I am standing, the faint glow of the holo-screen in front of me softly touching my face. On all sides of me are other contestants, standing, nervously waiting for the contest to begin. I am sweating now. If I didn't do this I would have ended up like my family, I try to reason with myself. My family are already enslaved by the amarrian off-worlders who will work them to do death. My jaw sets as I imagine the things i will do to them when I find them.
A bell rings out, signaling that we are about to start and bringing me out of my fantasy. A metal cage lowers itself slowly from the ceiling and i try not to move as wires are attached to me and the gaming apparatus is put into place. A drop of sweat slowly finds its way down my furrowed brow then teeters on the end of my nose, about to take its final journey, plummeting to the little pool of sweat that has collected underneath me. I wish my existence was as simple as one of those molecules. But then again, in a way they are also prisoners like me.
Soon I am completely wired up and the last piece of equipment closes in slowly. It is egg shaped from the outside, a capsuleer would know it as a pod. This is a pod that has been adapted for use outside of spaceships, specifically designed for brutal games. Suddenly my vision flickers and dims to blackness as the pod seals with a hiss. A liquid starts running over me, I think it is sweat but it is really pod goo. This is it, I think as I take a deep breath. My last breath, unless I win...
