Play

by Olivia Devon

  “Nope. Because I quarantined her profile. What she thought was the glitch was actually me taking over her account and beating back the hack.”

  “What about our automated security, why didn’t it see the attack?”

  Aiko grinned. “Get this,” she said. “Because the attack was happening from her own computer.”

  Aaron stared at her.

  “Okay see, I saw the activity on her account and it was all too organized, too fast to have been coming from a human user. But to our security it looked organic. We don’t have anything set up to monitor user activity like that, we assume people doing shit to their own accounts are doing it on purpose.”

  “Right, I know.” said Aaron. “But we’ll look for it now. First thing when I get in we’ll have the security team create a new protocol for this.”

  “That’s probably a good idea,” said Aiko. “But in this case, Katie’s laptop was directly compromised. She was targeted. Personally.”

  “Why?” said Aaron. “Because of me?”

  Everything Katie had been through, having her photo splashed all over the tabloids and TV, called a slut, a cheater, having Celestia disparaged and her named dragged through the mud, it was just one more thing. Now someone had broken into her home and….Shit.

  “Is she okay?” he asked. “Aiko, how did they get to her laptop? Did someone break in? Is she safe?”

  “She’s safe. Malcolm and Jack are on top of it. I left Katie’s house this morning. She gave us her laptop and we ran diagnostics on the rig-bay. Luckily, the asshole didn’t realize it was even there. What a total fuckwit. He’s playing around with spyware on a USB stick while she’s upchucking in the bathroom, meanwhile there’s thousands of dollars in state-of-the-art VR tech hiding in the guest bedroom.”

  “What?”

  “Katie’s ex-boyfriend,” said Aiko. “Steven Mayer, CEO of Galaxus Games is our villain my friend. How’s that for a surprise ending?”

  “I don’t understand.” Confusion and anger churned dangerously in his gut. He was feeling very much like he wanted to punch something. “Steven Mayer planned all this somehow? From the beginning?”

  “Ha!” Aiko took a few long seconds to laugh dramatically and clutch at her stomach. “Ha! No. No. No. The guy is not that smart. He just got lucky with the Katie/HyperLyfe connection. It was whack-a-mole. He’s been running hacks on a lot of companies, trying to see what might pan out.”

  “Why?”

  “Bank records show he’s been running Galaxus into the ground and also probably stealing from it and trying to launder some cash on the side. Galaxus went to shit after Katie left. They have no product anymore, so instead of make something new, something good, he’s been trying to steal product from someone else. Katie said he recognized her design style when he saw Celestia on the live streams. We talked to the creeper photographer in Lux and the paparazzo guy, and they both gave up Mayer. Said Mayer was trying to find out what else Katie was working on. She figures he either wanted to steal it or try to hire her back. But once Mayer got the idea that you and Katie were an item–”

  “Mayer thought he could use her to get something from me somehow.”

  “Yup.’

  “So he went to her apartment.”

  “Yup.” Aiko nodded. “And snuck some spyware on her computer when she wasn’t looking.”

  “And you and Jack and Malcolm just figured this all out…how?”

  “No more questions Eldridge.” Aiko sighed. “Do not make me lie to you, it’s boring.”

  “Right.”

  “All you need to know is that Aiko’s magic has once again, saved the day. Steven Mayer is our guy.”

  “I never liked that boy,” signed Barb. “He’s rude, and his eyes are too close together.”

  Katie laughed as she dragged her Mother’s suitcase to the door.

  “I know mom,” she signed. “You used to say it all the time, to his face.”

  “Well, a nice boy would learn sign language if his girlfriend’s mother is deaf.” Barb nodded smugly. “Then he would have known I was talking shit to his face.”

  Katie nodded along in agreement, stepped forward, and pulled her Mother into a tight hug. After a moment, Barb pulled back and cupped her daughter’s face in her hands, kissing her on both cheeks.

  “You sure you want to leave so late?” Katie signed. “You can stay another night.”

  “No,” Barb signed. “I need to water the plants. And it’s not that late. I’ll get back before ten.”

  Katie frowned and Barb patted her cheek. “I’ll call when I get there,” she signed. “And remember, I’m coming back up in June.”

  “Okay,” signed Katie. “And I’ll come up for Christmas.”

  “I want a rig-bay,” signed Barb. “I know it won’t fit under the Christmas tree, but I think I have enough room in your old bedroom if I throw out all your stuff.”

  “Hey!” Katie signed. “That’s just mean.”

  Barb grinned, then pulled Katie in for another hug.

  “Okay,” she signed. “Time to get on the road. Don’t forget–June. Make us an appointment at Lux.” She winked. “I think I’m ready for a boyfriend.”

  “Oh my god, Mom! Seriously!”

  Katie waved her Mom goodbye, and closed the door behind her. Rupert wove in and out of her feet as she walked to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water.

  Popping open her bottle of vitamins she took two, then did a mental systems check. Physically? She felt great. The flu was all gone, chased off by Barb’s doting care. Emotionally? She spent a little extra time on that check, carefully inventorying everything she was feeling.

  Leaving the water on the counter, she went into her bedroom and took stock of her appearance in the full-length mirror behind the door.

  When Aiko had shown up at her apartment that morning with the news that Steven had hacked her computer she was stunned. For about ten seconds. Then in one rumbling demolition, years of anger, humiliation and angst came crashing down.

  She was so done with him, and every negative thing that she’d allowed him to do to her self-esteem.

  Who cared what one pathetic ex-boyfriend thought of her?

  As soon as all the facts were in, Aaron gave the go ahead to leak Steven Mayer’s criminal exploits to the press. The Gaming Channel and Game Hour in particular owed him a favor, and he called it in. But he made them promise to run the story straight. The facts were bad enough, there was no need to pad the story with seedy details about Katie’s past relationship with Mayer, or whatever they suspected her current relationship was with Aaron.

  Mayer turned out to be a tool. Before the special report was over, it was breaking news on every network, and Mayer had tried to flee the country with millions of investors’ dollars in cash in a carry-on suitcase in a borrowed jet.

  The Feds met him in Boston. They had a list of things they wanted to talk to him about. Aiko had been right, Eldridge Innovations hadn’t been the only company he’d been trying to hack.

  Aaron had the PR team announce he was taking twenty-four hours off from his VR streaming commitment. They spun it like he was needed for questioning.

  Really, he just wanted to see Katie.

  She still hadn’t sent him any messages. No texts, emails, phone calls, or in-world alerts, but his mother had always taught him to say thank you for a gift. So, after he finished talking to the Feds, he took his car across town to Katie’s building.

  The way he figured it, when somebody made you a gift as thoughtful as a 3D interactive replica of your home, furnished with custom decor and a bitchin’ hot tub, you should probably thank them in person. With roses. And maybe some chocolates and a bottle of Prosecco.

  The plan was to show up, hand over the gifts, say thank you, and just see what happened.

  Aaron stood in the elevator of Katie’s apartment building and stared at himself in the polished metal walls. He needed a haircut, and the cold Prosecco bottle was condensing all over his s
uit. What should he say?

  “Hi,” he mouthed at himself. “I’ve missed you.”

  No, too much pressure.

  “Thanks for the gift, here’s some junk food–”

  The elevator stopped, the doors opened, and Aaron was face to face with a short dimpled woman that clearly shared a large portion of her genetic material with Katie Martinez.

  This had to be her Mom.

  From the height of the woman’s eyebrows he guessed she knew exactly who he was too.

  “Shit.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  The woman narrowed her eyes, backed up a few steps, and then gestured to the side, beckoning for him to exit the elevator.

  Aaron stepped out, expecting her to pass him and get on the car herself.

  She did not.

  Instead she let the doors close, raked her gaze over him from head to toe, her eyes lingering on the bouquet of roses and the chocolates, and the bottle of wine.

  The woman waved her fingers at the items, gave him a thumbs up and winked.

  Shit. He was such an asshole! He’d been so shocked to see Katie’s mother, that he’d forgotten she was deaf.

  Aaron stashed the stuff carefully in the crook of one arm and then reached out to shake her hand.

  She accepted, shaking firmly, then to his surprise, she spoke out loud.

  “Barb,” she said. Crossing her thumb over her palm she touched the tip of her hand to her cheek and wiggled it by her dimple, making the sign for her name.

  “Aaron,” he said pointing to himself like an idiot.

  Barb laughed and rolled her eyes. Yeah. Duh.

  Think dufus. You’ve got one chance to impress the woman. Think!

  And then he had it. His former interpreter, Kelly, had been around the office a lot when they’d been working on the deaf interface for HL2. She’d been pregnant with a baby girl and very happy to share her joy. Aaron thought hard, trying to remember the hand signs she’d used as she was speaking. “My beautiful baby girl,” Kelly had signed when sharing her sonogram photos. “I’m in love!”

  Setting the wine, flowers and chocolate gently on the hallway floor he straightened back up and did his valiant best.

  “Beautiful baby girl,” he signed, and Barb raised an eyebrow. Okay yeah, he was not trying to hit on Katie’s mom here.

  “I’m in love,” he signed. Then he made the sign for Barb’s name, then pointed down the hall toward Katie’s door and then signed again. “I’m in love. Barb beautiful baby girl.”

  Katie’s mom put both hands over her heart and smiled. Where those tears in her eyes?

  Barb pulled Aaron in for a hug, squeezed him tight and then stepped back, hands over her heart again.

  Okay, well he was sure he’d done a pretty shitty job signing all of that, but it looked like she got the gist. She seemed really happy.

  That was good. Right? She probably would’ve looked angry or frightened if she knew Katie hated his guts.

  Aaron looked down the hall, turned back to Barb, and grimaced. He didn’t know how to sign “Do you think your daughter hates me? Is it possible she loves me too?” But Barb seemed to know what was on his mind.

  Shaking her head, she bent down, picked up his gifts for Katie, shoved them at Aaron, put her hands on his waist, and bodily turned him around. Then she smacked him on the ass and shoved him forward.

  Aaron looked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow at her. Barb grinned and signed something to him.

  “What?” he said, shaking his head. “I don’t understand.”

  Barb pointed down the hall, then covered her heart with her hands again. He knew she was dumbing this down for him, because he wasn’t fluent and he felt bad about that, but that fact that Katie’s mom seemed willing to help him out? Well that was a gift.

  Barb moved her hands from her heart, pointed at him and made the sign for baby girl. Then she joined her fingers together in a weave then yanked them apart then wove them again slowly.

  He got it.

  Well as best as he was going to at the moment. She seemed to be telling him that she thought he and Katie could be together, if they were willing to work at it.

  Barb nodded at him, slapped the elevator call button, and when the doors opened she dragged her suitcase inside, turned, and shooed Aaron down the hall. When he didn’t move she pointed and glared at him sternly, so he smiled, signed “thank you” and headed down the hall to Barb’s beautiful baby girl, who he was in love with.

  As Katie watched herself in the mirror, the words from Aaron’s speech popped into her head.

  Invent the future. Yes. That was it.

  Twenty million people believed that the virtual world Katie had created was powerful and transformative. In HyperLyfe she had the power to do anything. She created the life she’d dreamed of. She’d created the best version of herself.

  Who was to say she couldn’t do the same in the reality?

  She was not the person that people like Steven believed her to be. Steven saw her the way he chose to. Saw her the way he wanted to. When Steven looked at the Katie in that paparazzi photo he saw a sad, bitter woman, hiding her scarred body in ratty clothes, spending all her time with fake friends and a cat, and wolfing down armfuls of comfort food.

  But she was not sad, and she was not going to be bitter.

  The comfort food, okay, she’d own that.

  The cat, sure. She loved Rupert, even when he was grouchy.

  Fake friends? Nope, her friends in HL were as authentic as those that she saw in the flesh.

  Ratty clothes? Guilty. But she’d been sick!

  She glanced down, saw that even now that she wasn’t sick, she was still wearing the holey sweatpants. Quickly, she tore them off. Throwing them in the wastebasket, she snatched a pair of black leggings from the closet and pulled them on.

  This sweater was kind of dumpy, too, actually. She had a cute tank top in her avatar’s inventory that was pink and…she hadn’t worn a tank top in real life in a long time, because of her scars.

  Katie grabbed a pink long-sleeved t-shirt from a hook on the wall and ran to the kitchen for a pair of scissors.

  This Katie was a warrior goddess who had survived a terrible accident, healed her body, and rebuilt her life. This Katie wasn’t embarrassed by her scars, she was proud of them.

  She cut and hacked as she walked back to the bedroom. Tossing the sleeves in the waste basket, she ripped off her sweater and pulled on the pink shirt.

  There. Look at that. Tank top!

  Hiding her scarred body? Fuck that. She was hot as shit, scars and all.

  A roomful of horny men hadn’t cared about her scars. Hands all over her body, they couldn’t get enough of her skin. Aaron hadn’t been looking at her scars. He’d fucked her like he’d never have another chance…

  Dammit.

  Katie picked up her cell phone and dialed Aaron’s number, but before the line could ring, there was a knock at her door. Must be Barb. She tucked the phone under her chin and headed to the door. Every time her mother came to visit, she forgot something and had to come back for it. Well, at least Katie could shoo her away with the excuse that she was finally going to talk to Aaron. That should make her happy…

  She stopped short when her hand fell on the doorknob. A phone was ringing on the other side, in the hall.

  “Hello?” said a male voice. She heard it in stereo.

  Holy shit.

  “Aaron?” she said, her voice squeaking with surprise.

  “Hey,” he said and his voice was so gooey and warm, she felt like she could just melt right into the phone. “It’s so good to hear from you. Actually, I’m–”

  Katie swung open the door before he could say another word.

  “You’re here,” she said.

  He was beautiful. Tall and smiling and pulling the phone away to put it in his pocket, and almost dropping a bunch of stuff in his arms…what was all that? He had roses?

  “Here,” he said, holding out the
flowers. “Um, I just wanted to say thank you for the model you made. It’s uh–”

  “You got it?” she said, taking the roses from, she clutched them against her chest. “I didn’t think you’d accepted it.”

  “No, I did!” he said, handing her the chocolates. “I got it and I loved it. I fell asleep in it last night, actually. That’s where I was in fact, when Aiko woke me this morning.” His smile faded and his expression shifted to concern. “You okay? I’m so sorry Mayer got you involved in his crap–”

  “I’m fine,” she said, before he could continue. Aaron was here, and she’d missed him, missed kissing him and laughing with him and kissing him. And here he was, in the flesh. No way did she want to waste time talking about Steven. “Really. I’m totally fine. Great, actually.”

  “Oh,” he said, and his smile quirked a little. “That’s good.”

  Oh no! He thought she meant that–

  “I really missed you,” she said quickly, and the words came out in a whisper.

  His whole body visibly relaxed, as if every cell was sighing with relief.

  “Thank god,” he said. “Because I really missed you too.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “No Katie.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I should’ve made a statement about Carly at the very beginning. And I really should’ve spoken to you about the ZumZum thing when it came up, I’d intended to but, I put business first and–”

  “But I told you not to handle things any differently because of us.”

  Aaron nodded. “Yeah but that was before…I mean things changed, us changed after–”

  A door down the hallway opened and Mrs. Friedenberg shuffled out.

  “Hi Mrs. Friedenberg.” Katie waved and the older woman waved back, her face contorted in obvious disappointment.

  “Egg rolls?” she asked skeptically.

  “Oh sorry, no, not today,” said Katie. “But the next time I order I’ll get you some.”

  Mrs. Friedenberg waved and shuffled back inside.

  Katie turned her attention back to Aaron and saw he was inspecting a giant wet spot on his dress shirt and holding a bottle of Prosecco at arm’s length.