The station is the height for entertainment. However, the odd part is, the most popular area is the areas tend to be where there are board games, rather than the electronic games, including very realistic VR's.
One human sets up a class for teaching people how to play chess, and havenworlders seem to not only have a knack for it, but find they often beat even quite skilled human players. They love it. -- Anon Guest
Most stations exist as places to pass through. Many of them also become places to live. Some, like Amalgam, just sort of happened that way. Some fall out of use and are turned to other pursuits.
Gleamingview Station long since ceased being a fuel and repair stop. It's moved through being a tourist trap, and is now something of a resort destination. And for those bored with the nebula visible through the viewports, there were plenty of other diversions.
Humans came here, so of course there was every game one could imagine.
Not just the modern ones. There were games that made use of gravity. There were games that made use of reflexes. There were devices mechanical and electronic alike. And there were games that involved physical interaction with pieces on a board.
This one, played between a small and delicate Havenworlder and an otherwise unassuming Human, was one of their war simulations. Incredibly synthesised and dating back to the eras of swords, but still a war simulation. Humans called it Chess.
Because it was so abstract, even Havenworlders could play it with Deathworlders. Nobody who studied chess would even think about violence in association with loss.
Havenworlder Pam moved the figure representing a horse. Ze considered the resulting pattern of pieces and chirped, "Mate in three, I believe."
Human Oinn studied the board. "Son of a--" she whispered. "Clever bean[1]..." She was careful to hide her teeth as she grinned. "Are you sure you never played this game before?"
"I merely followed the rules," said Pam.
Oinn started resetting the board. "All right. Maybe this is beginner's luck. Two out of three?"
After two out of three, then three out of five, then five out of seven, Oinn joked on the infonets that Havenworlders could be absolutely merciless at chess. The rest of Humanity was delighted at the news.
[1] As opposed to 'boy' or 'girl' some non-binary folk [me] use the honourific 'bean'. Which is a reduction from "[SPECIES] being". And it makes you sound like a slightly archaic and upper-class person from some costume drama.
[Photo by Carlos Esteves on Unsplash]
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