Daniel sat backstage in a small changing-room, dominated by mirrors and lights. He perched on the only decent chair, facing a mirror and staring at himself intently. He was twenty-one and looked youthful. His brown eyes indicated a worldly awareness that didn’t quite synchronise with his age. Daniel was six feet two inches and lean. The Pod usage had changed his physique into an appearance of flexible dynamism. Much like Yoga, movement within the Pod was controlled and required great dexterity. Daniel spent as long as five hours training solidly, crouching and leaning into certain moves. He had developed muscles he never knew existed. His fitness was at its peak, and had to be for the Pod to be of any use to him in E-Sports.

His dark brown hair was short and flat. The rigorous movement of combat, combined with the visor around his head made long hair an annoyance for Gaming. His face was pale and had a look about it which suggested contemplation. He was a quiet man, and was used to silent concentration. His reputation on the Net was one of integrity and good sportsmanship. Very few people really knew him though. Gwyn had changed that part of his life for good.

She had been on the same late flight from London to LA. He had spent most of the flight watching recordings of the world’s best Duellists on his Laptop. She had been curious, and after the initial explanation of what he did, the rest of the conversation had flitted from one subject to the next.
Gwyneth worked in Marketing, and although based in London, worked overseas on a regular basis. She spoke of her life with innocence and humour. Daniel found himself talking about his Father, and the rift that gaming had caused. It only seemed like minutes had passed when the Captain announced the imminent time of arrival at Los Angeles International Airport.

They had stayed in touch over the ensuing days. Gwyneth came to see him compete in the semi-final, the only game that Daniel was to lose at the CPL. After the tournament, on the Sunday, they roamed the bars of LA, getting drunk and losing themselves in each other.

He looked at the reflection in the mirror, and felt the changes she had bestowed upon him. He felt alive. For the first time in years, the real world was becoming an important place for him to be. He had noticed that his training had stopped being so rigorous in the last few weeks, as his time with Gwyn became more necessary. Gaming was becoming a chore for the first time in his life. Like most pro-gamers, ennui sets in from time to time, but Daniel felt that something inside him had changed. He feared deep down that he may be losing his edge.

A young woman poked her head round the changing-room door and beckoned him.

“It’s almost time, Daniel.”

He stood up and followed the woman into the dark corridor behind the Studio.

“And sitting with me today is one of our brightest young stars in the field of E-Sports Duelling. Winner of the United Kingdom CPL qualifiers For Doom 4. Third place in last years Global CPL, and the highest earning gamer in Europe. Daniel Matthews aka Rail Raptor, welcome.” The interviewer was Tony Knight, the face of BBC’s chat show, Sporting Greats. He was a handsome, permanently forty-something face of TV, and well known for his no-nonsense interview technique.
“Hi.” Daniel smiled disarmingly, he could feel the lights in the studio on his face. It was uncomfortably warm.

“Daniel, the nation has found a new form of entertainment. Doom 4 is featured on three evening programmes throughout the week in this country alone. Duels are broadcasted live to our TV’s and the Webcast rights for the coverage of the CPL is astronomical. How do you account for such a rapid and dramatic uptake of computer games in the nation?” He was smiling, allowing Daniel to ease into the interview with a question designed to give Daniel a podium for his views.

“Well Tony, it hasn’t actually been as rapid as you may imagine. TV has become interested in gaming since the graphics of computers became too good to ignore. But gamers like myself have been playing various games for up to 15 years on the Net. Computers and consoles have been enormously popular for over 30 years. I think the whole scene has just grown up with its maturing community. The people who were obsessed with games at the start are now in their forties and fifties, running companies and influencing the trends of today.” Daniel noticed that Tony was nodding intently, like an eager pupil. But his eyes seemed distant, as if he was composing his next question.

“Doom 4 looks amazing, it is a true spectator sport, and as such I get paid well for duelling.” Daniel said with a humble smile on his face. Tony laughed at the camera briefly, and then became serious, levelling his gaze at Daniel.

“But Daniel, how do you defend the simulation of violent acts as a form of recreation? Surely you must acknowledge that computer games, especially Doom 4, are detrimental to the well-being of the children playing them.” Tony projected the question like a barrister pitching a surprise witness at the accused. Daniel was relieved that this inevitable question was being dealt with now. He was glad that the interview wouldn’t conclude on this note.

“Firstly, let me say that the game itself carries an adult certificate, and the CPL does not allow under eighteens to compete in it’s tournaments.” He said in all seriousness.

“The accusation that computer games affect or influence people to actually go out and kill is totally unproven. It stems back to killings in America back in the nineties, where a group of children went berserk in a school. These children had been part of a Quake Clan, and as such, the blame was centred on the computer game. Parenting is a major factor in how a child turns out.” He tried not to pronounce the cynicism of this comment, but it was there all the same.

“The Media bombards us with images of death and violence all the time. Mass entertainment is all about death or love. Games like Doom 4 take the voyeuristic factor out of killing, but it is still very much grounded in fantasy. Psychological research into the behaviour of killers has suggested a link with acts of cruelty in early life. If a game is construed as an act of cruelty, then there may be a case against computer games.” Daniel felt like a Pitt-Bull owner, trying to convince a group of Postmen that it was cute. The Postmen would never change their opinion, and Daniel knew that thousands of people watching this show would never swallow what he had said. But he persevered regardless.

“Man has been playing games like Chess for thousands of years. With Chess, you decide when to kill and who to sacrifice. It’s a brutal game.” Tony nodded in a sagely fashion. Daniel leant forward and looked at him, trying to encourage a different question. He knew the argument well, and had read up prior to the interview on current opinion.
“Yes I see what your getting at, but how do you justify the death of a teenager in Swedish Cyber-café only last week. The boy had defeated his killer in a local duel. I have the clipping here” He raised the paper into camera shot, and read from it.

“The duellist who lost, went over to the teenage boy and shot him three times in the head. He then shot three of the dead boy’s clan, killing two of them instantly, before turning the gun on himself.” Tony shot a glance at the camera, and then stared at Daniel.

“This sort of incident is becoming more and more widespread. Globally, there have been seven similar incidents in the last year. Surely these games are to blame?” The light above camera two turned green, Tony sat back and studied Daniel. The pro-gamer took a sip of water as the camera tracked his face closely.

“Violent crime is on the increase Tony. The emergence of these incidents is purely based on a rapid increase of cyber-cafés in our towns and cities. The amount of killings we read about occurring in Shopping Malls has never brought consumerism into question. It is simply a case of statistics. Ten years ago, the UK had about fifty cyber-cafes. Now this country has approximately two-thousand. They are bigger, licensed to sell alcohol, and full of young people. The recipe is there, I personally don’t perceive the game to be part of that recipe.” He sat back and relaxed. Tony smiled at him and nodded praise.

“A convincing argument, thank you. Lets talk about your alter-ego, Rail Raptor. Do you view him as a different persona?” asked Tony, warmly.

“My alias” Daniel stressed the definition, “Is a requisite part of gaming. You play under an alias. As most people watching will know, the big names in E-Sport all go by an alias. It is the same throughout the community. This all started when net-gaming came to life. It was a way of creating a persona I suppose, but at the end of the day, I don’t see Rail Raptor as a different person to my normal self.” He looked thoughtful for a second.

“Mind you, I always think of myself as Raptor when I’m online, because it’s what everyone calls me.” Daniel said.

“Do you compete over the Internet Daniel? Or are the competitions held at LAN’s?” Asked Tony.

“I mainly travel the circuit. Seeded players can travel the world courtesy of their sponsors, and play large tournaments in three continents. I am away from the UK for about five months of the year. Some recent competitions have emerged on the Net that have big backing, and I have done well in all of them. Although connection speeds on the Net are very good today, a LAN is still unbeatable for immediate response times.” He looked towards the camera a little awkwardly, hoping that he was dumbing down the explanation sufficiently.

“It’s a complex sport, and I fear that some of our older viewers are still unsure about what it is you do. I know I am.” Tony winked indulgently at camera one. “What is a LAN, and how do you win money for playing games?” He asked innocently.

“Well, It began years ago with Quake. Quake was a game that could be played on the Internet. Its most popular aspect was the Duel mode, which got very popular in the Nineties. The Lead programmer for Quake, John Carmack, set up a competition, awarding the winner of a duel tournament his red Ferrari. An American guy called Dennis Fong, aka Thresh, won it. He was a legend to the Quake community.”
Daniel paused, and considered the other part of the question.

“A LAN is a cyber-café, or any other establishment which brings together computers, linked locally by cables. There hasn’t been a technology to replace Local Area Networking cables for speed of data transfer, as of yet. So we are old fashioned and plug each computer into the other. As far as I know, the CPL has always been a LAN event.” Daniel looked at the camera to get his point across. He knew full well that most of the TV sets receiving this transmission would be wireless. In a wireless age, this old fashioned technique would probably surprise a few people.

“Do you get mobbed by fans in the streets?” Tony asked, with a smile on his tanned face.

“Well, I find It difficult to float around the Net as much as I used to,” He replied. “People want to chat all the time, and there’s a lot of people out there. I try to keep in touch with the fans, but often, the anonymity of the Net provokes nasty comments, so I tend to alias my alias.” He shrugged at the absurdity of his comment.

“In real-life, I am getting noticed much more recently, because of the media attention that E-Sports has been enjoying. But I’m relatively unknown to the general public still. Which isn’t a bad thing.” He grinned, hoping that Tony wouldn’t try and twist this in any way other than how it was meant.

It seemed that Tony was busy firing off questions, and he didn’t show any sign of wanting to pick holes in Daniel’s answers.

“Rail Raptor is a name to fear.” Tony confided with Daniel unnecessarily. “Here’s a snippet from your latest duel with the American number one, Spidey. Watch out for those rockets Spidey!” The camera lights both went red, and Tony visibly sagged. Daniel was about to speak to him when the interviewer started speaking.

“I don’t watch Doom or E-Sports myself.” He said quietly to Daniel. “But I have a kid back home who’s grades have slipped dramatically because of them.” There was a menace in his voice.

“I just want you to know that I think this whole E-Sports shit is ruining millions of kids lives. You represent apathy, and my kid looks at you as if you were a fucking superstar! I can’t say this live, so I thought I’d tell you instead.” He hissed. The snippet kept rolling whilst Daniel stared into the face of Tony Knight. A wave of nausea swept over him. They were Live and the replay had all but finished.

He was about to reply when Tony’s posture went rigid and his face lit up in synchronisation with the green camera light.
“Fantastic stuff Daniel! You certainly know how to fire those rockets.” Daniel grinned at the camera, getting back into the swing of things quickly. His thoughts reeled. This had happened in various ways before; people would tell him that playing computer games for a living was sad, or pathetic. But for some reason, this time it had really thrown him. He felt as if Tony Knight had reached across the coffee table and slapped his face. For the first time, the sentiments behind the words hit him hard. He was finding it difficult to focus on the interview.

“…and that was through Repetitive Strain Injury.” Tony looked at Daniel for a response, his lips curling when the camera focussed on the Gamer.

“Sorry Tony, RSI is a big cause of retirement in Gaming, I believe that is what you meant?” Daniel tried to look casual, but his mind kept returning to the point of irritation.

“Yes, I was just saying that myself.” Came the quizzical and edgy response. Daniel realized that this interview was in danger of falling apart. He took the reins.

“Tony, I play games for a living. My reflexes are acutely sensitive, my aim is up there with trained Marksmen, I have fame and fortune. However, the practice has been immense. I have lost a portion of my youth to the computer, and I didn’t get out with my friends nearly as much as I should have. But, in case you were wondering, I did pull off decent grades at school.” He winked at Tony. Tony aimed a perfect, toothy white smile at Daniel, rotating his head to the camera as if wanting to share his pleasure with the audience.

“Daniel, we’ve prepared a little surprise for you.” Tony smiled at camera one. Daniel knew that the interview was finished, and felt hollow inside. He acted surprised and looked questioningly at Tony.

“I think the audience at home would like to see you strut your stuff. How about a little one on one?” Tony asked Daniel.
“With you? I’d be more than happy” Daniel grinned. He stood up with Tony, and walked to the Pod, which had been rolled into the studio during this concluding conversation.

“No, no, no.” Said the interviewer with an edge to his tone. “I thought you could do with someone a little more challenging. Someone like yourself”

Daniel vaulted the hand rail, and slipped on the visor. He picked up the gun and poised himself for action.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you a world exclusive duel.” Whispered Tony to the camera, as if he was David Attenborough surrounded by Gorillas.
“Rail Raptor.” He spoke to Daniel, using his alias. “I give you the Rail Raptor Deity-Bot!” His voice roared, in a loud, Ringleader’s voice. Tony Knight stalked out of the Studio as soon as the light went red.

The Deity-Bot had been created four months ago, following Daniel’s exceptional performance in the World CPL. It was a programmed enemy, emulating all of Rail^Raptor’s attributes and playing styles. The Bot had been tested against the top ten Deity-Bot’s in circulation. It had echoed Daniel’s CPL position, and came third position overall. Daniel had never actually played against it before. He knew of its existence, but had shied away from competing with a spectral photocopy of himself. He felt some trepidation as the studio around him disappeared. The cinema-screen inside the Visor fizzed into life.

The lights in the studio dimmed, and the cameras shut down. The audience at home were transported to the Daniel’s in-game view. The Duel commenced.

Ten minutes later, it was all over. Daniel had been defeated.


copyright richard elliott 2002