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Of Light, Shadow and Love: Volume 2 Chapter 4 Games People Play
Shadowdancer
left the MTCD HQ, and stretched languorously. It had been a most busy morning
for her. She smirked. Stopping an underage Zilla rampage and assisting in a
sentient virus outbreak does tend to get one noticed. She’d just undergone a
fairly rigorous weapons familiarization and MTCD procedural overview. A copy
of the manual was in her backpack to be reviewed. She was to report in at
nine am to join a patrol unit, so that she could observe and participate in
Cataclysm Management. “Nothing
like experience,” Kana, the officer in charge of new recruits had said. “Have
you seen something like this in your four hundred years of life, Officer
Duskstar?” Shadowdancer
had shook her head, but it was not true. This was much like what she had been
doing... to keep herself busy for the past centuries of life she’d lived. Not
exactly the same, but... Lunch
was a hamburger combo bought at a fast food joint in Shinjuku, and a tall
honey and milk tea pearl shake. As she tended to of late, she ate while she
walked. She might have gone back to the Church and begun filing her day’s
report if she hadn’t spotted a familiar figure inside the 1 Yen Dr.
Lightsider. ---- Lightsider
stepped out of the booth breathing heavily. At a conscious level, he knew his
body didn’t need to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide that badly. But
adrenaline counted, too. Lightsider silently thanked C-kun for the excellent
system. It had been quite a while since he’d been able to practice. The good
doctor looked back into the VR booth. Amazing what magitech could do. The VR
instructors were good, especially in groups. C-kun’s little “favor” had
effectively nullified his oath of no harm, and allowed him to practice
without reservation. And just in time, too. He
stretched a bit. His muscles felt strangely sore. Lightsider shook his head
and smiled. Yes, Caduceus knew his stuff, indeed. The physics, the abilities,
the limitations . . . the pain . . . everything was absolutely perfect. The good
doctor walked around the arcade a bit to get his heart rate back to normal.
He had been pleased, too, with his own performance. He’d lost a bit of
technique, and some of his speed, but he’d found his battle awareness was as
good as ever. Better, even. He grinned. A hospital full of pie-throwing
nurses did tend to keep you on your toes. Lightsider
thought back to his first morning of his immortal . . . life? No, not life.
There was no life where there was no death. Existence, perhaps. He remembered
looking into the rising sun, and feeling the life-giving warmth flooding his
body. He remembered the rage, the sorrow, and then, finally, the Oath he
took, to never harm another living person, even if it meant his own life. It
had made the upkeep of his abilities difficult. Still, he’d not often
regretted the decision. He’d only modified his Oath once, to inflict damage
on someone if it had to be done to save others. He’d never had to use that
contingency, though. Still,
it never hurt to be prepared. He
stopped in front of a shooting game, dropping in a token and picking up the light
gun in a smooth motion. Mutated aliens and zombies started to leap across the
screen, and Lightsider moved his weapon and shot absently. He almost never
paid any real attention until the latter levels. Shadowdancer
stepped into the arcade, watching the UFL doctor blast away zombies and other
strange creatures in a variant of the House of the Dead game. He did so with
a relaxed ease that spoke of much skill... with the game itself, or the gun,
she was not sure. Fascinating, the
little mage thought. He intrigues me.
Even without BGMaster’s orders, I would have wished to find out more about
him. The Doctor is one who raises my curiosity. She
stepped up next to him, watching. Lightsider could not have missed her, but
gave no sign he acknowledged her presence. She watched for several moments,
then spoke. “Interesting
hobby for a doctor... Blowing people apart.” Lightsider
didn’t even flinch. Another horde of mutant aliens splattered into green goo
the instant they appeared on the screen. “Sometimes a person just needs a
break.” He looked over at her, and even smiled. “It’s not like I could ever
do this in real life,” he said. Shadowdancer
looked at him sideways. “You seem bored though.” her eyes returned to the
gore-filled screen, a slight smirk on her face. Several moments passed as
Lightsider finished the game, slaughtering the final boss in a spectacular
display of skill. Lightsider
smiled and put the toy gun back into the holster. “Machines aren’t much
challenge, sometimes,” he said, stepping away from the teenagers surrounding
the machine. There was an immediate swarm to cash in on the free games he had
won. He felt too good to be annoyed at having met Shadowdancer yet again. And
he had successfully kept her out of his thoughts for the past hour or so. He
was a little surprised by her attire - she looked like a trendy teenager, not
the cool, elegantly dressed scientist of the other day. The bright blue shirt
offset her milk-coffee complexion perfectly, and the straight-legged boot-cut
black pants clung to her hips. Her belly was flat and firm. Smiling,
Shadowdancer gestured at a nearby dance challenge game. “How about a person
challenge? It’s just a DDR variant.... I don’t fit into the Mosh-Mosh
Revolution harness.” The two
of them wandered over to it. Lightsider saw that not only required foot
movements, but also hand movements. The computer-generated mannequin on the
screen showed, in slow motion, the instructions. The game was called
Style-Step Mania. A demo song played, and the mannequins danced quickly. It
was full dancing, involving the whole body. Lightsider watched as the
‘dancers’ moved into a three-hundred-sixty degree circle. “Perhaps
the good doctor is as fumble-footed as he is tongue-tied around cute girls .
. . .” Shadowdancer teased. Lightsider
glowered in mock anger. In the arcade, among the virtual combat and
simulators, he could feel a small portion of the might and confidence he had
had centuries ago. “I am not.” “Prove
it.” Shadowdancer smiled at him, two 100-yen coins pinched between her
forefinger and middle finger. “Loser treats winner to Anna Miller’s.” Lightsider
could never resist a challenge. He was a completely different person within
the walls of the arcades. “Apple pie for me. Best out of three rounds sound good
to you?” he gave her a look that screamed ‘I dare you.’ “You’re
on.” The little woman laughed. “I pick the song.” “It’s
your challenge,” Lightsider said lightly, stepping onto the dance pad. Shadowdancer
slipped in the coins, then stepped up next to him. “A warm-up song first.” Lightsider
watched as she hit the randomizer, letting the game pick the music. It chose,
out of all the tracks... “Mortal
Kombat,” Shadowdancer laughed. “How
appropriate.” Lightsider muttered, smiling. Anime Laws of Irony were playing
with them, he saw, as a bright blue “READY!” blinked at them from the large
screen. Hand
movements came first, with the occasional stomping step. Test your might... Lightsider thought, resisting the urge to
laugh. It was easy. He was
so wrong. Even
though he knew the song, he did not expect the sudden flurry of steps and
hand movements that came with the yell of “Mortal Kombat!” and “Fight!” He
missed several moves immediately as the steps called for rotation. He decided
to keep his eyes on the screen. Shadowdancer did not. She stomped the full
360 degrees, looking over her shoulder, not missing one single step of the
eight that required to make the full turn, then the double-footed jump and the
raising of her hands over the hand movement detectors. The
steps required while the characters’ names were being called out weren’t as
fast-paced, but required some quick thinking and footwork. When the next time
“Fight!” was called, Lightsider was better prepared to do the 360 degree
turn, but he still missed a few. Shadowdancer,
he thought, won this round already. But he had every intention of catching
up, as much as he could. He didn’t want to lose by surrendering too early. The
steps got faster and more furious, as the beat grew faster. He had to
concentrate on the steps and move his hands over the movement monitors, and
was unprepared for the sudden slowing of the beat and then its sudden rise
into full speed again, before dropping off to heavy breathing with the synths
at the near end. Both the
doctor and the mage made the final stomping steps and listened to the sound
of the gong fade away. The scores filtered onto the screen - Shadowdancer won
by a large margin. Shadowdancer
chuckled. “You didn’t do so badly, Doctor...” she smirked. “Not as
fumble-footed as you are when speaking to a woman, at any rate...” Lightsider
flashed a grin. “It’s only round one, Shadow.” He gave her a thumbs up. “I’ll
get you the next round...you’ll see.” ....She’s
not even sweating... I guess being a raver has its advantages... “Catch
me then, Doctor. I’m hankering for blueberry cheesecake.” her grin was no
less challenging. She enjoyed this as much as he did. Locked in
combat… the rush of challenging another’s skill. There
was no comparison. Lightsider
grimaced to himself as the Style-Step Mania machine started to cycle through
songs again to pick another random beat. It wasn’t the bet, really. He could
well afford a couple of meals at Anna Millers. Long-term investments got
pretty healthy if you’re immortal, after all. It’s
just that he hated to lose. The
doctor glanced at Shadow, and realized he’d been set up from the beginning.
Shadowdancer was a master at the game. Lightsider shrugged. Well, that’s what
you get for being overconfident and letting your opponent choose the weapons
and the venue. You usually get what you deserve. Still…
even masters stumbled. The game was more like combat than he’d originally assumed.
Like
combat…. Lightsider
grinned. Even if he lost this fight, he had a way to reclaim some of his
dignity. The SSM
game finally decided on a song, and Shadowdancer frowned and Lightsider
grinned, simultaneously. It had chosen “ “Heh, my
favorite,” said the doctor, turning his smile on Shadowdancer. Shadow
pouted a bit. “We’ll see, after you lose to it,” she retorted. The
intro threw Shadow off a bit, as it sounded like the song started a bit
earlier than it actually did. It disrupted her step just enough that she
missed a few hand movements as she regained her mental and physical balance.
The doctor pulled ahead in score as he performed a series of movements that
was more martial arts than dance, but that the machine seemed to appreciate,
anyway. Shadowdancer
got into the groove of things, though. She took a moment, halfway through the
song, to glance over at Lightsider as they performed a required double spin.
The look on his face . . . . Shadow
stutter-stepped again, as her mind tried to process what she’d just seen. All
this seemed so familiar. Lightsider’s face glowed with perspiration, and also
with excitement and focused concentration. Where? her mind asked. The song
ended, and the scores went up. Shadowdancer grimaced and Lightsider whooped.
The crowd gathered around the machine cheered. Lightsider’s familiarity with
the song, his reflexes, and Shadow’s momentary distraction had carried the
day. By a
single point. “Yeah,
that was great!” Lightsider exulted. He hadn’t had this much fun playing a
game in, well, a little over an hour, but that didn’t count. Here was a real
person-to-person challenge. Shadow stared at him for a moment, unsure of his
reaction. Was this the meek little doctor she’d seen at the restaurant? He
was so different in this environment, almost like he had been born to it.
Like he had been born to conflict, for battle . . . . Then,
she smiled, too. “Well
played,” she said smoothly, almost seductively. “Surprisingly well. But we
still have one song to go.” Shadowdancer
smirked to herself. It had been a close battle, one she did not mind losing
so much. If she hadn’t been distracted for that one moment, she would have
either won, or tied. He reminded me of... The
little woman grinned up at Lightsider and winked. “Are you ready, Lights?”
her finger hovered over the ‘random’ cycle button. She was looking forward to
this... very much so. And she
had no intention of losing this time. “Anytime
you are, Shadow.” His grin was almost cocky, so much did he enjoy this test
of skill. Shadowdancer hit the button and the two of them watched as the
machine chose... “Real
Emotion Final Fantasy Remix?” Lightsider echoed. Shadowdancer
grinned. “What can I do for you?” she purred softly. The hand
movements started, almost immediately followed by steps. Unlike the first two
songs, this one was not a techno-type song, but a dance tune. Lightsider
fought hard to maintain the rhythm. Nearly every step required a hand
movement and the steps themselves were made to keep the entire body in
motion... something that Shadowdancer was having no problem doing. Her
movements were smooth and fluid. Her hips swayed in time to the steps, and
the gleam in her eyes told him that for the moment, she had forgotten about
him, and likely, did not notice the huge crowd of people they’d drawn. She was even singing the lyrics! he realized, knowing that for
the moment, she was absorbed in the dance and the music, which was why she
danced with so little effort. Her body was that of a puppet, and the strings
were made of melody, the puppeteer was the beat. I should try that... moving with
the music instead of treating it like... something I’m having problems with. Lightsider winced as he missed
three moves in succession. It took
the doctor a precious few moments to adjust his movements, but by then, he
knew he was defeated. I was defeated anyway, through
sheer style...
Lightsider thought, watching her dance. The
final crash of drums signaled the last stomping step, and the people around
them burst into applause and cries of encouragement, which changed to triumph
as the final scores rolled in. Lightsider
bowed then stepped off the dance pad as Shadow hooked her backpack with her
hand and bowed repeatedly to the cheering of the people around them. He held
out his hand to her to help her down, a rueful smile on his face. “So, was
it blueberry cheesecake you wanted, or strawberry?” he asked as she took his
hand, a wide grin splitting her face as she hopped down from the pad. “They
have strawberry now?” Shadowdancer asked, as they moved away from the pad. “Yup.
I’ll tell you though… I’ve never been so soundly beaten.” Lightsider grimaced
a little. “And I hate losing.” “I
know.” the little drow chirped. “It was written all over your face.” The
smirk she gave him made him wonder what she knew. “There is much more to you
than meets the eye, Doctor... much more.” she met his gaze, and he felt as
though she had stabbed him with those night-sky orbs. He felt himself grow
warm under the collar in a way that wasn’t from the dance. “I will tell you
that I’m very curious. About you.” She let the word drop from her mouth as if
savoring the taste. Lightsider
forced himself to look away, blushing slightly, glad that he was already
flushed with exertion. His eyes rested on the VR machine across the room. He
felt a plan take shape in his head. She set
him up... there was no reason why he couldn’t do the same to her. “How
would you like to know more…?” he peered at her over his glasses, lavender
eyes glittering with challenge. Without
waiting for her answer, knowing somehow that she would say ‘yes’ anyway, he
took her hand and pulled her along, smirking to himself. ---- Fifteen
minutes later, Lightsider and Shadowdancer were strapped into separate VR
booths in a private room at the back of the arcade. The Virtua Warrior game
was one of the most expensive and complicated games in the arcade, with
numerous options and character attributes that players could choose. The
doctor insisted that they use default characters, however. He wouldn’t
explain why. An
arcade tech helped both of them into their VR helmets. This wasn’t a full VR
experience like the Fanboy Arena, but it was the closest the general public
could get. Hands gripped controls and joysticks as the VR helmet screens
activated, and the doctor and the elfin woman looked at each other’s avatars
across a clearing in a forested area. “Really,
Lightsider. Do you really want a trained drow assassin to hunt you down?”
Shadowdancer’s voice floated across the playing field, a mocking tone present
in her taunt. She wondered what the doctor had in mind. Surely he didn’t
think he could put up an effective resistance against an agent of the Kami,
did he? “Let’s
just say, I wanted another chance. You captured me far too easily last time.”
Lightsider’s voice sounded. Shadowdancer
frowned, although her avatar’s face remained passive. More so than before,
this wasn’t the voice of the meek doctor. This was the voice of a confident
warrior. She immediately abandoned her plans of toying with Lightsider. The
drow elf had spent a considerable amount of time during her existence on
earth learning the capabilities of a person by the way they moved, spoke,
breathed. The VR game didn’t have that subtlety, but just based on the way he
spoke, Shadowdancer suddenly had the strange, unreal, impossible impression that she was facing one of the most
dangerous men she’d ever known. Shadow
put her avatar into an aggressive guard position. “Ready then?” “Not
quite. Just one . . . modification.” Lightsider had a definite smirk in his
voice. The assassin wondered what he had in mind. “VR
Actuality Simulator Initiate.” Lightsider said into the air. “Authorization:
Alpha-One-Three-Three-Seven. Mode: Full.” Shadow
creased her forehead in confusion. What was he doing? Then she gaped. Lightsider’s
Knight avatar seemed to shimmer and crumble. Armor fell away, revealing
shining robes, luminous wings sprouted, and the knight’s bulky, muscular
figure melted into the slim, almost effeminate body of the doctor. Shadow
stared in wonder. Lightsider’s new avatar stretched out his wings, ran a hand
through his hair, and grinned at her. What
kind of control schema allowed this? Shadow felt a sudden chill. This
wasn’t some elaborate revenge, was it? Lightsider
pointed at her, and she involuntarily braced herself for the attack. “VR
Actuality Simulator.” Lightsider intoned. “New target: Shadowdancer. Full
ability, appearance, limitation and preferred weapon scan. Activate neural
interface. Initiate.” Shadowdancer
gasped as the entire world seemed to drop away from her. The weight of the VR
helmet disappeared, and the controls melted from her hands. The rasp of her
street garb was replaced by a very familiar, smooth whisper of silk against
her skin. She felt her accustomed weapons settle into place. Finally, wings
of moonlight and crystal burst from her back and settled like a snowfall
around her back and shoulders. A breath
of wind rustled through her hair. Outside
the VR booth, the arcade techs were going nuts. Lightsider hadn’t quite
familiarized himself with the system yet, and in his excitement, he’d
neglected one little detail. He’d forgotten to activate the VR system’s
privacy feature. Everyone saw the transformation on the booth’s holographic
spectator screen, especially a certain Head Nurse, who had come in too late
for the DDR challenge, but now had a front row seat for the main event. “What
the hell is this?” one of the techs shouted. “Aw,
relax,” the other said. “EM was in here. They tinkered with stuff. The boss
cleared it. They even paid us to let ‘em put it in! They say it’s for that
guy’s private use. I dunno.” “Looks
like it’ll be a good show, anyway,” the first tech said. “A thousand yen on
the skinny guy.” “You’re
on.” Shadowdancer
locked eyes with Lightsider. “What is this?” she asked. Lightsider
grinned. “A little enhancement courtesy of our friends at Erika
Multinational. Caduceus-kun put it in for me. It taps into your mind and
accurately simulates everything you’re able, and not able, to do. I think
you’ll find you even have your accustomed weapons, and no, it doesn’t feed me
what they are. That ruins the fun.” Shadowdancer
touched the sleeve of her robe. The weight and the feel were perfect. She
could even feel the texture of the embroidery. “Amazing.” “Just
one thing. It’s an accurate simulation. Fatigue, pain and injury will also be
factors. It’s as real as you can get without the risk of actually harming
someone.” Shadow
favored the doctor with a thin smile. “Even better,” she said sweetly. She
drew her hands into the billowing sleeves of her kimono and eyed him
curiously. “And where are your weapons, doctor? I do not think you will do
well against me hand-to-hand . . . .” Shadowdancer’s smile expanded into an
evil grin, and she rested one hand against her chest, the fingertips just
barely peeking from her sleeve. “Oh, we
both have weapons,” Lightsider said. “I’m sure that kimono of yours hides a
veritable arsenal. Some of us, though, have to be a little more obvious.”
Lightsider crossed his arms, and two shining blades appeared in his hands,
manifested from his abilities in Light. Whether the radiant swords were
material or pure energy, however, Shadow couldn’t tell. Shadowdancer
smiled and withdrew a gunsen from
her sleeve. She flipped the fan open, and hid the lower half of her face with
it. “Ohohohoho. this will be fun!” Shadowdancer eyed the twin blades. “I see
you fight in the niten style as well. One question. Weapons only?” Lightsider
shrugged. “Whatever you have, you have. The Actuality simulator covers all
abilities, normal or otherwise.” Smiling
at him, she took a couple of mincing steps sideward, the silk of her kimono
catching on the air left in her wake. It was almost like a dance. Lightsider
eyed her movements under the robe, ignoring the fluttering fabric. Fighting
women was often tough, because of the distracting clothing. Shadow was right.
This was going to be fun.
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