A Visitor to the Future - 111 - Like a Headless Proxy
There was an intense, but brief moment as we celebrated our victory in the round, with Blaise thanking me for choosing the path of 'excitement and entertainment' over the 'one which made bloody sense'. I briefly wondered if he was being sarcastic, but no, the remark was genuine. Antonia punched me affectionately on the upper arm, and Anode wrapped Tungsten into a full-body hug, pinning his arms to his sides and easily lifting him off the ground. The gesture caused my eyes to widen - bio-dev and advanced materials made it hard to estimate anyone's physical capabilities, but the effortless emotional display showcased Anode's true strength.
"I'm so happy that the climbing claws worked as intended!" said Anode, now spinning Tungsten around, "Such a good idea! You looked so cool walking along the walls like a tightrope! "
"Oh! Thanks," said Tungten, voice slightly muffled by Anode's hug. If he could blush in that moment, I got the feeling that he would have.
"I can’t believe they really had a sword in there!" said Sarkona, "And, you know, all the other madness! They super ramped things up for that round!"
"I wouldn't mind getting a look at one of those beetles after the tournament," said Blaise, "Looks like they'd be fun to ride."
Sasha snapped her fingers suddenly, drawing attention - "Talk - later! We must get to work quickly," she said, back-pedalling and motioning for us to follow, "Headless Proxies! Did you forget?"
We quickly moved after her, Anode continuing to carry Tungsten a few meters before he tapped her on the shoulder, causing her to apologize and put him down.
"I only regret my blunder with the Knight," said Tungsten, "But it was a good win once you recovered from it."
"If you hadn’t gotten the sword first, the Squires would have!" reassured Gatecrash, "It could easily have turned out a lot worse. You did fine!"
As we approached the next junction, another team stepped out in front of us. The theming was familiar - they were each adorned in narrow, deep red cloaks with a gold line running diagonally from left to right. These had to be the Castle Smashers. Three of the nine were clearly leading the way, rushing in our direction with purpose - they looked to be CIs, adorned in magnificently crafted silver medieval armour. I slowed my walk a little as they closed in on the team. However, as the first CI spoke, his tone was jovial - not, as I had feared, confrontational.
"What a display!" said the first, his helmet adorned with a large, red feather, "I'd like to quickly congratulate you on the win! We thought we had that one - sure as rocks! I'm Ragtime, and these are my kids, Primrose and Glasscutter!" He gestured to the other CIs at his sides - it was hard to tell that they were his children from their size alone. Both were sporting similar helmets, but I could spy human-looking green eyes under Glasscutter's faceplate.
"Well done on the win!" Ragtime continued, "What do you say, both of you?"
Glasscutter raised their faceplate slightly, seeming somewhat shy, "Thank you for the match."
"And good luck in the next round," said Primrose.
"Thank you!" said Tungsten, "You all played very well too, best of luck in future tournaments!"
Ragtime gave an enthusiastic nod, wrapped his arms around his children, and the three of them moved back to their team and rounded the corner, out of sight. We wasted no time in moving back to our engineering bay.
"I always love to see a parent setting a good example," said Gatecrash to me as we walked, "I think it's really important in settings like this, when your mind is cycling and tensions are high."
"I'll be honest," I said, "I had no idea that children were allowed to play in the tournament. If Ragtime hadn't said something, I wouldn't have known."
"Hah! This is why I have an age feed in my optics," said Gatecrash, "With the flexibility that CIs have in terms of body size and shape, it can be hard to tell how old each of the kids I work with are at first glance. You probably couldn't tell my age from looks alone, either." They cupped a hand to their mouth and whispered the next part to me conspiratorially, "Age feeds are also handy for remembering everyone's birthdays."
I laughed. "How old were those two, then?" I asked.
"Fourteen and fifteen. They're lucky! I wish I could have played sports at that age," came Gatecrash's reply, "And with their parent too? So cute!"
"Is it normal to allow children to play in the same categories as adults these days?" I asked, "Seems like it might be a little unfair."
Blaise chimed in, as he moved into my field of view, "Remember that talk we had about experience giving an unfair advantage? Applies doubly so for the kids. Not sure I could have handled that big of a chip on my shoulder growing up."
Gatecrash nodded, "That's why teaching children about why we play sports - and compete in general - is so important. It's for fun and self-improvement first and winning second."
"That's why I liked that you fought the Knight instead of conceding, despite the risks," added Blaise, "It was fun and entertaining! Plus, you know, the next time you have to fight a giant robot you'll be solid, mate."
Gatecrash sighed, "I'd personally have said how the giant robot could potentially represent any adversity within your life - to be seen as a challenge to be overcome, especially within a safe environment where you're encouraged to do exactly that. But yeah, the literal meaning works too."
We arrived at the engineering area, our time flying by in a buzz of frantic and stressed activity. Sparks flew, crates crashed, and broken components were literally torn out where it was safe to do so, because it was quicker than removing them the intended way. Tungsten's Proxy was badly damaged and required several new core components. Two Proxy heads also needed replacing - and in the scenario that we were in, cosmetics were firmly thrown out of the window as the engineers simply tried to set up something that would work. Such substantial repairs would require almost all the time that we had available. I tried to stay out of their way, acting only as instructed.
Time was ticking down - we barely had five minutes before the next round started and the work wasn't yet finished. This was going to be close.
"I have no gimmick now," said Gatecrash as we watched Sasha lower the new head and neck assembly into the torso of the Proxy, the engineer having shooed our assistance away, "We didn't have enough sensors left to re-build my audio setup, and even if we did we don't have the time to reconfigure them."
"I compromised on neck movement for faster installation," said Tungsten as he brought an empty box back to the rapidly diminishing storage pile. "Shouldn't be too much of an issue considering the field of view on the optics, but I just thought I'd let you know. Climbing claws are a little scuffed, but still functional. How's your Proxy holding up?"
"Pretty good, all things considered," I said, checking the display panel, "I have some joint wear but Blaise didn't have the time to do anything about it before the next round. Head replacements were far more important."
Sasha and Blaise secured the last three bolts on the remaining neck with barely a minute to spare. Any second now, the next team name would appear on the wall, and we'd be off again.