“Why would I run an obstacle course? We need to get out of here, Lee. We have a job to do. Remember?”
Lee pouts, “But that’s boring! Besides, do you remember saying you’d help me make Terra Tamers? This is it! The best way to help me is to test your Rayment.”
“Lee—”
“Please, Gēgē?” I stare at my little brother. Deeply into his eyes.
“No.”
“What?!”
“No, your life is more important than a game!”
Lee stammers, “Well, well, what about the contract you signed? Legally binding.”
“Not under duress.”
“You weren’t in danger.”
“I thought you were, Lee!”
“Oh. Well, I’m fine. So there’s no duress. So you have to do it!” Lee argues.
“Who will enforce the contract? Words and paper are worthless without power.”
Lee points to the stage, “She will.” I look and Tara winks at me before calling for a third contestant to run an obstacle course. Pablo is busy admiring his fur-lined leather jacket.
Tara exuberantly invites, “Come on! I will sweeten the deal by revealing the prize for winning the obstacle course. It is a T-quip!”
I mutter to Lee, “Didn’t you guys rename those to Rayments?”
Lee shouts, “Tara we renamed those to Rayments! Do you mean the Rayment enhancers?”
“I was hoping I could sneak T-quips back into the game. What other name makes sense for the enhancing items?” Tara pouts.
A small voice hesitatingly rises above the theatre’s low conversations, “How about Gear? It’s simple and keeps on theme.”
Tara points to the shy speaker and says, “Sold! Come on up here and compete for a Gear, Trey!”
Everybody stares. The weight of so many eyes spooks Trey. The young boy, who can’t be older than seven, tries to hide behind a larger figure. The teen girl Trey attempts to use as a port in a storm is wearing a modified lab coat and even a rare pair of glasses. Pockets of all shapes and sizes are sewn into the coat. The girl comfortingly pats Trey on the back and asks, “Can I take his place? He’s terribly shy. Also, how did you know his name? I’m terribly interested.”
Tara replies, “The same way I know yours, Anna. Everyone signed their names on the contracts. Plus, I have observers all over this hotel. I need to collect all the data I can to make Terra Tamers great!”
Anna frowns and adjusts her glasses over an ink smudged nose, “Fascinating. Also why call this game Terra Tamers? Because it sounds like your own name? That’s mildly confusing.”
“It wasn’t my idea. It was Lee’s. He wanted to make an augmented reality game using Holos. That was before everything changed.”
Lee lectures, “Terra is a reference to the Latin for earth or land. Like terra firma.” Anna nods at him and stuffs her hands into large pockets.
“Do you want a specialized Rayment, Anna?” Tara asks.
The girl shrugs, “I’m happy with how I look. Just make it transparent or something?”
Tara nods, “We will just give you the glow so players can identify another Tamer.”
Pablo taps his foot on the stage, “Yeah, yeah. Let’s get on with it. I want the Gear or whatever after I show this cobarde who the boss is!” The thugs cheer for Pablo as he gives me two thumbs down.
I shrug. Tara directs the three of us to a glowing white starting line on the stage. As she does the obstacle course shimmers into existence from the stage and rises into the air above our audience.
Tara clears her throat and announces, “Ladies and gentlemen, feast your eyes on the future of entertainment! Our first obstacle is a climbing wall. It does not matter what route you take to the summit. But you will need to reach the summit using only your hands! Using your feet on any holds will add a time penalty to your run. From the summit we move onto the next obstacle, a rotating barrel. Contestants beware raised segments seeking to dismount you from the barrel! Every fall will cost you time and send you sliding back to the beginning to retry the rotating barrel. The third obstacle is a test of agility as contestants must leap from one hovering diagonal platform to the next. Until you finally reach the fourth and final obstacle: the warped wall! A gentle slope teases the contestants before they must run up as high as they can in order to gain the height needed to jump vertically, daring to scale the sheer wall that blocks their path to the final buzzer!”
I examine the wandering path along the obstacles and the transparent drop to the audience below. Lee tosses a handkerchief to the audience. It catches on the barrier Tara used before to lock us onto the stage and slides back to us. Great. At least none of us will fall onto the kids below.
The audience noise grows louder as the kids grow excited. It’s not every day someone creates a playground out of thin air!
“Contestants are you ready?” Tara asks.
Pablo and I line up. I get into a sprinter’s stance. Pablo growls at me. Normally, I’d let him go first and trip any traps. Gather info on the course. But I’m on a time limit. And I’m starting to hate Pablo.
Both great reasons to win.
Anna interrupts, “I’m going to forfeit. I don’t see any reason to race.” Tara’s mouth drops open. Lee tries to pout. Anna giggles at seeing them. “Look, I’m not athletic. I don’t really care about a Gear or whatever.”
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