At the rate this game was going, I didn’t think we’d have to wait long for a serious injury to occur. At the lower levels of play, both cybernetic and hand-held, zero-range weapons are permitted on the ollamaliztli court. According to Fede, it’s common for players to divide their time equally between chasing the ball and taking each other out with monoknives, stun batons, cyberspurs, electroprods, and hand blades. Some games turn into a battle of attrition, with victory going to the team that can eliminate all of the opposing team’s three regular players and three spares from play. There aren’t any penalties and ferocity is encouraged—even if an attack results in permanent injury or death. The only check is that, if a team ignores the ball completely, concentrating instead on attacking opposing players, it’s easy for the opposing team to quickly rack up points and win the game. Assuming they survive long enough to do so, of course.