The door burst open and a confused Kevin rushed inside. “What’s wrong—” He stopped and stared at my leg.

Kumori pulled itself out of the augmented reality posters just as my mom walked into the room.

She screamed.

Zix, I thought.

Every movement the giant spider made caused the pain in my thigh to enflame.

“Your leg…” Kevin said.

I need a home little shambler, Kumori said, pulling itself toward me.

Zix raced into the room, his little fox ears fell flat against his head when he saw Kumori. He bared his teeth.

Help, I pleaded.

The corners of the room trembled as if they were coming apart at the seams, and Kumo glanced at the walls and backed up a step pulling me with him.

A pair of hands pulled my mother out of the room.

Kevin didn’t seem to notice the giant spider next to him. He was too transfixed on my leg. “What’s happening Az?”

I slammed my fist against the spider's leg and it rocked to the side. It felt as if I were hitting a metal bar.

You will not hurt this child anymore! Zix yelled.

One of Kumo’s legs swiped at Zix but it went right through him.

The floor suddenly shifted and I nearly tripped. Then Kumo’s leg went translucent and passed through my thigh. I fell, landing on my butt as the diaphanous replica of the room with a trapped Kumo shrank. It pulled in on itself until it was a cube about the size of my bed.

Kumo spun and thrashed about the miniature enclosure destroying everything in it. Soon, the tiny room disappeared, and hexagonal lines stretched around it. It shrank to the size of a Rubix cube. The tiny spider inside spun.

I glanced at my leg and there was a gaping hole where I had been skewered. No blood leaked from the wound but it was disturbing seeing my muscles and part of my bone exposed to the air.

“Dr. Stevens!” I yelled.

Zix stalked over to the little cube and pounced on it a few times, causing it to flatten and then disappear.

We’ll have no more of that from you, he said and then turned to me. Ms. Azerail, I have taken care of the problem. His little mouth dropped. Your leg!

He ran to me, put a paw on my thigh and it closed in on itself.

The whole right side of my body had gone numb. It was probably Zix’s doing as he had control of my nanos. If my implants could simulate pain it only seemed rational they could remove it as well.

I hadn’t noticed Gregory and Johnathan in my room until I looked up.

“What happened?” Gregory asked.

Can I change your room’s AR status to public, Ms. Azerail? Zix asked.

I reached and Kevin grabbed my hand pulling me up. “One sec.” I pointed to my bed and Kevin helped me to it where I sat down. Go ahead, Zix.

Everyone in the room turned and looked at Zix. He had just appeared out of thin air for them.

Hello, Zix said. I’ll explain what happened. Ms. Azerail was infected by a virus.

“A virus?” Johnathan asked.

Yes, Zix replied.

Gregory crossed his arms. “That’s not possible.”

I assure you it is quite possible, Zix said.

“Quantum tech is supposed to be virus-proof,” Johnathan said. “There’s only one way in or out for the data and each connection is random.”

Florence shouted from the living room. “It’s possible if the data is downloaded on purpose or a program has the virus in it already.”

The room was pretty much full at that point, my mom was at the entrance. She asked, “What was that spider?”

“That was Kumori,” I said.

Autumn gasped. “From the game?” She turned. “Your game gave my daughter a virus!”

My stomach tightened, making me feel queasy. I didn’t want to lose access to the game and I knew my mom. If she had her way I would never play it again.

“Mrs. Edwards, I don’t know what your daughter is talking about,” Florence said.

Autumn raised her voice. “The intelligent weapon she found! Kumo’s Tooth.”

“Fang,” I yelled.

Someone shuffled around in the other room. “We don’t have intelligent weapons in our game.”

“Can I have some space?” I asked. My room was way too small to have that many people in it.

Gregory and Johnathan took a step back.

“Is she safe in here, Zix?” Gregory asked.

Zix jumped on my bed. She is safe.

My mom and Florence were having a back-and-forth yelling match and I was much too stressed to keep up with their conversation.

Kevin sat on the other side of me and gently slipped his fingers through mine.

I can’t lose access to that game, Zix, I said.

Zix dashed into the living room and joined the squabbling.

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“Make room,” Dr Stevens said.

Jonathan pushed past Dr. Stevens and they swapped places.

“C-can I lie down?” I asked.

Dr. Stevens kneeled. “Did you hit your head?”

“No.”

Dr. Stevens placed a hand next to my wound as he examined it. “It’s best if you stay seated for now.”

There was a hole in my pants where my nanos had eaten through the fabric and expanded during the impaling. It was the only way the injury could have happened at least in my limited experience with them.

In AR and VR games, any pain we received was simulated. It wasn’t much more than a pinch usually but I tended to get into my roleplaying, and I tricked myself into believing it was much worse than it actually was.

What was left of my wound was a thick line of what looked like scar tissue. When my nanos were finished, there wouldn’t even be that left. It was being put back together much faster than normal.

“How big was the wound?” Dr. Stevens asked.

Kevin made a circle with his hands the size of a baseball.

Was it really that big? I wondered, then a thought came to me. Zix, use emotion and thought sharing to—

Already done, Zix whispered in my head.

Those were probably my best avenues of attack to keep access to the game. With so many people interested in the new technologies Infinite Diffusion would do their best to replicate my experiences.

“What happened to your leg?” Kevin asked.

He didn’t have access to my room, so he didn’t see Kumo. “Big spider attacked me.”

“Was it really from that game?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, I made a deal with it to buy a sheath but haven’t had time to go in the game and get it.”

Zix, was it really a virus? Why didn’t you detect it earlier?

Dr. Stevens stood up. “The wound looks like it was created by your nanobots.” He spun in a small circle while examining the floor. “There’s no blood, so I don’t think the intent was to do permanent damage.”

“Can a sword from a game create a virus?” I asked.

Zix came bounding into the room. They have removed Kumo’s Fang from your inventory and are going to do a diagnostic on it. You can still play the game. I told them about your offer from Fen Li and Jasper and how much it will help with your Narrative Design career.

I hadn’t even thought about that route. Thank you Zix.

A weight lifted off my shoulders. I’d dedicated so much time to the game I couldn’t imagine not being able to play anymore.

As for the virus, I believe it was placed in your room rather than in your implant, Zix said.

There were some very important questions I needed to ask. Was Kumo sentient? Did it put the virus in my room?

There are no sentient AIs left on the planet, Ms. Azerail, Zix said.

“Who did it then?” I asked out loud so everyone in the room could hear me.

Gregory took in a quick breath. “Not sure, kid. We’ll get someone on it though.”

I’m sure they will find out who did this, Zix said.

Who could plant a virus in my room? Jakson had the ability to do it but he wasn’t the type to do that to someone he liked. Besides, the augmented room was flawless and he didn’t have the knack for precision of that caliber.

Zix was more chatty than normal and had started calling me Ms. Azerail again. I didn’t feel like bringing it up so I didn’t.

The thick line of scar tissue on my leg had thinned. That reminded me. “What’s your nano count Kevin?”

I checked the download of the test server. It was complete and I’d somehow missed the notification. In my defense, I was distressed at the time, so I didn’t hold it against myself.

“Over nine thousand,” he said but appeared to be holding back a laugh.

Zix what is the status of my leg and are we still doing the test today? I asked.

Zix returned to his place next to me on the bed. Your leg should be healed soon but you are going to be extra hungry tonight. Also, your mom is going to Join us on the test server.

Shit.

I hoped she wasn’t going to insist on joining me when I played on the normal servers. Then again it might be nice having someone else to play with. Playing solo could be lonely. I missed playing with Darryl. If Kevin played I probably wouldn’t have that problem anymore and definitely wouldn’t want my mom there with me for that.

“There’s nothing I can do for your leg, Az. It’s healing much faster than normal but that could be because of your excess amount of nanobots,” Dr. Stevens said.

“Thanks for looking at it,” I said.

He nodded and left the room. Gregory followed him, leaving Kevin and me alone.

Kevin squeezed my hand. “Is your life always this weird?”

“Not really, I normally lead a stress-free life hunting down the Enlightened and eating them,” I said as I cracked a smile.

My mom, Jennifer, dashed into the room then and kneeled in front of me while checking my leg. “Are you okay, baby?”

I pulled my hand free from Kevin and hugged her. Seeing her, broke some guardrail inside me and I started crying. A part of me was well aware of Kevin and I didn’t let my emotions go completely.

“Where were you?” I asked.

Jennifer pulled away. “I was at Kevin’s sphere, talking to his mom like I said I was going to. What happened?”

“Someone or something…” I still wasn’t convinced Kumo hadn’t planted the virus, “gave me a virus.”

She ran a finger along the scar tissue. “Does it hurt?”

“No, Zix numbed the area. It hurt when it happened though,” I said.

“She didn’t even cry,” Kevin said.

The pain wasn’t as bad as I had imagined it would be. Weirdly I was able to twist my perspective in DO to feel much worse pain. Which was really interesting. I’d have to talk to Dr. Stevens about that.

“Did Zix tell you about Fen Li and Jasper?” I asked.

Jennifer nodded. “Yeah, do you have to keep playing that game though? Can’t you play another one?”

“Did you watch the VRV?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Not yet…”

“Zix, send it to her,” I said.

Done.

“It’s long, maybe you can watch it while we’re doing tests?” I asked.

Jennifer stood up. “Can you walk? Actually, Zix, how is her leg?”

Ms. Azerail should be able to walk, he said.

Jennifer blinked. “Ms. Azerail?”

“I didn’t tell him to do it. He keeps defaulting to calling me that,” I said.

Zix’s ears flattened against his head and his little eyebrows sunk.

Jennifer extended a hand and I took it. She pulled me to my feet and I nearly fell because of how numb everything was.

“Can we reduce the numbness, Zix?” I asked.

Slowly the feeling came back to the right side of my body. It stung a little where the injury was but didn’t change when I put more pressure on it.

“Autumn is going to join in on the test,” Jennifer said.

I nodded. “Zix told me.”

“We are going to start the test soon,” Jason announced from the living room.

Mom released my hand and joined them.

I limped to the doorway and listened in.

“Each of you will be supplied with a character to play. All you have to do is select it and tap the play button. Also, this build has unreleased content and we would prefer that you keep quiet about it since it may or may not be released to the public,” Jason said.

Florence put up a hand. “You can also ask your Zix to select the application for you.”

“How’s the download, Autumn?” Jason asked.

She pinched the air. “Almost done.”

Johnathan sat next to Florence. “Is there anything else we need to know?”

“You’re all going to be zombies, so your movement will be slower than you’re used to,” Florence replied.

I had an idea. “Can one of them be a skeleton?” This power was supposed to work on all the undead and I wanted to test it.

Jason glanced at Florence. “Flo?”

“I don’t see why not,” they replied.

I pumped my fist in the air.

Florence smiled.

“Download just finished,” Autumn said.

Jason put his hands up. “Find a place to sit and start the test app, everyone.”

I turned and noticed Kevin just behind me and grinned. He wiggled his eyebrows and backed up giving me room to walk past.

Kevin and I made our way to my bed and sat on the ground in front of it. I didn’t feel like lying down.

“You ready?” I asked.

He took in a breath and held it. “When you are.” His voice came out in a sigh.

I opened my interface and tapped the DO test app.

***