4
Returning from the Accelerated World back to the real one was always sort of a letdown for Rick. He went from being an awesome, armor-clad fighter – though maybe not the most beautiful one – and turned back into plain, boring Rick Billings. The speed, the excitement, the rush of the fight; it all disappeared and life went back to its standard level of realism.
Ah, well, he though.
Blinking, he saw the two girls – Sarah and Jayne - the two newest members of his Legion, standing in front of the park bench where Sam's leg was still held in Lisa's lap with the pack of Ever-Ice on it. Even though they burned through almost all of their 1800 second time limit, virtually no time had passed here in the park. Not even two seconds, to be precise. It still blew Rick's mind sometimes.
"Uh, Miss Samantha?" Sarah said nervously.
"Friends call me Sam," she replied smiling. "I'd like to think we're at least close to being friends, right?"
"Oh, of course!" Sarah said turning red. "Uh, Sam. I just wanted to say that I think your avatar is the most beautiful thing I've seen in the Accelerated World."
"Fangirl," Jayne muttered under her breath.
Sam let out a little giggle, one of the few things she did that showed her true age. "Thank you. I'm fairly impressed with your avatars as well. Both of you are quite competent fighters."
"One of the few things we're actual glad they taught us in the Lupus Guard," Jayne said. "And just wait until tomorrow! You'll see us really show you something in the weekly territories!"
Lisa's face lit up and she turned to Sam. "Hey yeah! You won't have to fight alone tomorrow! You can choose one of us to join you. Not that a level 9 really needs the help," she said quietly as a few kids ran by with a frisbee.
Sam let out another giggle and Rick loved listening to it. It truly revealed her to be thirteen years old – like Rick and Lisa themselves – and not the older woman she mentally was. "I appreciate the enthusiasm, but I think having the five of you defending our border from the Slip Circuit is still out best option while I face off against the Pound Sector. Those Sector guys don't mess around!" She said this seriously, yet still had a smile on her face.
"Oh, come on!" Lisa said smirkingly, lightly pushing on Sam's arm. "Take Rick with you! When was the last time you two had some alone time in the Accelerated World?"
At this, both Sam and Rick began to blush and pointedly not look at each other, causing both Sarah and Jayne to look at the two of them, a slight recognition rising on their faces. Leander, as per normal, ignored the conversation entirely and instead focused on two ladybugs crawling up the side of a nearby tree.
"Are you two dating?" Sarah asked, pointing to Rick and Sam.
"Uh, well," Rick stammered. He wasn't very open with his personal life. It took him almost two weeks to tell his own father that he had a real girlfriend! Then, his dad insisted on giving him "the Talk", which was a whole new level of embarrassing.
"Yes," Sam replied calmly, though still a bit pink around the cheeks. "We've been dating for a little less than two months. Or at least, as much as seventh-graders can be said to date."
Jayne winked at Rick and flashed him a thumbs up. "I underestimated you! Getting in close to the Governor like that!"
"Uh, moving on," he said awkwardly, eyeing Lisa angrily while she stuck out her tongue at him, "how old are you two? We're all thirteen, except for Leander, who's seven."
"It's impolite to ask a woman her age," Sarah said, hands on her hips.
"Maybe a hundred years ago," Jayne said. "We're fourteen."
Rick blinked. "Both of you?"
She nodded.
"And you're sisters?"
Another nod, with rolling eyes and a sigh from Lisa.
"Are... you twins?"
"Finally!" Lisa exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air. "Yes! They're fraternal twins!"
Both Sarah and Jayne looked at each other, confused. "Did you really not know?" Sarah asked.
"Yeah, yeah," he muttered. "I'm a little slow on the uptake, I get it."
Sam reached up and patted his arm gently. "That's okay. I still like you anyway." The girls all let out quiet chuckles at this, causing Rick's face to redden even more. "Plus," Sam added, "I'm going to take my sister's advice," she motioned to Lisa, "and invite you to join me tomorrow at the Brooklyn Bridge for our weekly territory defense against the Pound Sector." She batted her eyes at Rick demurely. "That is, if you'll still have me."
Due to the amount of time she had spent in the Accelerated World, Sam acted much older than her actual age. On the rare occasions where she DID act like a normal thirteen-year-old girl, it reminded Rick of the promise he and Lisa had made two months ago, when the three of them had formed the Crystal Conclave together. She had tasked the two of them to help her have a normal childhood; not an easy job, considering how mature she normally was. But Rick knew that if he could remind Sam to be a normal teenager, even if it was only every once in a while, it would help beyond what anybody would realize.
So, he sighed and nodded, smiling even though he was the butt of the joke. "How could I refuse a request from my Governor," he said bowing at the waist, "complete in her tennis garb and with a swollen ankle?" He eyed Lisa. "Or from my best friend, who was just asked out by Craig Thompson the other day?"
Sam bolted upright and Sarah and Jayne, who had no idea what had just happened but knew juicy gossip when they head it, both snapped their attention to Lisa, who was now glaring daggers at Rick.
He smirked back, crossing his arms. Serves you right.
"Wait, what's this now?" Sam asked, eyes wide.
Not long after, Lisa took Leander home, taking Sam with her so she could get her ankle properly looked at by her home's medical programs. Rick said his goodbyes, and even gave Sam a little peck on the cheek as she hobbled away, promising to see her the next day. This left him with the two new members of his Legion alone on a park bench. And somehow, hardly anyone had walked through their enclosure during their various conversations.
Oh, Rick could still hear the multitudes of park-goers on this comfortable May day; he knew perfectly well that they weren't alone. Still, he couldn't help but feel a little nervous sitting next to the two sisters, both older and better looking than him.
"So!" Jayne piped up, breaking the silence. "Whatcha wanna do?"
"Uh... me?" he asked dumbly.
She rolled her eyes. "Duh! It's still early in the afternoon on a Saturday! Let's go do something. You know, like bond as a team or something." She put her hand on Rick's shoulder, causing his heartbeat to skyrocket.
"Uh..."
"Maybe he's not outgoing," Sarah suggested, resting her hand on his other shoulder. "Or maybe he's shy? Or nervous about being in between two beautiful young ladies like us?"
Rick was having trouble thinking. Or breathing.
"Oh, no way." Jayne said laughing. "With a squeeze like Samantha, there's no way he could be nervous being with us. Heck, I think she's smoking and I don't even dig chicks!"
Rick wasn't sure if they were ignoring him on purpose or if they had forgotten that he was wedged in-between them; either one was equally plausible.
"Uh," he interrupted, "I AM here, you know." He looked at Jayne. "And who says 'dig chicks' anymore? My great-grandfather called and he wants his expression back."
Sarah stifled a laugh while Jayne shrugged. "My point still stands."
After a minute, Sarah cleared her throat. "Are there any Legion activities on Saturday evenings?"
Rick raised an eyebrow. "Legion activities? Like what?"
"Oh, you know; training with each other or meeting dueling quotas or weekly trips into the Unlimited Neutral Field or anything like that?"
"Uh, no? I mean, not that I know of. Of course, I'm only level 3 so I can't go into the UNF yet. Why?"
"Oh, we go to Temple with our parents," Sarah remarked off-handedly.
"Temple?" Rick asked. "You're Jewish? That's awesome!"
Jayne eyed him warily. "Yeah, why?"
He chuckled to himself. "Sorry. I like to learn about different religions and stuff and I don't have any friends that are God's chose people, so I got a little excited, is all."
"You can call us Jews, you know." Jayne smirked. "It's okay."
"What? Jews? In New York? Surly you jest," he replied. The sisters laughed.
Sarah jumped up off the bench. "Let's go for a walk! It's nice out and it's supposed to rain all next week, so let's enjoy it while we can!"
"It'll be nice to be able to walk around the Park, and all of Manhattan for that matter, with our neurolinkers turned on for a change," Jayne commented, standing and stretching.
Rick could understand that! The hassle of having to start his neurolinker back up, before the Legion had been established, had been super annoying. He couldn't understand how others in Manhattan could manage it.
"So," Jayne continued, lowering her voice as they entered a more crowded area, "are there any forced activities in the Conclave?"
"Force like what?" Rick asked. "I mean, once everyone can go into the UNF, we might schedule Legion hunts for Enemies or something but I doubt we would force you to do anything. It's supposed to be a game, right? If you're forced into anything, then it takes the whole game aspect out of it; don't you think?" He thought for a moment. "Did the Lupus Guard actually force you guys to do stuff?"
Of course it did, he thought. Why else would they ask if we did it?
The sisters nodded silently, each on opposite sides of him. The three of them walked quietly for another few minutes, absorbing the happiness of the throngs around them. Finally, Sarah took a deep breath.
"They made us fight each other," she said, just barely louder than a whisper. Jayne shot her a look, but said nothing and Rick got the idea that these "fights" weren't normal duels for practice.
Jayne let out a sigh. "It was no-holds-barred, no mercy. If any quarter was given by either party, both were punished."
"In what way?" Rick asked. Honestly, he didn't want to know, but these girls had decided to talk to him, for whatever reason. As a Senator in their new Legion, he felt it was his responsibility to listen and help, if that was what they wanted.
"Our required training sessions were held three times a week in the Unlimited Neutral Field at our HQ," Sarah said. "There were tons of different punishments, based on what your avatar could endure and what your offense was."
"The usual punishment for not fighting with everything you got at training was usually being strapped into an electric chair set at a level where you would very slowly lose health."
Jayne continued when Sarah stopped. "Unless you resisted or were immune to electricity; in that case, there was usually a pot of boiling acid or lava available. Depended on the stage."
"That's primeval," Rick said, horrified. But really, he knew, it was much worse than that. The game that was Brain Burst 2039 broke a myriad of laws – not the least of which was hacking into the security cameras covering almost all of New York City and creating an AR virtual fighting game with the data – but the one that got the most attention from players was the fact that any pain suffered in the game was actually felt by the player, if only in a reduced amount. It was only a fraction of what the actual injury might feel like, but it was enough to get a player's attention!
But in the Unlimited Neutral Field, where there was no time limit and injuries and health didn't heal, the pain felt by the player was multiplied by ten! Being electrocuted or being boiled alive would be far, far more painful to a player there!
Rick gritted his teeth the more he thought about it. Not that he particularly liked the Lupus Guard to begin with, but this really made up his mind about it. He wished he could just give Silver Lupus a nice punch to the jaw!
"It's extreme military training," Jayne said, interrupting his thoughts. "Special forces around the world do crazy stuff like that, though probably not as extreme."
"Doesn't make it right," Rick grumbled. "And I can promise you that you will never experience anything close to that in the Conclave. Not as long as Sam, Lisa, or I am around."
"We know!" Sarah said quickly. "That's why we left to join you guys." She was quiet for a second. "Every week, Silver Lupus would address the Legion, telling us that other Legions trained even harder and harsher than ours, but his love for us prevented him from truly pushing us hard."
"Frick'in liar," Jayne spat. "It's total BS."
Rick nodded. "So, he's dishonest and a jerk. Not that I should be surprised."
Sarah tugged on hit shirtsleeve as they walked. "Can we not talk about him anymore? Please?"
He nodded again. Honestly, he wasn't certain how much more he could hear about this guy before searching all of the Bronx for him! He took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm down.
"So," he said after a minute," can you tell me about the Guard's Senators instead? Sam did say I needed to brush up on my opponents."
Sarah smiled. "Of course. They aren't as bad as Silver Lupus himself, but most of them are just as crazy."
"First off," Jayne said, "is Silver's number two guy, Platinum Patriot. On top of being the second in command, he's obviously metallic, so he'd take over the Guard in the unlikely event that Silver Lupus kicked the bucket."
"And what does he do, this Platinum Patriot?" Rick asked. "Attacks? Abilities?"
"He's fast," Jayne said. "I mean, really fast. When he runs, he leaves behind a metallic red, white, and blue streak of light, like a path to follow."
"He's also a creepy perv," Sarah added. "He looks for any excuse to 'correct' and F-type avatars that don't have 'proper' fighting posture."
Rick thought about it for a minute. Since the pain of combat could be felt, he supposed it only stood to reason that the soft, gentle touches would be felt just as much. And if this guy was using his position and authority as an excuse to cop a feel on girls, well... now he had another reason not to like this guy.
"The second Senator," Jayne continued, "is Kelly Gauntlet. A pretty decent guy, all things considered."
"Kelly?" Rick asked.
"It's a vivid green," she explained. "He's kind of quiet and shy, so he doesn't talk much. He looks like an old-timey knight in armor and he has absolutely stupid armor values. Even Patty – er, Platinum Patriot has trouble dealing damage to him."
Rick chuckled. "You call him Patty?"
"It's a nickname he really hates," Sarah said, then cleared her throat. "Moving on, there's Cerise Lamia."
"Lamia? Like one of those snake-ladies in fantasy games and stories? And cerise? What's that?" Rick liked that he was learning a lot, but he hated that he needed everything to be explained.
"Just like in those fantasy games," Jayne said. "She's really big in those kinds of things. Her top half is that of a rather busty woman and from the waist down it's nothing but snake tail. Thing's gotta be six feet long."
"And cerise is a purple-red," Sarah finished. "Don't feel bad; we didn't know it either.
"Purple-red?" Rick pondered, "So... long range special attacks?" "That would fit the attributes of both colors.
"Oh yeah," Jayne groaned. "Plus, they're all illusion based, so they're real pains in the ass. I've even heard she can take complete control of an opposing avatar."
"So, who's the fourth Senator?" Rick asked, enjoying this.
Jayne eyed him. "You met him already. Midnight talon?"
Rick slapped himself on the forehead. "Of course it is! I knew that. I was just testing you." He shook his head, letting out a sigh. "Sorry. My brain can only hold so much new info. Let it take a second to reboot and I'll be back with you."
Both girls stifled giggles at Rick's awkwardness. Sarah pointed to her sister. "Jayne's the same way, so I'm used to it. Don't worry."
"Bite me," Jayne replied, giving Sarah a rude gesture.
"Now, now," Rich chided, "sisters shouldn't argue."
The girls shot him a blank stare. "Clearly, you're an only child," both said in unison.
"That obvious, huh?" He ran his hand through his hair sheepishly. "Lisa's like my sister; does that count?"
"Yeah! Enough about us and the Guard," Sarah said. "Tell us about the Conclave and what it's like to team with Crystal Seraph!"
"Nerd," Jayne commented. Sarah replied by sticking out her tongue.
Rick shrugged as he stepped over a spilled blob of ice cream some poor kid had dropped. "Well, to be honest, I've never actually teamed up with Sam. We were in a battle Royal together, but we fought different people." He let out a chuckle. "I mean, she's level 9 you know? Teaming with me seems kind of beneath her, doesn't it?"
They shrugged.
"You never hear of other Governors being out there, having regular duels and whatnot," he continued. "They don't tag-team with their rank and file or even participate in the weekly territories. But being so small, our Legion needs all the help it can get, you know?"
"Well, have you bothered asking her if she'd like to join you for a tag-team duel?" Sarah asked.
"Oh, she's way too busy for that," he responded off handedly. "I mean, on top of normal Legion/Governor stuff, she's got tennis practice almost every day. I don't want to take up too much of her free time like that."
Jayne blinked. "Aren't you dating? Wouldn't that make you her boyfriend?"
He nodded.
"Then I got news for you," she sighed. "That means that she enjoys spending time with you! Last I checked, people don't make you a boyfriend because they want you to stay away from them."
"She already said earlier that you two don't go out too much because you're only in seventh-grade," Sarah interjected, "so shouldn't you make an effort to be together as much as possible? Whether in this world or the accelerated one, it doesn't matter. Do you share any classes?"
"No," he shook his head, "but we spend every other lunch period on the school's local net."
"Oh, that's not nearly enough time," Sarah commented. "That, combined with how little you see her in the Accelerated World, is barely any time at all!"
"She's patient with me at least," Rick said, "I've never had a girlfriend before. I don't even know if what we're doing can even be considered a relationship."
"So, ask her!" both girls shouted, drawing a few stares from the surrounding park goers.
"God, why are men so dense?" Jayne demanded.
"Well, if they weren't what would they need us for?" Sarah replied.
Jayne put her arm around Rick's shoulder. "Look kid. Just because you've started dating someone doesn't mean you magically get all the answers. I'd be willing to bet that she's just as nervous and/or confused as you are."
"No way. She's been in the Accelerated World for over four years! I mean, mentally, She's way older than me!"
"Well, has she ever been in a real relationship before?" Sarah asked.
"Uh, well, she claims that I'm her first real boyfriend."
Jayne smacked him in the back of his head. "Then guess what, dummy; she has no idea what she's doing either! She's wining it just like you."
"Relationships are about experience," Sarah explained. "As my sister can tell you, the more you date, the more you learn about what you're looking for in a partner."
"Don't be jealous," Jayne said smugly.
"That's the whole point of dating," Sarah continued, ignoring Jayne. "Back in the day, it was common to date multiple people – not all at the same time, obviously – and you didn't date one person exclusively one person exclusively until you were sure it was what you wanted."
Rick nodded. He'd heard of that before, but society had changed in the past one-hundred years and he couldn't see himself taking out half a dozen girls over the course of a week. These days, you were with who you were with, and anything else was considered cheating.
"Anyway," Jayne said, "we're not telling you – or recommending that you – cheat on Samantha... er… Sam. We're just trying to point out that you're just kids in your first relationship and nobody gets it right the first time."
He nodded before making a sudden realization. "You two are only a year older than I am! I'll be in eighth-grade next year and there's no way I'll suddenly have all this sage wisdom!"
Sarah thumbed at her sister again. "Like I said, it's all about experience."
"Hey!" Jayne yelled back.
The sun was beginning to drop behind the western tree line of the park before the three of them decided to call it a day. They exchanged emails and personal contact information and Rick formed a tag0team with Sarah before shooting Lisa an email, asking that she team with Jayne. Upon confirmation, the sisters said their goodbyes and hailed a cab, taking it north.
Rick watched until it was gone, then turned, hands in his pockets, and headed south, wondering what he was going to have for dinner.