conceivable surface. Even the floor displayed text messages and static pics of people he knew, places he wanted to be, and products he liked. The walls and ceiling featured a variety of video feeds, but the floor did not. D_Light’s skin settings prohibited video on the floor. He found it disorienting, as moving images on the ground incited vertigo. This was doubly true for him when on peps.
“Morning breath?” The voice came from beside him. A man, looking far too much like his bio-father to be coincidence, smiled broadly at him. The semitransparent, tenderly smiling man waited to see if D_Light showed interest and then shifted naturally backward down the hallway as D_Light ignored him and advanced.
“Remember when Icy_B gagged and nearly threw up in her mouth when she kissed you?” Although that incident happened many years ago, the avatar did not need to elaborate. D_Light remembered.
His bio-father, rendered as true as life by the skin software, winked at him and asked, “How’s the breath this morning?” It did not wait for an answer because only a nOOb talked back to advertisements. “Too busy owning the Game to rinse? Get a booster of FlavaPhage™ today! Just one boost a month and-” D_Light shifted his attention away from the ad, which automatically cut off the auditory feed.
As he continued walking, he scanned the walls for something interesting. Burger_Fling™ reminded him that he had accumulated enough “Customer Love” points to get a free TerriBurger™ with his next visit. The Divine Authority suggested he visit a reproduction representative to see about a progeny permit. Saucy_Dice, a girl he perved a few weeks back, had posted yet another message for him. Saucy’s freckled face grinned at him mischievously. “What’s new, D? Give me a blink when you get a wink.” D_Light rolled his eyes. No doubt the skin software, called SkinWare, thought the message from Saucy and the message about getting a reproduction permit were related, which is why the messages were displayed near one another. As if D_Light would repro with a girl with freckles! D_Light frowned down at Smorgeous, who strode beside him, and sent, Smorgeous, I’m not interested in perving with Saucy ever again, much less having a child with her.
Smorgeous pinged confirmation. The familiar should have known better, D_Light thought. D_Light had no patience for poor message targeting. D_Light then thought about a fragment of a church hymn that he really liked: “To be a top player, optimize your input.” In response to that thought, the SkinWare finally gave him something useful. Huge 3-D letters appeared on the ceiling above him:
House Tesla Top Scorers in the Last Twenty-four Hours:
1. D_Light
2. Beensa Sardanaha
3. Speedy_LeeA
4. Down_to_ChinaTown
5. GloverAce
6. Mona_Love
Irritated, D_Light wondered why this wasn’t the first thing he saw when he punched into the skin. Not that he obsessively monitored the house ranking, but he was currently number one!
Master, the score tally was published 4.1 seconds ago. Smorgeous answered the question before D_Light even thought to ask it.
Under normal circumstances, D_Light would have basked in his glory. He would have just stood there on the stairway and smiled to himself. After all, there were over eight thousand members in his family, and he had won the day. Of course, his top position must be from a projected score, as the points from his win the night before had not officially been transferred. The points would be official soon enough, that is, after the ritual.
The cathedral was immense, inspiring, beautiful. Such splendor was not wasted here, for this was a place of renewal, a place that exuded zest for the Game. The walls arched, curving in to meet at the center of the sprawling ceiling. The dome was supported by huge pillars that were garnished to look like towering trees, complete with fine stone branches and ornate leaves of every shape and size. The sunlight of the summer morning filtered through large stained glass windows, creating the effect of a magical forest.
D_Light, perched high above on a branch of a faux tree, watched over the pews below. This was not meant to be a viewing point (stone leaves obscured much of his view), but it was private, allowing D_Light to observe the congregation unnoticed.
At the front of the congregation, Minister A_Dude was leading morning prayer. The music was just starting to crank. A morning service always started in this way. The music, which made up the backdrop of the service, always built up gradually. This provided routine for service members and a sense of anticipation. A thundering bass track was throbbing with a thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, which looped over and over. A female voice track glided over the bass, almost too softly to hear, but was building in volume. “Welcome, OverSoul…wel…wel…welcome, OverSoul…wel…wel…welcome to our feast.” This track also looped, but the warp of the voice varied with each iteration.
The congregation consisted of people in a wide array of attire, accompanied by their equally diverse animal-styled familiars. Through the chiseled leaves, D_Light could see LuckyB. The woman boasted a tall hat- impossibly tall-and a huge, splaying dress of fluorescent green; she bobbed and swayed toward the front with the greatest confidence. Luck loved to dance. Her familiar was styled as a baby leopard with unrealistically large blue saucers for eyes, making it permanently adorable. The leopard was up on its haunches, bobbing along with its master, mimicking her every move. If D_Light didn’t know better, he would have thought it was mocking her, but familiars were designed to be in sync with their masters, so this was expected behavior. D_Light had always admired Luck’s carefree attitude. She didn’t give a clip about anything or what anyone thought. With any luck, one day the two of them would get hooked up by MatchMaker™.
D_Light’s three favorite siblings were stationed toward the back in their usual spots. TermaMix, C, and K_Slice were swaying to the music in their routine, repetitive, and unimaginative manner. Of the three, K_Slice was the best dancer, but that was no surprise since she was a girl. Still, she didn’t hold a candle to most of her gender, especially not to a girl like LuckyB. K_Slice had a linear and inhibited mind, so while she might be technically good at performing dance moves, she had no style of her own. TermaMix and C, both geek males, simply had no style.
The mere thought of abandoning his perch was agonizing, but they were all expecting him. It would be an insult to the congregation not to show, for it was customary for the fragger to bear testimony for his deed. He had delayed too long as it was. A few noticed him as he descended the sharp-angled stairs of the long dais that led down to the congregation floor. He kept his head high and his chest puffed out, perhaps a bit too much. Word spread silently through the familiars, and soon all eyes-robotic and human alike-were on him.
“At last, our man!” shouted the unthinkably rotund minister, who grinned widely and laughed with a rumble.
K_Slice immediately sprinted up and sprang on D_Light like a windup toy, wrapping her arms and legs around him tightly. Having lost his footing, D_Light staggered a bit, but fortunately his old friend was a lightweight. “Alive and still walking!” she shouted, pressing her cheek against his.
The pulse of the beat quickened. The ritual was beginning. K_Slice unlatched herself and splayed out her arms, palms pointing toward D_Light. She waved them back and forth. Her torso bowed, and her hips gyrated in sync with the beat.
“Deeeelight!” the minister boomed. “Show us your hands!”
D_Light put his palms up and began swaying back and forth in rhythm. He knew he needed to look natural, to feel the beat, but the music was not suffusing him and he felt stiff. He needed to show strength. Oh, how he wished he had hit an enhancer before coming down here. To hell with his healthcare contract! He needed to be up at times like this. In response to his wish, Smorgeous sent out the required electromagnetic signal that unlocked the nanocontainers in his bloodstream. Still, it would be several seconds before D_Light would feel the effects of the drug.
No one seemed to notice his discomfort as the congregation cheered and closed in. There were hands, chests, and shoulders all pressed around him now. In unison, they swept back and forth, falling down and pulling away like giant breakers massaging a beach. As they moved back, D_Light had room to dance, which he now did with wild abandon. The pep administered by his familiar had taken effect, and he felt the blood rushing everywhere it needed to go.
“Yes, to play the Game well is divine,” A_Dude intoned with a throaty growl. The minister was dancing as
