by Eric Vall
And everything that tried to come between us died.
I heard muttering behind me, like people were talking or something, but I couldn’t turn around. I couldn’t really think past the game.
Then we beat the next level.
Hannah and I weren’t bothering to high five anymore, but her leg was pressed against mine because we were sitting so close to each other while we focused on the game. Her touch was electric, and it helped tie us together while we attempted the near impossible.
“The final boss!” I heard Kevin’s voice cut through my focus, but it only lasted a second, and then I was back in the game, and both Hannah and I were shooting against this god-like being made of light that threw a screenful of fire at us.
“You have to use your special move with each third wave,” I whispered to her. “There is no way to get through it otherwise.”
“Got it,” she panted, but I didn’t look at her. I was focusing on our ships trying to thread the various needles.
We shot at the last boss. We dodged. We flew.
“I’m out of special moves,” Hannah growled.
“Go to the right corner,” I instructed. “I’ll cover you.”
“You only have one left,” she pointed out.
“That’s all we need,” I said, and then we dodged together toward the only place that was safe. Then I hit the special move, and my ship canceled out all the bullets before they could touch Hannah.
“Focus fire!” I shouted. “We got him!”
We both leaned forward so we were almost out of our chairs, and I prayed we could deliver enough damage to the boss so he’d die before he could shoot us with the next wave.
Then he exploded, and the screen lit up with thousands of colors.
“We did it!” I screamed as I jumped up into the air.
“Yesssss!” Hannah also shouted, and she jumped up a second after me.
I wrapped my arms around her slender waist, picked her up, and spun her around in the air while she laughed. The feeling of her body pressed against mine was incredible, but before I could take too much joy in what we had just accomplished, a loud cheer broke out, and I turned to see there were fifty or so people crammed into the break room.
And they were all clapping.
Some were Carmichael’s employees from various parts of the store, some were customers, and I even saw a guy in the back who was wearing a mailman uniform. They were going crazy, and I felt my head spin when I realized they were cheering for Hannah and me. I had no clue how they’d all gotten back here to watch us, but here they all were.
“Damn!” Kevin said as he patted both of us on the back while we hugged. “That was fucking awesome. I can’t believe it. Shit! We should have recorded it!”
“That’s oka--” I started to say, but then Renee appeared at Kevin’s side.
“Wow!” my manager said as she bounced up and down. “That was amazing. Tony, you are really good at these games. Look at all these people cheering for you! It’s awesome! I didn’t realize people got this into watching video--”
“Of course they are cheering,” Hannah said as she fixed the other woman with a glare. “Tony is the best there is.”
“Alright folks!” I heard Darren shout from behind us. “Party’s over. Everyone get back to working or shopping!”
“Well,” Renee cleared her throat as she smiled at me, “yeah. It’s uhh time to get back to work. Listen. Can we talk later?”
“Sure,” I said, but then I realized I still had my arms around Hannah, and my face started to heat up. I let go of her, and Hannah rewarded me with a half smile before I turned to put away the controllers.
I heard the crowd start to clear, and I let out a long breath as I reviewed what had just happened.
Hannah and I had beaten Glittering GoldShip. It was amazing.
She was amazing.
I risked a look over my shoulder, and almost jumped when I saw her standing right next to me.
“Tonight,” she stated flatly as her blue eyes bored into mine.
“Tonight?” I asked like an idiot because I was still thinking about the game.
“Yes,” she said with a nod. “Can you meet me by the spheres?”
“Spheres?” I questioned as my mind raced.
“The ones with the jungles in them?” she asked.
“Oh,” I laughed. “Yeah, I can meet you there. Eight?”
“Eight,” she confirmed, and then she turned around.
“Wait,” I called out, and she stopped and pivoted so she could face me again.
“Yes?”
“That was awesome,” I said. “I really liked playing with you, Hannah. We work really well together.”
She stared at me for a few silent moments, but then she blinked her eyes a bunch of times and looked away.
“Just come tonight, okay?” she whispered.
“Uhh sure,” I answered. “I’m looking forward to it.”
“Me too,” she said before she turned once more and walked out of the breakroom.
Chapter 9 - Hannah
I asked Tony to meet me for our movie date by the large spheres I’d encountered when I first arrived in the city, but I arrived there three hours early so I could wait for him and study the various females who frequently visited the place.
The wait was more annoying than I had predicted.
I continued to think about my target. Not really the faceless and nameless woman who would bear his offspring, although my stray thoughts of her always caused me to clench my fists. No, most of my thoughts were about Tony. I wondered what he would wear tonight. What he would say when we saw each other again. I wondered where he would want to go for dinner. I wondered how I would get him to admit if he had any lovers.
Most of these thoughts had nothing to do with my mission, but no matter how hard I tried to push them out of my brain, they returned even stronger than before.
I realized my relationship with my target was beginning to impair my judgement, and I knew I would need to kill him sooner rather than later, even if I didn’t find out who his lover was in the next few days. The entire future of the Hive was dependant on my performance, and I couldn’t risk failure.
Tonight would probably be the best night. I would attempt to find out anything else I could about any potential mate, but if I could not determine who it was in the next few hours, I would perform the task I was sent here to perform.
But when my thoughts focused on killing Tony, I realized I didn’t want him to suffer or experience any pain. I would have to do it swiftly with something that damaged his brain. More importantly, I didn’t want him to realize my betrayal, so I would have to do it from behind him when he least expected it.
I thought about our time together at lunch as well. He’d shared his food with me, and not only had it tasted delicious, but it made me feel strange emotions of empathy and comfort. He’d packed his lunch just for himself, but when he thought I needed sustenance, he’d shared the food, and probably gone a bit hungry himself.
The video game we’d both played together was also fun.
I hated the word ‘fun.’ It was such a human word, but I couldn’t deny the excitement I experienced while we played nor the elation I felt when we beat the game. Then Tony wrapped his arms around me and pulled my body against his. My skin and muscles had felt hot as I pressed into his body, and I hated that, in the moment, I didn’t want him to let go of me.
Even now, I wanted to play more of these “co-op” games with him so we could beat it together. Then he might wrap his arms around me again.
Maybe he would even kiss me once more.
I was starting to understand why Mother wanted me to destroy myself after this mission. The human emotions were beginning to corrupt me. I needed to find out who Tony’s lover was, kill her, and then end him as soon as possible.
“Hannah!” I finally heard Amin’s voice call out from behind me.
I turned around to see the dark-haired man, and there wa
s a strange feeling in my chest. I also realized my heart was beating rapidly again, and then I noticed my lips were curled up in a wide smile.
I had not even thought about smiling.
My target was dressed in a deep purple button-up shirt with long sleeves, and on his legs were a pair of navy blue pants. His black hair was smoothed back and sleeked with some sort of oil, and he’d completely eliminated any sign of his stubble.
Tony must have noticed me observing his outfit, because he smiled widely, put his hands on his hips, and then spun around.
“You like?” he joked. “I tried to go a little more formal than our last date. I know the movies aren’t exactly a high-class affair, but I went so far as to dig out my business casual attire. Just for you.”
“It looks … nice,” I said. “This is the only thing I have to wear right now.”
I motioned down to my outfit, which was the same one I’d stolen from the apartment the first day I was here. The same worn-out, white, sleeveless shirt. The same synthetic nylon shorts. I didn’t have any shoes when I arrived in 2019, and the woman’s apartment I broke into only had impractical strappy shoes. So, I was wearing the footwear that was standard-issue for Carmichael’s, a pair of black short-heeled shoes whose fabric was so shiny you could see your own reflection inside of it.
“Uh … have you not unpacked everything yet?” he chuckled.
“What would I possibly need to unpack?” I asked.
Tony stared at me for a minute in silence, and then he shook his head.
“Your clothes,” he finally explained. “Didn’t you bring any clothes from your old place?”
“It was a hasty move,” I shrugged, “my clothes were all lost in transition.”
It was not a lie. I had moved. But it was from one place in time to this one, and I’d lost my clothes in the process.
“Wait … ” Tony said in shock, “you’re serious? These and your uniform are the only clothes you have?”
“Yes.” I nodded. “Is that a problem?”
“I mean, I don’t care that much about a limited wardrobe,” the dark-haired man said, wide-eyed. “I’ve certainly got a few different shirts I’d wear every other day if I could. Buuuuuut having only one set of casual clothes won’t do. Follow me!”
Without warning, Tony grabbed my hand. Normally, when somebody touched me unexpectedly, I snapped their wrist like a twig and then proceeded to turn their head into an empty cavity, but when Tony’s rough hand touched my own, I felt something different.
It was … comforting, and before I realized, the man began to lead me down the street.
“Where are we going?” I demanded. “Is not the theater to the west?”
“It is,” he admitted, “but we’re not going to the theater right now. I’m gonna take you out to get some new duds. We can catch the later showing, if that’s okay.”
I had no idea what was going on, but I just went along with it. It didn’t matter how long it took, or under what circumstances we got there.
All that mattered was Tony Amin and I were alone in a dark, secluded room.
He led me down the street for four-hundred and three meters, and then we finally arrived at a small cluster of windows at the bottom of a skyscraper. On the other side of the glass stood a series of plastic, human-shaped objects that were adorned in different types of clothing. One of them had on a sapphire-blue, single-piece garment that was held up by two strings over the shoulder and came down to just above the knee.
I’d seen these sort of outfits before, usually on the body of one of the poor human farmers who lived out in the Western Badlands. A “potato sack” was the correct term, I believed.
There was another plastic human that wore a pair of ridiculously tight denim pants. Whatever these faux beings were, they must not have any genitalia. It would have been on full display in those strangleholds of fabric.
“What is this?” I asked curiously.
“It’s a boutique,” Tony explained. “Do you not have those where you’re from?”
“Not exactly,” I admitted. “Are they for clothes distribution?”
“Yep!” he answered. “You know, you must have been stationed in some crazy places if you’ve never seen a clothing shop.”
“I have not received any payments from Carmichael’s yet,” I began, “and I am assuming this place does not work on a barter system.”
“No, it’s not 1820,” Tony chuckled. “Don’t worry about money. I got a little extra in my last paycheck, so the first outfit’s on me.”
“I cannot allow you to bu--” I began, but he cut me off by placing his finger against my lips, and his touch made my spine tingle for some reason which my HUD systems did not report.
“It’s just one outfit,” he insisted with a grin. “It’d be my pleasure.”
“Alright,” I finally conceded. “One outfit, but you already gave me half of your lunch today, so--”
“It’s fine.” Tony pulled his finger from my lips, walked over and opened the door, and then motioned for me to enter. “I like taking care of you.”
I gave him a slight smile as I walked past him and into the small “boutique.” Instantly, my nostrils were filled with a sweet, floral smell, and my ears were assaulted with some truly strange sounds. Throughout the room, there were speakers that blared a mixture of digital beats, the sound of rapidly-vibrating metal strings, and a female voice that was speaking in alternating pitches.
The boutique itself was very bright, with floors made of a light brown wood and several large overhead bucket lights. There were several people around the room, picking up garments from large metal racks on the wall, inspecting them, and then putting them back.
The second we were inside, a tiny woman in a floral potato sack approached us.
“Hi guys!” she greeted in a cheery tone. “My name is Jenny, and I’m here to help you today. Is there anything in particular you’re looking for?”
“My friend here was just looking for some good date clothes,” Tony spoke up. “She’s brand new to Seattle, and her clothes all got lost in the move.”
“That sounds awful,” Jenny gasped as her brown eyes turned to me. “And such a beautiful young lady also! We need to fix her wardrobe immediately!”
“That’s what I’m hoping you can help with,” my date chuckled before he turned to me. “Go with Jenny and pick out whatever you want, Hannah.”
“Building a whole new wardrobe?” the store employee giggled as she hopped up and down on her feet.
“Just one outfit,” I reminded Tony, and he smiled and nodded at the other woman.
“This is going to be so much fun!” Jenny said as she grabbed my hand and lightly tugged on it. “Come with me.”
I followed the woman in the floral potato sack over to a rack full of garments near the back of the store. There were clothes of every color of the spectrum on display, but none of them looked particularly functionable.
“Do you have anything more … tactical?” I asked.
Jenny looked at me with confusion on her face.
“Tactical?” she questioned.
“Yes,” I clarified, “tactical. Garments that protect you from the elements and give you plenty of space to hold your gear. I need to be able to move easily so I can kill all my enemies.”
“Uhhhhhhh, you are so funny!” the brunette woman laughed. “You have like the most perfect body I’ve ever seen. Why would you want to wear boring camping clothes? Here we have things like dresses, blouses, and cardigans. You know, stuff to make you look cute in.”
“Unfortunately, this is the store Tony brought me to,” I sighed. “What do you suggest?”
Jenny placed her hand against her chin and let loose a long, audible “hmmmmm.” Her eyes stared me up and down as she pondered, and then she finally held up her finger in victory.
“It’s all in the hair,” she explained as she turned around and began to go through the rack, “but luckily for you, blonde goes well with just about
everything. Here!”
The brunette woman pulled a shirt from the rack that was light blue with speckles of silver throughout. The silvery beads glistened under the boutique’s lights and ran down the front of the entire outfit like an armor’s chest piece. The sleeves were cut off under the shoulder, where the fabric was bunched together and frilled.
“This is how you go sleeveless, honey,” Jenny exclaimed with a grin. “Now, for the pants and shoes … do you want to go shorts or pants?”
“Anything but a potato sack.” I nodded.
Jenny laughed loudly at my words, but I didn’t understand why. Potato sacks were about as anti-tactical as you could get.
“You have such a unique and awesome sense of humor,” the brunette woman snorted. “You’re in luck, Hannah, because we’re fresh out of designer sacks today. How about some jean shorts, instead?”
“Are they an upgrade over what I’m wearing right now?” I wanted to know.
“Honey,” Jenny whistled, “no offense, but anything would be an upgrade over what you’ve got on right now.”
The employee dashed over to where the short pants were located, snatched up a small pair, and then brought it back to me.
This garment was much smaller than I would have picked myself. It was constructed out of light, faded denim and looked like it only came down to the upper thigh. It was not very protective, but I supposed the lack of fabric would be less restrictive if I needed to perform acrobatics.
“That just leaves shoes,” Jenny said with a nod. “Let me guess, something practical?”
“Of course,” I retorted.
“Can I do practical and cute?” she asked as she wiggled her eyebrows.
“Fine,” I sighed.
“I’ll be right back!” she trilled before she ran over to a wall full of footwear.
She returned with two black shoes that had no heel whatsoever. Each one was rounded into a nubby tip, and there were small silver circles across their tops.