Chapter 8
“Daaaaaaayyum, girl! You’re on fire today,” Edgar said, grinning. “I’m not even sure what happened there but it was ua tumu!”
Lynn grinned at Edgar’s commentary. She’d never realized he could put the best cheerleaders to shame if he was enjoying himself. Or maybe he’d become more relaxed since they weren’t at school. He was still laid back but the silent, guarded mask she’d come to expect as normal for him was gone.
In any case, she hunted with her display projected in front of her whenever she could so he could spectate. Despite all her complaints to her mother about being saddled with a hunting buddy, she’d come to enjoy his company. It was much more fun killing monsters when you could share with a friend.
“Ua tumu?” she asked. He rarely sprinkled Samoan into his speech so he must have been impressed.
“It’s…” he paused in what might have been slight embarrassment. He chewed for a moment then shrugged. “It’s the short form of a Samoan phrase that doesn’t really translate very well. Ua tumu la’u ato fagota i pusi. It sort of means, like, ‘great,’ ‘wonderful,’ ‘exciting.’”
“Okay,” Lynn said, still panting from the exertion of the fight.
She collected the piles of ichor, globes and plates and the few bonus items scattered around her—the just rewards of her most recent TDM-killing spree.
They were at Cedar Memorial Cemetery, or at least skirting the outer edges of it where various shopping centers and restaurants backed up to the cemetery. Over the past week and a half of hunting close to her apartment by herself as well as farther afield with Edgar, Lynn had discovered some interesting patterns in the TDM distribution.
Except for the lowest class monsters like imps and grinder worms, the majority of TDMs preferred to be somewhere out of the way of direct traffic, yet still close to human infrastructure. They congregated in places like alleyways, the rear of commercial buildings and greenways bordering roads and neighborhoods.
That was logical planning on the game-designer’s part, since players couldn’t effectively fight TDMs on a crowded street without hitting somebody. She’d also noticed that the higher the monster class, the farther away from humans the TDMs tended to be. Various tactical support threads hypothesized that the stronger the TDM, the longer their range for feeding off human-generated energy. Thus the algorithm that controlled TDM spawning could put most of the monsters in quiet areas where the hordes of Hunters—at least it would be hordes once the game launched—wouldn’t be disrupting businesses, clogging up walkways, or getting too close to traffic.
All of which meant a cemetery surrounded by bustling businesses was the perfect hunting ground. It had a wide mix of TDM classes and types that gave her a chance to practice all the moves she’d been pounding into her muscle memory with simulation exercises. She could stay close to the shopping centers with only a few globes equipped and work on her mob control skills against the lowest Delta Class TDMs that swarmed her. Or, she could stay stealthed to the nines and venture into the cemetery to take on individual Delta Class-5s and even a few Charlie Class-1s that had started appearing once she achieved Level 9.
The only anomalies to the algorithmic patterns she’d been mapping out were the Lectas. It wasn’t that they didn’t follow the pattern but that they followed it too well. They were almost too predictable, which wasn’t like the algorithm. When she’d discovered the first one, the game had classed it as an electrovore that fed off the energy waves humans beamed back and forth between power nodes to run their civilization. But unlike other gather type monsters like imps, which were the most numerous TDM, Lynn only ever saw one Lecta at a time. They hid well, if predictably close to the nearest energy source. She rarely spotted them if she wasn’t looking but if she did go looking, she always found one. It got to the point that she started wondering if there was just the one and if it followed her around every time it respawned.
Which was crazy, of course.
And then there was that unknown she’d found in the woods when her equipment had gone haywire. She’d gone back looking for it once she’d leveled but there’d been no sign of it. A few times since then she’d caught glimpses of sparkling mist out of the corner of her eye but whenever she’d turned to look, it had been gone. She’d finally chalked it up to a bug in the game; she’d encountered other such “ghost” images playing in virtual games before. So, she simply reported it to Hugo and tried to ignore the glitchy sparkles that made it feel like the unknown was following her. The game’s algorithm might be innovative and responsive but it wouldn’t have been programmed to unfairly single out specific players.
There were other glitches in the game, too, of course, like those areas that had a weird signal blackout that crashed the app whenever she and Edgar ventured into them. More often than not, the blackouts happened around those layered rings of TDMs she sometimes spotted on her map. She never tried to take them on, knowing it would be suicide. Other times, though, she and Edgar would be minding their own business, hiking through the woods or following some lonely railroad track, when Hugo’s voice would cut off mid-sentence and everything would go dark. It was annoying but all they could do was stay away from those areas. She made sure to send in regular beta reports on the bugs along with her evaluation of the game’s other aspects.
Fortunately, there were no glitch spots in the cemetery and she and Edgar were currently hunting on the northeast side behind North Point mall. Like most businesses over the past few decades, the mall’s vast asphalt parking lot had been mostly torn up to make way for building expansion or new green spaces, while other parts were restructured as rideshare or airbus stops. The back side of the shopping center, though, had stayed relatively the same, except that their delivery docks had been restructured for drone and autonomous freight drop-off. Edgar helped her keep an eye out for freight trucks as she spun and slashed at incoming monsters. Even if she’d been alone, though, it would have been relatively safe, since all the driverless vehicles had pedestrian avoidance safety systems.
“Hey, Edgar, check this out!” Lynn had noticed the shiny new augment beneath the piles of ichor and she eagerly selected it, putting it up on her projected display. Edgar leaned in, squinting.
“Is it just me, or is that a rifle scope?” her partner asked.
“Yup,” Lynn said as a shiver of excitement ran through her. She was so close to reaching Level 10 when she could start using two-handed weapons. It looked like the game’s AI had finally decided to start dropping two-handed augments for her in preparation. “I bet that Orcull dropped it. They seem to have high loot probability. I just wish there were more of them closer to my apartment.”
“You know, your mom seems really cool,” Edgar began, a little hesitantly, as Lynn read through the new augment’s stats. “I’m sure she knows this is a laid back town and North Point is probably the safest area of anywhere in Cedar Rapids. So…um…how come your mom doesn’t want you flying solo?”
Lynn felt a prickle of discomfort at her nape. She didn’t look at Edgar as she replied.
“Mom’s just a little paranoid is all.”
She saw Edgar shrug out of the corner of her eye and was relieved when he changed topics.
“Dunno about you but I’m starved,” Edgar said, popping his gum. “Wanna go hit up that burger place over by First Ave, or would you rather do drone delivery?”
Lynn finally looked up at him.
“You mind if we do delivery? I’ll cover your food, since you let me drag you all over a cemetery today.” She grinned. “I’m sooo close to Level 10, I don’t want to take the time to walk someplace.”
“Sure, whatever works for you, Lynn,” he said. “But I’m good for my own grub.” He gave her a half smile. No matter how many times she offered, he would never let her treat him, despite how much time he’d given up to tag along on her hunting expeditions.
“If you insist. I don’t have the energy to argue anyway. I gotta save it for killing monsters.”
Edgar laughed, an infectious sound that Lynn enjoyed hearing.
“Spoken like a real Toa Tama’ita’i!” he said. “Why don’t we go find a shaded spot in the cemetery and have us a little picnic? That way as soon as you’re done you can take on some of the big baddies at the top of the hill.”
“Sure,” Lynn said, resisting the urge to roll her eyes and instead busying herself with exiting combat mode. Despite her objections, Edgar kept trying out new “warrior” names for her at every opportunity. Most of them were cheesy movie or video game characters. This latest, though, was the Samoan phrase for warrior princess. When Lynn had asked its meaning, Edgar had surprised her by sharing about his childhood spent on his grandparent’s farm near Salt Lake City—grandparents who had immigrated from American Samoa. The nickname was by far the most dignified moniker he’d come up with, so she’d let him keep it. For now.
They agreed on a restaurant and ordered food through their LINCs as they cut through the thicket behind the shopping center and walked up the grassy slope of Cedar Memorial cemetery. The delivery drone had their geotags from the order and would be able to find them no matter where they walked. They picked a comfy spot under some ornamental trees and plopped down to rest while they waited. Lynn leaned back on her hands, looking up and admiring the cerulean blue of the cloudless sky. A tiny shape drifted into view above them and Lynn squinted. That was too small and too soon to be their lunch delivery. Was that another one of those government survey drones? At least it was high enough up this time that its whirring didn’t disturb the quiet.
“Sooo,” Edgar said after some peaceful silence. “I heard you had fun over the weekend.”
“You heard?” Lynn asked, turning her head to give him a skeptical look.
“Okay, so maybe I guessed. But I’m pretty sure you just had a birthday.”
Lynn squinted suspiciously at him. It had, in fact, been her birthday on Saturday and on Sunday her mom had surprised her by taking them to the finest steakhouse in town. Lynn was pretty sure she’d nearly eaten her own weight in meat. It had been heavenly.
“How did you know? Are you picking up hacking habits from Dan?”
“You kidding me? I ain’t got Dan’s skills. Nah, I asked Mack.”
“That traitor!” Lynn said but inside she was pleased. Nobody but her mom and grandparents had ever cared about her birthday. Well, except Kayla, for the short time she’d thought they’d been friends. Lynn’s mom had thrown her a birthday party the year they’d moved to Cedar Rapids in an attempt to help her settle in. Kayla and Mack had been the only two people Lynn had been brave enough to invite. It had started out pretty awkward but plied by cake and games they’d all ended up having a good time.
“Hey, don’t blame him,” Edgar said, cracking his gum. “I threatened to tell his mom that Dan had hacked the parental controls she put on his LINC.”
“Oooh, that’s low, even for you,” Lynn said.
“It’s his fault for believing I’d ever actually do it,” Edgar said with a grin.
“True. Poor Mack. He’s such a pushover sometimes.”
“Don’t be too hard on him. That ma of his is one scary lady.”
Lynn looked back up at the sky, contemplating Mack’s unenviable position.
“Yeah. My mom can be a pain sometimes but she’s the height of cool compared to Mrs. Rios.”
“True that. And, well, on the topic of your mom…I’m sure she got you lots of presents and all but I was hoping you wouldn’t mind, uh, getting one more?”
Surprised, Lynn looked over at Edgar to find he now had a brown paper bag in his hand. He must have pulled it from his backpack when she wasn’t looking. The top was tied up neatly with string and it had a party bow stuck to the side, bright gold and red against the brown.
The sight made her throat go all tight. No one had ever taken the trouble to find out when her birthday was and get her a present before. No one.
“I…um…thanks,” she finally said, leaning over to take it from him. She pulled out her Helle pocketknife, cut the string and opened the bag to peer inside. The sight that greeted her made her laugh. She reached in and withdrew a first aid kit, the perfect size to fit in her TD Counterforce backpack. “What’s this for?”
“Oh, you know, for the next time you wrestle a mountain lion,” he said, grinning.
“Gee, thanks, Edgar. Your confidence in my survival skills is truly overwhelming.”
“Nah, don’t think of it like that. If you fight, you’re gonna get some scars. That’s how being a warrior works. But a little first aid can go a long way. Anyway, there’s something else in there, too.”
Lynn stuck her hand back in and came up with…a book. A real book. Made out of honest-to-God paper. Lynn turned it over in her hand, thoroughly confused.
“Okay, so the first aid kit I get but a book? What am I supposed to do with a book?”
“Read it, silly,” Edgar said. He reached out and turned it over to point at the title.
“You got me a book on woodland craft?”
“So, you can properly identify poison ivy and know what kind of ticks are crawling up your legs,” Edgar elaborated.
“Ugh.” Lynn shivered. She’d come to truly hate ticks. “Okay but I can look all that up in seconds on my LINC.”
“Yeah, maybe.” Edgar shrugged and lay back down on the grass, hands behind his head. “But reading books is good for you. You should try it sometime.”
“Um, okay. Thanks.” Lynn tucked the gifts carefully into her backpack, amused, touched and confused all at once. She didn’t own a single book. Her mom had some from when she was younger but Lynn had never felt tempted to read any of them. She knew some people collected books as a hobby but none of the schools did anything on paper anymore, so she’d never had a reason to own a book. Still, she was experiencing a lot of new things lately. Why not add one more?
“Speaking of your birthday,” Edgar continued slowly, “I was wondering if…well…if you’d come hang out with me and the guys on TD Hunter launch day. You know, so they can wish you happy birthday and everything.”
“Uh…what?” Lynn said, nonplussed.
Edgar looked at her again.
“Come hang out with us. All our batons arrived the other day and Dan and Ronnie are bouncing off the walls, counting down till game launch. There’s supposed to be this super big announcement broadcast when the app goes live. A bunch of people are meeting up at Noelridge Park to celebrate. You should come.”
For a moment, Lynn had no idea what to say. Or even feel. Finally, she managed a question.
“Does Ronnie know you’re inviting me?”
“Yeah, of course,” Edgar said, though his tone sounded suspiciously casual.
“Did you tell Ronnie I’m a beta tester?” Lynn asked, her eyes narrowed.
“What?” Edgar said, nearly swallowing his gum. “No, Lynn! Why would I do that? I said I wouldn’t.”
The hurt look on Edgar’s face made Lynn feel foolish.
“Sorry,” she muttered.
“Really, you should come hang out. Everybody—okay, everybody but Ronnie—would love to see you. This is our chance to all game together. Wouldn’t that be cool?”
“Yeah…I guess,” Lynn said slowly. She looked back up at the sky, stalling. All her insecurities came flooding back as if the last few weeks had never happened. It didn’t matter that she was arguably the best TD Hunter beta out there, or that she’d been working out and felt stronger and more confident every day. Hunting with Edgar was one thing but what would the rest of the guys think? Would she be able to play dumb and pass off her superior knowledge of the game as obsessive research? Would they accept her as a true friend like Edgar had, or treat her as a useless hanger-on?
The possibility of rejection was far more frightening than the loneliness of sticking it out on her own.
“Come on, Lynn. What would it hurt? Without you there, I think Ronnie might literally drive me insane. You know how he gets.”
Lynn choked out a laugh.
“I…sure, I guess,” she finally said, giving into the pleading in Edgar’s voice. “But only for launch. I’ve got serious leveling to do if I want to stay competitive and make enough mon—I mean, if I want to keep my scores up, you know,” she finished, flushing. She’d forgotten herself and almost mentioned WarMonger and gaming for money.
“Okay, sure,” Edgar said, lightly.
Lynn couldn’t read anything from his tone and she didn’t dare look at him. Fortunately for her, at that moment she spotted their delivery drone approaching and she pointed it out above them.
“Finally!” Edgar said, scrambling to his feet. “I could eat a whole cow. Or a bear, if you wrestled one for me.”
“Hey, it’d all be in a day’s work for a Toa Tama’ita’i, right?” Lynn said, relieved for the change of topic.
“True that, girl. True that.”
After lunch, Lynn got back to hunting. Before long the moment she’d been waiting for finally came. She’d gotten used to the constant vigilance needed to survive the leveling process, plus she’d spent hours studying the TDM list, memorizing every known monster’s strengths, weaknesses and behaviors. So, she wasn’t taken off guard by the creepily hissing spiderlike creature called a Spithra that charged her out of nowhere right after Hugo’s leveling congratulations reached her ears. It was as tall as she was, with significant reach advantage because of its long skinny legs, each tipped with a single razor-sharp claw. She was able to dodge its first strike and make a quick shift over to her Particle Dragon pistol, which had good stopping power at short range, boosted of course by several augments she’d picked up along the way.
She kept moving by dodging backward or rolling sideways from each strike. The Spithra had a ranged attack where it spit some kind of green acid but it always paused right before it let loose. Half the time when she jumped out of claw-reach, the Spithra would pause to try to get her with acid and she had a split second to lunge forward into a roll and come up on one knee underneath it. There, she could pump a blast into its vulnerable underbelly and roll out of the way again before it shifted and stabbed down at her. She even experimented with switching between her Dragon for firing while dodging and her Plasma Blade for stabbing the underbelly, to get the highest damage per strike possible. It was a tense few minutes but finally the monster stiffened, then exploded in a shower of sparks.
At the monster’s death, Lynn didn’t drop her guard, simply stood for a moment, catching her breath, waiting. Listening. Attack TDMs often had overlapping territories that they protected but it seemed this was the only one her current position had triggered.
She made the “all clear” gesture at Edgar, who knew to stay well back when she was fighting. He’d gotten smacked a few times when he’d walked up just as another TDM had appeared. They’d laughed heartily about it.
“Wow,” Edgar said, opening up another piece of gum. “Lynn, seriously, do you know how good you are at this? That was amazing. I bet if they recorded you in AR with all that armor on, you’d look just like one of their advertising commercials.”
The quiet earnestness in Edgar’s tone took Lynn off guard. She felt that hot prickly feeling on her skin, like she had when he’d complimented her tan at school or mentioned a few days ago that she was “looking good.”
“Um, thanks,” she said, trying to keep it casual.
She didn’t believe him, not really. But it was nice that he thought she looked like she knew what she was doing. It made her less nervous about playing in front of other people. She had put hours and hours into her training. So much, in fact, that she hadn’t even touched WarMonger in over a week. They probably thought Larry Coughlin had finally croaked. Whatever. She only needed to do a couple high-profile jobs a month to cover family bills, the rest was all for college savings. Her reputation might take a hit but she could always excuse her absence with some veiled comment about needing to “take care of” some ghosts from her past. Heck, with Larry, just saying “I had stuff” was usually enough.
In any case, she knew her own performance wasn’t flawless, no matter what Edgar said. She’d taken a few hits from that Spithra and they’d done heavy damage. That acid spit was no joke and it seemed to eat away at her armor with a poisonous DOT—damage over time—mechanic. She took a moment to replace her damaged armor plates and replenish her globes for both stealth and detection, always keeping an eye on her overhead and an ear pricked for approaching TDM. Her health had dipped but nothing she couldn’t walk off in a few minutes. She was always frugal with Oneg. The self-imposed restriction kept her mindset lean and mean.
Finally, she took a moment to collect on her kill, grunting in satisfaction at the number of plates and amount of ichor the Spithra had dropped. It was a good return on her energy expenditure.
“So, did you level?” Edgar asked.
“You know it.”
Lynn grinned in anticipation as she pulled her leveling screen back up from where it had been minimized during her fight. She quickly took in her bonus experience and supplies, then turned her attention to her new weapon selection.
She’d spent a long time thinking about what weapon she would choose. The weapon training simulations allowed you to practice with weapons from your level and the next one up, so she’d already tried her hand at the two-handed Nano Sword and Disruptor Rifle. The rifle was relatively easy to transition to from a pistol but using a two-handed melee weapon was vastly different from using a single-handed one. She’d felt like a flailing octopus every time she’d tried it and had concluded it would take a lot of training to get good enough to maintain her competitive scores. She didn’t doubt she could become proficient eventually but for now she was focused on rapid leveling to get as much experience in beta stage as possible.
With all that in mind she chose the Disruptor Rifle when her leveling screen gave her the expected choice between sword and rifle.
“Hugo,” she subvocalized as she quickly swung her backpack around to get out her second baton. “Equip my Disruptor Rifle.”
“At once, Miss Lynn.”
She held the two batons together and watched appreciatively as their omni-polymer flowed into the shape of a compact rifle with a solid stock and molded grip on the underside of the barrel assembly. As with all TD Hunter weapons, it was electric blue and so looked more like one of those super soakers kids brought to the apartment complex pool than a real rifle. But then, one couldn’t have everything in life.
“Coool,” Edgar said, staring at the new weapon. Unlike her, he hadn’t seen any two-handed weapons yet and he seemed as impressed with how the two batons molded together as she had been in her training simulation. She was extremely grateful for the simulation practice, since keeping hold of the two batons as they joined and separated was a bit tricky.
“Miss Lynn, apologies for the interruption,” Hugo said in her ear, “but I think you will be quite pleased to hear this. Would you like me to switch to external speakers for your companion’s benefit?”
“Uh, sure?”
“I am pleased to congratulate Miss Lynn on achieving the highest Level 10 kills dealt to damage taken ratio in TD Hunter Beta. Here is a special item reward for your admirable performance and great dedication to the TD Counterforce mission.”
“Holy. Moly. Guacamole,” Edgar said, cracking his gum. “Look at that, Lynn!”
Lynn was much too focused on her prize to echo Edgar’s words. Rotating slowly on her display was a gorgeous sword that shone and shimmered the deepest black, like obsidian. Its tapered blade was etched with glowing blue runes, while its handle was wrapped with supple black leather. The sword itself looked straight out of Norse legend and was a perfect complement to her armor. Of course, it would be, considering its name.
Skadi’s Wrath.
Here it was, the second piece of a named set and she knew right away that she wouldn’t stop until she’d collected the entire ensemble.
“Hugo,” she said out loud. “Equip Skadi’s Wrath.”
To her surprise, her Disruptor Rifle split back into two pieces—she’d assumed a sword as long as Skadi’s Wrath would be two-handed. While one baton resumed its neutral shape, the other elongated far past the fourteen inches of her Nano Blade. When it was finished, she was left with a single-handed blade that was almost as long as the two-handed Nano Sword. She couldn’t have been more pleased. She much preferred single-handed weapons and now here was one with reasonable reach. Of course, the physical electric blue wasn’t as impressive-looking as the AR version but it still had its long line of runes, each rune a cut-out in the center of the blade. She’d have to ask Hugo later what the runes meant.
“Now that’s a weapon for a Toa Tama’ita’i,” Edgar said, putting up his hands in mock surrender. “Don’t try it out on me, okay?”
“You could use the dodging practice,” Lynn said with a grin. “You’re going to be playing this soon, too, right?”
“Yeah, I guess so,” Edgar said. “I was gonna get a second job this summer but you’ve definitely convinced me not to.”
“Good, because I’ll be playing till I drop until school starts again and I need my wingman. Can you imagine how cool it’ll be to play together? You’ll actually get to see how I look in my Skadi skin.”
“I know!” Edgar said. “It’s gonna be epic. Hey, whaddaya say we head back toward the mall and you practice sniping some imps with that new rifle.”
Lynn felt a pang to put away Skadi’s Wrath but she really needed to train with it before she started swinging it around. She did take a peek at its stats, though, and a happy little glow filled her when she saw that it, too, was set up to level with her. That meant she would never have to discard her Skadi set. It would grow with her to Level 40 and beyond.
Peeling her attention away from her shiny new weapon, she equipped her rifle. She had augments to test on it and if she could start racking up some one-shot kills, that would boost her score even more.
“Sounds like a plan. Want to make a friendly bet on how many I can kill?”
“Not a chance, girl. I don’t bet against the odds.”
“Spoilsport,” Lynn said with a grin.
Edgar shrugged and stuck his hands in his pockets, then set off down the hill, whistling. Lynn laughed and followed him.
Launch day for TD Hunter came faster than Lynn would have liked. She’d asked Hugo about how her own app would behave when the game launched and the service AI had explained that everything would reset back to default—with a few system improvements the app designers had been working on, of course. Though Lynn had known the answer before she asked it, she still couldn’t help asking about her special items. Hugo confirmed that all items and stats would reset but he also reminded her that the same incentives and achievements would be available after launch that had been available during beta.
Lynn had grinned at that. Challenge accepted.
Not one to leave anything to chance, she’d planned her launch strategy down to the hour. She’d found where she could access her combat logs and had studied them obsessively. Between them and her ongoing mental mapping, she knew exactly where to go and what TDMs to focus on to get the best rewards versus risk. It was just what she needed to maintain the highest monsters killed to damage taken ratio at each of the key levels and eventually win the entire Skadi set. In the midst of her planning, she’d had to remind herself of her primary goal—make money—so she also worked in areas that had plenty of high loot drop monsters, places she’d discovered while exploring during beta. She would keep the best augments for herself and sell all her surplus as fast as she could.
The launch itself was scheduled for six p.m. on a Friday and Lynn had agreed to meet Edgar and the others at Noelridge Park shortly before. Her mom had made an unhappy face when Lynn had mentioned catching a robo-car to the park but Matilda had given permission nonetheless.
Her mom’s reluctance reminded Lynn that they would need to have a “talk” soon. There was no way she would be able to dominate the TD Hunter leaderboard while limited by a buddy system. Not that it wasn’t fun hanging out with Edgar but he worked part time and there was only so much Lynn could do around the apartment complex. Plus, she was seventeen now. She’d earned some independence.
It was not a conversation she looked forward to. But since there was no need to have it yet, she pushed it to the back of her mind.
Lynn spent the first part of Friday getting in as much simulation practice as possible, though she was careful not to wear herself out. Every part of her felt jumpy and on edge. She knew it was because she was nervous about gaming with “the guys.” But she didn’t let herself dwell on it.
When Matilda got up for work, Lynn surprised her with a massive breakfast of eggs, bacon, French toast and fruit salad. It was half an apology for spending so much time gaming, half a way to keep her own mind off the approaching evening. Also, an excuse to cook bacon. Only fools said no to bacon.
“So, what’s going to happen at this big launch tonight?” Matilda asked between bites of syrup-covered French toast.
“No idea. Besides the big announcement, I think it’s just a chance for players to have fun together trying out the game for the first time.”
“Well, I’m glad you can spend the evening with your friends.”
“Yeah. I guess.”
Lynn must have betrayed more in her voice than she’d meant to, because her mom put down her fork and looked seriously at her.
“Hey. What’s the matter, sweetie?”
“Nothing,” Lynn assured her and shoved a piece of bacon in her mouth.
“Come on. I thought you liked hanging out with Mack and the rest?”
Lynn chewed methodically, contemplating her response. After she swallowed, she took a deep breath and made herself look at her mom.
“I’ve never really been…one of the guys. More just ‘that friend of Mack’s who always hangs around.’ They’re nice to me and everything, but…I’m just a girl to them. And ‘girls got no game,’ at least according to Ronnie.”
“Oh, honey, that’s ridiculous! I’m sure they value your friendship more than that. Why else would they want you to spend time with them?”
“I don’t know, Mom. I got the impression it was just Edgar who wanted me there.”
“Nonsense. Mack is a good kid and I’m sure Dan and Ronnie are too—”
Lynn snorted.
“You’ve obviously never met Ronnie.”
“Okay, well, everyone has their flaws. In my experience, when guys put down girls it’s because they’re scared of them.”
“What?” Lynn exclaimed.
“It’s stupid, I know. But we humans do lots of stupid things. Teenage boys have a hard time figuring out how to act around girls, especially with the ridiculous social pressures put on them at school. Boys have this whole competitive pecking order and when you throw girls into the mix it turns into a madhouse.”
“But what does being a complete jerk to girls accomplish?” Lynn asked, trying to wrap her head around the idiocy of it.
“What does a cat do when it’s scared? Puff up its fur, arch its back and try to look as big and scary as possible. Humans are no different, though we do more bragging and putting others down than physical posturing. Don’t think girls get a pass either, we do the same thing. What do you think bullying is all about? The biggest bullies are usually the most insecure people in the entire crowd.”
“Wow…that’s hysterical,” Lynn said, chuckling weakly as she thought about Elena. That girl must have the biggest insecurity complex in existence.
“Yup. Humans are funny creatures. But back to boys. For young men who haven’t figured themselves out yet, girls can be literally the most terrifying things in existence. Believe me, your father…well, he made an absolute fool of himself the first time I met him.”
“Really?” Lynn said, leaning forward eagerly.
“Yes. And I suspect Ronnie acts the way he does because he’s not comfortable around girls,” Matilda said, pointedly avoiding further talk about Lynn’s dad. “So, just be yourself and ignore him if he says anything stupid. Edgar seems like a very nice young man. He has his head on straight and I’m sure Mack and Dan do, too.”
Lynn leaned back in disappointment and tried to keep her face neutral. Her mom didn’t know the half of what was really going on between her and the guys, or the secrets she was keeping from them. From everyone. But at least she’d shed some light on Ronnie’s status as a world-class jerk.
“Thanks for the pep talk, Mom. Really. Maybe you should go into therapy practice or something.”
Matilda laughed.
“Not a chance. I can only stand so much whining. I’d rather treat people’s bodies, not their minds. Now, shouldn’t you be going? You don’t want to be late for your big night.”
“You don’t mind cleaning up?”
“Not at all, honey. Go have fun. Just remember to be back by ten.”
“I will. Thanks, Mom.”
Lynn tugged at the bottom of her shirt as she stepped out of the robo-car and stood on the sidewalk bordering Noelridge Park. She’d agonized all day about what to wear, as much because of her self-consciousness as because half her clothes were especially baggy these days. If she hadn’t needed to maintain appearances for her mom, she might have used some of her savings to buy top of the line smart clothes that sized themselves to fit and had fully programmable styles. As it was, she was stuck with thrift-store castoffs made from normal fabric. Dumb clothes, as the pop-girls at school called them.
She’d ended up digging through boxes in her closet to find pants she’d worn a couple years ago. She’d made herself wear a short-sleeved shirt, though it was so baggy the sleeves reached down to her elbows. Her TD Counterforce backpack she’d left at home. No way to explain how she’d gotten it, at least not until she’d been playing a while and could claim she’d bought it.
A ping from Edgar popped up on her display, telling her they were by the picnic area near the center of the park.
“Hugo, which direction is the picnic area?”
“Straight ahead, Miss Lynn.”
“Thanks,” she said, though she made no move in the direction the AI had indicated. Finally, she asked, “Hugo, will you…forget me when the game launches and beta goes away?”
“Not at all, Miss Lynn. Mr. Krator believes strongly in the continued feedback of every hard-working beta who has contributed to testing this new system. Erasing our interaction history would be counterproductive to ensuring our future success.”
“Oh. Good.” She tried to ignore the swoop of relief Hugo’s words had brought. It was silly to get emotional about a service AI. But it was human nature to form bonds. Even if the thing she called Hugo was only a program—a quantum-powered self-learning program that mimicked a human personality—it was still a program she was familiar with. She was glad she wouldn’t have to start back at ground zero with it.
Six o’clock was fast approaching and she needed to find her friends, so she forced her legs to take one step, then another. She felt naked. The sun sinking toward the western horizon in front of her felt like a spotlight announcing her arrival to the sizable crowd already filling up the park. But that was stupid. Nobody knew who she was and nobody cared. She was invisible.
As she walked, she analyzed the terrain from a Hunter perspective. All these people would have to spread out after the game launched if any of them hoped to kill TDMs. She doubted any monsters would be spawning in the middle of this mess. The picnic area might be a good landmark to meet up but they would need to move to the edge of the park to find any targets. Lynn made a mental note to check out the park facility buildings where there might be power nodes, battery docks, or pulse generators. She’d already resigned herself to an hour or so of unproductive “breaking in” of the game with her friends. After that she’d make an excuse and slip away to do some real hunting.
To her discomfort, the crowd grew thicker the closer she got to the picnic area. Apparently that was where everyone was meeting up, not just her group. She finally spotted them lounging around one of the picnic tables and she quickened her pace to reach them.
“Hey, Lynn!” Edgar called out, noticing her approach.
The others turned. Mack’s face split into a big smile and Dan raised his hand in a mock salute as they echoed Edgar’s greeting. Ronnie nodded in a distracted manner, his eyes clearly focusing on his AR display. Lynn felt warm relief at their reactions. This was familiar. These were her friends. But then everyone’s face went strangely stiff and Lynn had a second to wonder what was going on before she heard a familiar voice behind her.
“Well, if it isn’t miss Piggy Lynn and the lame-o squad.”
No. No, no, no. School was out. She wasn’t supposed to have to deal with bullies again until next fall. Why was this happening to her?
Lynn had a split second of indecision: ignore the comment and keep walking, or turn around and confront Elena. She really, really wanted to keep walking. It was the smart thing to do. But her mother’s words echoed in her head.
The biggest bullies are usually the most insecure people in the entire crowd.
Elena’s insecurity was her own fault and Lynn was pretty sure no amount of groveling was going to change it. So, no point humiliating herself, right?
Lynn spun around and propped her hands on her hips.
“Oh, hey, Elena. What’s a poser like you doing here? This is the launch for TD Hunter. The launch for ‘TransDilemma’ is over at the local Kidz’N-More. Don’t worry, you and your flunkies will fit right in.”
The pop-girl’s lips tightened but she didn’t retreat. She was flanked by two of her usual crowd, though they, at least, had the grace to look uncomfortable.
“What are you doing here, cheater? I thought you had some sugar daddy giving you access to the beta game already. Did he finally realize how disgusting you are and kick you to the curb?”
Lynn forced a laugh from her dry-as-paper throat.
“That’s not how game betas work, genius. And I’m here to hang out with my friends, something you have no experience with, I’m sure. Do your flunkies follow you around because you threaten them? Or do you pay them by the hour to pretend they like you?”
That must have hit the mark because Elena’s pale face reddened and her fists clenched.
“You’re just jealous,” she hissed. “I have everything you could ever want and you’re just a fat, ugly, whore. Enjoy your ‘friends,’ Miss Piggy. They only want you around because they’re so desperate for attention they’ll take other people’s castoffs.” With that, the girl spun on her heel and marched away, her “friends” scuttling after her.
Lynn snorted and shook her head, concentrating with all her might on not caring a single iota what Elena had said. It was meaningless babble. In fact, she’d already forgotten it. Taking a deep breath, she turned back to the guys with a smile on her face.
And noticed none of them were smiling anymore.
Ronnie, in fact, looked like his head was about to explode, while Dan looked hurt and Mack looked confused. Edgar’s expression was closed but Lynn knew him well enough by now that she could tell he was on edge.
“What—How—Kas per šūdas, Bletsva tu—” Ronnie spluttered, descending into a string of Lithuanian curses before he finally got a grip on himself. “You beta tested for TD Hunter? How the actual f—”
“Hey, Ronnie, calm down, man. It’s no big deal,” Edgar interjected.
“What do you mean it’s no big deal?!” Ronnie said, eyes bulging. “She plays freaking Kim’s Fashion Ranch. She’s not a real gamer. How did she get picked for beta when I didn’t?”
“Whoa, man, that’s outta line,” Edgar said calmly. “You don’t know what kind of gamer she is; you’ve never asked. And they have all sorts of reasons for picking betas. I don’t know why you’re freaking out.”
“Why am I freaking out? Why aren’t you freaking out? This is…is…wait a minute.” Ronnie spun on Edgar, his freckled face turning as red as his head of curly hair. “You knew, didn’t you? And you didn’t tell us? I’ve been looking forward to this game for almost a year and you didn’t tell me?”
Lynn was frozen where she stood, unable to move. She should say something but what? She technically hadn’t done anything wrong. They never had asked her. But they were her friends…
“Chill, dude,” Edgar said with practiced calm. “It wouldn’t have made any difference. It’s not like she could have gotten you a spot. That isn’t the way it works and you know it.”
“Miss Lynn, if I may interrupt—” Hugo tried to say…
“I could have been studying the app and getting insider info this whole time!” Ronnie screamed. “Do you have any idea what kind of advantage beta players get by accessing all that stuff beforehand?”
Ronnie turned his furious glare on Lynn and she looked away only to be confronted by Mack’s kicked puppy expression and Dan’s look of betrayal.
“And what makes you think she would have told you anything anyway when you go around acting like this?” Edgar asked, his voice rising dangerously.
“Miss Lynn—” Hugo tried again but was cut off as the TD Hunter app suddenly shut down, leaving her with a blank display.
“Edgar, it’s fine—” Lynn said, her alarm spiking as she tried to hold herself together and keep her friend calm at the same time.
A vision of the TD Counterforce’s logo suddenly obscured her vision and the beginning notes of the game’s intro music filled her ears. It was six o’clock. The TD Hunter game had restarted and the launch had begun.
“Welcome Hunters, one and all!” said a familiar voice in Lynn’s ear and by the distracted expressions of everyone around her, she could tell they all heard it too. A livestream of Robert Krator, TD Hunter designer and CEO, replaced the TD Counterforce logo on her display. His expression was full of excitement and for a moment Lynn forgot everything as she waited with bated breath for him to continue.
“I know you’re all eager to get started but before the game officially begins, I have an exciting announcement to share with you. As you have probably heard rumored, we’re planning to hold local, regional and national competitions over the next year as a lead up to our first annual international championship to crown the best of all TD Hunters. What we haven’t disclosed yet is that, due to the extreme difficulty and therefore cooperative hunting required to reach expert levels, these tournaments will be exclusively team-based competitions.”
A murmur of surprised voices came from the crowd around Lynn as people responded to the news. She wasn’t sure what to think about it, so she focused on Mr. Krator as he kept going.
“Everyone wanting to compete must form five-person groups in order to train together. At the end of the summer we will hold qualifying tournaments for groups to compete for the status of Hunter Strike Team and officially join the running for the international championship. Each member of the final, victorious team will have an equal share in the grand prize. And here’s the really big news, the news I’ve been waiting to share with you for months while we perfected the beta.”
The CEO’s voice paused as a brief drumroll sounded.
“I’m excited to announce that the grand prize for the first ever TD Hunter International Championship will be…five million dollars to each team member, full rides to complete a game development degree at the top university in the country and…” there was another dramatic pause as a huge grin spread over Mr. Krator’s face. “…game design positions at Tsunami Entertainment upon graduation.”
Shocked tingles coursed through Lynn’s body.
Five million dollars.
A full ride at a top university.
Game design position at Tsunami Entertainment.
It was literally everything she’d ever dreamed about. And judging by the frenzied whispers and excited expressions on many of the faces around her, it wasn’t just her.
“This is it, Baconville Bashers!” Ronnie yelled. “This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for! The raison d’être of our entire gaming existence! We make the best team ever and we’re going to win this thing!”
Ronnie’s excited voice jolted Lynn out of her daze and she looked up to see him leaning toward Mack and Dan, his attention laser focused on what he seemed to think was the biggest moment of his life. Edgar stood back a little, glancing unhappily between the guys and her. Lynn hesitated, gave him an apologetic wave and turned to slip away through the crowd.
They didn’t want her and obviously thought they didn’t need her. No point sticking around when she had hunting to do.
Her heart gave a lurch when Edgar’s voice called out from behind. She faltered and slowed, then turned to give him a chance to catch up.
“Don’t go, Lynn. I know Ronnie is a jerk but he was just surprised, is all. We need a five person team, why don’t you join us?”
“Thanks, Edgar, but I can tell when I’m not wanted.”
“Who said you weren’t wanted?” Edgar asked, eyes so earnest it hurt to look at them.
“Girls got no game, remember?” she said, then hurried on before Edgar could reply. “Thanks for all you’ve done, really. I’d love to hang out more over the summer and hunt together, but right now I’ve got a lot of leveling to do. I hope your team thing works out.”
With that, she turned and walked away as fast as she could.
Lynn was tired but also restless. And starving. She hadn’t bothered to stop hunting long enough to eat a proper dinner, just chowed down on a few energy bars while continuing to mow through TDMs. She’d passed Level 4 and gotten halfway to Level 5 in just four hours, proving all her hard training and strategizing had been worth it. She’d even collected a nice stash of supplies and a few augments she’d already put up for auction. All of it had made her want to stay out later. But she had promised her mom she’d be back by ten. Plus, once she’d passed Level 4 around nine o’clock, Vargs had started showing up. After her almost-to-the-death battle with her first one in beta, she’d given special care to her simulation training against them. But they were still nasty buggers and disgustingly fast. So, true to her promise, Lynn was back at her empty apartment by ten o’clock and she sent her mom a message so Matilda wouldn’t worry.
Curious to know if the TD Hunter game launch had made the news streams, Lynn kept her glasses on and earbuds in to watch as she warmed up some broccoli and meat loaf. Sure enough, TD Hunter was mentioned.
“—and tonight marks an interesting event as game enthusiasts worldwide gather outdoors to celebrate the launch of the most anticipated augmented reality game in history. The game, TransDimensional Hunter, has already reported record-breaking numbers of users in just its first night. You may have noticed these players grouped in parks or walking the streets, people of all ages and types carrying what look like electric blue toy weapons. ‘Don’t be alarmed,’ said the game’s designer, Mr. Robert Krator, in an interview earlier this evening. ‘Those are just the game controllers that enable players to heroically fight off the invading army of transdimensional monsters bent on wiping out humanity.’ Well, I don’t know about you but it looks like a fun way to get outside and spend some time with friends. Just remember to be safe and stay aware of your surroundings!
“In other not quite so welcome news, power company GForce Utilities has been under fire tonight for a spate of blackouts across the country. Company spokeswoman Debra Warner said they were investigating the possibility of a solar storm interfering with their power allocation algorithms and assured all users that—”
Lynn switched to a local stream, uninterested in the power company’s woes.
“—have been no reported accidents yet in Cedar Rapids, despite record numbers of residents on the streets enjoying the newly released augmented reality game, TransDimensional Hunter. ‘Unlike AR games of the past,’ says one of the game designers interviewed earlier today, ‘TransDimensional Hunter is entirely AI-driven with the most advanced self-learning interface ever designed. It is completely integrated with not only the mesh network but also local emergency services across the country. The app’s AI serves as a second set of eyes and helps protect players by warning them of nearby danger.’
“That’s certainly good news to hear as we consider a less fortunate turn of events: the recent uptick in unexplained deaths across the state in the past month. Health officials are scratching their heads while experts in virology and neuroscience are scrambling to come to an agreement on what might be causing this distressing trend. There’s speculation of a novel virus but others are blaming it on mesh node radiation—”
Lynn switched again, looking for more TD Hunter news but didn’t find anything else interesting as she ate her leftovers. She was about to switch off her glasses when a ping notification popped into view.
It was a voice chat request from Robert Krator to “RavenStriker,” the name she’d picked out for TD Hunter.
Lynn froze, heart suddenly thudding in her chest. Then she swallowed her mouthful of meatloaf and accepted the call.
“Good evening, Lynn! It’s good to talk to you again.”
“Hey, Mr. Krator. Same here.”
“Call me Robert, Lynn, I insist.”
“Okay.” She laughed, relaxing a little. “Congrats on the launch, by the way. It looks like you’re already breaking records and everything.”
“Thank you! Yes, it’s been a very busy but satisfying night. I see you’re killing it on the leaderboard. Expert stats in every category, plus four levels in one night. That’s very impressive.”
Lynn felt her face heat and a giddy grin stole over her lips at the praise. She had to remind herself to play it cool as she replied. “Er, thanks Mist—I mean, Robert. I’ve just been practicing a lot and I had a strategy planned out. No big deal.”
“It actually is a big deal and that’s one reason I called to chat. I wanted to personally thank you for all your hard work during beta phase. It was only through the dedication and skill of expert gamers like yourself that our launch went so smoothly. It really means a lot to us—me especially—that you accepted our invitation to be a tester. Thank you, Lynn, from the bottom of my heart.”
“Uhh. You’re welcome?” Lynn said, giddy elation warring with embarrassment. It was just a game, no need to thank her personally. Though she supposed there was a lot of money and investment riding on its success.
“The other reason I called was to ask if you’d given any thought to our announcement about team competitions. I know you came into the beta program a bit late but your scores from the last few weeks have been very, very impressive. I won’t be surprised if you end up being one of the top players worldwide. I’m sure any number of teams would love to have you.”
“Er, what?” Lynn asked, not following.
“There are teams from all over forming even as we speak. In fact, once the leaderboard goes public at midnight showing the first day’s records, I would be very surprised if you don’t start getting recruitment pings.”
“Really?” Lynn said, voice going a little faint.
“Certainly! Though, since this is augmented reality as opposed to in virtual, you’d have to physically go to wherever your team is based. Scoring for the qualifying tournament will be heavily weighted toward team tactics and overall teamwork, not the actions of each individual. So, teams will need to train extensively together, learn everyone’s strengths and weaknesses, form attack plans, that sort of thing.”
“Oh…”
“Your best bet is probably to form your own team locally, since you’re still in school and we wouldn’t want anything to interfere with your education. But I’m sure forming a team will be no problem for you. You have exceptional discipline, a good head on your shoulders and plenty of in-game experience already. You’ll make a wonderful team captain.”
“Team captain? Oh no. No, no, no. You don’t understand, Mr. Krator—”
“—Robert,” Mr. Krator insisted gently.
“Robert. You don’t understand. I have no interest in competing on a team.”
Lynn knew the lie for what it was as soon as it left her lips, though seconds before she couldn’t have told herself what she wanted, much less someone else. The idea of gaming on a team didn’t fill her heart with shivers of joy but if it was the only way to get that grand prize…
“Nonsense, Lynn. I thought you wanted to work in the gaming industry?”
“Well, I do,” she admitted. “But…I’m not really a team player. I do better on my own.”
“That’s not what I’ve observed of ‘Larry Coughlin’ in WarMonger. Some of your best scores have been from battles on mercenary teams that you’ve led yourself. You regularly team up with a variety of players of all types and personalities and you always excel. How is that not being a team player?”
“But that’s Larry, not me. Plus, it’s totally different in virtual. I couldn’t do that in the real.”
“Have you ever tried it?”
“Well, no…”
“Then maybe you’ll surprise yourself,” Mr. Krator said, his voice warm. “You really do have some exceptional skills, Lynn. I wish you could see that about yourself.”
“I mean, I know I’m a good gamer, at least in WarMonger. But doing team stuff in the real, that takes social skills and I’m horrible at that.”
“Again, I beg to differ. I wouldn’t describe Larry as having a winning personality but I think you’d be surprised at the kind of respect and admiration your persona has built over the years. It takes maturity, skill and a strong understanding of people to build that kind of reputation.”
“I appreciate everything you’re saying, Mister—sorry, Robert,” Lynn said, really meaning it. “But again, that’s Larry, not Lynn. I can’t do that in real life, not when I’m just…well, just me.”
She was worried Mr. Krator would be upset at her disagreement but he didn’t sound upset when he replied. In fact, he sounded remarkably understanding.
“If I recall correctly, you were convinced you’d be no good at TD Hunter either, your first augmented reality game experience. And yet, you put your mind to it and achieved some of the highest beta scores possible. You’ve actually been playing on the level of my alpha testers and let me assure you, they are the best in the business.”
Lynn heard the words but her mind rejected them. They couldn’t be true, not really. Mr. Krator was just being nice.
“All I did was put in a lot of hours. I’m not Larry Coughlin, I’m just Lynn Raven and I like gaming alone.”
“I think you are more Larry Coughlin—or should I say Larry Coughlin is more you—than you might realize, Lynn. But you’ll never get the chance to see it if you don’t take a few risks. The best leaders are rarely those who think they are good at leading. In fact, some of the most famous leaders in history were quite reluctant to take on the mantle. We need those kind of leaders in this game, people who are there to do a good job, who are self-aware enough to analyze themselves and their performance critically. This is not the kind of game where self-important pop-star jocks are going to rise to the top. There’s a lot riding on these competitions, not just for me but for everyone involved. I need players like you to help them succeed. Why not try forming a team? What do you have to lose?”
Everything, she wanted to yell at him. But she didn’t. It wasn’t his fault he didn’t understand her situation. Didn’t understand that she wasn’t Larry. That she couldn’t be Larry. Larry was competent and imposing and awe-inspiring, all things she wasn’t. He was a mask she donned, a skin she wore to help her cope with the banality and misery of her life. What worked in virtual would never work in the real. And besides, just because Larry could lead a team like nobody’s business didn’t mean he liked dealing with people. Okay, so Yoda and Fallu were pretty cool and some of the other mercs. But that was probably because they had thought she was one of them, not some frumpy teenage girl.
Lynn Raven wasn’t team material.
And yet…something in her rebelled. Even as she firmly quashed the idea of forming a team, the stubborn part of her kept asking yeah, but why not?
“I…don’t think I have the time, sir,” she said, unable to call him Robert when she was refusing his request. “I really need to focus on monetizing the game. We…we need the money. It’s just my mom and me. I don’t want any distractions.”
“You know your own situation best, of course, Lynn. But consider this: if it’s financial stability you’re worried about, winning this championship will give you all that and more. And you have a good chance of winning. I’m quite sure of it.”
Lynn hesitated. She did have a sizable chunk of money in savings. It wasn’t so much when you considered their mountain of debt plus how expensive a four-year university stint was these days. But if she won, none of that would matter anymore.
Monetizing TD Hunter was important. But it was also an excuse. She was honest enough with herself to admit that.
“I’ll…think about it.”
“Thank you, Lynn. You have incredible talent. I haven’t seen the likes of it in years. We need people like you in this game…and of course it would be a shame to see your talent go to waste when you could be so much more.”
“If you say so, um, Robert,” Lynn said doubtfully.
“Just think about what I said, all right? A good friend once told me that the most effective masks we wear are effective because they aren’t really masks. They are a part of ourselves we haven’t yet learned how to integrate into the whole. Now, I’m sure you have important things to do, so I won’t take up any more of your time. Have a good evening.”
Lynn was so busy trying to unravel Mr. Krator’s odd statement that she almost missed his farewell.
“Oh, yeah, bye. Thanks for the advice, Robert.”
Mr. Krator chuckled.
“I look forward to seeing what you achieve, Lynn. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you need any game support. You know where to find us.”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
And then he was gone, leaving Lynn to stare at her empty kitchen. Far from making her feel better, though, his call brought back all of her uncertainty and frustration. She’d mentally washed her hands of Ronnie and the guys, so why couldn’t that be the end of it? She didn’t want to be stuck depending on them to win the championship.
But…she couldn’t win it by herself, either.
Crap.
Where was her mom when she needed her? Not that her mom would understand such a gaming-specific problem…especially considering she didn’t even know Lynn gamed professionally for money. She needed someone level-headed to talk to, someone who could help her weigh the pros and cons—someone she hadn’t been keeping secrets from for years.
She had a sudden thought and opened her TD Hunter app. “Hey, Hugo?” she said.
“Yes, Miss Lynn?”
“I need your advice about something?”
“My ability to offer relevant information may be limited, based on the topic, but I shall certainly do my best. What is your dilemma?”
“Okay, here’s the situation,” Lynn said and began laying everything out, from her Larry Coughlin alter ego to her social anxiety to the team issue before her. As she spoke, she got up and began to pace, feeling more restless than ever.
“So, that’s the problem. What would you do?”
There was a marked delay in the AI’s response and Lynn wondered if it was hesitating. Was that even a thing with AIs that possessed quantum-computing speeds?
“While I have no direct experience in the matter, based on the vast array of anecdotal evidence at my disposal, I would hypothesize that the best course of action would be to tell the complete truth to your friends and your mother, form a team with a cadre of qualified individuals you can trust and apply yourself diligently to winning the prize.”
It was a moment before Lynn found her voice.
“…what? Are you crazy? Did you even listen to a thing I said? I can’t tell the truth, Ronnie and the others would kill me if they knew about Larry! And what does telling my mom all this have to do with anything?”
“The statistical likelihood of success in a difficult endeavor always increases when a person is supported by a cadre of trusted individuals who share open lines of communication, Miss Lynn.”
“I— That’s— Ugh. You’re useless, Hugo.”
“I am sorry that my information did not provide the insight you needed, Miss Lynn. It is all I can offer.”
Lynn stopped in the middle of the kitchen and rubbed her forehead.
“It’s okay, Hugo. You did what I asked. I just need to think it over.”
Despite the late hour, the idea of going to bed with all this spinning in her head was out of the question. She toyed with the idea of logging into WarMonger but knew she was too unsettled to perform well. Everything felt off.
Finally, desperate to do something, she grabbed her backpack and headed for the front door. It was much too late to be out hunting but she would stay close to the apartment, and having Hugo to keep an eye on things was almost the same as bringing along a buddy.
It took her a while to get back into the flow of combat and even then something still felt off. She couldn’t concentrate. It didn’t help that after twenty minutes of clearing around her apartment building, she was interrupted by a ping from Edgar.
Ronnie and Dan are arguing about who to invite to our team. All their picks are as annoying as they are. We need you, Lynn. Please?
That set her thoughts swirling again, so she gave up hunting and sat down on a bench along a well-lit sidewalk to think. And brood. And argue with herself.
“Why, Miz Raven, what are you doing out so late? Is everything quite all right?”
Lynn jumped.
“Mr. Thomas! Sorry, you startled me. I was, uh, playing that game, remember? TD Hunter? Tonight was the official launch, so the beta phase is over and now I’m playing it for real.”
“Ah! Yes, I heard about that. I’ve seen many people out this evening. It seems to be quite a hit.”
“Yeah, it really is. Um, if you don’t mind me asking, what are you doing out so late?” Lynn asked.
“My dear Miz Raven, I may be old but I am not dead. Not yet.” He winked at her. “I still enjoy a night out every now and then.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that—”
“It’s all right, young lady. I—do you mind if I sit down? I’ve had quite the evening already and I should rest these old legs.”
“Oh, sure,” Lynn said and scooted over to the far end of the bench. There was plenty of room for both of them on it. Mr. Thomas slowly lowered himself onto the opposite end, using the bench’s arm and his cane to steady himself.
“Ah, much better. Now, young lady, I hope you don’t mind if I make the observation that you are not, at least currently, playing anything at all. Is something on your mind?”
“Um…can you keep a secret?” Lynn asked. It probably wasn’t a good idea but she had this reckless need to tell someone about everything. To have someone understand.
“Miz Raven, I was in the closet for years,” Mr. Thomas said, giving her a gentle smile. “I am extremely good at keeping secrets, of that I can promise you.”
“Oh…oooohhhhh,” Lynn said, finally understanding. No wonder he’d never given her a creepy vibe despite the fact that, in her experience, most men couldn’t keep their eyes off her chest, no matter how old they were.
“Yeah, I guess you would be,” she said and smiled back. Then she took a deep breath and launched into her story.
“So, basically,” she summarized at the end, “I have this great shot at the future I’ve always wanted but I think I’ll fail miserably at it, even though one of the top game designers in the industry thinks I’ll do great. And, to take advantage of it, I’d have to admit to my friends that I haven’t been honest with them and then I’d have to deal with Ronnie’s complaining and then there’s my mom who has no idea how much money I make or that I could have paid for so much more over the years but I was too afraid she would be mad and make me stop playing but now if I’m going to really try to win this championship I can’t do it without her support and I’m just so tired of keeping everything a secret and—”
“Calm down, Miz Raven. Just slow down. Let’s take this one step at a time, shall we?”
Lynn took a deep breath, let it out and nodded.
“This team you need in order to compete, it cannot be anyone but these friends with whom you’ve been less than honest?”
“Well, I mean, maybe,” Lynn said, frowning. “I can’t move away and join some professional team in a big city. Mom would never go for that. And…well, Ronnie is a pain in the butt but he really is a good gamer. Dan too, though I don’t know how well they’ll do at AR. Mack and Edgar aren’t brilliant at gaming but they’re dependable and team players and…well, friends. They would have my back. I don’t think I could find four other people in this area who would be any better. I just…Ronnie is all ‘girls got no game’ all the time and the others more or less follow him. I don’t know if he can get over that.”
Mr. Thomas heaved a sigh.
“Prejudice is a human condition, Miz Raven, an unfortunate reality of our flawed natures. But we fear most what we don’t know. While your friends’ actions are their responsibility alone, have you considered that you might be able to aid them in overcoming their prejudice if you allowed them to get to know you better?”
Lynn squirmed in her seat. That wasn’t what she wanted to hear. Nobody had ever wanted to get to know her better. Most people wanted to mock her, bully her, or put her down for their own amusement. Okay, so she had encouraged Ronnie’s views a little by pushing his buttons with Kim’s Diva Princess but it served him right for believing such idiotic stereotypes.
“I…don’t think they really care to,” she finally said.
“You cannot know that for certain, surely? Have you ever given them a chance?”
After thinking about it for a moment, Lynn was forced to shake her head. She’d never opened up to the guys, especially not after everything with Kayla. It wasn’t worth it.
“Well, there is no reward in life without risk, of that you can be certain. I suppose you shall have to decide what is most important to you: the possibility of succeeding at the cost of discomfort, or the guarantee of failing in order to avoid discomfort.”
They were both silent for a moment while Lynn stared off into the night. Then Mr. Thomas spoke again.
“We humans…we’re all tangled balls of contradictions and potential. In my experience, if you want a hope of untangling yourself and finding the right path, you can’t go around confusing it all with lies. I have no doubt you are capable of much more than you could ever imagine, young lady,” Mr. Thomas said, giving her a knowing look. “But you won’t get far without being honest with yourself and with others. Yes, the truth hurts, I can certainly attest to that. But lies leave far worse wounds, often invisible ones, and they will never heal unless you bring them out into the light. There are too many other, more worthy struggles in life you should commit your energies to instead of wasting them on lies.” He was silent for a moment, as if lost in memory. Then he shook his head and chuckled. “Forgive the ramblings of an old man, my dear.”
“No, that’s okay. Thank you for sharing. It was…it was good,” Lynn said. She wanted to say more but didn’t know how to put it into words. Mr. Thomas seemed to understand, though.
“You are very welcome, Miz Raven. One of the few pleasures of age is being able to impart wisdom on younger generations in the hopes they might avoid one’s own mistakes.” He smiled. “I am sure your mother and your friends will forgive your choice to keep things to yourself. You must simply approach the situation with humility and sincerity and be as willing to forgive them their flaws as you are asking them to forgive you yours.”
“Wow, where did you learn all that, Mr. Thomas? You could start your own self-help stream channel or something.”
Mr. Thomas chuckled. “Oh, I’m much too old for such drama. But as for where I learned ‘all that,’ let us just say that when you reach my age, you will know quite a bit of ‘all that’ too, I shouldn’t wonder.”
“Hopefully…Well, I should probably go home and get some sleep.”
“Indeed, it is rather late. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors, Miz Raven. If you have the time to spend on an old man, I would be interested to know how it all turns out.”
Lynn smiled. “I’ll be sure to let you know, Mr. Thomas.” She stood, then offered him a hand which he graciously accepted, using it and his cane to rise.
They said goodbye and Lynn headed back to her apartment, her restlessness finally calmed. She knew what she had to do, even if she didn’t particularly like it, or have any idea how she was going to accomplish it. But at least it was a start.