Reviews :

Burgie : Yeah they're definitely apples and oranges, Gunner and Turbo. It's been fun to really mess around with, for sure. Gunner's a good guy, just... Turbo's desperately fighting to prove that he's better lol.

Nikki Firesong : CONGRATS! You're my 400th review! YAY Thanks friend! And, it's true! And you're definitely right, Gunner's due to now entering a downward spiral of jealousy and I am so excited to write for it LOL!


Song Listened To :

Tidal by Noah Kahan


*Chapter 106*

In a soft lull of tender care Berri had suddenly fallen into, her bare feet gingerly glossed her mother's and father's lovely, familiar tiles of their massive, open-corridor foyer. Tiles she had grown up on, that familiar scent of her true home that filled her heart with bittersweet nostalgia, her glassy eyes got lost in the reflection of said glossy, white tiles, the chandeliers and lovely house lights, overhead, twinkled against the mirage of grout and mirrors, like fireflies that lead her to her point of safety. Loosely hugged by her mother's arm, Tessa and Zed diligently lead Berri to their main office area, a massive den-like area just branched off the main foyer's open-aired girth. A lovely area for Tessa and Zed to do a lot of their daydreaming and planning, proper construction and other duties for the whole of the game were splayed on the large work table that sat taut and high, in the middle of the room. A wonderful, soft grey wall was easily overwhelmed by the massive bay window that showed the flyer's old enclosure, shroud in jungle foliage and kissed with the setting sun's warmth. Theo followed behind the three diligently, and although Wren was previously in on this mess, he split from the group to help Taffyta and Penny with a separate, prior commitment.

Berri felt defeated, cold, angry. Her aimless gaze now eased to the glass that overlooked the trees canopies, as well as the palace wall that her mother and father's abode hung about a hundred feet from. She felt as if she didn't even have the energy to cry, nothing here seemed to be fair, how she simply could just forever be haunted by the traumatic experience she was swathed in, the only words she could even get out to her mother and father was the simple fact that she had merely spot two deleters. Understanding that Berri was shaken, they nervously ceased the overload of questions they likely had, and although it took nearly everything in them to reserve themselves for the fragility of their precious princess, Tessa and Zed nervously eyed each other in the understanding that they'd eventually need to pry answer from Berri's shivering soul. Theo hung tight to Berri's side as Tessa and Zed situated her at one of the massive table's high stools and strolled in a slow mosey to the opposite side of said table. In the near twenty foot stretch that Tessa and Zed had from Berri, they took this opportunity to very sneakily reconvene whilst they were mildly out of earshot, alongside the fact that Theo had busied Berri in soft, cooing conversation.

"You think these deleters know that Berri killed one of their own?" Tessa whispered, Zed shrugged just barely and heaved a trembling sigh as Tessa continued on, "I-I know Berri is protected by the coding Turbo had installed for her, as well as Wren and Theo, but... I-I'm worried. Not only for Berri, but her fans, I mean, THAT many gamers gathered in one area?"

"I'm about to text Turbo and see if he can get here," Zed mumbled as the two rounded the far end of the table and began to make their way back to where Berri and Theo sat quietly, "It may be a big chore for all of us, but... I'm going to see if there's any way that he can protect an entire location with said deleter repellant."

"...Like an entire building? Arena?" Tessa prod quietly, Zed bobbed a nod and gently typed a small message to Turbo with careful words, Tessa fingered her lip and looked off in nervousness, "Those arenas that they'll be playing at, are pretty massive... You think something like that is possible?"

"It's either that or they put massive warnings on their tickets... Come to this concert at your own risk of being deleted," Zed muttered and shook his head, both him and Tessa caught eyes in cold understanding, "You know how many people would show up?"

"...None," Tessa eased in whispered defeat as she sagged her shoulders, though they eased up to the table and knew they had to get to the core of all of this, with Berri.

Tessa assessed her now fragile daughter in nervousness, usually such a firecracker of excitement, a hot-blue fireball that ricocheted off of everything and everyone, she felt her heart sink at the sight of Berri's deflated posture, sunken eyes and angrily vivid stress marks of silver agitation splayed all over her temples. The way Theo lovingly eased soft notions of encouragement to her, his larger wrecking hand softly held hers as he sat cozily tucked into her left side, Berri looked as if she was soaking up all of Theo's advice, no matter how deflated she looked. Tessa crossed her arms and began to cue to the built in digital display on the work table, an interface that made 3D modeling, for the palace and the game, much easier to navigate and maneuver, holograms that were easily projected above the work space made work a breeze. Tessa pulled up Berri's stats and vitals for referencing, and with such, the first things that were noticeable were a few angry, red flashing buttons that claimed her heart rate was beginning to sky rocket, as well as spiking stress levels.

"Berri, why don't you just tell us what you saw? Were... Were the deleters just unintelligently standing around, or...?" Tessa softly trailed off as Zed continued to slowly type away at his message to Turbo.

"We were rehearsing, the deleters were at the VERY back of the arena, but they paced back and forth like they were waiting for something," Berri's voice crackled, her nose was clogged due to the small amount of crying she had previously been doing about an hour before Gunner deemed it safe for Wren, Theo and Berri to leave EZ Living, "They were staring right at us, like they were simply waiting for us to look away or be distracted... I-I really am not sure, but, what's frustrating is... I was the only one who could see them."

"All arena lights were on?" Zed wondered as he finally sent his message to Turbo and tucked his phone in his back pocket.

"Yeah all lights were on," Theo warmly interjected once he noticed Berri's further deflating demeanor, cueing that she could hardly continue talking about it, "She told us they were nearly out in plain sight, easy to see, their red markings I guess are really distinct, so..."

"They would've seen 'em," Tessa concluded to Zed as she eased a sigh and peered into Berri's coding with curiosity, "I'm wondering if... Maybe you can see these creatures because you interacted so closely with them."

"I... Hate to bring up bad memories but you were basically covered in its blood," Zed stated as carefully and sensitively as he could, though Berri nodded and softly rested her face in her hands, as well as her bare elbows on the table before her. Zed sagged his shoulders as him, Theo and Tessa shot each other nervous looks of soft regret, "I-I'm sorry Bear, we... We have to get to the bottom of this."

"I understand," Berri meeped softly as she shook her head in her hands, "I swallowed some of its blood, that night, by accident... You all saw."

"I-I'm wondering," Tessa trailed on in a soft sting of apprehension, though she raised her eyebrows in soft, sweet delight the second she saw Turbo's figure silently ease into the main entry way of their foyer and immediately find his way to the large, sunny den.

Tessa inhaled a breath to warmly welcome Turbo's presence, though she held her breath and felt a sweet sense of delight in the way his golden eyes hooked tight to Berri's presence across the way, the unmitigated look of dominant concern hung tight on his demeanor, and it was here did Tessa feel almost relieved that Berri had such a solid rock of a person in her life, someone to firmly lean in to, though she cocked an eyebrow and almost nervously glossed her eyes to her husband. She was well aware Turbo and Berri were never really seen together often, especially in front of Zed, Tessa nearly crossed her arms and was excited to see this mini-show unfold. As Turbo's figure warmly eased within the vicinity, Zed caught on to Tessa's diligent silence, the notion of keeping Turbo's small arrival secret, Zed warmly carried on to Berri in gentle nonchalance.

"It's gotta be something to do with the fact that its coding potentially manifested inside of yours, somehow," Zed eased in nervous defeat, though he rested his palms on the table and diligently watched as Turbo rounded to Berri's right side and so slowly eased into the softness of their conversation; with the tiniest smile that began to creep on his face, Turbo crossed his arms and peered down to Berri in a great amount of warmth and understanding.

"You're a three-for," Turbo's deep voice glossed the group with difference, something that visibly rocked Berri in surprise, and as she flinched and peered up and to her right, she froze and raised her eyebrows in prickled, cute stun as Turbo blurt a gentle chuckle and carried on, listing a few points on his fingers, "So, you can wreck, you can glitch, and now you somehow have the innate ability to see and evade deleters."

"A rarity," Zed chirped with kindness, though Tessa could see the assessing look in Zed's fatherly eye, a prodding sense of curiosity crawled over him as he very diligently watched Turbo's every single move, here.

"Indeed," Turbo warmly agreed as him and Berri caught eyes in the whirl of softness, though he sagged his shoulders a little and allowed his heightened, worried presence to soften a lot more, for her liking. He almost frowned and noticed her angry stress marks, marks he had so diligently taught her how to get rid of, though, unabated, they remained, "Talk to me, what's going on?"

"Th-there were two deleters in the arena we were practicing in," Berri mumbled as her eyes now massively swelled with huge tears, Turbo's seemingly addicting, warm presence just sapped her pores silly and begged her to simply face-plant his chest and get lost in his unending comfort, though she desperately tried to reserve herself over the fact that she had a very real audience, here. She continued on, though her voice only crackled and broke more and more with the moment Turbo's warm, masculine hand eased to the top of her shoulder for comfort, "I-I was... Th-the only one that could see them."

Turbo furrowed his eyebrows sharply and shot his eyes to Theo, he scrunched his shoulders and eagerly bobbed a nod as if to emphasize that Berri was telling the truth.

"All arena lights were on, we saw absolutely nothing," Theo nearly scrambled to assure, he shook his head and shrugged as his eyes eagerly glossed Tessa and Zed for further assurance.

"We're wondering if this has to do with the... Rather sad and gross fact that Berri potentially swallowed some of the deleter's blood, by accident," Zed mumbled in defeat, though he felt his heart surge in confusion the second Turbo nodded, a nervous look on his face.

"That'd explain it," Turbo assured, though he softly lofted his eyes to Tessa and gave her a look of mild, polite question. Tessa harbored Berri's opened stats, and with such raw information Turbo was eager to delve into, he gingerly gave Tessa a look of almost receding dominance and tried to brave eye contact, "May I...?"

"O-Oh, yeah, sorry," Tessa shook her head in discombobulation and quickly gripped Berri's stats in her silver coded palm, safely lofted it across the table, to Turbo, and crossed her arms in patient wait.

Everyone eagerly watched as Turbo and Berri were now very rawly on display, a rare show nearly no one ever had the chance to really prove was real, a testament to just how strong their friendship was held tight to this weird moment of truth. Turbo gingerly caught Berri's coded stats and allowed it to hover next to him in readiness, though Zed kept his eagle-eye tight to Turbo's every move, here. He felt it odd how the two seemingly eased into their own little world, the look of un-phased, loving routine the two fell into, Zed furrowed his eyebrows and now began to feel the mild sting of this weird situation, the weirdness of their insane chemistry, whilst still painfully remaining friends. Although Zed was certain he'd be standing here playing guard dog with his daughter, against a man that had, not long ago, professed his love for her, he somehow felt his rooted feet come right back around to the notion of being on Turbo's side, here. The tender look in his creepy, golden eyes, the unwavering eye contact he held with Berri as he so softly carried on to her, their height difference, whilst she was sitting, only made the situation far more endearing.

"Do I have your permission?" Turbo eased, although he was well aware he was in a room of two master coders, he knew he held rank over nearly everyone when it came to coding and code rooms, not to mention code-health; without hesitation, Berri nodded.

Without missing a beat, Turbo gave Berri a smile of gentle understanding and finally began to politely nose through the drop-down menus of Berri's coding. Although he was well aware he'd get a much better reading on what was going on underneath her skin by simply exterior swapping with her, he was fairly certain said act would be mildly uncomfortable with her parents watching. Like suspected, Berri's heart rate and stress levels were evened out in an unhealthy, unwavering spike of heightened emotion, though just as Turbo inhaled a deep breath, narrowed his eyes and was due to basing his findings strictly from what his eyes could see, he flinched in soft surprise as Berri gingerly opened her palm, held it out to Turbo and showed the shivering, frantic glow of her silver coding amidst her still palm. Turbo cocked an eyebrow, sagged out of the roll of confidence he was in, held his breath and stabbed his eyes to Berri's in whole confusion.

Through eyes that nearly begged for help, Turbo felt the weight of whole contradiction, here. How triumphantly Berri preached that Turbo go about doing things on his own, he could see the look of regret in Berri's eyes, as if she had been preaching to the choir for so long, her own words and pronounces of good advice was something she couldn't even bear to swallow. Turbo finally huffed a shaky, silent tremble of a chuckle and did everything he could to hone in on Berri, in this moment, even though there were three sets of eyes on the two, hung in baited wait. Turbo nervously peered down to Berri's swirling, silver coding, a weird show of confusion that glossed over the two, an enormous cliff side they both were standing at, something Turbo was well aware they were mere inches from diving off of. Turbo eased his eyes to Berri in wariness, his eye contact conveyed almost excited worry, as if to silently tell her that if they were to keep up this platonic exterior swapping nonsense, the explosion from platonic to romantic would be too much to hold back, too much to fight any longer, and furthermore, something impossible to reverse; much to Turbo's surprise, Berri lulled her eyes closed and eased the tiniest, single-bob of a nod she could afford. Turbo slowly sunk his hand into hers, he'd do anything, absolutely anything for her go-ahead, no time wasted.

With the sudden grip of electricity, shiny opposed coding that argued for a moment before settling, a splay of lovely, rose golden honeycombs and circuit lines splayed their conjoined hands and arms in a sap of honey-laced harmony, something that Turbo was previously embarrassed to have on full display, in front of Berri's parents, though somehow their audience seemed to proverbially disappear, as if nothing else mattered. Turbo held his breath and hooked his eyes so tight to Berri's, the glow of their gentle love radiated about their skin in a show of delight, Berri visibly looked relieved, something Turbo understood was entirely dangerous. He raised his eyebrows in prickled surprise as Berri's soothing voice suddenly coated the inner workings of Turbo's skull, a private conversation the two had between their coding, something that only they were in on, said private conversation that Theo, Tessa and Zed knew was taking place, even without hearing the words. The three dart their eyes to each other in cheeky curiosity and silently confirmed that they should just allow the two to their sneaky devices, for a moment.

"I know I said we have to do this separate and alone, I know, I'm an idiot, okay?" Berri's words eased through Turbo's coding, the strange sight of Berri's whole face and mouth remaining still and wordless; Turbo furrowed his eyebrows in soft confusion and felt his own stress levels begin to want to mock Berri's, something he had to quickly combat against, "I just... Didn't want anyone else hearing all of this, but... I don't really know how to say this."

"You don't need to say it," Turbo volleyed, though he furrowed his eyes and pretended to be simply surveying her coding, even though he was fairly certain Theo, Tessa and Zed were aware as to just what the two were up to. Turbo almost gave Berri a cheeky smile and felt as if their souls were a bit more daring outside of average conversation, as if they were telepathic pen pals, "You clearly need me, and... I clearly need you. This isn't news to me. And, I'm sorry, but no matter how many times you tell me to go about my strife by myself, and you for yourself... I-I still will always want you by my side."

Berri held her breath and now felt her heart pound, the insane beating in her chest rose from the dead stress levels to that of warming revival, something that she felt bashful that Turbo was immediately aware of. He dared a small smile, shook his head and, although they had an audience and his hands began to start shaking, he knew this was bought time, deserved time. He was well aware Zed texted him for a reason, and with this extraordinarily raw honor, Turbo inhaled a revived breath and knew he had earned this opportunity to swoop in hard, to wear his and Berri's friendship like a badge of honor and hopefully promote said title. Knowing full well he was due to stepping on Gunner's toes, here, he bravely nosed into Berri's worries, surface level, and discovered a hidden gem adding to her worry. He softened his facial expressions and peered to Berri in sorrow as the recent memory of Gunner practically silencing Berri on stage stabbed like a knife through Turbo's heart. He almost allowed anger into their silent swap session, though he exhaled his breath of anger and saw a glimmering opportunity here, an opportunity to reel Berri on back to his side of the Arcade.

"Yeah, Berri's stress levels are through the roof, I mean... This is beginning to get out of hand," Turbo grumbled softly to the small group, he tried to seem as unassuming as he could, "And, you're right... Berri somehow has the ability to see these creatures, simply because she had to deal with its innards sapping into hers, pretty much."

"I guess it's a good thing she can see these creatures, but... I don't think it'd be enough to simply just spot them," Zed's deep voice glossed Turbo's and Berri's still shivering exterior connection, a gentle glow that kissed the undersides of their jaws with their rosey goodness, "It would incite panic... There's nothing she can do to single handedly keep the peace, at a concert, and deter a deleter. Either the deleter is deterred, assuming full panic, or..."

"Gamers lose their lives," Theo mumbled in gentle despair, though everyone slowly brought their eyes to Turbo's dominant positioning in the group; his able right hand hovered over Berri's coding, whilst his left hand was still glued to Berri's, their coding continued to beautifully flare, unabated.

"There has to be SOME way that you can secure a single location with that deleter protection," Zed mumbled in soft desperation as he shook his head, "I'm very aware that's a tall order, but... I'd hate for their very first concert to be ruined by these deleters, leaving fans with their lives lost."

"It's... Definitely a very tall order, but," Turbo started in mild defeat, though he eased Berri a soft, cheeky smile and gave her a look of rising encouragement, "Leave it to me. I'm positive I can figure something out."

"Our concert is next weekend," Theo worried humbly, his emerald eyes hooked to Turbo's in worry, though Turbo inhaled a deep breath and gave Tessa and Zed a look of polite, challenging authority.

"Under one condition," Turbo instructed quietly, which had Tessa and Zed gingerly perked in readiness; they had been so used to Turbo's more deflated, 'roll over and say yes' demeanor this whole year that this new spark of authority had them reeling a little. Nonetheless, they kindly nodded and gave Turbo the floor, "I'm going to need Berri to be with me tomorrow. If I'm to construct such a protection, I'm going to need that shred of deleter coding that has somehow made itself at home in her mainframe."

"You mean, miss Academy tomorrow?" Zed asked, Theo raised his eyebrows in question.

"As well as the rehearsal and press meeting we have tomorrow?" Theo urged, Turbo shook his head once and flood his and Berri's coding with dominance, easy, preserved dominance he had been saving for the rainiest of days.

"Yes, all of it, I'm going to need Berri for the whole day," Turbo's deep voice politely demanded, something that only he could get away with, the suave look of well-deserved entitlement in his eyes had Berri nearly swooning, something she was entirely shy to say that her coding was eagerly relaying to his.

"My parents are probably ready to kill you, right now," Berri silently transmitted to Turbo, via the structure of their exterior swap.

"Let 'em try," Turbo bravely responded to her, he cocked an eyebrow and gave her a boyish look of triumph.

"That's fine, it's probably for the best," Zed sighed in willing defeat, something Berri was nearly shocked at. Zed waggled his hand at the two, shook his head and blurt a small, humbled laugh, "With the way her stress levels are, I'm sure a day off would do her some good, anyhow. I'll relay the information to Gunner, myself. I'm sure he's not going to be happy about the missed rehearsals, and such, but... He'll have to go through the lot of us, then, I guess."

"Me first," Turbo bravely, and quietly snapped, something Berri felt her stomach clench to, a strange feeling of excitement and dread all in one go, and with such an exciting, relieving plan set in stone, Berri sagged her shoulders and allowed a dainty smile to sprawl her face.

"Thanks for looking out, guys," Berri eased as she lulled her eyes closed in relief, "I'll do my best to help figure this out."

"Lucky, I want a day off," Theo mumbled as he shook his head, though Tessa shrugged and looked up in a scheming way.

"I can easily text Oliver and tell him that we're all taking a raincheck on Academy tomorrow," Tessa chimed, to which Theo perked up in whole excitement.

"Holy User, you'd do that, Aunt Tess?" Theo's voice rasped in plea, though Zed shot him a mild look of dread.

"She's the Queen," Zed blurt a hard laugh, as did Turbo and Berri, "Her word is final."

"Good man," Tessa chirped in cuteness as she firmly pat Zed's shoulder and pulled out her phone, "Yep. No Academy. I'm tired too, guys."

"YES," Theo pumped his fists in the air as him and Tessa began to chatter and leave the room together, and though Zed hung back, with Berri and Turbo, for a small moment longer.

"Thanks, Turbo," Zed stated warmly, though he pointed an unwavering finger to his precious daughter and held his now authoritative gaze to Turbo's, "Don't let this one lift a finger, y'hear me? Cause she will. Ms. Busybody. You tell her to sit and relax and she'll find ten things to do."

"I'll make sure of it," Turbo eased a chuckle and waggled Berri's hand, in which was still sapped with their shared, rosey coding, and although it was not a secret any longer, Zed shot the two a knowing look as he began to walk away.

"...That's a beautiful code color, by the way," Zed dared as he gestured to the two, and though the look of whole entire bashfulness rocketed from one to one hundred, on Berri's and Turbo's faces, Zed still carried on through a small, cheeky laugh, "Rare to come by."

Turbo raised his eyebrows in prickled softness and watched as Zed's smiling, scheming demeanor finally began to sag out of the sunny den, ultimately leaving Berri and Turbo to themselves, something they clearly needed. Turbo heaved a shaky sigh through his nose and glanced down to their lovely shared coding, something that nearly gave them a sunburn with the obvious, and with such, Turbo braved Berri's sweet, exhausted eye contact. Turbo shook his head in mild annoyance, as did Berri, who playfully rolled her eyes and looked off with a broader smile. Turbo chuckled and squeezed Berri's hand, he was floored the two remained in their exterior swap, no matter how shy and bashful the two were becoming.

"How long has Gunner been silencing you on stage, Bear?" Turbo braved, somehow the addition of Berri's coding gave Turbo that extra punch of confidence, something he was excited to utilize here.

"I-I... It's not a big deal, I just don't know how to keep my mouth shut," Berri staggered nervously, though with Turbo's coding now bravely sourcing hers, she knew she couldn't tell white lies, here.

"It's been since your second ever rehearsal together, and it's clearly killing you inside," Turbo rushed confidently, he narrowed his eyes and gave Berri a challenging glower, "He understands that I will find his ass, right? Let him step inside Sugar Rush and see what happens, huh?"

"Bo, stop it," Berri nearly laughed, she shook her head and gave him a surprised, almost gaping smile, "It's not malicious, it just contaminates the mic's and the feedback, I understand..."

"I'll contaminate his mic with somethin'," Turbo muttered in disgusted anger, he shook his head and urgently rooted himself at Berri's figurative side, "Tomorrow, you and I will have a proper jam session. You can sing all you want and I won't tell you to stop. Only an asshole would tell someone that has the voice of a literal angel to stop."

"... Where are you getting all of this anger from? Certainly it's not from my coding," Berri choked a hard laugh and squeezed Turbo's hand a little harder.

"You know wrecking rage can come out differently in certain people," Turbo furiously rubbed the back of his head and looked off in almost smiling irritation, "It's fine, he's just not on my good side, you know that."

"Clearly," Berri eased more laughter at just how fidgety Turbo was becoming, though she shook her head and now tried to flood their shared coding with something a little sweeter, "So when you said we'd be coming up with a plan to make the arena safe, what you MEANT was that we'd be just having a simple jam-session at your house?"

"We're going to do work, but... We can also do whatever you want," Turbo finally sighed and tried to let go of his frustration, he smiled and lulled his eyes closed amidst the small shake of his head, "Whatever makes you happy, whatever eases your stress levels."

Berri felt her face heat up a little, she looked off and felt a weird bout of guilt hit her. She wondered if she should just fall off the grid, leave her phone at home, ignore the whole entire world for a free day of no responsibilities. She figured there was no better way to spend said nonsensical day than with the one person that understood her best, though somehow, with the rush of confidence in Turbo's demeanor, she felt her insides clench in anticipation, as if he had maybe been given a rare go-ahead to somehow accomplish all the things he never dreamed he could, a free day to desperately keep the ball tight in his court, Berri sagged and felt relieved the responsibility of it all was taken out of her hands; she was fully prepared to just let the following day play out however the universe desired it to be played out, harboring a guilt-free attitude, right off the bat, was Berri's get-out-of-jail-free card she was fully prepared to deploy on whoever tried to challenge her. A single day to forget all rules, no matter the cost.