A Visitor to the Future - 117 - Fries and Feedback
The majority of the team took the loss very well - the exception was Sasha, who became a little more reserved and grouchy. With Alexandra's encouragement, though, it didn't take long for her to cheer up.
"I am still a sore loser," explained Sasha afterwards, rubbing one long ear in embarassment, "No matter how long I live, I think I will always be one."
Alexandra kissed her on the cheek, "You're adorable when you're invested in something. Better to be a sore loser forever than lose that." Sasha flashed a rare grin at her partner and rested her head on Alexandra's shoulder.
Regolith and Malati had greeted us with a warm congratulations, and led us to their seats for spectators, outside of the arena we had just fought in. It was a really impressive setup - open to the air, spacious and vibrant. Elevated positions provided a great view over the now-tilted arena below - which was surrounded with some sort of one-way glass, so it was fully visible from outside. There were also huge screens set up to provide zoomed-in views where necessary. Fully-furnished seats were arranged in clusters as opposed to rows - it was like being seated at a comfortable restaurant instead of a sports stadium. Small drones zipped around ferrying snacks, and Blaise ordered a full dinner from one as soon as he sat down. To complete the comfortable atmosphere, nicknacks were littered all around the furniture. I picked up a snow globe with a minature depiction of this arena from a shelf near our table, and Antonia laughed at how it tilted in my hand.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about the stadium was that the stands were only a tenth full. Even considering the matches still going on in the other arenas, the stadium would most likely not see full capacity today.
"I'm starving!" Blaise proclaimed loudly, "Whenever I'm as busy as this, I always forget to eat."
"I think I'll have the same," said Sarkona, "Anyone else?"
The drones quickly brought food and drinks for those that needed it, and I dug into some stuffed peppers and fries - apparently one of Blaise's favorite comfort foods. Tungsten was a little late to meet up with us, having gone to wish our opponents luck in the rest of the tournament - Anode had saved a seat for him, and beckoned him to sit next to her as he approached.
"I'm interested in what you thought of the tournament," said Tungsten to Regolith, "And particularly if you have any feedback for the pilots - especially on my fighting style in particular. Given your expertise, I think it would be quite valuable."
Regolith straighted up, crossing his broad arms across his chest. "I enjoyed the tournament a great deal more than I was expecting, and Malati's company was a treat," he nodded at Malati, who broadly smiled back, "I usually do not enjoy these sorts of sports, but the creativity on display was very entertaining. As for... feedback - my analysis will not be sugar-coated. That being said, will you still accept it?"
"Of course!" said Tungsten. I nodded in-between mouthfuls of food, and Gatecrash shrugged.
"Tungsten first, then. Your fighting style is mechanical and precise, an almost textbook application of theory. Your target assessments were solid, too - you were most skilled at identifying weak points or strategic targets of value. But you currently lack the ability to spontaneously improvise where your opponent does something unexpected and react accordingly. It is not an easily-developed skill, but one that is essential for any hand-to-hand combatant these days, especially considering the sheer variety in our opponents. All in all, I see the beginnings of a very capable fighter in you."
"Thank you!" said Tungsten gratefully.
Regolith then turned to me, "As for you, I am somewhat on the fence. Your technique needs a great deal of work, that is for certain, but you seem to understand an essential principle in squad-based fighting - sometimes one must distract, obstruct, or otherwise hinder opponents to enable the rest of the squad to take them down. So many hand-to-hand combatants these days believe that they can take on the entire solar system and win - your style is the opposite, based upon enabling or taking advantage of your team's strengths, even at the expense of your own success. In the strategic Orgs quite some time is spent on teaching that exact approach. With some training, you would fit into any squad well."
I mumbled a thank you around my food. From what little I knew about Regolith's military past, the feedback was high praise.
"As for you, Gatecrash, I'm not sure what to say," said Regolith, "Perhaps I should be asking you for feedback on my style. I'd very much like to spar with you at some point, if you would permit me. I am not surprised that your opponents in the last round chose to focus on taking you down first."
The realization struck me like a lightning bolt. The target of the wolves had not been opportunistic, it had been intentional. Somehow I'd completely missed that - for all that our own ambassadors had been feeding us intelligence about the other teams, they were equally capable of doing the same. They'd know for certain that Gatecrash was our best pilot.
"I'd also like to offer to make some introductions to the strategic Orgs that I know," continued Regolith, "I am certain they would relish the possibility of studying your fighting style."
Gatecrash held up a palm to object, "I'd be happy to have a sparring partner, but I'll pass on the introductions. That's not why I taught myself to fight."
I swallowed the last of my fries, "Out of interest, why did you learn to fight?" I asked.
Gatecrash adjusted their bandana, "It gave me purpose during a difficult phase of my life. As someone once told me, working with the body can help someone start to achieve mastery of the mind. I will admit that the tournament was a lot of fun though - I might have to compete again at some point in the future. Though I'm starting to build a reputation with the kids at Baobab - they're probably never going to let it go!"
There was laughter from the table.
"It is a shame how the other teams focused you down, though," said Alexandra, "I probably could have done something about that, if the team had let me run some more of my more questionable plans..."
"No!" said Antonia jokingly, "Totally unethical!"
Malati leaned forward in her seat, addressing Alexandra, "You can't just say something like that and not spill the details! What did you have in mind?"
"Bribery for one," said Alexandra plainly, "Offer a bounty in spare parts for those who damage the most problematic Proxies. We could also have collaborated with other teams to do the same."
Antonia shook her head and rolled her eyes.
"Had we done that, though," said Sarkona, "Our reputation would have suffered, and a few part and intelligence exchanges wouldn't have been possible. I think we benefited a lot from dealing with the other teams in good faith."
"Ah," said Malati, who winced for a moment and waggled her head in indecision, "I'm trying to think whether I should tell you or not - I suppose you'd find out anyway. Team Legacy - you were negotiating with them early on? The ones who stormed off? They did ask Heavy Metal to do as much damage to your team as possible in the second match."
"Heavy Metal refused," said Regolith, "To their credit - a good display of sportsmanship. Though I believe that Alexandra's presence in the team was not the sole reason for their actions. They also tried similar deals against two other teams."
Alexandra nodded grimly and Sasha patted her back reassuringly. Blaise shook his head in disapproval, "Well, I know who I'm rooting against for the rest of the tournament."
The conversation turned from there to who some of the favorites were that we hadn't fought yet. The Outcasts had made it into the lower bracket of the elimination round but were having difficulties. The top two standouts were Preservation Momentum and Strategic Arms.
I yawned involuntarily. The combination of good food and exhaustion was starting to make me feel a bit sleepy. I looked around and noticed the signs of tiredness in Blaise and Sasha too. "You know," I said idly to the group, "I think if the tournament had gone on much longer for us, I would have been really exhausted. Does that mean there's a significant advantage to having teams with only CIs? I know CIs can get mentally drained, I'm just talking about the physical tiredness."
Regolith slid a bottle of water across the table towards me as he spoke up. His intuition had been right - I was feeling a little dehydrated. "For all the advantages that CI forms have over humans, do not forget your own strengths. Human bodies are capable of a great deal that CIs are not."
"Like creating performance-enhancing drugs," said Tungsten.
"Wait, what?" I said, confused.
Tungsten reeled off the list on the digits of one hand, "Cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine - these are but a few of the chemicals that your body produces. All of which have a direct impact upon your body and brain. When you are tired or stressed, these can kick in to spur you into action when it is needed the most. CIs have no equivalent processes - therefore in some situations, humans have the advantage."
My brow furrowed, "Really?"
"It's true," said Anode, "As an example, I was part of a study a few years back - the researchers tried to spontaneously scare CIs. It was fun, but it doesn't work - that particular fact has been well-known for hundreds of years. CIs just don't jump."
"Bleh!" shouted Sarkona suddenly at Gatecrash. The suddenness and loudness of the motion made me slightly flinch - but true to what Anode had said, Gatecrash was completely still. "See?" said Sarkona, pointing at Gatecrash.
"I didn't see that one coming at all," said Gatecrash sarcastically, "But even if I genuinely hadn't, I still wouldn't have jumped."
I was clearly misunderstanding something, "But it's obvious that you all have emotions, just like me - Tungsten, you've said so yourself before."
"I said that we have human-like emotions - it is difficult to compare the two, but all evidence points to both humans and CIs sharing the same range. But this isn't an issue of emotion - after all, CIs can get scared - we just don't jump," explained Tungsten.
"I may be able to clarify," said Regolith, "In summary, CIs lack the fight-or-flight reflex that humans have. If we are presented with a scenario where we must either fight or flee, our reaction times are consistent across stressful and non-stressful scenarios. A human, on the other hand, may react quicker to an instinctual threat."
"Bleh," Sarkona said quietly, and mimicked a flinch.
"Precisely!" said Tungsten, "With modern CI substrates as they are, our normal reaction times tend to be a little faster than those of a typical human. But when we add stress into the scenario, human decision-making times become faster. Performance-enhancing stress hormones at work!"
"It is a fairly negligible difference though," said Sarkona, "Not that it hasn't stopped biodevelopers and engineers talking about the difference. At length. For generations. Often for hours at a time! Without taking breath!"
Everyone laughed at that, both CI and human.