Snippet #2445522

Avis's eyes were fixated to the glow of his computer screen, swiftly synchronizing the motions of his digipad and holoboard hands. Blinking a few times, he used his heel to dig at an itch on his ankle that he couldn’t be bothered to pay any attention to. “Seth,” he spoke into the monitor's mic. “Behind you, dude. Like, right behind you.”

“Barely got him,” came the reply a moment later.

“I’m surprised you didn’t notice,” he laughed. “He tried to hit you with a shotgun when he was tailing you earlier but he completely missed.”

“Yeah, that’s probably because I lowered the sound by a bit. I swear, the new speakers I got are great and all, but they’re obnoxiously loud. I think I undershot the volume trying to balance out the ear-splitting audio.”

“Excuses, excuses," Avis grinned. Despite being a hardcore VR gamer, there was a certain charm to games played with physical hardware that couldn't be replaced. It couldn't really be called nostalgia, but the whole retro feel was a refreshing change of pace once in a while. They were entirely different experiences and, while this medium for gaming in particular was considered archaic, it was nice being able to fall into something more casual. He slightly raised his head as a message was delivered through the ship's speakers. Looks like at least half of the dumbass's brain was in working order, which was good enough for him. "Hold on, something came up. I'll get back on later, alright?"

"Now look who's the one giving excu-" Seth was cut off as Avis shut down the system, rising from his seat and taking a moment to stretch a little. Sixty three kills, fourteen assists, and zero deaths. It was a decent score, but it wasn't like he had a lot of room to complain. He quickly suited up and collapsed his sniper rifle into a manageable size, attaching the reshaped block to his belt. He'd put off his meal for long enough so he supposed that now as good a time as any to grab a bite to eat. He opened up a large footlocker and withdrew his lunch, demolishing it in several seconds. It wasn't like he was starving, but fast eating had always been a tendency that's stuck with him through the years. He liked to think of it as a skill he attained while trying to save time between his games whenever real life called and punched him in the face through the receiver.

He also produced a metal cylinder, a small handle on its lid. He inserted it into a box in the corner of his room, sporting a receptacle sized perfectly for it. He slid in the container, a sharp hissing sound emanating within. Dragging the cylinder back out, he popped the lid. The once empty container was now filled to the brim with water, which he took a generous helping of.

Avis cracked his knuckles as he headed out of his room, briefly wondering if anyone would upstage any of his global rankings by the time they got back from the job. He doubted it.