It was getting to the final stages of the tournament and nothing untoward had happened. In another 10 – 30 minutes one of these last two players would be mobbed by fangirls, possibly a problem, but one that would play well on TV. Although there was that one event last year where a player’s wrist was hurt fending off the somewhat overly enthusiastic amorous advances of a more portly fangirl, so best to keep sharp. These guys’ careers lived and died by the health of their wrists.
All-in-all, a well-run tournament. From a security standpoint.
My musings were interrupted by a loud crash as half the roof came down. At the same time all the lights went out.
I sprinted to the center stage, hoping the vantage point would provide me an overview. It took some elbow and shoulder work to make my way past the bewildered staff. I reached the stage and almost fell into the hole in the middle of it. The light coming from the hole in the roof was enough to see something moving in there. I swiped the button on the flashlight, but nothing happened.
A loud groan emerged from the hole. “I am so fucked”.
“Sir” as the voice was most definitely male, if somewhat strange “are you alright?”
Some more grunting and a hand appeared on the floor. I leaned down and grasped the hand to haul him up. He was surprisingly light. He was also completely covered in blood. His clothes were slashed and torn and his skin wasn’t looking any better. And he was an ugly fucker to boot. “I just came down through your ceiling, how would you expect me to look?” he said apparently reading my mind. There was a small group of people starting to gather around me, including the tournament medic. As I looked at him and grabbed his attention he took out his portable medkit and murmured “I’m going to need a bigger bag”
“Sir” I said turning my attention back to our apparent ceiling crasher “if you'll follow my colleague here, we’ll get you medical attention.” I guided him along “if the medbay has power, that is” I added under my breath. The man shook me off “Never mind me, I’m dead. And sorry about the lights, that’d be me.” He pulled back a sleeve, wiped off a lot of the blood and pressed a few buttons on his wristband. “You are not dead, sir” The medic said rallying to the subject at hand, trying to lead the gentleman away “You are upright and responsive although maybe a little bit . . . FUCK ME”
The lights had just come back on, searing our fully dilated pupils.
“I’ll keep the higher level electronics off, if you don’t mind. Protocol, you know. Don’t want any footage of me getting out.” “Now, I want you to listen to me. Carefully”
“The thing that just put me through your roof will be here any second and if you don’t want to be as dead as me . . .”
I was only half paying attention. Some of the blood . . . the fluids on this man, were not blood. Or at least, blood doesn’t generally come in those colours. It was this distraction that let him get away from me. He had gotten himself released from the medic’s grip and was heading straight toward the presenter’s podium.
“Artosis, fuck me. Artosis, my friend, my man. PLEASE tell me this isn’t a hearthstone tournament.” One of the nerds at the desk looked up from his discussion with one of the tournament organizers. “Euhm, no. This is a Starcraft 2 tournament.” “Are you alri. . .” he started, but was interrupted as the man reached him and he was lifted off his feet.
“WHO DO YOU HAVE IN THE BOOTH?”
The two Koreans had actually come out of their booth, probably as their game, together with their computer and the power, had ended and they were looking for direction. “Life and MC” “God” “Damn”
Our mysterious guest slowly let the presenting nerd down and sighed in what seemed relief. I was catching up and started to reach out to restrain him as he effortlessly pushed me aside rattling off fluent Chinese. Or Korean, I suppose as the players perked up. From his wristband he took out two thin looking things and chucked them at the players. He mimed at his temple while rattling off more Korean. The only work I caught was “Omega”.
“Sir” there was a tugging at my shirt. One of my colleagues had finally made his way through the now pretty unruly crowd and was pointing upwards. Through the hole in the roof a sky quite unlike the sky I was used to was beaming down on me. “What’s going on, sir?” There appeared to be a red-orange ring in the night sky and something seemed to be coming out of it. Several somethings.
The man was back, standing in front of me. “Where’s the FPS stage, halo, CS:GO, Call of duty, that kind of things.” I pointed to the next hall and he took off. Two Koreans with visors in front of their faces in tow. I might be confused as to the goings on, but my job is being there where the action is, so I took up the rear.
As we approached the doorway to the next hall the people there went from recording our approach on their smartphones to tapping them trying to see why they wouldn’t respond. Behind us the main screen turned back on. We entered the neighbouring hall and, like everything in the hall I’d been stationed in, all the higher level electronics were off. The screens were black and two teams on nerds on the stage were clicking frustratedly on screens that had shut off. Mid-game most likely.
“Listen very carefully” a magically amplified voice announced together with the first loud bang on the roof. “I am enacting Omega protocol” A second bang sounded on the roof and the first crack appeared. The reaction in the crowd was instant. A large number of the crowd looked confused. But on stage and several of the crowd were alert and paying attention like someone had snapped a whip. “Everyone who just got tapped will form up” A claw reached through the crack and heaved. A good 3*3 meter section of roof disappeared. “You were meant for offence” He said, a smile spreading on his face “and you know what they say about a good defence.” He threw a bunch of the same chips he’d passed to the Koreans in the air and they floated over to all the nerds on stage and a great many in the audience too. Those who looked like they were expecting it. “These are your squad leaders” He said pointing at the two Koreans he’d brought along. “They will guide you. From there on, you do what you’ve trained to do” The hole in the roof was greatly expanded now and a large amount of dark forms stood around it, looking down. I drew my gun and pointed the nozzle up at them. “As to everyone else, I suggest you get the fuck out of here” he said as he pulled a sword made of light out of his open palm.
“GLHF mothafuckers”