Rick Clements likes hanging out at 78 N. University Ave. in Provo. He and a group of high school kids show up every day at 3 p.m. to eat pizza, drink soft drinks and shoot the breeze.
But most of all, they shoot each other.Unlike many youths trapped in the gang scene, Clements and the others are here for good, clean fun. The shooting is done with lasers - not bullets - and no one gets hurt.
Samuel McClendon, manager of Cyberquest, said his laser arena is one of the newest sports and the only one of its kind in Utah.
The game is simple. Participants don headphones and a belt with a laser gun attached, then run through mazes in a fog-filled, darkened arena. The headset is the target. When hit, a voice tells the recently deceased person to recharge the gun. Points are tallied on a digital board in the playing field. One direct hit equals one point. Players can be "killed" an indefinite number of times.
McClendon compared the adrenalin rush of playing Cy-ber-quest with that of a hunter stalking his prey. He was quick to add, however, that the laser sport is nonviolent. Too many people associate laser tag and paint ball with violence, he said, and that is not the case.
Violent, no. Aggressive, yes.
After one 10-minute game, the regulars, who play with the most vigor, had sweat running down their faces. Games used to be longer, McClendon said, but it wore out the players.
Men usually start the game with an advantage, because they are more aggressive in general, Mc-Clendon said. But after a couple of games men and women are on equal footing.
Clements and his friend Sam Briggs come almost every day. They play game after game, spending hours running through the darkened mazes that make up the playing field in the back of the building.
"It keeps you out of trouble at night," Clements said.
The arena configuration is changed periodically to keep the game interesting, McClendon said. It also accommodates wheelchairs.
McClendon said he has between 40 and 50 regular customers a week, and several of those always bring in new players.
Cyberquest is the only arena in Utah with its technology, Mc-Clendon said. The company hopes to soon acquire clear headsets that will enable players to shoot an opponent from any direction, not just from the front or back, he said.