Gabby choked on her words. What was going on? It'd been years since they'd been best friends. Was this a trick or was she telling the truth?
When Avony placed her hand on Gabby's shoulder, she was sure a kiss was coming next. It wouldn't gross her out or anything, but Avony wasn't her type. Her thoughts flitted back to Michael and his ice-chip blue eyes.
As her archenemy moved closer, Gabby realized Avony was squeezing her hand to get her attention. Gabby glanced down to see a program marker concealed within her grip. Gabby only had to take it and squeeze the marker to activate the program.
Avony seemed to be indicating for her to take it. She really wasn't sure if it was a trick or not. And she didn't know how Avony had smuggled the program into the game. LifeGame was supposed to be pretty exploit-proof during raids.
Was she trying to get her disqualified? But something in Avony's face, told her that she should take it. Plus, their noses were millimeters apart. They were going to have to kiss if they played it out any longer.
Gabby squeezed the program. A chill trickled across her body like she'd been dipped in mint.
Avony smiled and ran her fingers through Gabby's hair and pulled her into a hug.
"I missed you, Gabs," said Avony.
"I...," Gabby hesitated, still wondering what the program had done. "Miss you too."
Gabby wasn't sure how to answer until she realized an interface had formed in her vision, similar to a mind-text program
The two girls were still locked in a hug, so Gabby broke free, and started walking back toward the others hand in hand with Avony.
said Avony.
Avony leaned her head on Gabby's shoulder as they strolled.
Gabby remembered then that Avony's parents were programmers for LifeGame. Not a Coder like Mr. Johnson, but low-level functionaries that did the grunt programming.
Gabby gave her a questioning glance, so Avony continued.
They were nearing the others, so Gabby stopped.
"Let's do some stretches. It's a wider area," Gabby said.
Avony took her lead, and the two sat on the floor and started with a runner's stretch.
Avony broke into the splits, bending her head to her knee.
Now Avony's previous actions made sense to Gabby. She'd thought she had insider information.
said Avony.
Gabby nodded.
Gabby didn't have to think long.
Gabby knew what she was going to say next so she finished it for her.
Avony stared down the tunnel.
Avony adjusted into a hurdlers stretch and began making grunting noises as she put her face to her knee. Gabby matched her.
Gabby let out an aggravated grimace. She hoped the stretching would hide her disgust.
Avony gave her an eye roll which she interpreted as "don't be so dramatic."
Avony shook off the words, her eyes hardening.
Gabby could sense the resentment so she let it drop.
Gabby pulled out of her stretch, unable to concentrate on it. Her chest felt tight.
said Avony.
Avony shrugged.
Gabby thought about all she had learned with the Frags. She couldn't dare tell Avony about them, in case she double-crossed her, but she could pass along what she knew about the wall.
Gabby explained what she had seen on her FunCar ride. Leaving out the details about the Frags, making it sound like her trip was a solo one. She even told Avony about the two bodies she'd found in the tent.
Avony was silent for another long period before she spoke again.
Gabby met Avony's gaze.
Avony nodded.
The mind-text came back so fast, Gabby could
feel the weight of it.
Avony had tears forming at the corner of her eyes. Gabby nodded, and the two got up and returned to the others.
Chapter Nineteen
"Is girl time over?" Stephan smirked when they returned as he perched on a rock shelf. "Sorry again, Mouse."
Mouse glared at Stephan, resplendent in his blue robe. While the others were haggard and smudged with dirt, Stephan didn't have a speck on him.
Stephan threw Gabby a pouch. It sloshed with liquid.
"Water," he said. "Good and probably fresh from the school water fountain."
"Where'd you find it?" Gabby asked as she unstoppered the pouch.
Stephan pulled brown rods from his waist pocket and threw them to the girls. "Jerky, too," he said. "Unfortunately, they debuffed the taste. Only a rank above stick in my opinion."
Gabby tore into one, remembering how hungry she was. It did taste like a stick, but she was so hungry she didn't care.
"Where'd you get these again?"
"Mouse and I wandered into the cavern a little ways. We found a camp of small pointy noised creatures and slaughtered them," said Stephan.
"Sporting of you," Avony muttered between bites.
Stephan rolled his eyes and continued. "We took their food and drink and got a few bed rolls out of it. Only four though, but since you two are becoming so chummy, maybe you can share one."
Gabby nearly spit out her water, forgetting about the OOC program.
She wiped the water that had dribbled on her chin, avoiding making eye contact with Stephan. Avony hid her smile behind her water pouch.
"Next time could you kill some errant chefs or something? I'm hungry and all, but this jerky is awful. I think I'd almost prefer a stick to it," said Gabby.
"We were thinking of staying here tonight. We're all pretty tired and we're hoping we put enough distance between us and the wraiths," explained Stephan.
The girls agreed and they set up a rotating watch. Avony took the first one and while Gabby was rolling around on her bedroll, she decided to ask a question.
Avony paused, clearly conflicted.
Avony crossed her arms.
Gabby implored Avony with small hand gestures.
Gabby debated bringing up the Frags and how they could join them and work from the outside. They could use someone like Avony. People flocked to her and even teachers loved her.
Rolling onto her side only brought Gabby more worries about the LifeGame system. Gabby couldn't imagine leaving her family and escaping to the mountains with the Frags, but she also didn't know if she could support a system that did horrible things to its citizens, even if she didn't know what those horrible things were.
She didn't fall asleep until well into Unthar's shift, which was after Avony's. Then it only seemed she had barely closed her eyes when a heavy hand was shaking her awake.
Gabby crawled onto the rock shelf, huddling into a blanket they'd gotten from the creatures. She missed Zaela and wondered how her team was faring.
Zaela's TPS scores were probably average like Avony, Gabby realized. But like Avony, Zaela had other skills.
The abstract spatial paintings that her friend made in the empty spaces behind their house always amazed Gabby. She never understood them, but they were always beautiful. To her, anyway.
Gabby remembered the first time Zaela had tried to show a teacher her art, soon after she'd arrived at the school. Zaela had come from a northern community on the edge of the GSA. She'd only just joined LifeGame.
The teacher had lectured the poor girl about the necessity of usefulness. That learning to make digital artifacts for LifeGame was important to help their world breathe and grow, but making unrecognizable objects that did nothing more than take up space was a tragedy.
Gabby knew right then and there that she was going to help Zaela. Even before she saw the tears in Zaela's eyes. She thought Avony would want her too, but when she declined to let her into the group, Gabby set out on her own, making her little tribe with Zaela and Dario.
She wished she was on a team with them. While her companions were highly skilled, their teamwork was pitiful. When ever they fought, it was like five individuals trying to do an elaborate dance in an elevator.
Her side was probably bruised from some of the elbows thrown her way from Unthar. She didn’t trust the big Brute. Didn’t trust any of them, not even Avony with their temporary truce. Even Mouse worried her.
Mr. Johnson had warned her that she wouldn't be able to trust her team and he was right. She wondered if one of them was a spy for the Coder. She could probably rule out Avony, but any of the others were likely traitors.
She'd have to think of a way to lure the traitor out before the end. Otherwise, the traitor would ruin them all.
The lumpy shelf made her butt sore, so she leaned to one side to massage out the muscles. The real shelf was probably a flat desk, but her sense-web made it feel like an uneven surface.
Faint movement in the tunnel caught her attention. Gabby rubbed her eyes, wondering if it were just exhaustion and peered in that direction.
The dim light that permeated everything made seeing beyond the immediate range difficult. The gloom absorbed the details.
Then Gabby saw it floating near the ceiling. A wraith had found them. Tiny sparkles where its eyes were, like chips of glass, gave away its location.
It had to be a scout for the horde. She needed to kill it so it couldn't report their location.
Gabby feigned stretching and wandered around the camp, avoiding the wraith's location at first. Then when she thought she'd sufficiently built up her ruse, she yanked her blades free and sliced the wraith still hovering near the ceiling.
She killed the shadowy creature easily, but as she was putting away her blades, she noticed another wraith disappearing down the tunnel.
Gabby woke up the team. They griped about the lack of sleep as they readied to move again. Only Mouse seemed strangely awake.
They ran for a few hours, groggy and sore from the previous day's run. Gabby found herself zoning out on Avony's white dress.
Once again, Stephan led them, picking the direction as they came to splits. They killed a few more wraiths along the way, which made them nervous about stopping for any longer than a few minutes, not knowing how far behind the horde lurked.
Gabby ate another jerky rod as they ran, sipping her water and wishing she had more. The blandness of the landscape numbed her tired mind.
When they hadn't seen a wraith for twenty minutes, they camped and rested, rubbing sore muscles and stretching.
"Where are we?" Mouse asked quietly, nibbling on her jerky.
"That's a vague question if I've ever heard one," said Avony.
Mouse glared at Avony, who didn't notice because she was bent over doing leg stretches, much to the delight of Stephan.
"In the giant," finished Mouse.
; "That's right," said Gabby. "If we're in the giant, then where are we in its body?"
Stephan stopped staring at Avony's bent form so he could interject. "I don't think we agreed we're in the giant's body."
"Well, I do," said Gabby.
"Me, too," added Mouse.
Avony shrugged, barely moving her shoulders as if she didn't care enough to think about it. "I'm not sure."
They looked to Unthar, but he was busy sharpening his sword, an act that was purely for show in this augmented world.
"I think where Mouse is going with that," Gabby said. "Is if we're in the body and we can figure out where, maybe we can make some fragging progress."
"We're making progress," Stephan snapped.
"Then where are we, exactly?" Gabby asked.
"I know where I'm going." Stephan puffed his chest up like a scolded five-year-old and the three girls broke out in laughter.
Their good time was cut short when Unthar sprung to the middle of them and brought his sword around in a deadly arc. The shimmering runes on the blade pulsed with crimson vigor as the edge made for her head.
Had the attack been meant for them, they would have all perished, but he swung high, hitting the three wraiths that had snuck into the room along the ceiling.
While the wraith dust floated to the floor, the others shared glances. They thought Unthar had meant to kill them.
"At least one of us is paying attention," he said and strode into the tunnel.
They grabbed their gear and followed, running for a couple of more hours, stopping occasionally to rest, but not long enough for any wraiths to find them. They killed a few that they came upon while running, unsure if they were ones they had killed before.
Gabby's eyes wanted to close on her since they didn't have enough time to sleep when they stopped. As Gabby was shaking her head awake, a mind-text came from Avony.
Gabby ran a few paces before answering.
Avony chuckled.
The two girls, that had been running side by side, glanced at each other, mouths open, realizing then why Stephan was taking the lead.
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