1 CHAPTER 1

Evanescha wanted an Alpaca for her 6th birthday. She told her mother that they have peculiarly innocent faces, and she thought they would be friendly. Aesha tried to pour some wisdom into her daughter that the animals were nearly extinct and pretty rare to find. Having failed to console Evanescha with any logic, Aesha sewed her a stuffed one. Evanescha kept it with her for the next couple of years. She lost it after her mother died.

Team Antares is going to leave a false charm on Mars. Evanescha is a front liner. She is playing the game since she was in high school. Her credit contributions endorsed the team in buying such luck. A false charm is a strategic fabrication installed to give a fictitious sense of history. The placers manipulate and re-establish data and theorize completely bogus ideas to lead the game into inaccurate interpretations. Everything is about technique. How cleverly your team tricks the opponent. Only the collective deftness and aptness will win you the credits to buy you a piece of land, to call it HOME!

- The task is simple. You just need to upload the story I created, provide evidence to support the theory. Evanescha told Amer as she entered the false charm code to access the game.

-You are not using your regular id. Amer said. He was a newcomer, been playing for three years. Amer joined team Antares as an apprentice. He is young, quick, energetic, and merely in his twenties.

-Because the charm code is uniquely marked by my id. Entering the code notifies the system directly that a counterfeit is about to be made. We will be provided with all the essential commodities. Now, remember your practice, kid. We will have only one chance.

-I will remember if you stop calling me a kid. Amer wore some serious expressions.

Evanescha raised one eyebrow to the pinnacle on her forehead and eyed the boy observantly. Not notorious, not kind either. She is known to be indifferent to infatuations, an oval face, satin hair, and deadly stare, attractive un- redeeming woman. Amer gaped.

I am playing the game for thirteen years. I call you a kid; you are a kid. I call you a cow; you are a cow. Is that understood? The voice played as cold as ice.

The boy shook his head in agreement.

-Now then, she flexed her muscles and put on the VR goggles.

-In we go. Ready?

-Ready! Amer replied.

With a whoosh and swish, the gaming pod into which they sat disappeared. They were inside the game, now on the red planet, a few kilometers away from their destination Olympus Mons. It is the largest volcano on Mars, inactive for the last few centuries. It is a live-action game. The citizens of Mars cannot see them. Other gamers can. There could be other participants trying to forge information, but the encounter of two placers is highly implausible. Happened once when Hasima and Battlestan, the eternal rivals, destroyed Calisto, Jupiter's moon. Thankfully, only in virtual reality.

-Where's the ride? Asked Amer.

-We walk. Evanescha was looking at the cheering and jarring people. She turned her gaze to Amer and saw him utterly disappointed.

To avoid unnecessary attention.

They arrived at the time of the festival, the annual sports among citizens of the solar system. This year Mars is hosting the ceremony. Humans have inhabited 40% of Mars. Thanks to 100 years of SuperSpace games, which enabled human access to the other planets. Or namely, the moons of the other planets. SuperSpace gamers think of technologies to make a moon inhabitable. Back in the 20th and 21st centuries, humans had the knowledge of the unlivable characteristics of each of the planets. At the beginning of the 22nd century, Alexander Durdana, a visionary and pioneer mathematician, developed an online game to theoretically eradicate all possible problems that may arise for a moon to make habitable. In a few years, the game became most popular worldwide. Children, elders, everyone were playing, strategizing, debunking adverse conditions. Social media groups became planetary think tanks. Right then, the BigZ company came with the big idea. Using the strategies in real-life applications. BigZ had already established few colonies on Mars, however, all of them were in controlled environments. But SuperSpace, the game was about technologies for controlling the environment. BigZ bought the rights to the game. They radicalized the structure- gamers could not only play in 3D but could also move back and forth time to see what could actually work for living in a harsh nonfriendly atmosphere. Initially, the company paid small wager to gamers for encouraging their spirits. Now, it has become the only income source for a large community. Gamers like Evanescha are worth millions. Still, she lacks the most valuable asset. A piece of LAND!

-Shouldn't we have chosen some other time Evanescha? Amer stumbled as he spoke the words. A little girl drove her prosthetic robot dragonfly through his head.

Evanescha smirked. You are like a ghost, silly. Nothing materialistic can touch you except for objects associated with the game.

Yeah, forgot that. He shook his head all knowingly.

He understood why Evaescha voided any ride from the middle of the city. If there were any competitors, they would be alert.

They walked, ignoring the crowd, always keeping a watchful eye for trouble. From the outskirts of the city hall, the bare surroundings of Mars were visible. BigZ has yet to colonize Olympus Mons. The reason why they appeared amid the city was, all gamers had to choose a starting point. The more crowded the starting point, the harder it was for opponents to locate them. But of course, they could plug out anytime. The stadium was at the center of the city, so everyone was heading in opposite direction. People wore different color jerseys to show their support to respective planets. Sports have changed compared to what the ancestors used to have on earth. Actually, it is simple football, played by the planetary rules. Rules of Mars and Earth were the easiest. Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune, all having no solid surface, challenge the players to play the game afloat. The miscellany of artificially created surface gravity and high temperature compels the players to carry instruments within the lining of the fabric. Challenges are not in effect till a team wins the toss. The toss winner then throws the challenge. They play until someone scores the first goal. If the other team scores first, the challenge then shifts, and the playground ambiance change according to the scoring planet. The shift occurs each time a team scores. Players need full coordination with their minds and soul. Some players even said they treat their apparatus like another part of their body. A much difficult game than traditional football. If anything goes wrong, a player not only loses the match but also it could be life-threatening.

Today is the semifinal between two blue giants, Uranus, and Neptune. Evanescha chose the time perfectly. Everyone in every corner of the solar system will be watching the game. Even SuperSpace players are a big fan of the InterPlanetary Football Tournament.

Amer is a fan too. Especially today's match is going to be extremely exciting. He even bought tickets to watch the match live. But when Evanescha announced they were to be going on a mission, he dared not say another thing. One last time, he made a look of despair at the whooping people, then disappeared near the boundary.

Evanescha held out the smartwatch. A holographic module appeared, and she commanded for suits. A golden cover raised from their toe and spread to the neck, fashionable fabric. For eyes, they put on protective goggles, which covered the face with an invisible shield. Outside the boundary, the environment is not yet controlled. They are dwelling in virtual realism, but the game is built as a copy resembling the actual state of the planets. So, the gamers abide by rules followed in the real world or they lose one life point when unfavorable. The boundary is practically an invisible magnetic field separating two dominions. They stepped out of the boundary with a whizz, and suddenly all the chorus and cheering vanished. Amer felt his ears would burst within his head in this painful silence. He spun for a jolly few seconds and saw Evanescha was already heading forward.

- Quite a woman! He whispered and followed her hurriedly.

-The convergent boundary of Mons must be huge. Have you chosen a specific place for planting the podiums? He tried to have some basic conversation.

-Oh yes, that is settled.

-I did not see location coordinates in the layout.

-It's all in here. Evanescha pointed a finger to her head. Can't give away the location.

-You don't trust your teammates! Amer said ghastly.

-Some things I like to do manually. Makes me feel classic.

Rumors revolve around this woman. Her journey is so interesting that young gamers often study her profile to take inspiration for their career. Evanescha was married to Helal, the pro rank B star footballer from the earth. After one year of marriage, Helal died while playing against Saturn. It was seven years ago when Evanescha played SuperSpace at an intermediate level. After Helal died, Eva took no other companion.