“Well, not exactly,” I admitted. “He’s kind of a special mod. But he does come in handy.”
“I bet.” Starr headed to the door. “So, where to next?”
I bit my lower lip, observing her eager expression. I realized I needed to come clean with her—at least as clean as possible—if she was going to continue gaming with us. Otherwise she could find herself involved in something dangerous. It wasn’t fair not to prepare her for that possibility.
“You know how I asked if anyone showed up to your house?” I started. “Well, someone did show up to ours.” I briefly told her about the men at our door, demanding their VR rigs. How we escaped via zip line.
“Wow,” Starr exclaimed when I had finished. “That’s crazy. Why didn’t they just disable your account? Why come after you in real life?”
I shrugged. “Maybe they wanted their equipment back before letting us know they were onto us?” I guessed. “I have no idea. Anyway, I wanted you to know before you agreed to keep on playing with us. I know you’re excited about exploring the game. But exploring with us could disqualify you completely.”
Or worse… I thought but didn’t say.
“Right.” Starr nodded. “Well, peace out, then. It’s been real.” She started toward the door.
My heart sank. She was leaving. I’d really hoped she’d stay. “Yeah,” I said. “It was really nice playing with you…”
She turned and started laughing.
“What?” I asked, totally confused.
“I’m just messing with you,” she declared. “You should see your face!” She gave me a wide smirk. “Come on, Ian. You think I’m actually going to bail on you now? When things are finally getting interesting?” Her eyes flashed with excitement, and relief flooded through me.
“I guess not,” I said.
“Trust me, I’m in. I’m definitely in,” she declared. “However, from now on, you need to be straight with me. What are we really doing here? Why are they after you? And don’t give me that silly story about your uncle wanting a job. I’m not stupid.”
“I know,” I said. “And I’m sorry I haven’t told you the truth.” I was, too. I mean, why keep secrets from Starr, who could actually help us, while Lilli spilled her guts to the literal enemy’s grandson? “I promise I’ll tell you everything. But first, let’s get out of here before the zombies get back.”
“Good idea,” she agreed. “Hopefully the staircases are all assembled by this point.”
“Actually, we don’t need stairs,” I said with a grin. “We’ve got our own personal air dragon, remember?”
“Oh, right.” Starr shot an appreciative look at Yano. “You definitely come in handy.”
“I do indeed,” Yano agreed, puffing out with pride. “You should see me in battle.” He fluffed out his wings. “Shall we head straight out the window?”
“Actually, back to the roof,” I replied. “I’ve got a quick quest to finish.”
We ran out into the hallway, past the dead zombies, and up the stairs. When we reached the trapdoor in the roof, Starr used her wings to fly up through it, then leaned down to give me a hand up. With her help, I scrambled onto the roof (I really needed to get a pair of those wings for myself!), and Yano shot up behind me.
Once he was in open air again, the dragon poofed back to full cyber-dragon size. Which was still rather impressive. Not that I’d ever admit it to him, for fear it’d go to his already oversized three heads.
Starr, however, did not hold back her awe. “Wow, wow, wow!” she cried, flying around the dragon. “You’re almost as cool as Atreus from Dragon Ops.”
I flinched at the A word, then turned away quickly, hoping Starr and Yano didn’t notice. Thankfully, Yano was too busy being offended by the unintended slight.
“Almost? You insult me, madam!” Yano huffed. Blinking his eyes, he added a rainbow sheen to his metal scales. It was so bright, it was almost blinding. “I’ll have you know I am at least ten degrees cooler than that poor excuse for an AI. Not to mention I am smart, loyal, and always follow my programming.”
“And very handsome,” Starr assured him, making Yano’s three heads blush in sync.
I rolled my eyes. “You’re going to ruin him,” I warned.
“Mech Heads! I’m so glad you’re here! I am in need of your help!”
NPC Ikumi appeared beside us, wringing her hands in dismay. I smiled at her, trying to look reassuring.
“We’re here to help,” I told her. “But we’re not going through the building. It’s far too dangerous. We are going to fly you down.”
“Zombies have taken over the building,” she replied, as if she hadn’t heard a word I said. “I got separated from my parents and ended up here. Will you help me?”
“Yes. Get on the dragon and we will,” I told her, feeling a little exasperated.
“They will reward you if you get me to them safely,” she added, glancing meaningfully over at the trapdoor.
“I’m trying to! You’re not exactly helping!”
Starr put a hand on my shoulder. “I don’t think she understands you,” she told me. “Some game characters don’t have a lot of range. They’re programmed for one scenario only. For her, that’s to go down into the building and lead you through a zombie maze.”
“That’s so depressing,” I said, feeling my stomach sink. I thought back to how hard Lilli had worked to save her. But for what? It meant nothing.
It was just a game.
“If it makes you feel any better, she’s got a great story line,” Yano piped in. “Once you rescue her, her parents will take you to the resistance. There, you’ll come up with a plan to liberate the city from zombies. It’s a huge quest chain, and from what I can see in the game developer notes, NPC Ikumi is meant to survive. In fact, she becomes queen of the Human City, which is what this place will be known as someday. She’s kind, fair,
