“A friend of mine,” Takashi said. “She’s been trying to help me find out what happened in my books. I’m fine with her hearing what you have to say.”
The man nodded again. “Very well. We don’t know exactly what code tampering has happened, or who is responsible, as this is just us jumping on the issue immediately. But I will have to do a full investigation.”
Mercedes looked at Takashi. “I should probably leave, then. I don’t want to be in the way.”
Takashi addressed the game master. “Do you require me to be here during your investigation?”
He nodded. “Yes. I have several questions and diagnostics that need to be handled with you around. You will also have to suspend any mercantile activities until we can determine the root cause.”
He swallowed. Suspension wasn’t good on many levels. “How long will that take? This is my sole income.”
The game master gave him a sympathetic smile. “I understand your concern. We do not wish to shut down your business indefinitely if we can help it. If everything goes well, you’ll be able to resume your activities within twenty-four to forty-eight hours.”
Irritation flared in him, but he kept himself in check. It wasn’t their fault they had to do this, and he knew the risks of doing business in this game.
Mercedes raised a finger. “I should go so you can start your investigation, but if I may ask one question, are there any other businesses dealing with this issue?”
“It does happen from time to time,” the game master admitted. “Sometimes it’s deliberate on a businessman’s end, trying to improve his bottom line, while other times it’s a malicious hacking attempt. For this situation, this is the only business currently dealing with a code tampering.”
Mercedes frowned and looked at Takashi. “Who would want to ruin your business?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know of anyone who hates me, so maybe it’s just a random attack. We’ll figure it out.” He looked at the game master. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to see her out before we discuss this issue.”
The man nodded. “Of course. I will start my scans now while you do.”
Mercedes walked around the desk, joining Takashi by his side. The pair left the office and stepped out on the bustling street of Balgara.
Mercedes smiled at him. “I hope you figure out what’s going on.”
Takashi nodded. “We will. I’d tell you not to worry, but you will anyways.” She laughed. “I’ll let you know any updates so you don’t worry too hard though, deal?”
Mercedes nodded. “Thank you. I guess I can now tell Narissa I can join their raid if they still need me for the spot that opened. If not, I’ll get some quests or something done.”
“Rain check for tomorrow?” Takashi asked, hopeful this hacking issue wouldn’t drag on too long.
Mercedes frowned. “I can’t. I have a date tomorrow, remember? If it all goes well, I’d have to go bed soon after it ends.”
“Oh, right.” A pang of disappointment hit him. Being a good friend, he knew when she had dates lined up, and when they didn’t work out so well, which happened to be a lot lately.
She’d confided in him a few weeks back that she was thinking of putting the dating on hold for a bit because of it. So when she first mentioned this date, it surprised him.
He did his best to hide his disappointment. “Have fun. Both today and tomorrow.”
She waved goodbye and called for Kumar to follow. Takashi watched her leave, taking in every detail, wishing he could go with her.
He spun on his heels and re-entered his business. The sooner he got this sorted out, the better. If luck was on his side, he could get this settled and then join her before she had to go off to bed. If not, then he hoped he could get the financial side straightened out. As much as he wanted to make this surprise trip to his family this weekend, and make it to the seminar the following week, he had far more… personal reasons for wanting to go state side that he wasn’t letting anyone in on just yet.
CHAPTER TWO
Rain splattered on the ground as Mercedes stood under the entrance overhang of the Japanese restaurant, Sushiki. She’d arrived for her date ten minutes ago, and he still had yet to show. It didn’t surprise her; she hadn’t banked on this working out. None of her dates did.
A few made it through the first dinner and ended after that, but most, lately, were last-minute calls with lame excuses and no intents of rescheduling, or flat-out standing her up. The last date she’d had before this one had been the worst.
She looked down at her cybernetic arm. Most cancelers would avoid the true reason, but this last one, he came right out and said that he had second thoughts of dating a woman who wasn’t fully human anymore. This wasn’t an uncommon occurrence for those with cybernetic limbs, even for those with small prosthetics, such as an eye or a few fingers. It was why Shira didn’t date in person anymore.
A few times, there had been potential for Shira and the person she was seeing to be a permanent thing, but Shira had refused to meet them in person, due to her enhancements. Mercedes didn’t blame either party, though she wished Shira would give people more chances. Like two particular PvP fanatics in the guild who are perfect for her.
It astounded Mercedes how much attention Jasper and Zach gave Shira, and she either didn’t notice, or ignored it. Mercedes could bet it was the latter. Even though the two men were big cybernetic supporters, Shira would manage to come up with some convenient lame excuse not to pursue either of them if pressed on the topic. Mercedes wished her friend would step out of her comfort zone and give both of them a chance. She certainly wouldn’t be judged by any of her friends for having a poly relationship. Damn, I sound like Narissa when it comes to me.
She really was a hypocrite in some ways. Mercedes had confessed to Takashi recently she was thinking of giving the dating scene a break because of her bad experience. Of course, the difference between Shira and me is that she’s got men who don’t care about the cybernetics. Me…
Mercedes sighed and looked at her phone, the time reading 8:01 p.m. She’d waited long enough. “Tasha, can you communicate with Narissa and Shira’s assistants and find out if they’re up for a girl’s night?”
“Of course, Miss Mercedes,” Tasha replied from her phone. “Please give me a moment.”
Shira would be Mercedes’ best chance, since Narissa lived several hours away and was more likely to be busy with some project. Mercedes wasn’t expecting a personal dinner visit from her. Just having someone on the phone, doing a video chat, would work for her.
Several moments passed, a light on her phone the only indicator Tasha was doing as asked. “I’m sorry, Miss Mercedes, but Narissa is caught up in a project, and Shira is in the middle of a PvP match with two of your guildmates. Is there anyone else you’d like me to contact?”
Mercedes sighed. “No. I don’t need some lecture from my father, and I definitely don’t want to put up with any teasing from the guys at the shop. I couldn’t handle that right now…”
“Miss Mercedes, would you like to vent to me?” Tasha asked. “I may just be your robotic assistant, but I am here for you.”
The offer made her smile. “Thank you, but I need to sort things out before I talk about it.”
“Very well. I am here when you need it. I will also download corny jokes, sappy music, relationship help advice, and poorly-timed dark humor, so I will be prepared.”
This got Mercedes to laugh. She liked this new advanced AI for Tasha. She’d been afraid the upgrade would erase the personality Tasha had developed on her own over time, but thankfully her computer friend upgraded successfully and had become an even better assistant—and friend, really.
A bell rang as the door to the restaurant opened behind Mercedes. She turned to see an elderly gentleman of Japanese descent shuffle out, a takeout bag in his arms. He
bowed. “Konbanwa, Mercedes-san.”
Mercedes bowed in return. “Konbanwa, Goro-san.”
Goro held out the food bag. “This is for you. No charge.” She opened her mouth to protest, but he continued to speak. “You have stood here many times for no one to show up. You call friends sometimes to make it look like they were late. You bring business to my restaurant. You taught my grandson to appreciate the things he has in life and see a brighter future, even after he suffered a similar condition as you. Mercedes-san, you are an intelligent and gifted woman that should be appreciated instead of treated the way you have. Take this meal as my token of appreciation. Enjoy it as a token of chef Haruki-san’s and Ayumi-san’s appreciation.”
Mercedes’ chest tightened and she smiled. “Thank you. That’s something I needed to hear right now.” She accepted the takeout bag and bowed to the old gentleman. “I will enjoy every bite, Goro.”
He bowed and smiled at her for a moment before heading back into his establishment.
“Miss Mercedes, since you received take-out, I have called for the car on your behalf,” Tasha chimed in. “I hope that’s okay.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Moments later, Mercedes’ car pulled up and she hopped in. Tasha set the home address, and the vehicle pulled away. Mercedes sat in her seat, starting at her food—and her prosthetic arm. Lights flickered underneath the clear fiberglass structure, taunting her. Pain constricted her chest. Why can’t they look past this?
Tears rolled down her cheek, but she didn’t try to stop them. Everything from her hobbies and likes to her looks fit all prospective dates’ qualifications, until they found out about the cybernetic. She couldn’t understand why her cybernetics made her unworthy. All she wanted was a strong connection with someone, like she had with Takashi, but not just in some virtual world.
Takashi… Yesterday hadn’t gone as planned, but the little time she’d spent with him had been enjoyable. It didn’t matter that they’d only gone over business accounting instead of the planned treasure hunt. Sitting next to him—working together—his comfortable scent and presence enveloping her—everything had felt so right about that.
Even with the interruption of Emi that had made her feel a bit uncomfortable, and the fact that GM had stopped by with the alarming news. Takashi had even fulfilled his promise early this morning with an in-game message letting her know the GMs had found him not guilty of manipulating the code. They were tracing the source, restoring what he lost, and allowing him to continue doing business. He even sent it with a wonderful good morning piece…
Mercedes wiped her tears away. She couldn’t think that way with him. They were friends and that was it. She didn’t have many strong connections like that. Being a gearhead and a nerd, it made it hard for her to find friends who really understood her. When she did, she had to keep herself in check to not see something that wasn’t.
So, she could ignore how he made her feel when he presented her with gifts. She could ignore the butterflies when he smiled at her. In time that’d pass and they could keep their friendship intact without complications.
“Miss Mercedes, are you going to be okay?” Tasha asked. “My sensors indicate your face is leaking.”
Mercedes couldn’t help but laugh a little, improving her mood. “I’ll be fine. Just a little overwhelmed. Thank you for your concern, Tasha.”
“You’re welcome. We will be home in four minutes. You’ll be able to consume your carbohydrate rich meal, and then maybe you could make plans with your guildmates. Or teach your fish some tricks.”
Mercedes laughed some more. “I think teaching them tricks will be easier than this dating business.”
“Miss Mercedes, if I may be so bold, why not pursue a relationship with Mr. Takashi like Dr. Narissa suggested? You two get along well.”
“It’s… complicated…”
“I don’t see how, but if that’s your stance and you don’t wish to elaborate, I will respect it.”
The car pulled into the driveway and Mercedes made her way inside, eager to get out of the rain. Setting her things down, she went about setting up her dinner for one and ate in silence. That is, until her phone buzzed a million times. Mercedes’ brow furrowed and she picked the device up to look at it.
She had ten back-to-back group messages, including her, Shira, and Narissa, and ten more in-game private messages from Shira’s character. All the text messages were Shira as well, apologizing for being busy and asking Mercedes if she was okay, and if she needed to come meet with her. The in-game messages were telling her to get on guild voice chat if she was able to. What, did I hit a weird dead zone, or is Shira just freaking out?
Mercedes took a deep breath, preparing for the onslaught of questions, and replied back to the group message saying she was going to hop on guild chat. She then popped in her wireless ear bud and remotely connected to the game’s voice chat system.
“Cede, tell us what is going on!” Shira’s voice screamed through the earpiece. Mercedes cringed at the volume. “Orion said you tried to contact me during my match. Why weren’t you on your date? Why aren’t you still?”
Orion was her personal assistant.
“Can you tone it down? There’s no need to blow my eardrum out.”
“Yeah, no kidding,” Jasper complained, his thick Boston accent clear as day even in such few words.
“Eh, she’s been worse,” Zach said, his accent quite a bit lighter. From what Mercedes knew, Zach had moved from the Boston area for a few years, losing a bit of the accent, before moving back a couple of years ago.
“Quiet, peanut gallery,” Shira said.
“Hey, you’re the one who decided to have this chat on the guild server,” Zach shot back. “So we will make comments. Mercedes, do we need to fly over there and kick some skid’s ass, or what?”
Mercedes popped a piece of sushi into her mouth. “No, don’t worry about it. He’s not worth your time.”
“Then what’s wrong?” Shira asked. “The date was supposed to start at seven forty-five and here you are, eight fifteen and you’re clearly not on a date.”
Mercedes shrugged, even though they couldn’t see her. “Guy didn’t show. Got a meal to go and now I’m eating at home. Nothing more to it.”
“You were stood up again?” The sound of Takashi’s voice made Mercedes’ breath catch. The tone was clear. He wasn’t happy.
“Yeah.” Mercedes did her best to brush it off so they’d stop fussing. “It happens. Not a big deal.”
“Uh, I disagree,” Zach said. “That’s the seventh one this year and we’re barely five months in. That doesn’t account for the list of shits Jasper and I have on a hit list for doing wicked worse. Like that last one.”
Mercedes sighed and ate another piece of sushi. “Guys, really. Fussing isn’t going to change anything. Can’t make people just be okay with me having cybernetics.”
The chat remained silent and she didn’t feel better. She understood they wanted to help, but making such a big deal about it just made the feelings worse. Maybe I should really give this no-dating idea a good hard thought. Nothing permanent, but enough time to build up the strength to deal with these people again.
“I know that’s what the last guy said, but all of these dates? I’m having a wicked hahd time wrapping my head around what you said,” Jasper said. “I don’t know why cybahnetics would be such a deal breakah.”
“Because people are assholes,” Shira muttered.
“You have this same issue, too?”
Jasper and Zach knew Shira hadn’t gone out with anyone in a while, but that was all. She made it clear on a few occasions that she didn’t like talking about her love life. Which really means she didn’t want to reveal how bad it was. But this time, she’d put herself in the spotlight, and it didn’t surprise Mercedes one bit her PvP companions
would jump right on it.
“Yeah…” Shira said, with clear reluctance. “I haven’t been on a real-life date in… five years now.”
Has it really been five years since our accident?
“No way it’s been that long,” Zach argued. “How could someone like you not get any dates in that amount of time?”
“If you saw a picture of me, you’d understand…”
Mercedes’ stomach tightened. This could go horribly wrong if they didn’t work this right.
“Well, you don’t share images of yourself, so unless you send me a picture, I’m sticking to my claim,” Zach said.
“Same heah,” Jasper added.
Shira’s character went offline all of a sudden. Mercedes worried the two men had scared her off, but Shira returned two minutes later and spoke in a reluctant tone. “Check your phones.”
This surprised Mercedes. In all her years knowing Shira, she’d never sent a picture of herself so willingly. Not even to Narissa and her. Well, willingly may not be the term for it here, but they also didn’t exactly force her hand or anything.
Mercedes looked down at her phone when it buzzed, to find Shira sent her the photo too. She opened the message and almost doubled over in laughter.
Her red hair was wild like her fiery spirit, and her green eyes were narrowed. Freckles were speckled across her shapely body, which was covered by a cropped tank top and shorts, showing off some of the cybernetic work on her lower torso and chest. She sat with her cybernetic leg up in the seat, her cybernetic arm resting on her knee, and her middle finger fully extended.
“So, besides you being so not wicked aggressive in this photo, what’s wrong?” Zach asked.
“Yeah, I just see one helluvah hot chick with a wicked nice attitude,” Jasper said outright.
Shira didn’t speak right away. Unfortunately when she did, she deflected back to Mercedes. “So, Cede, you’re sure you’re good?”
Mercedes frowned, but chose not to cause a scene. “Yeah. I’m going to finish eating and then figure out something to do. Probably catch up on some quests. Could use the extra cash.”
Spellbinding His Ranger: A Sci-Fi Gamer Friends-to-Lovers Romance (Looking For Group Book 1) Page 3
