[chapter_1]
Fingers fly over the keyboard, a rapid tap-tap-tapping corresponding with the pixilated character on the screen. A click of the mouse as it is dragged across a wide, rectangular blush pink mouse pad, the right combination of keys, and another attack is thwarted. The opponent in the virtual world stumbles, hardly deterred as it swings a great spiked club in its three-fingered hand.
Scroll and drag the mouse. Dodge. Evade. Exhale slowly.
》Swansong: this thing is annoying
《 Relentless: game specs said it would be
》Swansong: yeah, but I didn't think it would be this annoying
On cue, the bloated monster on the screen makes another attack. A series of taps across the keyboard paves a path for a lithe, red-clothed figure to leap and dance across the screen. The figure spins, casts an orange spell array to slow her opponent, and quickly retreats to higher ground, hovering near a golden character with a crossbow. The golden character shoots off a series of bolts, and they both watch as red damage points tick-tick-tick off the monster, who roars in certain fury.
《 Relentless: there you go again underestimating the game
《 Relentless: I don't want to say I told you so but I told you so
》Swansong: what is it they say?
》Swansong: oh right, even a clock is right twice a day
《 Relentless: ouch that almost hurt
》Swansong: do you have any ideas on how to beat this thing or am I going to be dodging forever?
《 Relentless: don't be so impatient
《 Relentless: I have a few ideas
《 Relentless: shapeshift and follow my lead
The gargantuan monster lumbering across the screen of the virtual world destroys the main thoroughfare bridge of the port town they are trying to save. This monster is the final boss at the end of a long quest, which is exactly why it's so challenging; they cannot let the port town be destroyed or they automatically fail.
As if. Failure is not an option here. Failure means going back to the beginning of the quest. No way that's happening.
In the virtual world, Swansong, a Druid class Night Elf, trades her red armor for the slinking grace of her cat form, leaping right in front of the monster to act as the perfect decoy. Swansong moves smartly around the monster, goading it into following her further from the town until it is caught between her and a body of nearby water. Meanwhile, her golden-armored partner slips around the back of the monster, trading crossbow for sword and positioning himself for attack.
"Here we go," a girl says just under her breath, her focus intent on the flat span of her laptop screen. She knows how this play works - it is a smoke and mirrors ploy that has felled more difficult quest bosses before and would surely do the same now. The fingers on her left hand tap in a key combination and another orange array surrounds the tusked monster. "Your turn."
Relentless leaps onto the back of the monster in a flurry of gold, slashing and hacking away bloodpoints. At the same time, Swansong shifts back into a Night Elf and casts a series of astral spells, bathing the screen in blues and greens. Now that they have the monster cornered, it's easy to coordinate attacks to take the monster down. Spell, dodge; cast, retreat; slash, counterpoint. When the monster crumbles to ash, their win is awarded by a prize of rare material that can be used to forge special weapons. Rare material is a good enough prize but this particular material - yin iron - has been popping up more often lately. It's a little underwhelming, if she's being honest.
Even still, her game partner doesn't seem to share the same opinion.
《 Relentless: for you
》Swansong: I'll pass this time, I have enough rare material
》Swansong: plus you're the one who wanted to craft a new bow
《 Relentless: I want you to have it
《 Relentless: anything I need I can just buy direct
《 Relentless: take it
》Swansong: really I'm good
《 Relentless: if I can't convince you now I'll just save it for you to use later
《 Relentless: as in-game spouses everything that is mine is yours anyway
The girl on the other side of the screen sighs in exasperation, a pinch to her lips as she shifts in her chair. She hesitates in replying to Relentless' last message on their private game chat, weighing how she should proceed.
Relentless, a Human class Hunter, has been her partner for three months. He is a skilled player, ranked within the top twenty of gamers on their server, and she likes him well enough. Respects his skills, admires his tenacity. She is ranked higher than him, but her playing style is less aggressive than his, more control and less flash that works in good counterpoint to his preferred techniques. Relentless is aptly named in more ways than one. He does not quit even when the odds are stacked against him. He does not quit when it is smarter to retreat or when it is more tactically efficient to try a different method. He does not stop when he should.
《 Relentless: speaking of sharing things
Oh boy, the girl thinks with some dread. Here we go.
《 Relentless: there's a contest on the game forum
》Swansong: what kind of contest?
《 Relentless: beauty contest for gamer girls
The girl wrinkles her nose. What a stupid contest. Is there a similar contest for gamer boys? Probably not, because patriarchy. Ugh. For some asinine reason, gaming companies still seem to believe that female players are unicorns or something, and so every once in a while contests like these pop up to reinforce this extremely misguided belief. If only gaming executives knew the only girls participating in those contests are casual gamers! Maybe if they handed out some real prizes, serious gamer girls would actually participate.
Not her, of course. But maybe other serious gamer girls. Ones who might actually care about beauty contests, or willingly participate in them. Emphasis on willingly, especially in her case.
Never again, she vows. Winning that last one - it's caused so many problems and so much annoyance!
》Swansong: right I saw that one on the forum
》 Swansong: lame prize
《 Relentless: no chance of you entering huh
《 Relentless: what a shame
》Swansong: guess so
《 Relentless: and here I thought this was finally my chance to see what you look like
《 Relentless: maybe next time
《 Relentless: or we could meet up?
Stop asking, she wants to say. Learn to know when to quit.
But telling him that is a quick way to lose a gaming partnership. A certain amount of tact is required for these things - unfortunately, that's simply what it means to be female most days. No matter how much she wishes the message would get through his thick skull, she needs to maintain a partnership that has helped her complete several challenging quests over the past few months. A solid partnership between two players is worth more than being part of a guild - every gamer worth their salt knows this. And for all of Relentless' faults, he is a reliable partner that she isn't willing to give up just yet. There is much more they can accomplish together.
Doesn't mean that this interaction isn't frustrating, though.
Case in point, this is the third time in as many weeks that he has been overtly flirtatious - and she is running out of polite ways to say no. Men, she thinks with some derision, knowing that their partnership is growing tenuous now that Relentless is being this way. Subtly, stubbornly pushy, with an attitude that he is entitled to knowing her outside of the game now that they have been partners for so many weeks.
Needless to say, Bella Swan does not appreciate this in the slightest. Thinking quickly, she taps out a new response.
》Swansong: I'm really busy actually, midterms are coming up
《 Relentless: that's right you're in college
《 Relentless: I graduated a few years ago so I know what it's like
《 Relentless: how about a picture then so I can know the face of my partner?
Unbelievable.
By some miracle, before Bella has to come up with a non-hostile way to say why she would not be sending a virtual stranger a picture of herself, the power in her dorm flickers off - and with it, everything in the room, including her laptop, plunges into relative darkness.
Bella looks at the black screen for a minute, internalizing the brief moment of relief, and then thinks, I'll just tell him the internet booted me off. A totally plausible excuse and not that far off from the truth. Things happen. That's technology.
Although - hm. Bella frowns at the dark screen of her laptop. Odd. The power going out shouldn't have also shorted her laptop - unless…
Not again!
"Alice!"
"Bella! You're here!" Alice yelps from the other room, tone tingeing on frantic. "Help me!"
Bella pushes away from her desk and scurries into the room Alice shares with Rose. "What did you do?" she asks as she enters the shadowy space. The answer, once she can glean Alice's shape on the floor illuminated by the muted light of the window covered in gauzy blue curtains, is obvious. Bella sighs and crouches down, careful not to step on any of the fabric spread around the sewing machine Alice spent months saving up for - there is a traumatizing amount of polka dots in neon shades spread this way and that. "This again? I thought we agreed you would unplug everything else in the dorm before using this thing."
Alice sniffles pathetically at Bella's pointed rebuke. She twiddles her thumbs together, thimble and sewing kit forgotten on her lap. "I forgot. There was this picture of this gorgeous peplum top on Pinterest and I knew I could do it better - but I guess I got ahead of myself and, well…"
One look at her friend's wet eyes and Bella's mild irritation vanishes. Alice sometimes reminds her of a small woodland animal, small and soft and guileless so much of the time, the kind of girl the world will chew up and spit out. She feels a little protective of her friend. Being somewhat unflappable herself, Bella feels a keen sense of duty to shelter someone who is decidedly more sensitive. She blames her mother for this; Alice Brandon and Renee Higginbotham share striking similarities.
"Alright, don't cry about it. It's not a big deal. I can fix it, just let me go get my tools," Bella says decisively.
Alice beams at her.
Although their residence hall has been renovated at least three times in the last century, the fact of the matter is that some circuits are prone to being overwhelmed, especially in the face of electricity-sucking beasts like Alice's sewing machine. Fixing a fried circuit is old hat for Bella. She's had plenty of experience fixing up the circuit breaker at her dad's house in Forks, and God knows her mom can't tell an on switch from an off switch. Patching up the circuit in their dorm is something she can do in under ten minutes, standing on a chair while Alice hands her the right tools. Bella finishes pressing the electrical tape, tucks the copper wires back into their appropriate places, and then flips the switch.
Alice claps her hands together happily when their dorm is flooded with light again. Her face is bright and open, all high cheekbones and round cheeks and little snub nose. "You're so handy to have around," she gushes, eyes dancing.
After she finishes replacing the screws to secure the cover of the circuit breaker to the wall, Bella steps carefully off the chair and begins sorting her miniature toolbox out. Everything has an appropriate place and reordering it right away will save her a headache the next time she needs her tools. "Oh yeah, I'm a regular Miss Fix It," she says wryly.
Alice, evidently having no capacity at all to detect sarcasm, only nods with a wide smile. How can Bella stay irritated with a face so innocent? They separate, each leaving the common area to go back to their rooms, to go back to what they were doing before the hubbub.
Bella seats herself at her desk and presses the button to start her laptop.
Nothing. Black screen.
She tries again. A third time. Huffs and checks the power plug. No, that's good. The only reason why the laptop would still be off is if…Ah.
Bella closes the laptop, flips it bottom side up, and starts the long process of unscrewing the backing to comb through all of the circuits and chips. This too is something she knows well, having been fixing her own computer since high school. She uses a small penlight and computer tweezers, checking the motherboard for cracks, searching for any fried wires from the power surge and - yep. There it is.
Bella takes a closer look. The damage seems compounded. It isn't just the circuit of the graphics chip that is fried, but the chip itself has a hairline crack running through it - which is odd, considering Bella treats all of her electronics like glass. She might have a tendency toward clumsiness in every other aspect of her life, but when it comes to her devices, Bella has all the grace and poise in the world. Which means that this…injury to her laptop is not her fault.
Bella sits back, remembers the last person to borrow her laptop, and inhales deeply. The irritation returns in a hot flush as she stands up and storms back through the common room. "Alice!"
As it turns out, Bella can be angry at Alice.
Alice Bee ʘaliceseesyou
Escaping near death today! Thank God computer repair shops are a thing!
Bella Swan ʘthelittlecygnet
I said I wasn't going to kill you ʘaliceseesyou #murderisprobablybad
Alice Bee ʘaliceseesyou
Of course not, my most forgiving friend! ʘthelittlecygnet is a gentle soul! #friendsforever
Bella Swan ʘthelittlecygnet
That said, did a little light maiming ever really hurt anyone ʘaliceseesyou? :)
Alice Bee ʘaliceseesyou
D: ʘthelittlecygnet
L Clearwater ʘClearlyFlimingThis
ʘaliceseesyou ʘthelittlecygnet Hey losers, this isn't how subtweeting works
"I really didn't mean to drop it!" Alice whines, hands clasped to her chest, a beseeching look in her eye as Bella herds her to the door. "And I only dropped it a little bit!" She pinches her forefinger and thumb together to demonstrate.
Bella is not swayed in the slightest. Not this time. Her computer is precious and there is a crime that must have justice. Alice's wheedling will fall on deaf ears today.
Bella frog marches Alice out of their dorm, a padded ivory laptop bag slung over her shoulder and her bus pass already in hand. "Doesn't matter how little you dropped it, you'll be paying for all of it," she says darkly, locking her elbow around Alice's to drag her down the hall.
She ignores the startled looks of others in their residence hall - it's college, after all, and by now they should all be used to seeing strange scenes. Just last week she saw a boy streaking through this very hallway dressed only in a bowtie and a Chemistry textbook. She hadn't even blinked twice.
"But I'm poor!" Alice protests, a final overture.
Bella bares her teeth in a facsimile of a grin and watches Alice pout in response. "So am I!"
It is, all things considered, not shaping up to be the best Saturday. First Relentless being relentless, and now her laptop needs a repair stat. She hadn't been lying about midterms coming up. Bella has no less than three mid-term projects on her hard drive, two of which are due on Tuesday. And her game guild is having a meeting on tomorrow, which she doesn't want to miss. Putting aside that her job is also inexorably reliant on a working laptop, Bella has commitments.
Needs to be fixed right away, she thinks, nodding to herself.
Alice continues to whine, albeit halfheartedly as Bella make a bee-line to the nearest bus stop. Luckily, living on a college campus means that public transport is never more than a stone's throw away. Even if Stanford has an expansive campus full of old buildings, lush courtyards, and more libraries than is reasonable, the campus proper is separated into two ends. Her dorm residency, Roble Hall, is located on the Westside campus and is near enough to a main road that reaching the nearest bus stop is only a matter of walking fast for ten minutes.
Alice is nearly out of breath by the time they stop to wait for the next bus. She sits down on the bench beneath the bus stop pavilion with a delicate groan. "I need to work out more."
Bella pulls out her phone to check the bus schedule. They're a little early, but the bus should be here any minute. She casts a sidelong glance at her dorm mate. "Then you should stop begging me to scan your track card," she says blandly.
Alice makes a face. "I don't like running," she says. "Besides, since you're already scanning your card for your credits, it only makes sense that you scan mine too."
"I've never met a lazier person in my life," Bella muses. "It's a miracle you actually turn in your homework, isn't it?"
Alice sticks her tongue out, blowing an impish raspberry that has Bella rolling her eyes in response.
L Clearwater ʘClearlyFlimingThis
Some people don't know how to use this bird app and it shows
Bella Swan ʘthelittlecygnet
Nice ʘClearlyFlimingThis
L Clearwater ʘClearlyFlimingThis
Just showing ʘthelittlecygnet how sub tweeting works
Bella Swan ʘthelittlecygnet
ʘClearlyFlimingThis Wow too bad my best friend loves pudding guess I'll just have to eat her stash send tweet
L Clearwater ʘClearlyFlimingThis
ʘthelittlecygnet DONT YOU DARE #donttouchmypudding
Ty-Liar ʘnumber1rosefan
Hey ʘbyanyothername aren't these your roommates?
Rose Hale ʘbyanyothername
ʘnumber1rosefan no I dont know them
The spring sun is warm when they hop off the bus. Arm in arm, Bella and Alice slip through the dense crowd of the shopping center. While Alice's eyes flit around, drawn to the clothes people wear and the displays in shop windows, Bella has a single-minded focus. She is here for one reason - the computer repair shop.
The shop itself is smaller, run by a middle-aged man who populates half his shop with overpriced refurbished replacement parts. Ordinarily Bella wouldn't risk buying a part here but needs must. She's desperate enough to buy a bandaid for a hemorrhage, and more than that, she isn't going to shy away from haggling for a better price.
Inside the shop, Alice trails behind her, hands folded behind her back after Bella sternly tells her to not touch anything. Alice heeds her words, perhaps cowed by the prices on the walls. She watches as Bella digs through the shop for the right graphics chip. Bella is busy shrewdly comparing two slim packages, trying to determine which has been repackaged and which is newest, and so she does not notice that someone else has entered the shop until Alice makes a strangled meeping noise behind her.
Bella briefly glances up, sees that Alice is gaping at the opposite side of the shop, and then returns to task. "What is it?" she asks distractedly. "Cute boy?"
"It's Tanya Denali!" Alice hisses with glee. "Oh my God, what is she doing here? Isn't she a Communications major? Do they even use computers?"
Bella's tone is flat, a perfect match to her blank expression. "Who?"
Alice sputters quietly, tugging on the strap of Bella's computer bag. "Who? Who? She's - she's Tanya Denali! How do you not know who she is?"
Bella lifts her head. "Am I…supposed to know who she is?"
"She's the most famous girl on campus right now," Alice says seriously, as if this is something that actually matters. She lowers her voice, surreptitiously watching Tanya's progress through the shop. "Tanya Denali has been crowned Campus Beauty two years in a row - until you took the title from her this year, that is. But she's still Tanya Denali!"
Bella wrinkles her nose. "Stupid contest," she mutters.
"God, she's so pretty. How is she even real?" Alice wonders.
"Maybe she isn't. Maybe you're imagining her."
Alice ignores her, riveted on potential gossip like a bloodhound. "Look, look. She's here with her cousin, Irina. What are they looking at?"
At this, Bella actually peers over, seeing a strawberry blonde with curly hair talking to the semi-balding shop owner with wide, earnest blue eyes. "RAM sticks for memory storage," Bella answers Alice, swiftly losing interest. She looks back at the two packages in her hands, chooses the best one, and then makes her way to the check-out counter with Alice on her heels.
Waiting for the shop owner, Bella cannot help but overhear the conversation. It's obvious to Bella that Tanya has no knowledge about computers or even what a stick of RAM is used for, which makes her wonder what she's doing in a computer repair shop in the first place. Maybe a gift for someone? Doesn't matter, really, except that Bella can also hear the shop owner making a hard sell that someone ignorant about computers won't recognize as unfair.
Bella clicks her tongue, taps her fingernail against the counter. What a cheap trick, she thinks.
"Should we help them?" Alice whispers, having picked up on Bella's opinion about the sale happening on the other side of the shop.
Bella sighs. She was raised by a small town cop and has an abiding conscious that's always telling her to be a good Samaritan. If she can help, she should help. If she sees something fishy, she should speak up. Bella Swan is her father's daughter, and that means she is stepping away from the counter before she can think better of it and speaking before she can stop herself. "This RAM stick is refurbished," she says, mostly to the much-lauded Tanya Denali after running her eye over the package in a French manicured hand. "The gold is peeling, so it's not even going to last you a month. He's charging twice what he should."
Tanya looks at her in round-eyed surprise, then turns to the shop owner. "Oh! Is that true?"
The shop owner narrows his eyes at Bella and shrugs noncommittally, silent but just as good as admitting his guilt.
Tanya catches her cousin's eye in askance, and Irina is quick to take control of the situation. Strangely, she casts Bella a cold stare with a haughty lift of her nose. "So what if he's charging a little extra?" Irina reaches for her purse, pulling out a designer brand wallet. "This is a small business and he deserves to make a little money, right? We can pay any price."
That isn't the point, Bella thinks, sharing a look of disbelief with Alice at the unexpectedly hostile response from Irina Denali. That disbelief remains as Tanya purchases a faulty RAM stick, as Irina shoots her another frosty glare, as they vacate the shop without so much as a by-your-leave.
Wow. Just wow.
Alice frowns at the whole scene, seemingly equally as confused as Bella. "What did we do to Irina Denali? Geez."
Bella only shakes her head. Irina Denali's rich girl routine is the least of her worries right now. She puts it out of her mind.
Perturbed by the shop owner's attitude, Bella decides against leaving her laptop to be repaired at the shop. She buys the graphics chip instead and resigns herself to making the switch herself. It isn't as if she isn't capable of making the repair, but it would have been easier to use the shop. But…on the other hand, does she really trust anyone else with her laptop? No. Not really.
It's better this way, she determines. Especially after that little scene earlier.
It isn't until they are on the bus back to campus that Alice snaps her fingers, expression finally lighting as she comes to some sort of realization. "I know!"
Bella looks at her warily. "What do you know?"
"Irina was so stone-cold because you stole her cousin's crown!" Alice says triumphantly. "It makes so much sense, especially since Irina has been runner-up. You winning pushed her down to third and they're juniors so it must sting! Makes perfect sense now!"
Bella sincerely disagrees, because nothing about that seems like a sensible reason to spontaneously form a grudge. And yet, Alice is probably right - she has a tendency to be right about these kinds of things.
Bella despairs internally. This really is a bad day. Ugh.
A/N: It is standard in most PC RPG (role playing games) to be able to have both public chats and private chats between players; players can also be part of guilds, or groups of players who complete quests together; in some RPGs you can have the option of "marrying" another player. The class and race of each game character in this story is based on World of Warcraft, which is the only game I have any remote knowledge of.
Handles:
Swansong is Bella Swan
Relentless is yet to be revealed
thelittlecygnet is Bella Swan
aliceseesyou is Alice Brandon
ClearlyFilmingThis is yet to be revealed, although you could probably guess
byanyothername is Rose Hale
As always, be brutally honest. I can take it.
~Rae