Mars refused to acknowledge Atlas as he stared, she knew he had questions but now wouldn't be the time to answer them. There would be no point, she wasn't the same girl he knew in Evangels.
The old Mars was long gone, dead, and buried with Scarlet Frontier. She nibbled on the sweet jelly donut she had ordered for herself and occupied herself with chatting and checking her phone.
"You've been on your phone a lot today Mars, is everything okay?" Aya asked. Mars chuckled.
"It's fine Aya, I'm just keeping my eye out for something,"
Atlas' phone rang, startling them all at the small bakery table. The man snatched the device out of his pocket and with an annoyed tone spoke into the phone's receiver.
A panicked voice came out the other end, it seemed there was an emergency at Nue Corp and Atlas had to go. The president sighed, disconnecting the call with a huff.
"Seems I've been called to deal with some things," he said. Before he could stand up a sleek black limousine drove and parked by the window in a spot reserved only for the higher ups at Nue.
"You have to go already?" Aya whined.
"We'll see each other around," Atlas said.
"We will if you call," Aya retorted. Atlas laughed, flashing her a row of perfect white teeth. He put his phone in his breast pocket and offered the two girls a hand and a gentlemanly bow.
"Will you two lovely ladies see me out?" he asked.
----------
The three of them leave the bakery with leftover donuts in hand, A man stepped out of the black vehicle, presumably the chauffeur sent to retrieve Atlas and take him back to the company.
"So where will you two go now?" Atlas asked as he saw the two girls about to leave the bakery themselves.
"I'm taking Aya to the Pinhole Arcade," Mars replied for the both of them.
Atlas read she was protective over Aya but why? Had they known each other for a long time? Why wouldn't Mars speak to him? He had so many questions.
"Have you ever been there?" Aya asked. Atlas shook his head.
"I don't have time to go places often,"
"Wow, you must be some big shot," Mars said with a pointed expression, she folded her arms, staring daggers into Atlas.
The president of Nue Corp moved his eyes from Mars back to Aya.
"I've got a lot of work to catch up on, but I promise to call this time," He said. "Aya what's your Gpal ID?"
Aya told him. In a moment she received a notification on her phone.
[Acc Credited: 3500 Lue]
"Eh? I can't accept this!" She said in a whisper. "This is more than I've made in three months,"
"Think of it as your severance pay, you need to afford rent and utilities, especially now you're relying on gaming for income. It's like a cushion," Atlas explained. "Friends look out for each other right?"
Aya nodded mutely.
"Thank you," she said still awe by the amount of money he had freely deposited. Atlas nodded, he stepped into the black limo, waving to Aya as he did.
"Take care of her, will you Mars," he said.
Mars nodded, folding her arms as the car drove away.
She mumbled something under her breath Aya didn't hear.
"Hm?"
"Nothing, that guy just pisses me off," Mars said, she took Aya's hand, leading her down the busy street. "The Pinhole arcade should be close by,"
Aya only nodded, trusting Mars and yet growing suspicious of her friend. There was still a lot the other girl wasn't telling her about her situation.
She knew by now Mars’ former team was hunting her down, it would only be a matter of time before they caught up.
For now, Aya would enjoy her time with Mars, they were friends after all.
----------
The pinhole arcade was a colorful neon feast for the eyes, the moment Aya stepped in she could not contain the gasp of excitement that left her mouth. All around her were people engaged in some of the most interesting games and VR worlds she had ever seen.
She looked to Mars, who nodded and led her toward an unoccupied set of virtual headsets with seats just behind them.
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"Just about every game you can think of is on trial here, you can make a dummy account and test it out for a few minutes," Mars explained as they walked up to the headsets.
The game seemed to be a Beat 'em Up set in a virtual city. Muscled men flexing their biceps played across the wide screen attached to the headsets.
Aya picked up the VR Gear, tentatively turning it in her hands she noticed it was a model similar to hers.
Revista-ii stood out in the backdrop of the neon lights emblazoned in chrome.
Mars was already calibrating her headset to play, the girl looked at Aya who jumped from falling under her gaze so suddenly.
Mars exhaled, motioning for Aya to come closer.
"Uh, so what are we doing?" Aya asked. She allowed Mars to place the headset on her head and begin calibrating it for her. The helmet let out a small hiss before shrinking to fit the size of Aya's head until it rested comfortably.
"You're not supposed to feel too much with the Revista. it'll keep you focused,"
"Are we going to fight? Because Mars I don't think I'm ready!" Aya said in panic. Mars laughed.
"Silly girl, do you really think I'll just spring that up on you?" Mars said raising her eyebrow. Aya looked away.
"No..." Aya mumbled. Mars rested her hands on Aya's shoulder.
"Right, you've never been to an arcade?"
"It's always been more than I could afford," Aya said hanging her head. Mars patted her gently.
"Hey, you don't need to be ashamed of that you know, not everyone can afford nice stuff," Mars said.
"It's just that, I feel like I should have had certain experiences by now. Everyone my age-"
Mars smacked her lip with a gentle tap and frowned.
"No Aya," Mars said sternly. "Most people haven't lost both their parents and had to work to keep themselves alive. I'm not going to tolerate you comparing your life to others, you hear me?" Mars said.
Aya hadn't expected her to say it so passionately. She nodded quietly feeling her admiration for Mars grow.
"Most people weren't kicked out of their homes by our age either," Mars said softly. "But that's the great thing about being alive, you get to do whatever the hell you want," She clasped her hands on Aya's shoulders, smiling.
"I'll pay, I just want to show you the battle mechanics of a PVP, this one's pretty basic, still a classic though,"
"What's it called?"
"City Warrior,"
Aya put on her VR Headset, waiting for the game to initialize. It booted up and suddenly she was launched into a virtual world.
----------
Aya held her hands away from her face and looked around to observe the walls. The room was a void covered with glowing neon lines.
"Is this for training?" Aya whispered.
"It is," Mars said.
Both of them were dressed in black body suits with their hands covered by thick gloves.
"Don't mind the default clothes Aya, it's just a dummy system used to read movements. Why don't you show me some of your physical moves," the girl said getting into a stance.
Mars held her fists in position, guarding her face, she stood with her knees bent, rocking forward as she faced Aya.
Noticing the hesitation on her friend's face Mars said.
"You won't hurt me Aya, this is just a game,"
Aya nodded and ran towards Mars, her feet landed weightlessly on the surface of the digital space. Aya threw a weak punch but missed as Mars dodged.
She grabbed Aya by the arm, using the girl's weight against her and throwing her to the ground.
Aya grunted as she hit the floor but like Mars said, there was no pain. Aya accepted the hand Mars offered her and stood up.
"Let's set City Warrior to beginner, uh... Extreme beginner," Mars said with a chuckle.
A virtual console flashed to life before them. The screen hovered in front of the two girls. Aya allowed Mars to choose, carefully studying what the tech-savvy girl was doing.
"Please choose a game mode," the automated female voice said after a moment.
"Extreme beginner," Mars said.
"Extreme beginner mode accepted," the game said.
Aya felt herself drop, much like the first time she entered Moon Valley online. She yelped as the ground gave way underneath her and brightness flashed underneath her toes.
When Aya opened her eyes she was suddenly on the streets of a city, all around her were buildings mirroring the ones just outside the arcade. While she was expecting a busy city this one was desolate. Not an NPC to be found.
"Wow!" Aya gasped, looking around. Her basic battle suit had been replaced with a simple outfit, she looked at the nice long sleeved blouse and checked the long pants that came with it.
"Impressive right?" Mars said from beside her. Aya nodded, facing Mars who was wearing a purple body suit that hugged her figure while still being comfortable to move in.
"Please select a weapon," The computer's voice said once more.
Mars, swiped through the console mid air, before settling on some steel brass knuckles. The virtual weapon appeared on Mars' fists in a flash.
She threw a few punches, before locking her fingers together for a heavy blow to the concrete, the ground burst open in a crater.
Aya jumped back, trying not to get swallowed by the hole in the ground, in a few seconds it returned to normal.
"Woah!"
"Your turn," Mars said.
Aya lifted her hands and motioned for the console to appear before her.
"Please select a weapon,"
"Uh..." she swiped through some weapons moving through them indecisively. Mars came up patiently beside her.
"Go with this," Mars said pointing to a long ranged weapon pair. It was a ranged rifle, perfect for beginners within the world of City Warrior. Aya selected it and in a moment, the weight of the long gun rested in her hands.
The beginner's rifle was a long gun, just right for Aya's size whether or not the game shrunk it down for her was a mystery. It was plain but had a nice shine to it. Aya weighted it in her hands, finding the length easy to manage.
"Test it out you can always change to something else if you don't like it,"
Aya focused the rifle and squeezed the trigger for a swift shot, a bang resounded through empty streets hitting a target just out of sight.
Aya lowered the rifle in awe. It was almost weightless, having no recoil to push her back in the heat of the moment.
"I'm okay with this," the brunette said. Mars nodded.
"Game Start!”