The Fire Triangle -- Part II, Oxidizer

The Fire Triangle: Book II - Chapter 30

Disclaimer: Zootopia stories, characters, settings, and properties belong to the Walt Disney Co. This story is written under Fair Use Copyright laws.

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The Fire Triangle

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Part Two:

Oxidizer

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Chapter 6—The Children's Crusade
(Part 1)

"The world, that understandable and lawful world, was slipping away."

William Golding - Lord of the Flies

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Sunday -18:27 hours, Zootopia, Little Rodentia.

With a squeak of frustration Tommy Whitely brought his paws down on the table, causing his laptop to jump a good half inch. He had just been blown off the road in Slaughter-Race—again! That, he could live with; it was what happened next that made him want to hurl his computer out the window; the phenomenon known as gamer sympathy:

Speedbum115: You lose, looser

Mastablasta23X; Burrrrrrned

Shedevildestoryer3@4: Tuff Luck, Sucka!

There were enough of them to fill two pages...and that was nothing compared to what he was hearing in his headset at the moment.

What made it doubly frustrating for Tommy was that he shouldn't have been tossed from that round. He had the driving skills; he could smoke just about anyone you'd care to name in Sugar Glide.

What he didn't have was the computer power, something that comes with the territory when you're a rodent, in his case a deer mouse. It's a simple fact of life, the smaller the mammal, the smaller the computer, the less memory and processing power you have available. And with its tres-cool graphics, Slaughter Race required a lot more gigs than Sugar Glide, at least if you wanted to compete with the big boys.

There was, in fact, a way for Tommy to obtain what he needed to win, or at least advance—but it was risky, way risky. If his dad found out, he'd be grounded for the rest of the summer; not the best thing to happen when you just got your driver's license. Even worse, he'd lose his internet access until the end of forever.

But then...was that any worse than some of the chances he'd already taken? Case in point; the version of Slaughter Race he'd been playing was of the 'unlocked' variety. He had acquired it from his best bud, Ted, who'd acquired it from his sister's boyfriend, who had acquired it from...Tommy had no idea, and honestly didn't care. As long as his folks thought it was a righteous buy, purchased on Amazoon he didn't need to know any more.

Dangit, he could easily make it to the next level—and beyond; he was sure that he could.

If he only had the gigs...

Gritting his teeth as if preparing to receive a booster shot, the young deer mouse moved the cursor and clicked, moved it again and double clicked, and then stopped—breathing lightly and staring hard at the pop-up window that had just appeared on his screen.