Europe, distant future. A meteorite impacted on the area of Russia, turning the area into a dead zone. Moreover, it emits a strange radiance which increases the impact survivors and their offsprings' endurance and strength, but also causing them to...
Augments are the only performance-increasing substances legal to Neoclash due to its permanent nature. Using any other, temporary stimulants is strictly forbidden. A Champion who is caught taking such stimulants or is caught giving performance-decreasing substances to their opponents will be immediately suspended from the tournamment and banned for three months from taking part in official Neoclash tournamments. The time of the ban is doubled each time this violation is commited.
Official Neoclash rulebook
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The fastest route from England to DIANA is using a ship. And it's not just any kind of ship.
We wait for our ship in the Newcastle harbour. The states of DIANA are wealthy enough to make them accessible from almost anywhere in Europe either by their own direct trains, airplanes or ships. The direct ship from Newcastle to Bergen, Norway makes its cruise twice a day, at nine in the morning and nine in the evening.
We decided to catch the morning one. The sun is rising over the water and the fresh wind with a salty aftertaste is playing with my hair. There are already numerous ships waiting by their wharfs and countless people who probably also want to visit the demilitarized miracle of northern Europe.
Ryan checks the digital tickets for the cruise on his pentop - for a hundredth time already. "I thought the tickets straight to DIANA will cost us a fortune," he says. "But even though they are wealthy, they keep their prices low, at least for transportation. They want as much people as possible to visit them."
"They are now the most densely populated area in Europe, right?" I remark.
My partner nods. "And for a good reason. After their demilitarization, the best brains of the whole Europe started to seek their fate there. There were so much of them the states had to build bigger and better cities to provide them homes and workplaces."
"The city where the tournament is taking place, Bifröst, is one of them, right?"
"Once again correct, Zoya. The city of Bifröst was built between the years 64 and 70 after Impact. While Oslo remained the capital of Norway, Bifröst became even more important in its own way. It's the capital of Norse science and technology, it has been compared to American Silicon Valley. It's basically a synonym for progress. I've visited Bifröst only once during my internship and... I can't wait to return there!"
The thrill and zeal in Ryan's voice is contagious. I wonder if DIANA is really as impressive as Ryan describes it, or it's just a haven of nerds unfriendly to common people with IQ under 130.
The partial answer to my questions arrives several minutes later, exactly at nine. It's a giant, several floors tall cruise ship using the color pattern of white, black, blue and dark gray. I can already read the huge letters on its side: HEIMDALL: The DIANA travel company.
There is a flag on the top of the ship. It follows the standard patterns of nordic states: a sideways cross is dividing the flag into several parts. The upper half os black, lower part is white, the cross itself is dark blue. Additionally, there is a light blue cogwheel symbol which shares its centre with the cross.
