by Natalie Grey
She made her way through the racks with weary resignation. Button down shirts, polo dresses, and khakis lined the racks in neat rows, with billboards of models relaxing on sunny beaches with cable-knit sweaters draped over their shoulders. Everyone was smiling blissfully.
Gracie looked out at the mall and stopped, considering. One of the outlet stores was there, its racks filled with discount cuts that were out of style and definitely not classic or preppy looks.
A smile grew on her face as she marched over to the other store and started grabbing things off the racks. Boyfriend-style jeans with rips in them, plain tee-shirts and tanks in colors she liked, and pajama pants with unicorns and rainbows on them. Gracie looked around, smiling, then grabbed a pair of comfy slippers off a nearby shelf as well before heading up to the registers.
She might have money now, but she really didn’t want to spend it on clothes she didn’t even like. What was the point, anyway? She was going to be relaxing at home, and she had really never bought clothes she liked before. She snatched a dark blue hoodie off a rack nearby and added it to the pile.
If her mom was going to make her go to her sister’s engagement party over the 4th of July, then Gracie was fully intending to show up wearing whatever the hell she wanted and not apologize for it.
She gulped. That was the idea, anyway, but the thought still scared her—and she hadn’t told her parents that she was playing video games for a living now.
She took the bulging plastic bags from the saleslady with a smile and ambled out into the crush of the mall before heading to the food court and ordering a number of gloriously inauthentic Chinese dishes. She was just finishing when she noticed a man with a beard and very short hair looking at her.
She frowned. Now that she thought of it, she had seen this guy yesterday too. He’d been at the apartment complex. Gracie had assumed he was a new neighbor, but…
She was seeing him here, too. She shook her head. He probably was a new neighbor, and coincidences happened every day. She’d taken years of statistics, so she should know better than to get spooked over something like this. When he smiled and gave her a nod, she nodded back, annoyed at herself.
He got up and ambled away after putting his lunch tray at the bussing station.
See, Gracie? Not a stalker.
As she headed back to her car, her phone buzzed, and she checked it before rolling her eyes. It was a message from Matt, her old boss, who was still trying to get her to come back to work at the casino.
Give it up, dude, she typed before sighing and erasing the message. She shouldn’t be rude. Matt’s boss, Vince, had fired Gracie a few weeks back, and Matt was genuinely trying to make that right.
The thing was that Gracie didn’t want to go back. She’d clashed with management since the day she’d gotten there, she’d had to deal with rude patrons, and it wasn’t like the pay had been great. Besides, if she went back, Matt was going to keep asking her to work as a cocktail waitress, and Gracie had zero desire to wear a sequined dress and get called “sweetheart” by drunk, handsy businessmen.
She was having a hard time explaining this to Matt without sounding rude.
She dropped the bags of clothes in the backseat and headed home, humming along to an absurdly happy, energetic song on the radio before shutting it off in disgust and continuing the drive one-handed, leaning her head on her left hand.
She didn’t know why she was so annoyed at life, the universe, and everything lately. Didn’t she have it made? Her paying job was playing video games, she’d scored a non-crazy roommate, she had a whole group of cool friends, and she’d managed to extricate herself from the preppy hell her parents wanted her to live in.
So what was the problem? She frowned as she parked, hauled the clothes out of the car, and wandered up to the apartment.
Although it was midday, Alex was home. He was cleaning the kitchen counters when Gracie came in, and when she got to the living room, she saw that he’d bought new lamps and a rug.
“Uh…Alex?”
“Yeah?” He sounded distracted and stressed.
“What’s going on, buddy? You’re home from work, and decorating the house. Did you quit?” Gracie popped her head into the kitchen, frowning. “Because—OHHHHH.”
Alex froze mid-scrub and his shoulders hunched.
“Should I make myself scarce tonight?” Gracie asked wickedly. “Is there a date? Are you hoping to bring a certain lady back here?”
“I, uh…” Alex looked flustered. He tried to avoid her eyes by continuing to clean but wound up dumping orange juice all over the floor as he tried to put a cup in the dishwasher.
Gracie stared at the orange juice for a moment. She was trying desperately not to laugh.
“Let me help you,” she finally said as diplomatically as she could. “Why don’t you go focus on your bedroom, and I’ll clean up out here?”
“Thanks,” Alex said gratefully, and he whisked away as Gracie shook her head and carried the new clothes to the washer. She grabbed the kitchen towel before starting it, and as an afterthought, added the towels from the bathroom. She reminded herself to tell Alex to wash his sheets. It had been a while since he’d even entertained the idea of dating, and Gracie didn’t want to think about what his room looked like.
Not that she was one to judge. All of her pictures were still leaning against the walls, and her laundry basket was surrounded by a pile of clothing she’d thrown with very bad aim.
Her computer blooped as she headed back to the kitchen, and she looked at it to see a video call from Jay. Smiling, she accepted the call and waved.
“I hope you don’t mind me cleaning while we talk,” she greeted him. “I’d put it off, you know, indefinitely, but Alex has a date tonight, and he’s stressing about the apartment. Look.” She picked up the laptop and swiveled it around. “He’s gotten new decor and everything.”
“Impressive.” Jay sounded amused. “Although it sort of makes me feel like I don’t have my shit together.”
“Ugh. I feel ya.” Gracie swiveled the computer back around and shook her head. “On the other hand, this is a last-minute mad scramble, so it’s not like he does either.”
“I HEARD THAT,” Alex yelled from the bedroom.
“Less talking, more cleaning,” Gracie called back. “And wash your sheets.”
Jay started laughing. “So, does that mean you’ll have to be holed up in your room tonight?”
“Uh, probably. I hadn’t thought of that.” Gracie scratched her head and grabbed paper towels to start cleaning up the orange juice. “Having your roommate fighting fake monsters in a VR suit probably doesn’t set the mood too well, does it? Argh. I wanted to see what was going on with that armor, too.”
“Well, if you log in after this, we should still have time, right?” Jay pointed out. “I want to see about it too. The weird thing is, I told Harry we found it, and I haven’t heard anything from him since then.”
Gracie said nothing. Her skepticism about Harry still hadn’t ebbed, but she didn’t want to ruin Jay’s fun.
“What if…” She scrubbed the floor and bit her lip, then forced a smile as she peeked back at the computer. “We just decided to bum around and have fun in-game until we heard back from him?”
“Now there’s a good idea.” Jay sounded impressed. “Just not tonight, huh?”
“Yeah. I suppose I should do something other than play games, anyway.”
“That sounds like your mother talking,” Alex commented as he came into the kitchen to rummage under the sink. “I need a trash bag. Is this where they are?”
“Yep.” Gracie looked at him. “And you’re probably right about my mother, but I’m also trying not to cock-block you by being in the living room when you get back here with Sydney.”
“Oh.” Alex looked at her, his face faintly queasy. “I’m honestly not sure if I’ll have the balls to ask her to come back.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Gracie told him, rolling her eyes. “Do
n’t tell me I might be doing all this cleaning for nothing.”
“Right.” Alex hastened away again with a few trash bags and Gracie chuckled.
“I think he’s right, honestly,” Jay said. “There’s nothing wrong with spending time in a game, but… Maybe you should take a night off. You’ve been doing pretty much nothing except coordinating game stuff for everyone else. You could, uh, go get a drink or something.” There was a pause. “With a friend,” he added awkwardly.
“Don’t you get on my case about not having a boyfriend, too.” Gracie’s tone was strained. Of all the people in her life, she wasn’t keen on Jay telling her to get out there and try her hand at dating.
She was trying not to think about why that was.
“I wasn’t,” he said quietly. “I just meant, ah… Well, maybe a ladies night or something?”
Gracie was startled into a snort of laughter. “What have I ever done to make you think I’d enjoy a night of Cosmos and dresses and bitching with my girlfriends?”
“Now who’s throwing around stereotypes?” Jay asked her. Not too long ago, she’d given him a fiery speech about assuming her character was based on her looks, and she had the sneaking suspicion he wasn’t going to let her forget it. “Go bowling and get nachos or something. I’m just saying, have some not-game fun with your friends.”
“I don’t have any friends out here,” Gracie said with a sigh.
“Really?” Jay sounded skeptical.
“Dude, why do you think I was playing Metamorphosis Online in the first place?” Gracie scrubbed at a coffee stain on the floor.
“Okay, you make a good point.” She heard him take a drink of something. “Well, a night off, anyway. I’ll bum around in-game and—”
“Nuh-uh.” Gracie stood up and leaned on the counter, mock-glaring at him. “If I have to take a night off, so do you, Mr. Poking-Around-in-the-Databases.”
Jay grumbled but nodded. “All right, and I’ll stop distracting you while you clean. Tell Alex to have a good date.”
“Will do.” Gracie waved and ended the call, going back to scrubbing the counters with a sigh.
Going out for bowling and nachos didn’t sound half bad, really. The problem was that Alex was the only person she knew here that she could have done that with, and he was going to be out on a date with an awesome person.
Which she wasn’t upset about. She’d helped set it up, after all. It was just that it was more clear than she wanted it to be that she still didn’t have any friends in this city, and she didn’t have a date for the evening—or even the prospect of one.
The washing machine dinged, and Gracie went to change over the clothes. She scowled when she saw the slouchy jeans and big sweatshirt. A few hours ago, she’d been so amused to be getting clothes she’d be comfortable in. She’d been laughing at the thought of her mother being scandalized by how unappealing her clothes were.
The fact was, she didn’t have anyone to impress.
Gracie sighed as she started the dryer. She wanted to call Jay back to explain why she’d gotten so prickly about the dating comment, but no matter how much her heart leapt sideways when she thought about that, she still didn’t have close to enough courage to do it.
She shook her head to clear it and headed into the living room to do a last sweep for takeout containers.
It might not be fun to hide miserably in her room while Alex had a date, but it was a hell of a lot less scary than being honest with Jay.
“Because it’s not just information-gathering anymore!” Dhruv slammed his hands on the desk and leaned in, his teeth clenched. “You are actively helping her.”
“I am getting information,” Dan argued. He rubbed a hand across his forehead and sighed. “If we didn’t have a line through to them—”
“No.” Dhruv stabbed a finger at him. “No. Because they never would have thought to go to that zone if you hadn’t suggested it!”
Dan said nothing. Dhruv was right, and he knew it. Dan had fumbled this. If he were just more patient, he would have told Jay to go hunting, and then sat back and said nothing more. But he’d wanted to go farther and faster, so he’d begun prompting the other man, feeding him clues and letting him in on his personal suspicions.
Dan waited. The tirade was coming. When Dhruv got angry, he yelled. Those last few weeks before they got Harry out had been a storm of shouting so constant that Dan was surprised either man had a voice left. Things had quieted down since Harry left, and Dan didn’t want it all to start again.
He’d also admired Harry, in some ways. The man had always stood for something, even when that particular something was idiotic or patently insane. Dan, meanwhile, had only stood for being the peacemaker, the bridge between Harry and Dhruv, or Harry and a contractor, or Dhruv and whoever he was angry at that week.
When Harry had gone off the deep end, Dan had chosen to back Dhruv since he was the more functional of the two, better able to get the game off the ground and bring it to fruition. Harry might say he had come up with the idea of Metamorphosis Online, and that was true, but the other truth was that he’d never have gotten anywhere if Dan and Dhruv hadn’t been on board. They’d spent years helping Harry get out of his own way and smoothing ruffled feathers when he insulted vital employees or failed to come through on his own deliverables.
The idea had been his, but the blood, sweat, and tears had been largely Dan’s and Dhruv’s.
To Dan’s surprise, Dhruv didn’t yell this time. He dropped into the other chair and stared Dan down, propping his feet on the desk. He knew Dan hated that, but right now it didn’t seem to be an effort to piss Dan off. Dhruv was just thinking.
“Since when are you the impatient one?” Dhruv asked finally.
Dan shrugged, but he felt a smile tug at his mouth. “Wish I knew. Harry being back in the mix…worries me. I just wanted it done with.”
Dhruv nodded. “You never did like a fight.”
“Who does?” Dan asked acidly. A moment later, he frowned. “Did you two actually like squabbling like that?”
Dhruv shrugged noncommittally, although his smile suggested the answer was yes. “Gives me a chance to get all the anger out, no?”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Dan sank his face into his hands. “We do not have time for that. We never have time for that.”
“Even less time now,” Dhruv reminded him. “So stop moaning and get some coffee. We need a new plan. This one isn’t working.”
Chapter Five
The most disorienting thing about the Metamorphosis world, Gracie decided, was that they hadn’t figured out how to make it have smells. She was walking around Kithara now, listening to the calls of the vendors and the music filtering out of the taverns, and while she could hear the sizzle of cooking food or see signs for bakeries, she couldn’t smell any of it.
Then again, it was probably best not to smell anything in a medieval city. She wrinkled her nose.
A whistle filtered through the air and she rolled her eyes.
“That’s, what, the tenth person to whistle at you?” Kevin asked from somewhere near her knees. The Piskie summoner strode along at Gracie’s side, the amarok slinking behind her.
“Probably.” Gracie shrugged. “And you should try riding the amarok. If you stood on its back, you’d be…well, almost sternum-high, anyway.”
“I tried. It didn’t work.” Kevin’s character waved her hands moodily. “But probably better than if I’d tried to ride an actual wolf.”
“Let’s test that! Can you think of anyone you don’t like?” Gracie grinned until she heard another whistle, then sighed. “Or we could just use one of those yahoos.”
“Well, you know what they say,” Kevin replied. “It’s not politically correct, but if you don’t want to get noticed, you shouldn’t wear a giant suit of bright gold plate mail covered in jewels.”
Gracie choked on a laugh. “Okay, fair.” The suit of armor Jay had found for her was eye-catching in the extreme, and she knew that the p
layers passing her probably wondered where she’d gotten it.
That, or they had noticed the hovering 1 over her head, showing that she was the global Top 10 player. Her team’s month-first run-through of the latest content had been what Jay had succinctly described as a “Big Fucking Deal” on the forums. Gracie had avoided them, not wanting to see what people were saying, but the rest of the team seemed to be enjoying their celebrity status.
It was unfortunate, Gracie thought, that she couldn’t go incognito in terms of her ranking. It was also unfortunate that this particular suit of armor was the most eye-catching thing she’d ever seen in-game.
“The shield probably doesn’t help,” she said glumly.
“Nor does the fact that your sword clashes horribly with the rest of it,” Kevin added with a sniff. “What are you going to do about that? I twitch every time I look at it.”
“Wellllll.” Gracie drew the word out. “I could put an illusion on it, I guess. Or I could enjoy the fact that it makes you tweak out.”
“Noooo. You’re mean.”
They had reached the heart of the city, and Kevin led the way into a shadowed temple and up a flight of curving stairs. On the second floor of the temple, a walkway hugged the edges of the building. Trailing flowers only partially obscured the view of the altar below, and around the walls were portals to different zones.
“Where are we going?” Gracie asked Kevin.
“I wanted to explore Night’s Edge a bit more,” Kevin explained. “I don’t know why. It just… It feels like there’s more there than what we saw last time.”
“That place spooks me,” Gracie said with a shudder. “But sure, let’s go.”
“You’re a good sport. Thanks.” Kevin took off running and leapt through the portal to Night’s Edge with a high-pitched squeal. “Whoooooo!”
Gracie stifled a laugh with one gauntleted hand and followed. The world melted away around her, and there was a moment of rippling ether before reality returned and she was in Night’s Edge, with lanterns gleaming in the half-darkness.
