Rick opened his eyes, the energy saving fluorescent lights causing him to blink a few times. Readjusting to the real could be disorienting; especially if the stage you were leaving in the Accelerated World was always dark or night time. Once his eyes were working again he took in his surroundings, trying to get a fix on where he was and what he was doing before his dive into the UNF.
Oh yeah! He was in that Dive Café in East Harlem, just south of 110th street! He glanced at the clock in the corner of his vision - provided by his neurolinker - and noticed he'd been in the Unlimited Field for a grand total of three minutes and twenty seven seconds! Ah, the convenience of acceleration! Plus, they hadn't even had to use half of their ten minute time limit! Whoever had managed to find Peach Parfait THAT quickly deserved a medal or something.
In fact, the only problem Rick seemed to be having was that he'd been in the UNF so long, he didn't remember what his plans for the evening were! He knew it was important, something worth remembering, but what was it?
Ha! That's what day-planners are for!
He was about to activate his planner app when he saw movement on either side of him and he remembered a very important truth.
He was not alone.
Eyes darting quickly to the left, he saw Jayne Lieber rubbing her eyes - even though they hadn't been in a dive for very long - while looking to the right saw Sarah Lieber letting out a wide-mouthed yawn and a scratch of the head. Ah, right! He was in a lock-from-the-inside, clear dive booth with two fairly good looking girls, the better to launch their mission of invading the Lupus Guard together.
"Well," Jayne said quietly, which was pretty unusual for her, "that was an adventure and a half. Wonder who found Peach Parfait?"
Rick tried to lighten the mood with a chuckle. "Well, it wasn't us! But I certainly learned a lot; like maybe we should never do something that stupid again? The Lupus Guard is terrifying!"
Sarah was about to say something when Jayne interrupted, placing her arms on the table in front of them. "Look, I just wanted to apologize for being so useless in the Magnesium Apex fight. I know I talk tough and boast and brag about being awesome, but when I saw Apex, it all just… came back to me. The feelings of pain around my toros and - ugh! And then that deep voice of his triggered some reflex in me and I just sorta lost it, you know? I suddenly had no desire to fight him or anybody anymore, and that's when I collapsed.
"I'm just sorry I wasn't more help, that's all." She lapsed into silence, head bowed.
Sarah reached across the small table that sat inside the horseshoe-shaped booth and took her twin's hand."That wasn't what we were worried about," she said calmly. "We were worried because we knew you were hurting and you didn't say anything to anyone; not even Crystal Seraph. Not even me."
The girls looked into each other's eyes. "You've NEVER hidden things from me," Sarah continued. "And I don't like it. We tell each other everything, there are no secrets between us. Even the embarrassing stuff and the gross, icky stuff! Please, please, don't hide things from me anymore."
Jayne nodded silently, eyes maybe a bit wetter than a moment before, gripping Sarah's hands tighter in her own.
This felt like a sister-to-sister thing, so Rick grinned and tried to excuse himself. "Clearly, you two need a few minutes alone to talk things out, so I'll just go. I think I have plans for tonight, but for the life of me, I can't remember what they are, so if you'll excuse me, I'll just step out of the booth and let you guys have your moment."
Unfortunately, he sat between the girls in the U-shaped booth, so he'd need one of them to move so he could get out. But it seemed that neither of them were inclined to move for him. In fact, Sarah turned and glared at him.
"And as for you, Mister," she said in an accusing tone that froze Rick where he sat, "my sister and I have already discussed what to do to YOU once we got back!"
Why!? What did I do? He tried to recall the past three and a half days in the UNF and whatever it was he could've done wrong as the twins began to scoot closer to him in their booth, one on each side. Sadly, the only thing that came to mind were all of the cheesy Star Wars analogies that Apex had thrown at him during their battle.
"If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine." was all he could manage before both girls caught him in a tight embrace, both mashing their cheeks on either side of his face in a double-decker bear hug, their bodies pressed tightly against his arms.
Uh… what?
His temperature gauge spiked dramatically when their cheeks separated from his, only to be replaced by their soft, moist lips. Granted, it was only on the cheeks, but he was being kissed by a pair of sisters! And twins, no less!
Rick took a nervous glance at the several people nearby who could see into their booth and let out a gulp. More than a few had stopped what they were doing to see what was going on between the three middle schoolers! Rick felt his face turn pink.
After what seemed like a mere second and eternity, the kisses ended and each girl scooched back to their seats. He took a few seconds to lower his core temperature a few thousand degrees by taking a few deep breaths and finally cleared his throat, hoping he looked just as confused as the small audience that had gathered.
"Uh, thanks? Umm… why?"
Sarah was busy inspecting her fingernails calmly. "Just a thank-you for keeping your promise."
"P-promise?"
"For keeping us safe." Jayne specified. "You said you'd protect us, and you did. In… well, in many more ways than you can imagine. You've helped both of us. A lot."
Did he? He was pretty sure that they had helped him way more. Maybe they didn't realize that?
"Oh, and," Sarah interrupted his thoughts, "we asked permission from Sam before the mission today, so it was totally okay to give you that kiss and not at all a thing you should tell others about."
Jayne cracked a smile. "And you seem to think it was pretty okay, too." she pointed, "Just based on how pink your face is."
"Huh!?" He desperately tried to hide his face as the girls burst into peals of laughter.
The Crystal Conclave held a victory party at Rick's apartment around 4:30 that afternoon, once everyone had been confirmed logged out of the UNF. Sitting in a circle around the small coffee table in his living room, the friends shared their stories about their adventures of the past three accelerated days.
Those that had helped but weren't part of the Conclave all declined the invite, not yet comfortable with exposing themselves in the real, which was totally understandable. Likewise, neither Pewter Slip nor Peach Parfait came, though both of them had sent heartfelt emails expressing their thanks for the dangers faced and the risks taken. Pewter Slip even wrote that the Slip Circuit wouldn't be engaging with the Conclave during the weekly territory battles!
Peach Parfait's email had given a more detailed accounting of what had happened and extolled the quick wit of Mauve Dictionary and the brash bravado of both Dusty Bronco and Raspberry Revolver.
All in all, it was a very festive atmosphere as sodas were drunk and bowls of chips and dip - provided by the twins - disappeared and a good time was had by all. Everyone listened to everybody else's stories of battle: Indigo Viper and her new friends against the group of fanatics. Mauve Dictionary using Incarnate to fight against Cerise Lamia, and especially, Copper Tarnish's battle against both Magnesium Apex AND Platinum Patriot.
He blushed as he told them what had happened, both Sarah and Jayne interrupting when they felt he needed to be corrected. But by the time he finished defeating Patty, everyone applauded, cheering loudly. Embarrassed, he ducked his head in a bow and sat back down.
Things started wrapping up around 7:30, since Leander's curfew was 8:00, which Rick figured was still pretty late for a seven-year-old. Clearly, his parents must trust him a great deal!
Rick stood at the door of his apartment as everyone left, giving them good-byes and thank yous as they went. Sarah and Jayne both gave him another hug - separately this time - thanking him once more for keeping them safe. Lisa raised an eyebrow of suspicion as she left, and he and Leander traded their special super-secret handshake.
Finally, it was just him and Sam, both of whom simply loitered at the open door for a minute before she asked. "Need help cleaning up?"
Rick blinked, trying to translate the question into English. "Uh, what?"
Sam smiled. "The living room. Do you need help cleaning?"
"Oh! Uh, sure." He closed the door and followed Sam a few steps before stopping suddenly. He was alone in his apartment with his girlfriend, and it had been her idea!
It only took a matter of minutes to rinse out all of the bowls with crumbs in them, and the bowls with dips and salsas were washed in the eco-friendly water saving sink. With the floor being quietly cleaned by the Roomba that came with the apartment, they finished in no time at all.
Sam sat on the couch after they finished and motioned for Rick to join her. Nervous, he did so, feeling that he had an idea of what was coming.
"So," Sam said quietly. "I think we need to talk."
"A talk?" Rick parroted. Normally, a girlfriend only wanted to "talk" about one thing. Still, he nodded and looked into her light tan eyes to let her know he was listening.
"You need to explain this rumor about you, about us, going around the school," she said. "I don't believe them, that's for sure, but I need to know where you think they started. Middle-schoolers gossip about anything, but this just started this past week, so something started this and I'd like to know what."
Rumor? What rumor could she be- OH! Finally, the lightbulb clicked. Boy, his three days in the UNF really must've scrambled his thoughts! She was talking about the rumor at school that stated he was bragging about how far he'd gotten in his relationship with her!
Quickly, he told her about the misunderstanding between him and Billy Schnider, and the app that Billy's brother had made that had been the reason for the conversation in the first place. Sam expressed both surprise and anger at such a privacy-violating program and demanded that Rick never speak with Billy again; it wasn't a problem since he had no reason to speak with him again and wasn't planning on having one any time soon!
After that, Sam needed a minute to calm down, which she spent in the bathroom splashing water on her face. She returned and plopped back onto the couch in a huff.
"Some people just have WAY too much free time!" she said angrily. Rick could only nod in agreement, she turned to him and said, "I'll try to clear this up before any teachers or guidance counselors get wind of it. The last thing we need is our parents hearing about this!"
Rick nodded at that! His dad was an understanding guy, but he'd taught Rick from a young age to treat all women, young or old, with absolute respect. If he heard his snow as kissing and telling, Rick would REALLY be in for it!
Taking a breath and shaking his head, he looked back at Sam and thought he caught a hint of emotion that wasn't anger. Was that… sadness? "What's wrong?" he asked, taking her hand in his. "I mean, if it's about me, I can try to fix this myself. You don't need to get involved."
Sam shook her head. "That's not it. It's just…" She looked away for a second.
"It's okay. Tell me."
She looked back at him and a tear slid down her cheek. "I failed today."
Failed? In what? They had won! They had infiltrated an enemy stronghold and rescued Peach Parfait without a single casualty! Where was the failure? It was then that Rick remembered who hadn't told the story of THEIR journey through the Accelerated World. He didn't know what Sam did except for when she met up with Leander.
Quietly, she told him of Mars Beacon. About how he'd jumped into a fight between two level 9s and sacrificed himself for her, told her to reach her potential, unite the Accelerated World. And she explained how powerless she felt as she watched the poor avatar get eaten alive by his own Governor.
Afterwards, Rick was silent; what could he possibly say to make things better after that? He was so lost in thought trying to think of something, he didn't even flinch when Sam put her head on his shoulder, her quiet sniffles the only noise in the apartment. Reflexively, he put his arm around her and pulled her close, resting his chin on top of her head, hoping to at least offer some comfort.
After a few minutes, Sam sat up, wiping her eyes. "Thanks," she said. "I took that kind of hard. I'm glad you could be here to make me feel better." Her eyes, her beautiful eyes, slowly rose to meet his blue-green ones.
It was about that time that Rick finally remembered that he and Sam were all alien in his small, quiet apartment, and his father wasn't expected home until early the next morning! Strangely enough, it didn't really freak him out like it had only a few minutes ago. Comforting his girlfriend seemed the most natural thing in the world. More than that, Sam was a very good friend and making sure she was okay was the right thing to do.
But…
Rick gulped as he thought about the promise he'd made to himself if they all survived the mission that afternoon. But was now the right time to bring that up?
"I, uh… had a thought today. Out in the UNF, I mean."
Sam sat up a bit straighter, a grin quirking the side of her lips. "A thought, you say? Please, go on. I prefer the men in my life to think."
He grinned back and looked down at his lap, lest her tear-moistened eyes destroy his resolve. "Well, it occurred to me when I was fighting, or should I say defending against, Platinum Patriot." He looked back at Sam. "That guy is crazy strong, BTW. Also, he may just be crazy. I mean, he's got more than one screw loose, you know?"
Sam giggled and nodded. "And yet you defeated him. In quite the spectacular fashion, I might add."
He nodded. "Yeah, but I didn't know that was going to happen; especially when he lost his marbles, you know? And then he threatened to drive us all to total point loss and I started to kinda freak out a little. I was worried that if I lost Brain Burst, I'd lose you. Not, like, my memories of dating or anything, but you, specifically. Like, you wouldn't want to be with me if I wasn't Copper Tarnish anymore."
At this, Sam reached out and cupped his face in her hand gently. "You wouldn't lose me," she said. "And with or without Brain Burst, you ARE Copper Tarnish and Gold Virtue. "You'll never stop being them."
"I know," he replied, touching her hand with his, "but I got over that pretty quickly. See, the thought I had was that I should stop sweating the small stuff and seize the moment just as fast and as tightly as I can! And I'd like to start now."
Then, before he could double-guess himself, he carefully wrapped his free hand around the back of Sam's head and gently pulled her forward until their lips met in a chaste kiss, lasting a few seconds at most.
They broke apart, both pairs of eyes wide at the spontaneous action Rick had just taken. Finally, Sam blinked and sat back. "That was… unexpected."
Rick's eyes grew even wider. "I'm so, so sorry I didn't ask first! I mean, I was about to be obliterated in the UNF and I was so scared and all I could think was what if I never got a chance to-"
"Kiss me?" Sam interrupted.
"Let you know how I feel about you," he finished, hanging his head. "You're the most amazing person I've ever met and you've helped me grow in so many ways and even if we weren't dating, I'd like to think we'd still be really good friends.
"I don't just like you, I respect you."
"And may I respond?" Sam asked, a beat later. Without waiting for an answer, she took his head in her hands, brought his face to hers, and kissed him back; and not all that gently, either. Granted, since neither knew what they were doing, it wasn't particularly passionate - more a meshing of the lips from two people who had never kissed before - but no one could say they weren't enthusiastic!
After breaking apart again, Rick took a gulp of air and marveled at the past few seconds. He'd finally kissed Sam! More importantly, she'd kissed him back! He grinned and leaned in to give it another go, but his lips met resistance as her hand impeded his progress.
"Whoa, easy, lover boy," she said, her cheeks flushed. "I think that's enough for now."
Reluctantly, Rick backed off, secretly glad she'd ended it. They were still alone in his apartment and he wasn't quite sure what the next step might be, but it made him nervous to think about!
"I have a question though," she continued. "But it had nothing to do with… our new extracurricular activity, but back to Brain Burst."
"Oh, okay." He was hoping they could discuss their kisses, and when he might expect more…
"It's about Magnesium Apex; Darius."
"Oh," That certainly tanked Rick's libido! Probably good, all things considered. "What about him?"
"Do we let him in the Legion? After what you, Jayne, and Sarah have told me, we at least owe him a chance, don't you think?"
"I don't know. He's an amazing fighter and I'm still not sure how we beat him, even together. That said, at the end of the day, I think it's up to Sarah and Jayne. They were the ones who suffered most."
"That's very like you Rick, thinking of others, but what's your opinion?"
He shrugged. "Is there a probationary period for joining Legions? We could try something like that. I mean, isn't that what the Judgement Blow is for? Enforcing the Governor's rule?"
Sam nodded, "Of course, I'll speak with Sarah and Jayne, but I think they'll be amenable."
"Uh, what about Apex's child, uh, daughter? Will Baby Bubble join the Conclave too?"
"Of course!" she laughed. "What kind of heartless creature do you think I am?"
"Just asking…" he muttered.
"I ask about Apex," Sam went on, "because I have something of an adventure planned for the Conclave but it will require many high-level Burst Linkers to complete. With the exception of me, we are a Legion of mid-levels, so we need to either invite several high-level avatars to join us, or form an alliance with a Legion with plenty to spare.
Rick's eyes opened wide. "Which we just did by rescuing a high-level Senator from an enemy Legion!"
Sam nodded, a smile on her face. "The Slip Circuit has several level 7 Burst Linkers and three level 8s, two of which are Senators. Add Anya to the mix and we'll have an additional level 9 as well! Imagine that kind of power!" she said excitedly.
He did imagine it, and it was awesome! What kind of force could group like that muster? Two Governors? A shiver almost escaped down his spine, thinking about all of the objectives they could complete! What did Sam have in mind for this group?
"What's the adventure?" he sputtered, just as excited as Sam. "We doing a dungeon? Or are we invading the Lupus Guard for real, this time? There's no way Silver Lupus can stand against TWO level 9s!"
Sam shook her head. "I'm not telling. And it won't be ready until about mid-summer anyway, so I don't want you thinking about it yet. In fact, unless I'm wrong - and I'm pretty sure I'm not - you have something important coming up and you should be focusing on that."
"Uh… I do?"
"Mm hmm." she replied, nodding sagely. "There's an event happening on Memorial Day that is fairly important to me and your Legion?"
"I'm sorry Sam, but I just spent three days in the Accelerated World and I'm having trouble remembering what happened this morning, so could you just give it to me straight?"
Sam tsked, a smile on her face. "You'll have to get some programs to help with that memory of yours. But yes, you have a meeting on Memorial Day with the Governors of the Accelerated World so that we might ask to be officially recognized as an Accorded Legion."
Rick brought his hand up to his forehead. "That's right! How could I forget that!"
She nodded. "As my Senators, both you and Lisa will be there with me, so please try to remember the date."
He grimaced. "But Copper Tarnish doesn't clean up so well. Or, uh, polish up, as the case may be." But the thought of his Brain Burst avatar sparked a sudden memory and he quickly took Sam's hand.
"Oh! Sorry, Sam, but I just remembered something important I need to show you. Well, maybe not too important, but it's important to me. I think. Anyway, bear with me, k?"
"Okay," she said, a bemused grin on her face.
"Link to my home server. I'll open a portal for you."
She nodded, and together they called out the command that linked their neurolinkers - and thus, their minds - with the global net and the Billings home server. "Direct Link."
Rick felt much as he did when he activated Brain Burst, or was pulled into a duel, only instead of time slowing down and the world becoming blue, his living room dissolved into a star-filled night sky and he and Sam's bodies vanished. Though their consciousness was still there, floating around the void of space.
This wallpaper for the Billings home server was new and Rick had only recently changed it, but he wasn't entirely certain as to why. Only that he felt it needed a change.
Pushing that thought aside, he opened up a door that led to his personal page, the server recognizing his neurolinker, and he sent an invite to Sam, allowing her linker to access it. The page itself was small by normal standards, but extra server space was pricey and his dad couldn't afford it. It was one of the reasons he didn't make dive calls; not enough space!
Still, it was his little corner of the net, where he could store the few things he'd purchased online. But, much like his bland personal avatar that materialized once he entered his page, the space itself had no decoration; it was just a blank room with off-white walls. After a few seconds, Sam's avatar - a digital copy of her in her tennis uniform that her adoptive parents forced on her - appeared. She took a quick look around and nodded.
"Seems cozy."
"Yeah, I know," Rick said. "It's small and boring. But that's the reason I wanted to bring you here. See, I'd like you to help me, uh, spruce it up a bit. I'm no good at interior decorating." He raised his hand and clicked a button only he could see and suddenly, a large number of generic Dive Avatars appeared.
Rick shrugged. "I figured you could start with me."
Sam began pacing the rows of avatars, a hand to her chin. "Time for a change, hm?"
"I figure, if I'm coming out of my shell, I should start with the people around me. Those avatars were free, by the way, so they're a little boring, but I found a basic editor - also free, I might add - so we can at least make it look a little more interesting."
A giggle escaped Sam, and she stopped and pointed. "What do you think of this one?
Rick couldn't see it from where he stood, so he walked up to Sam, following where her finger pointed.
It was a small ping pig, about three feet tall, that stood on its hind legs. Its big, round belly and large, cartoon eyes were certainly different from his current avatar, but he didn't think it was quite what he was looking for. "Let's uh… try again."
"You sure?" Sam asked playfully. "I kinda like it. It's cute."
"We'll put it on the back-burner for now, oaky?"
Still smiling, Sam wandered through the small forest of avatars, asking questions and usually laughing at his semi-sarcastic answers. For his part, Rick was glad he'd decided to bring Sam here. Not long ago, both Sarah and Jayne had told him to spend more time with her, and maybe if he had, this whole debacle at school wouldn't have happened.
So he'd imagined setting this date up as a spontaneous way for Sam to forget about being a Governor of the Accelerated World and just let her be a teenage girl who needed to help her clueless boyfriend break out of the cage he'd built around himself. He almost didn't go through with it, but now, watching her take this selection of avatars so seriously, he was glad he did.
He had no idea how long they spent in his home server's dive-space, but it wasn't until the wee-hours of the morning that Sam left his apartment - after giving him a good night kiss - and Rick, completely floored by everything that had occurred that day, stumbled into his room and fell into his bed, still wearing his clothes.
And as he drifted into the sleep of the totally exhausted, a smile began to grow in the corners of his mouth, spreading across his normal, boring face.
