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It was the first day onboard the DQO, having run from a Liu-An Gnosia infestation and attempting to quarantine with people Shigemichi had never met, and now his only goals were to maybe make a friend and get out of this situation safely. Luckily for him, a quick conversation with Jonas gave him a solid chance at his first goal, due to their mutual love of games. They’d begun discussing playing some of WFT?! Human Farm, but decided to try some newer games first so others could follow along more easily, and only once they had confirmation of no Gnosia would they have their proper battle on the board. Their trek to the room was also a nice chance to gather five different viewers, which included Sha Ming, Remnan, Gina, Stella, and SQ. Remnan and Stella were hunched over the Spaceball table, Shigemichi and Remnan taking turns talking.
“And the rings on the ends of the table represent mini goals, where an electronic ball sends an impulse to the scoreboard. The middle one is the largest, so it’s only worth one point, but both side ones are worth two!” Shigemichi grabbed his raygun from his belt, spinning it around and pretending to blow it off, as if he’d overused it. “Of course, the shots are way tougher, and your defense team is made to more easily guard the two-point ranges based on their pole placement, so amateur gamers might have trouble. Don’t feel bad if you have to aim for the single point shots for a while, Jonas.”
“Oh, and you can also make some cool trick shots, plus there’s some fun technique-heavy shots from midfield once you’re used to it! The bank shot in last year inter-galactic cup had six shots in the final match alone!” Remnan was watching the board with a glint in his eye, hands resting on one of the grips. “I’ve tried a few such shots myself, but only managed to get a lucky one-point shot banked in once against the actually good players, as it’s not my best game."
Jonas removed his hat from his head, resting it over his chest. “I hear whispers on the wind, and as they reach my eyes, they tell me to watch and wait.”
Remnan’s eyes lit up, darting across the Spaceball table, his hands wrapping around one of the grips when he noticed the gals in the background. “I… I’m taking the other side.”
They each took their respective sides, Stella walking over with pink cheeks. “Would you mind if I watched? I would like a break from the others and their investment in… other games.” Other games? Shigemichi would have to check them out later. But for now…
“Yes, please do, pal! They say the more the merrier, right?” She was so cute when she blushed! If only Shigemichi could find a way to tell her how he- no, he had games to focus on, and maybe he could even impress her, or at least make friends with one of the others here!
“So what game is this?”
“Oh, this is from the makers of WTF?! Human Farm, and it’s called Spaceball. It’s based on some ancient Feetball game, which started as a game with human players and then got condensed into this one here!” Shigemichi was grinning wide now, blood rushing as he pointed to the end goals. “Plus, they have multiple goals now, with the first player to have both at least 25 points and at minimum a 3 point lead, so most players have a bit of a chance to close the gap if they’re losing.” He leaned forward, grateful for the chance to share his love of gaming with someone, let alone someone who was clearly intent on listening, like she wanted to hear more. “Then again, the biggest goal is worth three points, so whoever is in the lead can win at any time, as long as they get enough points, and closely matched opponents often will cause long games, so some tournaments have a point cap of fifty points.”
Suddenly, the alarms blared, LeVi’s voice interrupting the ringing that rattled Shigemichi’s… canals, not exactly ear canals, not after the incident.
“What the hell, LeVi‽” SQ squealed over the systems.
“It is not acceptable to make such a shameless comment while aboard the DQO. Please cease your current plans and do not continue them at any time.”
“I just wanted to know how-”
“This is a clean and proper interstellar vessel. Even saying that is far too obscene!”
“What’s so, like, bad about 3D chess anyhow‽” SQ asked, voice shriller than before.
Oh, that was not a game to play on this ship. It was almost as bad as 3D Poker, or even… could she have been ready to play a game of 3D Billiards, which would have to use the main game room’s table?
“Um, SQ, it’s better to play standard chess, if that’s the sort of game you’re looking for. The normal, 2D one that most people play…” Gina finally said. “And I’m not sure we’d be the best for playing a 3D game with each other.”
“Why? Is it, like, some kinda fetish thing?” Silence clung to the air like dew to blades of grass, SQ watching the expressions change on everyone’s faces: Stella blushing hard as Gina’s brows raised more near their centers, frowning as she scratched gently at one cheek, with Jonas hiding his face in his hat as Remnan glared at her. “Uh… what’s with all those looks, guys? You all seem all totally down right now!”
“It seems this young one knows not the meaning of adding another dimension,” Jonas stated, placing his hat back on his head. “Perhaps the winds should have whispered to her instead, told her of the gold she could mine from another path…”
“Look, SQ is a bit… she seems to not have understood it. How about I go talk with her somewhere else, explain the situation?”
“OMG, Gina, does that mean we’re, like, not about to play 3D Ch-” In response to what SQ was about to finish saying, LeVi’s alarms blared again, SQ shoving her hands over her ears as she ran from the room, Gina following after her.
It seemed this ship would be rather eventful, even ignoring the Gnosia situation.