“You what, now?” Alex stood with her arms crossed.

“I think I came across a cheater in that match. You saw that character who jumped off the tree after I crushed his hip?”

“I’m hung up on this chakra business.”

“I can’t really go into details about it.” Rick looked down. Every time he’d brought up Ditto in the past, Alex had questioned his sanity or health. He wasn’t about to get into it this time. “Do you have any way to check for cheats while I’m playing? This player made it into the top ten. Remember what happened the first time I was in Branches and my replay put a target on my back? We don’t have that kind of time to wait for things to die down this time.”

So much depended on him placing well. Hector hadn’t set a target for what place he needed Rick to capture. “Does Hector expect me to take first again?”

Alex shook her head. “He’d be thrilled if you make it anywhere in the top ten, because you’ll qualify for Rank Two, and the size of the wagers increases. If anything, he wants you to be an underdog, but one who doesn’t do so well he loses money.” Alex raised her hands before Rick could talk. “He’ll take a loss this time, I’m pretty sure, but it’s only because in the long game, you outperforming expectations will always make more money for him than you performing at par—not that anyone has an idea how to set a par for you in the first place. I mean, you’ve only ever ranked in one tourney.”

That took some of the pressure off.

“As for looking for cheats, I have to say the anti-cheat bot far surpasses anything I have at my disposal. The thing self-updates. There was a scandal last year where it went of track and started marking a lot of positives, but Dokutan made everyone whole who’d lost money and they fixed their bot.”

Rick narrowed his eyes. “Fixed their bot?”

Alex shrugged. “Prior to the scandal, there was one bot that did anti-cheat and controlled the bots and adapted the world to increase ratings. Now there’s the anti-cheat, and a separate bot that builds the worlds and makes sure the bot fights are balanced. It also regulates the RNG to make sure boost and skill gains don’t totally fuck anyone—at least not match after match.”

Maybe… “How did they separate them?”

She gave him a curious look. “That’s some inside baseball, but I’m pretty sure they duplicated the one bot, then stripped the anti-cheat from one and the rest of the Ruckus Online powers from the other.”

They made a duplicate. A Ditto.

Rick gasped, but he quickly turned it into an outward sigh to make it seem he was frustrated. He didn’t feel safe telling Alex about the revelation, though he didn’t know why.

Alex responded to the feigned emotion. “Don’t get too overwhelmed by all this. You still placed in the qualifier.” She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes again. “Hector is convinced you’re ranking nearer to ten on purpose, so the wins in the actual tourneys are more surprising.”

Rick went with the explanation and smiled. “What do you think?”

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She shrugged. “I dunno. Spill.”

He grinned more widely. “Come on. Let a guy have at least a few secrets. Doesn’t it serve him if I’m not the odds-on favorite?”

She nodded. “It does, indeed, which is why I’m curious. You seemed to really struggle, and if you’re as good an actor as that, maybe you don’t need my help holding your own against Hector after all.”

“Let’s not get crazy,” Rick said.

***************************

After the first match, Rick and Alex stood in the server selection room again. It hadn’t taken long for Alex to remark about the improvement in Rick’s performance. “I don’t know a goddamned thing about chakras, and it sounds woo-woo as fuck, but it seems to be working.”

Rick nodded. “Yeah, it’s a metaphor or something.”

She closed one eye and gave him a sidelong glance with the other. “Where did you learn about this? Seems out of your wheelhouse, seeing as you grew up in the Western Republic.”

Rick stood. He’d just choked out his third bot of the session, a wiry Muy Thai fighter. Instead of the gi, he’d opted for training shorts for the session. He’d likely go with those more often, as they’d attract less dust. He brushed off the bits of dirt they’d picked up while he was thrashing on the ground to choke out the bot, then shrugged. “I’ve had to learn more than one new trick since this started. I’m not sure why you keep underestimating me.”

She bobbed her head back and forth playfully. “You’re a man. They’re more stubborn, unwilling to admit when they’re wrong.”

“Are you married,” Rick asked.

The question appeared to take her off guard. “Uh… no.” She grimaced, as if the thought disgusted her, but Rick thought he saw something else there, too. Hurt? “Because women can be plenty stubborn themselves, they just don’t usually realize it until they get married.”

“Then I’ll likely remain blissfully unaware of that particular fault. A mercy, since I’m well aware of most of the rest.”

Rick laughed. “Not ready to tie the knot?”

She got an uncomfortable look, then shook her head. “You’re using your skills well. That Roamin’ Cancel and Jammin’ combo is great. I’ve seen others use it the same way, so it might not serve you so well once you get over Rank Five, but by then, you’ll have a whole new set of options.”

Rick paused to process how quickly she’d moved past the marriage issue, then asked, “You think I’ll make it that far?’

She smiled. “Hector does. He’s got a good eye for talent.” She got thoughtful. “You know, if there is a cheater getting past the security bot, if you bump the system into finding it, you might give yourself a leg up.”

“What, like send a message to the company?”

“No, they get so many false reports, they don’t even use that anymore.” She shook her head. “I mean, they do, but they’re more than a year behind because people use the cheat reports to try to get opponents eliminated.” She got a strange look on her face, as if she’d said something she shouldn’t have.

Rick noted the reaction, but didn’t press it. “So force them to make it obvious they’re cheating?”

She nodded. “Sure, but it helps if you’re popular enough with streamers that you have outside eyes already on you. Dokutan takes unconnected viewer reports much more seriously. They check your social media, so any connection between the player and the reporter gets less consideration, as do relatively new or inactive viewers, because those are usually socks.”

“So if I do something flashy or weird, or just perform well, that might get more eyes on my performance? Will that scare this guy away?”

She shrugged. “This shit is constantly evolving. The cheat-capture and anti-harassment algorithms are responsive and more often than not accurate. That’s what makes the game a favorite of players and fans. There are a lot of games like this that are far more fantasy based, but the anti-cheat, anti-lag, and reporting responses make them less fun for everyone.”

Rick frowned. “I haven’t gotten a lot of harassment or seen many chea—”

“You’re small fry”—she waved away his suggestion—“and don’t think you haven’t been catching shit the whole time, it’s simply that the algo has intercepted.” She smirked. “You pop over Rank Five, watch the world pay attention.”

He nodded. “Let’s get going on that, then.”

She chose a public server for them. “I’ll try to find you. If I’m not on the opposite side of the map, we should team up.”