The Sportplex arcade

You suggest the mall's arcade to Ris.

"Like normal? But we always hang out at the arcade," says Ris, confused.

You're similarly confused, but only for a moment. Why wouldn't you regularly come to the arcade if you had a childhood best friend who enjoyed gaming as much as you did?

"The arcade is somewhere we both like," you tell your girlfriend. "Won't it make it even better if we go together? Like, as a couple?"

Ris lets out a sudden giddy laugh, then slaps her hand over her mouth and does a poor job disguising the sound as a cough. "Sure, like. Yeah. That makes sense," she says gruffly.

You smile reassuringly at her. "You're so tense you're about to snap in half. Relax, Ris."

Ris grabs your hand tight and grumbles at your side as she pulls you toward the mall arcade. "How the hell do you expect me to relax when you suddenly decide you like me or whatever...?"

You don't have an answer for Ris, but the arcade will do just what you want. It'll relax both of you, and give you time to become acquainted with this version of Christina.

But Ris doesn't drag you to the mall arcade you knew. She takes you in a different direction, toward where one of the mall's department stores ought to be - a JC Penny you think it was? But you don't come to a JC Penny. Instead, you're confronted by a massive gaming plaza titled weirdly SPORTPLEX.

In place of the old arcade RETROID GAMES that you used to know, instead the SPORTPLEX is a full blown activity center that seems to take up the entire space of the old store. There's a line to get in, and in place of metal tokens, you and Ris have to drop a buttload of cash to buy credits for a card. A card, you find, that you already have in your wallet. It's black and gold, and reads SPORTPLEX along the top in cool futuristic letters.

Walking in, you gawk at your surroundings. There's signs for mini-golf, laser-tag, VR rooms and simulators, as well as rock walls, courts for squash, and what appears to be a movie theater. They even have some kind of laser-based obstacle course, with cheering spectators waiting their turn.

"What is this place?" you ask, amazed.

"The arcade," answers Ris, suddenly worried. "Wait, did you mean a different arcade? Like there's the one next to the mall but it's more like a trampoline gym isn't it?"

"No no, this is great," you say, shaking your head dizzily. "It's awesome. Just - I haven't been here in a while."

Seriously, what is this place? You look around more carefully to get your bearings.

As you'd expect, a healthy portion of the crowds running around are teenage boys and college kids, but oddly, a significant minority, maybe 40% of the present Sportplex goers, appear to be women, with many couples thronging between games and activities.

Not just any women, either. Many wear athletic clothing, or jerseys, or shorts, and many more wear their hair short, or in wild manes, or in quickly tied ponytails. And many, man of the women you see seem to share a common body type - slender, short, small.

"There's a lot of petite girls here," you say aloud, slowly beginning to understand.

It's not limited to teens or couples, either. You see families, even with some silver-haired couples - men with small, athletic women, shepherding gaggles of rambunctious teens from one activity to the next.

Ris looks around, barely noticing. "Well yeah," she says. "Where else would a thera go? This place is cool."

You turn to her, your eyebrows drawing together. "What's a Thera?"

"Y'know, shortstops," she says, shrugging. "Outdoorsy, casual, athletic types. Natural sprinters like me."

Ris says it so casually, you hardly understand her meaning. "And you're a... Thera?" you ask. Is that the word she used?

Your girlfriend frowns and puts her hands on her hip. "I mean. Yeah. Some women grow up tall and pretty, some turn out strong and fast. And I'm not tall or pretty, so."

You rub your chin. "Wonder who came up with Thera, though..."

Ris snorts. "The ancient Greeks. Like everything else. It means hunter."

"The Greeks?"

"Did you miss that week of school?" asks Ris, in disbelief. "The whole myth about Ares falling in love with Artemis, and their daughter Thera running away to hang out with mortals?"

Now you don't know much about Greek mythology, but you're certain Artemis never married nor had children. You almost argue, but then you think about your rules about petite girls - under 5'2, with modest chests and healthy weights. You didn't consider it before, but how many women fall into that category? Ten percent? Twenty? More?

How would society be different if a quarter of women had always been natural-born athletes with tomboyish interests? And in a world where you had all these tomboys running around since, well, forever you guess, what culture wouldn't have legends to explain it?

The thumping rhythm of the upbeat techno music playing over the sound system brings you back to reality. Of course places like the Sportplex exist. It's every guy - and thera's - dream. The demand is there, so of course capitalism would provide the answer.

"I love this world," you say.

Ris gives you a weird look, but with your cards loaded with credits, and no shortage of things to try, there's no time to think about it long. You surge off in search fun with your shortstop tomboy girlfriend.

It's not your first time in a place like this with Christina - well, except that you've never been to an arcade that has a live-fire gun range in the back - but more importantly, it's the first time that your interests and competitive streaks have overlapped so completely. Not only that, it's the first time a girl has actually given you a run for your money when it comes to video games

You can't beat Ris in a head-to-head driving game of two linked cabinets. She whips you in a best 3-out-of-5 game, 3 to 1. You do better at the Mortal Kombat cabinet, where you rip apart her Lizard with your superior command of Sub-Zero, but that's almost cheating since you've clocked way more hours in fighting games than Ris apparently has.

In the end, the two of you agree to settle the score by playing a long game of cooperative Time Crisis, the two of you in total sync as you blast terrorists, Russians, and robots with your brightly colored light guns.

Normally a game like that would be the climax of the arcade, but Sportplex offers more.

After warming up on Time Crisis, you and Ris team up for an intense game of laser tag. Two teams of ten, capture the flag. You're issued full body gear and sensors, even a helmet.

At first your team worries you - you and Ris are serious, but then there's a pair of giggly teens on your team, twin sisters by the looks of it, who don't seem to be taking this seriously. Though they're both obviously theras, and their mom's a shortstop like them, the exhausted dad shares a look with you. He's hardly in shape, and keeping up with his daughters and wife is clearly taking its toll.

Luckily, the six of you are joined by four more toned theras, cocky women dressed in cameo, boots, and with short-cropped hair, who instantly get to work gearing up and making battle plans in the corner of the ready room together.

"Holy shit these girls are intense," you say, watching with avid interest from behind your chunky plastic laser rifle.

Ris elbows you and points. "Dude, they're marines. Check that chick's tattoos."

Sure enough, a hispanic girl not too dissimilar from your date wears a tattoo of an eagle, globe, and anchor on her arm. And holy shit, is she hot. The marine notices you checking her out, much to your dismay. "Heya pretty boy," she says, making a kissy face. Her military friends laugh raucously.

Ris goes red in the face.

As hot as the marine is, though, you already have a girlfriend. You forcefully spin Ris around and, ensuring the marine chick is still grinning at you, grab your girlfriend's face and pull her into a full-on passionate kiss. Ris goes breathless.

"You wish this was you," you tell the hispanic marine chick, hugging Ris tight to you by the waist.

The petite soldier's friends laugh at her, cajoling and teasing, and she quickly retreats behind their ranks, humiliated.

You made a bit of scene, but it seems to be all in good humor.

"What's up with you today?" says Ris, unable to keep from touching your chest. "You're so... so confident."

"Yeah?" you ask, even as the twin teenagers nearby giggle at your and Ris's closeness. "Is that a bad thing?"

"No way. It's just weird." Her eyes go wide. "Uh, not bad, though. Just different, but I love you. It. I love it. You being confident, I mean. You're so... wow. Forget I said anything. Game's starting."

Ris pushes away from you to ready her weapon, and you do the same, as does the rest of your team. For some reason, you're pretty sure you're about to destroy the other team.