Open World (4 page)

She
jerked her head up and her gaze landed on him.
“Oh, hey there,
Alden.
Help?
Nah.
JT, Bruce and Steve should be
back any moment. One of them will double check my connections.
Thought you’d be out there with your girl and her family.”

A
wide grin lit her face. Beth wasn’t a classic beauty, but there was something
about her mannerisms and expressions that had the guys in the company taking
second and third looks. He didn’t think she had any clue about her mysterious
allure.

“I
was. I told her I wanted to check out things in here. See if you all needed
help.”

Beth
swung an arm out. “Well, as you can see, we’re pretty much ready to go.”

The
lights flickered, brightened, dimmed and slowly went back to normal. Ceiling
fans which had slowed sped up again to resume their normal cycling.

A
curious tingle sparked in Den’s fingers, spread up and flared in his arms. The
‘boat’ sensation returned. He took a deep breath and mentally shook off the
wonky vibes, not wanting to face his issue at this particular time.

Beth’s
face paled. She shook her head.
“Oh no.
Not again.”

Her
quiet statements almost rattled him. “Not again what?” he inquired with an edge
of caution.

She
tried to move a couple strands of hair that had escaped her ponytail to behind
her ear.
“Might be something.
Might
be nothing.
Don’t mind me. With all the computers, crystals, wires and
such around me I get antsy when it comes to power surges and storms.” Beth
glanced at the doorway, the monitor, the entrance again. She rubbed the back of
her neck and repeated the actions of her darting gaze.

“Seems like you’re more than just
being antsy about a rain storm or Nevada Energy doing a rolling black out.
What’s troubling you?”

Beth
drew in a long breath and then let it out in puff. “Well, it’s a bit of a
story, but another player and I had some very unusual issues during a smaller
test run when there was a storm going on.
Very unsettling
stuff.”

Could Beth have been one of the
testers online when I’d been on, too, during that storm?
Den couldn’t recall anything out
of the ordinary happening. Just the normal quirks a game in development had.
But then again…
Could what happened that night be part of
what happened to me today?
What I
need to figure out?
“Who knows about those issues you had?”

“No
one does.” She shifted her stance, looked toward the door again.
“Except for a couple of programmers who needed to know.
I
just made sure to make it like there were lots of bugs that had to be fixed. Hopefully
they have been. Maybe I’ll tell you about it all after the party gets started.”

“That’d
be great.” Every piece of information counted if he were to make headway with
his issue.

Beth
looked down at the monitor. She clapped her hands, stretched over some gear on
the table and grabbed a cable. “Now I got you.” With deft fingers, she attached
it to the monitor.
“Ah ha!
Now it works.”

The
entrance door swung open. Three laughing men sauntered into the community’s
club house. Two older men with gray in their hair and bulk on their frames
sandwiched a younger man who carried a crate full of wires and connectors.

“Hey, JT.
We’re almost done setting up. Once
you put the crate next to the fireplace, could you go find Rick and let him
know we’ll be ready to start once everyone’s done outside?”

“Rick?”
The tall and lanky young man dropped the box next to the hearth and tilted his
head as he looked at Beth.

“Oh, sorry.
You only know him as Mr. Gott.
This is his community. He’s running the show today.” Beth followed another
cable and made sure it was set firmly in a power strip surge protector.

“Ho-kay.”
JT saluted and returned to the
exit. “You guys need anything from out there?”

A
chorus of
no
answered him. He left.

Den
twirled his finger in the air to indicate the room. “So, Beth, is that why you
were wrangled into helping with the networking for the party? Cause you’re
Rick’s assistant?”

A
blush crept into her cheeks. “Yeah, something
like
that.”

“Part of the story?”

She
lifted a shoulder.
“Could be.”
The flush in her cheeks
deepened. A wistful smile moved her lips.

He
nodded, knowing not to push the matter since she wasn’t forthcoming. “Okay. I won’t
pry for now. By the way, you haven’t seen Tavis yet, have you?”

She
shook her head then ducked under the far table. “Bruce? Steve? Could one of you
toss me—
”

“Beth,
get out from there. Steve and I will finish up the small stuff. Go take a
break.” Bruce dropped his hulking frame into a chair.

She
crawled out from beneath the table, wiped her hands on her jeans and walked
over to Den. “He said he might run late. Tav had me tell
Ri…
Mr.
Gott that he had to wrap up some stuff at the theater. After he was done he’d
come straight here.”

“Yeah,
that’s right. Now I remember.” With all the funkiness going on, he’d forgotten
his buddy had to work at his part-time gig. “Thanks for the memory jog. I’m
gonna head outside. Sure you don’t want a burger or hot dog before we start
gaming?”

Thunder
boomed in the distance. Beth’s gaze shot to the ceiling again. Placing her
hands over her stomach, she bit and tugged at her lower lip.

“Beth?”
Her anxiety became palpable and started to feed his unease.

Another
brownout toyed with the lights and fans in the club house.

“Nah.
I’ve lost my appetite. You go
on.”

“All right.”
Happy she excused him and he’d
no longer have to be close to her and the flickering lights, Den turned to head
toward the door, but people started to drift into the building carrying the
remnants of the picnic.

Seeming
relieved people were coming in, and she’d have something to do, Beth directed
where coolers full of sodas, water, beer, bottles of wine and platters of barbecue
could go. The kitchen filled with people, boisterous voices and tantalizing
smells.

Beth
returned to Den’s side, her gaze traveling to the window, the crowd, and then
him. “I just hope there won’t be a blackout.
All this work to
organize the LAN party and then not be able to do the testing?”
On one
of her sweeps, she jutted her chin toward the door. “Tav’s here. What kind of
name is Tavis anyway?”

“It’s
a family name and way better than his middle name.” Den surveyed the group
looking for his girl.

“Really?
What’s his middle name?”

He
swung his gaze to Beth.
“Oh no.
Uh-uh. I’m not saying.
He’d kill me.”

She
clasped her hands against her chest. “Please? It’ll make me feel so much
better.”

Den
leaned in and whispered near her ear, “You promise you won’t say anything?”

“Den?”

At
the sound of Hope’s voice, he straightened up. “Ah, saved by the beautiful
belle.
Sorry, Beth.”
After winking at the lead
designer’s assistant, he hugged his girl. “You’re a bit wet.”

“Yeah,
it started raining. You have any of my mom’s potato salad yet?”

“No.
Didn’t get a chance.”

“Well,
I know how much you love it so you better grab some before it’s all gone. I’ll
find us a couple of spots that we won’t mind sitting in for the next God knows
how many hours.” Hope kissed him on the cheek and headed to a couple of seats
at the tables.

Beth
punched him on the shoulder. “You know what? No name. No story.”

“Understood.
Let me think on how much I want
to keep my friendship with him, and I’ll get back to you.” He sauntered over to
the kitchen to fix himself a plate and grab a beer.

On
the way he caught sight of Tav and Faith having a private moment in the hall leading
to the bathrooms. The two of them had started dating not long after he and Hope
had gotten together. Both he and his friend seemed to be having trouble
ingratiating
themselves
with James. So any seconds
they could steal with their girls when their father was around were precious. Not
wanting to disturb their quiet conversation, he went to find Hope.

As
he sat beside his girl, a few other stragglers came into the room, followed by
his boss. He watched Beth and Rick exchange a couple of flirtatious
expressions.
Ah, so that’s how it is.
Explains why she blushed
.

“He
sure is the definition of
a striking man.
Fits the tall, dark and
handsome cliché to a
T
.”
Hope
squeezed his knee as she spoke in a hushed tone. “But I’m wondering. Do I have
to worry about you?”

Her concerned tone caught him
off guard. “What do you mean?”

“I see the way you’re looking
at her.”

“My dear, jealousy does not
suit you. And no, you have nothing to worry about.” Den kissed her cheek.

Glassware dinged. A hush fell
over the room.

“Hello, everyone.
If I could
have your attention for a few minutes.”

All
heads turned and gazes landed on Frederick Gott.

“Thanks
everyone for giving up your weekend and coming here to help test I-D-8’s new
game. For those of you who were involved in the private testing, thanks for
your comments and ideas. For those of you who are new to the game, you’re in
for a treat.”

Rick
stepped forward and grabbed a pyramid crystal off the table. He tossed and
caught it with one hand. The lights glinted off the clear, glass-like stone.

“The
premise of the game,” he continued, “starts with political and citizen unrest.
Chemical warfare has become the weapon of choice and major cities in the United
States have been hit the worst. This first version of C.O.V.E.N. starts with
the destruction of Las Vegas. Years have passed but the great city continues to
lie in ruins. Various shades of darkness comprise day and night due to the
atmosphere never clearing up. Clans have formed. Those of you who don’t have
characters yet, you’ll have to decide which clan you’d like to be a part of.
There are good ones and evil ones and each clan has special abilities. You’ll
also encounter creatures that exist outside of clans, like Chem Warfare Urchins
otherwise known as CWUs.

“We’ll
be running the Role Playing board tonight. Though you’ll have quests and other
tasks, there will be situations that are unscripted. Think of it like
improvisational theater, but remember to stay in game character. Speak as the
character would speak. Do what the character would do.

“Also,
Beth and I will be handing out questionnaires and comment sheets. Please let us
know your thoughts and concerns about the game no matter how big or small. Let’s
play!”

“Wait,”
JT called out. “You didn’t mention anything about the quartz.”

“Ah,
yes.” Rick grinned and held the stone up for all to see. “These are important.
If you have one in your possession, guard it for all you’re worth. If one or
more drop after a battle, gather all you can. You do need space in your storage
for them. The clan or the one character that possesses all the pyramids can
restore the city and win the game. The ones that are on the table…consider
those your party favor.”

Some
people chuckled, and everyone settled into the seats to start playing.

“What
did the man mean by special abilities?” Hope asked as she logged into her
account.

“Put
your headset on, click on Ventrillo and then type this in.” Den passed her a
slip of paper with the name of a private chat room he’d created. “This way we
can talk to each other without everyone hearing. If you need to engage in
conversation with the group then keep the main room open as well and just
toggle back and forth.”

Once
he noticed she was on and in the private room, he put on his headset and
explained the abilities. “Each clan is of a different class…like Animal Shifter
Class, Vampire Class, Bird of Prey, and so on. When you and I played the other
day, we stuck close to the Aliachapel Clan since that’s who we’re affiliated
with. And we’re animal shifters. When we need to, we can shift into whatever
animal we want or just take on some of its characteristics. At least all that
can happen once the character hits the level where it can obtain those abilities.”

“Animal shifting.
Sounds like it can be quite
beneficial.”

“One
would think that, but it can be quite cumbersome at times, too.”

“So
are my family members a part of our clan?”