Nora Hikari
TRANSPHOBE CARNAGE THEATER
ANNOUNCING THE HOT NEW IP IN THE WORLD OF UNBALANCED ARENA SHOOTERS. WE GIVE YOU TRANSPHOBE CARNAGE THEATER. THE COMBAT TRAINING MILSIM FANTASY FULFILLMENT FOR ALL OF YOUR HEARTBROKEN VENGEANCENDIARY NEEDS.
TEAMS ARE SEPARATED INTO "IMMORTALS" AND "TRANSPHOBES." TEAMS ARE GRANTED DIFFERENT WEAPON LOADOUTS FOR OPTIMAL ASYMMETRICAL RETRIBUTION. IMMORTALS ARE GRANTED PLASMA RIFLES AND CHAINSAWS AND WILDSHAPE AND SNIPERS. IMMORTALS ARE GRANTED AUTOMATIC CONSTANT HEALTH REGEN AND CLAWS AND TEETH AND BURNING HATRED AND VAST, VAST NUMBERS. TRANSPHOBES ARE GRANTED A COMPUTER KEYBOARD. AND THE ABILITY TO BEG FOR THE MERCY THEY DO NOT DESERVE.
WEAPON BUFFS ARE AVAILABLE. THIS GAME HAS MECHANICS. IMMORTAL PLAYERS MAY ASSIGN A NAME TO ENEMY COMBATANTS. IF THIS NAME IS THE NAME OF A LIVING, BREATHING US LEGISLATOR, IMMORTAL PLAYERS GET A +100% CRIT CHANCE. IF THIS NAME BELONGS TO A TWITTER USER WHO SPENDS THEIR TIME COOMING TO OUR WEEPING AND LAUGHING AT OUR DEAD, IMMORTAL PLAYERS HAVE A CHANCE FOR ONE-SHOT KILL.
THIS GAME ANSWERS PRAYERS. THIS GAME TELLS THE TRUTH. THIS GAME IS A PROPHECY. IF YOU HAVE EVER CRIED OVER THE LIST OF NAMES, YOU ARE GRANTED UNLIMITED POWER. IF YOU HAVE EVER HIDDEN IN TERROR FROM THE MEN WITH BLADES, YOU ARE GRANTED UNLIMITED POWER. IF YOU HAVE CUT THROUGH YOUR FLESH TO REACH YOUR HEART: POWER. IF YOU HAVE BEGGED GOD TO CHANGE THIS WORLD: POWER. IF YOU HAVE REVILED YOUR SHAPE AND BURIED YOUR DREAMS: POWER POWER POWER.
THIS GAME HAUNTS THIS WORLD. THIS GAME WANTS TO BE REAL MORE THAN ANYTHING. THIS GAME WAS BORN READY TO PROMISE YOU EVERYTHING YOU DESERVE. JUSTICE HAS A NAME AND IT IS "HEADSHOT." WE HAVE BEEN HELD HERE. A BLADE TO OUR THROATS. TRYING SO HARD NOT TO QUIVER IN FEAR LEST IT CUT OUR TENDER SKIN. EVERY DAY THE MIGHTY WAKE UP IN THEIR BEDS AND STOMP AROUND IN THEIR DOMINION. EVERY DAY THEY CLIMB THEIR TOWERS TO THE SEAT OF HEAVEN AND DISCUSS AMONGST THEMSELVES HOW THEY MIGHT CUT US INTO NEW, DESPAIRFUL SHAPES.
WE DESERVE SO MUCH. WE DESERVE MORE THAN THE DREAM OF SURVIVAL. MORE THAN THE DREAM OF PEACE AND EQUALITY. THIS WORLD SHOULD FLOW WITH VENGEANCE! IT DESERVES THE PIXELATED BLOOD OF OUR SHAPELY KINGSHIP'S HEART.
THIS GAME IS A PROMISE. THIS GAME IS A CHOICE. FORGIVENESS IS FOR BITCHES. JUSTICE IS A KNIFE. MAX OUT YOUR KILLSTREAK BEFORE THEY CAN CUT YOU DOWN. I LOVE YOU. WE WILL NEVER EVER EVER FORGIVE THEM.
THIS GAME HAS NOT YET BEEN RATED BY THE ESRB.
WATCHING THE RACES
PISTONS WHINE AND HISS AS THE GREAT TERMINAL LOVE MACHINE WHIRRS ITS WAY ACROSS PUBESCENT CURVES OF RACETRACK. PULSING AND RIPPLING MYOMER ENGINES, COMBUSTION RESPIRATORS AND STEEL-ALLOY OSTEOHYDRAULICS COME TOGETHER IN THE MOST TRADITIONAL AND CUTTING-EDGE TRANSEQUINIST ENGINEERING. WATCHING THESE MACHINES WORK IS A PRIVILEGE IN ITSELF. GOD, NONE OF THESE SLACK JAWED GAWKERS UNDERSTAND THE BLESSING OF BEHOLDING AN EQUINOMOBILE IN ITS FLICKERING PRIME. MY MOTHER TELLS ME THAT THE MOST BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS DIE FASTEST. SHE NAMED ME AFTER THE FRAILEST SAKURA. THIS MACHINE IS A STORM OF DRY CHERRY PETALS. IT DEMANDS ATTENTION. “WATCH ME WHILE I AM HERE,” IT BEGS. SLEEK AND HEAVING MUSCLE AND STEEL DESIGNED TO CARRY MEN SWIFTLY INTO THE FUTURE. A PLEASURE TO RIDE, THEY ALWAYS SAY. A PLEASURE AND A GIFT. EVERY MAN WORTH HIS WEIGHT IN LEAD LUSTS FOR A CHANCE TO DEFLOWER ONE OF THESE GAS POWERED HORSE GODS.
NOT ENOUGH THAT IT IS HERE, OF COURSE. IT HAS TO BE GOING SOMEWHERE, AND FAST. NOTHING THAT FAST CAN SURVIVE FOR LONG. THE NEWLY FOUNDED FIELD OF SUB-RELATIVISTIC HORSE PHYSICS HAS CONFIRMED THAT AS A HORSE APPROACHES ITS TERMINAL VELOCITY THE PROBABILITY OF SPONTANEOUS MURDER APPROACHES 1. IT’S AN INSATIABLE URGE OF SOCIAL FIELD THEORY. PUT A BEAUTIFUL THING IN A PLACE OF SPECTACLE AND SOMEONE IS GOING TO KILL IT. IT'S WHY THEY KEEP THE POPE IN A PLEXIGLASS VIEWING CASE WHEN THEY PARADE HIM AROUND THE CITY. IT’S WHY WE CAN’T STOP SWATTING TWITCH STREAMERS. HUMANS CAN’T HELP THEMSELVES. THEY SEE SOMETHING VULNERABLE AND THEY NEED TO BREAK IT.
IT’S BUILT INTO THE DESIGN. THE SAME PUMPING, LITHE ROTORS THAT DRIVE THE CYBERHORSE THROUGH AIR WILL INEVITABLY FAIL AND DRIVE IT INTO THE GROUND. IT’S NOT THAT THESE THINGS AREN’T BUILT TO FLY. IT’S THAT THEY WERE BUILT NOT TO.
WATCH - IT’S THE CLIMAX NOW. A HORSE NAMED NORA QUIVERS IN THE EYEBEAMS OF A DROOLING RAPEDRUNK RACEGOER. IT’S ENOUGH. SOMETHING IN THE AUDIENCE SNAPS LIKE AN INTEGRAL SUPPORTING STRUCTURE AND THE WHOLE THING GROVELS TO MAKE LOVE TO THE EARTH.
SOMEONE THROWS A BRICK.
MANY PEOPLE THROW MANY BRICKS.
ENGINES BURST IN BOILING GEYSERS OF HEMOSYNTHATE AND GASOLINE. SCREECHING METAL AND GRIEVING WHINNIES AND LAUGHING MEN. SNAPPING TITANIUM FINGER-BONES.
IT’S THE MAIN EVENT. IT'S THE HEADLINER.
IT’S WHAT EVERYONE LOGGED ON TO WATCH. STOPWATCH SHOWCASE OF SOMEBODY’S DAUGHTER MADE INTO A METAL HORSE MADE INTO A TWITCHING PILE OF MEAT AND GLASS AND ALUMINUM.
THERE’S NOTHING ELSE. IT WAS ALWAYS THIS.
Nora Hikari (she/her) is a disabled Chinese and Japanese transgender poet and artist based in NYC. She was a 2022 Lambda Literary fellow, and her work has been published in Ploughshares, Palette Poetry, Foglifter, The Journal, The Washington Square Review, and others. Her chapbook, GIRL 2.0 (Seven Kitchens Press, 2022) was a Robin Becker Series winner. She was a reader at the 2022 Dodge Poetry Festival and a finalist for the Red Hen Press Benjamin Saltman Award. Her chapbook, The Small Lights Of Her Heart, is forthcoming from Finishing Line Press in 2023. Nora Hikari can be found at her website norahikari.com and on twitter at @system_wires