Sins of the Fathers
"GG."
The letters hung there on the screen for a moment, before she hit "options," and then "surrender." All the keys on the laptop used the Roman alphabet, but it would have been just as grating if it had been written in Hangul. She leant back in her chair and folded her arms, putting on a pouty face. Maybe her father would show mercy on her next time. Not too much mercy, but just enough mercy that she could finally beat him in a proper victory. To be the best e-sports player in the world.
"Nice try," he said.
Nice try – a reference to the match, her attempt at gaining pity, or both? Either way, the game had ended. Kim Song got to his feet and stretched his arms, swaying his body from one side to the other.
"You getting up?"
"D. Va not getting up until she beats you."
Her father sighed. "You still talking about yourself in the third person?"
"Fans like it when talks in third person. And in English."
"Your father doesn't."
The pout faded, and Hana Song, member of the Mobile Exo-Force of the Korean Army, got to her feet. She almost gave him a salute, but reminded herself that Kim Song was only her father, not her commanding officer. He was only allowed on the base because the Army knew that he only came here for one reason, and that reason made their star mech pilot a better soldier. The more Corporal Song honed her reflexes in the virtual world, the better she'd be in the real one.
"We can try another game if you want?"
She shook her head.
"There are other e-sports."
"D. Va only wants one battleground. will beat you on it."
"First person, please."
She ignored him and glanced back at the loading screen of her laptop. It showed a very angry looking hydralisk hissing, mimicking how she felt. Across space, time, and software, she couldn't win. Whether she was playing terran, zerg, or protoss, and playing StarCraft, StarCraft II, or StarCraft III, Kim Song always remained her better. Kim Song remained no. 1. She could take on omnics, she could pwn people in e-sports ranging from Quake to League of Legends 2, but Kim Song remained forever beyond her reach.
"One more game," she said, exiting SC3's launcher. "We can-"
"No."
She looked up at her father. He was putting on his jacket – it got cold in Busan at this time of year.
"I'd like to see more of the base actually," her father said. "There's only so many times a father can take joy in the defeat of his child."
Was that a joke? She couldn't tell. But child – that rubbed her hard. She was nineteen – legally an adult in most places in the world.
"D. Va will join you." She beckoned to her father with one hand, and pressed a remote attached to her jumpsuit in the other. The door to her quarters opened in a hiss. Away from pink, Pachimaris, and more things that started with "p," and out into the cold, drab corridors of MEKA Base Busan. One of a number of outposts it had along the border of South Korea. Out from home, and into the dark. Even though it was mid-afternoon. Not that one could tell in here.
In silence, they walked down the corridors. Five minutes ago, they'd been waging virtual war, with the sounds of alien races tearing up the battlefield. Now, they were in détente, and she hated it. Hated that she couldn't beat her father, hated that it felt so difficult to talk to him, hated…well, not much else actually. Certainly not the snow that awaited them as they reached the balcony that overlooked the bay. She gave a look at her father – he looked old, despite being in his forties. Everyone in MEKA looked old except the pilots. Over half of them had been alive during the Omnic Crisis. Now she was fighting their war for them and-
"Hana?"
…and enjoying it, damn it. She wasn't going to apologize for that. They'd come to her. They'd drafted her. She'd repelled the East China Sea omnic more times than any other pilot, and the fans loved her.
"Hana?"
She shot her father a look. "What?"
"Why do you keep challenging me?"
"Why? Do you want to quit?" Are you giving up?
"You've been challenging me ever since you could use a computer. No matter the game, I've always won, except when I let you win."
"I knew when you did that. I didn't like it."
Her father smiled, while she silently cursed. She was "D. Va." Not "Hana." She was meant to speak about herself in the third person. Hell, if this kept up, she could dip under 3 million subscribers on her Facebook page, not to mention YouTube.
"Understand I'm not insulting you, but I think you're as good as you're going to get," said Kim. She opened her mouth, but he kept talking. "And that's no mean feat – you've won more WCS tournaments than any other player out there."
"But not won against you."
"Correct. But…" He sighed. "Hana, I know how important your work is here, but…"
"But?"
"But in what time we have together, I'd like to see more of you, and less of the rear side of your laptop."
She opened her mouth…but closed it. This was wrong. She'd hoped by this point they'd be on the topic of whether Warcraft IV would ever be released. Not this…family stuff. Family stuff was icky. She didn't deal with icky. She dealt with stuff that was cool, and flashy, and other…stuff. But, hey, she enjoyed a challenge.
"D. Va has to try," she said. "Just like omnic."
"The omnic?"
"Yes," she said, gesturing out towards the ocean. "The omnic keeps trying to beat us. We always win. Maybe it knows that it can't beat us, but it keeps trying."
Her father frowned – "you think the omnic sees this as a game?"
Hope so. "Maybe. But, well, you're my father. I'm obliged to try and surpass you. To better you. Defeat you."
"Is that a declaration of war?"
"We fight war every time you turn up."
"Maybe we shouldn't."
"The we won't have to once I beat you. I-"
A klaxon sounded. No words, no sirens, just a klaxon. It was all the alert that the MEKA pilots needed. The omnic had arisen again, and it was up to them to intercept it. To play the game, and play to win. Settings being sudden death, with no continues.
"D. Va has to go," Hana said. " must get mech ready."
Her father sighed. "I know," he said.
He did know – there was no denying that. He knew, and Hana could see that was what hurt him. Hurt him even more than her mother – how long had it been since she'd seen her, let alone talked to her? Years, by this point. E-sports, mech piloting, they did a number on your family life.
"I'll beat the omnic," Hana said, in an effort to cheer her father up. "Beat him, and send GG. Then I'll come back and…" She cleared her throat. "I mean, , signing off."
Her father laid a hand on her shoulder. "Do so."
She gave him a mock salute and ran off. She wasn't afraid – she'd beaten the omnic every time before. Why should this time be any different?
Someday, she'd beat her father as well.