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Emily ------

Jackie Burr, Instructor

English 1010, Section 7

19 September, 2017

The Airlock

When our homecoming group walked into Laser Quest on 7202S and 900E, I was excited

and a little nervous. I hadn’t played laser tag since I was 10 or 11 years old. According to John

Pike of the Federation of American Scientists, “MILES (Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement

System; a form of laser tag technology) training has been proven to dramatically increase the

combat readiness and fighting effectiveness of military forces.” I was going to go play an

accurate representation of what actual battles can be like. When we got our assigned color, I

assumed that, as teenagers, we would be in a separate area from all the little kids running around.

I was mistaken. As we went into the “Phase 2” where we were “briefed on our mission” all the

little children went with us. I wasn’t sure to be even more nervous or comforted by the high

energy of all the little kids around. They had obviously heard the instructions many times and

were quite impatient. Each homecoming couple decided to team up, and each team went our

separate ways.

Venturing into the dark maze as if on some foreign planet I gripped my laser gun. My

date seemed to know what he was doing, so I just followed his lead. The neon lights on the

fellow players appeared to make for easy targets, but for some reason, they never started beeping

or flashing when I shot at them, whereas mine seemed to go off even when I didn’t see any

‘enemies’ around in my area. “Oh well, I knew I wouldn’t be good at this,” I thought to myself. I
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gave up with points, and started shooting at things even though I knew I couldn’t hit them and

just had fun.

Instrumental epic music flowed from nowhere as we found an empty high place to

defend. I shot at the flashes down below, I couldn’t even tell if or when I ever hit one, but I

would imagine I did. Then “beep!” my suit vibrated, I spun around in time to see the intruder as

he shot my date. When my suit stopped beeping and the laser came back up, I tried shooting at

the invader, but even at point blank range, his suit wouldn’t go off. “Wow, I must really be bad”

I thought. It was time to retreat.

We slunk around the black walls, and I jumped at my own reflection in every mirror. We

laughed every time we ran into another team from our group as we shot at each other, and

sometimes formed temporary alliances. There was two “high ground” areas that were a little

higher than the rest of the “airlock.” According to the veteran players “gaining” these areas was

the key to winning. Being higher than the other players made it easier to shoot them and easier to

see what is going on. I became turned around as we crept around corner after identical corner.

Green smoke billowed out from a corner and the black light turned my white socks a weird,

bluish color. But the most interesting part was the dynamics between the teens and younger

players.

As my skill level was far below everyone, including the 3-year-old/mom duo, I didn’t

mind playing with younger players so much. The other teens seemed to mind a little more. They

just behaved like they were any other players, but in-between games they quietly muttered the

younger players were “annoying” and laughed at how bad the little kids’ scores were. I stopped

them from laughing by mentioning I had fallen in last place.

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Coming in last place did not defeat me, and I was eager to try again. Back in the maze

and our couple teams, my date and I slowly climbed up the high ground to “infiltrate” the area

where several players’ suits were flashing. As we grew closer high voices cried out “They’re

over there!” and “They’re over here!” From around hiding places and through slots, we were

rendered defenseless. The loud “beep!” and the vibration of the suit against my stomach told me

it was time to retreat again. But then fast aerodynamic shapes moved to cut off our escape. Then,

cautiously, the small defenders moved closer to their prey. As the light from their lasers and suits

moved closer and illuminated the giant invaders, all courage was lost. The cry of retreat was

exclaimed and they ran. The victors abandoning their castle left us the high ground. They ran

although we were defenseless. They could have easily let us escape, retagging us as we made our

way back into the maze. But they abandoned the conquered territory, allowing us to have the

advantage instead, just because we were taller than them.

In fact, being small had many advantages to them in the game. They could turn around

corners faster, were a smaller target, and could hide in smaller places. The main reason both the

younger kids (and I) had lower scores is that we would shoot a whole bunch of random shots

without aiming well.

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The dynamic between the two groups is very complex. I can see a person reading my

story and see it as an unfair dilemma for the younger kids, which is why they ran. However, the

fact that the kids just seemed to allow the teens to win is seen from the adult perspective. I

believe that the younger players don’t pay much, or as much, attention to the scores and just love

that they are allowed to run around shooting lasers at each other. As Cheryl Hall reports in the

Dallas News, “But 30 years later, laser tag is a staple of the family amusement industry, with an

estimated 3,000 fixed and mobile facilities worldwide that bring in about $700 million in

combined annual sales.” The game is certainly popular for all age groups.
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Works Cited

Hall, Cheryl. "Who Knew? Laser Tag Was Invented in Dallas." Dallas News. N.p., 06 May

2014. Web. 19 Sept. 2017.

Pike, John, and Robert Sherman. "Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System (MILES)."

Fas.org. Federation of American Scientists, 7 Aug. 1999. Web. 19 Sept. 2017.