Vincent found himself in a room with three pods on either side of the room. Posters of robots and scenic locations were plastered on the walls. There was a large desk in the middle of the room and he could see that aside from the 65” inch flat screen, the desk was littered with what appeared to be cards. Vincent went for a closer look and found that most of them were clear cards with arms, legs, horns, swords, etc., and a few of them with an actual robot displayed on them.

On a shelf on the wall, Vincent saw a few trophies. He took one of them and muttered under his breath, “WARFRAME Battle, 3rd Championships, Team S. Vanguard.” Anna was fishing something from her backpack while Vincent was looking around the room. “How do you play FPS here?”

“Sorry to make you wait.” Anna came to Vincent and presented to him her fully assembled robot inside what appeared to be a handheld card display case. “This is a fully assembled card set used for WARFRAME and the base reader for the frame.” Anna showed Vincent her base reader and the completed image of her frame.

Vincent squinted his eyes as he looked closer and found that her robot did in fact, look pretty cool. It was sky blue with some accents of dark blue and a bit of white. It looked rather petite with a sleek design. And it had a rapier in its right hand and a shield in the other. From the shape of the body, Vincent could tell that it was meant to replicate the female form.

After checking out the picture of the robot in the base reader, Vincent turned around and headed for the door. Just as his hand was about to reach for the handle, Anna pulled him back. Vincent wanted to fight back, but he was taught never to lay his hand on a girl. “Let me go, I didn’t come here to play some kiddie card game,” said Vincent as he tried to reach for the knob while Anna struggle to pull him away. “Please wait. Just give it a chance.” Anna said while Vincent struggled, “Come one, that’s just a tabletop game. It’s not a video game. I didn’t come here for a card game.” Anna kept trying to keep Vincent from leaving, “It’s not just a card game. It’s WAFRAME. Now stop struggling and just give me a minute to show you what it’s all about.”

It took a bit of convincing but Anna was finally able to convince Vince to stay for a while. She booted up the screen and started one of the pods. A male mechanical voice then sounded from the pod and screen, “WARFRAME simulation mode, startup. Simulation difficulty set to C” Vincent could hear the buzzing sound of the machine starting up.

Anna then continues to explain while Vincent was tied down to a chair that was at the desk, “WARFRAME Battle is played within this battle system.” Vincent tries to break free from his bindings “How can you explain everything with a smile on your face while I’m tied up to a chair like this? Anyways, let me go. This should be against the law or something.” Vincent struggles to break free from his bindings.

The mechanical voice sounded once again, “Please set your base reader.” Then Anna goes on to explain, “First, we set the in the base reader containing the frame and pilot data.” Anna then walks over to the pod that she had activated and it opened up. From what Vincent observed, the inside of the pod looked similar to the fighter plane cockpits found in arcades. While Anna was explaining, Vincent was still struggling to break free, “Do you even hear what I’m saying!? Man, these ropes are tight. Where did you even learn to tie people up like this?”

Despite Vincent’s protest, Anna did not even pay it any mind. She just continued to explain the concept of WARFRAME battle to Vincent. The machine voice spoke, “Beginning display. Field 3, Desert.” The screen in front of Vincent displayed a vast empty desert filled with yellow sand and several rock formations, cliffs, rocks, and boulders. Seeing the image in front of him made him a little impressed by the system. The graphics for the battlefield was much better than most of the FPS that he had played. “Pretty realistic.”

The dark cockpit lighted up when Anna placed her base reader on the console of the cockpit. Vincent could see the blue displays to the side of the pilot’s seat. Anna took her seat and pressed a button on the panel. A holographic 3D image of her frame was displayed floating above the panel. The robot had a smooth sleek design with slender legs and a petite waist. The concave torso, sloping breastplate, thin limbs, and narrow head made it look like a supermodel. Mounted on the back of the robot was a large blue rose with all of its petals closed. It was an un-bloomed blue rose. The feet appeared sharp and had a stiletto for the heel. There was a single blue rose on its chest, and one on each shoulder. The Rapier and shield appeared more refined. Despite the shield’s medium size, which was slightly larger than the hand, it made it possible for it to have hidden weapons.

“You’re now ready for battle,” Anna said as the pod closes. Inside Anna could see three screens displaying the battlefield at three different angles. The center screen displayed her main view, the main camera, while the other two screens displayed images from her left and right respectively. The holographic display turned and faced the main screen with its knees bent and buckled as the eyes glowed. A catapult platform appeared beneath its feet.

A notification appeared on the main screen ‘WARFRAME Battle, Launch’ as the mechanical voice spoke, “Initiate Battle”. The robot was now in a single path room and the red lights that lit the floor and ceiling turned from red to blue. Then Anna spoke like she was launching her robot from the base. “Anna Fischer, Rosenkavalier. Here I go.” Sparks flew as the catapult quickly moved forwards with Rosenkavalier. The catapult-launched the robot to the light at the end of the tunnel.

Vincent watched the screen as a circular gateway appeared at one end of the desert and a blue robot entered the battlefield. The robot dashed through the desert before the thrusters on its back and legs flared up and it took to the skies. Vincent exclaimed, “It flew!” Anna then proceeds to explain from inside the pod. “Using the console in the cockpit, you can move the frame." Rosenkavalier flew around the battlefield doing tricks like rolls and flips. Vincent was amazed. “Whoa, that actually, looks pretty cool.” Vincent then heard a beeping sound like an alarm. The display zoomed into the distance revealing another frame.

Except when compared to the Rosenkavalier, this one looked plain. Anna goes on to explain, “It’s the simulation mode enemy machine.” Vincent then says “Beg pardon” with a puzzled expression. The green enemy robot starts firing its rifle. Anna then told him, “Just sit back and watch.” Vincent was surprised, “That thing can fire laser beams!?” The two robots then began flying around each other firing laser beam after laser beam.

The AI robot fired from its rifle while Anna fired from under her shield. The two robots continued to fire upon each other as beams of yellow and green flew across the sky. “I also have this weapon.” Rosenkavalier rushed in as it tightened its grip on its rapier. Anna was able to easily avoid the laser as she moved in for the kill. Anna appeared in front of the enemy robot and splits the enemy robot in half by slashing through the waist after pink energy coated the blade.

The cockpit opens and Anna steps out, “Well, what do you think? This is WARFRAME Battle.” Vincent muttered, “WARFRAME Battle”. Anna then asks, “Well Vincent, do you want to give it a try? I’ll show you how to play.” Vincent’s blood was boiling when he saw how the robots fight. He wanted to join in the fun.

So Vincent smiles and nods at Anna’s offer. “Alright, let’s give it a go.” Anna then searched around the desk, “I know I have a spare base reader here somewhere.” As Anna was looking around, Vincent remembered the thing he picked up from the alley. It looked a lot like Anna’s base reader.

Vincent took it out of his pocket and showed it to Anna. “Hey Anna, do you think I can use this?” Anna was surprised to see the object Vincent had in his hand. “I thought you said you’ve never even heard of WARFRAME. So where did that come from?” Vincent then explains the events that took place earlier.

Anna opens the base reader that she found in the desk drawer and took out the cards in the reader in Vincent’s hand and inserts them into the reader in hers. She then goes on to explain. “That base reader has most likely been registered so you can’t use it. But you can still use the cards. I’ll prepare a temporary guest account for you on the spare reader. Then we can just assemble the cards on there.” Anna then fiddles with the computer. After she was done, she handed Vincent the spare reader and took him to one of the cockpits.