Ultimatum: The Proving Grounds (26 page)

Jesse punched his fist. “Aww yeah. You know it.”

Tim shook his head. “You’re cheapening the brand.”

Jesse glared at him.

Toby was back in the game and comparing stats less than an hour later. Paul had given them the night off, given that all that madness had been beneficial in a roundabout way. For the survivors anyway. Toby had hit level thirty somewhere in all that mess. Probably when he couldn’t see what was really happening.

He wasn’t ready to head out just yet.

Thirty had given him a new ability. Another defensive one… though it was just as passive as Uncanny Dodge. He’d gained a passive damage resistance score of five. Five points of every hit were negated entirely. Certainly not huge, especially at level thirty, but against a lot of small hits it would stack up.

He’d spent the stats points as before. Every five points was three stamina, two strength. He didn’t even consider changing the leveling scheme, pile of stamina from his new armor or not.

Tim had died.

They were mortal.

He needed to plan for that.

The skill points were… a larger issue. He ended up spending a few to make Rage stronger, even if he didn’t intend to use it. He had a feeling in the end it would be him swinging madly at whatever form Miller took, and once things got that far cutting down other players accidentally wouldn’t be a major concern.

But he also dumped a few points into Uncanny Dodge to make its chance of going off stack faster, and the last few into upping the damage of combos. They were his claim to fame, after all.

Not much new, really. Just more of what he already did.

At least… unless there was some new facet to Soulbreaker to go along with its makeover. The stat sheet still didn’t tell him anything of use. The best he could figure was by comparing it to other items, which always implied Soulbreaker was better in every way.

The hand laid on his arm surprised him. He jumped a bit in the real world, but he was seated in the game and didn’t move.

“Hey.” Claire’s voice. He relaxed a bit. He was safe in the church. The entire town was safe now. The safe zone even stretched beyond the buildings a bit. And the buildings closest to the church had grown beyond their humble ramshackle wood beginnings. They were made of wood and stone now. It almost looked like a proper city.

He looked up. “What’s up?”

“We don’t have to be in here, you know.”

He nodded. “I know. It just feels like… I should be. Doing more. Better. Trying at least.”

She smiled and shook her head. “All fine and good. But you need rest, too. We’ve been on a harsh schedule for days now. Come on, lets go watch something stupid on TV or something. Just relax. It will do us all good to let go of some stress.”

There really wasn’t much more he could do. He had spent all his skill and stat points, his gear was better than it ever had been, and Paul would be super pissed if he tried to wander off and level on his own. Far too dangerous.

He nodded. “Alright, you’re on.”

She was waiting again before he finished untangling himself from his gear. She had a knack for it that he just didn’t possess.

He picked up his backpack and they headed for the door. Jesse was heading toward them in the hall, her arms loaded with paperwork.

“Hey.” Claire waved. “We’re going to find something stupid to watch to unwind. Wanna come?”

Jesse smiled slightly then shifted her eyes about. She looked down at the stack of papers. “Nope, sorry. Totally booked.”

Toby held open the door while Jesse wandered in.

“Thanks.”

“No problem.” He let the door close. “Was that weird? I think that was weird.”

Claire shrugged. “She’s a little weird. It’s part of her charm.”

“Uh-huh.” He nodded as they started forward again. “Like her desire to burn things.”

“Just like that.”

They stood in the hall as she opened the door to her room in the motel. It was right next to his, and he had his key, but going into his own room would sort of defeat the purpose of taking part in a group activity.

Of course, it was only a group of two. Still more social than one.

The door opened and she wandered in and held it open for him behind her. “Come on in. It’s not much, but right now it’s home.”

He closed the door and followed her in. He set his backpack down next to the dresser no one ever uses… to the best of his knowledge. “Like being in a strange mirror world. Everything is backwards.”

“Pfft.” She shook her head as she set her own bag down on the couch. “You’re backwards.” She picked up the remote and sat on the edge of the bed before turning on the TV and flipping through the channels.

There was a couch in the room, but she had stuff laid out on it. Not to mention the bag.

He sat on the foot of the bed and plucked up the channel guide. He looked it over. He hadn’t spent much time watching TV the last few days so it was all still a mystery to him.

“Oooh.” She stopped. “People buying houses.”

“Ugh.” He shook his head. “Those people are always so whiny. The wall is blue, the bedroom faces the wrong direction, there were too many murders here. Never happy.”

“Pfft. Duh. It would be boring otherwise.”

“I guess. But they come across so… pretentious. Besides, ‘foyer’ is not pronounced with an R. Stabs my soul every time they do it.”

“It’s not?”

“ ‘Foy-yay.’ It’s French, I think.”

“Hmm.” She nodded a few times. “Foy-er.”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “Oww. My soul.”

She smiled and continued flipping through the channels.

He laid back and stared up at the ceiling.

She glanced back over her shoulder. “You okay? I won’t say foy-er again.”

He shrugged, which was an odd gesture while lying down. “I dunno. Don’t feel like I am cut out for this. Nothing seems to be going right, we just keep hanging on by a thread.”

“Maybe. But it’s not your fault. We’re all in this together. Pass or fail as a group. As a
team
.”

“Except for Tim.”

She set the remote down and turned to face him a bit better. “He doesn’t blame you. Why should you?”

“Because I did it. I knew I shouldn’t have used Rage, but I did it anyway. I wanted the benefit, and ignored the risks.”

“There’s a pretty solid argument to be made that we wouldn’t have lasted if you hadn’t gone medieval on them.”

He tilted his head a bit. “You think?”

She nodded. “They had hidden troops. You found them, and it was you, mostly, that dealt with them. Yeah, Mitchel showed up blaring the cavalry horn, but that was after you weighed the risks for us.”

“It sounds better from your point of view.”

She smiled. “You’re too hard on yourself.”

“Maybe.”

“Definitely.”She flipped another channel and her jaw dropped. “Look!” She pointed.

Big Trouble in Little China was playing on the TV. It was early into it, too. The truck trapped in the alley during the funeral procession.

When the Chang Sings saluted each other she mimicked the gesture. “Oh that is totally the same thing. That’s awesome.”

Toby chuckled. “Told you.”

“I haven’t seen this in years.”

“Always worth the time.”

She smiled. “Sounds good.”

They ended up seated at the back of the bed, leaning against the wall with pillows propped up behind them. Toby took his shoes off to not get the bedspread dirty. He hadn’t really been traipsing around in mud… but they had walked across a four lane street a few times today. Messy.

He lost track of time while they watched a move he could practically recite. Sitting still proved to be an issue. The long days were getting to him.

He woke up a few hours later, still seated against the wall. He had a bit of a crick in his neck. It popped when he stretched his head the other way. There was a weight on his side.

Claire was asleep beside him, her head resting on his shoulder.

He stopped moving. He didn’t want to disturb her. The clock said it was almost 2 a.m. Damn. He hadn’t showered or plugged in his phone or anything.

And yet… he was perfectly happy to stay where he was. She seemed to have positioned herself more comfortably.

He settled in a bit more, trying to move as little and as slowly as possible. He… liked it here. It was nice. He hadn’t been close to a woman like this since Molly had gotten over the cutesy cuddly phase of their relationship. And that had been long before she had told him he was a loser that would never amount to anything and walked out.

Claire smelled nice. Better than him at any rate. Did she wear perfume? He hadn’t noticed before. He liked it.

The TV had run out of badass old movies at some point. It was replaying news from earlier in the night. There was no mention of the explosion downtown at all.

Odd.

He laid his head back. The accursed wake up call would sound in a few hours. He wanted to stay here as long as he could, but he was going to need his rest tomorrow.

The clock said seven when the phone rang.

Claire’s head popped up as she swung her arm and knocked the phone over.

Toby could hear it from where the receiver lay on the table. “This is your 7 a.m. courtesy wakeup call.”

“Oww. Damn it.” She sighed. “Hate that fucking phone.”

“You okay?”

She turned back and blinked a few times. “Yeah.” She nodded as a small smile played over her lips. “I’m good.” She set the phone back upright and hung the receiver up. “Kinda thought I dreamed us hanging out last night for a minute there.”

He held up his hand in the Chang Sing salute.

She smiled and did the same. “Oww.” She twisted her neck. “Might not have been the best idea to fall asleep like that.”

He nodded as he leaned forward and rubbed at his neck. “I know what you mean.”

“Don’t get me wrong. You’re totally welcome in my bed any time.” She frowned a bit. “That sounded kinda bad, didn’t it?”

“Not to me.” He smirked. “But I should probably head next door and get a shower in real quick. We can trade double entendres over breakfast.”

She laughed… and she was blushing a bit. “It’s a date.”

He picked up his backpack and his shoes. “Thanks, by the way.”

“Hmm?”

“Sore neck and all, best night I’ve had in a long time.”

She smiled. “Me too.”

He waved like a goofball and opened the door. He was fishing in his bag for his own key card before the door shut behind him.

Jesse was in the hallway.

She was grinning at him. “Hi.”

“Uh, good morning.”

“Sup?”

“Nothing.”

“Uh-huh.” She looked at Claire’s door. “Kay.” She smiled and waved before heading for the elevator.

Yeah, that was going to be a problem.

He opened his door and plugged in his phone first thing. The room’s phone wasn’t ringing. One must only get so many rings before they gave up on you.

He hopped in the shower and was ready to head down by seven thirty. His phone had only picked up another 10% charge, but it was better than nothing. Maybe there was a plug at his station in the pit.

Claire met him in the hall and they wandered down together.

Jesse was the only one there so far. She sat with her orange juice, the weirdo, and stared at her phone.

Toby and Claire made their way to the coffee pot and stopped by the breakfast buffet, a generous title, before sitting opposite her.

“So…” Jesse didn’t look up from her phone, “what happened?”

Claire scowled at the other woman. “Nothing happened.”

Jesse’s head shot up. “What? Why not?” The look on her face was one of confusion and… disappointment.

Toby blinked a few times. That wasn’t exactly the response he had expected.

Claire shrugged. “We watched a movie, and we fell asleep. That’s all.”

Jesse shook her head. “Fine, fine. Take it slow. Not like we’re on a deadline here.”

Toby raised an eyebrow. “What does that have to do with anything?”

Claire nodded. “We live in the same city.”

Jesse’s eyes were fixed on her phone once more. “On opposite ends of a
big
city. Took a cop with lights and sirens to get him here in a timely fashion. That’s inconvenient. If you want anything to happen, you’ve got X amount of time to be serious about it.”

Claire frowned.

Toby hadn’t considered that. He did live rather far away. He’d never even really been to this part of town before.

And he got around on a bike.

Claire had a car but it would be unfair to expect her to travel out to see him all the time, especially given the hours her job involved.

There were certainly hurdles… but he hadn’t been exaggerating about the night before. It had been the best he could recall. He felt comfortable and safe, which his apartment provided, but also that someone actually wanted him around in private hours. That had been lacking for some time.

And he hadn’t realized how much he’d missed it.

He shrugged. “I’m happy to work at it if you are.”

Claire smiled beside him. She nodded.

Jesse rolled her eyes and shook her head… but she was smiling. “Right. So, am I supposed to keep this quiet? Cause I’m not so good at that.”

Claire shrugged. “It’s nobody’s business but ours. And we don’t need to be distracting anyone.”

Toby nodded. “What she said.”

“Okay.” Jesse managed to sound disappointed. “Not like anything happened anyway. Freaking PBS afternoon special over here.”

Claire leaned forward and punched Jesse in the shoulder.

Jesse fained grievous injury. “Oww. The hell?”

“You be nice.”

The other woman tilted her head. “But I’m
not
nice. Id’ have to go out of my way.”

“Then please do. You’re my friend. Act like it.”

Jesse rolled her eyes. “Fine.”

Toby nodded. “And
we’re
badass outfit siblings.”

Jesse nodded. “Indeed.”

22

The new gear proved to be a distinct advantage.

The party tore through even leveled mobs as they wandered in search of something more meaty to help them advance. There were too few alternates left for them to safely scout on their own, though a number of guilded players that weren’t in the building had taken up the cause instead. They spread out across the countryside in a dragnet looking for events and reporting mob levels.