The setting for this story, and most of the characters therein, are based on the CGI cartoon series ReBoot, copyright Mainframe Entertainment, Inc. I confess that I didn't ask their permission first, but I hope they will be understanding about it — this work was a labor of love, and I am giving credit to the giants upon whose shoulders I stand, so to speak.
The Games in this story are the product of my own imagination. If they resemble any existing Games, then the similarity between them is fully accidental.
My friend Val coined the term "datoid," and the term ".BAT" as it was used in this story was first used in that context by Slack of Slack and Hash's Domain.
If you want to reprint this story in full or in part, please e-mail me to ask permission first. Chances are, I will say yes.
Easter eggs/ literary references;
Some of the exchanges between Hack and Slash are lifted from Samuel Beckett's play Waiting for Godot.
"God's Thumbs" is an expression used by Catherine in Catherine, Called Birdy, by Karen Cushman
The type of wrestling practiced in the tourney Game is a medieval variety I read about in Queen's Play, by Dorothy Dunnett. The book is part of a historical fiction series called The Lymond Chronicles.
I think that covers just about everything. Hope you enjoyed the story—I'm going to be writing a sequel some time in the not-too-distant future. Stay frosty!