Rebel Born [FIRST DRAFT]

Chapter 3: A Game of Pong

I let out a frustrated scream as I couldn't bring my paddle to the ball in time, resulting in a loss for me. It's been a few years since Dad and I moved away from Lunaris to Aestrea. The house wasn't as pretty or big as the one back in Lunaris but I got used to it over time.

Dad went to work every day and he's been changing jobs a lot recently. I think he just got a new job though, hopefully it doesn't break him mentally again like last time.

I refreshed the game to try again. It was Pong. A ancient arcade game that Dad showed me and often played with me. I heard the front door slam shut and I scrambled up with excitement. I ran to the door, "Welcome back Dad!! Can you play Pong with me?"

Dad just stayed in his spot, leaning against the door. "Dad?" It looked like this job isn't good for him either. But he said that he would stay in this job no matter what because the pay is good.

"Pong?" He spoke, his voice gruff and I caught a sniff of alcohol.

"Dad, did you go drinking? I thought you said you weren't going to drink anymore."

He just ignored me. Jeez. "O'ay, les pay a game ov Pong." He slurred out before making his way into the house, swaying on his feet as he walked.

I ran after him, "You know what Dad, it's fine. You should go get some rest."

He ignored me again and rummaged through the kitchen drawers. "Dad?"

"Game... sthart!"

Then a knife came flying straight at me. I don't think I've screamed that loud my entire life.

I still have the scar on my arm where it sliced me before it struck the wall behind me.

~***~

"They're playing a game of Pong," I explained, "But using banks as paddles and money as the ball."

"How is this like Pong in any way?" Kyle asked, frowning.

"But before that, what exactly is Pong?" Vanessa cut in.

"You've played it before, Nessa." Hugh pointed out. "That game where you passed a ball back and forth on a screen between two paddles. And you can't let the ball touch the floor."

"I think I vaguely remember it. So how is this like the game?" Vanessa asked. She leaned forward to get a closer look at the information spread out around the table.

"I think I might understand what Amelia is getting at..." Lindsey trailed off towards the end.

"There is one person in Sector 2 and one in Sector 4. The time limit to get the money is a week. And if that time is pass then someone dies during the next robbery since one side 'lost a life'. Am I on the right track Amelia?" Vincent summarized, continuing after Lindsey. I nodded. So he can be serious. Huh, who knew.

"But what is the money for and why are they only targeting these two banks?" Max asked.

"Well these two banks are the major banks in these two Sectors. And I don't know, why do people want money?" Hugh replied to Max.

"This is still a little confusing, but Amelia, what else can you gather from the information here?" Kyle said.

"Which bank they're targeting next." I said, reaching my non-injured hand over to enlarge the map of Aestrea. Using a finger, I pointed at each of the banks that were robbed in sequential order. Pointing over at the first one, I hovered my finger over it and said "One." And the number one popped up on top of the bank. So this thing can do voice-to-text recognition.