25
HRT Alpha
The next morning, after breakfast, they were all ushered into the large conference room just off the main lounge. The far right side was still walled off for the classroom, but the remaining area had been converted into a gaming center, apparently overnight. Six gaming systems were set up around the large space, each with an ergonomic leather chair, a console table, a wall-mounted LED monitor, and a top-of-the-line headset.
“We wanted you to be able to leave your own system in your suite,” Ammu explained to Rush, “so we ordered six, rather than five. I apologize that we have not yet solved the Internet problem, but these machines have all been pre-loaded, off-site, with HRT Alpha and have been linked to each other locally.”
“This is amazing! We can all play together!” Sketch exclaimed, and he threw himself into the chair next to the door, claiming that setup as his own. “Take that one, Rush!” he said, pointing to the one on his right.
Rush wandered into the room looking a little dazed. The total value of the equipment that surrounded him must have run into the thousands. If the ICIC was willing to put this much money into an entire gaming center just to test his abilities, it must really mean a lot to them. Well, HRT Alpha was his game. If they wanted a show, he’d give them a show.
“Let’s do it!” he said to Sketch. He sat in the chair Sketch had saved for him, and they fired up their systems. Daniel and Kaitlyn took the two setups along the left wall, leaving Sam and Mackenzie to claim the two on the right. The back wall didn’t have any consoles, just a few comfortable chairs so people could watch the gaming. Sam snickered—heaven forbid anybody’s unconscious mind had to face away from the door.
Rush told Sketch how to set up his own account on the new console, and everyone else followed along. Sketch proudly claimed his gamer tag, and even Kaitlyn and Daniel logged in as Gears and Disco for fun. Rush set up a game while Sam went over the basic controls with Mackenzie, who hadn’t actually played yet.
“I’m putting everyone else on the other team,” Rush said, “since it’s designed for teams of five. I’ll take four bots with me.”
“Excellent,” Ammu acknowledged.
“Everybody ready?”
A chorus of agreement echoed back to him from around the room.
“OK. Here we go!”
Rush started the game, and they were transported to two different spawn points on the map, Rush on one side and everyone else on the other. The game began flashing its countdown: 10… 9… 8…
“The point of the game is to restore power to a city block by fixing three generators.”
3… 2… 1… The game flashed ‘Go!’ on the screen, and Rush ran toward the closest building.
“See? This is a generator. Each team usually fixes the one in their own territory first, and then there’s another one in the middle. You can’t win until you fix all three.” Rush stood at the first generator for a moment, and soon it lit up and glowed on the screen.
“When I take one of theirs, it will look on my screen like I fixed it—like I’m the good guy. But on theirs, it will look like I broke it—like I’m the bad guy. That way each team gets to play the good guys, and it makes the enemy team look like terrorists.
Ammu raised his eyebrows at this, but he made no comment.
“I’m not going to talk much since I only have bots on my team. So yell if you have any questions. The others can talk through their headsets, but for me there’s no point.”
“Of course,” Ammu acknowledged.
Rush sprinted down a back alley. He figured the others would all be waiting for him in the center building, so he flanked around it instead, sneaking up on the one that the others had already taken. He found Sketch, Disco, and Gears guarding it, and he grinned. That was better strategy than he had been expecting, which only made for a better demonstration of his skills. Mentally, he reevaluated the team. Sam and Mac would try to take the center building together. As soon as he was done here, he would circle back for them.
He took Sketch out with a leaping headshot; the kid had been playing more than the others, which made him the biggest threat. As soon as the kill registered, Rush flipped around toward Gears and dropped to the ground, letting her bullets fly harmlessly over his head as he took her out with a quick burst to her center mass. He rolled left before Disco could adjust, jumped up and over a pile of sandbags, landed on Disco’s back and stabbed him to death.
He ran to the generator and turned it on.
One to go.
• • •
“That was horrible,” Gears said, laughing.
“Sorry.” Disco sighed into his headset.
“No, I mean me!”
“Nah, don’t feel bad,” Sketch chimed in, “Rush is really good. I doubt any of us can kill him.”
“I can kill him,” Mac said.
“Good luck,” Sketch said. “’Cause he’s coming your way.”
Their screens flashed a message. The north generator has been damaged. Rush had activated the generator in their base. But right afterward, the screen flashed again. The central generator has been repaired.
“Nice!” Sketch shouted to Sam and Mac.
“Good job!” Gears added.
“Don’t get excited yet. There wasn’t anybody here. We just turned it on.”
Sam’s words were cut off by the sound of gunfire, followed by another screen flash. Rush has killed Mac, and then, Rush has killed Sam.
“See?” Sketch giggled.
Gears has killed Bot 4. Gears has killed Bot 1.
“It’s not over yet,” Mac said, her voice tight with concentration.
“Nope!” Gears shouted. The south generator has been repaired, flashed just before the words, The central generator has been damaged. “I got this one back just in time, but it’s not going to last. I need backup.”
“I’m comin’!” Sketch shouted.
“On it!” Mac confirmed.
“Wait!” Sam shouted to Mac, who had been about to run around a corner ahead of her.
“I have to get to—” Mac started to reply, but then Rush killed Mac popped up on the screen. “Damn, he was waiting for me.”
“Thus, my suggestion to wait,” Sam replied. “Stay where you spawn. Let’s take the north generator back together.”
“OK,” Mac agreed, somewhat grudgingly. “But hurry. If we don’t get something else back soon, he’s going to win.”
“We have a minute. Trust me,” Sam replied. She ran up on Mac’s position, and they entered the north building together.
Mac has killed Bot 2. Sam has killed Bot 3.
The north generator has been repaired.
“Yes!” Sketch shouted.
Rush has killed Sketch.
“No!” he shouted, and everyone laughed, even Sketch.
Rush has killed Gears. Rush has killed Disco. The south generator has been damaged.
“He’s coming here next,” Mac said.
“Yeah,” Sam agreed.
“I think we should go back south, but I don’t know if we have time.”
“Yeah, we do,” Sam said. Mac had to admit, she sounded pretty confident about it.
“OK,” Mac agreed. “Follow my lead. We’re taking the back route.”
“Fine, but not yet,” Sam said.
“What?”
“Wait for it…”
“Why?” Mac wanted to know.
“Get ready…”
Both girls were stacked together just inside the rear door of the north building.
“Now!” Sam yelled.
They dashed through the doorway and ran straight into Rush. He killed Sam with a headshot, but Mac ducked under it and knifed him instinctively.
Mac killed Rush, flashed onto the screen, and there was a brief moment of silence before the team burst into cheers.
“No way!” Sketch exclaimed.
Gears and Disco both shouted incoherently.
“Told you,” Sam said, spawning and running back to the north building.
“Stop!” Ammu shouted, but they couldn’t hear him over the sounds of the game and their own celebration.
“Wait! Please!” he tried again, but he still couldn’t get their attention. Christina put her right thumb and forefinger into her mouth and whistled explosively, bringing everyone in the room to a standstill.
“Samantha,” Ammu exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear, “In exploring Rush’s talent, I believe we have discovered your own!”
• • •
Ammu was so excited that he didn’t bother to get Sam alone, walking over to her chair instead and beginning to speak to her right there in the room. Sketch took off his headset and wandered over toward them, sitting on the floor nearby where he could hear better. Slowly, the others followed.
“Samantha,” Ammu asked, “how did you know you had time to meet up with Mackenzie before Rush took the third generator?”
“I don’t know,” Sam admitted. “I just knew.”
“But you were certain of it.” It wasn’t really a question.
“Yeah,” she acknowledged.
“And how did you know when the two of you should run out of the building? You could not see Rush on the map.”
“No, I couldn’t. I couldn’t hear him either. I just… I don’t know… I just knew when to go.”
“Samantha, I believe that you have a very particular talent for timing.”
Sam thought about this and started to get excited.
“You are smiling,” Ammu said encouragingly. “Tell me what you are thinking.”
“Well, I always know what time it is, even without a clock. And I always know when I have to leave to get somewhere on time, or how long I’ll need to study for a test. But that isn’t very impressive, is it? I mean, it isn’t like being an artist, or a musician, or having a knack for machines, or whatever.”
“Oh, no, you do not understand!” Ammu protested. “Samantha, the only reason we try to find such a pathway is to tap into our unconscious awareness. You, my amazing girl, do not seem to need such a pathway at all! Mackenzie uses her Muay Thai, for example, to access her unconscious knowledge of place. She understands positioning on an intuitive level. That is her true affinity. Our goal is to help her access that awareness in everything she does, not just in martial arts.”
“She learned the maps really fast,” Sketch interjected. “Does that mean Mackenzie can do it in the game, too?”
“Yes, Sketch! Good! She is already starting to apply her ability in other areas. And Samantha,” he announced, beaming at her proudly, “has a true affinity for timing—an affinity which she is already able to access on many levels, rather than through a single open pathway.”
Again, it wasn’t a question, and she had to nod her head.
“I believe now,” Ammu continued, “that the sense of importance you felt about taking the Intuition Assessment Battery, and about coming here, had to do with timing as well. What do you think?”
Sam mulled it over before answering, despite feeling a little self-conscious about everyone watching her.
“I felt like it was important to take the test that day, but then the feeling went away,” she said, still uncertain.
“Because you had already made the decision to go to school,” Ammu pointed out. “There was no need for your unconscious mind to prompt you any further.”
“Oh! And once I had decided to come here, that decision was already made, too!”
“Indeed!” Ammu agreed. “You do not have what you consider to be a special talent because your unconscious mind is not limited to a single pathway. You are already able to access your intuitive knowledge of timing in every aspect of your life. It helps you to be an excellent student in many subtle ways, I am sure, and it brought you here as well.”
Sam was so happy that tears started to well up in her eyes. She belonged at the ICIC after all. She looked around at the others, embarrassed, and Rush came to her rescue by changing the subject.
“Don’t think this is going to get you out of a nickname,” he said, grinning wryly.
“Gamer tags!” Sketch exclaimed. “But wait, Sam didn’t kill you. Mac did.”
“They killed me together. Mac knew where to be, and Sam knew when to be there. Honestly, Sketch, as if any of you scrubs could kill me by yourselves.”
Sketch giggled. “So what are their tags, then?”
“Grid,” he said, raising his chin toward Mackenzie, “and Tick-Tock,” nodding at Sam.
“Perfect!” Sketch crowed.
“They are indeed,” Ammu agreed. “Absolutely perfect.”