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No need to rush in. Your goal is to just read his playstyle. Pawn to E4. He moves a Pawn to E5. You move a knight to F3. He moves a knight to F6. You follow up by moving a Bishop to C4. An 'Italian Game'. You felt it was fitting given Benedict and Adam are watching nearby. The Admiral scoffs upon seeing the gambit you're playing.
<span class="mu-s">"I'm playing with a beginner, huh? So be it."</span> He moves one of his bishops right in front of your own. That's where your knowledge on openings ends. You're going off gut instinct on this point. You immediately move your king into hiding. He moves a knight to F6. You move a knight to F3. His eyes widen a bit as he moves to...hide his king away as well.
Staring at your board, the two of you basically have a completely mirrored board state on both sides. You move a pawn. He moves the same pawn on his side of the board. Is he fucking with you? Before you decide to play any other moves, you quickly take a PEP PILL and swallow it dry. It hurts to do so but you rather not push your luck by asking him for a drink.
"So. What district were you born in?"
The Admiral looks up from the board. Something about that question seems to really bother him because for a while, all he does is stare at you with a blank, almost creepy smile. Just as quickly as the weird smile appeared, it's immediately replaced by a frown.
<span class="mu-s">"District? That's after my time. The 'City', the 'Districts'. I used to live in COUNTIRES. Italy. The United States. Korea. None of those ring a bell to you, do they?"</span>
[SCHOLAR OF THE CITY] Those are ancient sounding names to you. Last you heard, those countries stopped being a thing ever since the 1930s. The Year is 2255 right now, so...
[SCHOLAR OF THE CITY] He has to be 335 years old at minimum if he was old enough to remember living in them.
"Vaguely. Mostly in contexts like the name of the move I played or from old history books."
<span class="mu-s">"It's a shame. I suppose my last home before I moved out to this sea was what you would call 'District 24'. It was the closest to MY world."</span> The Admiral shakes his head. <span class="mu-s">"Before I remembered who I was. What we used to be. When I realized everything in that City was a cheap imitation of what once was."</span>
The pill kicks in. You move a bishop to G5. He moves one to G4. Knight D5. Knight D4. In the next two moves, the two of you capture each other's knights. Him with a pawn, you with your own knight. Immediately, you feel a punch hitting you RIGHT in the chest. He barely flinches when his own knight was captured.
<span class="mu-s">"I will admit. Your City has most of the details down pat. I respect the twenty six CEOs who own as much power as presidents and warlords back in the day. Not to mention the Head. They have already won. I envy, adore, yet feel nothing but hatred towards them"</span>
"I beg your pardon?" You wheeze, still trying to recover from the punch you received. You begin to pick up your pace. pieces moving across the chess between both sides of the board.
