Zap's Story
Part 1
Smack! The super charged ball smashed through about 20 bricks before Zap hit it again. Brick after brick flew into Texs playing area, nearly filling the screen.
Better keep up, dude! Dont cross that line! Ha ha ha! Zap taunted.
Ya better watch yerself, boy, I still gotta few tricks up my sleeve! Tex retorted.
Tex hit the ball harder and harder, faster and faster. Soon, he had enough open space. He touched the ball to slow it to a crawl. Zap was too busy with about a dozen metal bricks to notice. Tex pushed the super power button, and the icon slowly filled to the top.
Time to dance, electro boy! Wah hoo!!! Tex yelled as he smashed his charged ball through a row of bricks.
Jesus! Zap swerved his paddle around the stun shots of Texs rotating revolvers, but was hit. Hard. His paddle was out. A yellow warning arrow appeared, suddenly. Oh man... The ball flew past his paddle, and the bricks moved down to the line of destiny. Oh no, oh no! The warning arrow turned red, and the bricks dropped. Too late. The word LOSE appeared on Zaps screen, and Texs image showed up on a golden platform, gloating.
The wall size holovid display shut down, and Tex and Zap walked out of their control pods.
Good game, partner! Tex slapped Zap on the shoulder.
Yeah, good game. Zap felt humiliated. He lifted his metal head and began to turn to the door.
Hey! Tex shouted. I believe... that we had a little wager on this game. Something around... two grand?
Oh, yeah. Here you go. Zap handed Tex a rather large wad of cash. Tex counted it as Zap walked morosely out the door of the arcade.
The night was cold, according to Zaps sensors. As he walked down the lonely alley, all he could think about was his loss that day. I dont get it, I used to be able to kick his tail with a magnet on my head, now Im using every circuit to try and beat him. Then he figured out the problem in three seconds, and spent the rest of the time on his walk home figuring out logarithms.
As he entered his entry code into the building computer, Zap looked around, for nothing in particular. The door slid open, soundlessly, and he stepped in. He walked into his apartment, and he turned on the lights.
The whole place was empty, no one would have to see him. He sneaked into his little room, and turned on his Macintosh G5, an older model. But it was enough to do the job, or play the game. The Game. pop-pop.
Zap was determined, he would not give up. No ball would pass his paddle, no power-up would be left alone, and no power-down would come anywhere close to getting in his way.
Zap, what are you doing?!
Whoa, hey Mini. Didnt hear you come in.
Mini-T wouldnt give up. What are you doing?!
Zap was in the middle of playing with a personal, one-player version game of pop-pop. Zap never played one-player. Im just... practicing, he finally responded, pausing the game, and turning around. If a robot could turn beat red, Zap would be doing it.
I never would have thought... you? Playing alone? Now Ive seen everything!
Listen, you... you... whatever you are! Dont tell anyone, okay? I lost my game today, and I need to work on my strategy.
Dude, its just a game... Mini-T wasnt being very helpful.
Dont say that! Its a sport! And a challenging one, at that! Zap retorted.
Sure, listen, just dont kill yourself over it, okay? Get some sleep, its late.
Sure.
Mini-T went to his room, and Zap was left alone again, with his game, and his thoughts.
Zap restarted at about 10:30 that morning, and went to the modified kitchen to recharge. The room used contain a oven/stove, and a refrigerator. It had a sink, a dishwasher, and lots and lots of cupboards. The cupboards remained, but everything else had been taken out, because Zap considered it unnecessary, being a robot. The sink was a deathtrap, anyway, it had to go. The kitchen was now full of robot vitals, mostly computers, recaliberating equipment, and battery chargers. Being a robot was more expensive than it looked.
As Zap plugged himself in, he went to watch some cartoons, trailing his power cord. Mini-T had left a post-it note on the TV screen, though. He got up to read it.
-Zap-
Went to Radio Shack.
Be back by noon.
-Mini-T-
Zap scanned this information into his temporary memory drive, and turned the TV on.
...are gathering to the arcade today. There must be hundreds of people here, Rick. All of them are here to see the big match today. Unfortunately, one of the main contenders has yet to show up. Mr. Man has been here for over an hour, and has given Zap one more hour to show.
A small fire started in the battery charger.
Oh, $#@%! Zap jumped out of his chair, put out the fire, unplugged himself, and rushed to the arcade with his power supply backpack. He didnt even have time to charge all the way.
Mr. Man was enjoying his special attention. Ha ha, poor ol Zap couldnt even muster up the circuits to show up. Hes got 10 more minutes. Heh.
Swallow those words, Man, youre going down. Zap had arrived.
The crowd went crazy with mixed cheers. Beat him, Zap, you da real Man!!! Go, Mr. Man, go Mr. Man! If you cant beat him, no one can!!!
Mr. Man turned to face his opponent. Thats, he stated with a scary level of calm, Mr. Man.
Zap stared at his foe. Sure it is. Lets go.
Bring it, challenged Mr. Man, and with that, he walked into the arcade. Zap followed, trying to regain every shred of dignity he could. This was truly the sport of warriors.
Striding through the automatic sliding doors, Zap saw the game. The Game. pop-pop. It didnt sound like the sport of warriors, but it was. Two players sit in their respective battle pod. Both pods face a giant wall. When activated, the wall lights up, displaying the game board. Every part of the game is displayed on the wall. The players slide their ID cards through a strip in the pod, and the buttons are set to their preferences. A small, sliding mouse controls the paddle on the board. The music blares, and the game begins. This was pop-pop.
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