Extra Stuffs

- Tom attended school through VR at a school called Rosewood Reformatory. His teacher's name was Ms. Falmouth. He and his teacher did not get along; this is due to the fact that Tom misses school a lot (bcz of his dad's gambling and travelling lifestyle, and bcz Tom just forgets sometimes), Tom showed up on the first day of school as Lord Krull form the games Celtic Quest. We know the name of at least one kid in his class, Serge Leon, who sits in the back corner, is described as "way to blustering to be a hulking six footer in real life. He was probably four foot something and fat (Insignia 7-8, Kincaid)."

- Tom's first contact with the IF is Heather Akron when she infiltrates his class and convinces him to give her his IP address for the next day to "video chat" (But it's really to give him the spire entry test). Heather is described as "a gorgeous, brunette with striking yellow-brown eyes(*Insignia,* 6, Kincaid)."

- Tom describes himself as an "ugly, pale-eyed, and blonde-haired (*Insignia,* 7, Kincaid)." And tom would give anything and everything to be important, he's also very prideful (fatal flaw).

- Elliot Ramirez. He is also referred to, by the boys who think he's a dumb poster boy, as Dorkmirez. He is also described as a handsome, smiling, all-American 17 year old with dark eyes. He is also Nobridis Inc.'s poster boy for anything they produce (such as PSAs and products). He brings to light in an interview that he got his call sign (Ares) from his teammates who begged him to take the name. Elliot also says that he doesn't see himself as a great hero, and says that he's "jest a kid who likes to play with robots." Tom's dad also tried to convince Tom that Elliot is not a real boy, but instead a computer simulation (and he had some partially true evidence to support that claim (the he blinks every 15 seconds)). Tom also sees Elliot as "a cheesy kid madly in love with himself who laughed at his own jokes way to much (*Insignia*, 13, Kincaid)." Elliot is also an excellent figure skater. Marsh also said Elliot has "Golden DNA".

-WW3 is described as offshored conflict (which is a war fought somewhere other than earth, as in it's in space or on another planet). In this war, battles aren't fought with people but are instead fought using drones remotely, to ensure minimal casualties and to prevent the destruction of our home world. And a battle's outcome is that of which, whichever side doesn't get all their ships(and shipyards) blown up is the victor. The war is also privately fought (for the benefit of companies rather than for the benefit of nations) which means that fighters (combatants) need to be sponsored in order to participate bcz war in space is expensive. A unique, notable characteristic about this conflict is that, by going to war on other planets, we avoid fighting on earth but still get to resolve our issues through violence and avoid the usual consequence's of war (such as civilian casualties, environmental destruction/contamination, crippling injuries, and disruption of infrastructure.) This type of conflict is beneficial socially and economically for all parties involved.

- Dalton Prestwick lives in a fancy apartment in New York City, and is also a high ranking executive at a big multinational company, Dominion Agra. He has a wife, and a girlfriend, and also Tom's mom.

-In this world apparently 1 out of every 3 Americans are unemployed.

-When Tom was younger he thought that his dad was like a god bcz his dad didn't have a boring job like most people's dads that he knew. Instead his dad drank martinis and bluffed to earn other peoples money. He also grew up hearing stories about how his dad was flown for free to big tournaments for professional poker players and used to get the largest hotel rooms on the highest floors, and gave thousand dollar tips. He used to believe that his dad's glory days would return any day now but eventually stopped. Neil is also a conspiracy theorist.

~~-When Tom was recruited to join the IF he was at the Dusty Squanto Casino playing *Die, Zombies, Die* in VR, when General Marsh leveled an incursion (where one gamer hacks into another gamers game and challenges them) on Mars where Tom's target was a hydrogen powered tank, he would have to take out or be killed. The most obvious option was to travel across the plane to get to the C29 antitank guns, in a different trench, while under the haze of his iono-sulfuric dispersal rifle. Rather than do that he used the haze to reach the tank and scale it, then used his rifle (which was too weak to take out the tank) to bust the lock on the hatch. Doing this undid the pressure seal on the inside of the tank causing the driver to start to asphyxiate. Rather than just letting the driver asphyxiate Tom used the butt of his rifle to smash the guys head until he died. This was the key factor in why General Marsh recruited Tom, because he was ruthless and had a killer instinct, unlike the usual type of candidate the IF attracted. Tom, once defeating the sim, learned that it was Heather who was behind the incursion under General Marsh. General Marsh then offered Tom a slot to join the IF and Tom accepted.~~

-Marsh reveals that he had been looking for Tom for a month, but because of his fathers travelling, couldn't locate Tom. HE says one of his officials located Tom on a gaming network, he also said that he had watched Tom play as well. Marsh started off as a pilot who flew people into small incursions in the middle east.

-The offshored combat begin with the Indo-American Alliance giving programmers the drones and programming them to fight the war that the Russo-Chinese copied, but that arouse to a stale mate, so the Indo-Americans took it up a notch and added a human factor into it to add spontaneity and gut reactions that machines don't have to give them an edge over the combat. It was at first hackers who tampered with the Russo-Chinese software and satellites but lead to the Russo-Chinese to deploy hackers of their own leading to yet another stalemate. So the Russo-Chinese took it one step farther and gave the first combatants control over the machines. Which we counteracted by doing the same thing, which puts us in our current situation.

-The Pentagonal Spire is described as so... "The massive spire rose from a five-sided pentagonal base and twisted up into a gleaming, chrome point (*Insignia*, 34, Kincaid)." Marsh then gives Tom some background on the Spire's origins. The old Pentagon building was taken and where there used to be a courtyard in the middle and two inner rings, they laid the Spire. The courtyard was called ground zero because during the Cold War everyone figured that would be the first place the Soviets bombed. A lot of people were upset about the Spire being built there because it covered up so much history. The lobby of the Pentagonal Spire had high marble ceilings with golden eagles on the threshold, and a large American flag by the door (ringed by the flags of current US allies). The spire has 16 floors and some various rooms mentioned in the story such as Patton Hall (the mess hall on 1st floor), Hart Medical Wing, the Lafayette Room (lecture hall), MacArthur Hall (lecture hall on 15th floor), Olivia's office (1st floor), plebe common room and dormitories (6th floor), Applied Sims (13th floor).

-The promotions and ranks follow as so, you start out as a plebe, and there are promotions twice a year, then you have the middle company, after that is the upper company and if you can get sponsored, Camelot Company (CamCo). If you do not get sponsored alternate careers are with various government agencies.