Day 129

[from CC BattleGrid]

"Hey Corey, you got your CC System installed? Come on, let's battle! I wanna see if you're as good as your sister! You have a BattleGrid Chip stack, right?"

Corey sighed. "You're the fifth person who's asked today," he said. "Can I at least finish my lunch first?" Corey was currently sat in the cafeteria, a half-eaten sandwich in his hand. This was his first day back at school after getting his CC System installed, and it had naturally caused quite a stir among his classmates.

The kid currently challenging him was Brendan, a boy in his class, and it seemed he wasn't going to take no for an answer. "Come on, Corey!" he said. "It'll only take a couple of minutes! You know how short BattleGrid games are!"

"They're not always short," said Corey. "Not if you have the right Chips."

"And do you have the right Chips?" asked Brendan.

"Not yet," conceded Corey, "but-"

"Then let's battle!" insisted Brendan.

"Yeah, come on, Corey!" said a girl from the next table. "We wanna see you battle!"

"Yeah, battle!" called out another student.

Students all over the cafeteria started chiming in, expressing their wish to see Corey battle.  At this point, Corey realized that it just couldn't be helped: they weren't going to leave him alone until he gave them what they wanted and started a battle. "Okay, fine," he said. "But just one battle. Anyone else will have to wait until I've finished my lunch."

"That's fine with me!" said Brendan, who was already fishing his stack out of his pocket. "I'm gonna be the first person in school to play Alexa's younger brother! I bet I can beat him!"

"We'll see," said Corey, putting down his sandwich.

As Corey was getting off his seat, however, a teacher quickly made their way over. "No BattleGrid games inside the building!" she insisted. "If you want to play BattleGrid, you'll have to go outside!"

"Fair enough," said Brendan. "Come on, Corey, let's take this outside!"

Corey nodded, his hand slipping inside his pocket and gently clutching his Chip stack. The pair made their way out of the cafeteria and outside into the grounds, and most of the cafeteria's inhabitants followed them out. Even a couple of the teachers couldn't help but go outside to watch; after all, this was the younger brother of one of the country's greatest BattleGrid players. It was sure to be a spectacle.

Once they were safely out in the playground, with the expectant crowd gathered around them, the pair took out their Chip stacks, shuffled them, and placed the first six Chips into the slots on their arms. Their holovisors whirred into life, projecting a heads-up display directly into their vision. The game had begun.

Corey glanced at the six Chips he had installed and nodded, satisfied. "Tell you what," he said. "I'll let you go first, Brendan."

Brendan smiled, showing his confidence. "You sure about that?" he asked.

Corey nodded. "I'm sure," he said. "You're the challenger, you should go first."

Brendan's smile grew into a grin. "Too bad, Corey," he said. "You just let me win. "First, I'll activate Gradual Repair and Blaze Shield, not that I'll need them." Through Corey's holovisor, a green aura seemed to envelop Brendan, followed by a fiery shield. Gradual Repair, like Blaze Shield, was a Passive Chip that would gradually restore 750 CP every turn. Looks like he has every reason to be confident, thought Corey. But then again…

"And now," said Brendan, "I activate Ultima Overclock!"

The assembled crowd gasped. This was the strongest and rarest attack in the entire game, capable of dealing 6,000 CP of damage, but at the cost of burning out all the user's installed Chips. This mattered not to Brendan; he thought that with this early blow, victory was almost assured. But there was something he wasn't counting on.

Corey almost chuckled as the intense white beam shot towards him. This was too perfect. "I activate Perfect Reflection!" he said, an instant before the beam struck an invisible barrier inches in front of him and came to a halt.

If the crowd had been shocked by Brendan's move, then this one bowled them for six. Perfect Reflection was a Dormant Chip that doubled the power of any attacking move and then reflected it back at its user. Those who could quickly do the math in their heads realized that the reflected Ultima Overclock would now deal 12,000 CP of damage to Brendan. His Blaze Shield and Gradual Repair would be useless. In only a single move, he had lost the match.

"What?!" exclaimed Brendan, as the reflected beam shot back at him twofold. "There's no way a beginner like you could have a Chip like that!"

"You forget who my sister is," said Corey.

Indeed, before Corey had left for school that morning, Alexa had given him one of her own professional decks. "I'm sure a lot of people at your school will want to battle you today, given my own reputation," she had said. "So, what the heck. I'll let you borrow my own deck for today, so you can take 'em all to the cleaners. You can thank me when you get home~"

Brendan stood stock-still in utter shock as the massive beam of light engulfed him, draining his Chip Points to nothing. The battle was over before it had even begun, and the crowd were left speechless. After a moment or two, however, a great cheer erupted as those gathered in the playground began to celebrate Corey's victory. "That was incredible!" "You beat him in one move!" "That's Alexa's brother, all right!" "Way to go, Corey!"

"I should go back and finish my lunch now," said Corey. Ejecting his Chips and pocketing them again, he headed off back to the cafeteria with the joyful crowd in tow, leaving a stunned Brendan standing alone in the middle of the playground, the "YOU LOSE" message still flashing endlessly on his holovisor.

Day 69

[from CC BattleGrid]

Alexa and Corey set about shuffling their decks. Alexa had chosen to use a starter deck similar to Corey's, to give him a fighting chance - it would be no fair to him if she went in with the powerful top-tier deck she usually used, while he only had a basic starter deck. With this done, they inserted their first six Chips into their CC Systems, which whirred into life, a heads-up display appearing on their holovisors. "Hey, this is even cooler than I expected!" Corey remarked.

"Hey, now, don't get too distracted, kid," said Alexa. "Tell you what: since this is your first time battling, I'll be nice and let you go first. Alright?"

"Alright, thanks sis!" said Corey. "First, I'll activate Power Shield, Ember Shield, and Droplet Shield!" Corey pressed the respective buttons on his arm-mounted screen, and two shields surrounded him; first a faint white one, then another that swirled with both bubbles and flames. Any damage he took would now be reduced by 25%, with further reductions for Fire or Water-type attacks. And since those were only Passive Chips, he still had an Active Chip left to activate.

"Let's see… next, I'll activate Frost Strike!" Corey pressed the button, and through the holovisor, he saw an icy-cold blast emerge from his hand and strike his older sister directly. The powerful Ice-type blow dealt 2,500 CP of damage, leaving Alexa with 7,500 CP left. First blood to Corey.

"Not a bad first turn," Alexa remarked. "But having that many shields up is gonna limit your other options." This was true. The downside of Passive Chips was that they took up slots that could be filled by Active or Dormant Chips. With only three slots left for attacks, traps, healing, and other such moves, Corey's options were going to be limited. Fortunately, he had the option to discard one Chip per turn and draw a new one, but he had no guarantee that what he drew was going to be any better than what he'd discarded, and if you discarded twenty Chips, you lost. In any case, it wasn't his turn anymore.

"Right, my turn," said Alexa. "First, I activate Power Booster!" She tapped a button on her arm and a fiery but faint red glow appeared around her fists. Alexa's attacks were now 25% stronger, effectively cancelling out Corey's Power Shield. "Next, I activate Droplet Shield!" A faint blue shield swirling with bubbles surrounded Alexa. Any Water-type attacks Corey used would now be less effective. "Finally, I use Weakening Strike!" A small red beam shot out of Alexa's holovisor, striking Corey. While this only dealt 1,000 CP of damage, it reduced his attack power by 10% of its base value. Next turn his attacks would be slightly weaker.

Corey started his second turn by discarding one of his Chips, which happened to be Droplet Strike. With Alexa also having a Droplet Shield up, Droplet Strike, the weakest Water-type attack, was going to be useless, and since he had plenty of Chips left, he didn't need to worry about running out. The Chip he drew to replace it, however, ended up being Spark Shield, which was equally useless: as Alexa has pointed out, he already had three shields up. Rather than activating it, he decided to wait until next turn and then discard it.

"For now, I'll just activate Frost Strike again!" he said. Lower-level attacks such as this had unlimited charge, so in longer battles, which this was sure to be, they were invaluable. The icy blast was slightly smaller this time - a clever effect added by the game to reflect Corey's lowered attack - but it still seemed powerful to Alexa as it struck her. Her CP fell to 5,250.

"My turn, then," said Alexa. "I'll activate Weakening Strike again!" Another red beam struck Corey, lowering his attack power - and his CP - once more. He was only down to 8,000, however, and still very much in control of the battle.

As he had decided earlier, Corey started his third turn by discarding Spark Shield and installing another Chip. This time, it was Dirt Shield. Are you kidding me?, thought Corey, annoyed by his sudden misfortune.

"What's the matter, kiddo?" asked Alexa. "Keep getting bad draws? Don't worry, you're still winning."

"I guess so," said Corey. "Well, anyway… I'll use Frost Strike again!" Another holographic blast of snow, and Alexa's health was down to just 3,250 CP. It may not have been the most exciting battle to watch, but Corey was thoroughly enjoying it, particularly as he was winning, and by quite a margin.

Alexa, too, started her turn by discarding a Chip. Unlike Corey, however, her draw was a good one. "I activate Bolt Strike!" she declared. A holographic bolt of electricity shot out of her holovisor, striking Corey and dealing 2,500 CP of damage. With Alexa now able to deal more damage than him per turn, Corey would have to get this wrapped up quickly.

Once more he started by discarding, getting rid of the useless Dirt Shield, and realizing that the Spark Shield he'd discarded the turn before would actually have come in handy. Please don't be another useless shield, he thought, please don't be another useless shield… It wasn't. It was Minor Repair, a Charged Chip that would restore 1,500 CP when used. He was still at 5,500 CP, so he didn't feel it necessary to use it yet, but it would still be very handy to have. "Now, Frost Strike again!" Another 2,000 CP lost. Just one more attack would do it. Perhaps.

Unbeknownst to Corey, Alexa also had a Minor Repair. However, since it would take up her turn, she wouldn’t be able to deal any damage in reply, and 1,500 CP wasn't enough to completely negate his attacks. All she could do was delay what was now the inevitable. He may think he was getting bad draws, but he got a pretty good starting draw compared to mine, she thought to herself. That's what swung it in his favour. But, he's not a bad battler either, to be fair. He knows what he has to do to win, and he does it. I wonder how he'd do with a better deck…

With no way now to stop Corey from winning, Alexa decided to go out fighting. "I activate Bolt Strike again!" Corey's CP went down to 3,000, but that was still enough for him. "Good job, kiddo," said Alexa. "Looks like you've won your first match. Even if you were just spamming the same move the whole time," she added jokingly.

"Yeah, but it worked, didn't it?" Corey pointed out.

"Yeah," said Alexa, "and at the end of the day, that's the important thing. Now come on, finish me off." She spread her arms wide, ready to receive the final holographic blow.

 "Alright then," said Corey. "One more time: Frost Strike!" For the fifth time, an icy blast emanated from Corey's left hand, striking his sister full-on. This time, her CP dropped all the way to zero, and that was it: game over. Corey had won.

"Nice job, kiddo," said Alexa, smiling proudly. "You did well. You're not gonna beat everyone with that starter deck, though, so make sure you get some more Chips and keep improving your deck."

"I will," said Corey, as he discarded his installed Chips. His enthusiasm for the game had been bolstered by this win, and now he was determined to go on and become the best BattleGrid player he could become. Surpassing his sister wouldn't be too much of a stretch, in his mind, since he had already beaten her once.

"Alright then," said Alexa. "And once you've got a top-tier deck, I'll battle you again with my usual deck. You oughta have a harder time with that one." She grinned.

"We'll see about that," said Corey confidently.

Day 44

[from CC BattleGrid]

It took Corey a little while to fully awaken from the anaesthetic. Almost as soon as his brain realized that he was fully conscious again, he quickly turned to look at his left arm. Running almost from his elbow to his wrist was a long metal plate fused into the back of his arm, with an OLED touch-screen and six small slots built into it. This was a Chip-Based Cybernetic System, or CC System, the must-have augmentation for anyone. Corey had just turned thirteen, the minimum age at which one was allowed to get a CC System installed, and getting the system was his birthday present. He'd wanted one ever since his older sister Alexa had had one installed, and seeing it finally bolted to his arm filled him with joy.

"Awesome!" he exclaimed. "My very own CC System!"

"Indeed it is," said Dr. Gibson, the man who had performed the installation. "I should warn you, once the anaesthetic wears off your arm will probably ache for a few days, but after that you shouldn't experience any problems with it."

There was only one thing really concerned Corey. "How soon can I battle with it?" he asked. Like his older sister, and many kids his age, Corey was obsessed with the popular game CC BattleGrid. He'd never been able to play it before, for obvious reasons, but with the CC System now installed in his arm, he was eager to get started.

Dr. Gibson chuckled. "You can start playing CC BattleGrid right away, as well as any other CC System apps you might want to use. Of course, first you'll be wanting this as well." He handed over a small headset, with a built-in holographic projector that projected a display in front of the user's eyes. This was the holovisor, the crucial second part of the CC System. It linked wirelessly to the wearer's System, displaying all kinds of audio-visual feedback. In a BattleGrid game, the holovisor not only displayed the user's remaining health, but also produced a wide range of virtual-reality special effects to create an unparalleled sense of immersion. It was this that made the game so immensely popular.

Corey sat up on the edge of the bed and put on the holovisor. It had already been linked to his CC System, and as he put it on it whirred into life, the CC System logo suddenly superimposed over Corey's view of the world. It faded away after a moment, leaving only a 24-hour clock and battery indicator in the bottom-right of his field of vision. The holovisor's technology truly was incredible; he almost couldn't tell that he was wearing it at all.

"Well, that should be everything," said Dr. Gibson. "If you have any problems, or any further questions, don't hesitate to contact me. It's unlikely your body will try to reject the system, but if it does, then the sooner we can catch that, the sooner we can fix it. Understand?"

"Yes, sir," said Corey, nodding.

"Alright then," said Corey's father, who had brought him along, "let's be heading home, huh? I'm sure your sister will be waiting to congratulate you… and to battle you, probably, knowing you two."

"Yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to my first battle!" exclaimed Corey. "Thanks, Dr. Gibson!"

"No problem, kid!" said Dr. Gibson. "You be safe now, okay?"

"I will!" said Corey. "See ya!"

***

Sure enough, when Corey and his father arrived home, Alexa was in the living room waiting for them. "Hey, so you got your System installed!" she said, as she spotted the gleaming metal panel on Corey's arm. "Let me have a look!"

Alexa headed over to examine Corey's System. It wasn't much different from hers, apart from the colour; Alexa's was a shining purple while Corey's was a plain metallic grey. "Cool, isn't it?" said Corey.

"Sure is, kiddo," said Alexa. "You're ready to become a proper CC BattleGrid player now. Speaking of which, I said I'd give you your first battle, didn't I? Unless you got so anxious to try it out that you decided to battle someone at the Installation Facility?"

A small part of Corey was suddenly annoyed that he hadn't done just that, but outwardly he chuckled. "Nope!" he said. "I wanted to wait until I got home, so I could face you like I promised! Besides, I don't even have any Chips yet!"

"Oh yeah, that reminds me," said Alexa. "Here, I'll give you this old starter pack of mine to get you on your way. I don't really need it any more, I got hundreds of Chips now."

Alexa handed over a small case containing twenty-five Battle Chips, the regulation amount for battling. "Thanks, sis," said Corey, flicking through them quickly. They all seemed like fairly low-powered Chips, but it was only a starter pack, after all. He'd earn more powerful Chips once he started battling.

"Alright, I hope you're ready, kiddo," said Alexa. "You know the rules of BattleGrid, right?"

"Of course I do!" said Corey. "I've been watching you battle for months now!"

Alexa chuckled. "Alright then. Let BattleGrid commence!"

Day 5

[from CC BattleGrid]

"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.