He sighed and looked down at his legs. "I didn’t escape Huitzilopochtli’s curse—I was unworthy of the god. The cybernetics had depleted my life force. And my presence as honorary team captain meant that another captain—one who could be consecrated to the sun god by the priests—could not be named in my place. Even so, when our team won the nationals, I knew the priests wouldn’t let me live. And so I fled from the tlachtli, rather than attending the victory celebrations. I nearly died at the hands of the fire elemental they sent after me."