"You're challenging me to a game of
BattleGrid?"
Alexa smirked. Did this kid have no idea who she was? Probably
not, as he seemed to be a first-year. A first-year with quite some bravado.
"That's right!" said the first-year. "And
if I win, you have to go out with me!"
Alexa grinned. So
that's his game. "Alright then," she said. "But if I win - and I will - you have to do
everything I say for a month. Got that?"
"You're on!" said the first-year, blissfully
unaware of what he was getting himself into. Before him stood Alexa Fielding,
one of the top CC BattleGrid players in the entire country, despite only being
seventeen and still in high school. Already a crowd had gathered round them in
the grounds, anticipating a battle that would most likely be a total walkover.
Both Alexa and the first-year took out their stacks of
BattleGrid chips - 25, as per the regulations - and shuffled them face-down,
before sliding the first six into the special slots in their arms. This game
was made possible by the CC System - a powerful cybernetic system that greatly
increased the capabilities of the average human.
The CC System consisted of two parts. The main part was a
computer installed in the user's non-dominant arm, with a built-in OLED touch-screen
and six slots for Program Chips to be inserted. These Chips worked like the
floppy discs of old computers, installing various programs, but in CC
BattleGrid, they were used as slots for the player's hand. The second part was
the holovisor, a holographic display worn on the left ear that wirelessly
received information from the arm computer, providing audio-visual feedback via
a holographically projected display. It was the pinnacle of human technology,
and almost everyone who was old enough had one.
Having installed the six Chips in her arm, Alexa's
holovisor whirred into life. The health display appeared in the top-right
corner of her vision: as always, both players started with 10,000 Charge
Points, or CP. The names of the six cards she had installed appeared on the
left, numbered from 1 to 6; pressing the corresponding numbered button on the
touch-screen would activate each one. Running her gaze down the list, she
grinned. This will be easily.
"I'll be nice," she said, "I'll let you go
first."
The first-year grinned with unwarranted confidence. "Alright!
First, I activate Power Shield and Torrent Shield!" he said, pressing two
buttons on his arm. These were Passive Chips, providing permanent boosts; Power
Shield reduced the base damage the boy took, and Torrent Shield further reduced
the effectiveness of Water-type attacks by half. Through the holovisor, Alexa
saw a faint white shield surround the boy, followed by a blue watery shield; special
effects, to provide a greater level of immersion. That was part of the reason
for the game's popularity.
"Next," said the boy, "I activate Minor
Drain!" Minor Drain was an Active Chip; only one of these could be
activated per turn. Ordinarily, this would drain the opponent of 1000 CP and
add it to the user's CP, leaving Alexa with 9,000 CP and her opponent with
11,000 plus two shields. But Alexa had other ideas.
"Not so fast!" said Alexa. "I activate Negation
Protocol and cancel Minor Drain's effects!" Negation Protocol was a
Dormant Chip, which could be triggered by an opponent's actions. In this case,
it did exactly as Alexa described: it cancelled out the boy's Minor Drain. A
red beam with green sparks flying from it shot out of the boy's holovisor, but
an identical one flew from Alexa's to counter it and as the two beams met in
mid-air they disappeared in a shower of sparks. The excited crowd edged closer.
"My turn now," remarked Alexa. "I use
Ultima Firestorm!" The crowd cheered as a red holographic beam engulfed in
flame shot out of the holovisor and struck the boy, causing him to flinch even
though there was really nothing there. Ultima Firestorm was a powerful attack,
but its strength meant it could only be used once before "burning
out" and having to be replaced. In CC BattleGrid there were two ways to
lose: run out of CP, or lose too many chips. As the boy's health trickled down
to 6,850 CP, the Ultima Firestorm chip popped out of Alexa's CC System; she
took it out, pocketing it, and replaced it with the next face-down one from her
deck.
The boy, it seemed, wasn't going to be deterred. "Now
it's my turn!" he said, his confidence seemingly undiminished. "I
activate Blaze Strike!" Not a bad
move, thought Alexa, as a holographic fireball surged towards her. But I'm still three steps ahead of you.
She activated the card she had just drawn. "I
activate Perfect Reflection! Your Blaze Strike gets thrown back at you
twofold!"
"What?!!" exclaimed the boy, now starting to
realize the trouble he was in, as the fireball bounced off Alexa and surged
back towards him at twice its original size. His Power Shield again reduced the
damage slightly, but he was now down to just 3,100 CP, and now it was Alexa's
turn. All it would take now was a single good attack, and as the Perfect
Reflection chip burned out and popped back up from its slot, she already knew
that she had the perfect attack installed with which to end it.
Sliding in the replacement chip, she grinned. "Game
over, kid," she said. "I activate Ultima Overclock!"
The crowd gasped, then cheered. Ultima Overclock was the rarest,
most powerful attack in the entire game. It burned out all the user's Chips in
the process, but that wouldn't matter one iota at this point. Even with the first-year's
Power Shield, it really was game over.
The boy cried out as he was engulfed in a giant beam of
light fired from Alexa's holovisor. His shields faded away as the last of his
CP was powerfully drained away. Alexa has beaten him, in only two turns,
without taking any damage at all.
With the game over, both player's installed Chips popped up
out of their slots, and Alexa started to stack her Chips away back inside their
case. The boy did not. He just stood there, dumbfounded, trying to process the
sheer comprehensiveness of his defeat. "N…no way…" he stammered.
Alexa put the last of her Chips away, then advanced on
the shell-shocked boy, grinning. "I believe you remember the terms of our
wager?" she asked.
"Y…yes…" said the boy.
Alexa thought for a moment. "One hundred star jumps.
Now."
"What?"
"Believe me," remarked Alexa, "you could
use the exercise. Hundred star jumps. Now."
As the crowd around them started to laugh, the thoroughly
humiliated boy reluctantly got started on his star jumps, while Alexa strode off
with a grin on her face and her head held high.
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