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| Tsv-05-100 Alternatives Chapter 1: Knight to king's Base 4.5 Chapter 2: What Reality is this? Chapter 3: The Hisorian Way Chapter 4: Fresh Air and Exercise Chapter 5: Stranger in a Strange Land Chapter 6: Point Man Put to the Test Chapter 7: The VR and the Videodrome Chapter 8: The Tem-Space Variant Returns Chapter 9: The Amazing R-Wing Chapter 10: The Lunaside Vacation Chapter 11: The Lunaside Hiso-Courts Chapter 12: On Space, Time, and Parallel Alternate Realities |
Tem-Space Variant 5:
Alternatives
6. Point-Man Put to the Test Madkro discussed the R-Wing situation with Lisa for a while, and then she retired for the evening to get some rest. Madkro was not tired himself, because he'd just slept all day to recover from the ordeal of the previous day, and told her he'd spend the night reading and learning more about the Hiso. "Whatever you do," she said, "don't leave the hotel. You know how dangerous it is now, under the circumstances." "Don't worry, I'm not going nowhere," he said. So Lisa went to bed and he spent most of the night reading. Around 4 am, he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore, and fell asleep on the couch. He awoke around 8 am to the smell of fresh coffee. "We're due at CQ at 11," she said. "Learn anything new?" "Yes, another parallel," he admitted, and explained. "In the previous reality, there was a game called 'Laser-Tag'. It never caught on, at least not in my locality, but it did have a few clubs around the states. From what I can figure, it's basically the same as the Hiso, except that the Hiso is much more complex and technologically superior. Also, 'Laser tag' did not use 'sedate rays' to immobilize players. It used 'targets' which emitted alarms when struck by infrared rays." "Infrared was one of the first rays to be used," Lisa said, "with the tagnets. That was before the guns were upgraded with variable frequencies. Did you play this game, by any chance?" "As a matter of fact," Madkro said, "not only did I play it, I designed it. It was my idea!" "What? But, that doesn't seem possible," she said. "From what you told me..." "I said it was my idea," he said, and went on to explain. "But the idea was stolen from me before I had a chance to develop it. As I said, it never became popular, so I guess it didn't matter much. Hell, there was nothing I could do about it. Ideas, in my previous reality, were always being stolen from poor people and developed by wealthy people. Just another aspect about it that made me hate it all the more. To think, they called it a land of opportunity, ha! What a lying game for fools it was!" "So, you do know how to play it?" she said, with rising hope. "Well, I know the basics," he said, "and I have a fair bit of practice with the action, but the truth is, I'm no expert, and as I said, the Hiso is much more complex. There are a lot more obstacles, for one thing, and the gun has more settings. I'll need a lot of practice before I can live up to the status of First Point-man." "You can practice at CQ," she suggested. "There's a court on the first level. Only, if anyone other than Senzo and I sees you, they might find out something is wrong. We might be able to reserve it and restrict access, but there's the chance that if we do that it might catch more attention." "You're worried about spies?" he said. "I thought CQ was under tight security?" "It is, but only from non-party members," she said. "Under the circumstances, we don't want anyone seeing you out of your top-form. If it got back to the commanders they won't like it." "Of course," he agreed. As they arrived at the great pyramid of CQ, by vehicle, there was a crowd of people, with cameras and reporters outside. As they drove into the garage, a couple of camera-men spied at them through the windows, and fixed on Madkro, before the vehicle passed into the short tunnel and the door shut behind them. "What was that all about?" Madkro said. "I'm not sure," she admitted. "Something big. I hope it wasn't a leak." They took the elevator up to the fourth level, checked in at the reception desk, and went to the conference room. Before they reached it, Senzo greeted them. "Well, it's over," he said with a smile. "The courts reached a settlement just 2 hours ago. There was nothing wrong with those tagnets, Nalton's aim was just off." "We won?" Lisa said. "We sure did," Senzo said, and they smiled. "So, what happens now?" Madkro said. "We get a subline vacation," Senzo said, and laughed. "Senzo, what about Mak?" Lisa said. "Oh, yeah. Well, they still want to see him in conference," he said. "But we can relax now that the pressure is off." "Mak, we can use the vacation," she said, "for practice. Senzo, Mak's going to practice at Court 1c. Will you help?" "Sure, I'll help," he said. "But we need the rest too. You know that Lisa." "I know," she agreed. "We'll practice 3 days a week. How's that sound?" "All right," he said. "I guess I can manage it. But I was planning to take a week off, with Kyra." "Don't cancel on my account," Madkro said. "It's all right," she said. "Mak and I can handle 1 week alone." "Right," Senzo said. "Well, Mak, they want you inside. Lisa, do you need me?" "No, go on," she said. "We'll see you later. I'll stay with Mak." Senzo left them and Madkro and Lisa stepped into the conference room. This time, everyone was smiling, not just the loud-mouthed, chubby guy. Madkro looked at them as he and Lisa sat down, recalling all 4 of their names. The loud, chubby one was Blunt, the slimmer one with glasses was Fenton, the brown-haired female was Karfield, and the darker, black-haired female was Verayne. "Well, congratulations," Blunt said, with a large smile. "You've both done quite well. The Sol-Dems are proud of you. Now, I know you're probably anxious to take some time off, but there is something we have to take care of first. Hopefully, it won't take too long. Lisa, this concerns Madkro. Of course, if you want to stay, it's your choice, but we don't want to keep you if you have other plans." "I'll stay, Mr. Blunt, sir," she said. "Good, fine," he said. "As I said, it shouldn't take too long. Verayne, would you enlighten them about the cat-scans?" "Of course," Verayne said. "Mak, this may not be as serious as it sounds, but it certainly cannot be ignored. According to the cat-scans, your brain has somehow been altered from what it was a year ago. As it is, our doctors can't quite explain it. They don't think it's the result of the concussion, because it's too extensive. At the same time, they don't think it will pose any problem. It isn't damage, it's simply a difference. The only theory they have is that your brain has been organically altered by unknown factors, possibly radiation." "Madkro," Fenton said. "This may sound unbelievable, but it’s the only thing we can think of. It is possible that the Con-Reps did this to you after they narked you. Why they would do so is unknown, unless they simply wanted to affect your status, your position as First Point-man. Another possibility is, they were trying some unknown form of mind-control and this was the result of their incompetence." "Mind-control?" Lisa said. "But isn't that illegal?" "If permanent, yes, very illegal," Fenton agreed. "But unfortunately, there's no simple way to prove such a thing." "Why would they try to control my mind?" Madkro said. "Because they really wanted that extra 2 years," Blunt said, "more than anything. They figured if they got you to see things their way, you'd change sides and give them what they needed. Of course, this is all speculation. Such actions have never been taken before by Hisorians. However, the stakes have never been so high. I'm referring, of course, to the Lunaside contract. The Con-Reps are deadly serious about preventing that R-Wing base on the Moon." "But why?" Madkro said. "I don't understand. Why would they be opposed to a base on the Moon?" "We're not sure," Blunt admitted, "but we don't think they're telling us every thing. The public excuse doesn't hold water. We already put the shields to the test and they work fine. I don't think it's the Van Allen Belt radiation anymore. It's something else. Something they're not telling." ─.22─ä There was a short moment of quiet mystery while they all contemplated this thought, then Blunt looked at Verayne and she spoke to Madkro. "We want you to take some tests, Mak," she said. "To see if the brain-change has affected your game. We'll meet you at court 1c in 30 minutes. Light suit will be enough." "Good luck, Mak," Blunt said. "We're all rooting for you." Lisa and Madkro left the conference room, went to the elevator, and descended. "Tests?" he said to her. "Let me guess. The 1c course?" "Looks like you're going to get some practice today after all," she said. |
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