by Simon Archer
Kennedi is brilliant, was the exact thing that ran through my mind at that moment. My distaste for those Omnicorp pricks had been growing since the day I got to this town. Now we would have something to hold over their heads. How to use the information was a whole other question and one that would have to wait. Right then, there was one last, more pressing matter.
“How does Ellie come out at the end of all this?” I asked. “She can’t be expected to fry herself for the rest of all time just to stave off those douchebags.”
Kennedi sat on the edge of the bed, and her face finally took on a serious expression. “She will have to be modified in order to make it stop. She’ll be okay for a couple of days now that I’ve let her update, but it will happen again.”
“What kind of modifications are we talking about?” I asked.
“Software to start with,” Kennedi said. “Before we get into that further, though, we need to get outside. Ellie’s waiting for us.”
When we walked around to the back of the barn, Ellie was standing there, waiting patiently. It was about two hours until sundown, so we had just enough time for me to run through all the different drills Sally had created for me. I felt confident in my new skill set by the time we headed into the house for dinner with the Cavahaughs.
Immediately after dinner, Bev made it clear that I was to retire to bed. I would be participating in my second match the next day, and she would not hear of me not getting what she considered ‘proper rest.’ I decided arguing with her wouldn’t get me anywhere, so Kennedi, Ellie, and I retreated to the loft.
It wasn’t until I laid my head on my pillow and closed my eyes that I realized just how tired I was. I drifted off to sleep with images of computer code floating through my mind. It had been a few years since I’d developed any sort of computer program, but I was confident that I could do it again. I just needed to figure out what I would need a modification program to do in order to help Ellie.
29
When I opened my eyes that next morning, I found myself alone in the loft. I sat up and stretched and let my eyes adjust to the dimness of the room. I saw that either Kennedi or Ellie had laid clothes out on the lounger for me. On my way across the room to get dressed, I threw open the window curtain and squinted quickly at the invasion of extremely bright light that came streaming in.
I got dressed and headed down the ladder and out of the loft. I was on my way across the drive when the door to the house opened, and Theo, Bev, Kennedi, and Ellie walked out. They met me at the bottom of the porch.
“Get in the car, Clark.” Theo pointed to my car. “Bev and I are going to take the truck and meet you there,” he said with a smile on his face as he continued to walk to his truck.
“Meet me where?” I asked, confused.
Kennedi was at my arm, steering me towards the car. “We are going to breakfast!” she squealed excitedly.
Twenty minutes later, the four of us were seated at a window table in a little diner called The Tea Kettle. There were blue pin-striped tablecloths and bright yellow carnations used as centerpieces on all the tables. The place had hardwood floors, and the walls were painted bright white. The curtains matched the tablecloths but were sheer so that they let a lot of natural light in. If I ever needed to tell someone my idea of a small-town, family-owned diner, this would be a fit.
A short, plump woman wearing a navy-blue skirt, white button-up blouse, and a black apron stopped by the table to take our drink orders.
“Theo!” she shouted excitedly when she looked up and recognized him.
“Hey Lila, how have you been?” Theo smiled.
Lila put her hands on her hips and leaned forward slightly. “I’ve been just great! How about you? It’s been ages since you and Bev have come here!” She looked over at Bev but didn’t offer her her own greeting.
Theo looked a little uncomfortable suddenly. “We keep ourselves pretty busy, and Bev is a damn good cook, so we rarely have occasion to go out, especially for breakfast,” he said and picked up a menu.
“Okay, okay. I see. Too good to come eat our food, are ya?” Lila joked. “Fine, then. What do you want to drink while you point and laugh at our menu?” She was still smiling from ear-to-ear.
“I’ll take coffee. Black.” Theo ordered.
Bev set her menu down and looked at Lila, who seemed to be avoiding her gaze. “I’ll have the same as my husband,” she said with a chill to her voice that I’d never heard before.
I put my menu down, as well. “I’ll have an orange juice and add three coffees, please,” I told her. Lila smiled and bounced away without another look at Bev.
When the five of us were alone at the table again, I glanced over at Bev. She caught my gaze and chuckled a little before picking her menu back up.
Theo heard her and looked at me as well. “Ex-girlfriend,” he said. “You’d think twenty years would be long enough to warm the ice between those two, but it seems that it may just be the ice age.” Theo laughed and reached over to put his hand on Bev’s.
“You picked right, from where I’m sitting,” I told him and winked at Bev, who smiled back.
Theo, Bev, and I looked over our menus and decided what to order. Kennedi and Ellie had told me that they prefer not to have money spent on food for them when they didn’t actually need to eat at all. Lila swung by the table long enough to take our orders and was gone again.
Theo sat back in his chair, took a deep breath, and let it out. I saw him visibly relax.
“Rough week, Theo?” I asked half-joking.
“Not more than normal,” he said. “I just haven’t had time to do nothing for a few minutes in a while. Just takin’ an opportunity to relax.”
Bev sat back in her chair as well and said, “When did life get so crazy that it seems we have to schedule time to relax?” she asked, not directing her question at anyone in particular.
Kennedi leaned forward and said, “You two just let me know what the two of us can do to help you get more time to relax.” She motioned to her and Ellie.
“That’s sweet of you, Kennedi,” Bev said. “You help out so much already, I really am thankful.”
“We haven’t had a chance to catch up the past couple days, Clark,” Theo started. “How do you feel about Sally’s training?” It was Theo’s way of asking me if I thought I was ready for the Platform match later today.
“Sally has me in pretty good form. That woman could open her own training camp for this gig and make a fortune,” I joked. “Will you and Bev be coming to the match tonight?” I realized I had assumed they would but had never asked.
“We will be there. The Lindys extended their invitation for us to join them in their skybox, and Kennedi insisted we say ‘yes,’” Theo answered.
“Well, I’m happy to hear it,” I said. I felt like I had a solid back-up in my corner when Theo was around and knowing he would be at the match again was somehow comforting.
“I am happy about it as well,” Kennedi said before turning to Ellie, “I meant to tell you that Leah is going to bring Cora for you to talk with!”
Ellie tipped her head to the side before replying, “That will be fantastic!” She turned to Bev excitedly, “Cora is the Lindys’ private chef. Leah offered to have me learn how to cook like she does.”
“I’ve heard about Cora. She’s an award-winning chef. Hell, even I’d like to pick her brain on a few things,” Bev replied.
“Tonight will be your chance!” Kennedi exclaimed.
Our food arrived then, and we all sat back as Lila deposited the various plates on the table. I had ordered the breakfast pork chops with a side of bacon, side of sausage, and two eggs over medium. Theo had decided on the chicken-fried steak and eggs. He’d joked about the dish being too much of a pain for him to ask his wife to cook. Bev’s plate was covered from edge-to-edge with green chili. She had ordered the breakfast burrito saying that Mexican dishes weren’t her specialty, so she may as well order something she doesn’t make at home.
&n
bsp; The three of us started eating and listened to Ellie tell Kennedi the different recipes she’d downloaded during her last update. She listed several complicated-sounding dishes, and Kennedi had her explain them so she could absorb the information.
Bev had been listening intently. When Ellie paused, Bev chimed in, “Ellie, I didn’t know you had updated. How many recipes did you get from that?”
“Seven-thousand and two,” Ellie replied. “A lot of them are for sauces and dips and all the things that you add to other dishes.”
Bev nodded and asked, “Are you able to learn how to actually cook them through an update? Or, is it a do-it-before-you-know-it type thing?”
“I can get the know-how from an update, but I prefer to learn it the way Kennedi does,” Ellie said, smiling. “I’ve watched you and Kennedi, and you both are always smiling in the kitchen even when things aren’t going right. That is why I want to cook. It just seems to make everyone happy from beginning to end.”
Bev put her fork on her plate and sat back a little. “Well, isn’t that something? A smile or two is the reason you want to cook. Not to make money. Not to own a famous restaurant and get in the write-ups. To smile and make others smile,” she said with a laugh. “I think that is just the most wonderful reason to do anything that I’ve ever heard!”
“Thank you, Bev,” Ellie said proudly.
“You’ll have to join us in the kitchen more often now, Ellie,” Bev said and then turned to Kennedi, “You alright with that, dear?”
“Absolutely!” Kennedi replied.
The three of them continued on to chat about recipes and where to go for the best ingredients while Theo and I sat back and observed. After a few minutes, he turned to me and quietly asked, “When did you let her update?”
“It was yesterday afternoon. Kennedi made it safe for her to update once so that she would stop glitching,” I whispered to him.
“Bev mentioned something about the glitches. So the update fixed whatever was wrong then?” Theo asked.
“Not exactly, but we should wait a bit before I go into details,” I said, tipping my head towards Ellie to indicate a need for more privacy.
“Understood,” Theo said. He looked lost in thought for a moment before he added, “I wanted to run something by you.”
“Sure, shoot,” I said.
Theo turned to face me more directly. “I want to place a bet at tonight’s match,” he began. “There is a special pool that I’m aware of that is separate from the regular betting that goes on.”
“Are you sure you want to do that?” I asked him. I was confident in my ability to win the match, but I’d never want anything to go south for Theo and Bev because of a gamble.
“Yes, I’m sure, and I want you to add your money to my bet,” he responded. “You mentioned that you were going to bet on yourself a while back, and this would give you the highest return. The payout is triple what the normal card is.”
“How is it triple?” I asked, not sure if I liked the sound of any of it.
Theo leaned in and lowered his voice. “The match will be streamed to certain individuals who cannot attend in person. These people pay through the nose to be allowed to view the match from wherever they are, so all the betting that happens inside the pool run by the streamers pays out higher,” he explained.
“Does Omnicorp know about the matches being streamed?” I asked, worried that Theo was getting into something dangerous.
“Omnicorp set the whole thing up. They just keep it quiet so that actual attendance at matches doesn’t dip,” Theo said.
I looked at him for a long moment, trying to make a decision. I needed to know just one more thing. “How did you find out about it?” I asked.
“Charlie Lindy told me. He said that if we were going to be wrapped up in the whole thing, he’d at least do me the courtesy of tripling my money for me. I’d be placing my bet directly with him,” Theo said and leaned back as if to give me room to think.
I had made fifteen-thousand dollars on my last match. Kennedi and I had spent a little of it, and I’d given some to Theo and Bev to pay our way at their place. Even after that, I still had a solid ten grand I could lay down on a bet. On a two-to-one that paid out triple, I could walk away with a minimum of forty-thousand dollars. My other option was to maybe double my money.
While I was doing the calculations in my head, an idea started to form. It was something that my mind had been working on for a while, but I couldn’t really put it into words. While right then wasn’t the time to go into it, I knew that I would be placing my bet with Theo. I had just come up with big plans for the money I’d walk away with.
“Yeah, Theo. I’ll toss my hat in the ring with you,” I told him, smiling and held out my hand. He took it, and we shook, both feeling pretty damned good about how the day would end as we continued to eat.
After breakfast was finished, Bev, Kennedi, and Ellie decided to go shopping for a specific recipe that they were going to make for breakfast the next day. So, I asked Theo where the nearest electronics store was. It happened to be right down the street, so we split off from the girls and headed in the direction of the store.
Thirty minutes later, Theo and I walked out of the store, me with a large box tucked under my arm. In it, was the most beefed-up laptop computer I could talk the store into putting together for me. The two of us took my car, leaving Theo’s truck for the girls, and headed back to the house. I knew I’d have a couple of hours at least before Kennedi and Ellie returned with Bev.
When we were pulling up, I asked Theo, “Mind if I post up at your kitchen table for a bit?”
“Go right ahead. I’m going to ‘post up,’ as you put it, on my couch, and find a movie to watch,” he laughed as he brought the truck to a stop.
“I appreciate it,” I told him, and we both headed into the house.
I got my computer to the table and unboxed it. It took a half-hour to get the necessary accounts logged into and programs up and running, but after it was set up, it ran beautifully. I sat down in front of it and started typing.
I had taught myself how to write code when I was still in college. I enjoyed it as a hobby up until the past few years when traveling started taking up all my time, and there had been more than a few times where I’d done some remote programming gigs to get by. I took a few minutes to go over the information Kennedi had given me on catgirl systems then got to work. My fingers flew over the keyboard as I added line after line of code to the screen.
Kennedi had said that Ellie would need hardware and software modifications. While I didn’t have every detail, I knew that I would have to find a way to block Ellie’s hotspot access. I also knew that she would need to maintain her ability to connect but needed a way to do so that wouldn’t allow viruses to pirate information.
I watched as the screen full of code before me morphed into a program sketch. It was the bare bones of how I was going to protect Ellie from ugly virus invaders.
Two hours later, I was focusing so intently on adding code that I didn’t hear Bev, Ellie, and Kennedi come into the house until they were walking into the dining room. The three were giggling like schoolgirls and carrying endless amounts of grocery bags.
“We volunteered for a charity event so we could cook all this!” Ellie exclaimed when she saw me. She raised an arm full of bags up for me to see.
“Do you need me to give you the table?” I asked, looking from one to the other. They had all passed the kitchen but were still holding their grocery bags.
“Oh, heavens no!” Bev said and turned on her heel. She started marching playfully back into the kitchen.
“We just wanted to see if you were here,” Kennedi called back as she exited the room as well. Suddenly, I was alone again.
I looked over my code and double-checked that it had saved. I closed the computer and slid it back into the box. I had absolutely no chance of concentrating further with the giggling and laughter floating in from the kitchen. It was also nearing ti
me to leave for the Platform.
30
Ellie and Kennedi met Theo, Bev, and I on the porch before our departure to the stadium. They’d been in the loft, getting themselves ready for the match.
The skin-tight, black leather leggings Kennedi had on hugged every curve she had. She was wearing an electric-pink tube top that stopped just above her waistline, leaving an appealing glimpse of the skin on her stomach. Over the top of her tube top, she had on a black, lace overshirt that tied right under her perfect tits and draped all the way to her ankles. It was just the touch she needed to look fierce but still fit in a crowd full of formal dresses.
Ellie’s look was much brighter. She had a royal blue, hip-to-ankle pencil skirt that accented her high, tight ass. She also had a tube top on, but hers was ice blue with a royal-blue, lace overlay to match her skirt. The lace continued past the bottom of the shirt and flared out around her hips, making her tiny waist look even smaller.
Looking at the two of them, I almost forgot where I was headed. Both were wearing five-inch black platform heels and looked like they would devour anything that got in the way of where they wanted to go. Their pouty, pink lips and exaggerated eye makeup changed their looks from sweet to dangerous depending on the expression they had on their faces. Suddenly, I couldn’t wait to walk in with them both on my arms.
The five of us stood on the porch in silence while we watched the headlights in the distance get closer. Charlie Lindy had called earlier and said he was sending a car to take us to the match, and it was headed our way.
When the black, Lincoln Towncar reached us, it parked, and the driver got out. He looked to be in his mid-twenties with brown hair and glasses. He was only about five-foot-ten-inches tall. He immediately opened the back door and stepped forward to help escort the women. I grabbed my gear bag, which had been lying next to my foot, and walked back to the trunk. The driver used the remote in his hand to pop the trunk open, and I threw my bag in.