Nano Contestant - Episode 1: Whatever It Takes

by Leif Sterling

  The med-tech nodded. “Yep, that’s it. No digital DNA in you.” She showed the results to Rosie.

  Rosie entered in the med-tech’s results into her computer. “Ok, it looks like everything is in order for you, Roland. She handed him a small plastic capsule. This is your tracker for the games. Please have your physician inject this into you before the games begin. It will give us your exact location and your vital signs during the Tech Games.

  Roland held up the capsule. He could see a small metal piece about the size of a grain of rice on the inside.

  Rosie smiled. “You are all set now. Thank you.”

  Roland put the capsule in his backpack. “Thanks.” Then he turned headed towards the exit with Lincoln and Skylar.

  Duke had watched all of Roland’s tests with interest. He waved mockingly. “Bye, Organic Boy! Looking forward to watching you die in the games!”

  Roland turned his head to yell something back.

  Lincoln kept Roland moving forward. “Don’t say anything. Just keep walking. He’s not worth it.”

  Roland turned his head back and walked out without saying a word. He let out a big sigh of relief as soon they were outside the building. “Let’s go home!”

  Lincoln smiled. “Get rested, Roland. You’re going to need it, because tomorrow training starts!”

  Roland cracked his knuckles. “I’m ready!”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN:

  LETHAL

  ROLAND WAS UP at three thirty the next morning. He was excited to start training. He got started on breakfast right away.

  Skylar walked into the kitchen once she heard the clinking and banging of pots and pans. “Good morning. Any coffee?”

  Roland kept working on his second helping of eggs and bacon. “Good morning.” He gestured to a steaming cup of coffee on the table. “All yours. More in the pot if you need it. I’m going to need your help through training.”

  Skylar blew on her coffee to cool it. “And I’m going to need coffee to make it through your training.”

  The microwave beeped. Roland got up and came back juggling a potato between his hands. “Ooh, hot! I thought I should have some carbs to keep me going today.”

  Skylar spread jam on a piece of toast. “Hey, I’m having a programmer friend come over later today. I need help getting some of the software to work with you.”

  Roland put big chunks of butter on his potato. “I thought you were a programmer.”

  Skylar had a bite of her toast. “I can do coding, but I’m better at working with systems. She’s an expert.”

  Roland’s mouth was too full to talk, so he nodded.

  Skylar sipped her coffee. “We need custom software for you to be able to control the nano yourself. I don’t know how to build an interface like that. I was thinking of having her join the team, but most of her work would be done remotely. She doesn’t really like being around people.”

  Roland chugged a whole cup of cold, black coffee. “Fine by me. Sky, if you think we need her, then we need her.”

  Skylar wiped her mouth with a napkin. “Thanks.”

  Lincoln knocked on the front door.

  Roland opened it. “Come on in, Lincoln. You don’t have to knock.”

  Lincoln shook Roland’s hand and waved to Skylar. “Good morning. Thanks. Hey, you guys can just call me Coach.”

  Roland gestured towards the table. “Want anything to eat? Or coffee?”

  Lincoln held up his hand. “Nope. I already ate.” He sat down. “I’d like for us all to put together a strategy for the games. First, though, why don’t you fill me in on the tech we are using. All I know so far is what I saw during registration.”

  Roland gave a half smile. “Wow, and you still came back today?”

  Skylar rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t expecting them to make Roland do all those tests, especially in front of everyone.”

  Lincoln poured a glass of water. “And Duke wasn’t exactly helping.”

  Roland crossed his arms. “Neither was the news crew. That was the last thing I needed.”

  Lincoln took a big gulp of water. “Nope. No team wants to be the butt of a joke, especially on national TV, but you handled it well. Best thing you could have done was nothing, and that’s what you did.”

  Roland finished off his potato. “You sure?”

  Lincoln’s face was serious. “Without a doubt, it was the right thing to do. It took a lot of discipline to not start a fight. Discipline I can use. You will need a cool head in the games, because there’s a lot of pressure. Street brawling will just get you injured and probably kicked out.”

  Roland turned to Skylar. “Do you know if they aired the little ordeal from yesterday?”

  Skylar swiped her hand and a small hologram appeared near her hand. She scrolled through the headlines with her finger. “Yeah, looks like you were a hit, all right.” She swiped her hand towards the wall and the video clip began to play. “Duke’s comments about you dying are making you really popular.” She swiped her hand to change the channel to a sports caster. “They are already analyzing your chances.”

  Roland sighed. “Chances of what? Winning the Tech Games?”

  Skylar swiped her hand and the wall went blank. “No, of dying before the qualifying round finishes.”

  Coach leaned back in his chair. “Oh, don’t worry about that. All of this publicity is actually good for you, because it will get you fans. And you’ll need fan votes in order to actually advance in the later rounds of the Tech Games.

  Roland grabbed a sports drink from the fridge. “Wow, my adoring public…”

  Lincoln took another drink of water. “Ok. From this point forward, though, don’t pay any attention to the news media.”

  Skylar stirred her coffee. “Agreed. Ok, so you need to know about Roland’s tech.”

  Lincoln stretched his arms. “Yes, I do. Fill me in.”

  Skylar explained to him about how the nanotech worked, and what they had seen so far. She pulled up the data from Roland’s three mile run and let Lincoln look it over. He only asked a few questions here and there, but mainly, he took notes.

  Lincoln set his notebook down on the table. “Wow, well, that is very different. I think you guys have some real possibilities here. It seems like the biggest issues you have are an internal communication method that doesn’t rely on outside hardware and internal controls for Roland. Contestants that rely on external comms have a hard time and usually don’t make it very far. The comms also need to be encrypted. Keep in mind that these contestants will do anything to get an advantage. Signal jammers are common. Duke has three of them. And it is vital that Roland be able to control the nanotech himself.”

  Skylar finished the last of her coffee. “I have an expert coming over today to begin helping us with those two exact problems.”

  Lincoln gave a thumbs up. “That’s great news. Please let me know when you have something we can test. I want all of the wrinkles ironed out before the games start.”

  Skylar pushed her cup and saucer away. “Of course. I’ll let you know.”

  Lincoln turned to Roland and stood up. “Let’s talk fighting and weapons.”

  Roland stood up too. “I’ve been doing martial arts since I was a kid, and I was in the Marines for four years.”

  Lincoln stepped away from the table. “Do you have a garage or training area?”

  Roland motioned for Lincoln to follow. “The garage is this way.”

  Lincoln walked around the garage and looked at the punching bag, wrestling mat, pull up bars and other equipment. “So you’ve done tournaments and stuff then, right?”

  Roland nodded. “Yep, I’ve been doing one or two a year.”

  Lincoln stepped forward and before Roland could react, had a knife at his throat. “The Tech Games are nothing like those tournaments. Now, you’ve got to learn to fight dirty. A tournament is defensive. The games are offensive.” Lincoln relaxed his knife and stepped back.

  Roland took a deep breath and stared at Linco
ln. “So, what kind of coach are you, exactly?”

  Lincoln whipped around and threw his knife. It flipped end over end and then landed with a loud ‘thwack’ sound in the bullseye of a target hanging on the wall at the end of the garage. He turned around to face Roland. “Allied Robotics hired me to be the lethal force coach for Duke.”

  Roland smiled, fully, for the first time in a long time. “Well, Coach, I’m ready to learn. I want to know everything.”

  Lincoln pulled his knife out of the wall and came back over to Roland. “That, Roland, is something I never heard from Duke. He never listened to anyone. Your attitude alone puts you miles ahead of Duke. I think your tech will give you abilities far greater than what either a hybrid or a digital can achieve. I will teach you how to strike first, hardest and last. I will show you how to make sure your opponent does not get up again.” Lincoln stood with his hands on his hips. “What weapons are you trained in?”

  Roland went over to the corner of the garage and picked up a wooden katana blade. “The sword.” He went through a few steps, demonstrating common moves like the thrust, parry and counter. Roland returned the sword and picked up a staff. “The bo staff.” Roland also performed several moves with it. He set it down and picked up a pair of nunchucks. “And nunchucks.” He whirled them around his body and then set them down. “I prefer the bo because of its reach.”

  Lincoln reached in his pocket, pulled something out and then tossed it to Roland. It was a cylinder, about an inch in diameter and about five inches long. The whole thing was a dark gray color.

  Roland turned it over in his hand. “What is it?”

  “It’s a carbon alloy material. It’s extremely strong, but can it can also be reformed. Press with your index and thumb.”

  Roland pressed. The cylinder telescoped to be five feet long. Roland looked surprised. “Wow. Cool! It’s light too.”

  “Yes, it is. Now press with your middle finger and thumb.”

  Roland pressed again. This time half of the cylinder telescoped back up into the bottom of the handle, but the top half grew wider and thinner. Roland turned it to look at it. It was flat and thin, like a blade. “Now it’s a sword?”

  Lincoln nodded. “Yes, it can be programmed to nearly any shape. I’d like Skylar to take a look at it and see how we can integrate it into your systems. I think with your ability to create 3D models quickly and accurately, this weapon could be a real game changer for you.”

  Roland changed it back into a regular handle. “Does it have a receiver?”

  Lincoln shook his head. “No, but we’ll order one for it.” He went over to an old dry erase board that was on the wall. “Every day from now until game day, we’ll work on running, climbing, fighting, strength and mental. Skylar tells me you’re not at full replication yet.”

  Roland came over by the board. “Yep, that’s right. Every day I’m gaining percentages of improvement.”

  Lincoln drew a grid on the board and wrote down the categories. “Roland, every day I’m going to push you to your limits. If you aren’t training, then I want you to be eating to give that nano cell replication the maximum amount of nourishment. If you aren’t doing those two things, I want you to be sleeping. Nothing else matters.”

  Roland crossed his arms and nodded. “Train, eat, sleep. Nothing else matters.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN:

  755

  TRAIN, EAT AND sleep was all Roland did for next the twenty-seven days. Skylar and her friend Angela worked out the communication issues and got a private network set up that could communicate via radio or satellite. They were even able to experimentally send data through light pulses.

  Angela developed a new interface that allowed Roland to control nearly all the aspects of his nanotech system from within his brain. He could direct thoughts and commands to the system to be instantly executed.

  Roland trained hard every day. Each day he got faster and stronger. Coach taught him the exact spots to inflict maximum damage to his opponents with the least amount of effort. His carbon alloy weapon was always with him. Once the new receiver was installed, Skylar and Angela were also able to create an extra interface for controlling the weapon. It now interfaced directly with his nano system. Most of the time, he could easily change the weapon by thinking of the 3D shape he wanted, but sometimes, it seemed to have a mind of its own. Coach said it was good enough for the time they had and suggested he name the weapon. The carbon alloy then became known as Charlotte.

  Finally, the day for the Pinnacle Tech Games arrived.

  Roland, Skylar and Coach went to their team’s area at Pinnacle’s headquarters. It was a plain white room, but it was quiet and isolated from the other teams. They all toted in the computer equipment from Roland’s house.

  Skylar had it plugged in and set up in a few minutes. “Comm check, comm check.”

  Roland inhaled deeply. He could hear Sky in his head. “I hear you, loud and clear. How’s my other signals?”

  The english accent of Hobbes could be heard. “Good morning, everyone.”

  Skylar went to typing on her holographic terminal before Hobbes could finish. “Hi, Hobbes.” She studied the graphs of the signal outputs. “All right, Roland, all your signals look good.”

  Coach was also looking at the graphs. “Your heart rate is elevated, Roland.” Then he smiled.

  Roland bent his leg up and stretched his thigh muscles. “Yeah, I’m nervous.”

  Coach nodded. “I know. It’s ok. It means you’re human. This is a big race. There are going to be one thousand people out there competing. Only the top forty-eight get to actually go on to the Tech Games.”

  Roland let his leg down. “I know. That’s why I’m nervous.”

  Coach looked Roland straight in the eyes. “Look, there may be a thousand other people out there, but the vast majority don’t have the skills or strength to get into the actual Tech Games. You do.”

  Roland nodded, but he knew it was just a pep talk and that he would have to fight hard to get to number forty-eight. A red light began to blink on Roland’s right arm under the skin. “Well, looks like they are calling me to check in to the contestant’s area.”

  Skylar gave Roland a hug. “Godspeed! Get out there and beat them!”

  “Thanks, Sky.” Roland left the team area and headed down the long hallway to the Great Room.

  The Great Room was big enough to hold all one thousand contestants, another thousand camera crew and Pinnacle employees, and only feel half full. Roland held out his arm for the employee to scan the red glowing tracking device in Roland’s arm. The employee’s scanner beeped and then he motioned Roland on through his checkpoint. The tracking device light turned green under Roland’s skin and then turned off.

  Roland made his way through the crowd and up towards the front. He saw a food buffet on the side and instinctively went towards it. Coach had tracked his nutrition and found he needed to eat at least ten thousand calories a day. He grabbed four pieces of pizza then stepped away from the crowd. He recognized a light blue athletic uniform coming towards him. “Enrique. You ready to race?”

  Enrique nodded. “Roland.” He gestured to all the people. “This is crazy, isn’t it?”

  Roland nodded. “Yeah! Insane. I can’t believe this many people are going to run today.” He took a huge bite of his pizza.

  Enrique looked down at Roland’s plate. “Always eating, huh? I don’t think I could eat now. My stomach is all over the place.”

  Roland smiled. “Food helps me with the jitters and my tech burns a lot of calories. Hey, looks like someone is coming on stage. See you at the finish line.”

  Enrique turned to face the stage. “Good luck. Stay sharp out there!” Then Enrique grabbed a water and walked back into the crowd.

  Roland continued to eat while he listened to ‘Honest Al,’ the announcer for the Tech Games up on stage. He gave a few introductory remarks and then thanked some sponsors. Roland grabbed a plate of pasta after the third sponsor was thanked
. Then Honest Al informed everyone that the Tech Games would begin in thirty minutes and to be sure to be lined up. Then the outside doors were opened, and people were directed to line up at their assigned starting position number.

  Roland walked out into a large grassy field. The Pinnacle employee at the exit door had told him to line up at number 755. Roland walked about a hundred yards or so to the right of the door, watching the starting numbers painted on the turf. He finally found his and went and stood on it. “Skylar, time check?”

  Skylar glanced at her clock and put on her headset. “You got ten minutes until it starts.”

  Coach was also wearing a headset. “Just stretch out, Roland. Keep your mind clear. Don’t talk to anyone. Breathe slow and deep.”

  Roland sat down on the grass, a little behind his number, and began stretching out his legs. He saw a short Jamaican woman with droid legs step into the position on his left. She nodded to him and then began her own stretching routine. Roland nodded back. Then he felt a large shadow fall on him.

  “Organic Boy!” Duke’s huge voice bellowed.

  Roland kept on stretching.

  Duke walked up to position 756. “What a coincidence, I’m right next to you.” Duke motioned for a camera crew that had been following him to come closer. “This is the one I told you to watch. This little guy is using nanotech. You guys keep your cameras right here. Then you will be sure to catch it when he explodes!”

  Coach was pacing. “Roland! Listen to me. Do not engage him. Do not even look at him. It’s what he wants. Keep looking straight ahead.”

  Roland stood up, but kept looking forward, ignoring Duke.

  The little Jamaican woman in position 754, however, did not. She turned towards Duke and put her hands on her hips. “Hey mon! You, you fat, overgrown can opener.”

  Duke looked shocked and pointed to himself. “You talking to me?”

  The Jamaican woman bobbed her head. “Yeah mon, you. Shut up! I’m gettin’ ready to race, and you’re interferrin’.” Then she moved her headphones from around her neck to over her ears.