The year is 2043. Humans have finally figured out how to reproduce zero gravity conditions on Earth. Don’t ask me how, I don’t know. We could never really figure out what to do with this new technology until somebody stepped forward with this great idea.
A classic from the late 20th century, Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, became an inspiration for a fun new sport: zero gravity laser tag. It suddenly became the greatest thing that anyone could possibly do. Everybody wanted to play, and with new arenas showing up across the world, everybody could play.
I, of course, followed suit and began to play. I found a small team and we were pretty good. I was the best marksman and I was able to bounce around in zero-g and not get hit either. We quickly moved up the ranks in our region, and we had somewhat of a fan base.
I had just finished a game when I was approached by a crisp looking man in a suit.
“Hello, my name is John Brown, I was watching you play out there, and you’re pretty good, really good. I’ve been watching you play for the past few games, and I think that you are pro material. I’m the manager for the Laser Hawks, and I’d like you to join our team.”
I stared in silence with my eyes wide. The Laser Hawks, he invited me to join the Laser Hawks! I can’t believe it! They were one of the best teams in the world, and everybody who was anybody wanted to be on their team. Of course, I was going to join.
“I would love to join your team! When do I start?” I asked.
“Tomorrow morning you will have to get on a private plane and once you get to our practice stadium outside of Chicago, you get the rest of the day to check out the practice arena and meet your teammates and then the next day you will begin practice. That’s if you sign our contract, of course.” He replied.
“That sounds awesome! I’ll sign it right now!” I signed the contract. “I guess I will see you tomorrow on the plane then.”
“Yes, have a great rest of your day.”
I made my way home and had to make sure to not to go past the speed limit. I ran into my house and packed everything that I thought that I would need. Clothes, entertainment devices, and my lucky laser gun. I couldn’t wait to get on that plane.
That night I didn’t get much sleep, but by the morning, my excitement gave me more than enough energy. The plane ride was uneventful, but it was an amazing sight to see the arena that I would be playing in in the distance as the plane landed.
The arena was a giant sphere of mostly glass, but also some metal that criss-crossed around the sphere. There were no seats because this was just a practice arena, but normally they would line the sides on the middle layer of the sphere. On both sides of the sphere were entrances. The passageway led up to the sphere and at the end was a shimmering field that kept the zero-g conditions inside the arena.
After checking out the arena, I met some of the players. These were the people that I admire, I looked up to them and even stole some moves from them. Seeing them in person was an amazing experience that I will never forget. I got to meet James Ficko, Andrew Jaffer, and even Brad Vanz. I could hardly speak when I met these guys, but somehow I managed it. They were all super kind and I could tell that they were going to be a great team to be a part of.
“Great job kid!”
“Great to have you on the team!”
“I hope you’re as good as they say you are.”

We trained as a team for several months and practiced until we worked as a unit. My main position was to be on the left side of our gate, but we were flexible enough that it didn’t really matter. We did many drills that would help us in certain situations, but most of the time we trained our reflexes and instinct in order for us to be able to react in any situation. They would come up with crazy drills that would test our decision making and ability to shoot from different angles and positions. By this time, I had been fully accepted into the team and we were all great friends.
There had been many games that we have played in, all of them won. We were shaping up to be a rather formidable team. Next thing that I know, we are invited to the world tournament. Not saying that I’m the reason that we got in the tournament, but I am. I am so excited to finally live out my dreams. There were many other teams that got invited, of course, all of them teams that I loved as well.
We studied their tactics and who were the strongest members and how they played. It’s strange to think that these same teams are doing the same things to us and that they may be thinking the same thoughts about me.

The first few games of the tournament were easily won and we made sure not to dwell over those victories because we knew there would be harder teams to come. All were good matches, but we still won by a fair amount. Even though I shouldn’t, I still am getting pretty c***y over our abilities. We were a really great team, and our records in and out of the tournament were showing that.
We moved up in the bracket and beat team after team, and sooner than it seemed, we were at the championships. This was the most exciting moment of my entire life and there was no way that I was going to turn it into a defeat. The other team that we were playing against were the Zero-G Dragons, and they have won many tournaments in the past and of course were just as good as us.
“We’re going to do great!”
“Just have fun!”
“Let’s do our best!”
“We can beat these guys!”
These simple phrases haunted me in the locker room. Everyone was happy and terrified at the same time. I, on the other hand, had no idea how to react to the situation and I just hoped for the best. I knew that in the middle of this game, no matter how chaotic it would get, my training and reflexes would take over and I would perform just as well as any other game.
Lights in the walls flashed and we knew it was time to get in position for our final game of the season. We walked down the long corridors to the arena entrance and even though I couldn’t hear the crowd, I could somehow feel that they were chanting our names. We made it to the field that blocked us from the arena and waited for the bell to ring that told us it was time. It was the longest ten seconds of my entire life.
The bell rings and we jump through the field and into the arena. Every time that I go into zero-g, it’s still the same feelings that nearly make me nauseous, but I quickly overcome them by telling myself that whatever direction I’m facing is the right one, and it doesn’t matter what direction anyone else is facing. In the actual arena there are many blocks of different shapes and sizes floating about the room that act as our cover against the enemy fire. I begin to head to one off to the left side of our field as my other team members head to other blocks near our entrance. We had trained this many times and simply knew where to go, even when the blocks weren’t in the same positions. I looked around the corner and fired some warning shots.
I looked to my right and saw the team leader motioning that he and two others would go under while the rest of us went straight up to try and distract the enemy. He counted down from three and I launched myself upwards and shot at the area of the other team. Lasers flew and I hit someone. I let off a few more shots and bounced off the wall towards another block. Their team was mostly distracted and my other teammates had taken out a few of their guys, while our leader was going slowly underneath and had not been noticed yet. There were a few members that had made it to the same block as me and I had a plan that could either win us the game or cost us largely with the number of people we had to fight with.
We agreed on my plan and I zoomed across the arena towards a block closer to their side of the sphere. I slammed into the block and immediately started shooting in their direction. All of my remaining teammates had split up and were shooting at the enemy from all directions. The team leader took up the hint and surprised them from below and took out most of their team. Before any of us could say anything, one of their team members shot up from behind a farther block and shot our three ambushers.
I suddenly recognized this guy. It was Jonny Parzo, and some said that he alone could beat our entire team. He was a great shot and was taking out our team members quickly. He was the last one left as we had taken out the rest of the team with the distraction and the ambush. Before I knew it, there were only three of us left. I motioned for one of them to head the opposite direction as I, while the other laid down covering fire. He sped off and I went the other way, staying close to the edge of the sphere. The last member of their team was too focused on the shots being fired at him and the man he was trying to shoot down that I had just enough time to get into a good position to shoot him down.
Time seemed to freeze as I lined up my sights and slowly pulled the trigger. The laser went on its way towards him and he looked up at the last second before the laser poked his chest and his gun was disabled. I slammed into the wall and finally realized that I had just won us the world championship. My body began floating towards our entrance as it always does after a match and the whoops of my teammates surrounded me and we celebrated in the locker rooms with hugs and cheering. Somewhere out there, I knew that the crowd was cheering and screaming over our victory, and that others still were off sulking that their favorite team had lost.
We were awarded the trophy later that night and there was a lot of celebrating and joy emanating from our team. I think I almost saw our coach cry, but he turned away at the last second. There were speeches and my teammates yelled at me to get up there, I didn’t want to, but I did it more to make them happy.
“This was my first year with the team, and it couldn’t have gone any better. We all created a strong bond with each other, and I couldn’t have wanted it any other way. If you take anything out of this, let it be that anyone can come to do something great. I was just some small town kid who joined this amazing team and helped us to win. I want to thank the team, and everyone who helped me get here to this moment. Go Laser Hawks!”