“Let’s play Erase tag.” 

The collective “Ooohs” and gasps of the audience were deafening in their intensity if not their volume. 

“Or are you too chicken?” he taunted.

“You’re on!”  she replied, externally cocky, internally terrified. 

Erase tag.  She couldn’t remember the last time she had played it, which of course meant that she had lost, but the knowledge of how to play, and what not to do, were more a matter of reflex than memory, and so could not be as easily taken.  She wondered what else she had lost in that game – a quick look at the betting boards told her that even money was on her to win, and so she could assume that she must be at least as good as her opponent.  But that was the problem with playing Erase tag – one false move and your decades-long winning streak (and all the memories gained therein) were gone, zapped by the smallest shock of light.

Erase tag was the latest of the high-risk games that young adults seemed to inevitably fall into.  In the 21st century, it was drag racing (although why it was called that was lost to time), the 22nd AG jumping (which had evolved tremendously from its rubberband-like origins), the 23rd had comet dusting, and today it was Erase Tag.  At least with Erase tag, it left a perfectly usable shell in the case of a critical loss, which is why it was still peripherally legal.  Stupid, deadly, but legal.

The betting finalized – every game of Erase tag was streamed to a huge audience, and spectators always bet on anything with a semblance of personal danger – and the two gamers collected their helmets and suits and went to their chambers to prepare. 

The big trick (if it could be called that) to Erase tag is where to put the antennae – three small quarter inch poles screwed into selective surfaces of the neurohelm. By far the largest bulk of the danger inherent to the game, each such surface mapped to a separate section of the brain, and their distance to each other determined the extent of the damage of a single hit across the poles. Set them up as a close triangle, and with each easy hit, you’d likely short out a small, insignificant section of your childhood (basically nothing), but that configuration was usually reserved for beginners. Spread them further apart, and you become harder to hit – but now each successful shot damages a swath of memories. Spread them out to the furthest they could go, and that one lucky hit turns you into a walking vegetable.

To win, all she needed to do was to connect two of his antennae once – and, of course, avoid getting hit in return. In high-level arenas, where mirrors, diffractors and fiber optic channels were scattered across the field, the chance of a perfect shot ricocheting to take out both contenders was low, but not unheard of. And as the challenger, he had the right to choose the game grid.