Tomio sits at the bar stools with Emi on a quiet Thursday afternoon. The restaurant is already closed and only Tomio, Emi, Kimberly, Ramirez, and Fio are present. Fio is taping a sign at the front of glass doors which states: "Temporarily Closed on Friday". Fio sighs after taping the note on entrance.
"It's so over isn't it?"
"Hey, we're not shutting down the restaurant." Tomio laughs from the bar counter with Emi. "We're just going to close so we can camp out here for Friday night's match. The wireless network is better than whatever Emi has back at her university."
"I swear, there's always someone torrenting 90 episode TV shows on Friday night." Emi jokes. "If we win or lose tomorrow, we can all cope with some pizza afterwards." She places her laptop and VR headset by the barstool. Tomio has laid out an not so elaborate extension cable outlet for all of their laptops. Fio on the other hand returns to her large suitcase she brought with her which has a large desktop computer inside which she can barely lift out.
"I can't believe you hauled that thing all the way over here." Kimberly says, baffled. "You don't have a laptop?"
"Nuh huh. I don't like laptops." Fio remarks as she drags the massive power cable to a nearby outlet. "Laptops compromise too much on performance. I want to game on the very best" She plugs her desktop into an outlet which makes a loud "Bzz" sound which makes everyone slightly uncomfortable and worried her super computer will burn down the restaurant. "This beast has more RAM than a power plant quantum computer. My graphics card is powerful enough to power all of your headsets and more! You shouldn't suffer with integrated graphics to power your headset."
"You can do that with just your desktop?" Ramirez is impressed by Fio's claim."
"Fio plugs in her wireless headset receiver into her massive desktop. "All of our gaming data is saved on servers in the cloud." She waves her hands in the air to emphasis her point. "It's not like your headsets are going to interfere with mine. Each receiver is specifically designed to match an identification code with your headset. Which is why it's never a good idea to lose your receivers to your headset. You'll have to beg for a replacement from customer support. Don't screw up like I did." Fio chuckles.
"I didn't catch anything you said." Kimberly tauntingly commented from the small stage area where she and Ramirez were practicing with their instruments earlier. "I don't understand all that tech jargon."
"All you have to understand is that with my hardware, we won't have hiccups on the day of the match. It might raise the power bill but it'll be worth it." She smiles as Tomio shakes his head as he ponders what Fio had just said about the electric bill being higher with her desktop running. "Trust me, It'll be worth it. You all are going to have a hard time playing with your laptops' integrated graphics for your headsets.
Fio's desktop hums at a low frequency, She connects her receiver to one of the USB 9.0 ports on the back of the machine. "Who needs a monitor when you have a high resolution and refresh rate headset?"
"Is it possible to play Mil-Sim Story without a headset?" Ramirez asks.
"Um....maybe." Fio had to think for a moment since it's not common for players to play without a headset. "But you're missing out on one to one movements, immersion, and probably wouldn't qualify to play in tournament matches. I don't see why you wouldn't want to play without a headset unless you're one of those hardline boomers who has to play with keyboard and mouse or pardon my french...ahem...a controller....ew." Fio shrugs her shoulders. "Anyways, you all should grab your headsets and give this computer a little test run."
"Well...if you say so." Kimberly smirks as she walks over to Fio's desktop and plugs her receiver into the back ports. "Your computer isn't going to burn our retinas or anything crazy...right?"
"Of course not. My computer isn't running Nvidia hardware!" She looks over to Emi. "What about Hikari and Mai?"
"They couldn't join us unfortunately. They insisted on staying in their dorm."
"And Kael?"
"He lives all the way in Cologne.” Emi recalls. “He's going to have to work with his own timezone but I got word from Mai that he has all the time in the world to meet us in Mil-Sim on the day of the tournament. He should be on right now I think."
”Great. So all let’s jacked in!” Fio lays her sleeping bag on the floor and gets ready to don her headset.
”So this is how we’re going to play in the tournament.” Tomio looks puzzled at the ground where Fio is laying.
”Yeah it’s a little weird sleeping on the floor but our mind will be too focused on the game to even notice.” She slips on her headset over her eyes. “Fio is checking out. I’ll be waiting for you all.” She places her hands over her stomach as she lies and is now completely immersed in her headset.
“Well what are we waiting for, Rami? Let’s hop on Mil-Sim.”
“Yeah. Just didn’t think we’d be laying on the floor like we’re homeless.”
“Aren’t we homeless already?”
“We have the van…ah nevermind.” Ramirez and Kimberly lay their sleeping bags and put on their VR headsets which are already connected to Fio’s desktop which they surround like a campfire. The GPU fans in Fio’s desktop kick in a little more and it sounds like an AC unit running at full blast.
”Do you really trust Fio’s computer?” Emi looks over at Tomio. “I feel we’re going to burn down your restaurant if we connect our headsets.”
“Nah…I’m sure it’s going to be fine.” Tomio dismisses casually. “Fio knows what she’s doing when it comes to this tech stuff. That’s why she’s our sapper and drone operator for the squad.” He hops off the bar stool with his headset in his arm and a sleeping bag on the other. “Hey Emi…where’s your sleeping bag?”
Emi grins at Tomio, trying to hold her giggling. “Oh…shoot. I totally forgot my sleeping bag…you know, I don’t think I actually have one.” She looks at Tomio with a sorry excuse of an assuming look. “Say…Tomio…do you think we could share…”
”You’re going to lay next to me?” Tomio asks flustered. “Well…I mean…sure why not.” He shrugs and laughs. “You’re very funny, Emi. You know you’re not very good at lying.”
”Why would I lie? I don’t have a sleeping bag.” Emi laughs out loud. “Because I know you’ll want me next to you.”
”You mean…you want to be next to me.”
”Yes….I mean….um…wait! You’re assuming, Tomio!” Emi stutters.
”You lost your train of thought.” Tomio grins.
“Tomio! I swear, I’m going to bite your ear if you don’t stop teasing me!”
“Like a jaguar?”
“Yes…ah…oh no not again!” Emi blushes and shakes her head. “I’m terrible at flirting, Tomio.”
“Yeah, but I don’t mind, Emi.” He looks at her eyes with admiration.
“I’m glad…Tomio.” Emi gives him a peck on the cheek. Tomio’s eyes light up and he’s speechless as Emi makes her way to the floor with Tomio’s sleeping bag which she snatched after kissing him. “Hey, you’re coming over?”
“Y…yeah…just a second.” Tomio comes back to his senses. Despite being flustered, in his mind he’s overjoyed. “Nice.” He thinks to himself before settling down next to Emi on his sleeping bag. They connect their headset to Fio’s PC and lay together on the sleeping bag.
“Hey Tomio.” Emi whispers right next to his ear.
”What’s up, Emi?”
”I’m glad we get to hang out like this again.”
”Hey. It’s been awesome hanging out with you like the old days. I couldn’t ask for a better team mate.” He slips on his headset at the same time as Emi and they lay in their immersed state of mind as they are transported into Mil-Sim Story. Little do they know, their hands had intertwined before get jacked into VR.
Mai is going through some drills at the replica killhouse which she and her team has memorized and practiced over the weekend for numerous hours. These rooms, although not one to one in appearance, are dimensionally accurate. The lights are purposely cut off for this training exercise leaving the kill house pitch black in some rooms save for those with a view from the outside where the night sky illuminates these empty plywood rooms. Mai is not blind. Her night vision goggles which are mounted onto her polymer helmet reveal the path ahead of her in a light green hue. She has an inexpensive Holosun red dot which was mounted on her aftermarket Type 56 SKS stock with picatinny rails. Her optic is set at the night vision setting which allows her to aim in the dark. She carefully traverses through each room quickly but cautiously, turning sharp around corners and raising her rifle to clear a room before moving into a hallway. She comes across Hikari who is more decked out than her with her AN-94 rifle. She has an EOTech holographic sight and a L3Harris PEQ-15 laser aiming pointer and illuminator so she can aim passively without looking down her optic. She waves her hand at Mai. “Silver.” She calls out to Mai hoping she can remember the secret code they are to use in the upcoming match. Mai knew it well enough to reply back but someone else beat her to it.
”Bullet.” A male voice calls from one the entrances in the kill house. He steps out wearing a brown hunting coat thrown over his blue uniform, a tan Type 56 chest rig and duty belt. He has a beanie covering his blonde hair which has a nylon mount for his own nightvision goggles.
”Damnit, Kael. How do you move so quickly?” Mai groans in frustration.
”JarPig squad prides itself for being quick on our feet. Be glad, I’m on your side.”
”Pft…I didn’t ask…” Mai scoffs dismissively.
”Hey. We both want to take out Asura and get our friends back.” Kael lifts up his nightvision goggles. “I know you don’t trust me, but all I’m asking is for you to believe in me. If were an opponent at this very moment…”
”You would’ve been dead, Mai.” Hikari interjects from across the hall. “You have to call out your code word so we don’t have any friendly fire incidents.”
”If you say so…” Mai grumbles to herself.
”Emi and the others are going to join real soon. Let’s take a short break.” Hikari suggests lowering her AN-94 and exiting the kill house leaving Mai and Kael behind.
”You heard her. Let’s take a break.”
“Yeah…sure…whateves…” Mai walks behind Kael suspiciously as if she’s expecting him to pull off something even though they are just training. She takes note of his AK which has a Chinese style front sight post and underfolding steel stock. She hesitates for a moment before making her comment. “So..you’re using a Type 56-1?”
“I like the way it shoots.” Kael pats the handguard of his rifle. “It’s very reliable, and compact for my playstyle. It fires 7.62x39.” He looks behind his shoulder at Mai’s rifle. “And I see you have an SKS.”
”Uh huh. Type 56….carbine. Not to be confused with your rifle. Also made in China.”
”That’s pretty cool, Mai. Seems like we both know what makes a good rifle. We like to keep it simple huh?”
Mai hesitates for a moment, then nods slightly. “You’re right. Screw all of these try-hards with their gucci rifles.” Her reply gets a hearty laugh from Kael. “We have a saying in engineering circles. Keep It Simple Stupid. KISS for short. Something Tomio and Emi are probably doing behind the kill house. “She jokes.”
”Keep it simple stupiding?” Kael jokingly asks.
”Ha! Probably. Mai laughs out loud in disbelief. They pretend to be professional in front of the squad but I think they have the hots for each other. It’s nothing like what you and Asura had.”
”No. Asura was just using me for her benefit.” Kael admits. “I should have known better, but I was desperate…and stupid.”
”What did you see in her anyways.” Mai seems more intrigued by this conversation as they leave the kill house interior. “You have to find a woman that respects you. You can’t be a push over. Nobody respects a push over, Kael.”
”She has that gothic aesthetic and I thought I could fix her.”
”Oh. You fell for that meme.” Mai understands his position now. “A girl like that is going to take a lot to be worthwhile. She doesn’t seem like the type to value someone for who they are.”
”Learned that the hard way.” Kael sighs. “Now I have to fight to win back my friends. Man…poor Rena.”
”Rena?” Mai’s voice peaks with curiosity. “One of your squadmates?”
”She was the first to join my party in our MMO as our mage healer. A medic but with healing powers. She believed in me and all of my choices I made for my party, including starting a squad for Mil-Sim Story.”
”Sounds like she’s been a loyal friend, Kael.”
”And I completely neglected her in favor of Asura.” Kael humbly reveals to Mai. He rubs his forehead in disgrace. “I’m a terrible party leader. I should have listened to her when she suggested Asura was bad news.”
Mai frowns, kicking a loose pebble across the concrete floor. ”No kidding. That’s rough.” She hesitates, then adds, “You’re probably in good hands now. We’re going to teach that vampire larper a lesson. Hopefully talk some sense into Chiara and help you reunite with your friends. Do they know you’re working with us now?”
”Asura probably does. I don’t think my squad does. Which is why I’m relying on you to help me on the day of the match. Chiara is going to probably lead them through the catacombs. We have to confront them ourselves and try to turn the battle to your team’s favor.”
”Well I think your friends are willing to listen. I doubt Chiara will want to give in so easily. She seems to have fallen for Asura’s false promises.”
”Hey, if I could break out of Asura’s spell, I’m pretty sure Chiara can too. She’s not a demon, Mai. She’s just a mess.”
”I appreciate the optimism, Kael.” Mai smiles with a chuckle. “You know, you’re not as idiotic as I thought you were.”
”Oh no. I’m in this mess because of my incompetence. I should be fighting against your squad in the match with my party. But I was bamboozled as you Americans like to say.”
”Nah. You’re just lost. We all lost in our own way. You can make things right again. Consider yourself lucky, Kael.”
”Lucky?” Kael raises his eyebrow at Mai. “Getting my squad stolen by a goth chick doesn’t feel like luck to me.”
”You’re admitting you made a mistake. Do you know how hard it is for anyone to do that these days?” Mai stops at her tracks before reaching the exit of the kill house where Hikari is waiting for them. “I struggle with that all the time, you know. I can act kind of stupid and stubborn sometimes at the detriment of my team. My team almost lost the first bracket match against Kraken and Glam squad because I cheaped out my RPG warheads. Chiara pulled through that match for us even though I was responsible for nearly losing the match. I’m not going to make that mistake again….” She pauses and scratches her chin. “I hope I don’t…I don’t know…” Her uncertainty gets a laugh from Kael. “I’m hoping this SKS with this aftermarket Tapco stock and magazine doesn’t give my team any problems.”
“Why not get a better rifle?”
“Like I said, I’m stubborn.” Mai holds up her Type 56 Carbine in front of her to show Kael. “My dad gave me a rifle like this in the real world. It was one of the best birthday gifts I could ever ask for. This rifle may not be the same one I own in the real world but I want to use it in this tournament in his honor. I’m in a good engineering program and know so much about firearms because of him. I’d give up everything to have him back again.”
”Sorry about your loss, Mai.” Kael nods his head and gives Mai some space to herself. “He would have been proud to see you doing so well for yourself. My dad just thinks I’m a dork.” Kael attempts to lighten the mood.
”Hey, nothing wrong with a dork.” Mai smiles and lowers his rifle down with her sling before exiting the killhouse at last with Kael. “It’s better than being a femcel like Hikari.”
”A what like Hikari?” Hikari squints her eyes furiously at Mai and Kael. “Forget it. What took you two so long to get out? Emi and the others are waiting for us back at our team base.”
”We were having a discussion about our life’s problems and giving some exposition. It’s important for the upcoming match, you know.” Mai flicks her messy blonde hair from her face.
”Okay, Mai. Whatever. Let’s get going.” Hikari waves to Mai and Kael before they all are transported back to their home base in the hangar. Once they have spawned in, they see that the entire team is present, wearing their new gear, helmets, and night vision equipment with their weapons. Vicky, Joshua, Tervor, and Ashley are there too but aren’t wearing their combat gear since they won’t be fighting in the match as the roster is full.
“The whole family is here!” Fio cheerfully calls out. “Can you all believe it? Well look like a real team this time.”
“I was skeptical about your desktop but damn…this is some nice resolution.” Kimberly speaks in awe while looking around her surroundings. “I can see the little dirt textures on the hanger wall and everything!”
“That’s cool and all but my poverty rig makes everything look like a Nintendo 64 game.” Mai jokes offhanded. “You all still look like champs to me.”
“Appreciate the compliment, Mai.” Emi warmly smiles. She inspects her M4A1 which has a better optic and laser aiming module attached to her rifle in addition to some nicer Magpul furniture. Her eyes look over at Tomio’s rifle which looks slightly different from his normal FAL rifle. “Tomio? Did you…cut your rifle barrel or something?”
“I still have my original FAL. This is my other rifle specifically designed to be shorter and ideal for our upcoming match.” He points out the shorter barrel, attachments, and optic. “This OSW variant of the FAL isn’t going to get caught up while turning corners. Our battle is going to be up close and personal. Nothing like our last match.”
”Or our practice match against our adversaries.” Ramirez adds, holding Vicky’s SPAS 12 which she had lent to him for the match. “We know who we’re going up against this time.”
”And what do we do when we come across Chiara?” Hikari asks.
”That’s what the beanbag shells are for.” Ramirez answers. “Assuming you and Kael don’t take her out. Vicky told me to use these on her if I ever see her.”
“Yep.” Vicky gives Ramirez a thumbs up. “It’ll neutralize her without killing her. You should consider using them against our opponents if you can. That’s what I would do.”
“So is everyone on board with our battle plans for tomorrow’s match?” Markus speaks up to the group and looks over at Mai and Hikari specifically “And do you have academics taken care of?”
“You bet.” Mai raises her rifle as a sign of her commitment. Hikari and I crammed everything before we jacked in. Almost pulled an all-nighter so we can miss class tomorrow.”
“We’ll just call in sick for tomorrow’s classes.” Hikari mentions. “I seriously hope our lies don’t bite us in the ass soon. The semester will be over soon.”
”Listen up Team Lonestar…”
”We’re team Van Helsing now.” Ramirez corrects Emi.
“Dang. I almost forgot. Listen up Team Van Helsing. Tomorrow’s the big day we’ve been training for days. Some of you already know what to expect as you had fought Vampire and JarPig Squad while Tomio and I were away.” Emi takes a moment to reminisce on the past few days. “We’ve all been through a lot with our lives in just these few weeks. We lost Chiara but gained new friends along the way.” She glances over at Joshua and his team and then to Kael who is eager to fight for their team. She closes her eyes, quietly praying to herself before finishing her speech to her team. “Whether we win or lose this match does not matter to me or to Tomio. Our goal was just to have fun and hope for the best since the start of our alliance between Longhorn Squad and Armadillo Squad. But..” Emi begins to speak sincerely. “We weren’t expecting to have this game suddenly become a bigger part of our lives than we could have imagined. We all made wonderful memories, met one another, reunited, and learned so much from our experiences together…but it’s also been stressing us out. Chiara broke down because of this game. We were all feeling overwhelmed.”
“We shouldn’t let this world overtake our own reality.” Tomio steps in to support Emi’s point. “We all have responsibilities and goals outside of this game. The people we are going up against are betting their entire livelihood into all this. We shouldn’t have to risk everything and set aside our reality and relationships for this game. It would be great if we win this tournament, but this match isn’t about winning to compete in the next bracket.” He takes a break to collect his thoughts before finishing his statement. “We’re fighting for our friends. Each and everyone one of us in this hanger is here because we believe in each other. We are not just teammates. We’re all friends here. Perhaps more than just friends.”
”Tomorrow.” Emi continues from where Tomio left off. “Our most important battle is not the one we devised in the briefing room days ago.” She places her palm against her own chest; above where her heart would be. “It’ll be here; in your hearts. In Chiara’s heart. In Kael’s heart. In my heart. Perhaps in our enemies’ too”
The room is silent as Emi finishes her pep talk to her team. She looks on, not sure if her and Tomio’s speech that they hate to admit that they practiced in private to seem confident in their leadership skills. Despite feeling a little embarrassed and uncertain, Emi smiles with Tomio following her lead after they exchange glances.
"That was disgustingly sentimental." Mai inappropriately calls out. "...But that was beautiful!." She gets up on a folding chair to stand up in front of her team. “Van Helsing! Let’s slay some vampires and save our friends!”
“Let’s do this!” The hanger breaks out in cheers. Emi and Tomio exchange glances and Emi winks at Tomio.
BEEP! Chiara doesn’t hesitate after the timer starts. She raises her MP5SD and fires three round bursts at the pop up targets in the dark. Her night vision goggles gifted to her by Asura give her a clear view of the targets in complete darkness. After going through her entire magazine, Chiara pulls out her Sand Viper 2011 pistol and makes quick work out of the remaining targets. “Clear!” Chiara calls out to herself and holsters her new pistol into her leg holster. Suddenly the lights in the firing range are turned on, blinding Chiara for a moment. She lifts up her NODs so she can see better and places her rifle on the firing table in frustration. “Ugh! Do you mind…I’m trying to…” She turns around to see Asura standing there by the firing range door. “Oh…Asura…I was…”
”Chiara…I appreciate your dedication to training but it’s getting late. You need to catch up on some sleep for tomorrow's match.”
”I know that…” Chiara grumbles to herself. “Asura, I really really don’t want to be a hindrance again. I’m not going to face defeat again.”
”You’re worrying too much, Chiara.” Asura dismisses her. “Your former friends are no match for my squad or your leadership abilities. You are everything I had hoped for, you know that.”
”How can you be so sure of yourself?” Chiara’s eyes shift down the firing range. “Emi is not going to take it easy on me. She thinks I’m making a mistake…siding with you.”
”And you’re going to let her determine that for you?” Asura raises her hand into a fist. “That’s no way to determine your destiny Chiara. You should know that by now. Tomorrow, I’ll expect you to follow through with my battle plans. Execute, exterminate, and escape once we capture the client. You'll be worthless tomorrow if you collapse from exhaustion. So call it a night will you?”
Chiara shakes her head. “Fine…I’ll stop for tonight.” She glares over at Asura one last time. “But I will not disappoint. You hear me?”
”We’ll see if those words have any meaning…” Asura motions Chiara to exit the firing range. “But I believe in you Chiara. Soon, you’ll realize that joining my squad was the smart choice all along…my perfect vampire. You’ll soon get a taste of victory while your former friends wallow in defeat. All you have to do…is trust me.”