Chapter 7

The main lobby of the Neurasseum pulsed with activity. In every direction, Craig could see the bustling of different beings as they hurried to the events they would be spectating. Queues for the concession stands looped and spiraled into the main lobby. The lobby housed an enormous holographic display showcasing the different attractions one could visit, blocked off by a large semi-transparent force field resembling a thick soap bubble. Above them, tiny holographs of various beings in flight suits (save the passaro, who simply flew of their own accord) were engaging in a type of aerial combat using various weaponry and gadgets.

Craig watched as a passaro resembling an eagle grabbed a human in their talons, and then spiraled down to the floor, releasing the captive at the last second. The holographic human exploded into dust and mist upon impact. As the mist settled, a tiny vehicle from a different event blasted past. It hovered just above the ground like the ITSTU, but was much sleeker in design. It whipped across a winding path along a tiny holographic mountain (barely larger than Craig himself), pursued by various other vehicles which lobbed missiles and fired lasers at each other and the mountain itself, knocking debris in front of the lead vehicle.

“I want to check that out first!” Kayla tugged Craig’s arm and pointed at the racing event. He had to hide his smirk; she was such a kid sometimes.

“Sure, but I wanna see all they got, first,” he replied, “We ain’t even know when the next race starts.”

As soon as he said it, a large, feathery passaro with bright turquoise plumage and a large bill resembling that of a toucan materialized before him. He yelped and jumped backwards at the suddenness of it, before realizing this was another image from the neural band.

“Greetings visitors!” The passaro welcomed them. Kayla looked just as shocked, but in a slightly different direction and Craig assumed that she was also seeing the flamboyant rooster. The passaro continued, “And welcome to the Neurasseum! My name is Astra, and my goodness! According to our records this is your first visit! That means you both get one free food item from the concessions stand as well as a complimentary fifty percent off your first purchase at our gift shop!” In the corner of his vision, Craig noticed his neural band had set up an accounting of this.

“Now, I believe I heard that you wanted to know more about our events here?” Astra continued, looking directly into Craig’s eyes. It was creepy. Craig couldn’t tell if Astra was genuinely aware of them or not.

“Yeah, please,” Craig replied.

“The Neurasseum has six different arenas,” Astra continued, “The largest three of which are dedicated to our three most popular events. Those events, from least to most viewed, are: ‘Vytrus Contamination,’ in which teams of twenty shipmates must protect a space vessel in transit from a team of five Vytrus infected members before the ship lands or is fully infected. Each event is a thrilling horror experience, whether you dare to participate or spectate! Then there is, ‘Aviante Royale,’ a fifty-person battle royale fought in the skies and treetops of the passaro home world. Finally, our most popular event, ‘Adrenaline Spike,” a thrill-seeking racing event in which drivers must battle their way to first place through a variety of weapons, traps, and environmental hazards!”

“So if the events all happen outside or in a spaceship, how are we watching them here?” Kayla asked.

“The Neural Imaging Processors here in the Neurasseum are capable of generating nearly any idea a player can have in real time,” Astra elaborated, “The input comes from the players themselves, who determine the specifics of their individual needs moment by moment. The audience can get as close to the action as they want, even enjoying a limited form of participation with the events! In the case of both contender and audience member, the events occur within the mind itself; so that projection can be as large or as small as needed. Physically, our arenas are mostly dedicated to audience seating.”

“That sounds awesome! How fast are the vehicles in Adrenaline Spike?” Kayla asked, awestruck. As Astra started explaining intricacies about the vehicles, Craig wondered what other events they could see. Immediately, a different avatar of the Neurasseum appeared before him, also passaro, resembling most a parrot with deep, vibrant purple and blue plumage. Their voice dripped with over-eagerness common to sales, entertainment, and finance pitches. Craig cringed.

“Hi, I’m Mikki, she/they,” she said sweetly, “Wanting to know what is showing in the bottom three arenas? I can help with that!” What looked like a small posterboard appeared next to her, and on it a list of different events started filling out. There were ten events in total. “Now I could explain each of these to you, hun, or if you had a good idea of what you were hoping to see, I could try to narrow it down for you.”

“How about just regular sports?” Craig asked, “Like football or basketball?”

“I’m afraid I haven’t heard of either of those, but if you’re looking for traditional sports, then there are a few I could show you,” Mikki offered apologetically. “First is moonball. Taking place on the surface of Luna, two teams of eight compete to drive a ball across a kilometer stretch of cratered moon surface. The ball can be passed or kicked forward, but not behind. Certain players can use zero-point blockers to wall off paths forward or to create safe corridors for their team’s carrier. One person on each team carries a three-meter range zero-point harpoon with which they can use to steal the ball or trip up the opposing team’s carrier.”