Revolution Page 9
"You have more than a chance. You have to believe in yourself, and be yourself. You are the best fighter that I have ever trained," said one.
"You're gonna nail this."
"You've got this. You've trained for this moment your entire life. You couldn't be more ready."
Their words of encouragement were welcome, and yet she knew they would not say anything else. They had to be positive, knowing that confidence was vital to the fight. She wished she could get some honest, unbiased opinions, but they just didn't exist.
"Live in Las Vegas, have you seen the numbers watching? You're a superstar now."
She looked at the figures. Vex was right. Eleven million worldwide were watching, and the numbers were increasing constantly.
"Win or lose, all you have to do is do well, and you will stand beside Locke as a champion," said one of the coaches.
"And survive," she replied.
That lowered the tone a little. None of them had considered the terminal effects of the fight. It was an alien concept to them. Death in the real world day-to-day was not unknown. It was one of the many reasons she had learnt to fight. But the V world had always felt like a safe way to do whatever you wanted, and risk anything.
"You can do this. I know you can."
They heard the announcer's voice echo through the arena, building up the hype for the fight.
"It's time!"
She got up, wearing a boxer’s style robe with her name across the back. It was white and blue, with neon strip lighting running down it.
"You're gonna be great," said Vex.
She heard her name called as she stepped up to the final doorway. She had never done anything like this before. Every duel she had ever fought had been from the comfort of her home or school. Never had she been before a live audience. It was daunting.
"Come on. You've wanted this your whole life," she whispered, trying to calm the butterflies in her stomach.
The doors slid open and lights flashed. She could barely see anything through the lights as sparks flew to announce her arrival. She took a deep breath and stepped out into the open. Finally, she could get a sense of the scale of it all. Almost a hundred thousand fans had assembled to watch the match, and to her amazement, many were crying her name.
A teenage girl was reaching out from the sidelines, looking to make contact with her. She took her hand.
"Thank you. Thank you for coming."
But the girl drowned out her words with screams of excitement. Others were reaching for her, shaking her hand, and tapping her shoulder. She couldn't believe the welcome she was getting. Her name was being chanted as if she had been there a dozen times before.
"We must keep moving," insisted a security guard.
She wanted to stay with the fans, but she had to move on. She passed a seeming never ending stream of the public when she finally recognised one amongst them, a teenage boy from her school.
"Rex? Rex, what are you doing here?"
He had a huge grin on his face as if he had been waiting to see the fight his entire life.
"I'm here to support you, Miss."
"Where are your parents? Are you here alone?"
He looked confused that she would even ask.
"We really must keep moving," the security guard said firmly.
She ignored him and continued to talk to the boy.
"You shouldn't be here."
"Why? I love this. I am with you. I am rooting for you. You're gonna be great!"
The security guard pushed her onward.
"Just stay out of trouble, Rex, and make sure you get home safe!"
She looked back. He hadn't really been listening to anything she had said. He was too caught up in the excitement of it all. She was ushered on and out of sight moments later. She shook her head, thinking about him coming to see her fight, but then smiled as well. It felt good to know that anyone at her school cared that much. But as the ring came into view, she knew she had to get her head in the game. It was a boxing ring, but with two dentist like chairs in the middle. A load of tech guys surrounded them. Zenner himself was there at the centre of them all. It felt like a dream to her as she stepped up and entered the arena.
The fighter announcer was still calling her name and retelling her exploits as they played on screens all around. She barely moved, but she wasn't frozen like a rabbit in front of headlights. She was focusing herself mentally. One of her corner pulled her robe off to reveal a skin-tight silver suit with neon lights. The crowd went crazy. It felt strange, because everything she did was in the virtual world. She'd had thousands of fans for a while now, but never had to meet many of them. The whole setup had been laid out and run like a boxing contest. This was a very different animal.
“Come on. Give them a show,” insisted a man near her.
She had no idea who he was, but she couldn’t help but feel the pressure as the crowd watched on. She looked across many of the faces of those in the front rows. She spotted Carter and stopped on him briefly, vaguely recognising him.
“We’re with you. You can do this!” Mason yelled.
She looked away and to others, realising she had to respond to them somehow.
“You see that? She looked at us!” Mason shouted above the din.
Carter couldn’t help but feel proud.
“She must have seen one of our fights.”
Carter wanted to believe that were true, but it seemed far-fetched.
"You saw that? You saw it, didn't you?" Mason asked excitedly.
But Carter brushed it off as he looked at the concentration on her face.
"You see that. That is the face of a pro," he whispered.
She looked up to the screens all around. Her face was on all of them. The crowd was waiting for her to say something, to say anything.
"I...I..." she stuttered, finally finding her voice, "I want to say that it's an honour to be here and to be given this great opportunity. And to my followers, thank you. You are the reason I am here and have been able to realise this dream."
Tears wept as she couldn't contain herself, but the crowd loved it, and they soon began to chant her name. The announcer took over once more. He had a huge smile on his face as if relishing every minute of it.
"Thank you, Luna. It is a great honour to have such a fantastic fighter here tonight. And now to her challenger, a man who walks as a god among us all, a man whose reputation extends to every corner of this Earth. A champion that you all know and love, I give you, Elvin Locke!"
An explosion burst out that was enough to make Luna jump with fright as her nerves were on edge. Fire burst out either side of a corridor on the far side of the arena. The flames almost reached the ceiling as Locke's entry music blasted out, and the crowd went wild. It was far more than the warm welcome Luna had received, but she didn't feel bad about that.
"Don't worry. He always gets this," the announcer said to her quietly.
She looked surprised that he would even expect her to be worried about that.
"You kidding me? Locke is a hero to me. I'd give anything to stand on the same stage as him," she smiled.
She watched with glee as he strode through the crowd. He shook hands with many and stopped for photos with some fans. He was of average size, but a very fit man. Built like a middleweight boxer. He was wearing a tailored silver suit that glistened as it met the light. He was pale skinned and ginger, with a short beard. Everything about him was well polished and neat. He looked like a million dollars, and was worth many more.
Luna took a deep breath as he reached the ringside. She had never expected to meet such a celebrity, especially one she knew so well. He leapt into the ring and laughed at her small stature compared to him. That jarred on her. She was all too familiar with Locke's trash talk, but she never imagined she might be the target of it.
"Champ, what do you have to say to the fans?" asked the commentator.
He was grinning from ear to ear as if he had already won.
"Thanks, and thanks for being
here, but I think they should have found me an opponent that could make this fun."
The crowd laughed, but Luna didn't get it.
"What do you have to say about that, Luna?" asked the commentator.
"I...I didn't come here to lose."
Locke laughed out loud.
"Come on. In what world is a school teacher going to rock me?"
She looked deeply offended, and yet the audience demanded a response as they fell silent. Locke continued to grin like an idiot.
"Yes, I am a school teacher, so prepare to be schooled."
Locke laughed so much he couldn't find a breath to respond. He was mocking her, but she didn't see the funny side as the announcer went on.
"You all know what it is we are here for. This is not just a confrontation between two great champions, which would be a mighty contest indeed. But today we have something truly special for you. The first ever Duel Reality featuring Terminal, the latest and most exciting development of our time. Let the contestants prepare themselves, and let this mighty contest between these gladiators begin!"
Locke leaned in closely to say something privately to Luna.
"You're going to lose, but no need to die because of it," he whispered, pulling back to wink at her.
Her opinion of the man was changed in minutes. She could barely believe what she was hearing. The fact that any Duel contestant would be so dishonest disgusted her, but especially in the face of such a huge fight.
"I never lose," she replied.
Locke looked shocked, but they were both shown to their chairs. It was not an inviting experience to stand before the dentist style chairs. For a moment they were still as the announcer finished up.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you your champions!"
Assistants either side pulled at her rob and Locke’s suit. They pulled apart with ease, as they had been intended to do, revealing skin-tight dark grey suits on both of them. The suits reached from ankle to neck and wrist line. They were flashing with neon lights, the lights that would indicate hits against them. It served no other purpose than to please the baying crowd. They were cheering loudly, even though none of them really knew what they were looking at. There was no precedent for what was happening here. Most of them had likely never even attended a live show of anything. The concept of a live show was largely novel in the age of virtual and augmented reality.
She lay down into the chair, and restraints immediately clamped around her limbs and torso. She was locked in place, and it wasn't a welcome experience at all. Zenner leaned in to her vision arc. She hadn't even noticed his presence before.
"Take it easy. This is all part of the Terminal process," he said softly.
"Do you think I can beat him? Do you think I can survive this?" Luna asked as if painfully aware of her mortality for the first time.
"There are no points to be scored. One single strike can be the end here. Everybody has a chance. You are a great fighter, and so you have every chance in the world. Just do what you have been doing," he replied calmly as he placed a V set on her head.
She was not her usual calm self. Her breathing was out of sorts. This was the most stressful situation she had ever lived through, and nothing like any Duel Reality she had experienced.
"Welcome back..." she heard Ziva welcome her.
She was numb to it. All she could think about was her opponent. She had expected a respectful fight with someone so famous and well regarded. It was dawning on her now that Locke's only interest was winning, and he'd quite happily humiliate her to achieve that goal. She had every faith in her ability, but she had never fought at professional level. She had no idea how her ability really compared with the best there was.
“Round begins in ten seconds.”
Luna took a deep breath, calming herself, as she prepared for the greatest battle of her life.
Chapter 8
Alexandria, Virginia, UAN
“Damn this is gonna be great.”
Zippo took a slice of pizza from a box beside her and marvelled at the multiple display screens showing the arena in Vegas where the big fight was about to begin.
“Where the hell did you get that?” Nui stepped into the apartment.
“What? I ordered in.”
“And took delivery? So you let someone see your face.”
“Take it easy. I handled it.” Hud strode past with a beer in his hand and sat down to take a slice for himself.
“Come on. We have to start taking this seriously. Right now, your home is basically a safe house.”
Hud smiled at how highly strung she was as he lay back and got comfortable.
“Come on. Take a seat. The fight’s about to start.”
“I’m not kidding around,” she insisted.
“Neither am I,” he snarled, throwing his pizza down. He knew he would have to explain himself if he was to get any peace.
“Look, we’re fine. We aren’t under any scrutiny. There aren’t operatives out there watching our every move, and nobody knows Zippo is here besides the two of us. So long as we keep that going, we have nothing to fear, okay? Now we’ve worked our asses off and been shot at. I think that’s quite enough for now, don’t you? I’m gonna sit back and enjoy this fight, have some pizza and some beer, and then tomorrow we are gonna go at this fresh, okay?”
There was a heavy knock on the door, and Nui almost leapt out of her skin. Hud couldn’t help but be suspicious. His hand reached for his gun, but stopped as he wondered if he was over reacting.
“Get out of sight,” he whispered to Zippo.
He relaxed and paced up to the door with his beer still in his left hand, his right ready to go for his gun if he needed to. He waited a few seconds for Zippo to get under the sofa before he activated the security display to see who was outside.
“Hey, Hud, how’s it going?” asked one of two men standing in front of his door. They were both agents from work, and that made him suspicious. Neither had ever been around to his place before. He knew he had to open the door or risk seeming suspicious. He opened the door and leant against the frame as he took a sip from his beer.
“Home calls? Really guys? Haven’t you got something better to do?”
He was putting on a good act. His usual attitude that says, ‘I don’t give a damn.’ It wasn’t far from the truth. Except on this occasion, he really did have something, and someone to protect.
“You got someone in there with you?”
He coughed as he tried to find an answer, but before he could, Nui stepped up in full view, wearing nothing but his bathrobe.
“Yeah, he has, what of it?”
The man smiled, looking her up and down.
“Wow, I heard you two were partnered up, but Hud don’t usually get along with no one.”
“Maybe his previous partners didn’t know how to handle him?” she replied in a sassy voice.
“You know you could be in a lot of trouble for this?”
“The whole world’s going to hell, who gives a damn? CIA has got bigger worries than how we spend our free time.”
The voice of the fight commentator rang out loudly. The Luna fight was about to get underway.
“Is that the Locke fight?” The agent looked past them and noticed the pizza box.
“Hell, Hud, you got a fight, a woman, pizza, beer, you’re living the high life.”
Hud sighed. “Yeah, fellas, maybe instead of hassling us you should do as we do. Better things to be doing this evening than checking up on me.”
“Yeah, yeah, but you know, we got a report that your vehicle was sighted at a shooting in town. A gang shooting, you wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”
“If anyone had been firing anything near that car, you’d be the first to know, because there’d be a trail of bodies leading back to me.”
“Somebody nailed those gangbangers, and it looks like whatever they went looking for, they didn’t find.”
“No idea, guys. Now can you give me a br
eak? The fight kicks off any second.”
“All right, you take it easy, you hear?”
“Yeah,” he replied casually as he sipped from his beer and shut the door on them.
They both sighed in relief the moment it was shut.
“We are sleeping together, that’s the cover? Really?”
“It worked, didn’t it?”
“They weren’t here about the shooting at all. A few gangbangers get nailed in that part of town, nobody asks any questions. They clear up the bodies and end of story.”
“No, they came looking for crumbs, to see what we’re up to.”
“You think they know?”
Hud shook his head.
“I dunno, probably not. If Sparks is right about this whole thing, I think we’d be in a heap of shit by now if anyone suspected.”
“But they do suspect, or why else would they be here?”
“They know we’ve been paired up to do a job, and that has to raise some eyebrows. I guess whoever is pulling these strings wants to know we aren’t looking into anything that would cause them trouble.”
“Then we need to make damn sure they don’t suspect.”
“Yeah? What you got in mind?”
She went to her bag, pulled out a folder, and handed it to him. It was an old printed brown folder. He looked suspicious, but he prised it open. His head was shaking in seconds as he read the words ‘Operation Tilt.’
“Come on, Nui. What the hell is this?”
“It’s perfect. You, a washed-up mess, attached to me, a crazy person, to help me dig at a cold case nobody cares about.”
“This nearly ended your career.”
“Yes, which is why it’s the perfect cover. Nobody will ever believe I could leave this alone, and this is the perfect way the Agency could send it to die.”
“Washed-up?”
She smiled. “We’re both a mess, and you know it. But maybe together, you never know, we can do some good.”
“Is that what you’re here for?”
“Yes, damn right, I am.”
He laughed.
“Hey, guys, come on. The fights starting!” Zippo yelled.
* * *
The time had come for Luna, and she couldn’t be more excited. She was shy of the crowd, but now that her V set had activated, she had stepped into her natural habitat. A game world that she knew so well, and sometimes felt more natural to her than the real one. She selected her loadout, the same as she had used previously, and some of her favourites, but when she activated it, she emerged in a small, dark room atop her horse. It was a bizarre experience, as if somehow the game had glitched, but she could hear the roar of a crowd, and ahead of her a few small glimmers of light were breaching the gap between two doors. She dug her heels in and moved forward, and as she did, the doors swung open.