Legendary Rule

by Bruce Sentar

  He was smart and capable. It was just that connections meant everything now and he never really clicked with the people that could help. He just needed one lucky break, maybe this was it.

  “She’s our friend, and she wants to buy dinner. It’s not that big of a deal Jaxie.” Reinhart sighed.

  Ajax couldn’t agree though. There was just something about when other people paid for things. He was capable on his own, and as if to prove it he mentally cataloged every time someone paid for something. The catalog eventually turned into a book of debts. He felt like he owed it to them and to himself to pay back off of those debts. Sarah was just going to add to them with dinner. He’d have to figure out how to pay her back.

  Sighing to himself he waved Reinhart out of his room. “Let’s get ready for her then.”

  CHAPTER 2

  The two were doing a pitiful attempt at cleaning up the bachelor pad when their buzzer rang. Reinhart hit the intercom and a peppy female voice came through. “I brought take out!” He gave Ajax a weak smile but Ajax just shrugged and went to grab plates and silverware for dinner.

  She always brought takeout when she visited now. Ajax had complained a few times when the food was several times what the roommates could afford. Sarah made good money with her gaming career and often tried to help the boys out, much to Ajax’s frustration.

  “Come on up Sarah, Ajax has a surprise for you.” Reinhart chuckled to himself like he knew a secret.

  Ajax shot him a look from the kitchen. There were a few dynamics among the group that Reinhart got too much joy in poking.

  It didn’t take long for her to appear, breathing heavy from the stairs, and clutching two brown paper bags. Though that’s not what anyone would focus on when they saw Sarah enter a room in skin-tight jeans and a white top that hugged her body. Sarah was a popular gamer girl for a reason. With sleek black hair and naturally tan skin, her body looked like a Swedish model with hips and chests that bloomed out defying her otherwise athletic body. Her green eyes really broke the Asian stereotype for anybody that could peel their eyes away from the mounds on her chest and look her in the face.

  Ajax had seen her berate more than one guy for staring.

  However, Sarah's smile dipped slightly when Ajax didn’t give her that once over that almost every other man did instead he just smiled and welcomed her by taking the bags and swiftly unpacking them by the sink.

  “I got you Panang Curry; I know it’s your favorite Ajax.” Sarah had a proud smile on her face for remembering his Thai preference. Ajax swiftly picked out each of their dishes without asking. They had been best friends for fifteen years and it was easy enough to tell which dish belonged to each. The group settled down crowded around the table with replays of the Worlds coming on the screen.

  After sitting down Sarah look at Ajax expectantly. Her eyes practically glowed with a question she wanted to ask.

  He wasn’t sure what she wanted and focused on his food. This was typical Sarah. She was constantly upbeat and excited like every moment was just shy of her next adventure. It was an attitude that served her well as a gamer girl.

  She seemed more excited than usual and couldn’t wait “So Reinhart said you had a surprise?” Ajax looked at his roommate with a cocked eyebrow.

  Reinhart gave him a shrug full of innocence. It was an odd expression for a man his size.

  “Yeah, I won a PIU for Legendary Rule. I don’t think it’s much of a surprise, I was trying to figure out how to sell it.” Ajax tried to seem more into his curry than the PIU. He knew that Sarah would be against it. There was even a bit of dread at how she’d react. Sarah had a way of getting what she wanted out of him, and there was something almost painful watching her excited and adventurous face fall. It always got him. So he kept his head down and picked at his curry. He was going to sell it and the last thing he needed was to watch that look from Sarah.

  There was a pause in the conversation and Ajax could almost feel her familiar expression of defeat. When he didn’t look up she jumped out of her chair and leaned around the table. “You can’t sell it! You should play with me. It would be like the old days, come on!”

  Ajax was forced to look up when she sprang on him like that. She was so excited and hopeful. She grabbed his arm as she had back in school when she wanted him to help her with her homework. It was the same excited expression that Ajax couldn’t bear to disappoint. Ajax physically sagged in defeat.

  She smiled so wide her eyes pinched happily. “You should play, you can make real money in this game. It might be worth more than selling it.” Her look was full of hope that he’d play instead of selling the PIU.

  “Overtime is getting scarce at work. I should sell it to tide me over till the store picks up again after winter.” Ajax had thought this through several times over. He could use it to pad the slow work in the winter at Lowes-Depot to pay his rent. It was the safe and reasonable thing to do. The last thing he needed was to get hooked on a game and screw up his current income. He looked over to Reinhart for support.

  His friend offered him a weak smile. “Maybe you should try. Some of those games you can at least make some money in the beginning.”

  Traitor. Ajax wasn’t going to get any help from him. Though Ajax shouldn’t be surprised Reinhart usually took Sarah’s side.

  “Look if it’s about the money I can he…” She was cut off by a sharp kick from Reinhart. She made more than either of the boys did in a year every month. She had offered Ajax money before and it never went well. Sarah regretted starting it again and winced from the oncoming fight.

  However, the damage was already done, Ajax understood where she was going before she had been interrupted. It would be just another debt if he accepted any money from her. He didn’t want to be in debt to Sarah anymore than he already was. He was going to be successful. He’d sell the PIU, he’d reduce his overtime, and he’d get a better job. No, he didn’t need her money.

  He started to argue but clamped his mouth shut midway. They had this argument before and at least this time she didn’t finish the opening line. He fought to keep himself in check before he sighed and changed the subject “I saw your new commercial Sarah; we should celebrate. I think we are out of beer. Let me hop across the street and pick us up a six pack to celebrate.” Ajax excused himself and picked up his wallet walked out of the apartment.

  ***

  Sarah stared at the closed door with a frown. She waited a minute till she was sure he wasn’t going to come back in forgetting something. “Shit, Reinhart. I just can’t stand to watch him barely make rent.”

  “You really should stop trying to offer him money. It’s just part of who he is, he won’t take it. You just keep pissing him off.”

  “He’s just being a stubborn ass. Think he’d take it if I offered to let you both move in with me?” There was a bit of hope in her voice. She knew the answer though as she asked it.

  “Won’t work. We both know it. Though I bet that would make you happy having him around constantly eh?” Reinhart nudged her in the side with his elbow.

  Sarah’s face went red and she cut him off “Enough about that. I need you to help. He plays Legendary Rule and that’s final.” She bit her thumb in thought.

  Reinhart raised a brow at that.

  Clearing her throat. “There’s an exchange between game currency and dollars. Though they’ve kept quite a few things quiet, the pro gamer community has reliable rumors about it. He could make more money playing than working at Lowes-Depot.” She looked Reinhart in the eyes “There are multiple mega corps backing it. It’s not just some hopeful scheme of a gaming company. There’s serious financial backing to this one.” Her tone drifting to pleading with the bulky Reinhart.

  “Are you sure you aren’t doing this so you can spend more time with him? I know you have always liked him but Sarah you are… well, his best friend he just doesn’t see you that way. It’s like you’d need to reset and be someone else. You are like a sister to him. You can’t not be Sar
ah to him as much as you could not be Harpy to your fans.”

  Sarah knitted her brows together. It’s a been a problem for the last ten year trying to get out of the friend zone. There had been some sort of tacit agreement between the two. There was no way Ajax wasn’t aware of her feelings, but they have been kept in this limbo since middle school.

  “So how did he get this anyways?” She changed the topic.

  Reinhart hesitated before answering the sudden shift in conversation. His face contorted like he was thinking of the best way to phrase it.

  “… it was a MissyQ hosted competition.” He said quietly

  She saw him tense like he was expecting a backlash. It was understandable, Missy was her rival in the gaming scene. Ajax also paid her a fair amount of attention. She smiled inwardly. If only they knew what kind of relationship the two really had.

  “Show me his P.I.U. I need to get his serial number and Reinhart I really need your help convincing him.” She walked into Ajax’s bedroom like she was in charge. Pulling out her phone she started a call “Hey Girl, I need a favor.”

  CHAPTER 3

  Ajax found his way down to the corner store and picked through the beer selection. It wasn’t that he was mad at Sarah for offering money, but it made him realize he wasn’t ‘successful’. He felt like his current state of career prevented him from moving further in his life. He had no real prospects, just barely maintaining is meager existence. How could he move on with his life if he couldn’t even afford a nice date?

  The television caught his eye in the corner of the store, more election ads ran on the commercials. Ajax was surprised they hadn’t started wearing Corp logos on their suits like race cars; given how much they were supported nowadays.

  Sebastian Waltz was flanked by two beautiful women, damn that felt unfair. Though, it was Sebastian’s father who made polygamy legal back in the 2050s. All the corporate execs must have sponsored that movement. It was pretty common to see the powerful men of the world with a girl on each arm now.

  Sebastion was speaking out on the new hot topic of marrying AI’s. The newest generation two years ago was so… human. So much in fact that people had started falling in love with them. It was all taboo, but of course, someone tried. A man named Krueger made a stand about free love and tried to hold a wedding between him and holo-projection of his anime AI. Weird, but Ajax wasn’t one to judge.

  The older generation couldn’t seem to wrap their head around th change, but Ajax didn’t really care. Let the man have his digital wife, not like it really affected him. AI’s were cost-prohibitive for him. They were a cool feature he wouldn’t be able to afford anytime soon.

  Companies, however, saw them as permanent employees capable of doing the work faster and without salary, but none of them had physical bodies in the world yet. This at least left some jobs to those of us made with flesh and blood. It was also the main reason Ajax had finished his degree in Computer Science.

  Focusing back to the task of picking out his beer. Ajax scanned the shelves behind the cooler door. Each price tag made him wince a bit. He really shouldn’t be buying beer, it was a waste of his limited, or rather non-existent disposable income. He figured this was the cost for not damaging his friendship with Sarah.

  Ajax liked that she and Reinhart had been his friends since they were kids. They were his ‘people’, the ones that you share a random event from the day with. The ones who were always there for you after a rough day or popping champagne when everything goes right. The family you got to choose.

  He chuckled to himself, it almost sounded like he was married to them. Married to Sarah. That would be funny.

  Ajax settled on a pack of Blue Moon - not expensive, but not like he was bringing home something cheap and watery. Maybe he overreacted with Sarah; he knew she was trying to help. It just hurt every time like a reminder that he still hadn’t started his life. Maybe selling the P.I.U. would get some pressure off his shoulders so he could focus more on looking for a real job, a career.

  A spotty projection of a kind middle-aged man flickered to life as Ajax stepped up to the counter. The digital eyes pretended to look at the beer and smiled. “That’ll be fifteen dollars and thirty-two cents sir.” Ajax didn’t look the man in the eyes but rather the camera up to the wall behind him, the common courtesy of looking someone in the eyes translated to an AI in the camera for Ajax.

  “Thanks” Ajax smiled then swiped his wrist over the black scanner. Ajax winced. It didn’t really hurt, but it felt like he could feel the money drain out like he was giving blood. The chip held Ajax’s information and functioned as his driver's license as well as other important documentation.

  The projection’s expression was thoughtful for a second before smiling. Ajax assumed it was a visual pause while the system was reading his age then registering the purchase from his chip.

  Somehow he’d gone from being offered money to spending on something frivolous like alcohol. Maybe he was just trying to prove a point to Sarah. Ajax didn’t hear the AI say goodbye. He was lost in his thoughts on how to apologize to Sarah when he got back.

  By the time Ajax returned with a six-pack the two were chatting. Sarah had a grin that could rival the Cheshire cat. Meanwhile, Reinhart looked a little confused and guilty.

  “You’re back!” Sarah jumped to her feet causing her white top to strain and fail to keep her breast in place. She danced across snagging the beers, opening three, and handing them out like a prize she’d just won. “So Reinhart explained it. I’ll help you sell it”

  Ajax was confused by her sudden shift in opinion. Knowing how stubborn Sarah was, he knew there was something more to this than just a change in heart. Ajax looked at Reinhart but his confused face held no answers for him right now. He decided to push her a bit to see if he could get anything out of her.

  “Yeah, you will help me sell it?” Ajax couldn’t keep the doubt out of his tone.

  She didn’t seem to care. “I’ll host a sale on my stream in a month. Till then you play, see if you can’t get some money out of the game before I take your PIU away.” Sarah had a forced casual tone like she was begging for him to argue.

  “Why can’t I just sell it now?” Ajax did need the money right now; he didn’t need the distraction. He had a history of getting sucked into games and not resurfacing for days and he didn’t need this new game to ruin his job.

  “I know you haven’t used your vacation, it’s not going to do you any good if you don’t use it. Just play for a month. I swear this game is different. It’s going to be big. There’s an exchange setup for gold to real money.” Sarah had a pleading face. Damn, Ajax hated that face because it worked on him.

  He knew Sarah wasn’t much to give in. There was more to this. She likely thought to get him hooked on the start, then convince him to not sell it. He knew she wanted more attention, she’d never been as close as the two men. Ajax could always sense that she wanted to be as close a friend as Reinhart. Sadly Ajax knew there was just something different about their relationship.

  Maybe he should play some games with her.

  Ajax stopped that thought and cleared his head. No, he had to be an adult and make the correct decision.

  “You know those game markets never really last. Look at the ones in the past, they always failed.” Ajax interrupted her pitch.

  “No, this time they say more than ten of the megacorps are backing this exchange. Ajax, something is going on. The megacorps are getting very involved in this game.” She pleaded again with that face.

  Ajax couldn’t look her in the eyes. He knew she wouldn’t lie to him, but he didn’t want to believe that he could make a living off a game. It was too tempting of an offer and by all logic too unrealistic.

  Sarah continued bursting through his thoughts. “I’ve been getting very large offers, much larger than the past. Something is up, the megacorps must know something. Ajax please just give it a month.” Sarah was pressed against him. Her beer sweating into his shirt. He cou
ldn’t help but get a nose full of her perfume. Ajax struggled to put a name to the spicy yet sweet scent.

  She must have seen something and switched gears. “The PIUs are already back-ordered 3-4 months and it’s only going to get worse before it gets better. Your unit will go up in price I guarantee it,” she stated like a used car salesmen.

  Ajax leaned back thinking. Now that was an interesting point. If they were back-ordered that far, demand would build over the first month.

  Ajax thought through it for a minute as Sarah wore him down with her eager look. Maybe she was right and he could make more if he waited a month. “Oh, stop looking at me like that. I agree. I’ll play, but I only have two weeks' vacation stored up for the year. So I’ll play during that but not when I go back to work except weekends.” He felt better by putting down rules that he wouldn’t play during the workweek. Yeah, he wouldn’t get sucked into this game. He was a graduate now and had a real life. Ajax had exited school and entered real life. He had responsibilities.