Chapter XXIX

Whatever there had been or still was between us, couldn't be instantly revived. Sara and I decided to take it easy. I would focus on winning the Mew hunt, while she would keep her offline streak going.

Sara had plans to return to college and rediscovered some passions she had before her grandmother died. I was looking forward to doing similar things. But with Shikara still out there and others trailing me, I had to double down on the contest first.

It resulted in something I hadn't anticipated. Instead of meeting in the OASIS, we would now video call each other. It initially was a one time thing, but quickly turned in two or three calls a day. She would show me Buenos Aires and I had Vancouver Island as my real life background.

If someone would've asked me about the desirability of this arrangement two months ago, I would've said it would make the whole thing awkward. But the opposite happened. Seeing each other in real life built something exciting and genuine on the ruins of our OASIS relationship.

When I invited her to come join me and Finn in our war room within the simulation, she no longer appeared as the Disney princess. She looked like she did in reality. And I think she was less tall than before.

Sara had revealed her real face to me on her ship, the night we encountered Ghostface. But she made sure to mention at least twice that she was a bit shorter in real life. Finally I could tease her back with something.

"Oh my god! You're a midget" I screamed when she arrived in a safe section of dad's virtual mansion.

She didn't reply, but blocked me for two hours.

After going to great lengths to apologize on the phone, she came back the next day.

I explained our current objective. That we had to bring a perfect gift to Superman's wedding.

"First Pokemon, now comics? You're not secretly twelve, are you?" Sara wondered.

We already tried over fifty different gifts. Things from the DC universe and items that were popular in 1996. Our latest guess was a plush toy that drove Christmas shoppers to insanity that year.

There had been a million produced, but still people were literally fighting over them. Scalpers sold the 30 dollar toy for over 1500 dollars in newspaper ads. If it wasn't red and extremely cute, this Tickle Me Elmo could've been the poster boy for capitalism.

Probably on purpose, the toy was maybe even harder to come by in the OASIS. It was a reward on the planet Sesame Street that required weeks of grinding quests and other kids' chores. Brushing your teeth, singing songs, guessing words.

The item would bind on pickup, which meant you couldn't sell or trade it. The only way to get it was earning one yourself. Finn and I had been doing toddler assignments for days now and we were slowly losing our minds over it.

"I have one."

Finn and I both turned to Sara.

"I have one," she repeated.

She was instantly annoyed by our surprised looks.

"So what? Yeah, I like Sesame Street. You two still play Pokémon!"

She vanished from the room. A couple of seconds later Finn and I both received an invite to her private chat room.

We appeared in the castle library from Belle & The Beast.

"You're a hoarder!" I said after a first glimpse.

The whole room was covered with quest items and other collectibles from around the OASIS.

"Why would you not store them?" a stunned Finn wondered.

"I know where it is, just shut up for a moment," Sara said. "Don't make me regret this."

She was digging into piles of memorabilia, making the mess only bigger. Finally she found the plush. It was bigger than I expected.

"Tickle it," she said to me.

"No."

"Tickle it. It's fun."

I tickled it. Elmo started giggling.

"Oh boy!" he chuckled.

"OK, it's pretty fun," I said. "Now I need you to be my plus one to a wedding party."

"Visit a wedding together? I don't know, that seems like a big step."

"If you don't do this I will never finish this contest and slowly lose my mind on Sesame Street."

"Fine, didn't know you'd get all dramatic about it."

Once again I approached the bouncer at Dooley's Pub. It was getting dark outside and there were sounds of music and laughter coming from the bar. With Sara at my side, I actually wanted to join the party.

"Hold on a moment," the doorman said. "Did you bring a gift?"

Sara showed him the Tickle Me Elmo, slightly hesitating out of fear she'd actually had to give it away.

"That's perfect!" the man yelled. "They will absolutely love this! Hurry inside!"

I had been pretty confident we found the right answer to this part of the riddle, but to see it play out still gave me a thrill. With some effort I repressed a squeal.

Once you've visited an Irish pub, you visited them all. They don't seem to change, whatever decade it is. Dooley's wasn't much different.

The place wasn't big. It was cramped with the wedding crowd trying to make it to a walking buffet. There weren't superheroes to rub shoulders with, just random Metropolis people like politicians and Daily Planet colleagues.

On an improvised stage a band played loud music. They were the Riot Grrls, an all girl punk band that was booked by Lucy. Lois' younger sister, the maid of honor.

She was the only person dancing. With her short blonde hair, bright red lipstick and devil may care attitude she reminded me of Riley.

We managed to squeeze ourselves in at the bar and watched the guests. According to the riddle we now had to find "a duo quite extraordinary".

"Who is the hot brunette?" Sara asked, nodding towards one of the bridesmaids.

"Lori. Superman's mermaid ex-girlfriend. He actually proposed to her when they were dating."

"And Lois is OK with her being a bridesmaid? Loco…"

"It's an unusual wedding," I told Sara. "One of three. In 1996 Lois and Clark also married in the live action television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Twice. At the end of the third season, Clark learned he married a clone of Lois. Then at the start of season 4, alongside the release of The Wedding Album, they marry for real."

"How did he find out she was a clone?"

"Because she refuses to have sex on their wedding night."

"A clone taking over your wife is the only reason a woman couldn't be in the mood…"

"Then the clone discovers Clark is Superman and wants him, so she sets out to kill the real Lois. But that one is hit with amnesia and stays at Lex Luthor's place."

"I've seen telenovela's with less drama."

The band started playing an acoustic, slower paced cover of Patti Smith's Because the Night and couples took to the dance floor.

I asked Sara if she wanted to join them and she agreed. For a moment we were just a boy and a girl dancing at a wedding.

Another couple came dancing closer to us, clearly on purpose. When they bumped into us, the gentleman decided to start a conversation.

"I couldn't help overhearing the two of you talking about clones," he asked. "Agent Mulder, FBI."

"Agent Scully," His partner, a red haired ice queen, added.

"Strange things are happening this year," Mulder said. "Did you hear they cloned a sheep?"

I actually knew about Dolly, the British sheep that was the first grown-up mammal they successfully cloned. Just like I recognised the couple approaching us.

The X-Files had some of its most iconic episodes in 1996. In the show these two agents investigated aliens and otherwise paranormal activities. This extraordinary duo had no reason to be at this wedding, other than being the next step in my quest.

"Can we be of assistance?" I proposed.

"We're looking for the technological feat of the year. A real breakthrough invention. You have to find it and beat it," Mulder said. "The faith of humanity is at stake."