Virtual Kombat (Pocket Money Puffin) by Chris Bradford

Author:Chris Bradford
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780141953335
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2010-03-15T04:00:00+00:00

Trigger Time

The Analyst wordlessly hands me my training report.

Performance: 5 out of 10.

Bruiser, a Brazilian capoeira fighter, destroyed me in the last Face-Off. My back still aches from where he power-kicked me.

After two months of gameplay, I’ve climbed into the upper ranks of the League. But now I’m struggling to keep my position. Even with a Mod and a Power-Up. A pair of Kevlar armguards that block any blade. And a single-use Mega-Punch – trebling the damage I inflict for one strike.

Not that it helped much against Bruiser. Like Kat-Ana, he moves too fast for me to land it.

‘What’s up?’ asks Ginger Ninja as I enter the Chill Zone and flop on a beanbag next to him and Kate.

‘However hard I try, I keep getting beat to the Killing Strike,’ I admit.

Kate looks up from her avatar fashion e-mag. ‘Your skills are good,’ she says. ‘But you need to master Trigger Time.’

I frown at her. ‘That’s not in my feedback.’

‘That’s cos the Analysts don’t know about it. It’s not an official technique. Come on, I’ll show you.’

‘Hey, you promised to teach me!’ complains Ginger Ninja.

‘You’re not ready for it,’ replies Kate, heading for the door.

My body protests at leaving the beanbag. Gaming for three hours straight, my brain aches like a strained muscle. VK’s a serious workout. Your mind believes the body’s done all that fighting. By the end of the first week, it felt like I’d run a marathon then been mashed by a runaway MPV.

Even now I’m brain-fit, VK’s still a drain. But I can’t resist. I’m hooked.

We enter the Training Zone. No Analysts at the control module.

‘Downtime,’ explains Kate. ‘We can still log on, though.’

She presses a touchscreen and two PlayPod doors open.

‘What’s behind here?’ I ask, checking out the restricted-access door.

‘The guardians don’t like it when you snoop around.’

‘It might lead outside.’

‘Curiosity killed the rat,’ she says as I try the handle.

‘You mean, cat.’

‘Cat, rat, whatever,’ she says. ‘When you VK loads, words get jumbled up.’

‘It’s locked anyway.’

We clamber into our PlayPods and boot up.

A shooting-range Battle-rena blinks into life, complete with armoury. Kat-Ana’s standing beside me.

‘Take this,’ she says, passing me a handgun.

Kat-Ana walks to the end of the range. ‘Shoot me.’

I hesitantly raise the gun. I know it’s only virtual, but it feels wrong.

‘Won’t it hurt pretty bad?’

‘Do it!’

I pull the trigger. BANG. With lightning speed, Kat-Ana bends to one side, her body flickering as the bullet penetrates the target behind.

‘But that’s impossible!’

‘Not in VK. This is a computer-generated world implanted in your head. It’s only impossible because that’s what you believe.’

Kat-Ana hands me a suit of Kevlar armour. ‘Put this on, or else you’ll feel beat up when we finish.’

‘You’re going to shoot me?’

She nods. ‘To master Trigger Time, your brain has to function quicker than the game can download into your head.’

‘Sounds tricky,’ I reply as Kat-Ana makes me stand before the target.

‘It is. But by concentrating hard enough, you can bend the rules of the game. Slow down virtual time.’

She takes aim at me.

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