Warcross

In support of the theme of “Virtual Technology as a Replacement for or an Escape from Reality,” the author creates a host of technological products that symbolize characters’ emotions or conflicts. These exist in the real world, in the virtually enhanced world, and in the fully virtual world of Warcross.

Emika’s electric skateboard, which she pilots expertly in the opening chapters, represents her desire for freedom from the oppressive debt. She uses the board to pursue and catch the criminal Martin Hamer. Technology is not on her side, and another hunter gets the bounty; this symbolizes that the skateboard, a real item, cannot solve her problems. The author strengthens this symbolic point when the skateboard’s battery dies after her failed bounty attempt, leaving Emika to walk home.

A variety of other symbols appear throughout the book, reminding the reader consistently that technology and virtual reality connect to human emotion and personal goals. Emika’s cracked phone dies at an inopportune moment with the police, representing the inability to trust technology. The glass-paneled airplane stands for Emika’s fear of the unknown task ahead. In the first official Warcross match, the one-eyed wolf that bursts from the ice symbolizes Ren and his sneaky actions.