The Roar

After an intense series of tests, the final 12 competitors are brought to an upper chamber to view the Aurora Borealis, but it does little to comfort them. That night, Mika awakens from a dream to find Audrey in his room. She is frightened, and he does his best to comfort her.

The next morning, Mika, Audrey, and Leo eat breakfast. Mika’s throat is raw and bruised from his altercation with Ruben. As Mika is taken below ground to the final round of competition, he senses Ellie ever closer. Meanwhile, in Puck’s enclosure, Ellie suddenly senses Mika on the other side of the wall, but just as their minds reach for each other, an armed guard drags Ellie out of the room. Mika is then taken to a large pit with a cage dangling above it. He is blindfolded, led into the cage, and warned, “[D]on’t put anything, not even a finger, through the bars, OK?” (358). Down in the pit, something ferocious hurls itself against a steel door. The cage is lowered into the pit and several borg creatures are released from their holding pen. Like sharks in a feeding frenzy, they attack the cage as Mika tries desperately to remain inside the bars. As the cage reaches the floor of the pit, the creatures, suddenly calm, are quietly circling it. To Mika’s ears, they sound like dogs. He reaches out, to connect to them, but the men quickly pull the cage up.

Mika returns to his room and sleeps deeply. He awakens to Audrey knocking on his door. She too is shaken by her experience in the pit. Later, they attend an elegant dinner for the nine remaining contestants.

Gorman dresses in preparation for the dinner. His doctor is concerned about his erratic heartbeat—Gorman is anxious about facing these mutant children. As Gorman enters the dining hall, Mika is shocked—this is the face of the Telly Head in his dreams. When Gorman summons other dignitaries to the dinner, their “papery skin and bulging eyes” (367) are the faces of the other Telly Heads—his nightmare in the flesh.

Gorman announces the final winners—including Audrey and Leo—but he is torn between Mika and Ruben. He finally chooses Mika, thinking he’ll be easier to handle. Ruben explodes in anger, levitating into the air and telekinetically hurling knives at the dinner guests. Gorman orders the guards to shoot him, but Mika flings his body over Ruben’s, knocking them both to the floor. Guards drag Ruben away, and the contestants are ordered back to their rooms. Despite the chaos and uncertainty, Mika is ecstatic—he’s won, and now, he’s that much closer to Ellie.

Gorman visits Mika in his room. He’s sending him home to his new residence in the Golden Turrets, but Mika is desperate to stay, to find Ellie. Gorman then makes Mika an offer: Gorman will reunite him with Ellie in exchange for Mika’s promise to do whatever Gorman asks. If he violates any of Gorman’s conditions—he must return the next day, not tell his parents anything, and he cannot leave the apartment—he will never see Ellie again.

As Mika flies away from Cape Wrath, he sees an endless line of freighters bearing thousands of children to the fortress, all with implants controlling their every move. When Mika disembarks at the Golden Turrets, he hears a rhythmic beating—the sound of the poor below pounding on the massive pillars to mark the increasing number of the dead—victims of institutional neglect. Mika rides the elevator to his new apartment, dreading having to lie to his parents. He finds them—stunned but ecstatic—exploring their luxurious new space. Asha senses something different about him, but Mika knows he can’t say anything about his newfound abilities.

As YDF maids prepare for a party, Mika anxiously awaits the coming of the new day. As the party commences—a celebration for the winners and their families—the contestants gather on the balcony and ponder Gorman’s plans for them. Mika suggests he wants to use their abilities for destructive purposes.

Gorman huddles by a fire, sending out a message to hundreds of thousands of children, and then sends for Ellie. Back at the party, the contestants compare mutations. Suddenly, they all notice an eerie silence—the banging from below has stopped—followed by a piercing wail. Gorman’s message announces that all “twelve- and thirteen-year-old children […] were taken this afternoon by the YDF from the arcades” (403). They are being sent to war. Asha and David plead with their son to explain, but he—like all of the winners—has made Gorman a promise—to keep quiet.