Massive Disaster 4 – Interlude IX

Interlude 9

New Abraham Central plaza was the kind of place he still wasn’t used to.

Really, he wasn’t used to anything about this colony, but the plaza… No, out of everywhere on this rock, the plaza definitely made him feel like he didn’t belong.

Maybe it was the people.

Just too many of them, for one. Like, five million or something. Five million people in one colony sounded crazy, and he didn’t even get why you needed that many to do anything. 

It could have been the kids, too. Kyle wasn’t used to being around so many his age, so many of them just out here doing nothin’. The whole place was just thick with bodies and crowded with shouts and laughter of kids younger and older than him, kids who looked like they belonged here, a big wave of restless energy pouring out into the late afternoon. Way too bright here too. 

Always. 

Eyesnarrowed a little under the double glare of Arkadia IV’s twin suns, that yellow-white glare that felt like the sky was yellin’ at you, burning right into your skull. 

Now, did he miss the old sand-clouds? Hell, no.

Still, he was allowed to complain.

Kyle Kass let a sigh spill out as he turned around, hands shoved deep into pockets that still smelled like the store they came from. The space was all clean lines and VI-blue trim, neon-bright colors and brand shining new everything blaring his way.

The whole space was dominated by a dozen public NavBattle terminals, holographic arenas shimmering and ready as whatever kid was brave enough to risk public embarrassment in a loss went head-to-head with whatever challenger. Omni-tools buzzed, low and humming as everyone pinged everyone, an interconnected world that he was still getting used to.

He glanced down at his own tool, the baby blue com-plastic looking back at him as his Sparky idled on the screen. Every kid in the colonies, every kid with credits, desperate for an upgrade to their Neo-Adaptive Virtual Intelligence. 

Their own personal NAVI.

NAVIs were VI’s answer to the personal agent market, a VI that grew with you, one you could modify and adapt in whatever way you wanted.

As long as you had the money, the time, or the skills, at least.

Unsurprisingly, the things had taken all the colonies by storm, all three of the systems in the VCA snatching the things up in the last eighteen months. Considering you could use them in everything from work, leisure and battling, there was pretty much no reason to get one.

And when it came to battling, kids reigned supreme. 

Or, y’know, kids with spark-level gear. Kids who knew how to program.

Kids whose parents didn’t flinch at dropping a thousand cred on a custom shell.

His group—the two girls in his class who didn’t mind letting the new kid tag along—pushed their way through the crowd, all three thirteen-year-olds converging on an open terminal. 

Maria, all curly black hair and tan skin, grinned as she connected her omni-tool first to the terminal the second she slid in front of it. The thing was custom, a slick VI-Vector model all wrapped up in a pearlescent white case with a processor that could probably run a small colony’s atmosphere scrubbers. 

It was miles away from Kyle’s Jr Vision model, his big brother’s old one before the Blueguard gave him all that new shiny gear and left Kyle with the hand-me-down. He wasn’t mad about it, not even close, but it still kinda sucked. Getting a new one wasn’t really looking likely right now, especially since Leo’s Blueguard pay probably wouldn’t stretch that far, not for something that wasn’t essential.

“This is gonna be four for four, Kyle.” There was nothing mean in her words, Maria honest even if she could be kind of a bitch in a battle. It was just a fact, though. 

Space was big, life was hard and Maria Villanueva battled like a badass. “Brazán just got the new AGI mod, and he’s like waaaayyyy faster. Your Tad doesn’t stand a chance, y’know?”

Kyle threw his head back and groaned, one hand running through his hair. “Nah… ain’t fair, y’know? I can’t afford a V3 Nav, like…” He clicked his tongue, eyes dropping down to his Sparky, his NAVI’s pre-installed idle animation a weird old-Earth dance. “My guy’s just a V2. A straight Tad.” 

Don’t get him wrong.

He loved Sparky.

But as much as he loved Sparky, the guy was just… basic. The absolute lowest tier you could get that could even run battle packs. 

Run them enough to not be a joke on the streets at least. 

Barely above a NormalNavi, and even then… “He’s like, two tiers slower than yours?”

“Then get a better NAV.” Maria didn’t even look up from her screen, fingers a blur as she pre-selected her starting battlepac, each combatpacket probably a custom-buy and way stronger than his. “Or get good. Either one works, right? I could probably beat you with a BabyNav, nahyeah.”

“Could not.” Lies. She could beat him with a BabyNav, a stock NormalNav, maybe even with her eyes closed and her omni on lo-power 

Still wasn’t gonna admit it out loud though.

Chloe, the third member of their group sighed loud from a bench, not even bothering to join the queue as other kids started to surround them, ready and eager to watch another fight. The brown haired girl was scrolling her feed, her omni a bright pink thing that looked more like jewelry than hardware. “I still don’t get y’all for real. Battling is so… clunk.”

Her omni buzzed just a little louder, the projector in it kicking up as the form of her NAVI hovered above it. Barely two feet tall, her Viber danced around her head, all smooth lines and perfect digital hair, the confusingly gendered digital figure impeccably dressed in a limited-edition digital outfit that probably cost more credits than Kyle’s entire tool.

“I just got the new Stardust particle effect for his entrance animation.” Chloe’s voice cut through the noise, her Viber doing a little spin above her tool, the hologram posing before blowing a digital kiss that left sparkles in the air. “Isn’t he adorable? The right look gets you way more followers than a win streak ever will, y’know? No one cares if you can win. They care if you look good losing.”

Kyle shook his head, trying to get his focus back. C’mon, c’mon, kick the distractions.

It was hard to do that, though. Especially considering it’d already been a whole three straight losses. Back to back to back, all against Maria, and he really wasn’t looking forward to another one. Wasn’t looking forward to hearing that awful kssshh sound of his Navi logging out, the data just… gone.

At least until he restored Sparky from the last save point, but still.

As much as he wanted to whine all the time, he couldn’t forget where he’d been just twelve months ago. Living a whole different life, on a whole different colony, a world of nothing but dust storms and hard living on Curden’s Reach where the air always tasted like rust. He still couldn’t believe it sometimes, couldn’t believe they’d actually moved here, all the way across the Terminus to New Abraham. 

Their whole colony had joined up in this new government, this VCA thing, and then Leo…

Leo went and joined the Blueguard.

Crazy… How things could change at least, how fast the whole system could get a patch and suddenly everything you knew was different.

What wasn’t so different was the fact that he was about to get his ass handed to him.

Again.

With a sigh, Kyle fully connected his omni-tool to the terminal, his NAVI uploading.

[BOOT SEQUENCE: SPARKY.EXE]

On the holographic field, the battle began, the crowd of kids around them cheering, more than a few of them probably already placing bets on their tools. 

Great.

[NETBATTLE: START]

The world inside the terminal exploded into light, the holographic field shimmering as it resolved into a digital grid. Maria’s Navi, Brazán stood there tall and proud; all sleek and aggressive with flame decals, every line optimized for speed.

And Kyle knew well that the NAVI was as aggressive as it looked. 

Shit. The hologram shifted in a flicker of red and black data, the enemy NAVI already in Sparky’s face the split-second the battle had fully started.

Kyle’s hands flew over his own tool, movements jerky and reactive as he tried to think past the panic in his chest. “Sparky, move! D-dodge left! I mean, right!” His voice went shrill, suddenly more high-pitched than Maria’s. “Dodge right! Kick the charge, man, move!”

His Navi tried.

Tried.

But Sparky was a generic, blocky V2, barely even humanoid, just a collection of blue parts with a round head, and it was like trying to drive a forklift in a street race. The thing barely got its arms up (chunky, slow, and lagging) before Maria’s Brazán unleashed a volley of basic attack routines.

“Vulcan, now.” 

[Install: VULCAN]

Brazán’s yellow gloved hands reconfigured, glowing a bright red before they manifested once again; only this time each finger was hollow, black emptiness instead of solid data-flesh

Unfortunately, they weren’t hollow for long as they began to glow, a warning on their own. A warning Sparky was too slow to act on even as Kyle yelled at the little guy to move.

Bright gold packets of light shot out, each one a dangerous bullet of data. Blast after blast slammed into his NAVI, each one a gunshot on it’s own as it peppered at Sparky’s code. Static washed over the blue bot’s defensive data-field, each hit making a flat p-p-p-p-p sound that Kyle felt in his teeth. That sad little line, once so green and stretching a quarter of the way across his omnitool, was getting even more littler with every blast of the other Navi’s BattlePAC.

Not good. He hissed through his teeth. Not good at all.

“Come on, use a pac! Use your Sword!” Kyle yelled, tapping frantically at his omni-tool’s pac folder, hoping the voice command would register before he could find it manually. The plastic felt slick under his thumb, his hands shaking just a little. Just a little.

[Install: BETASWORD]

For once, the command actually worked. Sparky materialized a short, pixelated energy blade, the starter-tier combat PAC most people called a Blipblade.

They called it a Blipblade for one simple reason, too. A simple reason that could be summed up in one simple word.

Weak.

The thing might as well have been a toy as Sparky swung it, his NAVI’s move so weak and clumsy that practically screamed I’m swinging now! Please don’t hit me!

“Too slow.” Two syllables from Maria had him flinch again as Brazán was already gone, a flicker of motion on the hologram. A split second later, the enemy NAVI appeared behind Sparky, his own NAVI still stuck at the end of his combat motion.

“GamaSaber.” Maria called the name of the BattlePAC, voice almost bored. “Install.”

[Install: GAMASABER]

Kyle almost choked as the critical hit pulled the words right out of his mouth, that larger, broader blade of green light cutting clean through Sparky’s back.

Zzzzzzzzzrrt! The sound was enough to make him flinch, Kyle’s shoulders hunching up as Sparky’s health bar dropped right into the red. Barely a sliver left and his NAVI was bleeding code fragments left and right. 

Hell, it might have been a mercy to just accept the deletion and reload his save state.

“See?” Maria looked his way, a small smirk on her face as her Brazán struck a pose. “What I keep telling you, dummy. You need to anticipate, not just react, y’know? That’s Day One stuff, Kyle.”

She clicked her tongue.

“C’mon.”

To add insult to digital injury, she didn’t even bother deleting Sparky for the fourth time, simply jacking out as the crowd around them let out a groan. All of them were thirsty for digital blood, especially those that were too scared to risk a loss battling themselves.

Kyle looked down at his own omni-tool, where his little Common NAVI gave a sad little beep on the home screen. Generic, blocky, capped at a low level without an expansion to his matrix. Even custom code couldn’t do much to help him there, y’know?

Not like you could patch a rock into a rocket.

Even if he wanted to try, he didn’t even know how. He was thirteen, not some spark-head engineer pulling code out of thin air. That wasn’t him. Wasn’t ever gonna be him, probably.

Hell, even if he wanted to do the coding, Sparky didn’t even have a large enough data matrix for it. The little guy didn’t even have the processing power to talk back to him like Viber and Brazán could. 

And his family… yeah, they had more money now. 

Leo sent back most of his pay, a lot of his pay, more than Kyle figured he should be sending when he needed to eat too. But upgrading a Navi? Buying a Pro-Line, or even just a better Middie?

Yeah, that wasn’t something they’d give him credits for.

His mom’s voice was already in his head, tired even when she wasn’t saying the words, telling him to focus on school and stop wasting time on games.

Kyle barely even paid attention as Maria and Chloe kept talking, both of them showing off their NAVIs to each other, comparing particle effects and custom skins and everything else cool their bots could do.

Before Kyle could sigh again, an ad flickered to life on the terminal’s sidebar.

Flashy. High-energy. Powerful.

A sleek, Specialist-tier V5 Battle-Navi, all sharp angles and glowing blue lines, tore through opponents in a professional-looking arena. Data exploded everywhere with each punk, kick and slash as code fragments scattered to nothing.

…I want that.

“READY TO GET SERIOUS? UPGRADE YOUR POTENTIAL. THE NEW ABRAHAM NETBATTLER ACADEMY IS ACCEPTING ADMISSIONS FROM ALL 14 COLONIES AND THREE SYSTEMS WITHIN THE VICTORY COOPERATIVE ACCORD. SCHOLARSHIPS AND HARDWARE GRANTS AVAILABLE FOR PROMISING STUDENTS.”

A link at the bottom glowed, inviting, taunting: “TAKE THE APTITUDE TEST NOW.”

Kyle looked from his simple V2 Tad to the powerful Spec in the ad, his eyes tracking back and forth.

A scholarship.

A grant.

Hardware grants. That meant tools, didn’t it? That meant actual gear, not just lessons. That meant upgrades to Sparky.

His finger hovered over the link, everything else going back into distance, the sounds of the plaza and everything that wasn’t his future all fading into the background like white noise buzzing in his ears.

Dozens of what-ifs and buts blared through his brain, moving as fast as Maria’s NAVI, telling him all the bad things that could happen and all the ways he wasn’t good enough to even pull it off in a million years.

Kyle looked down at Sparky one more time as his dumb little NAVI idled again and started doing the Robot.

Fuck.

He tapped it.