The Quadrant Archive
ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTZ IN THE QUADRANT: The following terms describe
entertainment and sportz in The Quadrant. Choose any link to take you to
a description, or simply scroll down the page.
LINKS: Virtual Entertainment/s ("VE,"
or Vee/s), Entertainment Dome/s, Chem Bar/s, Entertainment Vidz
("Vidz"), Plezhurr Dome/s, Holo Showz, DethRing/z,
The Hunt/z,
Thwopp, Flezz, The Wagerz, Chem.
Virtual Entertainment/s ("VE," or
"Vee/z"): Very expensive specialized
adventure (often sexually oriented) game-like interludes or encounters,
sometimes created and sponsored by well known personalities in The Quadrant,
and devised by high level Designers. Accessible by personal screen "dial
up" to the Quadrant Entertainment Division (QED) a Virtual Entertainment
or "Vee" is delivered (transmitted) directly to the purchaser's
Interface, and from there routed to the limbic area of the brain. The experience
is very realistic (intense, pleasurable, and fulfilling) and usually lasts
about 2 hours.
The purchaser of a Vee must have substantial quadits, and allow QED to confirm
and debit his/her autoaccount for the purchase price prior to transmission.
Because the expense is so great (more than a month's salary for a normal
Functional), Veez are almost exclusively available only to the elites of
The Quadrant. To TOP of Page
Entertainment Dome/s: Enclosed
"mallz," or complexes, several thousand square meters in size,
housing various entertainment areas, including "Chem Bars," "Plezhurr
Domes," and "Holo Showz" (see below). With the primary purpose
of providing diversionary activity for the surrounding population, every
QSU on every Board has its own Entertainment Dome. Naturally, the quality
of both the surroundings and entertainments noticeably diminishes as one
moves toward the Outer Boardz. To TOP of Page
Chem Bar/s: Drinking and
designer drug entertainment establishments, serving from 25 up to 250 people
(depending on size and location). Besides various types of alcohol, Chem
Bars sell "Chem," and/or "Chem Sets," which are two
or more capsules containing a highly specific hallucinogen, capable of giving
users a stimulating, pleasurable, and very coloful series of hallucinations
for 2 to 4 hours (producing few, if any side effects). Readily available
throughout The Quadrant, Chem is cheap compared to purchasing VE,"
(above) or buying Entertainment Vidz, and provides many on the Outer Boardz
with welcome relief from a largely harsh and boring existence. To TOP of Page
Entertainment Vidz ("Vidz"): Small
cylinders capable of storing terabytes of digital playback information.
Sold in Entertainment Domes and elsewhere (often on the "Dark market"),
they fit into a port on all personal screens and can display stored video
based entertainments -- usually porno of some kind -- on personal and other
video screens. To TOP of Page
Plezhurr Dome/s: Establishments
which provide users with women (or men) who for a reasonable sum will engage
in whatever sexual acts the user desires. Those who work in Plezhurr Domes
are examined (at the nearest QSU) once per week for any sexual diseases,
and local QSU Enforcement monitors activity regularly. However, few on the
Outer Boards are monitored closely (if at all), because high crime rates
and violence simply keeps Enforcement Units on these Boardz too busy. To
TOP of Page
Holo Showz: An art form
of The Quadrant featuring a mixture of highly engrossing, colorful holographic
projections and music -- created by specialty Designers and others and sold
by them (and/or by elites who support them) to Entertainment Domes, standalone
Chem Bars, and other facilities throughout The Quadrant. To TOP
of Page
DethRing/z: A human
bloodsport featuring a "gladitorial" combat between two men (sometimes
between two women) to the death. The combatants are, for the most part,
criminals who face termination for "Trashing Reg" Downshaft. Actual
"DethRing" contests are held once per week in Downshaft (and supervised
by Enforcement Units) but are illegal anywhere else in The Quadrant.
A 20 meter (in diameter) plasticene ring is laid out on the ground and 2
men enter, each armed with a Brodstik -- a long pole with an electrical
charge at one end. They fight to the death, and one man leaves a temporary
hero, at least until the following week when he must fight a new challenger.
If anyone manages to win 10 times, they qualify for special status, can
gain "parole" and a measure of freedom from work. Some who have
survived this ordeal become involved in staging DethRing matches for Designers
who come Downshaft to capture the combat for Virtual Entertainments, or
for Entertainment Vidz, etc. To TOP of Page
The Hunt/z: The practice
of hunting Q-Hogz on Conzec Board. An exclusively Elite entertainment, the
Huntz provide wealthy Privates with a dangerous and exhilarating experience.
The huge warthogz hunted are specifically raised in the wild on private
game reserves and bred to be aggressive (both for the Huntz and for their
role in the sport of Flezz -- see below). A hunt is organized and conducted
in an area where wild Q-Hogz are known to roam. 10 to 20 "beaters"
(Recon 4's and 5's) armed with Stingstiks (short Brodstiks) are sent into
the underbrush to flush out the Hog, and when the Hog is "breeched"
or forced out of hiding into a "run" (a grassy field), the hunterz
close in with long Brodstiks for the kill. Often, beaters are gored by Q-Hogz,
or mistaken in close quarters by Hunterz for the Hog and "zapped"
(killed).
Pheasant is also hunted in the private game reserves of Conzec Board. Stripped
down AirSkimmers are used to take a hunter up over a pheasant preserve.
When a bird is spotted, rising up into the air, the skimmer pilot flies
over it and the hunter throws a weighted net device, trying to snare the
prey. If the bird is "skulpped" (struck by the net) and gets tangled,
it immediately drops to the ground and is later retrieved. To TOP
of Page
Thwopp: The "Elite"
game played on Conzec Board in lush greenbelt surroundings by wealthy Privates.
There are only 2 Thwopp Kourses in The Quadrant -- one at the Kolony, and
the other at the Reezort. Played with 7 klubz (5 sweeperz, a "Thwopper,"
and a dinker), the object of the game is to hit a 3 centimeter (in diameter)
semi-hard ball through 400 to 500 meter "fieldways" up to a "hardway"
(a closely-cropped grass area) with 2 flagged holz, and get the ball into
a hole -- using the dinker -- in the shortest number of hitz. The targeted
hole on any Hardway must be "called," prior to hitting-up. Both
Thwopp Kourses feature 14 hole layouts (a first "seven," and a
back "seven") with each hole allotted 4 hitz. If a player can
complete a tour of the kourse in the allotted number of hitz, he or she
is said to have a "snapper." Most play above "snap"
(56 hitz), but some who are particularly good at the game can score below
"snap." Many players wager on the outcome of their play, and often
huge amounts of quadits are won or lost (mostly at the Reezort). To TOP of Page
Flezz: A Quadrant-wide sport
extremely popular on the Outer Boardz. Flezz gets its name from the sound
of the electric charge on the end of a Brodstik (or Stingstik) coming into
contact with human or animal flesh. Played on a triangular field by three
teams (each with its own triangular "push zone"), the object of
the sport is to drive a large, angry, Q-Hog from the neutral center triangle
of the field through your own offensive "push" zone, past a defensive
"shunter" (goalie) into your goal area (scoring a goal or "pack").
Each Flezz team has 10 members -- six Regularz, three Corner Irregularz,
and one Shunter, all of whom wear protective gear. The Regularz (3 prodders,
2 pokers, and a hind flanker) roam the entire field, but the Corner Irregularz
can play only when the "Hog" has been driven into their team's
"push" zone. The game is fast moving, highly dangerous for all
players, and enormously exciting for fanz. If, after 3 thirty minute periods
of broken treaties, short-lived alliances, and much singed flesh, any two
or all three teams are tied, the tie is broken by what is called "sudden
doom." The tied teams are required to remove their protective gear
and the Hog is released. The team which scores the first "pack"
wins the match. Severe injuries abound, and usually, 12 to 15 players are
killed every 7 month season.
The Quadrant Flezz league, known simply as "The Leeg," consists
of twelve teams. Krania and Conzec Board have a single team between them,
though it is mostly manned by players purchased from the Outer Boardz. Recon
1 has one team, while Reconz 2 and 3 have two teams each. Reconz 4 and 5,which
are the most populous Boardz, each have three teams. The Recon 4 Stranglerz
and the Recon 5 Shockerz have been the two strongest Flezz teams for many
years, and the rivalry between these teams and their fanz is fierce and
very often extremely violent. To TOP of Page
The Wagerz: Various games
of chance played primarily in the Kolony Klub Kasino on Conzec Board. The
only full fledged gaming establishment in The Quadrant, the Kasino features
kard games, the "wheel," and other automated devices which allow
those who have the quadits to bet huge amounts, hoping they will come away
winnerz. The big winner, of course, is the Kasino itself, run by a group
of "Kolonists" who know very well that providing the games is
the "best game in town." To TOP of
Page
Chem (verb): To come together,
work with, blend, to react (as in a chemical reaction), to empathize with,
or to understand. A term used primarily by Reconz on the outer Boardz. Chem
(noun): "Chem," and/or "Chem Sets," are two or more
capsules containing a highly specific hallucinogen, capable of giving users
a stimulating, pleasurable, and very coloful series of hallucinations for
2 to 4 hours. To TOP of Page