Chapter 77: The Gang’s All Here
What I’d intended to be another expedition to the Third Eye version of Cinder Alley had, somehow, turned into a going away party.
I say “somehow” but in truth, I knew the answer. It happened because Erin had arranged it.
Almost as soon as I’d made the proposal, she’d stepped in and begun making it happen. Either her organizational skills or the lacking social lives of Third Eye players meant that almost the entire in-town contingent showed up, including a couple I’d never met in person before.
Miguel and Zhizhi had texted to say they’d join us late, which left Matt as the only unexcused absence.
Erin was present, of course. Donica, too, and that gave us a pleasant surprise. Donica was on her feet! Armed with a pair of crutches, but she seemed to contrive every excuse to lean them against a wall and test her ankle.
They introduced us to DU_Goldie and OffGrid, the newbies from my and Lena’s perspective. Although they’d technically joined the wiki team before us.
DU_Goldie’s name was Gerry, or Jerry – nobody clarified, and I assumed it was spelled with a G because it fit his username – and he was tall, heavyset but athletic looking. OffGrid introduced herself as Michelle, and she was almost as short as Lena and even tinier in build, with thick glasses that gave Erin’s a run for their money.
I guessed that Erin had met one through sports and the other through video games. I turned out to be right in all the wrong ways. While Lena hugged Erin and Donica’s expression spoke volumes about her desire to avoid the same treatment, I fist-bumped the newcomers and got their story. Michelle was a gymnast, just an amateur now but Donica had scouted her for a possible pro career when she was in high school competitions; Gerry was a full-time game design student.
We’d gathered at an Asian Fusion place called ZOMO, on Broadway between the apartment and the tunnel entrance. Lena and I had walked past it dozens of times, maybe hundreds, but had never stopped in. I’d like to say it was because we couldn’t afford it, even though the prices seemed reasonable enough. I’d settle for saying it was because we didn’t get out as much as we should’ve, which was at least true.
The reality, though, was that, like the nearby bookstore, it had gone into a building that, years ago, had housed a hobby game store that was super convenient for me. Even though it wasn’t the fault of any of these businesses that the old place closed, I’d never been able to overcome a vague resentment of them.
Five minutes after we’d taken over a pair of tables near the doors, though, and the combination of intriguing aromas, cheerful staff, and Erin’s relentless positivity knocked my resentment into the past where it belonged. The eggrolls we got as appetizers, inexplicably described as “Kansas City style”, didn’t hurt. Lena and I would be in Kansas City later this month. Would we find more like these there?
Miguel and Zhizhi joined us halfway through the appetizers. I waved them over while Erin said something to the waitress, and extra eggrolls appeared by the time we finished the introductions.
The eight of us filled our two tables. I noticed Lena shrinking in on herself and rubbed the back of her hand.
She smiled and mumbled, “I didn’t expect such a big to-do.”
“Everyone wanted to try their hands at getting Tickets,” Erin said. “At that point, it only seemed natural to see the three of you off.”
Zhizhi, who was included in that number, flashed a thumbs up. She asked me, “Do you know when you’ll be ready to leave? I’ll put in for vacation time tomorrow, but I’ll annoy less people if I know exactly when to say I’m leaving.”
“I want to get going as soon as possible,” I said, “but you’re doing us a huge favor. You let us know when it will work for you, and we’ll make it happen.”
“Great!” She brought her hands together like she was clapping. She didn’t actually let them make a sound, though, lest it seem like she was rude as hell and trying to summon the waitress back. “We can leave in two weeks!”
Lena straightened up to object, but I’d been watching Zhizhi’s expression and knew better. I said, “Tuesday?”
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She nodded. “Works for me.”
“And for me,” Miguel said. “We can leave the Monday campaign at a good stopping point.”
“Oh. Right.” I hadn’t thought of that. So many things to do! Leaving town was exciting, but also a huge pain. “We didn’t mean to bail on your game.”
He chuckled. “Cameron. I think you have more important things to worry about. I’m merely enjoying the happy coincidence.”
“We should’ve gotten Yvonne and Big Charlie to come over tonight,” Lena said, referring to the other two players in Miguel’s game. They’d be playing host tomorrow night. Would two more people have overtaxed Lena more, or would two more familiar faces have helped her relax? If she’d thought it through, she’d apparently concluded the latter. “I bet they’d like to play at a magic arcade, too.”
Miguel pressed his lips together. “So much so, that I’m not sure their prudence would win out.”
“You don’t want to involve more non-players?” Erin asked.
He raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you think that's the safest course?”
“I’m not sure any of us have room to talk about what’s safest.” She nibbled on the end of an eggroll. “Safer, at least. I agree with you.”
I wasn’t sure, but I thought the discussion of safety annoyed Donica. I supposed I couldn’t blame her. Regardless, she cleared her throat and said, “What’s the plan for this evening? Ordinarily, I’d be happy to destroy all of you at old arcade games, but I’m not sure I want to stay on my feet that long.”
“We’ve got to run some tests,” I said. “First, see if a group can get into the Realm without Miguel serving as a key, or a guide, or something along those lines.”
“It doesn’t seem very fair, you not getting to go,” Lena said to Miguel.
He shook his head. “I don’t know about fair, nor do I care, but by far the best result is if everyone can use it freely.”
“That’s really generous of you,” Erin said.
He spread his hands and inclined his head, which made it seem like he accepted her praise.
I exchanged glances with Zhizhi. She looked like I felt, her mouth crinkled with the effort of stifling a laugh. Miguel had made very clear how he felt about his Realm the last time we visited. He wasn’t exactly making a sacrifice by trying to open it up to anyone but himself.
“The other thing we need to test is whether Ryu needs to be there for us to get Tickets,” I said.
“More tickets,” Lena said.
Wide eyes all around the tables.
Lena had invited the attention, but when they all looked at her, her grin wavered.
I stepped in to relieve the pressure of explaining. “We stopped at Office Depot on the way over. Lena got six more Tickets to print out.”
Excited murmurs all around, except from Donica.
She asked, “You couldn’t get any?”
I ran my fingers through my hair. “It got... a little weird. We had to stand by their counter and Lena pretended she was trying to get her document up while she played the game Ryu picked out for her. I’m sure the clerk thought we were trying to put a virus on their printers or something. In any case, it was way too uncomfortable for us to stick around.”
“But it worked!” Erin said.
“Yep.” Lena showed her Third Eye interface to the table. It was a lot more legible than it had been last night, because, in a probably vain attempt to seem less weird at the Office Depot, we’d bought both a printer and a new, cheaper phone for her. “I haven’t tried spending them yet, but I’m up to eleven Tickets.”
“That’s awesome,” Gerry said. “We gotta get us some of that.”
“Mmhm!” Erin bobbed her head. “I can’t wait until we get a proper map of the costs.”
Which was just about the nerdiest thing I’d ever heard a person say. Probably why I found myself grinning and nodding along with her.
“My plan is,” I said, “we send in one team without Miguel or Lena, and by extension Ryu. Zhizhi or I will have to go with that group to show them the way. First we find out if we can get in, then if we can get Tickets from the arcade without Ryu. Once we’re done with the tests, we can pop back out and get everybody.”
“You plan on being out all night?” Donica asked.
I considered. “I don’t know about all night, but it’ll take a while, yeah. Hours at least.”
“If you think it’s going to be too hard on your ankle,” Erin said, “I can drive you home and take the light rail back here.”
Donica pressed her lips together. “I’m fine.”
Erin touched the rims of her glasses. “What would you say if a player you were agenting pushed herself back from injury that way?”
“That probably depends on how much long-term value I thought she had,” Donica said.
Erin swallowed and tried to smile. The rest of us laughed. Correctly? I wasn’t sure. I supposed Erin knew more about Donica’s business than any of us, considering she’d grown up around it. Maybe she wasn’t joking.
Donica sighed. “I take your point. If someone can help me get it out of the back of my Yukon, I’ll bring the wheelchair. I don’t need it most of the time, but if I need to sit down, I will.”
Erin’s smile came easier. “Great! Then all that’s left...”
She looked my way, for reasons I didn’t understand. At least I knew what she wanted me to say, though. A sports reference. Would’ve been funnier to make Lena say it, but she might not have picked up on the phrase as Erin wanted.
I finished, “... is to pick the teams.”