by Anthea Sharp
“Hey, Maddy,” came Mom’s voice from the front door. “Have you finished your homework?”
Okay, so there was some room for improvement.
2
The next day raced by in a blur of facts and figures, none of which Maddy could begin to concentrate on. All she could think about was getting back to the game—and to Dylan. She even stole a few glances at him during AP Math, and she could have sworn he did the same. Of course, that had to be her imagination. Dylan didn’t even know she existed, let alone that she was behind the h-ref username. Still, it was hard not to hope.
But when she burst through her front door and readied to jump into the game, Mom was waiting.
“And what do you think you’re doing?” she asked, tapping her foot.
“Playing," Maddy said, rushing to add, "But just for a bit. I've got a new teammate and—”
Mom held up her palm. “No. Homework first, then games. That’s the rule. I let it slide yesterday because you were already getting off when I found you, but I don’t want this to become a habit.”
“Mooooo-om, this is the last time. I swear!”
“Go. Do your homework.”
“Fine,” Maddy grumbled, shouldering her backpack. She trudged to her room, shooting Amber a text.
Got 2 do HW. Be on ASAP.
Amber’s reply came back almost immediately.
Cool. SYS.
Amber always did most of her homework on her bus ride home. Maddy tried once, but motion sickness made it impossible.
Amber was sure to hop online as soon as she could, leaving her alone with Dylan until Maddy could get done. Well, alone as two people could be in an online gaming world. Still, the thought drove Maddy to distraction, as she tried to dissect what a guy like Dylan would do behind the façade of an avatar. Maddy shook her head. The faster she finished, the faster she could get online.
Three hours later—an hour longer than usual—Maddy shoved her books and papers into her backpack and raced to the living room, grabbing her digiTAB and setting the board alight. Her phone was out a second later, tapping out a quick message.
Coming ONL. Did I miss NE thing?
Maddy’s leg thumped to a jittery beat as she waited. Amber always replied, like right away. So why hadn't she yet?
The game loaded and Maddy logged on, heading straight for the chat room. Amber and Dylan were laughing at something, making Maddy's insides gnarl and knot until they felt like a little green monster. She double-checked her mic to make sure the voice mod was on and took a deep breath. “Hey! What’d I miss?”
Amber answered first. “Oh, hey h-ref. We’re just chilling. You shoulda seen it. This one dude got his avatar sooo drunk—”
“So funny,” Dylan interjected.
“—he couldn't even walk straight! He was all cussing and mad and crap.”
Amber broke down laughing, Dylan doing the same.
Maddy half-heartedly joined them, wishing her mom and that mountain of homework hadn't kept her out of the game so long. "Any idea what we're supposed to do next?"
“Not yet. But we can go slaughter some alien bugs while we wait,” Dylan said.
Aliens had become rare as the game progressed, but there was no shortage of alien bugs to kill. Pretty much if it was creepy, there was an alien version of it in the game. It was a good thing, too. Maddy needed something to destroy if she was going to keep herself from saying something stupid.
3
It didn't take long to find some bugs, and Maddy let them have it, grabbing the knives from her inventory to take down smaller creatures and only using her guns when they were too big for close-range combat. Dylan made a comment or two about her fighting style. Maddy couldn't tell if he was in awe or disturbed.
I have to get it together, she told herself. She'd have to ask questions if she really wanted to get to know Dylan. Maddy rolled her shoulders and her neck as the team prepared to engage with the next group of alien bugs. What to ask him, though? She didn't want to come off as a weirdo, or too flirty. "So, any theories on who created Power?" Good one. That always got players talking. Maddy targeted one of the two Clikkas, an alien roach creature, and took the first shot.
"Aliens," Dylan said, then laughed, Maddy and Amber joining him. "Kidding. No clue, really. The theories are interesting, but nothing really explains why the game would come out of nowhere and no one would claim it. Plus, no ads. No one's paying for anything." His turn came after Maddy, and he dealt a final blow to the Clikka she’d targeted.
"So you don't think it's the digiTAB developers?" Maddy asked. It was one of the stronger theories that had surfaced.
"Nah. They make all their money off the games. Plus, look at all the merch that's come out. They wouldn't pass up on that kind of money."
"Unless they had something bigger on the other end,” Maddy suggested. “Hook you in, then milk you for all you're worth?"
"Nah. Too much risk."
"True." Maddy smiled, enjoying the banter. It was her turn again, and she selected the second Clikka, following up Amber’s damage with a kill hit, but just seconds too late to prevent a spawn Clikka from popping up in its place.
"What about hackers?" Amber asked.
"No way," Dylan said, his avatar making quick work of one of the three rat-like Makkas. "This type of game takes a team ages to develop. And what do the hackers have to gain from this? It just doesn't make sense."
"Maybe it’s the government looking to recruit gamers?" Maddy suggested, knowing it was the least plausible of the theories circulating the web.
Dylan laughed. "There are so many other ways to do that, and it's not like we're solving a puzzle. Seems like a dumb way to find recruits."
"Well, whatever the reason, I'm glad they did it because it brought us all together." Maddy cringed as the words left her mouth. Hopefully it didn't sound too sappy. She wasn't ready to blow her cover just yet.
"Yeah. It's been a lot of fun. Right, Amber?"
"Yep," Amber clipped, taking out the third Makka.
Maddy selected the remaining Clikka, jabbing the TAB button with more force than necessary. Her avatar sprang into action, taking out the ugly alien roach, but not before it had a chance to spawn. Ugh.
4
Maddy had a lot on her mind the next day at school. It was a Thursday, which meant no AP classes, and no Dylan.
How was she was going to turn things around? She'd welcomed the idea of gaming with Dylan, under the ruse of being a guy, because she could be herself without being weird. Well, mostly. But she hadn't realized how vulnerable it would make her feel, knowing that Amber was being herself around Dylan while she was hiding in the digital shadows. She even considered switching her identity back, but after her behavior last night, it didn't seem like good timing.
She was so consumed with these thoughts that it wasn't until lunch that she realized how distracted Amber was. She kept checking her phone, texting and giggling—oh, so much giggling.
"Who you talking to?" Maddy asked, leaning against her friend.
Amber hit the lock button, sending her screen to black, and slid the device into her pocket. "No one."
"Is this 'no one' cute?"
Amber blushed, lowering her head to shovel a forkful of corn into her mouth.
"Who is he?" Maddy practically squealed.
Amber gulped her mouthful of half-chewed corn down. "Shhh. Chill. I don't want to talk about it. Not yet, anyway. I don't wanna jinx it."
"Aww, you're gonna hide it from your bestie?" Maddy bat her eyelashes.
"Especially from you."
Maddy let her mouth fall open, her hand fluttering to her chest in mock indignation. "Me? Why, whatever do you mean?"
Amber laughed. "Just kidding. You're cool." As Maddy raised a brow, Amber added, "But I'm still not telling you."
"Okay, fine. When will I find out?"
Amber smirked and shook her head.
Maddy shrugged and grabbed a sweet potato fry as Amber pulled out her phone
again. Maddy would find out who this mystery person was soon enough. In the meantime, she had her own love connection to establish.
5
Maddy tackled her homework as soon as she got home, encouraged by Amber's assurances that she wouldn't log in until she got word from Maddy. She set her pencil down in a record one hour and forty-five minutes and sent a text to Amber as she logged in. Her leg jiggled involuntarily as she waited. This time would be different—Maddy had a list of questions for Dylan, and she was determined to stay on point with the gaming.
When the Power logo flared to life, a ship dropped down. Maddy was surprised to see another messenger crawling out of the UFO wreckage. It'd only been three days since the last message. Most came at least two weeks apart.
"The time has come to choose your side. Will you choose to aid the Dazai, will you team with the Uruk, or will you band together to eradicate them all? By now you must know that the goals of these alien races differ greatly from one another. Your choice will determine who wins, who loses, and who will get the Power. Choose wisely."
The cloaked messenger disappeared in a flash of light, leaving a text message on the screen.
Gameplay has been opened up. You may recruit aliens, attack fellow players, form alliances, and exploit weaknesses. You have one week. Good luck.
Maddy scanned the message two more times before dismissing it. One week? What did that mean? If it came to some sort of a showdown, she didn't have much hope that her group would win. Still, they had to try.
Maddy found Amber at the bar, Dylan arriving moments later.
"Did you see the new message?" Maddy asked, excitement seeping through her modified voice.
Dylan was the first to respond. "Um, yeah. What the crap?"
"You don't think they're going to end the game, do you?" Amber asked.
Maddy heard the tinge of worry lacing Amber's words. If the game ended, it would hit Amber pretty hard. Power became her go-to game right after her dad moved out of the house. Maddy shot Amber a hug emoticon text.
"Doesn't make sense," Dylan said. "Why would they put all this out there just to run it for a couple of months?"
"Maybe it won’t end," Maddy offered, hoping to calm Amber's fears. “Maybe they’re just getting ready for a change or update or something.”
"Who knows,” Dylan said. “But we'd better get going. I had a peek before I came here, and some teams are already destroying everyone else in the hopes of winning Power. It's a mad world out there."
"So what do we do? Find some smaller teams and start picking them off?" Amber asked.
Maddy shook her head. "No. Let's go for the aliens. If we can recruit enough of them, we'll probably have a pretty good chance. Players are plentiful. Nobody's going to think of hunting out the aliens."
"Uruk or Dazai?" Dylan asked.
"Uruk." Maddy cracked her neck, gearing up her avatar for the coming fights. "We can't trust the Dazai not to turn on us. Not unless something's changed."
"We may not be able to trust the Dazai, but can we trust the Uruk?" Dylan asked.
A tinge of doubt dashed through her mind, but Maddy put on a confident front. "They've always been the good guys."
"What's to say the programmers aren't putting the aliens out there as a trap?" Amber asked, voicing Maddy's own concerns.
Maddy bit on the inside of her cheek, mulling the question over a moment longer. "Sure. It could bite us in the butt, but no risk, no glory. You in?"
Dylan said, "Sure," and Amber added, "I'm in."
Maddy smiled. "Good."
6
The trio made their way through the cities, poking and prodding every hole and alley to find the elusive aliens. They found and recruited a few, but it was the other players that gave them the most problems. It seemed that every team was bent on eliminating or assimilating the rest of the players. And once eliminated, you were locked out of the account—maybe for good. Maddy was on edge. They had to get out of the fray.
"Let's head to the outskirts," Maddy suggested, dealing damage to some Makka—the first alien critters they'd come across in a while. If the aliens weren't in the center of the city, maybe they were on the outskirts, avoiding the chaos.
"I don't like the idea of hiding," Dylan said, killing the Makka Maddy had just attacked.
"Either of you got a better idea?" Maddy kept an eye on their perimeter, hoping they wouldn't get tagged for a match before they made it out of this one.
"No," Dylan said. “I got nothing.”
Amber finished off the last creature. "Me either."
Maddy released her pent-up breath. "Then let's go."
They wove their way around pockets of fighting until they reached the outer edges of the city. Fanning out, they poked around for aliens.
But the Dazai found them first.
The alien leader was a level 70, and he packed eight minions, each between levels 25 and 30. Maddy set Dylan and Amber on fighting while she ran support, healing and casting defenses. There wasn't much magical ability in Power, but whatever was there, Maddy made sure she had it. Mage characters and abilities were practically an obsession.
They took turns trying to take down the leader while dealing as much damage to the weaker Dazai as possible. There were a few close calls as Maddy tried to keep her friends alive—h-ref was going to need some time to recharge pretty soon. With her friends comfortably healthy, Maddy poised herself to finish off the Dazai leader when something unexpected happened.
The Dazai declared a truce.
Maddy blinked at the game, trying to process this new info.
"What are you doing, h-ref? Take him out!" Amber yelled.
"He's calling a truce."
"You're the one who said they couldn't be trusted," Dylan reminded her. Not that she needed it.
Think, Maddy. Think! The Dazai were known for their less than savory tactics, but if things in the game were changing, maybe the characters were, too. Besides, if she wanted her team to stay in the game, they needed reinforcements. "Let's at least hear them out." Maddy hit a button on her digiTAB and accepted the truce.
Do you want to free, force recruit, or invite to join?
This was new. Maddy contemplated her options. Freeing them was out of the question. That just left force recruit or invite to join. "What do we do now?" Maddy asked, though she knew in her gut what she was going to pick.
"We could blast them and be done with it," Amber said, though her suggestion was half-hearted.
"We need them. Maybe we can unite the Dazai and Uruk . . ."
Dylan laughed. "You're crazy, you know that?"
"Yep." Maddy took a deep breath and selected invite to join.
The Dazai leader looked at her, cocking its head as it bared its teeth. Maddy raised her sword, ready for the alien leader to strike, but instead, it bowed to her. The surviving aliens followed suit, adding their numbers to the group.
"Seriously? Just like that?" Dylan sounded as stunned as Maddy felt.
"I guess sometimes you gotta give something different a try," Maddy said. "Like in math class." Like me. She clamped her hand over her mouth, worried she'd said too much.
"What?"
"Huh?" Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Maddy chastised herself for being so obvious. She only hoped Dylan would let it go.
"Speaking of school, maybe we should all hang out sometime," Amber suggested. It deflected the conversation, but not nearly close enough to safety.
"Yeah, I'd like that," Dylan said.
Maddy could’ve sworn her heart stopped. He wants to meet me? She started sifting through outfits in her mind, but then she looked at Amber's avatar, doubt eating her. He wanted to meet Amber, a cool, confident gamer girl, not Maddy, the pathetic creeper. "Can't. Been slammed at school. Maybe after the game is over, Sweetie?"
"Whatev's," Amber said, sighing. "Catch ya tomorrow? Mom's signaling it’s bedtime."
"Yeah, time for me, too." Maddy’s shoulders sagged.
"Cool. Until tomorrow," Dyl
an said. "And h-ref, nice moves today."
"Thanks." Maddy blushed, logging out before she could say or do anything else stupid. If only real life had a pause button. Maybe then she wouldn't have to hide behind her avatar.
7
“So? When're you gonna tell him?” Amber asked, typing a text into her phone as they walked to class a few minutes before the bell. It seemed she was always glued to some device or another, but she'd been even more diligent than usual with Mystery Guy on the other end.
“Ugh, it’d just be weird if I did it now. What if he freaked out and quit on us? Or worse, he keeps playing and we're all awkward." Maddy stared at her sneakers, eying the dangling shoelace, not yet convinced it needed retying. "Anyway, what’s with you and missingLink?”
“What do you mean?” Amber pocketed her phone, giving Maddy a raised-eyebrow stare.
“You two just seem awful . . . chummy.”
Amber rolled her eyes. “We're just being friendly. Don’t tell me you’re jealous.”
“No, I wouldn’t say that.”
“Good. Because he thinks you’re a dude.”
“I know that.” Maddy crossed her arms. Of course he wouldn’t want to flirt with me. Duh! Though she still couldn’t quite shake her melancholic mood. Once more she wondered if it would’ve been better to game as herself. But there's no way she'd have been able to act so normal. Well, almost normal. “Why you want me to tell him so bad, anyway?”
“I told you already. He deserves to know.”
“Hmmm. Hey, you wanna do something different tonight, just the two of us?”
Amber's phone pinged, and she pulled it out of her pocket, tapping out another text. “Are you kidding? There's no time for that. I don't want to lose Power because we didn't bother to play.” Amber paused, giving Maddy a hard look. “Do you?”
Maddy sighed. “No. Not really.” She watched her friend’s fingers fly, not missing a step. It never ceased to amaze Maddy just how much Amber could do at once.
