Alan Sturm opened up the locker room door just in time to catch the last player logging into the game shown on screen. Alan walked briskly over to the back left corner and pulled out his plush gaming chair. Positioning himself a good distance away from the wall mounted television, Alan sat down and allowed himself to sink into the soft leather. Benjamin, timid as always, hesitated in the doorway.

“Have a seat Ben.” Alan gestured to one of the empty chairs to his right.

The analyst sat down too fast and nearly fell off the chair. Alan hid his smirk and turned back to the screen where the announcers were filling in time before the first round could officially start.

“.... first time tuning in, Focal Point is a five on five objective based first person shooter. Two teams will take turns defending or attacking an objective situated on the map.”

A  2-d graphic appeared highlighting an area of today’s map.

“The attacking team must destroy a computer terminal at this location while the other team defends it until the time runs out. The other victory condition is an elimination of the opposing team. Each player only gets one life per round so team members must work together to maintain a numbers advantage over their opponents.”

The announcers continued to drone on about Focal Point but Alan had grown bored of the rehash of knowledge. He plucked a remote from a pocket on the side of his chair and pressed a few buttons. The screen changed from the public broadcast to Defcon gaming’s private channel. The screen was divided up into six different sections. One for each of the player’s point of view as well as a screen solely devoted to the map where each player was represented by a small cursor.

“All right Benjamin,” Alan spoke to the new analyst, “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

Alan pointed toward the last screen. “Run me through your thoughts on the map.”

Alan watched the man straighten in his chair as he inspected the television.

“Seaside Pass,” Benjamin named the map, “We’re on offense to start which is a slight disadvantage to us. There are two main paths to take towards the objective. The highway.”

Benjamin pointed to the left side of the map.

“And the courtyard.” He pointed to the right. “The courtyard is a wide open killing ground, which is one of the reasons the inclusion of Seaside Pass in the professional map pool was considered a mistake, and the main reason most of the fighting takes place on the highway.”

Benjamin stood to get closer to the screen. Alan smiled. He was glad to see the man finally in his comfort zone.

“The teams on defense will typically station two to three players on the overpass,” Benjamin pointed to a location halfway down the left side, “Where they have an elevated advantage over teams pushing through that area. One or more players are usually stationed inside the terminal building. While the last man typically watches the courtyard in case the offensive team tries to cross there.”

Alan nodded. “All accurate.”

Benjamin fell silent as the first round started. Red cursors that represented GrandMaster Gaming’s players quickly darted through the map and took up almost exactly the positions that Benjamin suggested the defensive team would take. The blue cursors, representing Alan’s Defcon players, all stayed exactly where they had started. All except one. Benjamin looked back at Alan, eyebrows raised.

“From time to time, Silence requests the first round to be handled alone.” Alan explained. “The rest of the team will defend the spawn location until Silence is eliminated or he gives them the green light to move up.”

Benjamin nodded but still had a confused glint in his eyes.

Alan leaned forward. “Surely you’ve seen rounds like this in the past?”

“Of course,” Benjamin nodded, “But never in a semi-finals match. I had previously assumed it was because of Silence’s ego or something like that. I guess I don’t understand now that I’ve met him.”

“I wouldn’t call it ego.” Alan smirked. “I don’t think Lucas has it in him to be prideful. The only thing Lucas really cares about is competition. If I had to bet money, I’d say Lucas does this to push himself.”

“If you had to bet money?” Ben blanched. “You mean you never asked him why he requests solo rounds?”

Alan shook his head. “You don’t question a genius when his methods produce miracles. Watch.”

JTNestman

That concludes the first day chapter dump. I'm aiming for three chapters a week moving forward. If at any time you'd be interested in reading five chapters ahead of the current release or if you'd like to support my writing feel free to join my patreon. Link is on my profile page.