\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe man is a game-player called \u2018Gurgeh\u2019\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n diuno\/iStockphoto\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n This is the story of a man who went far away for a long time, just to play a game. The man is a game-player called \u201cGurgeh.\u201d The story starts with a battle that is not a battle, and ends with a game that is not a game.<\/p>\n Me? I\u2019ll tell you about me later. This is how the story begins.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Dust drifted with each footstep. He limped across the desert, following the suited figure in front. The gun was quiet in his hands. They must be nearly there; the noise of distant surf boomed through the helmet soundfield. They were approaching a tall dune, from which they ought to be able to see the coast. Somehow he had survived; he had not expected to.<\/p>\n It was bright and hot and dry outside, but inside the suit he was shielded from the sun and the baking air; cosseted and cool. One edge of the helmet visor was dark, where it had taken a hit, and the right leg flexed awkwardly, also damaged, making him limp, but otherwise he\u2019d been lucky. The last time they\u2019d been attacked had been a kilometer back, and now they were nearly out of range.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The flight of missiles cleared the nearest ridge in a glittering arc. He saw them late because of the damaged visor. He thought the missiles had already started firing, but it was only the sunlight reflecting on their sleek bodies. The flight dipped and swung together, like a flock of birds.<\/p>\n When they did start firing it was signaled by strobing red pulses of light. He raised his gun to fire back; the other suited figures in the group had already started firing. Some dived to the dusty desert floor, others dropped to one knee. He was the only one standing.<\/p>\n The missiles swerved again, turning all at once and then splitting up to take different directions. Dust puffed around his feet as shots fell close. He tried to aim at one of the small machines, but they moved startlingly quickly, and the gun felt large and awkward in his hands. His suit chimed over the distant noise of firing and the shouts of the other people; lights winked inside the helmet, detailing the damage. The suit shook and his right leg went suddenly numb.<\/p>\n \u201cWake up, Gurgeh!\u201d Yay laughed, alongside him. She swiveled on one knee as two of the small missiles swung suddenly at their section of the group, sensing that was where it was weakest. Gurgeh saw the machines coming, but the gun sang wildly in his hands, and seemed always to be aiming at where the missiles had just been. The two machines darted for the space between him and Yay. One of the missiles flashed once and disintegrated; Yay shouted, exulting. The other missile swung between them; she lashed out with her foot, trying to kick it. Gurgeh turned awkwardly to fire at it, accidentally scattering fire over Yay\u2019s suit as he did so. He heard her cry out and then curse. She staggered, but brought the gun round; fountains of dust burst around the second missile as it turned to face them again, its red pulses lighting up his suit and filling his visor with darkness. He felt numb from the neck down and crumpled to the ground. It went black and very quiet.<\/p>\n \u201cYou are dead,\u201d a crisp little voice told him.<\/p>\n He lay on the unseen desert floor. He could hear distant, muffled noises, sense vibrations from the ground. He heard his own heart beat, and the ebb and flow of his breath. He tried to hold his breathing and slow his heart, but he was paralyzed, imprisoned, without control.<\/p>\n His nose itched. It was impossible to scratch it. What am I doing here? <\/em>he asked himself.<\/p>\n Sensation returned. People were talking, and he was staring through the visor at the flattened desert dust a centimeter in front of his nose. Before he could move, somebody pulled him up by one arm.<\/p>\n He unlatched his helmet. Yay Meristinoux, also bare-headed, stood looking at him and shaking her head. Her hands were on her hips, her gun swung from one wrist. \u201cYou were terrible,\u201d she said, though not unkindly. She had the face of a beautiful child, but the slow, deep voice was knowing and roguish; a low-slung voice.<\/p>\n The others sat around on the rocks and dust, talking. A few were heading back to the club house. Yay picked up Gurgeh\u2019s gun and presented it to him. He scratched his nose, then shook his head, refusing to take the weapon.<\/p>\n \u201cYay,\u201d he told her, \u201cthis is for children.\u201d<\/p>\n She paused, slung her gun over one shoulder, and shrugged (and the muzzles of both guns swung in the sunlight, glinting momentarily, and he saw the speeding line of missiles again, and was dizzy for a second).<\/p>\n \u201cSo?\u201d she said. \u201cIt isn\u2019t boring. You said you were bored; I thought you might enjoy a shoot.\u201d<\/p>\n He dusted himself down and turned back toward the club house. Yay walked alongside. Recovery drones drifted past them, collecting the components of the destructed machines.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s infantile, Yay. Why fritter your time away with this nonsense?\u201d<\/p>\n They stopped at the top of the dune. The low club house lay a hundred meters away, between them and the golden sand and snow-white surf. The sea was bright under the high sun.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t be so pompous,\u201d she told him. Her short brown hair moved in the same wind which blew the tops from the falling waves and sent the resulting spray curling back out to sea. She stooped to where some pieces of a shattered missile lay half buried in the dune, picked them up, blew sand grains off the shining surfaces, and turned the components over in her hands. \u201cI enjoy it,\u201d she said. \u201cI enjoy the sort of games you like, but . . . I enjoy this too.\u201d She looked puzzled. \u201cThis <\/em>is a game. Don\u2019t you get any <\/em>pleasure from this sort of thing?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo. And neither will you, after a while.\u201d<\/p>\n She shrugged easily. \u201cTill then, then.\u201d She handed him the parts of the disintegrated machine. He inspected them while a group of young men passed, heading for the firing ranges.<\/p>\n \u201cMr. Gurgeh?\u201d One of the young males stopped, looking at Gurgeh quizzically. A fleeting expression of annoyance passed across the older man\u2019s face, to be replaced by the amused tolerance Yay had seen before in such situations. \u201cJernau Morat <\/em>Gurgeh?\u201d the young man said, still not quite sure.<\/p>\n \u201cGuilty.\u201d Gurgeh smiled gracefully and \u2014 Yay saw \u2014 straightened his back fractionally, drawing himself up a little. The younger man\u2019s face lit up. He executed a quick, formal bow. Gurgeh and Yay exchanged glances.<\/p>\n \u201cAn honor <\/em>to meet you, Mr. Gurgeh,\u201d the young man said, smiling widely. \u201cMy name\u2019s Shuro . . . I\u2019m . . .\u201d He laughed. \u201cI follow all your games; I have a complete set of your theoretical works on file . . .\u201d<\/p>\n Gurgeh nodded. \u201cHow comprehensive of you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cReally. I\u2019d be honored if, any time you\u2019re here, you\u2019d play me at . . . well, anything. Deploy is probably my best game; I play off three points, but \u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhereas my handicap, regrettably, is lack of time,\u201d Gurgeh said. \u201cBut, certainly, if the chance ever arises, I shall be happy to play you.\u201d He gave a hint of a nod to the younger man. \u201cA pleasure to have met you.\u201d<\/p>\n The young man flushed and backed off, smiling. \u201cThe pleasure\u2019s all mine, Mr. Gurgeh. . . . Goodbye . . . goodbye.\u201d He smiled awkwardly, then turned and walked off to join his companions.<\/p>\n Yay watched him go. \u201cYou enjoy all that stuff, don\u2019t you, Gurgeh?\u201d she grinned.<\/p>\n \u201cNot at all,\u201d he said briskly. \u201cIt\u2019s annoying.\u201d<\/p>\n Yay continued to watch the young man walking away, looking him up and down as he tramped off through the sand. She sighed. \u201cBut what about you?\u201d Gurgeh looked with distaste at the pieces of missile in his hands. \u201cDo you enjoy all this . . . destruction?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hardly destruction,\u201d Yay drawled. \u201cThe missiles are explosively dismantled, not destroyed. I can put one of those things back together in half an hour.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo it\u2019s false.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat isn\u2019t?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIntellectual achievement. The exercise of skill. Human feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n Yay\u2019s mouth twisted in irony. She said, \u201cI can see we have a long way to go before we understand each other, Gurgeh.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen let me help you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBe your prot\u00e9g\u00e9e?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n Yay looked away, to where the rollers fell against the golden beach, and then back again. As the wind blew and the surf pounded, she reached slowly behind her head and brought the suit\u2019s helmet over, clicking it into place. He was left staring at the reflection of his own face in her visor. He ran one hand through the black locks of his hair.<\/p>\n Yay flicked her visor up. \u201cI\u2019ll see you, Gurgeh. Chamlis and I are coming round to your place the day after tomorrow, aren\u2019t we?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf you want.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI want.\u201d She winked at him and walked back down the slope of sand. He watched her go. She handed his gun to a recovery drone as it passed her, loaded with glittering metallic debris.<\/p>\n Gurgeh stood for a moment, holding the bits of wrecked machine. Then he let the fragments drop back to the barren sand.<\/p>\n This extract is taken from Iain M. Banks\u2019s <\/em>Culture novel <\/em><\/strong>The Player of Games<\/strong> (Orbit), the December 2025 read for the New Scientist Book Club. Sign up to read along with us here<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Topics:<\/p>\n