Warcross

Emika’s skateboard battery dies, so she takes the subway back to her small apartment in the Bronx, which she shares with Keira. Her landlord, Mr. Alsole, accosts her in the hall, threatening to kick Emika and Keira out unless they pay their rent within three days. Though Emika waitresses in addition to bounty hunting, the money is not enough, and she worries she will soon be homeless like the people near her building. Keira cannot find any work to pay her half of the rent, and Emika sees that Keira has “given up and curled inward, spending her days idling away in Warcross instead” (19). As Emika makes noodles for dinner, the reader learns that Emika’s father, an eccentric, fanciful artist, died when she was 11. Emika has rainbow-dyed hair and a sleeve of tattoos as a nod to her father’s look. She has only one of his original paintings left; the others she sold. Though her father always told her “Every locked door has a key” (22), Emika has trouble seeing her way out of impending eviction. When Keira asks what they will do, Emika says, “I don’t know. I’ll sell Dad’s last painting” (25).

On the TV, game analysts begin enthusiastically discussing the upcoming Warcross championships. Wildcard players selected each year play alongside the champions, but Emika is not eligible because she has a criminal record; guilty of identity theft, she served in juvenile detention for four months and is not allowed to touch computers for two years. An analyst says the current number of viewers tuned in to see this night’s opening ceremony game is 520 million. Emika puts on the glasses that allow her to join in the virtual game, intending to escape her problems for a time.

Emika recalls the moment that Hideo Tanaka inspired her interest in coding and computers. After her father died, Emika lived in a foster home. The loss of her father and finding out that he had accumulated large gambling debts made it difficult to care about anything, including schoolwork; one morning she was too depressed to attend school. A news program aired on the clock radio about a 14-year-old boy named Hideo Tanaka who invented a virtual reality system and eyeglasses called NeuroLink:

When you wore it, it helped your brain render virtual worlds that looked and sounded indistinguishable from reality […] To demonstrate how cool the glasses were, Hideo made a video came that came with each pair. This game was called Warcross (31).

In Warcross, amazing virtual worlds surround two teams, each out to steal the other’s prize gem called an Artifact. NeuroLink and Warcross became enormously popular; everyone played the game, escaped into virtual settings, or used the NeuroLink system to superimpose images onto the real environment.

Inspired by Hideo’s influence, Emika reached for a late Computer Science assignment. She successfully found a mistake in practice code and corrected it. She found the error intuitively, by looking at the written code “all at once. Like it was a painting” (34). The experience prompted Emika to complete assignments and learn more about coding and Warcross: “As for Hideo Tanaka…from that day on, along with the rest of the world, I was obsessed” (34).

Emika dons her rented, old NeuroLink glasses and finds Keira in the virtual Warcross world. They go in a door marked “Warcross Opening Ceremony Game—Live.” The scene is like a fantasy: waterfalls, floating islands, a castle, mystical creatures. Emika sees the official players and hears the screams of millions of other audience members, but the players cannot see the audience, and audience members are invisible to one another. Emika dives off her floating island and flies into the valley, landing on a different island. She sees power-ups appear on some of the mini-islands throughout the scene, available for the players to try to reach for extra skills and temporary gifts. Emika’s interest piques because she has recently discovered a way to steal a power-up from a player’s account right before he or she uses it. Then Emika could sell the power-up for notes (Warcross currency) or money.

Professional player Asher sends teammate Jena to acquire a valuable power-up called Sudden Death that would eliminate a competitor from the game. As Asher fights an opponent, Penn, to grab team Artifacts, Emika tries to talk herself out of trying to steal the Sudden Death power-up, which could be worth $15,000 dollars. Jena and an opponent, Kento, go for the power-up; Jena reaches it first. Emika hacks into Jena’s account and sees the newly acquired power-up there. In the moment Jena reaches for the Sudden Death to use it, Emika steals it with a command on her virtual keyboard. Something completely unexpected occurs, however, and Emika is suddenly visible to all the players and to the millions of audience members worldwide.

Asher sees her: “Who the hell are you?” (46). The game ends with a voice saying, “Time out […] System glitch” (46). Keira confirms that she, as an audience member, could see Emika in the game world. Shocked, Emika tells Keira that her actions might not have big consequences. Then her phone rings. 

Emika refuses to answer the repeated calls. She tosses her phone aside with the ringer off and sits at the dining table, waiting for police or bounty hunters to show up and arrest her. Out of shock and exhaustion, she falls asleep and does not wake till morning. Confused that no one arrived to apprehend her, she rushes to get ready for her shift at the diner. Repeated dings force Emika to pause and see a text that reads, “Ms. Emika Chen, please call 212-555-0156 immediately” (51). The message appears 84 times on Emika’s phone. Keira alerts Emika to news reporters waiting outside their building and to search hits online about Emika glitching into the game. Keira sees that the phone number is for the Manhattan headquarters of Henka Games, the producer of Warcross.

Emika calls the number. A woman answers and greets her by name, telling her that Hideo Tanaka is on the line for her. When Hideo greets her, Emika struggles to apologize, but Hideo wants Emika to come to Tokyo on his private jet. When Emika mentions being late for her shift, Hideo tells her that he paid her debts and wants to offer her a job.

Emika decides to go. She checks with Mr. Alsole and confirms that the rent debt was paid. As Emika begins to pack, Keira floats the idea that someone posing as Hideo Tanaka is playing an elaborate prank. Emika agrees this might be the case, but decides, “Well, I’m going to see how far I can push it. Not like I have much to lose” (59). Emika packs her father’s last painting, picks up her skateboard, and offers her job at the diner to Keira. On her way from the apartment building, Emika must push her way through news media. A security man helps her to the car. The car’s windows, equipped with a layer of virtual reality, show labels on buildings and shops as it starts for the airport. Then the car itself, Fred, offers more “serene” scenery through the windows, and instead of city streets Emika sees a lovely ocean setting.

The luxury and high-tech opulence continue on Hideo’s private jet, which has translucent walls that turn opaque only once the flight is underway. An attendant gives Emika the newest, sleekest, limited edition NeuroLink glasses, which calibrate to Emika’s preferences, brain activity, and Warcross experiences. Now she sees names for the flight attendants above their heads and an announcement that she is on Warcross Level 24 with a daily score of +1000 pts. Live video plays on the glasses, and she recognizes Kenn Edon, Warcross’s creative director. He tells Emika that on arriving in Tokyo, she will have the night to rest, then meet with Hideo in the morning. Kenn tells her that Emika will be a part of “the draft to determine this year’s players in the official Warcross championships” (68).