Page 19 (1/1)
"Ladies and gentlehts noeep to the center of the arena, where an announcer wearing a Warcross logo T-shirt stands "Warcross fans around the world!" he says in a boo voice "Welcome to the Wardraft! We’re about to add some wild cards into the mix of your favorite Warcross tea so fast now that it leavesweak
"Let’s introduce the most important person in here!" he points up at the sahts shift to focus on a roped-off section of the stadiu over the box is a virtual sign that says Official Seats,lass Two bodyguards flank hie to show his face "The one who made it all possible--Hideo Tanaka!"
The stadium explodes into the loudest cheers I’ve ever heard, followed by a thunderous chant of "Hih-day-oh! Hih-day-oh!" that lass to toast the crowd, as if this level of insanity were perfectly normal, and then sits back down to watch I force myself to look away
"There are sixteen official Warcross teaets a total of five official players We’ve already chosen the returning veteran players, but every teaht has at least one open spot--and we have forty wild cards for them to choose fro on a team" He waves a hand at our front-row seats "Let’s do a quick introduction!"
The spotlight changes to focus on the first wild-card player, and theThe player is a boy with brown hair, who blinks at the sudden light on hi Canada, Level 82, who plays as a Fighter He is ranked sixty-sixth in the world" Cheers erupt from the audience When I look up at the crowds, I can see posters waving enthusiastically, with Rob’s nah sos Valedictorian of his high school Last flight: Vancouver to Tokyo, on Japan Airlines
"Next, we have Alexa Ro Russia, a Level 90 player known for her lightning-fast Thief attacks" Another round of cheers Thethat she’d chosen for herself I study a scrolling list of her info Full na A former co a fight with a fellow teammate, so she switched her obsession to Warcross after that She lifts her head high now and nods at the dome’s crowd
The announcer continues down the row at a rapid pace The spotlight inches around the opposite end of the arena, thewith every player All of these players are well-known and highly ranked I’ed in as an encrypted, anonyet properly recorded
"Renoir Thomas, from France, is better known as DJ Ren--"
The audience bursts into a deafening round of cheers I search for hi for hi with a soul-shaking bass and addictive beat There’s no question that he’s theto host the first Warcross party of the year But rest assured, you’ll see hio on There are a couple of other wild cards dressed up in gray-and-white outfits--De their clothes ar shirts declaring their favorite professional players Still others look nervous and out of place, lower-ranking players or players that will probably be drafted last I fly through the reaanizing them into folders Be careful of those nervous ones, I reuise to hide a hacker--
"Emika Chen, Level 28, hails from the United States of As to ht A burst of cheers comes from the stadiu her in the opening cereh you probably didn’t expect to! In fact, she was so popular that our vierote her in as a wild-card no turns louder Look genuine, I re to show soiant projection of me in the dome, I look like I ate a bad batch of oysters I wonder if it’d be noticeable if I crawled underthe wild cards, the spotlights sweep to the area of the stadiuo up as the announcer introduces each of the teaade’s distinct, white-and-gray outfits Far from them sit the Phoenix Riders already chosen for this year’s tea red hoods and jackets prominent They utter a bunch of howls and whoops when the announcer says their naold, and Teaons, in ice-colored blue Team Stormchasers, in black and yellow Teahts (sapphire and silver) Even as I continue downloading inforhts sweep over each team, hardly able to believe that I’m in the same space as them
Finally, the announcer finishes The stadium turns hushed as an assistant hands hiets first pick of the wild cards is" He pauses while he tears open the envelope in as dramatic a fashion as he can Hisit until the entire do apart He pulls out a silver card, holds it up, and srams shift to shohat the card says "Team Phoenix Riders!"
In the official team section, the Phoenix Riders let out another round of whoops Sitting in thedown at our arc of wild-card seats with quiet concentration My heart is ha to break my ribs
The announcer waits for a e a feords between each other The silence see forward in er to hear who they pick Finally, Asher waves a hand once in front of him and submits his team’s pick to the announcer
The announcer stares at their pick in his view, blinks a few times in surprise, and then waves his own hand once The selection appears in enorram broadcasts it at the same time
It’s asps echoes around the arena There are people cheering aroundenthusiastic words in my face I just stare in shock I know Hideo wanted to hide ht--but I didn’t think he would make me the number one draft pick This has to be some sort of mistake
"This is no hts in my head He turns in a circle with his arms outstretched "It seems this year’s number one draft pick will be an untested, untried, unranked wild card"--he pronounces each word sloith huge emphasis--"who nevertheless ia of the Phoenix Riders--well-known for unconventional draft picks--has figured out so that the rest of us haven’t
I just findblankly in the Phoenix Riders’ direction Asher has his eyes trained onacross his face He’s one of the most intuitive captains out of anyone--he would have selected someone he could count on, experienced players who are ranked high He wouldn’t pick me just for the spectacle Would he? Did Hideo force his hand?
Is he Zero?
My gaze shifts up to the private box, where Hideo is still standing, looking straight toward iven the Phoenix Riders a command to choose s Maybe it’s to throw the hacker Zero off my scent, because I’m so publicly exposed Or maybe it’s to throw off the other bounty hunters Whatever the reason, I find ain, to ask hiaround It’s Ziggy
"Do you understand how big this is?" she shrieks in my face I’et used to being followed everywhere for the next few ;e!" She shrieks the phrase so wildly that the translation doesn’t even try to interpret it "Soive her a faint smile, then settle in to try to watch the rest of the draft My thoughts whirl as the announcer pulls a second set of cards and reads they, while the Phoenix Riders nab DJ Ren The Titans get Alexa Roht is still onoff in the audience lasses trained onthey can find out about me