“Where are you going?”

Lucas jumped and looked back inside the elevator. Flash held the doors open with an open look of disgust on his face. After dinner with his mother, Lucas had excused himself and decided to head straight up to his room. Totally engrossed in thought, Lucas hadn’t even noticed Flash was in the same lift. 

“Going to my room.” Lucas gestured down the hallway.

“Yeah, this is floor twenty three idiot. We’re on floor thirty two.”

“Oh.” was all Lucas could manage.

He stepped back into the elevator and tried to avoid eye contact.

Flash gave a loud sigh as the doors closed, “I don’t understand you Lucas. If I hadn’t played Focal Point with you for two years, I would never have guessed that you and Silence were the same person. How can someone so oblivious and awkward in real life be that confident and powerful in game? Explain that to me.”

Lucas shuffled in place and kept his head down. “I just like games better.”

“Maybe I can help you out with that,” Flash reached out and patted Lucas on the back, “Plague and I met some college girls who are going to buy us some drinks tonight. Why don’t you come along.”

Lucas frowned. It was already late in the evening, not to mention that both he and Flash were underage.

Flash saw his facial expression and laughed. “Didn’t I say they would be buying? Besides, maybe being drunk will help your confidence levels.”

“Alan won’t approve…” Lucas began to protest.

“Alan doesn’t have to know,” He grabbed Lucas’ shoulder and playfully shook him, “Come on man. There’s nothing to worry about.”

Lucas shook his head. “I need to prepare for tomorrow’s match. I need to watch more games from Phoenix Esports.”

Flash groaned and ran both his hands over his face. “All you do is watch other people play Lucas. You never leave your hotel room if it isn’t time for a match. Loosen up a bit.”

Lucas kept his head low. “It's the finals.”

“Look man,” Flash turned Lucas forcefully around to face him, “Those girls were really excited when we mentioned that you’d be coming along. We just need you to show up for a bit then you can do whatever you want.”

The elevator stopped at the thirty second floor. Lucas pulled himself away from Flash’s grip.

“Fine.” Flash’s anger came quickly back to the surface. “Go watch your stupid matches.”

Lucas stumbled out of the elevator and into the hallway. Flash didn’t follow.

“Do you want to know why everyone on the team hates you Lucas?” Flash called out. “It’s because the world doesn’t know me as Flashpoint. The world knows me as Silence’s teammate.”

Lucas looked back, surprised at the brutal honesty from Flash.

“We all look pathetic next to you. Even if we leave, no team is going to want to pick us up because our stats are absolute trash. How am I expected to have a high number of eliminations when you take out every team single handedly? How am I going to continue my career when it looks like I have to be carried by you every match?”

With intense hatred in his eyes, Flash removed his arm from the doors and allowed them to slowly close.

“I hope she destroys you tomorrow.”

Flash might as well have punched Lucas repeatedly in the stomach. Lucas tried to hold himself together as he approached his hotel room. He shakily removed his room card from his pocket and opened the door. This might have served as his temporary home, but it certainly didn’t feel like it. Lucas could never quite get used to hotel rooms. The beds were far too soft and everything seemed too clean to even touch. There was little here that could comfort Lucas’ anxiety.

Flash’s words continued to bounce around him as Lucas sat on the cold leather couch. He needed to clear his mind. Lucas picked up a small remote off of the table in front of him.

Pressing a small button on the side, Lucas raised the remote to his mouth, “Screen on.”

The massive television on the far wall blinked to life as it obeyed his command. Highlights from local news stations began to cycle across the screen.

“Bring up Phoenix Esports’ semi-final matches from today. Game one in the top left corner, game two in the top right, three in the bottom left, and four in the bottom right.” Lucas ordered into the remote.

The screen quickly complied and four streams began to play simultaneously. Lucas sunk down into the couch. There she was. Front and center of all four matches. Phoenix Esports and Defcon Zero Gaming were in separate competitive regions so they didn't meet during the regular season. Lucas had yet to officially play against her. Unofficially, Silence and Ares had already played a match against one another.

“Bring game one to full screen.” Lucas directed the remote in his hand.

The screen blinked as the top left corner quickly expanded to fill the entire television. Lucas let his mind slip back into its analysis mode as the replay restarted from the beginning and set the volume to zero. He would spend this night like he did most nights, alone in his room watching Focal Point replays. After a few hours, Lucas drifted quietly to sleep while the soft light from the television continued to dance silently in the background.

The first flicker of consciousness returned to Lucas and caused him to shift slightly where he lay. The couch seemed much stiffer than Lucas remembered. It was also cold against his cheek and hands. The cushion almost felt metallic. Lucas also became aware of voices in the distance. While muffled at first, the voices grew louder by the second.

“...Electrical surge, much higher than anticipated.”

The voices were yelling at each other.

“Get it under control. Someone get the overhead lights back on. I can’t see a thing.”

“Working on it sir.”

An unsettling dread fell over Lucas’ mind as he groggily began to process the information around him. His eyes flew open but it was still dark. He placed his hands on the ground to confirm that he had indeed been sleeping on a metallic floor.

“Did we lose him?” A gruff authoritative voice shouted somewhere behind Lucas.

He turned quickly and could see several faces illuminated by computer screens in the darkness.

“I don’t think the retrieval took place sir.” One of the faces turned to a dark figure behind them. “We went down right as it started.”

“You think? Or you know?” The dark figure demanded.

“I…” The man opened his mouth to respond but was saved by another announcement.

“Lights coming back up now.”

True to the woman’s word, bright lights burst into existence all over the ceiling. Lucas raised his arms over his head to shield himself from the intense change. After a moment of adjustment, Lucas managed to open his eyes slightly to observe his surroundings for the first time.

He currently sat atop a stainless steel platform in the center of a large room. The ceiling and walls were completely covered by machinery, wires, and flashing lights. An array of satellite dishes on the ceiling were all trained on the exact spot that Lucas found himself in. The platform was only a foot off the ground and was completely surrounded by high tech computer stations. Lucas felt his mouth dry as the people who had spoken came into clearer view. There seemed to be two groups in the room. Those closest to the platform appeared to be scientists, complete with lab coats, glasses, and pocket protectors, while the other group were clearly military. Outfitted with fatigues, sidearms, and simple green hats which all displayed an army logo front and center.

Lucas couldn’t help himself as his mind began to run through all military uniforms, past and present, foriegn and domestic, and try to match what he saw in front of him. The fatigues were similar to the standard US army fatigues, the emblem on the hats also indicated as such, but there was something off about them. Lucas couldn’t put his finger on what it was but something was different. Just like he couldn’t quite place what was wrong with the Beretta M9A3 pistols aimed in his direction by the same individuals.

“Stand down.” The gruff authoritative voice ordered. “Are you Lucas Wright?”

Lucas turned to find a man slowly approaching the raised platform. The uniformed officer raised a hand to the soldiers behind him and they all lowered their weapons. The man’s physical features, his graying brown hair, his wrinkled face, his fierce blue eyes, were all lost on Lucas.  As usual, even in a situation like this, Lucas couldn’t turn off the portion of his brain that stored information linked to Focal Point and all things military.

Male. Age would indicate career officer. General. Five stars on the shoulders. General of the army? Air force? Admiral of the fleet? Ribbons and medals suggest branch of service as army but…

Lucas tilted his head as he looked closer at the rows of colored awards.

Something is off. I don’t recognize most of these. There are plenty of campaign medals but they don’t match any conflict I’m…

“Son? Can you hear me?”

The general’s gruff voice snapped Lucas out of his spiraling thoughts. Lucas blinked and looked around once more. He now realized that everyone in the room was staring directly at him. Not trusting himself to speak, Lucas simply nodded at the general’s question. Lucas’ eyes flickered down to the name badge on the uniform.

Corter.

The general slowly ascended the ramp in front of Lucas but stopped a few feet away.

“Are you okay?” He stooped down his six foot frame so his eyes were level to Lucas, “You’ve just made quite the trip young man. Do you feel ill?”

Lucas’ heart hammered in his chest. It had been going full speed ever since the lights had come on, but Lucas was only now becoming aware of it. As he turned his focus inward for the first time, Lucas realized that he was freezing. Sweat and cold chills began to build all over his face and back. His hands felt clammy and the room began to spin. 

“Get a medical team in here now.” The general turned and shouted to the room behind him.

The motionless figures sprang to life and ran every which way. Lucas’ vision began to blur and he fell backwards, unable to hold himself up. The panicked sounds that surrounded him faded slowly, along with his consciousness.

JTNestman

Thanks for reading. I expect the next chapter to be up a few days from now.