Lottery
Chapter 32
By Mark J. Silva Jr
Mark gasped in shock as the Holoband was pulled off of his face. After blinking his eyes back into focus, he found Olive smiling back at him.
“I told you to take them off yourself Mark.”
Mark stared at her, dumbfounded. No one had been home when he had logged on. Lily had gone to Holli's place while Di was out shopping.
Olive was one of Di's daughters, and an excellent Holoband designer and technician. She was one of the few people Mark trusted to enter his room freely… but, what was she doing here?
Mark sat up in the recliner, “What happened, how did you know?”
Olive smiled and sat down on the couch, “Well, Mark, even I like to play games. In games like Grunge City I used an alt profile so people don't figure out who I am, and bug me for hacks or favors.”
“Why didn't you just tell them to let me go?”
“Oh, let's see. The game you where playing had terms. The team who rescued you, or brought you to their safe house got to keep you for a night,” Olive said as she checked over Mark's Holoband.
Mark raised an eyebrow and said, “Yes, and?”
“Well, the way I see it, I saved you from a gang of horny teenaged girls. Yes, you where already in my safe house, but I did have you moved to a safe room. Then, once your Holoband was removed, the win was awarded to me.”
Mark batted his eyes at Olive, “If you had wanted to play, all you had to do was ask.”
Olive almost dropped the Holoband, “Umm.”
“But won't your friends be mad at you for letting me go?”
Olive collected herself, “They are, and I promised to make it up to them. See, in a few minutes your going to log back in and start a new game: 'Hide and Seek.' But this time you will have what ever you need, and you'll be dressed for the game. I will meet you at the portal and give you a 'point awarder.' Each time a new player finds you, you will award them 5000 points. Then they will release you and you will run and hide again and others will get a chance to find you.”
Mark thought about it for a few moments. “So I can bring anything in with me?”
“Well, almost anything. No weapons and no close range radar. I think after ten hours we will call it a game and tally up how many captures and how many escapes and award you accordingly.”
“No,” Tina said all of a sudden.
Mark looked over at her and Tina seemed a little upset.
“What do you mean, 'no?'” Olive asked.
“Mistress limits Mark's time on the holoband. He can play for another four hours and then I have to lock the holoband away for the day,” Tina explained.
Olive frowned and thought about it for a few minutes, “Okay then, we can spread this over a few days so as many as possible get a chance at capturing you.”
* * * *
On the second day of 'Hide and Seek' and Mark had done pretty well in keeping away from the girls, out of some two hundred players only fifteen had captured him. Mark had logged off for an hour, to eat (Not his choice). When he logged back on, Mark found himself in a super-skyscraper tower. It was over a mile high, but only had two working lifts. Each lift went just twenty floors at a time.
When Mark first entered the room and looked out the windows he got dizzy and sick from the height. It took some time to collect himself, and move into the inner parts of the tower. Bringing up his HUD's long range radar, Mark frowned. He was on the four hundred and seventy second floor. Just fifty floors below him, was a gang stronghold.
Mark could tell if anyone was with in ten floors of himself but the activity on the gang's floor told him they clearly knew someone had entered the game just above them. Pulling up info on the tower, Mark found there was a working lift. He knew the gang would be watching for it because the floor they were on was where this one would stop and he would have to change to the other lift to go down farther. There was also an inner staircase, and four outer stair cases. The outer stairs shared a glass wall to the outside. The one fire ladder went up and down, but was actually attached to the outside of the tower.
Mark was trapped. There was no way in the world he could use the fire ladder, and the outer staircases would make him sick with fear. Opening the door to the inner staircase, Mark could hear the girls as they were running up the stairs, headed his way.
Two hours later, Mark had eluded capture over a dozen times. The tower had a lot of crawl spaces and ventilation shafts, and with some creative navigation, Mark had stayed free.
Two of the girls hunting him down could be clearly heard and were very pissed off because he had escaped from them, personally, more than a few times. He had even caused one to get stuck in a crawl space. Her friends had had to pour nasty used motor oil on her, or she would have had to log off and make the long trip back to the tower.
The oil stank so badly, that Mark was able to use the smell to keep away from her.
Then Mark entered a room and blundered right into a girl who grabbed him, “Gotcha!”
Mark laughed and smiled, “You sure did!”
Mark pulled out the small awarder device, and pointed it at the girl. Seconds later, 5000 points was awarded to the girl.
“I'm Wendy and thanks, what happens now?”
“For you, the game's ended for today,” said Mark as he put the awarder away
“Hey, don't put that away, yet,” said another girl from the doorway.
Mark turned and gave the girl a big smile when he got a whiff of her and the stinky oil that covered her.
“Sorry, but she caught me alone, so she gets the points.”
The girl walked up to Mark and grabbed his shirt collar and Mark tried to shove her back, “Hands off, I get ten minutes before the next seek.”
“No! I caught you now! Give me my points, NOW!”
Mark started to get nervous and said, “I can't, the awarder won't work until I am free for ten minutes.”
“Macy, let him go,” Wendy said.
“Shut the fuck up, I've been chasing this boy all over the tower,” Macy said as she held Mark by his collar.
“And stinking up the tower while you at it,” Mark sniped at Macy.
Macy saw red and tossed Mark into the other room while swearing up and down.
“Macy, you're going to get the refs called,” Wendy said.
She tried to stop Macy, but Macy then punched Wendy hard in the face, sending her to the floor.
Before Mark could collect himself, Macy grabbed him and slammed Mark into the glass outer wall, face first.
Mark freaked out, and panicked. Kicking and screaming, Mark fought for his freedom from Macy.
It took a few moments for Macy to realize that Mark was freaking out from the height, and not from her maltreatment. She yanked him away from the glass wall, laughing.
“Give me the points, or I will put you out that wall.”
“I can't! It won't work,” Mark said, in tears.
Macy pulled out a homemade gun, and shot out the glass of the glass wall, sending bits and pieces falling for over a mile, down to the ground below. Then Macy half carried, half dragged Mark over to the opening, hanging him part way out.
“Last chance,” she threatened.
Mark was too busy screaming and trying to get a grip on Macy's arm.
Since Macy wasn't getting anything useful she let Mark go. Wendy screamed as she entered the room and watched Macy drop Mark out of the window.
Mark fell a few feet, and suddenly stopped! A pair of arms wrapped around him.
“You're safe! Just keep your eyes closed, and I will take you to safety."
In the room, hell opened up right in front of Wendy! An older lady appeared out of thin air, and shoved her hand right into Macy's face. She did not grab her BY the face, but put her hand INSIDE of Macy's head and lifted her into the air like a toy doll!
“How dare you! When I am done with you, little girl, you will never lay a hand on my little blues eyes ever again!” came out of the lady's mouth like venom from a pit viper.
As Wendy stared in shock, a hand was placed on her shoulder and suddenly Wendy found herself kicked out of the VR world. She was suddenly sitting in her room, miles away from Mark's home.
“Mom let her go,” Olive said as she walked over to where Lisa held Macy.
Lisa looked at Olive, and smacked Macy into the wall once more.
Olive looked around the room and noticed the broken window, and the absence of Mark.
“What happened?”
A breeze stirred, and suddenly Olive came face to face with Hera, who was holding Mark in her arms.
“I got him, Lisa,” Hera said as she walked into the room.
Olive stepped right over to Mark, and knew instantly knew there was a major problem.
“Has he said anything at all?”
Hera looked at Lisa, and then back to Olive.
“No, he hasn't made a sound at all since I caught him.”
Lisa walked over and touched Mark's cheek.
“He's stuck,” Lisa said.
“I'm afraid so. Mom, it will take me twenty minutes to get to Mark's house. I need you two to take him into high orbit until I can pull him back,” Olive said as she sent a game-wide 'global notice' to evacuate the game.
Being 'stuck' happens when a player is shocked, and can no longer tell reality from virtual reality.
When Olive pulled up to her mother's house she was greeted by six girls who had been pounding on the door, trying to get someone's attention. As Olive got up to the front porch, she recognized Wendy.
“Hey, she's the system Ref I saw,” Wendy said right away as she recognized Olive.
“Is Mark okay?” all the girls asked.
“He will be, shortly, but how did you find him?” Olive said.
The girls all looked at Wendy, “Well, when I met him, I thought he was really cute. I hacked his ident. When Macy tossed him out the window…”
“He won't answer the door,” one of the girls said as Olive placed her hand on the access pad.
“Ref, who are you?” Wendy asked when the door unsealed and Olive walked in.
“I'm his owner's Aunt, and his friend,” Olive said as she walk into the house.
Before she crossed the living room, she heard a low growl from the hallway.
“Easy, Penny. It's me, Olive.”
Peeking at the shadows, Olive got a glimpse of Penny's yellow eyes and fangs.
“Who are they,” Penny asked in a very low growl, as she crept from the hallway.
The girls behind Olive gasped at the sight of Penny. Penny had her hackles raised and was walking on all fours, but they could all clearly see that the wolf was a pet.
“They're friends, Penny. They're very worried about Mark. Will you let us see him?”
Penny crept back into the hallway, and disappeared into the shadows.
“You girls stay close, and no sudden movements. Penny is very dangerous. She will kill if you seem to threaten Mark in any way,” Olive explained as she headed down the hallway.
Olive entered the room, and found Tina waiting.
“Has he made any noise since I spoke to you last?” Olive asked.
The girls filed in and it didn't take them long to understand what had happen and they started whispering.
Wendy stepped up to Mark's bed and she saw Penny move out of the corner of her eye, “Is there a trauma team on the way?”
Olive sat on the side of Mark's bed and connected something to his holoband.
“Not needed. I can get him out.”
The device blinked red, and then yellow. A few more seconds and it changed into a steady green.
“What that?” one of the other girls asked.
“A private interlink,” Olive said.
Moments later Olive stood in Mark's private safe room, and smiled. The room was just like his room back in the house and very very secure.
“Hera? Mom? If you can hear me, I have opened a port. You should be able to bring Mark directly into his safe room.”
Seconds later Lisa and Hera walked through a wall and entered the room with Mark.
“Place him on the bed Hera.”
Hera placed Mark on the bed and Olive sat down on the bed.
“I know you can hear me, Mark. What happened was scary! It seemed so real, but it wasn't real.”
Mark didn't move or make a sound.
Olive touched the interlink, and turned down the holoband data stream.
“Mark, as we sit here in your safe room, there are six girls in your room at your home.”
Then she saw Mark's eye barely open, and shut tightly.
Another adjustment. Mark felt it, this time, and it showed on his face.
“You felt that, Mark? I have thinned out the data stream. Just relax. A few more adjustments and you will be back in your own head, where you belong.”
Back in the room, the girls worried and watched as Olive made another adjustment.
“Can we help?” Wendy asked.
Olive looked at her and had an idea, “Talk to him, All of you come over here and talk to him about anything.”
Olive touched Mark's cheek in the safe room, “I have thinned the stream a bit more, Mark, if you listen you should hear the girls in your room.”
“Mark, dear, someone was at the…” Di started to say as she entered the Mark's room, and found Olive and the girls around him.
Mark was now sitting up, and looking a tad shaken. When he saw who was behind Di, Mark shrieked and threw the covers back over himself. Penny started snarling. Di looked confused at Mark when Olive walked over to her and the new guests.
“Hi, Mom. I see Macy and her mother found their way here.”
The older lady behind Macy, shoved Macy hard, into the room.
“Look at what you did to that boy,” Macy mother said as she smacked Macy in the back of the head.
“I'm sorry for coming over without calling, but when Wendy's mom called me and told me all that had happened, I thought it was important that Macy get over here and apologize.”
“What happened?” Di asked, regretting bringing the two directly to Mark's room.
“She tossed Mark out of a window in the VR game, nine hundred stories high!” a few girls said at once.
Di looked at Macy, who was clearly feeling how much she was now hated.
“Why in the world would you do that?”
“Why don't you tell her, Mercedes,” Macy's mom said.
“I didn't know he was scared of highs.”
“Bull… Fucking… Shit!” Wendy snarled. “I was there! I saw the way you smiled when you realized he was afraid!”
“I'm sorry.”
“You need to tell Mark that, not us,” Olive said as she walked up to Macy.
Macy followed Olive over to the bed and sat on the side when a few of the other girls moved to make room.
“Ms. Bradly, I'm sorry this happened, Mercedes has a younger nephew that she treasures and plays with all the time. When Wendy's mom called, I was shocked to hear what she had done,” Macy's mom explained as Macy touched the covers that Mark had pulled over himself.
“I hope you will forgive me, Mark. I got frustrated in the game, and I lost my temper,” said Macy as she brushed at the covers that were still on Mark.
“Are you Mercedes Ingalls?” asked an authoritative new voice from the doorway.
Everyone turned to face the new person. Mark peeked out, as he recognized her voice. Standing in her Duty Uniform as a Police Investigator, was Tessa.
Macy just about shit herself as she stood up, “Yes, Officer.”
Tessa walked fully into the room as Macy's mom stepped up to her.
“I'm Harley Ingalls, Mercedes' mother.”
“Hello, Ms. Ingalls. A compliant has been filed against your daughter for male abuse, during a VR game session,” Tessa explained.
Looking back at her daughter, she said, “Please don't get me wrong, but isn't this below a Police Captain's normal purview?”
Tessa smiled chillingly and said, “You are correct. But, since I personally know the victim, and his owner; I thought I would investigate. Firstly, I wanted to get Mark's side of what happened," she said. Then she added, even more frigidly, "And would you believe my luck in finding your daughter… here… also.”
Ms Ingalls shivered as the pieces started falling into place as she read Tessa's Police badge, and thought of the others in the room: a retired Navy NCO; a Greystone Holoband technician; and now, a Police Investigator. Plus, there were pets that were clearly as deadly as a blaster. Add the high security door on his room, and…
This boy was Valuable, with a capital V! He was also well cared for, and her daughter was 'up shit creek.'
“Maybe we should step out of the room and talk this over, privately?” Di said.
“I told you to take them off yourself Mark.”
Mark stared at her, dumbfounded. No one had been home when he had logged on. Lily had gone to Holli's place while Di was out shopping.
Olive was one of Di's daughters, and an excellent Holoband designer and technician. She was one of the few people Mark trusted to enter his room freely… but, what was she doing here?
Mark sat up in the recliner, “What happened, how did you know?”
Olive smiled and sat down on the couch, “Well, Mark, even I like to play games. In games like Grunge City I used an alt profile so people don't figure out who I am, and bug me for hacks or favors.”
“Why didn't you just tell them to let me go?”
“Oh, let's see. The game you where playing had terms. The team who rescued you, or brought you to their safe house got to keep you for a night,” Olive said as she checked over Mark's Holoband.
Mark raised an eyebrow and said, “Yes, and?”
“Well, the way I see it, I saved you from a gang of horny teenaged girls. Yes, you where already in my safe house, but I did have you moved to a safe room. Then, once your Holoband was removed, the win was awarded to me.”
Mark batted his eyes at Olive, “If you had wanted to play, all you had to do was ask.”
Olive almost dropped the Holoband, “Umm.”
“But won't your friends be mad at you for letting me go?”
Olive collected herself, “They are, and I promised to make it up to them. See, in a few minutes your going to log back in and start a new game: 'Hide and Seek.' But this time you will have what ever you need, and you'll be dressed for the game. I will meet you at the portal and give you a 'point awarder.' Each time a new player finds you, you will award them 5000 points. Then they will release you and you will run and hide again and others will get a chance to find you.”
Mark thought about it for a few moments. “So I can bring anything in with me?”
“Well, almost anything. No weapons and no close range radar. I think after ten hours we will call it a game and tally up how many captures and how many escapes and award you accordingly.”
“No,” Tina said all of a sudden.
Mark looked over at her and Tina seemed a little upset.
“What do you mean, 'no?'” Olive asked.
“Mistress limits Mark's time on the holoband. He can play for another four hours and then I have to lock the holoband away for the day,” Tina explained.
Olive frowned and thought about it for a few minutes, “Okay then, we can spread this over a few days so as many as possible get a chance at capturing you.”
* * * *
On the second day of 'Hide and Seek' and Mark had done pretty well in keeping away from the girls, out of some two hundred players only fifteen had captured him. Mark had logged off for an hour, to eat (Not his choice). When he logged back on, Mark found himself in a super-skyscraper tower. It was over a mile high, but only had two working lifts. Each lift went just twenty floors at a time.
When Mark first entered the room and looked out the windows he got dizzy and sick from the height. It took some time to collect himself, and move into the inner parts of the tower. Bringing up his HUD's long range radar, Mark frowned. He was on the four hundred and seventy second floor. Just fifty floors below him, was a gang stronghold.
Mark could tell if anyone was with in ten floors of himself but the activity on the gang's floor told him they clearly knew someone had entered the game just above them. Pulling up info on the tower, Mark found there was a working lift. He knew the gang would be watching for it because the floor they were on was where this one would stop and he would have to change to the other lift to go down farther. There was also an inner staircase, and four outer stair cases. The outer stairs shared a glass wall to the outside. The one fire ladder went up and down, but was actually attached to the outside of the tower.
Mark was trapped. There was no way in the world he could use the fire ladder, and the outer staircases would make him sick with fear. Opening the door to the inner staircase, Mark could hear the girls as they were running up the stairs, headed his way.
Two hours later, Mark had eluded capture over a dozen times. The tower had a lot of crawl spaces and ventilation shafts, and with some creative navigation, Mark had stayed free.
Two of the girls hunting him down could be clearly heard and were very pissed off because he had escaped from them, personally, more than a few times. He had even caused one to get stuck in a crawl space. Her friends had had to pour nasty used motor oil on her, or she would have had to log off and make the long trip back to the tower.
The oil stank so badly, that Mark was able to use the smell to keep away from her.
Then Mark entered a room and blundered right into a girl who grabbed him, “Gotcha!”
Mark laughed and smiled, “You sure did!”
Mark pulled out the small awarder device, and pointed it at the girl. Seconds later, 5000 points was awarded to the girl.
“I'm Wendy and thanks, what happens now?”
“For you, the game's ended for today,” said Mark as he put the awarder away
“Hey, don't put that away, yet,” said another girl from the doorway.
Mark turned and gave the girl a big smile when he got a whiff of her and the stinky oil that covered her.
“Sorry, but she caught me alone, so she gets the points.”
The girl walked up to Mark and grabbed his shirt collar and Mark tried to shove her back, “Hands off, I get ten minutes before the next seek.”
“No! I caught you now! Give me my points, NOW!”
Mark started to get nervous and said, “I can't, the awarder won't work until I am free for ten minutes.”
“Macy, let him go,” Wendy said.
“Shut the fuck up, I've been chasing this boy all over the tower,” Macy said as she held Mark by his collar.
“And stinking up the tower while you at it,” Mark sniped at Macy.
Macy saw red and tossed Mark into the other room while swearing up and down.
“Macy, you're going to get the refs called,” Wendy said.
She tried to stop Macy, but Macy then punched Wendy hard in the face, sending her to the floor.
Before Mark could collect himself, Macy grabbed him and slammed Mark into the glass outer wall, face first.
Mark freaked out, and panicked. Kicking and screaming, Mark fought for his freedom from Macy.
It took a few moments for Macy to realize that Mark was freaking out from the height, and not from her maltreatment. She yanked him away from the glass wall, laughing.
“Give me the points, or I will put you out that wall.”
“I can't! It won't work,” Mark said, in tears.
Macy pulled out a homemade gun, and shot out the glass of the glass wall, sending bits and pieces falling for over a mile, down to the ground below. Then Macy half carried, half dragged Mark over to the opening, hanging him part way out.
“Last chance,” she threatened.
Mark was too busy screaming and trying to get a grip on Macy's arm.
Since Macy wasn't getting anything useful she let Mark go. Wendy screamed as she entered the room and watched Macy drop Mark out of the window.
Mark fell a few feet, and suddenly stopped! A pair of arms wrapped around him.
“You're safe! Just keep your eyes closed, and I will take you to safety."
In the room, hell opened up right in front of Wendy! An older lady appeared out of thin air, and shoved her hand right into Macy's face. She did not grab her BY the face, but put her hand INSIDE of Macy's head and lifted her into the air like a toy doll!
“How dare you! When I am done with you, little girl, you will never lay a hand on my little blues eyes ever again!” came out of the lady's mouth like venom from a pit viper.
As Wendy stared in shock, a hand was placed on her shoulder and suddenly Wendy found herself kicked out of the VR world. She was suddenly sitting in her room, miles away from Mark's home.
“Mom let her go,” Olive said as she walked over to where Lisa held Macy.
Lisa looked at Olive, and smacked Macy into the wall once more.
Olive looked around the room and noticed the broken window, and the absence of Mark.
“What happened?”
A breeze stirred, and suddenly Olive came face to face with Hera, who was holding Mark in her arms.
“I got him, Lisa,” Hera said as she walked into the room.
Olive stepped right over to Mark, and knew instantly knew there was a major problem.
“Has he said anything at all?”
Hera looked at Lisa, and then back to Olive.
“No, he hasn't made a sound at all since I caught him.”
Lisa walked over and touched Mark's cheek.
“He's stuck,” Lisa said.
“I'm afraid so. Mom, it will take me twenty minutes to get to Mark's house. I need you two to take him into high orbit until I can pull him back,” Olive said as she sent a game-wide 'global notice' to evacuate the game.
Being 'stuck' happens when a player is shocked, and can no longer tell reality from virtual reality.
When Olive pulled up to her mother's house she was greeted by six girls who had been pounding on the door, trying to get someone's attention. As Olive got up to the front porch, she recognized Wendy.
“Hey, she's the system Ref I saw,” Wendy said right away as she recognized Olive.
“Is Mark okay?” all the girls asked.
“He will be, shortly, but how did you find him?” Olive said.
The girls all looked at Wendy, “Well, when I met him, I thought he was really cute. I hacked his ident. When Macy tossed him out the window…”
“He won't answer the door,” one of the girls said as Olive placed her hand on the access pad.
“Ref, who are you?” Wendy asked when the door unsealed and Olive walked in.
“I'm his owner's Aunt, and his friend,” Olive said as she walk into the house.
Before she crossed the living room, she heard a low growl from the hallway.
“Easy, Penny. It's me, Olive.”
Peeking at the shadows, Olive got a glimpse of Penny's yellow eyes and fangs.
“Who are they,” Penny asked in a very low growl, as she crept from the hallway.
The girls behind Olive gasped at the sight of Penny. Penny had her hackles raised and was walking on all fours, but they could all clearly see that the wolf was a pet.
“They're friends, Penny. They're very worried about Mark. Will you let us see him?”
Penny crept back into the hallway, and disappeared into the shadows.
“You girls stay close, and no sudden movements. Penny is very dangerous. She will kill if you seem to threaten Mark in any way,” Olive explained as she headed down the hallway.
Olive entered the room, and found Tina waiting.
“Has he made any noise since I spoke to you last?” Olive asked.
The girls filed in and it didn't take them long to understand what had happen and they started whispering.
Wendy stepped up to Mark's bed and she saw Penny move out of the corner of her eye, “Is there a trauma team on the way?”
Olive sat on the side of Mark's bed and connected something to his holoband.
“Not needed. I can get him out.”
The device blinked red, and then yellow. A few more seconds and it changed into a steady green.
“What that?” one of the other girls asked.
“A private interlink,” Olive said.
Moments later Olive stood in Mark's private safe room, and smiled. The room was just like his room back in the house and very very secure.
“Hera? Mom? If you can hear me, I have opened a port. You should be able to bring Mark directly into his safe room.”
Seconds later Lisa and Hera walked through a wall and entered the room with Mark.
“Place him on the bed Hera.”
Hera placed Mark on the bed and Olive sat down on the bed.
“I know you can hear me, Mark. What happened was scary! It seemed so real, but it wasn't real.”
Mark didn't move or make a sound.
Olive touched the interlink, and turned down the holoband data stream.
“Mark, as we sit here in your safe room, there are six girls in your room at your home.”
Then she saw Mark's eye barely open, and shut tightly.
Another adjustment. Mark felt it, this time, and it showed on his face.
“You felt that, Mark? I have thinned out the data stream. Just relax. A few more adjustments and you will be back in your own head, where you belong.”
Back in the room, the girls worried and watched as Olive made another adjustment.
“Can we help?” Wendy asked.
Olive looked at her and had an idea, “Talk to him, All of you come over here and talk to him about anything.”
Olive touched Mark's cheek in the safe room, “I have thinned the stream a bit more, Mark, if you listen you should hear the girls in your room.”
“Mark, dear, someone was at the…” Di started to say as she entered the Mark's room, and found Olive and the girls around him.
Mark was now sitting up, and looking a tad shaken. When he saw who was behind Di, Mark shrieked and threw the covers back over himself. Penny started snarling. Di looked confused at Mark when Olive walked over to her and the new guests.
“Hi, Mom. I see Macy and her mother found their way here.”
The older lady behind Macy, shoved Macy hard, into the room.
“Look at what you did to that boy,” Macy mother said as she smacked Macy in the back of the head.
“I'm sorry for coming over without calling, but when Wendy's mom called me and told me all that had happened, I thought it was important that Macy get over here and apologize.”
“What happened?” Di asked, regretting bringing the two directly to Mark's room.
“She tossed Mark out of a window in the VR game, nine hundred stories high!” a few girls said at once.
Di looked at Macy, who was clearly feeling how much she was now hated.
“Why in the world would you do that?”
“Why don't you tell her, Mercedes,” Macy's mom said.
“I didn't know he was scared of highs.”
“Bull… Fucking… Shit!” Wendy snarled. “I was there! I saw the way you smiled when you realized he was afraid!”
“I'm sorry.”
“You need to tell Mark that, not us,” Olive said as she walked up to Macy.
Macy followed Olive over to the bed and sat on the side when a few of the other girls moved to make room.
“Ms. Bradly, I'm sorry this happened, Mercedes has a younger nephew that she treasures and plays with all the time. When Wendy's mom called, I was shocked to hear what she had done,” Macy's mom explained as Macy touched the covers that Mark had pulled over himself.
“I hope you will forgive me, Mark. I got frustrated in the game, and I lost my temper,” said Macy as she brushed at the covers that were still on Mark.
“Are you Mercedes Ingalls?” asked an authoritative new voice from the doorway.
Everyone turned to face the new person. Mark peeked out, as he recognized her voice. Standing in her Duty Uniform as a Police Investigator, was Tessa.
Macy just about shit herself as she stood up, “Yes, Officer.”
Tessa walked fully into the room as Macy's mom stepped up to her.
“I'm Harley Ingalls, Mercedes' mother.”
“Hello, Ms. Ingalls. A compliant has been filed against your daughter for male abuse, during a VR game session,” Tessa explained.
Looking back at her daughter, she said, “Please don't get me wrong, but isn't this below a Police Captain's normal purview?”
Tessa smiled chillingly and said, “You are correct. But, since I personally know the victim, and his owner; I thought I would investigate. Firstly, I wanted to get Mark's side of what happened," she said. Then she added, even more frigidly, "And would you believe my luck in finding your daughter… here… also.”
Ms Ingalls shivered as the pieces started falling into place as she read Tessa's Police badge, and thought of the others in the room: a retired Navy NCO; a Greystone Holoband technician; and now, a Police Investigator. Plus, there were pets that were clearly as deadly as a blaster. Add the high security door on his room, and…
This boy was Valuable, with a capital V! He was also well cared for, and her daughter was 'up shit creek.'
“Maybe we should step out of the room and talk this over, privately?” Di said.