The crowd roared as the Midfield bot made the pass. The ball was almost intersected by one of the opposing team’s Defense bots, a nasty flyer that Chase could swear was eating most of the Dragonets allowed Control time.
The regional Splice finals had been... Interesting this year. The final match had come down to the Dragonets, the previous years champions, and the Reavers, a team that had been, quite literally, the single worst-rated at the start of the last season.
The regional Splice finals had been... Interesting this year. The final match had come down to the Dragonets, the previous years champions, and the Reavers, a team that had been, quite literally, the single worst-rated at the start of the last season.
The Dragonets played the game well-their bots, and the one obligatory ‘meatbag’ on their team were all wired together by a near field communications network. They were coordinated, synergized, and played in perfect synchrony.
The Reavers flouted the conventional wisdom. To start with, they used only a single bot, which was, more or less, stationary. The other players were all ‘bags, and all practically identical. The team’s captain had said that that was due to the fact that they lacked the time this year to do much more than develop the general framework for these players, but in the future, they expected to field at least three different versions.
One of the Reavers ‘bags shot the ball straight past the Dragonets goalie, scoring.
‘Four Points!’ flashed across the screen-the points gained in a game of Splice was the square of the number of players involved in the scoring play.
The recording cut to the beginning of the next round, with the Reaver and Dragonet players arrayed in the Midfield. The Reavers had six players out to the Dragonets seven. The Dragonets had started the game with a full slate of nine players, though the Reavers had kept two off the field due to prior injury. That was the problem with a meat team-even if you modified them to heal faster, it was more complicated than just slapping on a new titanium plate.
Just as the buzzer sounded to allow the players to dash for the ball hovering in the center of the field, however, someone entered the room, and said “Viewer off.”
It was Jane. He turned, smiling at her. “Got bored with the Ansible blackout?” He asked.
She laughed. “Bored is the complete opposite of the problem here, Chase.” Her grammar always wound up a little off when she was excited-that was part of what he loved about her.
“What do you mean?”
“They reactivated the Ansibles at the Military base for a few minutes about half an hour ago. Furthermore, there was a packet transmitted to the Base from one of the Strike Groups, out somewhere called Tantaline. There’s crap going down there that you would not believe, Chase. There was an attack, an Alien strike group or something. The planet’s gone, it’s-.”
“Whoa, whoa... What?” Chase asked, blood running cold.
“Oh, they haven’t announced it yet-my Dad’s doing IT at the Fleet Base, remember?”
“Yeah, but-”
“So anyway, the Fleet’s about to make some kind of announcement about the Draft, though they've got some better, propaganda name for it. Anyway, they’re going to be recruiting like hell over the next few days-this is our ticket out, Chase.”
Chase’s heart leapt, but he quashed it almost immediately. “What are you proposing?” He asked. “That we just take advantage of the fact that Law Enforcement will have bigger problems on their hands than a couple of runaway kids?”
Jane’s eyes twinkled, and she tossed a folder to him. “Take a look.” She said.
He opened the folder, revealing a set of the synthetic polymer sheets that the Republic used for official documents. A Civilian Dossier lay inside, emblazoned with the Republic seal and flag. Chase recognized it-it was just a larger version of his school ID card. “I don’t get it.” He said, holding it up.
“Read the date.”
Chase’s eyes moved to the space marked ‘Birthday’. September Twelfth, Twelfth Year of the Republic.
Chase had been born in 13 YR.
What Jane was suggesting was immediately obvious-and equally obviously a bad plan. “You’re suggesting that we get off-planet by enlisting?”
“Yeah, pretty much. It’s not like they’re gunna run the most strenuous background checks of all time on us right now.”
Chase leaned back, holding the sheet up. “Jane, this is either completely stupid, or completely genius.”
She smiled again. “Let’s go with genius.”
“They’ll catch us.” He warned.
“What’s the worst they can do? Drop us off on some planet that will, statistically, be far, far away from here?”
“Wrong. They can refer us to Tactical, an organization perfectly capable of placing us in a Black Site from which we will never emerge, or be heard from again. If any of the standard Ansnet rumors are to be believed, they will spend their time their systematically violating every one of our basic human rights. Once bored of that, they will kill us.”
“Exactly-nothing worth worrying about.”
“Excuse me?”
Jane smiled. “Don’t believe everything you read on the net my friend.”
Chase shook his head. “Still though, this seems vaguely like a nuclear option, doesn’t it? Yeah, life sucks here, but is this really how we want to get offworld?”
Jane sobered. “Chase, sometimes I think we’re literally the only two decent people on this whole damn rock. I got mugged on Downs Street last week. You told me the other day that you picked up a gun on the black market just so you can feel secure on your way to school in the morning. Oh, thinking of school, how many times has Law Enforcement been there in the past few months? This place is the underbelly of the Republic-it’s part of a line of fortifications that haven’t mattered in decades though.”
Chase shrugged. “Fine. Let’s do it.”
Jane looked mildly surprised by that. “Wait, you’ll do it?”
“Yeah, why not? You’re right, after all-I guess I had just imagined this happening in another year or so, after school.”
“Who needs school? It’s not like we learn anything other than how to avoid the gangs.” She said, sitting down next to him, grabbing his hand.
He turned to face her, staring into her eyes. Her energy was infectious, and when she came up with plans like these, you couldn’t help but go along with it.
“You really wanna do this?” She asked. “I mean, when I made those, it was part serious, yeah, but part a joke, and I won’t lie and say that it wasn’t partly just because I could.”
“With you?” He leaned in, and kissed her. “Yes.”
The Reavers flouted the conventional wisdom. To start with, they used only a single bot, which was, more or less, stationary. The other players were all ‘bags, and all practically identical. The team’s captain had said that that was due to the fact that they lacked the time this year to do much more than develop the general framework for these players, but in the future, they expected to field at least three different versions.
One of the Reavers ‘bags shot the ball straight past the Dragonets goalie, scoring.
‘Four Points!’ flashed across the screen-the points gained in a game of Splice was the square of the number of players involved in the scoring play.
The recording cut to the beginning of the next round, with the Reaver and Dragonet players arrayed in the Midfield. The Reavers had six players out to the Dragonets seven. The Dragonets had started the game with a full slate of nine players, though the Reavers had kept two off the field due to prior injury. That was the problem with a meat team-even if you modified them to heal faster, it was more complicated than just slapping on a new titanium plate.
Just as the buzzer sounded to allow the players to dash for the ball hovering in the center of the field, however, someone entered the room, and said “Viewer off.”
It was Jane. He turned, smiling at her. “Got bored with the Ansible blackout?” He asked.
She laughed. “Bored is the complete opposite of the problem here, Chase.” Her grammar always wound up a little off when she was excited-that was part of what he loved about her.
“What do you mean?”
“They reactivated the Ansibles at the Military base for a few minutes about half an hour ago. Furthermore, there was a packet transmitted to the Base from one of the Strike Groups, out somewhere called Tantaline. There’s crap going down there that you would not believe, Chase. There was an attack, an Alien strike group or something. The planet’s gone, it’s-.”
“Whoa, whoa... What?” Chase asked, blood running cold.
“Oh, they haven’t announced it yet-my Dad’s doing IT at the Fleet Base, remember?”
“Yeah, but-”
“So anyway, the Fleet’s about to make some kind of announcement about the Draft, though they've got some better, propaganda name for it. Anyway, they’re going to be recruiting like hell over the next few days-this is our ticket out, Chase.”
Chase’s heart leapt, but he quashed it almost immediately. “What are you proposing?” He asked. “That we just take advantage of the fact that Law Enforcement will have bigger problems on their hands than a couple of runaway kids?”
Jane’s eyes twinkled, and she tossed a folder to him. “Take a look.” She said.
He opened the folder, revealing a set of the synthetic polymer sheets that the Republic used for official documents. A Civilian Dossier lay inside, emblazoned with the Republic seal and flag. Chase recognized it-it was just a larger version of his school ID card. “I don’t get it.” He said, holding it up.
“Read the date.”
Chase’s eyes moved to the space marked ‘Birthday’. September Twelfth, Twelfth Year of the Republic.
Chase had been born in 13 YR.
What Jane was suggesting was immediately obvious-and equally obviously a bad plan. “You’re suggesting that we get off-planet by enlisting?”
“Yeah, pretty much. It’s not like they’re gunna run the most strenuous background checks of all time on us right now.”
Chase leaned back, holding the sheet up. “Jane, this is either completely stupid, or completely genius.”
She smiled again. “Let’s go with genius.”
“They’ll catch us.” He warned.
“What’s the worst they can do? Drop us off on some planet that will, statistically, be far, far away from here?”
“Wrong. They can refer us to Tactical, an organization perfectly capable of placing us in a Black Site from which we will never emerge, or be heard from again. If any of the standard Ansnet rumors are to be believed, they will spend their time their systematically violating every one of our basic human rights. Once bored of that, they will kill us.”
“Exactly-nothing worth worrying about.”
“Excuse me?”
Jane smiled. “Don’t believe everything you read on the net my friend.”
Chase shook his head. “Still though, this seems vaguely like a nuclear option, doesn’t it? Yeah, life sucks here, but is this really how we want to get offworld?”
Jane sobered. “Chase, sometimes I think we’re literally the only two decent people on this whole damn rock. I got mugged on Downs Street last week. You told me the other day that you picked up a gun on the black market just so you can feel secure on your way to school in the morning. Oh, thinking of school, how many times has Law Enforcement been there in the past few months? This place is the underbelly of the Republic-it’s part of a line of fortifications that haven’t mattered in decades though.”
Chase shrugged. “Fine. Let’s do it.”
Jane looked mildly surprised by that. “Wait, you’ll do it?”
“Yeah, why not? You’re right, after all-I guess I had just imagined this happening in another year or so, after school.”
“Who needs school? It’s not like we learn anything other than how to avoid the gangs.” She said, sitting down next to him, grabbing his hand.
He turned to face her, staring into her eyes. Her energy was infectious, and when she came up with plans like these, you couldn’t help but go along with it.
“You really wanna do this?” She asked. “I mean, when I made those, it was part serious, yeah, but part a joke, and I won’t lie and say that it wasn’t partly just because I could.”
“With you?” He leaned in, and kissed her. “Yes.”