Faction Ready Player Cresh

[Daiya]

Shardforge Entertainment Center
D E N O N

The vivid imagery dancing between the players was on a totally other level!

Daiya glanced woefully at her pallid recreation in her holojournal, hovering her stylus over the sketch. It was terrible. Her hand moved the interactive pen, hovering over the button to remove the work. The teen girl paused, her lips drawing thin as she considered the art she had attempted. Her stylus drifted back, and she set it to the page again, making a few other marks as if that would resolve the whole piece.

She found it hard to capture the blurring motion of the players' fingers, encapsulated in metal implements that looked to be devouring their hands, attached to the consoles by wires. Daiya couldn't connect their actions to the results that were happening in the holographic field set between them. From the furrowed expressions on the faces of the players, it certainly looked intense, she just couldn't fathom how.

Still, her art looked no better than stick figures to her. Daiya wanted to get rid of it, but something kept her from destroying the whole effort. She sighed to herself, and then again when a shadow cast over her datapad. Whoever was nearby was looming a little too close to her screen, and she whipped her head up to look at them.

Her hair did not like that move, and it cascaded down in front of her face. Scowling, she used a hand to flip it back, flashing the same expression at the person who had interrupted her work. An exasperated tone escaped Daiya's lips as she told them, "You're in my light! Do you mind?"

Sor-Jan Xantha Juniper​

 

[Juniper]

Juniper had selective hearing. That was to say, Juniper only heard what was convenient, and a request to move from her spot was SO not what she wanted right now. She had never seen so many people before, the technology that raced before her eyes was leaps and bounds beyond the typical games her peers could afford back at home.

Her eyes remained wide as saucers, plastered to the screen as she watched the images move.

She did not move, hovering even further over the light as her lips parted in delight.

 

[Daiya]

Daiya's scowl deepened as the intrusive girl next to her sat unmoving. Well, no, the other girl did move, in the wrong direction!

Now the stubborn girl was touching Daiya, her body pressed right up to the young shadowrunner's side. The blonde-haired girl scoffed, leaning forward to look at her space invader's face. She saw the ashen-haired girl's eyes focused beyond her, on the same tournament that had drawn Daiya here in the first place. "Will you just...?"

But she would not. Whoever this brazen girl was next to her, Daiya was clearly not going to get anywhere with words alone. That was fine by her. Straightening up quickly, she rammed her shoulder into the girl beside her, using the momentum to follow up with the rest of her, shoving into the other girl with her body.

"Move! Over!"

Sor-Jan Xantha Juniper​

 

[Juniper]

A viscous squeak pulled from Juniper’s lips, her hands lashing out for something to catch her.

“Hey!” Protested another boy, shoving her back off him as her fingers scrapped past his ear.

She jammed back into Daiya, stepping on toes and grabbing at limbs as she stabilized herself in the assault.

She turn, giving the blonde a look of pure indignation.

“Don’t shove me!” She shoved her back.

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

The boy's fingers wagged in the air.

What kind of holo-game interface used an actual controller. Handhelds were soooooo last century. Motion control and HR interfaces were totally where the industry was moving to, which made this holo-game tournament seem like a total blast from the past.

Unfortunately, it was an opportunity for corporate sponsorships to be on display. And so the company was more or less required to go with the flow. Pump a few credits into advertisement, and then toss up a booth that contained everything someone could get in a normal Corellia Digital Store.

He was on the positive side of a three-to-two five game streak. With the first two games being him learning the game as he went. Now that he had a third victory under his belt, and had swung the pendulum in his favor, it was time for a snack. And maybe a soda. And possible a second snack after.

On his way over to get a soda, it seemed that a cat-fight had broken out.

"It's pretty crowded here," the boy noted, speaking up so to make himself heard. Nonchalantly, he tried to position himself between the pair as he said, "Easy to get frustrated. Can I get you both something?"

 

[Daiya]

Hearing the squeak was satisfying, of that there was little doubt. Even with her small triumph, Daiya prepared herself for the retribution. Littie Miss Blocker of Light, this She-Gawker of Games, was bound to try to a counter attack.

And attack back, she did. Daiya braced herself, but she let out a sharp sound as she felt a foot smashing down on the toes end of her combat boots, and clawing at her limbs. Little Miss Blocker was a feisty opponent, drawing a deeper scowl from the girl.

"Well, I wouldn't have to shove you if you'd just move over!" Daiya shot back, pushing back at the other girl's hands with her own. The girl just wanted her own space, what made this little witch think she was entitled to it all?

"Get off of me, before I make you," Daiya reached over with a hand to illustrate her point, and yanked on a lock of the other girl's ashen hair.

That was the moment another boy walked up. Of course! Boys were always sticking their nose in where they weren't wanted. Daiya made an offended sound as the tow-headed boy forced his way between them, just asking for trouble.

The kid looked even younger than Daiya's opponent was, but the words he said sounded faaaar too elegant. She squinted at him, was this kid twelve or twenty?

"Since you're so helpful, you can get her," Daiya said, indicating her light thief, "Away from me like I asked her to in the first place!"

Sor-Jan Xantha Juniper​

 

[Juniper]

Juniper fumed, already reaching out to tug Daiya’s hair in turn when a new boy slipped in.

“Arggr!” Was her incoherent response, her anger turned onto him. “Get out of my face! She started it!”

A wave of her hand gestured at the pad-wielding girl. A thoughtless tug of the force yanked at the device, trying to send it flying away. It would be neat to say Juniper meant to do it, but that would be an overstatement to her budding abilities.

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

"I mean no disrespect," the boy offered, holding up his hands and taking a half-step backward at the accusation of being in Juniper 's face.

The boy felt the pull through the Force, gesturing just slightly with two fingers to try and keep the holojournal within reach of the girl with the two-toned hair.

Regarding the other girl, "If you're looking for a place to get away from people..." Sor-Jan noted, pausing as he looked around. Two people bumped into him as they had been talking, shuffling through the crowd. When he looked back at Daiya he said, "I have to question your choices."

Gesturing toward the bar, the tow-headed Anzat asked, "So, shall we continue being angry at one another? Or shall I buy you both something to drink?"

Actually, one didn't seem to require the omission of the other, now that he thought about it.

"I suppose we could do both, as well, if you like."

 

[Daiya]

Daiya let out a terrified shriek as the holojournal was wrenched from her hands. She was already leaping out of her seat after it, hands outstretched as if she could pull it back to her. The girl's vision blurred from tears that formed in her eyes, and she stumbled into other beings in front of her. A sob wracked her chest as she flew off in the direction of her datapad, the one treasure in her life she couldn't afford to lose.

The girl wasn't thinking about her Light Blocker opponent, or the boy who had come between them. She wasn't thinking about the tournament, or the members of the audience she was disturbing.

Only about the years worth of visions and artwork contained in that humble datapad.

Daiya's hands latched onto the device, faster than she had expected. It seemed to resist her for a moment, before letting her pull it back against her body. She hugged it to her chest, sinking to her knees in the narrow aisle meant only for navigating to seats. The seat of her pants touched something sticky underneath, but the girl only felt the relief flooding into her, pushing back at the anguish of nearly losing her most prized possession.

The boy was talking again, and Daiya barely heard him. When her mind finally registered the questions he posed, she instinctively responded with a, "Huh?"

She glanced back at the She-Gawker again, sitting pretty in the place where Daiya had been only moments before. Hot anger flashed through her again, but it was tempered now by pain. The girl looked back at the boy, who still looked as calm as ever.

A drink?

Yeah, Daiya could use one of those right now. "Sure." She lurched forward, finding it hard to extricate herself from the space between the seats. The girl lifted a begrudging hand from her holojournal, holding it up to the boy mediator. "Help me up?"

Sor-Jan Xantha Juniper​

 

[Juniper]

Juniper stepped back, taken aback by the blonde’s strong response.

Oh. Whoops.

Her attention scattered left, then right, braced for the usual adult intervention. Her Master remained well out of sight, no stern look leveled Junipers way as she was left to face the distraught girl.

“I’m sorry,” she uttered, a vulnerable edge to her tone as the boy helped the girl up. “I didn’t meant to- I-“

Dont tell on her!

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

Typical.

Emotions run high. People just react. And, suddenly, everyone's feeling guilty.

Dropping his center of gravity slightly, the short Anzat reached down to help the girl with the two-toned hair to get back up.

After he had, he motioned toward Juniper "You're sorry, I'm SJ," he noted, gesturing next to himself as he provided the introduction .

Then he looked over at Daiya to asked, "And you are..?"

 

[Daiya]

Sorry? The other girl's face seemed to be turning the same color as her ashen hair, but Daiya had little sympathy. The teen flashed her tongue out the demure girl as she accepted the help to her feet.

"Thank you, SJ," Daiya said to the babyfaced boy. He still sounded weird, but his intervention had saved her artwork and probably her clothes from more of the attacks. The girl brushed off the seat of her pants, and turned to inspect her hand as she told him, "I'm Daiya."

The sticky objects included some remnants of someone's snack food, coupled with dirt and more than a few hairs. Daiya's face crumpled in disgust at the sight, and she wiped it off on the back of the chair ahead of her. It only added to her distress, and she pressed the holojournal even tighter against her. "Can we get out of here?"

Sor-Jan Xantha Juniper​

 

[Juniper]

Juniper cringed back into herself, a bite of emotion flashing through her in a hot, unnamed wave.

They were strangers, and frustrated with her to boot. While she thought she was entirely in the right for shoving the girl back- I mean really Daiya started it!

She bared no false illusions. She turned from the two, her insides all twisty turny as she tried to leave the girl and her tongue for a new place to stand.

She didn’t have friends back at home for a reason.

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

The young Anzat gave a nod of his head toward Daiya .

"I think there is a diner just down the road," he offered as an alternative. Perhaps something other than Fizzuglug would be good for him. Actual food, perhaps.

"Sorry," the boy remarked, turning back toward Juniper

"You good? Or would you care to join us?"

There was still too much Jedi in him for the boy to not at least try to play the peacemaker.

 

[Daiya]

A diner? With food? That wasn't really what the girl had been expecting when SJ suggested a drink. She shrugged her slender shoulders, "I guess."

It was better than here. As much as the teen wanted to finish her drawing, the mood was ruined. She inspected her datapad, finding that the stylus was absent. Daiya gasped in horror, her eyes going wide as she looked around, finally spying the missing implement on the sticky floor. She let out a groan as she bent down to pick it up, relieved to find the instrument mostly unscathed, and returned it to the slot in her device.

Daiya glowered at the boy when he extended an invitation to her newfound opponent as well. Since when did Little Miss Blocker deserve that? The teen just rolled her eyes to herself, and fixed a stare at the other girl. "Well? Are you coming?"

Sor-Jan Xantha Juniper​

 

[Juniper]

Juniper looked left and right again, wondering why little miss push a lot was talking to her .

“I-“ she looked to the boy, the genuine edge to his inquiry softening her wariness.

“I don’t have any credits,” came the weak shrug. Because that was the thing holding her up. Not the master that’d be looking for her, nor the unresolved cat fight that had defined the start of this moment.

How would she buy a shake?

Her attention dragged to the pad, slyly catching to see if it was unharmed.

“Is it ok?”

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

She was worried about the cost?

"It's no problem," the boy remarked. After all, he had offered to buy.

Well, at least there seemed to be an armistice of sorts. That at least suggested they might at least make it to the diner before more pushing could come of it.

"The gaming tournament is going to be going on for awhile, so let's get some food. You can always come back later, if you want," he added, before motioning them to head for the door.

"What brought out to the tournament? Do you play?"

 

[Daiya]

Daiya glanced down at the datapad which served as her holojournal. She had already looked it over, and there was no damage on the device as far as she could tell. A blessing of a sorts, but also a testament to its sturdy construction. She turned to the other girl with a haughty look, "It's fine, no thanks to you."

Daiya bristled past SJ and his questions, leading the way to the door. She hardly cared at this point if he or the other girl were following. She just had to get out of here now. The young shadowrunner loved people, but crowds could be a pest. One moment she felt fine, the next it was as if all eyes were on her.

They were now, or so it felt to the girl. She hugged the datapad, pushing her way through the throng of tournament-goers and participants alike. Daiya didn't stop until she reached the doors and broke out into the wide-open air of the city walkways.

Daiya felt suddenly winded, and took a moment to catch her breath. Feeling freer now, she slipped the holojournal into the satchel slung over her shoulder, and waited for the other two to join her.

After all, it seemed like whatever drinks they were about to get, SJ was buying.

Sor-Jan Xantha Juniper​

 

[Juniper]

Juniper lingered, the games catching her attention for a final moment. Her shoulders dropped, the girl falling into place besides SJ as she followed slowly.

what brings you to the tournament?

Juniper glanced back. “I’ve never seen stuff like this before. Not in person.” What happens if you don’t have enough fingers? She bit the question back, Daiya’s fevered attempt to ditch the crowd bringing things back to mind.

“She started it. Honest,” she protested, wanting one of the new comers to not think poorly of her.

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

“She started it. Honest.”

"Of course," the boy answered glibly. Seriously, were they back on that again?

Daiya had left them in a hurry. It seemed as though the walls had started to move in on that one. Fickle. Why had she come to such a crowded venue if she wanted nothing to do with crowds?

As the boy as the other girl emerged from out of the entertainment complex, the boy motioned off to their right. Across the street, cattycorner from where they were now standing, was the diner. The boy looked to his left and right. There was a proper crossing signal, but no street traffic of note, so the boy just crossed the avenue over toward the place.

Perhaps the two would follow suit. Or maybe they would wait for the indicator light to tell them when to go.

Somehow, he doubted either was opposed to jaywalking.