The Light of Polaris

Ch 1- Ze's Intro

The skin on the back of my neck tingles as the synaptic simulator disengages the transcutaneous neural impulse thread. Transmitting input and output through the skin directly to the central nervous system, you can immerse yourself in any type of world you wish. The advantages to training in this system are practically endless. In my simulated training program, time runs twice as fast, allowing you to do 2 hours of simulated training for every one true hour. The best part though, is since you aren't physically doing anything, your body never feels the aftereffects of training. The synaptic simulator feeds input to my brain allowing me to perceive all events inside the simulator, settings can be adjusted to increase or decrease stimuli but decreased pain output would give me no help while I am in the ring.

    "You ready for your fight, champ?" My grandfather walks from our small kitchen of our living quarters with a dish topped with toast and eggs, runny just how I like it.

    "Thanks pops." I disect the food with my fork. I've never been able to eat before a fight but I'll need the energy.

    "T-8 hours until the fight. Boots up in 15min. I'll drive."

    The ride to the arena is short and smooth. Never having to leave Sector 172-4, we take our own hover shuttle. Each major asteroid in the Kuiper Belt is numbered, along with sector cities spread across their surface. The giant rock appears to have random bubbles growing all over the surface. These bubble like domes are permeable energy barriers allowing human inhabitance. Vehicles can pass through, yet it keeps air sealed in tight. Most sectors are mining cities like mine, but some are made for the sole purpose of being out of the Governance authoritarian grasp.

The introductions and interviews are monotonous and forgein to me. Pompous assholes preaching about how they are going to demolish the person on the other side of the cheap stage. Preaching, not doing. I prefer to save my words for something I need to speak about, why waste my breath. Big time fighters have hundred tuning in to media days and introductions. All we have is a handful of drunks from the local bar that hosts the fights.

The bell rings and I stalk forward. I'm facing a fighter that fights here often. I've watched him many times. Studying his movements, his habits, and his weaknesses. When he throws his first punch, he opens the window I have noticed in everyone of his fights. Slightly overstepping with his thrown fist, he doubles the time it takes for him to pull back the extended arm. I slide to the right, feeling his fist graze my left ear. I step forward with my punch before he is able to retract the balled fist. My strike hits home right under his left ear where his jaw meets his temporal bone. The prize money is small, but I don't fight here for the money. It's real life training to me. Practice for my real source of income.

After tucking my brother in, I exit out the back. My grandfather knows where I go, but never says anything. He doesn't have the luxury of lecturing me, it's our only major source of income. This time I have to call a cruiser taxi to be able to travel out of our smaller residential sector to a larger, dirtier sector city. The cruiser taxi passess massive buidlings that nearly stretches to the dome that insulates the city. We dive in between two brightly lit skyscrapers to my drop off. I enter through the main club entrance and make my way to the kitchen. From there I take a deep set of stairs to a guarded door where the money is to be made. The large muscular man at the doors recognizes me and lets me through without showing my card. Hundreds of people are scattered around poker tables. The clothes on their backs could pay my bills for a year. Gambling has been outlawed by the Royal Planetary Governance, but it's nearly impossible to enforce all the way out in the belt.

    "Here for the tables Ze?" One of the waitresses walks up behind me and places her hand on the back of my neck, pulling me in to kiss my cheek. She wears a corset to make her waist smaller, and a low cut top with a push up bra to make her breasts appear larger. She's naturally beautiful, yet still clearly inadequate for this company.