Before we get to the Holo Arena a little background might be in order.
Part of my mandate is foster team spirit among the staff and it's always been
pretty obvious that staff members tend to mainly hang out with their peers.
It's just human nature but this does mean an "us and them" mentality is
generated which can cause friction between the employee groups.
I've always striven to break this down through sports. For example
during the summer with Olympic fever at its peak I organised an intramural
staff olympics with all the teams drawn from a mix of groups. Thanks to the
excitement the event was very popular and even staffers who usually try to
avoid exercise signed up. Like, for example, my favourite victim ... I mean
client, Nene Romanova. At any rate even those sedate staffers got caught up
in the spirit of competition and headed out to participate with their friends
cheering them on.
Despite what some people said after the event I stated quite clearly on
the signup sheets that "these athletic contests will be conducted in the true
spirit on the Chainsman Institute". I stand by that statement though I will
admit that I could have defined that a bit more precisely. At any rate
everyone who participated had a good time.
Well except for the losing teams since we did turn them over to the
winners for the weekend (Okay, I admit I neglected to mention that part before
the games started) but all the spectators had a great time and every one of
our athletes gave it their all. The combination of the true spirit of
competition and wanting to avoid the consequences of losing made for a very
exciting event with all of us caught up in every moment of triumph and
tragedy. I still remember that heartbreaking moment when Nene, who had been
doing so well, fumbled the baton pass to Ri Kohran.
Well that was a few months ago and Ri has long since forgiven Nene for
the uncomfortable weekend which followed but the point of all this is that
event stoked the staff's appetite for the chance to compete against one
another both inside and outside of the groups. At the same time I'd heard
from my friends in Security that there were plans to build a training facility
to augment the skills of our acquisition teams, orderlies and security
personnel but the one hitch was that it would be sitting idle much of the time
so it was being held up for budgetary reasons.
When I heard that I went straight to the top with my idea to put it to
use during those idle times and improve staff morale by doing so.
Which brings us to this place
The Holo Arena
The official name of this place is the Staff Environmental Simulation
Recreational & Training Facility. But that's quite a mouthful so everyone
just calls it the Holo Arena. Because of the holographic environments we
generate within it you'll find it's hard to tell the real size from the
inside but it's actually the size of a football stadium. To prove it here's
a picture of the arena with the power off. To give you an idea of the scale
that little blob down bottom is me.
You're right, this place doesn't look that large on the outside.
Well I can't really explain it since I wasn't involved during the
construction. I believe they consulted an outside consultant, some Doctor who
set it all up. What was his name? Who knows.
Anyway however it works the Arena was set up and after an initial period
of using its hologramatic environment generation capabilities purely for combat
training purposes it was opened for more general usage by the rest of the
staff. You've heard of Paintball? Well in here we can play a more more
exciting game, Delta Latexball!
Oh it's much more than just a different name for the same game. I'll
admit that the basic rules are the same, one hit and you're out. But unlike
paintball there's never any doubt when you've been hit. You see when a Delta
Latexball impacts and breaks open if it's struck a living target it mummifies
the victim within seconds. So there's no danger of someone fighting on
while unaware they've been hit. Once you're hit, you're unable to continue
and in fact rendered completely helpless. If your team wins you get set
free at the end of the game. If not well the victors will cut you loose
eventually though they might display you as trophies for awhile.
Incidentally if a Latexball hits any part of the arena the Delta Latex
automatically become dormant and just leaves a "paintstain" on the walls or
floor. Once this happens the Delta is rendered inert so stepping on it or
brushing up against a stain will not activate it and mummify you. So there's
no worries about collateral damage.
It's also a safer game than paintball. The Latexballs strike with much
less force than paintballs so there's no risk of bruising if you're hit at
close range. Anyone can play. The only firm rule it that everyone has to be
wearing protective eyeware. Even at these slow speeds it's never a good idea
to catch anything in your eyes.
The Latexballs are color-coded for team members at the start of the game.
So Blue Delmos will fire blue latexballs, Pink Delmos fire pink latexballs
while Joys fire balls that mummify their victims in pink and white and so on.
If the team is made up of a mix of staffers from several departments they
agree on a single colour at the start of the game. Usually a colour not used
on a uniform.
Actually, no. It's not always one team versus another. In addition to
Team vs. Team we also run games designated Grudge Match and Survival. In
Grudge Match one person goes up against a team.
Yes, you'd think that wouldn't be much of a contest but you'd be wrong.
In fact just recently someone scored a one woman victory against Gold Team!
As you can see in this video still Mai's just been taken out of the game
and Toniya's already fallen. Their opponent went on to turn the rest of our
elite acquisition team into her trophies. They're still trying to live that
loss down.
Who was it you ask?
Actually she prefers to remain anonymous at the moment. Come back
another time and I'll tell you.
Anyway in addition to Grudge Match there's also the non-team game we call
Survival or Last Gal Standing. Basically everyone versus everyone else with
the only one left unmummified winning the game. Though we did have a couple
of games where nobody won, the last two players spotted and shot at each other
at the same time and both scored hits. So since I'm responsible for this
facility it was up to me to cut everyone loose which I did.
Eventually.
If you're interested in the statistics in Team vs Team despite their
loss in Grudge Match it's still Gold Team who have racked up the most wins.
The current champion of Grudge Match prefers to keep a low profile since she
figures her victories mean she's not doing her job properly. Surprisingly
the current champion of Last Gal Standing mode is Joy, one of of Nurses.
Which just goes to show you how much we all underestimate them.
What was that?
No, unlike the Gymnasium there is no patient use of this facility and
there are absolutely no plans to ever change that. Frankly that would just be
asking for trouble as we don't want to encourage them to act aggressively
towards staff or each other. Not to mention the ones who would be freaked out
by being hunted down. This facility is intended purely for staff training and
entertainment and that's the way we intend to keep it.
Well that concludes your tour of this facility.
There's still a lot to see in the Gymnasium but I realise you plenty to
see and a limited amount of time. So if you prefer I'll reunite you with Dr.
ARNie and you can continue touring the rest of the institute