Spark - ARC (9 page)

Then memory tumbled back into her brain. SimCon, and the rainy city she’d decided not to explore after all. And Aran.

She squeezed her eyes shut, letting brief regret wash over her, then stuck the feeling in a little box and locked it up tight. Enough with the self-pity and tragic heroine bit. So she met a guy and it didn’t work out. Welcome to life.

She wasn’t much of a coffee drinker, but she called room service and ordered a mocha, along with their fruit-and-pastry plate. The food was waiting outside her door when she got out of the shower. One of Burt’s guys was, too. Well, not directly outside, but sitting in the room across the hall with the door propped open. She didn’t feel shy about not being dressed yet; after all, she was wrapped up in her thick bathrobe. If she let the security team bother her that much, she’d be a walking mess.

“Morning, Miss Jaxley,” he said. “After the official luncheon, we’ll be rolling out. If that’s good with you?”

“Hi, Joe. And yeah, it’s fine.” No reason to stay around.

She grabbed her breakfast tray and locked the door behind her. While she ate, she scanned the entertainment headlines on her tablet. There—the report on SimCon. She skimmed over the pictures of herself, and read the article on Feyland with interest. The reporter had gotten a chance to try the FullD, and was full of praise for the immersive interface and creative quest lines.

Not that her job depended on whether the FullD was a success, since she was under contract to VirtuMax for the next two years. But she had that other job—the fey border patrol.

Spark switched to her messager. Though it was early, she hoped Jennet would be awake.

:You up?:
she sent.

After a bite of scone and a sip of her mocha, Spark’s messager pinged.

:Am now. Did you see that guy again?:

:His name’s Aran. And no. That’s done.:

:Sorry to hear it.:
Jennet sent a sad face graphic, which, ironically, made Spark smile a little.

:So, what are the details about us being Feyguard?:
Spark asked.

:Tam and I have been talking about it. We figure our job is to watch the interface between the game and the realm, since we’re familiar with both. The Elder Fey didn’t seal the realm off completely, so a few people are bound to slip through the cracks.:

:And our job is to get them before they stumble too far into the Realm of Faerie. But how will we know when we’re needed?:

Like when someone who’d gone in-game behaved suspiciously. Was she just supposed to follow her intuition? But then what?

:I’m sure the Elder Fey have that covered. Somehow.:

:Reassuring. Creatures from another dimension got it handled, check.:

:Haha:
Jennet wrote.
:Seriously, though, I’ll keep talking it over with Tam. Game releases next week.:

:As if I don’t know it. My schedule’s insane. Speaking of which, gotta go.:

:Later.:

Spark finished her breakfast, then checked the time. Vonda would be waiting for her on the floor in half an hour, and then there was the VirtuMax luncheon panel. Spark was one of the panelists, along with Mr. Chon—who’d taken over as lead developer for Feyland after Thomas died—and the graphics designer, and a few other people who’d dedicated years of their lives to the game.

She was just the candy in the window, although she’d been on the beta-test team. The trick was to deflect the questions about her fame and her life, twist them into questions about the game, and hand them over to the other panelists. She’d gotten pretty good at it. Though Feyland and the FullD were the company’s biggest offering, Spark had helped debut plenty of other systems and sim games.

Instead of putting on her “Spark suit,” the vaguely super hero-looking costume VirtuMax liked her to wear, she pulled on jeans and a black shirt. It was helpful for the panel, not to look too different. No matter what the PR people said.

A touch of makeup, not the heavy stage face she put on for the demo, and she was ready.

Her messager pinged again, this time with a note from Vonda.

:Yo, Spark. Ten minutes.:

:Coming,:
Spark wrote back.

When she stepped into the hall, Joe was waiting to escort her down to the convention. Making her way through the hubbub of the Expo Hall, she tried not to look too closely at every lean and muscled guy with black hair. Even if Aran showed up, there was no point.

Ten feet into the room, she was mobbed with fans. Grateful for the distraction, Spark turned her attention to signing more autographs, answering questions, and letting Joe take the gifts thrust at her.

The morning sped by. Before she could catch her breath, Joe and Vonda did their crowd-management thing and got her into the room behind the banquet room, where the panel was gathering for lunch.

They wouldn’t be eating in the main room during the panel, obviously. Nothing elegant about answering questions through a mouthful of food.

“Hello, Spark,” Mr. Chon said, giving her a formal nod as she walked in. “How has the convention been?”

“Great.” She smiled through the lie.

She was sorry Jennet’s dad wasn’t there instead. He and Mr. Chon didn’t get along, especially after Mr. Carter stood up for the whole beta team and undermined Mr. Chon’s authority. They both still worked for VirtuMax, but Jennet’s dad was now lead on a new project, while Mr. Chon got Feyland.

“I hear the demo went well,” he said.

Nice of him not to be there. She swallowed the words. “Yeah. Fun times. Hey, I’m going to grab a cup of tea. Good to see you.”

She could play politician with the best of them, but she hoped Mr. Chon wouldn’t be seated next to her on the panel. There were limits.

“Spark!” One of the younger VirtuMax employees, a guy named Wilo, waved from a nearby table. “Come join us.”

“Will do. Let me grab my lunch.”

She went to the buffet table and selected a box that supposedly contained a panini and a Caesar salad, then chose a beverage. Strong black tea, with milk and sugar—the way her Irish grandma used to drink. The taste was as comforting as going over to Nana’s and sitting in her soft lap, getting her hair braided while Nana crooned old melodies into her ear. Too bad the feeling didn’t last.

Wilo, a lead artist for VirtuMax, and Tia, a tech goddess, were good company and didn’t make Spark feel like she was some sort of distant diva. Their lively conversation helped lift her spirits. Too soon, lunch ended and the panel moderator began rounding everyone up.

“Spark,” Vonda called, beckoning to her from the corner. “I need to talk to you.”

Her voice held a suppressed urgency that made Spark frown as she walked over.

“What’s going on?”

“I just found out VirtuMax flew in more guests for the panel. They decided the launch was too big for you to do solo and pulled a couple more gamers in.”

“No.” Spark’s lunch turned to stone in her stomach. “Oh no. By a couple, you mean two, right? Please tell me it’s not the Terribles.”

Though it couldn’t be anyone else. The Terabin twins were VirtuMax’s second-place celebrities. They used to be the first, until VirtuMax hired Spark. A year older than she was, Roc and Cora hadn’t taken well to losing their top billing. Or their cash bonuses from extra sponsorships. Any time she had to cross paths with them, things got nasty.

VirtuMax finally figured that out after the twins set up a “prank” that almost ended in severe injury for Spark. Though nothing could be proven, the company made sure to keep them far apart. Until now.

“It is.” Vonda’s gaze went past Spark, and her lips pinched together.

“Well, well.” The voice behind her was like an ice cube sliding over Spark’s skin. “It’s the pink-haired punk. How special.”

CHAPTER
EIGHT

S
park slowly turned to see Roc and Cora Terabin standing shoulder to shoulder behind her. They were dressed identically, as usual, in one of their many gamer outfits. The current one was silver and violet, with sleek pants tucked into big black boots.

Even though they were fraternal twins, they liked to play up their physical similarities with a twist of gender ambiguity. Roc was taller, his face squarer, his voice deeper. Some people said he was handsome, with his chocolate-brown hair and amber eyes, but the flatness in his expression invalidated his superficial good looks.

His sister, Cora, wore platform boots—subtle, but enough to bring her closer to her brother’s height. The eyeliner they both wore looked more flattering on him, though Spark wasn’t about to say so. The less she spoke to the Terabins, the better.

She’d tried before to field their barbed words with snappy comebacks. At the moment, though, the two of them felt like more than she could face.

“Ready?” the panel moderator called. “Showtime!”

The noise from the banquet room increased as the moderator opened the connecting door: conversations layered on monologues layered on laughter, the clink of silverware on plates, and clatter of ice in glasses.

Mr. Chon led the way, gesturing for Spark to follow. Vonda gave her arm a squeeze, but there was nothing she, or anyone, could do.

Pasting a smile on, Spark felt the crowd’s attention veer toward them as the panel walked up to the stage and took their places at the long table. Microphones lined the white tablecloth, one in front of each name card, along with a bottle of water.

Spark found her name and sat down. She was at the center of the table, and someone had thought it would be a cute idea to put the Terabins on either side. Great.

Teeth bared, Roc took the seat on her right. Cora passed him, setting her hand on Spark’s shoulder as she went by. Her sharp nails bit through the thin cotton of Spark’s T-shirt, and Spark regretted not putting on her costume. One more layer of armor between her and the twins would have been nice, even if it was rubberized and a garish teal blue.

The moderator introduced them, and Mr. Chon gave a rambling introduction about VirtuMax’s development of the FullD system, and the inspiration behind Feyland. Little did he know.

Spark kept her elbows tucked in and her knees close together, careful not to stray into enemy territory. Her best defense was to act nonchalant, though her palms were sweating.

“I’ll let our amazing gamers talk about how it feels inside the sim,” Mr. Chon said. “Spark, why don’t you start?”

She felt Cora’s glare. The other girl had never forgiven her for being younger, faster, and better. Not to mention a more pleasant human being. The Terabins came from a wealthy family, and stories about their arrogance and demands were legendary, even before Spark joined VirtuMax. Afterwards, they had gotten worse.

“As a lot of you know from playing the demo yesterday,” Spark said, “the FullD interface is the best sim immersion yet. I know we’ve been waiting a long time for a game that
feels
real, and that game is Feyland.”

Her words earned a couple cheers and a patter of applause.

Beside Spark, Cora leaned forward and spoke into her mic. “Beyond that, the fight mechanics and battle sequences are amazing. Don’t be surprised if you come away feeling a bit bruised.”

“Figuratively speaking,” Mr. Chon said, frowning at Cora. “Of course, there’s no actual pain or injury involved. Only a light simulation in the neural interface.”

Unless the gamer somehow slipped into the Realm of Faerie. Spark hadn’t experienced carry-over, beyond a few scrapes, but both Tam and Jennet had sustained injuries in-game that had been serious in the real world, too.

“So we can’t lose weight by playing Feyland?” some joker called out.

“The technology isn’t to that point yet,” Mr. Chon said. “But who knows what the future holds? Roc, would you like to add your viewpoint on the game?”

“Sure.” Roc pulled his mic closer. “Unlike the girls, I think it’s important to note the variety of heroic quests and the depth of the world-building in Feyland. It’s not all about feeling the wind on your face.”

His sister glared at him, and Spark was torn between annoyance at the put-down and amusement that he’d also insulted Cora.

“Speaking of world-building,” the moderator said, “Wilo Martinez and his team put a lot into designing the terrain and features of Feyland. Wilo, what were some of the challenges you faced?”

The panel veered off into a discussion of tech and spec, with Cora interjecting off-topic comments and Roc leaning back, an amused smirk on his face.

Spark answered another question from the moderator, and this time Cora didn’t try to hijack the answer. Still, the current of animosity flowing from the twins was so electric she half expected to get a shock when she reached for her water bottle.

“What’s next for the intrepid VirtuMax team?” the moderator asked as their time wound to a close.

“I’m pleased to announce the Terabins will be joining Spark in helping debut the FullD system,” Mr. Chon said. “A full schedule of their appearances is posted on the events section of our site. This is a historic launch, and VirtuMax is committed to making it fantastic!”

Terrible indeed. Spark forced herself to keep smiling, though her insides churned. Touring with the Terabins was going to be a nightmare.