be doing so, and didn’t prepare anything. As such, she stumbled over her words, a horrible first impression she thought to herself, but quickly introduced herself as a young marble who was pushed by a friend to try out for the MSFL.
The rest of her teammates gave more concise and clear introductions, having a small amount of time to mentally prepare themselves for what was to come. Voxel, the second round pick, described themselves as someone who was looking for a new experience, and came to the MSFL to work with fresh marbles. Blink had thought they had the most androgynous body, face, and even voice known to marble. It was quite shocking, to her, but the calm demeanor and voice was quite soothing compared to most of the abrasive and brash marbles she was familiar with back in her hometown.
Hearth was much more like the kinds of marbles she was familiar with. Loud, outgoing, a shouty voice, he stood with confidence. While it was a little bit unnerving at first, she was left with a very friendly impression of Hearth as a marble. Hush on the other hand, was the complete opposite. It was almost impossible to hear his voice, and he was as meek as one could be, but nothing negative was said.
The remaining 2, Foxtrot and Aupa, had similar backstories, both coming from lower division leagues and looking to prove themselves in the highly anticipated league that was the MSFL.
Foxtrot was cut off during his introduction, as the Commissioner himself had arrived down on the stadium grounds to introduce himself personally to the marbles. A rather striking man who had the attire of a businessman but the personality of a competitor, he gave a brief introduction about himself and the MSFL, as well as some encouraging words to the competitors.
And then came the after-party.
For a process that took the entire morning and most of the afternoon, the marble athletes had yet to eat lunch yet, and it was nearing the time one would normally have dinner, the sun already setting on the stadium walls. A small portion of the stadium which looked like concession stands for the spectators was instead replaced with a communal food hall.
A time for marbles to socialize, familiarize themselves with each other, and get back in touch with former competitors. For Blink though, she was looking to find some relief and to satiate her hunger.
Grabbing a quick bite for herself, as she had no dietary restrictions and was never picky about the food she ate, Blink discovered a serious issue with the makeshift food hall.
The chairs were almost non-existent.
There were only 8, maybe up to 10 chairs in the entire area. Other marbles were clearly ahead of her however, as to her horror, the seats were already taken.
For a brief second she considered sitting on the floor, but a quick glance at the state of the ground told her otherwise. The floor was still dusty from construction, she would much more likely be found sitting on the grass than sitting on such a dusty floor.
Sighing with great annoyance, and a tinge of sadness, she resolved herself to a journey of finding a suitable place to eat.
That is, until, one marble came up to her. The commotion in the mess hall was so loud that it was hard to make anything out. Someone had used this opportunity to roll up behind Blink and tap her over her shoulder.
She didn’t even process that someone was trying to get her attention at first, until a voice spoke up, clearly directed towards her, and clearly much closer than she had expected, her soul almost leaving her body.
It was Magnum, one of the marbles she worked with during the Freeze Tag game and the one who sat to the left of her during the drafting ceremony. His motives, as it turns out, were nothing but positive. He was congratulating her on being drafted during the first round, and would be looking forward to competing against her on the field with his team, the Night Raid.
Although Blink was grateful for the compliments, she was dreading the ensuing situation, as her quest to find a suitable spot to sit was delayed once again by the talks of a marble she had gotten acquainted with only 2 days ago.
Only a couple of seconds after Magnum had started to chat up with Blink, other marbles started to walk up and push themselves into the conversation. Some congratulated Blink for her success, others tried to learn more about the mysterious fellow who had just taken the marble world by storm, unbeknownst to her, of course.
While Blink was very appreciative of the whole process, by the end, she wasn’t able to finish her journey, as the shuttle buses back to the hotel had already arrived, her food cold to the touch after an hour of conversation.
Her grievances would not end there, however, as the shuttle bus itself was void of any seats, unless you counted the window as a seat due to the small ledge it placed itself on, but the black paint under the guise of the sun made it too scorching hot to sit on.
With the packed bus, it was rather uncomfortable, and Blink’s stomach was becoming uncomfortable after the exceedingly long pre, peri, and post draft ceremony without break.
It was at last, when she finally returned to the MSFL sponsored hotel room, that she was able to rest after the exhaustive day, which led her to where she was now, face shoveled into the pillow and body sinking into the mattress.
To her dismay, however, her own stomach was desperately in need of sustenance, so with much reluctance, she pulled herself up and decided to see what the provided course was. A simple BLT sandwich, and an apple, would most likely be her dinner for the night, and her food for the entire day.
Her phone, which she accidentally forgot to bring with her in the morning, was placed neatly on the nightstand, laying charged and untouched from where it was the previous night. As she grabbed it, the phone’s display immediately lit up, revealing a plethora of notifications that she had missed during her time away.
1:03 Sarai ♡ : AAAAAAAAA i see u <3333333333
1:04 Sarai ♡ : omg i can not WAIT to see you be picked
1:04 Sarai ♡ : gl :D
1:20 Sarai ♡ : HOLY SHIT HOLYSHI HOLYSHITHOSHTIYSOIHFASDOIGHOISDAGH
1:20 Sarai ♡ : FIRSRUG ROUND
1:20 Sarai ♡ : FIRST ROUND
1:21 Sarai ♡ : I BELIEVED IN YOU OMGOMGOMGOMG
1:21 Sarai ♡ : Ok i HAVE to let everyone know of this
1:24 Sarai ♡ : omg you’re blowing up on the internet????
1:25 Sarai ♡ : <<Image Attachment>>
1:25 Sarai ♡ : LOOK AT HOW POPULAR YOU ARE
1:27 Sarai ♡ : Starry Sky is a MAJOR mystery though
1:27 Sarai ♡ : i mean i think it’s fine? they’re a new team which makes me SUPER curious
1:34 Sarai ♡ : <<Image Attachment>>
1:34 Sarai ♡ : marbles are comparing your stats and omg you’re so good??? helloo??????
1:37 Sarai ♡ : i can not WAIT for when you get back
3:08 Sarai ♡ : <<Image Attachment>>
3:08 Sarai ♡ : I SEE U GIRL
3:09 Sarai ♡ : your teammates are also pretty good, i kind of dig this manager
3:09 Sarai ♡ : the color schemes of the team is also sooo pretty like hello???
3:11 Sarai ♡ : Okokokok text me when you get back
While the amount of messages Sarai sent was nothing out of the norm for the two, the energy of Sarai reinforced the sinking realization that Blink was, in fact, a marble athlete now. While this wasn’t necessarily a dream of hers, she knew just how much of an impact a marble athlete could have, and this was her chance to grasp the opportunity she was given and take it to the stars.
Not before sending a message back though, letting Sarai know that she did not leave her on read, or got brutally murdered the moment she read her message, or god forbid, decided to ignore her.
6:49 blink : hiii
Taking a bite out of her sandwich, already having gone cold to the touch a long time ago, she checked her other notifications that she had ignored at first.
Blink expected to see notifications from Sarai, as she always kept her notifications on, after all, but the other ones confused her, as she did not really use a phone much and thus had no reason to have notifications on for anything else on her phone, a dry and barren wasteland that was used for the occasional email and to check the daily forecast.
Blink did not really use social media. In fact, she had first downloaded Bwitter last night in order to view the official MSFL account. She did not have an official social media handle, but somehow, the official MSFL Bwitter account, which had been announcing each draft pick individually, tagged her handle on Bwitter.
How? She did not know, as the only marble who knew of this was Sarai when she informed her last night. But nonetheless, her account was out there, to the world.
A very simple and basic description, featuring only a small tidbit of herself, who she was, describing herself as “an up and coming rookie looking to make an impact on the professional marble racing scene.” Which was completely written by Sarai herself. In fact, the entire Bwitter profile was done by Sarai, the only personal part being the profile picture, which Blink had chosen herself, a selfie of herself and Sarai in the gathering.
What Sarai didn’t do however, was change any settings for Blink, leaving her account to be exposed to notifications from the masses. The lack of foresight sealing Blink’s fate to a barrage of notifications coming from the internet.
She was vaguely familiar with Bwitter whenever Sarai showed her how the Retinas team page was doing, so she somewhat knew the ins and outs of Bwitter, but the sheer numbers shocked her.
The first thing that popped up on her for you page was the official MSFL Bwitter account which she had followed the day prior, a sincere thank you to the viewers who tuned in to the livestream, garnering over 33 thousand likes and over a million views.
The following bweet, or post, was about Blink herself. Her own face displayed on screen as she walked up the podium. The moment her eyes landed on this, she immediately grimaced. Blink was so focused in her inner world at the time that she had no concern for her public appearance, which looked quite horrible in the video, in her own (justified) opinion.
Not a happy face, but one where her face was scrunched up inwards like a ball, completely showing the confusion on her face. Tapping on the post and scrolling down to check the comments, expecting some reactions to her face, led her to a different surprise however.
There was a single comment that made a joke about how she looked constipated walking up the stage, but subsequently 10 more would be talking about the following image in the post.
Each comment mentioning her and her bwitter handle which had been attached in the original post, they were talking about her individual skill.
Analyzed to be 93 rated in speed, and 91 rated in off-roading skill, she was an off road speedster better than most of the other marbles on the same field. The comments, shocked and glorifying her speed especially, were praising just how fast Blink was for such a mysterious and unknown marble in the competitive scene.
The speed stat, which everyone had collectively agreed was the most important statistic to check the quality of an athlete in a scene where racing was half the game, was higher than most other drafted marbles, even higher than the renouned celebrity that was Icon. It was only lower than Alfa, the beast that everyone thought would dominate the competition, and infamous speedsters who were known to be ridiculously fast like Hare and FoMo.
That wasn’t all, however. The MSFL post announcing Blink as the 7th round pick garnered a lot of attention, and both internet detectives and marble fanatics alike were wondering just where Blink came from. A short investigation led them to the Retinas, where Blink’s years prior were recorded with her, and the team's achievements.
The social media account handled by Sarai herself, exploded in popularity upon discovering where Blink had come from. Her own account however, also had a small explosion in popularity due to the MSFL post about her being drafted. Again, how did they find out about her handle? She had no clue, but that didn’t change the fact that in 24 hours, she went from having 2 followers, one being Sarai and the other being herself, went up a whopping 4.7k.
Her feed was also filled with various posts about Blink as a marble, whenever she was broadcasted on the livestream, comparisons between her statistics and other MSFL marbles, her team itself which was just as unknown as Blink was, and a strange amount of fascination about her looks.
Glancing over these posts showed Blink just how… popular she was now. While she was known in her hometown and maybe in neighboring areas due to the Retinas competitions, this was on a much larger scale than she could have ever thought before.
The popularity value of the MSFL was massive, as it turns out. Over a hundred thousand viewers had turned in to the Commencement Draft ceremony, and while it wasn’t a large proportion of those who were interested in marble sports, it was a much larger number than marbles predicted for the first live stream of a new league.
It wasn’t before long until a new notification popped up on the top of her screen, a message from Sarai.
6:55 Sarai ♡ : call me O_O
Without hesitation, Blink tapped on the call icon that existed on the top of her messaging app, and almost instantaneously, Sarai received and accepted the call.
The wonders of technology, Blink thought to herself. This was her second time using this feature, once to call her parents before, letting them know she arrived in Pace safely. Now, though, Sarai was right in front of her, face in full view, even though they were over 1000 miles apart.
Sarai herself looked nicer than usual, which was a surprise, dressed up in a rather visually appealing outfit for a change, a hint of makeup was visible, which Sarai never bothered with previously. Blink’s eyebrows furrowed slightly when she noticed this, but decided to not press further. Partly due to her wanting to have a nice conversation with Sarai but mainly because she immediately started talking. A lot. At an extremely quick pace too.
She was calling from her laptop, an item which Blink herself did not have. She packed very lightly for the trip, and never bothered to obtain a laptop in the first place, although the idea of owning one both enticed and scared her at the same time.
What happened next devolved into a 3 hour conversation of Sarai going through her phone, showing Blink everything that she missed, fascination about the commencement draft, her new manager, and the Starry Sky team itself. Last on Sarai’s agenda, though, was an interrogation to Blink about herself.
Blink was, of course, excited at the prospect of being able to do something she enjoyed and being paid for a living because of it, but if Blink was excited, then Sarai was 10 times as excited than she was.
Finishing the last of her sandwich, which was, while not the most appetizing, enough to satisfy her stomach for the time being. She accepted her fate of being interviewed by her closest advisor and best friend.
By the time they were finished, it was already past 10 pm for Blink, and while it was still dusk time for Sarai, the time zone difference and the fact that Blink had to wake up at 8 am, a constraint she still actively hated as the opposite of a morning person, meant that Blink was ready to hit the hay for the day.
Not before doing what Sarai recommended however, which was to do something on her social media handle. Being well liked and popular is key to success, or so she said. Blink herself didn’t understand, but she would always oblige to anything Sarai told her to do.
As such, she wrote a simple message thanking the MSFL for the opportunity, her new team for drafting her, as well as the friends and family who pushed her along the way to get to where she was now. Attaching the original message about her draft post, she posted the finalized bweet as her very first on her social media account, one which had accumulated over 4 thousand followers out of nowhere.
Carefully placing her phone back on the bedstand, almost as if it was its own marble with its own bed, she threw away her wrappers before turning on the shower head and preparing for bed, an exhaustive yet fulfilling day. In the meantime, her bwitter would be silently exploding with messages and comments on her post, excited to see what she had in store for the world.
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A blessing for Blink, she had an extremely blissful night of much needed sleep. When morning came around, Blink was woken up by the light of the sun seeping through the curtains of her window, rather than a bedside alarm or outside calls. Although it was still morning time, it was much later than what Blink had been waking up to the past few days, but much more preferred for Blink herself.
9:47. The hotel clock informed her. It was already at the time where the breakfast hall downstairs had closed, last call 17 minutes prior. She decided to check her phone first, which she needed to get in the habit of looking at more often, in case any urgent emails were sent to her.
Sure enough, an email from the Starry Sky management team was in her inbox, unread and bolded with Important Information. Checking the email revealed the scheduled times for the team to meet, important dates and deadlines, and general information that MSFL athletes were expected to know.
For Blink, she would have a contract meeting today in the afternoon regarding the official signing of Blink as an MSFL athlete. The following day would be the first official team gathering, which was labeled “Icebreakers” in the email. While it sounded rather unprofessional to Blink’s novice eyes, there was a more pressing issue.
To her utter dismay, she would have to arrive at the Starry Sky team building at 9 AM. 9. AM. An absolute horror for someone who already struggled enough getting up so early the days prior, and this hinted at the early times (for her) being a normal occurence. Blink was seriously considering getting up and leaving the city and the MSFL league right at that moment.
That would upset Sarai though, and she didn’t want to do that. So she bit her cheek, and internally agreed, reluctantly, to show up on time. Or at least, as on time as she was able to.
While she wanted to do some independent research today, her stomach decidedly told her that she was in desperate craving for some food. Good food. As the sandwich she had yesterday barely satiated her hunger for the time being, but was nowhere near satisfactory for her.
With great reluctance, she hauled herself up from her bed, which she had grown to be extremely appreciative of and her favorite part of the city since she travelled here, and dressed herself in a somewhat presentable way (in her objective opinion) for the day.
Coming out of her hotel room, she noticed that there was a piece of paper plastered to the door across the hall from hers. Checking her own door sure enough revealed the same piece of paper, a congratulatory notice for joining the MSFL and important information on locations the athletes now had access to.
Rolling down the hall towards the elevators, she saw many of these papers taken down already, most of the marble athletes already exiting their room for the morning, at least.
Arriving at the lobby, there were only a few marbles loitering around, some who Blink didn’t recognize at all from the prior days. It was a bit unnerving, considering the amount of marbles from the previous days.
Pushing through the lobby doors, the morning breeze brushed against her face the moment she stepped outside. Not even close to being technologically savvy, she attempted to navigate the map she installed while getting prepared for the day.
After 5 minutes of trial and error, Blink discovered the useful tool that categorized the buildings by their function and purpose. Looking for nearby food places, a wide variety of places selling items she had never heard of before popped up on screen.
Deciding to try out a cheap burrito place that was only a couple minutes away from where she was, she discovered a couple things about the city that she didn’t know of before due to only getting on buses leaving the hotel.
First, was that if something says it’s 5 minutes away, it’s much closer to 10 minutes away. Do not trust the times on the maps.
Second, you will encounter many different marbles doing random things on the streets. From taking a morning jog to chilling on a street corner. While not necessarily weird, it was definitely unusual for Blink.
Third, if marble athletics were popular in her hometown, the sheer scale of its popularity in the city was much greater than anything she could imagine. Televisions in windows, posters and artworks decorating the walls, buildings specifically designated for jobs and activities related to marble sports. It was shocking.
Entering the small corner shop, the first thing she noticed was the smell. A wave of spice and meaty aroma came over her. The sizzling of the open counter kitchen could be heard, and for a small burrito shop, more marbles than Blink was expecting were sitting at the bar, watching marbles buzz across the screen in their own competition.
Rolling up to the front counter, she was greeted by a rather over enthusiastic service worker. Trying to figure out what the items on the menu actually meant, words too fancy for her vocabulary palette, she decided to order the house special as it was, well, special. Literally labeled so, in fact. She thought it couldn’t hurt to try, anyways.
Turning back over to the bar, where the cheers of the marble spectators could be heard loud and clear, the television screen flashed the victory sign for a bright yellow marble. A roaring dragon embroidered on their uniform.
It was a nice design, even if Blink thought the dragon was a bit common nowadays. Sitting down at a nearby table, she reached into her pocket to check the other notifications on her phone, which she had brushed off earlier. She figured Sarai would still be asleep at this time, as if it was morning for her, the sun probably hadn’t risen for her as well.
Her Bwitter notifications on the other hand, was a different story. Opening the app, her feed was flooded with random tidbits of information and speculation about her and Starry Sky. Although the excitement for Blink had died down since yesterday, the conversation surrounding Starry Sky as a team was still buzzing.
Blink herself was curious as well, while she did do a little bit of research on the MSFL teams before the draft, she could barely find any information on Starry Sky. The bweets covered some information she already knew of. The manager of the team was allegedly a close friend of the Commissioner, a personal invite to the league. A startup team which was looking to use the MSFL to bring themselves up to new heights.
There was some new information, however. None of the bweets were particularly conclusive, but the theories and speculations were grounded, at the very least. The team’s manager allegedly had close connections with some impressive marbles, namely being in talks for a coach by the name of Sora who had previous experience as an analyst and as a sports psychologyst. While they had never taken on the head coach role, their credentials were both long and impressive.
The team also was rumored to be potentially sponsored by the owner of a major fashion company, another marble who the manager had close relations to. Some unusual connections to have compared to the industry standard, but marbles were clamoring about on the online forums due to the uniqueness of the situation.
She even saw marbles predicting how well they would do, and while there were some optimistic replies, the general consensus was that the lack of real marble sport experience of both the manager and people behind the team was a serious concern. Blink had an inkling this was the case, and while she didn’t particularly care about one team to be picked from, she felt rather apprehensive about Starry Sky and their future.
Nonetheless, her food had arrived, thanking the waitress and indulging in real food she had not had in days, it was both a pleasant surprise and a warm welcome for her mouth. Both spicy and savory at the same time, the cheese melted in her mouth and the chicken was cooked to perfection.
Leaving a generous tip for the waitress, partly because the waitress was very kind, but also because she thought that this would quickly become a place she would frequently visit during her stay in Pace. Not before wincing at the sad display of her wallet, however. She didn’t have a card, and what remained of her immediate finances was enough to last her for a week at best. Even with the MSFL funded rooms and meal courses, she would struggle when it came to buying necessities for her day to day life.
Exiting the barshop, Blink thought it was an excellent time to explore the city while she killed time. Turning around the corner, a large sign hung off the wall of an indoor gym, or “Ginny’s Training Grounds”, as it was labeled. While she was legally an adult, Blink felt that it couldn’t hurt to check it out on her own, at the very least.
Pushing through the entrance door revealed a darkish atmosphere with bright neon lights that completely contrasted the outside light. Her eyes took a moment to get adjusted to the rapid change in light intensity.
Inside however was a different story from what she was expecting. Blink thought there would be weight sets and treadmills lining the walls, but instead, there was nothing of the sort. Instead, there were bars, nets, targets, and balls scattered all over the place. In the far corner was a large sand pit, and the other side labeled the entrance to the indoor pool.
“Ah, hey! Do you have a membership card?” A marble shouted nearby. Blink quickly turned to find the source of the noise, and sure enough, a marble was staring expectantly at her from what looked to be a receptionist counter.
“Oh, no, sorry, I was just checking it out.” Blink responded, strolling towards the receptionist counter in an attempt to look courteous.
“No worries!” The ever so polite receptionist enthusiastically said. “Would you like to sign up for a G-T-G membership today?”
“Why not, what do I need to do?” Blink thought it couldn’t hurt, although in the back of her mind she was fretting over the chance that her already tight finances would be just so slightly worse than it was before.
“I’m glad you asked! It’s quite simple, all you have to do is select from one of our plans and we’ll get you started right away.” The receptionist slided a piece of laminated paper over the counter.
On the paper was various ‘deals’ and ‘bundle’ options. While some of the options looked enticing to Blink’s eye, she decided to go with the option that was most reasonable considering her wallet.
“I’ll take the basic bundle, then.” An option that wasn’t too pricey and provided many of what seemed to be the main amenities of the gym for her availability, Blink figured this was a respectable option.
“Perfect! That’ll be 30 euro for a 1 month pass. Do note that you may upgrade for any of the other options at any time.” The receptionist handing her a small card with a face who Blink presumed was to be the Ginny from the label. A bit tacky, she thought.
“This will give you access to our training machines and our racing track, but any rooms behind doors are unallowed for your package.” Internally wincing, she begrudgingly handed over 30 euros in cash, and thanked the receptionist.
Checking the time, she realized that her meeting with the so-called Starry Sky would be taking place rather quickly. Still just over an hour away, but her handy map app provided a timely estimation of how long it would take to arrive.
By foot, it would take a little over 30 minutes just to get there. Exiting the facility, she bumped into another marble. By bumped, it was moreso another marble trying to get her attention.
Leaving little room for curiousity, the marble in question made themselves known from the beginning with a miniature introduction. “Hey! Just wanted to say congrats on the draft. Fellow round 1 marble, eh? Name’s Valhalla.”
As it turns out, it was the 9th round pick of the draft. Valhalla, who had been chosen by the Shadow Hunters.
“Ah.. hi! Congrats to you too!” Blink responded, trying to jog her memory of the marble standing in front of her.
“This is the gym I’ve been frequenting recently, I haven’t seen you around though, do you come here often?” He asked, attempting to make small talk with Blink, who was shifting nervously, a clear air of uncomfort surrounding them.
“Oh, nono… I, uh, just signed up for a pass.” She said. Blink herself knew she was a talker, especially when it came to marbles she was comfortable around. But she wasn’t ready with the amount of interactions she would be dealing with in the city. A very social city, she was figuring out, very quickly.
“I see then. Hope you have a great time here. I’ll see you around, yeah?” Valhalla said, no animosity heard in his tone. Blink figured he could probably sense her discomfort, and she was very thankful for the kindness he was displaying, her shoulders slouching ever so slightly.
“Yes, see you.” She nodded, trotting along quickly.
A nice yet brief interaction, she was sure she’d see Valhalla around, as she steeled her resolve to at least frequent this particular gym for a month.
Turning around the corner, passing the small burrito shop she ate at in the morning, the streets had gotten busier than before. In the morning, there were some passerby’s, doing their morning routines and activities. Now though, it was close to noon, and marbles were now filling the streets, some with destinations to go and others looking for midday meals.
Blink wasn’t used to the amount of marbles in her general vicinity, and it was certainly an experience getting used to avoiding not bumping into any others. Nonetheless, she prevailed. A small victory in her books.
The city experience, or the city life as one online post described during her initial discovery phase before her flight, was hard to get used to, she thought. Exceedingly hard, even. The vast difference between her life back in Laethai and her few days in Pace was very noticeable.
38 minutes later, she arrived. Held up by traffic and a quick pitstop to buy some water, she finally arrived at the doorstep of the Starry Sky building. The building itself looked, if she had to describe it in one word, modern. That was the case for most of Pace though, very modern, even compared to the pictures she had saw online.
The building outlined with glistening black aluminum walls, large windows almost the size of entire walls, 4 stories high. It was the epitome of what a modern building looked like. The one caveat however, was that there was absolute, in no way whatsoever, 0 indication of it being the Starry Sky building.
The commencement draft day had left her under the impression that there would be at least a hint of the signature sky blue decorating the Starry Sky building. But there was absolutely none. Nothing. Zilch. Even peering through the windows left Blink disappointed.
She had thought that perhaps the map was wrong, and she was doomed to be late to her meeting. That was, until, she checked the front door. There was a small sign hanging off the wall next to the front door.
Scribbled on the sign was a message hastily written ‘Starry Sky Headquarters - Door open!’. If Blink had any expectations before, which she didn’t, to be clear, this dashed any optimism left in her mind.
Pushing through the revolving door, Blink walked inside. Although the exterior of the building was quite modern, fancy, even, the interior left… a lot to be desired.
An unattended black marbled counter stood at the center of the room. A singular computer placed on top. The rest of the room however, was bare. Only a single door which led to some place behind the counter, and glass walled stairs which ascended upwards to the next floor. A single potted plant in the corner, its leaves being so graciously fed through the sunlight shining through the glass walls.
The building looked like no one had ever walked in, a brand new constructed building. Blink only had one conclusion.
The Starry Sky organization was a disaster.