Stephen's Secure Blog #100
These stories about Stephen began was when he was 10 years old, and
moving to a new part of the country to attend a special school for
gifted students, in the 1950's. This was from a time before computers
would fit on a desk, and when people communicated with friends in other
countries by actual letters sent through the postal service. He wrote
225 of them to a friend. He stopped writing to his penpal, but found he
still wanted to record his life, in case he lost his memory again, and
wrote 30 entries in his first logbook. Then he wrote to an artificial
intelligence called Geenee, in the master computer in his school for
gifted students, which he started attending in 2016. Now it's after
2018, and he's continuing to save his memories in a secure blog.
All characters are fictitious, even if some of them might have names
that belong to some actual people, or act like people we know.
The stories may not be posted in chronological order.
Stephen is 14 in this story, in the Summer, after the end of year 4 of
his special school.
Stephen's Secure Blog #100 "More Laser Tag"
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Passinchance was waiting for us at the museum entrance. After I
introduced everybody, Passinchance said, "I'm VERY glad you have come
back! Are you going to compete? Wait, let me change that. What are you
going to compete in?" I grinned and said, "I'm going to give the Laser
Tag venue a computer program. They might like us to test it, competing
against ourselves." He said "Oh! Wow! Will you grant me the match
production rights to that?" I said "Agent's cut." He said "Ouch!" I
laughed and said, "Building schools is expensive." He made a big deal
of sighing, and said, "Accepted." I said "Divided among the four of us,
to get their credit accounts active, after you arrange for them to be
created. Here are their Med Certs." He said "You certify their
sportsmanship?" I said "Absolutely!" He grinned and said, "Just a
formality. I knew you wouldn't ask for this, who didn't qualify. I'll
get this done, and be right back." We waited for him in a park. After
an hour, he came back, and we went to the LT venue.
I spoke with one of the Games Masters I had before, about the
computer program. After describing it, I said, "You might want to have
it tested for safety, before actually using it." He grinned and said,
"You mean for a coding mistake. We know you wouldn't do anything bad to
us." I said "Oh. I'm not used to this popularity thing. Embarrassing."
He said "Well deserved. You're here, you have to accept it. It's part
of our competitive nature, that we revere the best of us, which now
includes you." Ichi said "He does deserve it, more than he wants to
think about it. We all know it." I poked him. The GM said "Your program
will be examined automatically. Our hackers and crackers are very
skilled, and VERY competitive, so we have to be just as good, and
hopefully better, to keep the games fair." I said "I can understand
that. Would you like to test how it works, with us, competing against
each other?" His eyes almost popped out, and he made some strange
noises. Percy said with a grin, "That could pass for a yes, I think."
Passinchance laughed. I said to the GM, "If that really is yes, and not
just a life threatening medical condition, please make the arrangements
with our agent, while we decide among ourselves the composition of our
teams."
I ported a ruby and a sapphire to my closed and shielded hands, and
said to Ichi, "We Captains will be on opposing teams. Blue is Hassan,
and red is Percy. Choose a hand." He chose left, and I opened my hands
up, and we found out Percy was his teammate, and Hassan was mine. I
closed my hands and ported the stones back to my workshop. I said in
contact, +No 4th. No external energy discharges. No levitation.
Strength and speed 4 times max. We look at where we are supposed to be
seeing, so they won't guess psionic. Comments?+ They all agreed that
was fair. The arrangements were made. The match was scheduled to start
in about an hour and a half, to allow for notices, because it was going
to be televised live on one of the LT channels, in pay per view. We
would receive a large part of the proceeds. We would also receive 5% of
the betting, and the government would take their usual 5%, which was
why there was almost no personal income tax. The game time limit was
set at 45 minutes. The GM asked us if we would like to warm up before
the match, and led us to a big open gym where other LT players were
practicing. We didn't do game practice. Instead, we did martial arts to
pass the time. That could have been something of a mistake, because we
drew quite a crowd. We couldn't do anything about that, so we continued
with our pounding each other with strikes, and tossing each other with
fancy throws, and doing advanced acrobatics in the middle of it all. It
was a fun light warmup. When it was time, we put on the LT gear, and
went to the competition area. The GM said "That was some workout!
Aren't you tired from all that?" I grinned and said, "Not in the least.
That was just a light workout for us. A heavy workout would be a little
too er, unusual for us to do in public." He said "Wow!" Percy said to
me, but so all could hear, "I'd give a lot to see that he's imagining!"
We all laughed. Hassan said "I hope it included something sexual." The
GM almost collapsed in laughter.
I told Passinchance, "Don't bet on the game. We really are equals,
and even we don't know who will win. We wouldn't want you to lose any
credits because of us." He said "Alright. I think." I laughed. Then we
entered the start area for the game. The game began, and we all
separated and ran to our own picked stations. Then Ichi and I used the
same strategy. Try to pick off the weaker players first. After 6
minutes of work, I managed to hit Percy with a laser. It took ten more
minutes of fancy and exciting action, before Ichi, who was at a
disadvantage then, managed to take out Hassan. Then it was just the two
of us for the remainder of the time, with some very fast action. Twice
I had possible opportunities to get him, but held off to make the game
last. That was a mistake, because at the last minute of the game, he
got ME, by using a very risky jump over. After the game was called,
Ichi I hugged and laughed. I said "That was a great move!" He said
"Just luck it worked." I said "We make our own luck. You beat me, and I
love it. I'm VERY proud of you. Thanks a lot for a great time!" Then
Percy and Hassan joined us, and we hugged and laughed some more.
The GM said "A fine display of sportsmanship!" I said "In our
schools, we learn a lot of things. One of the most important is love,
and it becomes a central part of who we are." He said "Now I
understand. It shows." He grabbed Ichi's arm and raised it and said,
"Ichi, I declare you and Percy the winners!" Ichi bowed, and we all
applauded him. We hugged some more. He said "Thank you Stephen and
Hassan for a great game, and all Posintan, for allowing us to compete."
He bowed again.
We had to dodge a lot of admiring fans in leaving the venue. We
waited in a park, which Posintan has a LOT of, for the results of the
pay per view system. Even Passinchance was shocked by the results, and
even more shocked by the revenue from the betting. We got two credits
for each viewer, and there were over 2 billion viewers. Most of them
had bet, and so did the ones who watched at the venue, which gave us
another 3 billion. Even with the manager cut of 15%, we got a whole lot
of credits. Passinchance was almost having a heart attack. We had to
force him to sit down and control his breathing. Ichi said "Maybe we
shouldn't come here again, and endanger our good friend's health."
Passinchance gasped, and said "Don't!" I said "Then we should do what
he wants, and don't." He said "No, I mean don't not come. Oh, you know
what I mean!" We laughed.
Ichi, Percy, and Hassan, wanted to give me their shares of the
proceeds to fund the schools. I said "It's not necessary now. I have
enough. Anyway, you can always do that later if needed. The money
doesn't mean anything to us, so it can stay where it is." Passinchance
said "I still have trouble understanding that." I said "Our spaceship
we used to come here; we made it, and four others, mostly for fun. We
make what we want, and that isn't much. We don't actually buy anything
of real value off of our planet, which is not of the GC, so what do we
personally need GC credits for?" He said "Thank you. I understand you
better, now. I didn't like thinking you might be crazy." We laughed.
I said "This visit is ending, but I'll be back with more of us to
compete, not to earn credits, which we wouldn't refuse, but to secure
citizenship for my fellows." He said "I understand. I hope you come
back soon, for me in love and friendship, and for all my people, the
same." I said "But not right away, so as to not endanger your health."
We grinned at each other. I said "You saw us hugging each other. You
might not know what that involves among us, which goes beyond the
purely physical. With your permission, I would share that with you." He
nodded, and we all stood. We bowed to each other, and then I hugged him
with love. When I let go, he fell back onto the park bench in dazed
amazement, and we walked away. Percy was muttering, "I just LOVE that!"
Hassan grinned and hugged him in agreement.
We went to the hotel and were ready to check out, when Ichi said, "We
are not paying, but the hotel is still charging for a whole day. I say
we shouldn't waste that, considering we have a lot to celebrate." That
meant one thing. Our things. Using them. Which we did, and a lot of nut
play in the link, too. We squirted a LOT, very hard. Well, it was an
exciting day, and deserved an exciting finish.
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Grant
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