Blue Box

Chapter 1

-Half a dozen Jupiter years after 2019-

As I made my way up the dark, metal stairway I started hearing the chants louder and louder. The metal framing on both sides was partially covered in red tarp, but I could see through it the back side of the giant screens that made the back wall of the stage. Dozens of cables were hanging and twirling around and in between the scaffoldings all the way to the bottom, where they would creep across the floor to the big black power boxes. They really overdid themselves, didn't they, I thought to myself.

The big white projector lights that illuminated the stage were reflecting down the stairway. As I got close to the top Jario, the stage producer, appear at the entrance from the stage and grabbed one of the hanging power switches so he could turn on the monitors. Even from behind, I could see light shine in the small gaps between them.

"Go get 'em, champ!"

"Oh, don't be silly. I'm trying to stay humble."

"No, not with that suit you don't.", he said as he pat me by the shoulder and descended down the stairs behind me. What I was wearing was a dark cherry tuxedo with shiny gold cotton chess pieces embroidered in a pattern, over a white shirt. The event manager insisted on me wearing this over the top thematic clothing, however much I tried to convince him it was not necessary. Showing off wasn't my style, but I thought to myself, just for this one time. This one time I will serve my role as a marketing pawn.

"Here we go then."

I straightened my coat as I cleared the last step. And in a short moment of adjusting my eyes to the extravagant light, I came to realize how much of a star I was. As I walked towards the center of the stage, I saw more and more people down below. The stage construction was elevated a hundred feet above the ground, which was brimming with people, thus making it impossible to see the concrete floor of the biggest open square in the city. It was jam packed with fans. Hundreds of thousands had come to witness the Galactic Chess champion. Yes, that was me. Last time I checked, chess wasn't nearly this big. Have they been doing some crazy marketing? Whatever it was, It filled me with pride and accomplishment. I thought I could feel the chess pieces flowing in my veins, and then I chuckled when I realized how stupid that was.

Kurt Steward, the last year's finalist, welcomed me to the center and shook my hand with a cheeky smile on his face. His white beard and hairs were covering most of his face, but I could read the jealousy and resentment in his expression.

"Andrew Wig, everybody!", he shouted out at the crowd before handing me the mic

"I thought this was an yearly event, not a hall of fame?"

"Just adhering to the traditions. You won't be here for long, anyway."

"You wish so, old man.", I replied cheekily and showed him off to the exit.

When I stood in the center of the stage with the mic in hand, I took another moment to admire the size of the crowd and clear my mind. But mostly, I wanted to see how long they could last without making crazy noise. I saw men and women of all ages, even kids here and there. I kind of felt a pity for those people, who idolized me blindly, because of my accomplishments. Most of them probably thought of me as yet another sports athlete who has invested enough time in his game to overthrow all competition. But they didn't have a grasp on the deeply layered mental aspect of chess at the highest level. Having gone interplanetary, this...game... had transcended the area of logical problem solving and decision making that decide who is the better player in amateur chess. Knowing the game was not enough in Galactic chess. There was a new, far greater challenge at hand - knowing your opponent. And since chess had gone interplanetary, this challenge was getting all the more dreading, as more and more non-human species threatened to take a spot in the Galactic playoffs. Up to this point it was only humans that were the top contestants, but with each tournament, the competition became more varied and dangerous as new intellectual beings were threatening to reveal their elaborate and unorthodox approaches to the our game.