THE MOMENT
"Welcome, team!" Britt smiled at the four other girls. The five of them were alone in the school gym. The school was owned and operated by a corporation named Sharp Development, and it showed in the decor. The gym floor was smooth, solid white, and the walls seemed to be made of frosted glass, gently glowing with its own light. The most prominent feature was a large red pair of scissors decorating the center of the gym floor. "Now that we officially have five members, we can start taking advantage of the practice period during school hours instead of trying to find a track after, so here we are," she grinned. "Any questions?"
"Will we be getting a sixth?" Davina, a red-haired girl, asked. Not all teams had six members, but a lot of them did, and it was safer to have someone available on the bench. Only five skaters could be on the track at a time, and a few teams pushed their members to remain active for the whole game. She didn't want to be part of those teams.
"I'm looking for a sixth, but I can't promise we'll get one," Britt nodded with a shrug. "The way things are right now, everyone wants to be on a team. Do you know anyone who would want to be a student here?"
"No one I'd want to be on a team with...," Davina shook her head.
"Well, keep your eyes and ears open. Any other questions before we get started?"
"I'm still unclear on the timeline," Brucie half-raised her hand for attention, then dropped it again. She had black hair and the sturdiest build of the five. "When's the tournament? Everyone's talking about it, but no one can agree on a date, and I haven't seen any official announcements posted around the school or anything," she shrugged.
"Well, it hasn't been formally announced yet, most people are focused on the Halloween event." Britt nodded. "That's why we don't know the date, but it's a pretty safe bet it'll be in May or June. So, even without the date, we can start getting ready. And, you know, it'll be announced by then," she giggled.
"Are we going to do the Halloween event?" Christine, a blonde girl, asked.
"Maybe," Britt nodded. "I want to get through this first practice and see how we do."
"So, let's practice," Dora, a brown-haired girl, added.
"First things first," Britt shook her head. "Now that we're a team, we need to present ourselves as one. We need uniforms, backstories, and proper derby names. You all know I'm Torque in the game, and you guys need to come up with your own. We have to get the uniforms designed so we can beat the rush once the tournament is announced. And, we need to have our backstories filled in for the public roster pages. After all that, then maybe we can start thinking about practice," she said. "So, where do we start?"
"Backstory," Brucie said.
"Backstory," Davina nodded.
"Backstory," Christine and Dora also agreed.
"But.. do we have to stand here the whole time?" Davina asked. She gestured at the wide-open, empty gym.
"Yes, but not really," Britt nodded as she pulled her node out and began touching the screen. "The gym is in the AlterNet," she said as the room disappeared. They were still technically in the gym, but the environment looked like they were outside under a vast starlit sky.
"Lakeside?" she asked, and a lakeshore took shape on the floor.
"Campfire?" Brucie asked.
"And marshmallows!" Davina added.
"Done and done," Britt nodded as she pressed a few more buttons. A lit campfire ignited into existence on the dusty ground, with two bags of marshmallows and skewers next to it.
"Not bad, team," Britt smiled. "We're already making decisions together," she said as she sat down on the floor. "So, let's start exchanging backstories."