“...the only person who doesn’t look ridiculous in neon gym clothes?”

“I don’t even own a neon workout set, Beth.”

“So? You’d still make it work.”

I saw a faint flush creep up Anna’s neck. “You’re just trying to butter me up, aren’t you?”

“Is it working?” I saw Anna nod. “Then yes. Yes, I am.”

I slipped up behind them, grinning. “She’s right, you know.”

Anna made a strangled squeak, freezing in place, as Bethany grinned. “Good one, Gigantor. How long you been here?”

“Maybe five minutes. We left the restaurant a couple of hours ago. Why are you two just now getting here?” I wrapped Anna up in a gentle hug.

“Meany. Don’t scare me like that.” She swatted my chest, then wrapped her arms around me, squeezing me tight.

As we neared the desk, Bethany cleared her throat. “Your phone, Jackson?” I jerked slightly and opened a small door to the roof of the Mirleson building, depositing my phone in a crevice behind a loose brick. “Thank you. Our little Anna wanted to see some outfits at one of the stores on the way here. We got a little… carried away looking at clothes.”

“Oh really? Find anything you liked?”

Anna nodded. “I saw a really pretty dress that would look good on me. Beth said so, too. A little too expensive, though.” She shrugged and laid her head on my chest.

I grinned. “How about we go get our workout in? I’m sure Jennifer is wondering where we are.”

“Ugh. I don’t wanna do aikido today.”

“Aikido? That’s what she has you learning?”

Anna nodded as we walked into the elevator. “Yeah. She says I’ll never be strong enough for something like boxing or karate, or even staff fighting like you will be. My best bet is to be able to redirect energy and force. I need to change first, though. Would you like to come with me or meet me in the gym?” She blushed as she looked up at me through her lashes.

I swallowed hard, my heart already hammering against my ribs. Her voice was soft, and the way she tilted her head just enough to look through her lashes? Ugh. Not fair. “I... I don’t know what the right answer is here. I mean, yes, of course, I want to come with you, but-”

She placed a gentle hand on my chest, her grin turning wicked. “When a pretty woman—especially your girlfriend—asks you to help her change clothes, Jack, you’re supposed to say yes.”

The elevator gave a soft chime, pulling me from my daze as we reached the second basement level. “I…um…Anna...” I straightened and gently took her hand in mine, forcing my thoughts to clear. “I think I’ll wait. Not because I don’t want to—I really want to—but because I think if I came with you, we wouldn’t make it to the gym anytime soon.”

She stared at me, wide-eyed, before bursting into giggles. “That’s... probably true.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Such willpower.”

“I’m sorry?” I asked, as her muttered words reached my ears.

“Nothing,” she waved the statement off. “Go on up. I’ll see you inside, okay?”

“Okay.” I stepped back and reached for the button for the gym, but Anna reached up and grabbed my face, pulling me down to her level for a kiss.

And what a kiss it was. It felt as if she pressed all the promise of sunny days, cozy nights under a blanket and endless dreams of hot chocolate in the winter into that two-second smooch. I stood there, hunched over, in a delirious haze of sweetness for a few moments before she chuckled and gently pushed me back upright.

“I’ll see you in a few, Jack.” She winked and flounced away down the hall.

“Uh-huh…” I mumbled as the doors closed, the sudden jerking of the elevator shaking me back to my senses.

I had a short ride into the gym to compose myself. It wasn’t quite enough, as I was still wearing a dumb grin as I stepped out of the elevator.

Zack raised an arm in greeting. “Jackson! Glad you made it! You think you can make a few more doors today? What’s that look on your face all about?”

“Huh? What look?” I shook my head slightly, coming fully out of my daze.

He grinned. “Nah. I get it. Anna, huh?” I grinned sheepishly. “Awesome, man. I’m happy for you. Both of you. Seriously.”

“Thanks, Zack. You wanted some doors to zap?”

He nodded as we headed to the weapons corner, where Jennifer was flowing effortlessly through a new kata. I kicked off my shoes as we reached the edge of the training area, following Zack around to the weapons rack. Once I had hefted a staff, Jennifer cleared her throat. I looked over at her, somewhat worried.

“Zack? Lab is waiting for you in the ring. Punch on him a few times, and see if he can handle your electricity. Under no circumstance is he to hit you back, do you hear me?”

“Aw, man. I wanted to know what it’s like just once.”

“Dude, don’t even play with that. The man punches through half-inch plate steel. You’d wind up a pink paste,” I said, somewhat horrified.

Jennifer just raised an eyebrow.

“Okay, okay… I won’t let him punch me. All’s I gotta do is beat on him, though, right?”

“Exactly. We’re testing his resilience to the elements. Get to it.”

As Zack walked away I began to feel a little sorry for his fists. Until, that is, a stone staff whipped up in front of me, stopping in front of my eyes. I jerked backward, stopping a good five feet from where I stood previously.

“You, on the other hand, will be sparring with me. Ready yourself, and do not use your doors.”

I was toast.

Swallowing, I readied my staff, settling into a defensive posture, receiving a nod from Jennifer. She came at me with surprising care, her pace slow and measured. Quickly, I realized what she was doing, and let what little muscle memory I had take the lead. I parried her initial strikes, only to get swept off my feet a half second later.

“Again.”

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I stood, and this began four hours of sparring, with her focus never once wavering, nor a bead of sweat never appearing on her brow. I, on the other hand, was slowly becoming frustrated with being put onto my back as frequently as I was. Sure, I had begun to anticipate her sweeps and strikes, and respond accordingly, but I still wound up on the floor after every exchange.

At the end of the four hours, she stopped, planting her staff on the ground. “Enough. You’ve done well, if sloppy. Make sure you burn these lessons into your head, Jackson. I expect better next week. Get a shower. I need to check on Zack and Lab.” Retracting her staff into a small pebble, which she slipped into a pocket, she strode off toward the boxing ring.

I took the staff over to the rack on wobbly legs, then turned around, only to find Anna, her hair plastered to her forehead with sweat.

“Four hours, huh? She sure seems like she’s trying hard to train you, Jack. She usually spends maybe an hour with each of us. In the beginning, anyway.” She smiled up at me, and I cast my gaze down her shiny, sweat-slicked body.

“She’s dismissed me for the day. I need to get a shower. That was irritating.”

“You look like you could use a nice, long soak in a tub, instead. How about you do that here?” She chewed hopefully on her lower lip as she gazed into my eyes.

“Anna, I’m not just sore, I’m tired. I still have to exercise my power today. And do some more work with the cybersecurity degree. I’m not going to be able to rest for another six to ten hours at least.”

“Damn. I didn’t realize you had all that to do, too. I’m sorry, Jack. I wouldn’t have asked if I’d known.” She shuffled her feet slightly as her gaze slowly dropped to the floor.

I pulled her into a gentle hug. This whole relationship thing seemed to be getting easier for me. “No, don’t worry. Once I settle into a routine, and have things figured out, it’ll be much easier for me to get away and do things.” I squeezed her gently. “Like taking a bath with my girlfriend?”

She giggled and nodded. “I’d like that.” She looked up and gently patted my chest. “Get yourself home and cleaned up. We’ll chat later.”

“Okay. Text me or something?”

She nodded, a soft smile playing on her lips. “Absolutely. Get going, you big, stinky goof.” She gently shoved me toward the elevator, then walked off toward the boxing ring.

I boarded the elevator and went up to the main floor. Knocking on the door, I poked my head out to see a smiling Bethany. “Hey, Bethany. Just heading home for the day. Jennifer wore me out, and I got some schoolwork to do.”

“Okay, Jackson. We’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

“You got it. Good night!” I shut the office door, then created a pair of doors to the top of the Mirleson building. From there, I retrieved my phone, then created a pair of doors to my room, collapsing on my bed.

My relief was not lengthy. A few minutes after collapsing on the bed, I received a message. Checking it, I found it to be from an unknown number.

Please open the door.

Confused, I sat up. I opened a tiny door on the telephone pole across the street, hoping to see who was outside. Seeing nobody and no package there, I shrugged and laid back down. Not ten seconds later, my phone buzzed again. Another message.

Please open the door.

With mounting concern, I slowly stood, my legs protesting the movement. I sent a quick reply; Who are you and why?

Please open the door.

Not until you tell me who you are and why I should.

Please open the door.

Nope. Not dealing with that. I blocked the number, then opened a tiny door overlooking my hallway. Nobody there. I set my phone down and headed for the shower. Once I had finished and felt somewhat more human, I went back to my room and threw on a shirt and a pair of shorts, sitting down to study some more.

Another buzz from my phone. With a shaky hand, I opened a pair of small doors to my nightstand. Picking up the phone, I saw that I had several messages and four missed calls. What the fuck? I opened my messenger, and it held twelve new numbers, each with the same message.

Please open the door.

I checked my voicemail. Four messages. Each of them from one of the unknown numbers, each of them with the same four words spoken by a computerized voice. “Please open the door.”

Well and truly freaked out, I called William.

“Jackson? You should be relaxing. Or studying or working with your doors. What’s wrong?”

“William, I’m either being cyberstalked or someone is pulling a seriously elaborate prank. I just got twelve messages from twelve different numbers each asking me to ‘Please open the door.’ I’m kinda starting to freak out a bit.”

“What?”

“I know! There was a thirteenth, but I blocked it at first, and when I went to get a shower, I had twelve more, plus four voicemails with the same four words. The voices were computerized or something. They sounded all weird.”

“Open a pair of closed doors to the top of the Mirleson building and then to my office. I’m sending help.”

He hung up, and I created the requested doors. Ten minutes of pacing later, the door opened, and Tekky walked out.

“Sup? Boss said you had an issue, but wouldn’t explain. Just said it was urgent, and that I needed to come with him now. So, whatcha got, man?”

Tekky -Kai, I reminded myself- was dressed in what looked like biker’s leathers. He must have been riding, or had planned to ride soon. “I’m sorry to disrupt your ride, man. Could you possibly trace a few messages for me?”

“Psshhtt… Child’s play, dude. Give me your phone.” I handed it over. “Okaayyy… Messages… huh. Twelve numbers, each sending the same message? That’s not weird at all… Hang on.” He placed his hand over my phone, and I saw his fingers start to…glitch out. Like they were phasing in and out of reality.

Ten minutes later, he hadn’t moved a muscle. Fifteen minutes…twenty. Something wasn’t right. I shifted to his side and gently poked his arm.

“Tekky? Tekky?? Kai!” I shouted.

With a start, he came out of his trance. “Holy shit.” He started shaking and I guided him gently to the bed.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

“Whoever sent those messages did so through like… thirty different proxies. I’ve never seen more than three. And that was in a government lab that technically doesn’t exist. Here’s the original sender, though. One person. Same person that actually called you.” He wrote down a phone number, but it seemed to have more digits than I was used to seeing.

I checked the number, scratching my head. “Dude. This is like, twenty digits long. Nowhere on Earth has a number that long.”

“I dunno, man. I checked all thirteen numbers that called or texted you. They all route back to that number.”

“Huh.” I sat on the bed beside him, punching the number into my messenger app. I typed in the same response from before: Who are you, and why should I open the door? “Here goes nothing,” I said softly as I pressed Send.

“You want something to eat or drink? You look like the work was rough.”

“If you don’t mind?”

“Sure.” I opened a door to the kitchen, rummaging around in the fridge. There was my order from Al’s that I hadn’t eaten. Should work. I got a glass of water, and went back into my room, setting the meager offering down on the nightstand. “Here you go. It’s what I have available.”

“Thanks, man. I appreciate it. Normally, something like this wouldn’t be an issue, but this guy? They know what they’re doing. And they don’t want to get caught. But what door do they want you to open? Do you know?” He tore into the sandwich.

I shook my head. “Not a clue, man. At first, I thought it was the front door, but nobody was there, then I thought it was my bedroom-”

BZZZZZT BZZZZZT BZZZZZT

We both looked at my phone, then each other.