“I’ll do my best, Al,” I replied. “But I wasn’t exactly Mr. Popular before I got trapped in this sexual harassment magnet.” I gave him a pointed look, subtly reminding him of his own misadventures when we first met.
“Don’t try to be popular, Ray,” he said. “That’s the key, really. Just be you, learn to be comfortable in your new skin, and the rest will fall into place.”
I scoffed. “I don’t know if you’ve been following the news,” I said. “But I’m basically public enemy number one. Sure, some of the Cons are with me, and the Guild is getting flooded with applications. But the Necks are actively hunting me down in packs of a hundred! An entire faction of the game sees me as a giant trophy to claim.”
He waved away my concern. “You’ll put them on notice when you pick your skills,” he said casually. “Speaking of, I gathered that’s part of the reason you wanted to meet up?”
I nodded. “Yes, actually. I think I’ve found the perfect build, but I wanted your advice before I locked it in.”
I sent him over the particulars and his eyes tracked over the build description.
“Looks good,” he said after a few moments.
I was taken aback. “That’s it!? Are you kidding?”
He shrugged indifferently, and I suddenly found myself wanting to hit him for the second time in as many minutes. “Sorry, Ray, my cycles are jammed to the gills with this war. The math checks out, obviously. And the build has some inherent weaknesses, which are covered in the description. Other than that, I think it’s a good fit for you.”
I sighed, turning away. Why did it feel like my pocket A.I. was only useful when he was giving me an escape route? “Okay, Al. I thought you would be a little more invested, considering the task you just put on me…”
I heard him stand up and come around the table, but I kept my back to him.
“Ray, I’m sorry if I’m coming off as curt…” He didn’t say anything for a moment, so I glanced over my shoulder at him. He was chewing his lip, looking off into the distance. After a moment, he continued, “It’s like I’m underwater. I’m swimming as hard and as fast as I can towards some unseen relief. I’m holding my breath, I’m pumping my arms and legs, and I’m trying not to think about the unbearable pressure on my lungs. And then, in the corner of my eye, a math problem appears, and I have to calculate the result without losing my focus on my limbs, my breath, the pain.” He sighed. “Sometimes, it can be too much, even for me.”
I sighed and turned towards him. “I’m sorry, Al. I didn’t realize you were having such a difficult time. Are you…” I hesitated a moment. “Will you win, you think?” I asked softly.
A sad smile spread across his face. “No, I won’t,” he finally said.
“Oh…” That wasn’t the inspiring answer I had hoped for.
“Not without the help of my friends,” he added.
I rolled my eyes, but felt a bit of hope bloom despite myself. “Cringe,” I said jokingly.
He shrugged, his smile growing wider.
I looked around Null Space, the raucous sounds penetrating the arcade cabinet enclosure. “You know you owe Jeremy a return visit,” I said.
Al laughed. “I just got the jizz stains off the couch from his last visit.”
I shuddered at the joke. “Yuck.”
“But you’re right,” he added. “I’ll have someone go fetch him-”
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“Not Sally!”
“-Not Sally, of course,” he said. “In fact, I’ll have him added to the rotation. He can get some R&R for a few hours every week. You too, if you want?”
I scoffed. “Uh, duh!”
He smiled and nodded. “Okay, then. You go have fun. I need to get the War Team back in here.”
It was weird seeing Al acting so…grown up. But I nodded and waved for him to get on with whatever he needed to do. “I’m a big boy. I can find my way around,” I said.
“Cool. It was good seeing you, Ray,” he added, his tone sincere. “I particularly like what you’re doing with your Guild. Keep it up.” He gave me a thumbs up as the rest of the War Team silently filtered back into the enclosure as if by some silent cue.
“Alright, Al. Catch you later.”
He waved, and I walked out into the bustle and noise of Null Space.
I rubbed my hands together greedily. “What to do first…?”
—
When Jeremy was finally escorted in by an Iteration that wasn’t Sally, I had been gorging myself on snacks and arcade games for 20 minutes.
“Ray!” he shouted, his voice filled with joy. “It’s even more beautiful than I remember!”
“Hell yeah!” I high-fived him as he walked up. “We’ve probably only got a couple hours, so let’s make the most of it!”
We tooled around Null Space, enjoying the games, the food, the drink, all our cares and worries gone for that brief window of time.
When an Iteration came up to us and said it was time to leave, we both moaned like children being sent to bed. Eventually, Iteration 251 - otherwise known as Jimmy - convinced us that we would be allowed back next week. We reluctantly agreed to be escorted out to the Avenue District.
The exit took us into the main Bank of the district, through some back door that I had always assumed was a facade. Maybe it was?
When Jimmy left us, Jeremy turned to me.
“Oh my fucking God! Dude! That was amazing!” he shouted, a little too excited. “And we get to go back every week?! Kink and T would be so fuckin’ jelly!”
“We agreed not to tell them,” I said with a stern look.
“I know, I know! But they would be!”
I chuckled. “Yeah, they really are missing out.” A glance at my messages showed that I was almost late for my meeting with MechLord11 - the Raid leader we hoped would shot call our pub Raid. “I gotta go meet this MechLord guy.”
“I’ll come with you,” Jeremy said.
“I’m already late, gotta use leap,” I replied, jogging to the exit. “Meet me there?” I called back as I charged up my leap.
He flashed me a thumbs up as I launched into the air.
I was back at the Officer’s Guildhall in moments. As I landed at the front entrance, I remembered late that I was supposed to be in my private room, sleeping.
Oops!
Bart and Harold were chatting in the front courtyard, but stopped when they saw me approaching through the air. I noticed the confused glances they shot each other, and rushed to think of an excuse.
When I landed in front of them, Bart walked towards me, his eyes squinted suspiciously.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you snuck out of the Guildhall, young man,” he said, affecting a disappointed fatherly tone.
I cringed and abandoned all my poorly constructed excuses. “Sorry, dad. Won’t happen again.” I crossed my finger over my heart jokingly.
One of his eyebrows raised in disbelief, but he didn’t push me, thankfully.
“We’re expecting MechLord11 any moment,” Harold said from the door.
I nodded, making to head inside when I caught Harold glance over my shoulder. I followed his gaze, noticing the telltale shimmer of someone destealthing across the street.
We watched as the male troll walked over briskly, his eyes casting around with a nervous energy. His avatar was average height, with blue skin, and jewelry pierced through the ends of both his tusks. His nameplate read:
Name: MechLord11
Class: Buccaneer (Rogue)
Race: Troll (M)
Level: 60
I walked over to him, my hand outstretched. “Mech? Hi, I’m Ray-”
He ignored my outstretched hand, his eyes shifting around suspiciously. “Not here,” he said curtly. “Inside.”
I stopped, my eyebrows raising in surprise. Behind Mech, I noticed Bart was taken aback, then suddenly on guard.
I didn’t see anything shady at play here, though. What could Mech do inside my Guildhall that he couldn’t do out in the open? I just chalked it up to him being a bit of an inconsiderate ass like Ryan and Denise had mentioned.
“That’s fine,” I said after a moment’s hesitation. “After you.”
Mech went through the front door without comment. Presumably, Harold had whitelisted him as soon as I had invited the man inside.
Bart and I lingered a bit after Mech was out of earshot.
“What a douche,” Bart whispered. But I noticed he was looking around himself, as if wondering what the hell Mech knew that we didn’t.
I didn’t reply, just nodding as we both followed Mech inside.
When we entered the Hall, Mech was already at the Council table, sheafs of papers spread out before him. Denise and Ryan were there too. I had asked for them to come since they knew Mech personally - even if they weren’t exactly best buds.
“First thing’s first,” Mech said without preamble. “I’ll need you to sign these waivers…”