“We have with us, the newest champions of the EPG – Eastern Holo Division, Team Eclipse! Thank you all for joining us,” The announcer said with exuberance.

Alex had no clue who this guy was, he never did have time to watch the holotube the way most average citizens did. The announcer was probably some exceptionally well-known sportscaster, but to Alex, he was just the guy who helped them win the championship.

“Thank you for having us,” Alex replied without any inflection.

The announcer didn’t miss a beat and turned to their healer, “Bree, You were the first to be wounded and killed, how did that make you feel?”

With a smile towards the holocam, Bree shook her blonde head and winked, “Well, Charles, it was part of the plan for me to be wounded first. My death wasn’t surprising in that situation.”

Alex wasn’t surprised that Bree knew who the announcer was. She had a mind like a steel trap. Bree could probably tell the rest of the team every last detail about the man, or anyone else working in the league in any capacity. There was a reason she was his co-captain.

“Part of the plan?” Charles looked confused and turned to Alex, “As captain of team Eclipse, could you elaborate on that?”

“You see, Charles, we waited until you were busy announcing the other assassin’s movements to put our plan in place,” They’d review the vids eventually, so Alex didn’t even try to hide how they won. “The Arachnid’s assassin threw one of his blades. At that exact moment, Trin threw a blade at Bree, Urie slid onto his stomach next to the log in the clearing and Nick used wind funnel to cover Urie with foliage, hiding him from the other team.”

Charles’s jaw dropped, “You attacked your own healer?” He seemed to be at a loss and kept blinking and moving his mouth like a stunned fish.

“And used you to announce the wound, making them think their assassin had actually hit Bree,” Trin said with a huge satisfied grin.

Charles almost dropped his fake microphone at that revelation. No one needed those heavy mics any longer; it was merely a prop for nostalgia purposes. The holocam could catch a whisper and automatically raised the sound to the correct level.

“You used me?” Charles asked faintly.

“No,” Alex corrected, “we used anything in our power, that was legal to use in a competitive match between professionals, to beat an excellent team that had a much higher chance at winning due to experience and funding.”

“Well said,” Nick said softly. Nick squeezed Alex’s shoulder.

Charles nodded, “Yes, well said, and there you have it fans, team Eclipse used strategy to defeat team Arachnid in the upset of the century! Stay tuned, we’ll show the clips of how they did this after these messages!” As soon as the light on the hovering holovid turned red, The announcer scrambled to his feet and ran towards the central command banks, the holovid followed him dogging Charles’s every step. His assistants were also running around madly, trying to load the content before the commercials finished.

“I think that’s all the vid time we’re getting,” Urie chuckled and rubbed a hand through his short white-blonde hair, “Let’s go get drunk!”

The group laughed and stood, then made their way out of the league’s main hub and into the chaos of the Eastern Continent’s central city, Sinah.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sinah was a giant city, it took a person approximately five hours to get from one side to the other using a hovercab. Instead of traveling hours from one side of the city to the other for the championship, Alex had rented a suite of rooms for everyone to stay in for the duration. It was there that they went to celebrate.

The captain watched his teammates ordering carte blanche from the waiter widget as he sat back in a classic leather recliner.

Bree and Urie’s blonde hair stood out from the dark hair the rest of them had. The two of them were both throwbacks and naturally blonde, though Bree’s had an ash undertone, and Urie’s was a startling white blonde. The fans often posted questions about it since it was such a rare trait in this day and age. The rest of the group had brown or black hair, though Alex thought his own long black hair was just as lovely as their short blonde hair, in its own way.

Other than the hair, everyone looked like a cohesive unit. Every single team member was as fit as any Olympian or martial arts expert. Each of them was wearing matching, snug-fitting Unisuits that were considered standard wear for any esport athlete. For all their form-fitting tightness, they were still made of the softest synthetics, and were so comfortable that sometimes you’d have to look down to make sure you weren’t naked!

The waiter widget hovered over the table and covered it with the best synth printed food money could buy. No expense was spared that evening. The prize money from winning the championship could pay for the feast well over a thousand times and still be enough for the team to stay afloat for the next few years.

Alex felt that everyone on the team deserved this extravagant celebration. Between the prize money and all the endorsements the team would have, their futures were secure. They’d done what they’d set out to do, and turned everyone onto their ear with the shock. He was proud of his team. He no longer had to worry about what would happen to this group; he considered his family.

Life hadn’t been easy for their parents or grandparents. Seventy-five years ago, the third world war broke out when a tiny little country that wasn’t even on anyone’s radar made a nuclear bomb and launched it without hesitation at the United States of America.

The USA immediately reciprocated, and before anyone realized it, a quarter of the world was covered in damage and radiation. Surprisingly, no one blamed the US for retaliating, but it did lead to the destruction of all the governments in the entire world.

Years ago, during Alex’s grandparents’ day, all the countries signed a particular document with the United Nations. The document stated that if another world war broke out, all governments would cede their lands to the United Nations until the altercation could be ended.

When the UN took over, they were able to quickly stop the war, but when it came time to give the power back to the countries, they declined, saying that the calamity caused by wars was too damaging to the environment and the lives of the people of Earth. In other words, they usurped the entire world, making themselves kings.

Alex would never say any of that out loud, of course. The censors would immediately fine him, and they might even decide he needed to be imprisoned. It was better to keep those sorts of thoughts to oneself.

After the Central Government was created, the world no longer had countries. The CG divided the Earth into cities, and each member of the CG, (some of which were still from the original UN- though those people were close to the end of their lives), ruled these cities as “Knights.”

Luckily, during this time of turmoil, technological advancements didn’t stagnate. In fact, a lot of things flourished. For example, modern medicine no longer had giant pharmaceutical companies hiding the cures of diseases so they could sell more drugs. (It turned out those conspiracy theorists were right about that.) Doctors worked hand in hand with intelligent AI’s who helped diagnose issues before they had time to take root, and gene therapy was successfully integrated into medical procedures.

Best of all, in Alex’s eyes, the creation of true virtual gaming happened right after he was born. (A person had to have their priorities straight, after all.)