It was already getting a bit late in the day, so Rosie and I left the mall and I headed out to the train station to catch the late train. It was a great time to reflect, and even a better time to admire the cards I had just bought.
Red Diamond cards are special in more ways than one. For a first, they are everything a trading card should be. Exciting, with wonderfully expressive artwork. Easy to understand, filled with context clues as to the best strategies. And moreover, very individual, since not many people have the same cards. In the early days, Production Studio had made sure that the secondary market for their product was non-existent. Legal battles over the smallest digital sales were pounded away with lawsuits that shaped the industry. What you got was local. What you bought was sealed. What you knew was limited. It might seem like it was an extremely overhanded way of dealing with marketing. But in reality, it was deceptively brilliant. Players who were unaware of the Meta needed to look at the latest professional matches to keep up to date. Also, the Meta could never be pin-pointed exactly. Your build of unheard of cards could hold the edge of competitive play. Every card, a winner. Every winner, a person like you or me. But the crowning achievement that this card game held over any other was the Red Diamond Drive System. On the back of every card is an implanted piece of state-of-the-art AI technology that, when scanned, gave players additional personalized insight on the potential of their card. In addition, groups of cards piled together could be analyzed as a system, allowing players to understand their deck on a whole other level of play.
Commercially, it was a brilliant move. On launch, it drove the hype and ensured its popularity for decades to come. It also didn’t hurt that the chip holding the technology was tinted that signature shade of red, resembling the kite-shaped logo of the franchise. Exaggerated, pandering tactics, but as everyone who was around then, seemed to agree, nostalgic as anything!
Arriving home was easy. The train station was only a block away from my house and the light had only begun to redden. I was home just about the time I needed to be so as to not bring about any unwanted attention.
“John, your father will be home for dinner soon. Come help me set the table. I decided to try my hand at some spicy food, tonight!”
Mom always loves cooking new recipes. The higher the novelty, the better. She gets a kick out of serving up something new every night. Dad and I love it too. The food is always typically passable, with very few outliers, here and there; and we can never complain because it’s never going to be the same inspired creation, twice.
“Looks like a feast, Mom.” I turned up a lid that blew a flavorful vapor my way.
“How was your day, today? Were you out with your friends from school?”
“Yeah I was with Rosie today. We went around the mall.”
“Her, again? Was there anyone else there with too?”
Parents always know how to make you feel awkward.
“No only her, Mom–” I felt like I needed to add, “–we’re just friends.”
She looked annoyed, “I didn’t say anything”. We had this talk before.
The doorway lock tumbled a couple of times. Dad came into the kitchen.
“Hello, dearest… well what do we have cooking? You’ve been busy, huh...” Dad gave Mom a peck and got straight into admiring the food.
During the day, Dad worked as a software engineer at a large firm in the central hub of the city. The hours that his work requested were long and overtime was pretty much a norm in his office; however he always managed to make relaxing look easy. Every day when he came through that door, he never made any mention of work or the troubles he had at the office, this was simply his time to unwind.
On the other hand, this is exactly when Mom usually began recounting what had happened to her all day. Dad was therefore always an open ear.
“So you were out with the Angelo’s girl again?”
“We checked out the new retro arcade that opened up in the mall.”
“I thought you told me that it opened a week ago?”
“Yeah, but only Rosie had been there. She showed me around.”
After dinner, I went up to my room while my parents put on an old movie. I told them I was going up to get a head start on the homework for next week; but it was just an excuse. I pulled out some books and papers and made up the place to study, but instead I preoccupied myself with my cards again. For the next hour I began by pairing them in logical piles and then selectively exchanging some cards for others. I tried to figure out what cards could be played with what other cards, and soon I had almost all of the cards lying in groups of two or three. Not the extent of interoperability I had hoped for, but it was definitely good as a starting point.
Scrutinizing the cards took a lot out of me and soon, I felt like it was time for bed. But before that, I made sure to load my new cards into a tin and stash it in a place where my parents wouldn’t accidentally come across them. And with that necessary precaution observed, I went to sleep.
