Chapter 52: Plan 2

Several days after his defeat against Aldric in Mortal Kombat, Julien was thinking about it much less. He had only thought about it three times since waking up: once before even getting out of bed, when he remembered that Aldric had needed five matches to beat him; a second time while making coffee, when he wondered how long it would take Aldric to achieve the same result at laser tag; and a third time when he opened his computer.

That last one did not really count. PLAN 2 was already open in front of him.

Julien had already chosen laser tag. The problem now was figuring out how to beat a man capable of learning in five matches what had taken him four hundred hours to master.

He reread his notes.

Objective: Beat Aldric.

Activity: Laser tag.

Aldric's experience: None.

Primary risk: Adaptability.

Solution: Practice before he does.

Aldric had never used a laser gun, knew neither the rules nor the arena and, unlike with Mortal Kombat, Julien had no intention of giving him five matches to figure out how to win.

The following Wednesday, Julien entered the laser tag center at 2:17 p.m. The place was almost empty. Electronic music drifted out from the arena while an employee in his twenties looked at his phone behind the counter. He glanced up when Julien approached.

"Hello. How many of you?"

"One."

The employee looked behind him.

"Just you?"

Julien followed his gaze to make sure no unknown person had somehow materialized behind his back.

"That's generally what one means."

"Okay... You can join a group, but you'll have to wait until there is one."

"How long?"

The employee checked his screen.

"There's a birthday party starting in ten minutes. Otherwise, the next public game is in an hour and a half."

Julien had planned to stay for forty-five minutes. Waiting twice that long just to avoid a birthday party made no sense.

"I'll take the one in ten minutes."

"You'll have to ask the group if they're okay with it. It's their reservation. If they don't mind one extra player, no problem."

Julien turned as voices sounded near the entrance. Eight children had just arrived with two adults. One of them was carrying a box containing a cake, two others had balloons tied around their wrists, and a little girl was wearing a cat-ear headband.

The employee pointed toward them.

"That's them."

The children had gathered near the benches while the two adults set the cake and several bags down on a table.

Julien approached them.

"Hello. Excuse me."

A woman turned toward him.

"Hello."

"The employee told me I could join your game if you were okay with it."

"You came here to play by yourself?"

"Yes."

She exchanged a glance with the man accompanying her.

"I don't mind, but it's their birthday party. You should probably ask them."

"Yeah," the man said. "And if you play with them, take it easy. They're kids."

"Of course."

Julien turned toward the group.

"Would you mind if I joined your game?"

The conversations stopped. Eight faces turned toward him.

"Why are you alone?" asked the little girl with the cat ears.

"Because I came alone."

"But why?"

"Chloé," the woman interrupted. "Leave the man alone."

"He's the one who wants to play with us."

A boy slightly taller than the others, probably eleven or twelve, spoke up.

"Have you played before?"

"No."

"Then yes."

"Very well. Thank you."

He was about to return to the counter when Chloé raised a hand.

"Wait."

Julien turned around.

"What?"

"We want candy."

"Chloé!" her mother protested.

The author publishes this chapter at www.; the copy displayed here was taken without their permission.

"What for?" Julien asked.

"So you can play with us."

The boy who had just agreed frowned.

"But we already said yes."

Chloé turned toward him.

"You should've asked first, Mathis."

"We can still ask."

"How much candy?"

"No, you don't need to buy them anything," Chloé's mother said.

But the children had already gathered together to discuss the matter.

"One bag each," Mathis announced.

"No."

"Two big bags for everyone."

"Fine..."

"Yes!"

The children celebrated their victory.

"You really didn't have to do that," Chloé's mother told him.

"It's my pleasure..."

Julien paid for his game and two bags of candy that had not appeared in any of PLAN 2's initial estimates. When he returned to the group, Mathis took the bags.

"Thank you, sir."

"You had already agreed before asking for the candy."

Mathis smiled.

"Yes."

Julien watched him rejoin the other children. He had come here to practice so he could avoid another defeat against Aldric, and before even entering the arena, he had already lost a negotiation to an eleven-year-old.

Before the game began, Julien studied the arena map. Three levels, two main ramps, and several corridors connected by narrow passages. One initial observation should be enough to memorize the essentials.

Twelve minutes later, the vests lit up.

Julien entered the arena with a simple strategy: stay cautious for the first few minutes, observe how everyone moved, and identify the best routes.

The strategy survived for about thirty seconds.

A green light appeared to his right. Julien turned too late, and his vest shut off as Mathis ran past him.

"Got you!"

Julien watched him go. The boy disappeared behind a partition before Julien's sensors could reactivate. Very well... First piece of information: the corridors offered more firing angles than the map suggested.

Julien turned left, but he did not make it much farther before his vest shut off again. This time, Chloé was standing on a walkway above him, her cat ears sticking up behind her weapon. She gave him a little wave.

"Hello."

Then she disappeared.

Second piece of information: watch the high ground.

Julien continued through the arena. He finally spotted another boy near a ramp and managed to hit him before he could react.

"FINALLY."

"Sir!"

Julien looked up and saw Mathis on the walkway just before his vest shut off.

"Again!"

The boy disappeared, laughing. Julien waited for his sensors to reactivate before continuing. The children simply knew the arena better. That was all.

A few minutes later, Mathis took him out a third time, then a fourth. By the fifth, Julien had begun memorizing his routes. It was not personal. Identifying the most effective player was part of a basic analysis.

By the end of the fifteen-minute game, Julien had gathered several useful pieces of information. The ramps were less visible than they appeared on the map, certain openings allowed a player to watch two corridors at once, and several passages led to an upper level despite appearing to end in dead ends.

The rankings appeared.

1. Mathis - 9,140

2. Chloé - 8,760

3. Nathan - 7,430

4. Inès - 6,980

5. Yanis - 5,870

6. Nolan - 5,210

7. Manon - 4,830

8. Rico - 4,410

9. Julien - 3,760

Ninth.

There was no reason for that position to bother him. It was his first game in an unfamiliar environment against players with better knowledge of the terrain.

"Sir."

Mathis had come to stand beside him.

"You're last."

"I can read."

"You're not very good."

"It was my first game."

"Mine too."

Nathan, who was walking past behind them, stopped.

"But you played here last year."

"That doesn't count."

"Of course it counts."

"No."

"You knew the arena."

"A little."

"You knew where the ramps were."

"Yes."

"And the passages between the levels."

"Yes."

"So it counts."

Mathis shrugged. The argument did not appear to have affected him much. He looked back at the rankings.

"It's still pretty good for an old man."

"I'm not even thirty-five."

"Oh."

His eyes returned to the rankings.

"Then it's not very good."

Julien inhaled. He had planned to leave after this game. A single visit was supposed to be enough to understand how the game worked and gather some information about the arena.

But a single result was not enough to draw a reliable conclusion, and that observation had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that an eleven-year-old had just mistaken him for a man over forty.

"When does the next game start?"

"You're playing again?" Mathis asked.

"I need to verify something."

"Because you lost to a bunch of kids?"

"Completely unrelated..."

The second game went better. Julien now knew several of the routes and, more importantly, was beginning to understand his opponents' habits. Mathis favored the high ground, Chloé used a ramp hidden behind a partition, and Nathan almost always chased players he had just hit.

Julien finished sixth.

Mathis found him in front of the screen.

"You're still behind me."

"I moved up three places."

"You still lost."

"I narrowed the gap."

"But you lost."

A second game was enough to confirm a trend, but not to determine whether that trend was stable.

"One more."

Mathis's smile widened.

"You really want to beat me."

"I want reliable data."

"That's a yes."

Julien did not answer.

He played a third game.

At 4:05 p.m., Julien arrived home. Seven minutes later, PLAN 2 was open, and two minutes after that, Mathis had his own section. This timeline might have seemed concerning if it had not been justified by the need to record the information while it was still fresh in his memory.

Julien began by completing his observations about the arena:

Terrain

North ramp partially concealed.

Two useful openings on the upper level.

Purple corridor dangerous after changing levels.

Central area too exposed.

West passage useful for quickly changing levels.

He then added the habits of the most effective players.

Mathis, 11 years old

Good knowledge of the terrain.

Favors the high ground.

Rarely pursues after disabling an opponent.

Good accuracy.

Tendency to taunt opponents.

Threat level: High.

Chloé, 10 years old

Highly mobile.

Regularly uses the north ramp.

Good accuracy at close range.

Rarely changes routes after disabling an opponent.

Threat level: High.

The cat-ear headband had no tactical relevance and was therefore not included. Julien saved the document, closed his computer, then reopened it three minutes later because he had just remembered an opening on the second level.

He added a new section beneath the notes on Mathis and Chloé.

ALDRIC

Laser tag experience: None.

Knowledge of terrain: None.

Adaptability: Very high.

Likely accuracy: High.

Priority: Build a significant lead before he understands the terrain.

His advantage would be most useful at the beginning. After that, predicting Aldric's reactions would become much more difficult. Coming back a second time would improve his knowledge of the terrain, but that was unnecessary. He was ready.

He opened his conversation with Aldric and started typing. His thumb stopped above the keyboard. Suggesting Saturday directly might give the impression that he had prepared this outing with far too much seriousness. That interpretation seemed particularly unreasonable.

Julien: Laser tag Saturday?

Aldric: What is laser tag?

Julien: Weapons that shoot light. You have to hit your opponents' sensors.

Aldric: Are the weapons dangerous?

Julien: No.

Aldric: Then yes.

Julien smiled, put his phone down, and returned to PLAN 2. Now that Aldric had agreed, there was only one precaution left to add.

Do not mention the previous training session.

Julien reread the sentence. Aldric had not asked whether he had played before, and nothing required him to provide a complete history of his recreational activities. He therefore kept the line and changed the title of the document.

PLAN 2 - FINAL VERSION

He was about to close his computer when one final thought stopped him. Mortal Kombat had sufficiently demonstrated that Aldric learned quickly. The longer the game went on, the less valuable Julien's advantage would become.

He added:

Secondary objective: Do not lose the first game under any circumstances.

Satisfied, Julien saved the document and closed his computer. He lasted almost five minutes before opening it again.