Random Encounter by Allyson Lindt

Six

Adrienne

When I got to work Wednesday morning, the Art room was empty. I glanced at my phone clock, and then at my computer clock, as I got logged into my machine and checked my email. Empty, of course. It was odd being so new at a job that no big tasks waited for me. I was excited for when that was no longer the case. It was a few minutes before eight thirty, but yesterday, Phillip said they both got in earlier.

They’d be here soon, I was sure of it. Until then, I’d keep poking away at the software, and pretending I had any idea what a realistic threesome would look like, lizard-enhanced gunman notwithstanding.

My phone chimed with a text from an unknown number.

We’re in the big room. Come find us.

We? Where?

I locked my machine, grabbed my phone, and wandered toward the same room Dustin gave his presentation in yesterday. That was the only big room I could think of, but I still approached with hesitation.

As I drew closer, three familiar voices drifted out, one of them Luna, telling Dustin and Phillip what to do, using words like router, CAT6, and hardwired. I rounded the corner to find the room transformed from yesterday, and the three of them at the center of the change.

A series of long tables filled the room, each with three computers behind, and three monitors, keyboards, and mice on top.

“Addie.” Dustin grinned when he saw me. “Told you she’d understand.”

“I really don’t. The text was from you? What’s going on?” On the surface, the what was obvious, but the why escaped me.

Luna pointed Dustin toward the last row of machines. “Finish checking the connectivity.”

I wasn’t used to seeing her bossy. It was cute. And a little terrifying.

“Everyone who wants to participate is doing the first beta in here today,” Dustin said as he worked. “Partly because I thought it would be fun. Partly because Ms. Queen of Security said it was the best way to ensure no one hacked us while it happened.”

Luna smirked and waggled her fingers in a wave. “We’re on an isolated network. We’re hardwired to everything, and we won’t have voice chat.”

“Wow. Are we really worried about that kind of breach?” I knew people were talking about this game, but with my limited understanding of what she was doing, this was some beyond-high-level setup.

“We’re absolutely not worried, because we’re doing things right.” Luna climbed under one of the desks and fiddled with cables. “My job is to make sure people like me don’t get in. I’d want in to this.”

Luna was a talented, and potentially dangerous, hacker—it was why she was in charge of the company’s digital security. In her case, the hacks tended to be for the challenge rather than the threat, but I understood her point. “So... what can I do?”

“Pick your faction.” Phillip joined me, placing a hand at the small of my back.

A rush of heat flashed between us. “Can I be Erudite?”

“Not unless we want to get sued.” Phillip planted me in front of a computer that was already on. “This one’s good to go. We set it up for you. You can take the online quiz or just choose from the list of descriptions, it’s up to you.”

“Back up.” I could guess at some of what he was saying, but that didn’t mean it all fit together in a clear picture. “What and what and what? Pretend I’m brand new here and start from the beginning.”

Dustin took a deep breath. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

“Smart ass.” I couldn’t help laughing. “Today. What’s going on in here and how am I involved?”

Phillip pulled up a chair next to mine. “We explained the beta. We wanted to bring the whole group together, like gaming parties used to be.”

“I borrowed some competition equipment from Rinslet.” Dustin sounded pleased with himself.

He should be. As far as I could tell, it was a nice setup.

“And the game has factions, based on who you are,” Luna said. “They’re not like guilds, and you can be in whatever one you pick, regardless of race or class, but they do come with bonuses and also wicked awesome crests. I wanted to tell you, but we’ve all been sworn to secrecy until the news goes out today.”

“I’m starting to get the impression Dustin likes his secrets,” I said.

He stared at me for a moment, expression blank. Did I insult him? His grin and wink were a relief. “I like a good, fun surprise. But this mandate didn’t come from me.”

Phillip reached past me to click through screens on my computer, and type. When he was leaned this close, the faint scent of musk and soap teased me. Great. He was gorgeous, intelligent, smelled good, and was well hung. That wasn’t tempting at all.

Phillip pulled away, but not so much I no longer felt his heat. “We've all played the game in bits and pieces, but we’re starting from the same place as everyone else for today’s beta. We want to blend in with the other players and watch their experiences. Everyone else in the office already has their faction picked and their character built out, though. This is your chance to do the same before everything starts.”

Dustin crawled out from the space he’d squeezed into behind a table holding a long, rectangular box with a lot of lights, and wires coming out of it. “Plus Phillip will add your faction symbol to your avatar for the forums.”

“Oh yeah, I saw that yesterday.” And with everything else, I completely forgot to ask what the playing card suits meant beneath everyone’s pictures and why they didn’t seem related to any of the teams or other groupings. “So which faction are each of you?”

Dustin, Phillip, and Luna exchanged looks.

“We’ll tell you after you pick,” Dustin said. “Everyone else went into this blind, you can too.”

“Gee, thanks.” I didn’t mind, though. There was always time in life for another quiz that told me what color nail polish I would be or what kind of cheese toast I was. I loved those things. “Where’s this digital sorting hat?”

Phillip winced. “You can’t call it that.”

“Picking panties?” I offered, then bit the inside of my cheek at how bad it sounded.

“Done.” Dustin dropped into another chair and logged onto the computer in front of him.

Luna tapped him lightly on the shoulder. “What are you doing?”

“Drawing Picking Panties.”

She shook her head. “You’re testing network fidelity on router six, if you want all your players to stay connected for several hours.”

“Yes, mistress.” Dustin’s sigh was exaggerated.

I couldn’t help my laughter. This was definitely not the Luna I usually saw with my brother, but I could see how they were halves of the same person. “Picking Panty Quiz. Direct me.”

Phillip reached past me again to click a bookmark in my web browser. Could he have just pointed it out? Sure. Was I glad he didn’t? So very glad.

I clicked through the quiz, and impatiently waited the five-ish seconds for my results to load. I read from the screen. “Hearts. The god Lir is your patron, and your element is water. You’re gifted with and drawn to the ways of cleansing and healing. Rebirth and resurrection are within your grasp, and you bring abundance to those you hold dear.”

“I knew you’d be hearts,” Luna said. “So perfect for you.”

I wasn’t sure I agreed, but I liked the hope in the description. “What are each of you?”

“I’m diamonds. My element is earth. It’s abundance, but more in a I know the hearts of men kind of way.” Luna recited the explanation as if she’d done it dozens of times before.

Dustin wiggled his fingers in wave. “Spades-slash-air. Words are my weapon of choice. Unless I need actual weapons, then those are awesome too.”

“Clubs. Fire,” Phillip said. “Single minded focus.”

“And the four of us make up a perfect set.” Luna clapped, glee on her face.

“Now, character creation.” Dustin dropped into a chair on the other side of me.

“They’re proud of this.” Luna took a seat across the table from us, angled so I could see her next to the monitor. “They should be. It’s the coolest character creation screen ever.” This was the Luna I knew. Eyes bright, grin plastered on, and radiating infectious enthusiasm. “You can pick your race, character size, shape, male, female, neither, both, somewhere in between—”

“Hey, now.” The reprimand in Dustin’s voice sounded exaggerated. “You’re stealing our thunder.”

The exchange made me even more excited to get into the setup and see the whole thing was about. “I promise she’s not. I need to know how you made everything scale and gave the designs the flexibility they needed to do what she’s describing.”

And they told me. For the next hour, the three of us geeked out on an artistically technical level that would put most people to sleep, but that I loved. This was what I signed on for. The reason I wanted to work for a company like this. It wasn’t just making video game art, it was the innovation. The newness and uniqueness. The creativity and spark and being part of something vast.

“Last step, you get to pick your starting clothes. You can swap styles throughout the game, but you need to start somewhere,” Dustin said.

I scrolled through the outfits and disappointment sank in. “Really?”

“What?” Dustin’s hurt sounded real this time.

“I can either be super slutty or wear the dystopian version of a potato sack? You couldn’t give me a Members Only jacket and stonewash jeans?”

Phillip sighed. “No. Because this is the 2080’s, not the 1980’s, and you are not that old.”

“I’m mature for my age.” Which was funnier when I was sixteen instead of thirty-seven.

I didn’t necessarily have a problem with the outfits. They were gorgeously designed and detailed, and it was clear which bits were leather, cloth, and synthetic. But it was a little disappointing to see my Airmedic Nekokin—faith healer kitty-girl—dressed in an almost identical outfit to those I’d find in any other MMO—stomach bare, boobs barely covered, and ass not much better. “If I were playing the guy characters, what would my options be?”

“Exactly the same.” Phillip scooted to the next computer over, woke it up, and flew his fingers across the keyboard. A moment later, a similar screen to mine appeared, but this one with a tall, slender character. He had alabaster skin, pointed ears, and wore a leather harness and briefs that looked more like thin strips of electrical tape crossed over his chest and crotch.

“Huh.” I didn’t expect that. It really was the same outfit my nekokin had access to. “Yay equality?”

Dustin sighed. “There are genre expectations. We had to stick to some rules.”

“You think you could do better, I assume?” There was a challenge in Phillip’s voice.

Could I? “I could do differently. I’d rather be wearing what I would design.”

“You’ve done a lot of outfit design for games?” Dustin’s tone wasn’t condescending, but it did make me bristle.

As a matter of fact, I had. “We were raised in a strict, conservative household. My brother’s version of rebelling was to mod video games to be what he wanted. He let me play, and he let me make clothes for the characters. Final Fantasy Seven was my favorite, and Tifa never looked more awesome.”

“Sounds like she’s volunteering.” The fun was back in Dustin’s voice.

Phillip nodded. “Adrienne’s next task is to make better beginner outfits. And keep in mind, when we beta test, we’re supposed to find things for other teams to fix.”

Luna clapped. “Can we have wings?”

“Wings are for later in game,” Phillip said as if it were obvious. “You have to earn the right to fly.”

Luna stuck her tongue out at him. “Decorative wings. To hint at what’s to come.”

“Buy me coffee tomorrow morning, I’ll give you wings.” I wasn’t above bribery when the cause was good.

Phillip sighed. “We retain veto power.”

“Nope.” Luna shook her head. “Adrienne says I get wings on my beginner clothes. I get wings.”

Phillip, Dustin, and Luna gave me a brief tutorial on the controls, though it didn’t take much. At least on the surface, the functionality was the same as most games out there. I was an odd blend of disappointed and relieved. Catching on fast would be easy, but I wanted the revolutionary game I’d been promised.

Dustin held out his little finger in a hook shape. “It’s there. Pinkie swear.”

“I didn’t say anything.” Which wasn’t like me.

“Your expression said it all. And you’re not the first to react this way.” Dustin wiggled his finger. “Lincoln is top notch at intuitive user interface design.”

“Damn right I am.” A voice came from behind, and I realized people were joining us.

I hooked my pinkie through Dustin’s. “Okay. Trusting you that the game gets more innovative as it goes on.”

The groupings everyone sat in were similar to those I saw in the kick-off meeting. Dustin and Phillip took the spots on either side of me. Probably so we’d be in a team, but I liked being between them as a general idea.

Luna sat across from us, next to a woman with long, dark hair that cascaded in soft curls around her shoulders, and a slender man with dark hair and a sharp nose.

Dustin stood and whistled sharply. “I’ll make this quick, because you all know why we’re here. Dev is on speaker as well as wandering the room to take notes about any issues we find. You know how the game works. At least try to pretend we’re as new as all the other players. Any questions? Good. Going live in ten. Nine. Eight.”

I joined in the countdown with everyone else in the room, the collective excitement coursing through me. “Three. Two. One.”

I half expected the severs to crash the instant we hit the top of the hour. But we were in the character lobby and then in the opening part of the game, a vast, neon cityscape spread out before us.

“Wow.” I panned my camera around the landscape, and the reality of it all sank in. The men sitting next to me had built this visual. This entire look. The duo across from me, next to Luna, had given so many digital people stories. The guys on the phone had assembled all the pieces to make sure it flowed smoothly, it looked incredible...

It had never hit home before just what was required to build something like this, and my mind boggled as I absorbed it all. Dozens of other characters milled around mine. Aside from Phillip, I had no idea which were employees and which were beta testers.

“Come on, let’s explore,” Luna said.

Correction, I knew exactly who the blue-skinned, short, red headed elf was that stood across from my nekokin. Luna had picked the leather bandages outfit. The character snapped a metal hand, and a spark of blue flickered into sight before fading again.

“Sonya’s going to show us something, come on.” Luna’s character motioned for mine to follow.

The large orc next to her waved, and Sonya said, “hello.”

My avatar waved back, and I followed when they took off. “Where are we going?” It was getting loud in here, with everyone shouting back and forth, and I loved it. Who needed voice chat when we could have a room full of excited gamers? The energy in the air was tangible and delicious.

“I want to play my favorite side quest,” Sonya said.

“Strip club,” Luna added.

Given the nature of the game and the promises made about content I couldn’t help but wonder, “Won’t the strip club be crowded?”

“Not this one. Not during beta.” Sonya’s soft voice barely carried over people shouting spells and directions and cheers.

When we arrived, I knew exactly why she’d said that. It was a male strip club with orcs. The lighting, textures, movement, and sound were all on point. It was incredible.

Sonya’s orc led us to a table in the back of the room, where another orc sat, head in his hands. He wore a leather thong, a studded collar, and nothing else.

“He looks so good,” Sonya said with awe.

“You described him perfectly.” Phillip’s reply was one of pride, and a glance showed his broad smile.

Luna nudged me under the table with her toes. “Talk to him.”

I struck up a conversation with the orc, who spun a sad tale of how his nekokin Dom was missing, and could we please help find him?

Of course I would. I clicked Accept and my game froze, flickered, and vanished, the desktop glaring back at me. I frowned and logged back in, only to have it happen again the instant I clicked Accept on the quest.

“Aww. This is one of my favorite early stories.” Sonya pouted. “Hey, Chris, your code is broken,” she hollered across the room.

Someone stepped up next to her. “Tell me everything that happened, step by step.” Chris looked at me. “You’re not supposed to break the game, noob.” His tone was light, but a hint of irritation lay underneath it.

Luna’s bristle matched mine.

“That’s exactly what she’s supposed to do, twink.” Dustin leaned in, arm pressing against mine.

Twinkcould mean a lot of things. I assumed in this case it was a counter to noob. As in, a long-time player who creates a lower level character and gears them up to the max specifically to stomp on newbies.

Chris’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m giving her shit. Come on, we’re all family here.”

“Dude,” Elliot, the developer from the meeting yesterday, called. “I’ll take their feedback. Keep circling.”

Chris rolled his eyes and walked away.

Elliot spent the next ten or fifteen minutes asking us for step-by-step details about what we’d been doing, asking Sonya and Luna to mimic the steps I’d taken, and doing a lot of tapping on his screen.

With our current plan crashed, Luna, Sonya, and I agreed to a warehouse raid with Phillip, Dustin, and Brandon.

I was the healer. And Sonya with her heavy armor and defense skills, plus Dustin with speed, damage, and medium armor, promised to protect me. Phillip wielded a bio magic, similar to Luna’s, and Brandon got up close and personal with the baddies, fighting with his fists, and occasionally offering me healing backup, though his magic wasn’t as powerful as mine.

It was clear we all knew our classes, but we weren’t used to each other’s fighting patterns or rhythms. We got our asses kicked, but we pulled out a victory, with Phillip and me as the last characters standing.

It was a blast. I loved being surrounded by this feeling of excitement and an obvious passion for this creation of theirs.

When the pizza showed up around one, I was surprised so much time had passed. Later, when the game timer counted off the final thirty minutes, I was bummed to see it all coming to an end for the day.

The beta server went offline. Silence sank into the room, like the world was holding its breath, and then Dustin shouted, “That, was fucking epic.”

Cheers and yells of excitement erupted around me. I found myself on the receiving end of high fives from as many people as everyone else, and hugs from Luna, Sonya, and Phillip.

This was incredible. I had no idea what I’d done to land myself in the middle of such an amazing place, but I was so giddy to be a part of it.