Chapter 204: Last minute changes
Victor wasn't the only person using the security system to watch what was happening. Milo wanted to know more about his neighbors in section H and, as always, was a little paranoid when he was out in the open. If security staff started moving in their direction, he was prepared to get the gang out of here, even if it meant taking them through the tunnels and back alleys.
He watched the drama play out between John and Belinda. John was her father? His search engine found John's bio from the Manpower datasite. Milo saw that he had one child, his stepdaughter Belinda. He found that interesting. Further searching showed him that Belinda's parents had been Vigo Johansson and Ekaterina Seimovich. Ekaterina was heir to the Seimotech corporation, started by Belinda's grandfather, Andrei. Vigo was an investment specialist and programmer who had built his own company, BioSolutions, from the ground up. His search engines pulled up more and more articles about the two of them, their companies, and their research. He'd look at it all later. The important thing was Belinda making sure they got to play SC6.
He was curious about the other teams and used Manpower's security system and the cameras he had planted to take a look at them. Two teams were older players, joking, drinking beer or soda, and telling stories. Team Nameless Order and Team Good Old Guys had paid a lot to be here, but they came for the nostalgia and the fun of hanging out together. Both teams were in the same room, relaxed and looking forward to blasting off into space for one last adventure.
The corporate teams were another story.
Team MunchyPotato was six photogenic young players dressed in corporate uniforms that looked like they'd stepped out of a live-action anime. Milo wondered if they wore their helmets when they gamed. They sat around, eating junk food and playing games on their phones. They seemed relieved when they were told they wouldn't compete in SC6. From their conversation, Milo was sure none of them had played the game before. Not playing wasn't a concern as long as they got their appearance fee for the event.
Team Powerdrink was going over scenarios and arguing possible builds. All of them had played SC6 before, but not with each other, and the arguments were growing heated. Their agreement to team up with MunchyPotato had disappeared. Going into the game without any alliance was suicide.
"We need to sign on with Ubergear or Gearhead. It's last minute, but if we don't, we stand a chance of coming in last. You can't fight two teams at once. Someone will work together, and we look weak without a partner."
"What about Claw Master?"
"Seriously? They're a publicity stunt for the event. Look at the narrative: Poor little girl in a wheelchair finds five habrats who are somehow fabulous gamers, forms a team of misfits, and heads to the big leagues. It was rigged. MunchyPotato was in on the deal and is laughing their asses off right now and cashing a big check. And we're left out in the cold."
"Not to mention that Ubergear is on the warpath. No one was supposed to bring a product to display here except for them. Even Gearhead backed off. Notice that their guys are wearing M-1000s like the rest of us? Then Claw Master shows up with their brand of gloves. Ubergear is going to murder them and anyone that allies with them."
"Nate's on to something. I think Claw Master isn't real. Nothing about them at all until today. They show up and challenge Ubergear with everyone watching. Bet me that they destroy Claw Master, and then it's revealed that the habrats cheated and then got slapped down by the champion. That's a great story. Ubergear shows how good the M-1000 gloves are."
"They need to work on the heat problem. I've got spots on my hands that are killing me."The original appearance of this chapter can be found at Ñøv€lß1n.
"We don't talk about that, Ethan. I'm sure you got the memo."
"Yeah, yeah. Tell that to my blistered pinky."
She even used them to win some for herself, the little minx. She's good. Amazing really. Have you seen the footage of the raid she led in Genesis? If not, we'll be airing it again in two hours. Those high scores were all hers, from what I saw. But this is the best part: She got them to make her team captain. We slid out Powerdrink, moved her 'team' in, and now you get the chance to crush Claw Master."
"You could have told us, John. I don't like last-minute changes."
"Sorry, Manny, it was too good of an opportunity. As soon as Belinda set it up, I knew you'd love it.
Milo had heard enough. His systems were recording everything, but he had work to do.
"Damn, sorry guys, got a call coming in. Marked urgent. Might be the wife." Joe wandered off, wondering what was up. His eyes narrowed as he read the message.
"Greetings. Sorry for contacting you this way, but the situation I uncovered is very unfair. It might cost me my job if they found out, but I hate to see someone cheat in SC6. That's not what the game is about. I sent you some video and audio files to look at."
He listened to the first few seconds, then cursed. "Time to get serious; look at what I'm putting on the screen."
The two teams watched as Team M-1000 bragged about knowing their plans. Joe played just a little of the 19 hours of audio files where they discussed their strategy for upcoming games, while, in the background, people could be heard laughing and playing games.
"Holy shit? They bugged both teams? That's just wrong."
"Screw this shit; we should take this to the judges right now; the event is rigged."
Marcus, the head of Nameless Order, spoke up. "Hold up a second. It's crap, yeah. But look at what we have now. We know their plans. They'd have knocked us out of the game with ships built to counter what they knew we were running. But this changes things 180 degrees. We can pull one hell of a surprise on them."
"How, redesign both team's builds in the next ten minutes."
The screen changed, showing different builds for both teams. "I think our secret benefactor is playing things close to the chest. They had to have known something was up ahead of time and just waited to record what the other teams were saying to prove it to us. They thought about how to throw a spanner into the gears and sent along some suggestions."
"Oh shit. I see it. That's nasty. Are we going with this?"
Marcus looked at Joe. They nodded to each other. "Yeah, let's go with it. I wish I could see their faces when those LACs start exploding."
