Challenge Accepted (Eternal Combat Book 1), page 33
[QQ] Sorry little brother. All's fair!
She moved, knowing she'd just given away her position, and made it through three buildings as fast as she could, keeping her pattern irregular.
[VOID] Did not see that coming!
[QQ] Scared?
[VOID] I'm gonna make you beg before this is all done, baby.
[QQ] Kiss my ass, Void.
[MURDER] That's my job.
Now it was just her against the men at the table. Dreadknot liked to hole up. Void would be on the prowl. PsychoCut and Murder both varied between ambush and flanking. That meant watching all sides until a few more were down.
A dot showed up on her map, and she flanked around it. They all wanted to win, she wanted to take them out, and that dot would draw them all like moths to a flame. She spiraled out, away from it, listening for any sound or hint. Moving slowly across the bottom floor, she heard something. Someone was reloading, and he was just above her.
She scanned the area for the sensor dart, and saw it stuck against the far wall. Watching her flank, she waited, knowing it would only last a few seconds. It might not show her where the enemy was, but if she took another step, it'd light her up on his map. With a small glow, it faded from the world, expired, and she surged around the corner, checking every hole she could think of, her weapon at the ready. She turned up the stairwell and aimed for the opposite wall, throwing a grenade as far back as she could. Slowly, step by step, she moved up the stairs, counting in her mind. When it went off, she rushed forward, triggered a heal over time, then aimed.
The mine blew as she crossed the threshold, but her heal was already repairing it. With her gun scoped in, she found the player's body mass and tapped off five shots, pulling up to tag him in the head just as he finally had the chance to fire back. She took a shot in the body, but a notification at the bottom showed that Dreadknot was out of the running.
"Damn!" he gasped, glancing at her shocked.
She didn't slow down. Going up, making her way to the roof, then over the edge, she jumped just hard enough to hit the outer wall of the building beside it, sliding down until a decorative ridge stopped her midway. Slinking around the tiny ledge, she checked her back.
[VOID] Competition is going to be stiff.
[QQ] That's what the boys always say when I walk in the room.
[VOID] You have that effect.
[MURDER] Don't fucking piss her off!
[PSYCHOCUT] I'm about to be all over your ass, Q.
[QQ] Dream on, baby.
She caught a glimpse of movement on the far side and crouched, still perched on the tiny ledge. She was below the roof, above the door, and across from a window. It was a vantage that people rarely used, so it should take them at least a second to find her. She saw a flicker in the room across from her, and waited. Sure enough, he hit the roof and she scoped in. The crowd gasped as she lined up a head shot, compensated for his movement, and tapped her mouse three times. The second shot missed, but the third dropped him.
[QQ] Now it's just the pretty boys left.
[MURDER] You fuck as hard as you kiss?
[QQ] Yes.
[VOID] Damn it. She's pissed.
[MURDER] She's hot when she's pissed.
[VOID] You have to kick her ass to get the prize.
[MURDER] Shit.
She dropped off the ledge and went back into the building where Psyc had died, making for the second floor, crossing the room, and hopping through the window. She'd just drawn them all to her position but wasn't ready to lose her advantage. Finding a wall, she paused, standing in the open, and watched someone slip into the room she'd just left.
[QQ] Anyone else going to get a kill on this map?
[VOID] Wait for it, baby.
She lined up her shot and waited for her opponent to show himself again. Just as he passed into view, a pair of shots rang out and her target dropped, her own bullet flying harmlessly past.
She moved, not even bothering to check the kill feed. It was now just her and one other opponent, but she couldn't be sure which. There was a red dot on her map, and she was in line of sight. She had to move! A bullet hit the wall just behind her. Riley rounded the corner, and kept going.
[VOID] Nice ass.
[QQ] Just you and I now? I think we've done this before.
[VOID] Didn't work out so well for me last time. I plan to do better.
[QQ] Don't think because I have tits, I can't kick your ass.
[VOID] Not that fucking stupid. Your K/D is better than mine, but I've done this a few times. You're going down.
She saw him slip between buildings and knew which way he was headed. Riley shifted, moving beside the door. It wouldn't be long before he'd walk through. She had positioned herself right in his path.
[QQ] You just fucked up.
[VOID] Think so? Just because you upped your game, doesn't mean I can't match it.
[QQ] Now see, that was kinda sweet.
[VOID] I'm trying to impress you, QQ. Unlike the rest of these dumb asses, I know there's only one thing that will. Sorry about your loss.
Her screen flashed red, a hit indicator directly behind her, but she couldn't even turn before Logan got the second head shot off and she dropped. An overlay faded in, glaring in her face that she'd just been killed by Void with two shots to the head, from the back.
She stared at her monitor in shock. She'd been so sure she had him. When she looked up, he sat with his hands folded, his chin resting on them, watching her. He smiled, well aware that the cameras were still on.
"You owe me a drink," he said.
"Yeah, that isn't all I tossed into chat."
He shrugged, his head tilted just a bit to the side, a gentle smile on his lips. "What do you say we make that a date instead? Dinner, next week in Dallas? I'd prefer an hour of your time away from," he pointed to the monitor in front of him, "this."
"I'm not gaming to get a date." She was all too aware of how many eyes were on her.
"I think we all know that. You just wiped half the map on your own."
Riley laughed and smiled at him, no longer even trying to be a bitch. "Yeah, I kinda did. You're on, Void. Friday, and you're picking me up."
"Damned good fight, Q. Best fucking fight I've had in fourteen years."
She glanced down, feeling herself blushing. "Yeah. I think that's the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me."
Logan then turned to Murder and they shared a look before Murder shrugged. "I got owned twice in this game. Grats, bro." He held up a fist, and Logan thumped it with his own.
"There you have it!" the announcer began, and Riley just rolled her eyes.
They all smiled and made the expected responses until the cameras were off, but the reporters were starting to crowd the doors. Ok, there were only five, but each was trying to get a shot into the room. It was like being a celebrity, but on a small scale.
"Guys?" she said, catching the eye of everyone at the high table. "I'm buying you all one. Good fucking fight."
"Yeah, Q," Dread said. "Nice show. Your sister really coming to Las Vegas?"
She nodded. "Yeah. Want to get her more involved now that we can hire someone to watch the farm."
"I'll bring my wife. She's not great, but she has fun. You got someone to hang with her at the low tables?"
Riley nodded. "Yeah, man. We have three Paradox guys in Cali, at least one will be there. Why wasn't there a high table in Dallas anyway?"
"Start of the season," Void said. "Most Pros are preparing for the East Coast league and most sponsors haven't signed yet. That's why Dallas is a big event. We're all treated the same, and you never know who you'll end up sitting across from."
"Here I thought I was prepared. There's so much I have left to learn."
"You don't really get all the details till you've been on the treadmill a few years," Murder said. "Nice to see a new face breaking in."
"Yeah," Void agreed. "If they'd signed you as CareBear, you'd be a vet like the rest of us." He smiled deviously, then walked away to see the reporters.
Three heads turned to her. "Serious as shit?" Psyc asked.
"Yeah," Riley sighed. "That's why I don't want to come across as a flirt. Say the wrong thing, stand in the wrong place, and you're blackballed."
"Damn," Psyc said. "You kicked the shit out of me that year in Dallas. Took me two more to get signed. You don't even look the same."
She tugged at her dreads. "Nope. Decided the good girl look wasn't working, so gave up trying. Figured if you boys wanted to fight, then I'd come ready to kick your ass."
"You did," Dread said. "I never even saw you coming."
"No shit," Psyc agreed. "I hit the roof, thinking you were going to be between buildings, and dropped like a damned rock. Where were you?"
She winked, "Watch the stream and figure it out."
"Why'd you let him get the kill on me?" Murder asked.
Riley just shook her head. "Didn't. His reactions are faster than mine. We both had a line on you, just his bullet hit first. You'd already taken damage."
"Group tournament in Las Vegas is going to be sick," Murder bragged. "Dread, Psyc, we need a fourth."
"Dread's wife," Psyc said. "That's four. We're going to kick the shit out of you, Q."
She smiled at him. "Challenge accepted."
Chapter 39
Logan was smiling at the reporter when Riley pushed through the door. The woman, who looked like she'd never seen a computer in her life, was hanging on his every word. Standing to the side, Riley paused to listen.
"So, Void, or should we call you Logan Weiss now?"
"I prefer Void," he said. "It's like being a super hero, and Logan is my disguise."
The reporter forced a laugh. "So you want to tell us what all that banter was about at the end?"
He shrugged, somehow charming without looking arrogant. "That's easy. I was trying to get a date with the best gamer in the PLG. QQ's beautiful, smart, and has better aim than the rest of the guys in there. I'm faster, she's more accurate. Only way to impress someone like that is to keep up." He grinned. "No matter how many times you all try to say we've playing down to her level, it's just not true. Women tend to have better aim then men, but it takes them a bit longer to learn the reaction time and situational awareness. QQ's one of the few that managed not to be run off."
"What do you mean, 'run off'? Are you saying that male gamers don't want women online?"
"No," Logan said with a shake of his head. "But I happen to know Penelope is a guy." He looked in the camera and smiled. "Sorry, bro, but the default is that the person behind your crosshairs is a guy, and the banter is half the game. A lot of MMO players, or those new to FPSes don't understand that and think there's true vitriol behind it."
"Nothing you say in game is serious?" she asked.
"Not really. There's a trick to it. Respect is given for how scathing or humorous a comment is. Including a meme gets bonus points. The act of playing the game keeps our physical reactions up, the banter keeps our mental reactions quick."
"So do you think that this will bring more women to the PLG?"
Logan nodded. "I do. I also think the rest of the guys have a real reason to be scared. Most people who start today won't be ready to go pro for a few years, but yeah. Once the girls hit the tournaments, we'll see an extra level of difficulty. I think QQ's already proven that. Compare today's finals to last year's. I played in both. I didn't sweat last year."
That's when someone noticed her, and she was pulled to the side as a camera was shoved into her face.
"QQ, I'm Brian Westman of The Gamer Channel, how do you think you did today?"
"Not bad," Riley said honestly. "I made a mistake thinking Void would come at me head on and lost for it. He's good, but I can be better."
"Saw you took out Knock after teaming up with him in the last few rounds. Do you think his assistance is what got you to the finals?"
"No," she said coldly. "Pretty sure I proved that. Knock and I play together often enough in Eternal Combat that we'd be in the same place at the same time, so we might as well cover each other's back. Strange that no one said a thing about PsychoCut and Murder working together."
"Well," the reporter said, his smile turning suddenly very stiff, "that's a bit different, isn't it?"
"Why?" Riley asked. "Because they aren't in the same outfit? Because they're both men? Sorry, Brian. In there, it's all about the kill spam. When you're in a crowd of people who are out to get you, it only makes sense to look the other way and not ask when someone does the same for you. Strangely, only the reporters seem to care that I'm a girl gamer when we're in a match."
"So you're saying Void would have been just as easy for you if you were a man?"
"Yes. I play eight hours a day – well night – and I am always tracking my stats. I record my sessions, watch them looking for ways to improve, and stay in touch with the newest games in the industry. I have top of the line peripherals, all Corsair, and I take this serious. Half the guys I play with don't, and they don't have contracts. Every guy at the high table this weekend does the exact same. We're here to win."
"But wasn't Void trying to impress you?"
"Sure." Riley laughed. "He's been trying to do that for a while. He's not the only one. Thing is, throwing a match is not a good way to impress me. That's like me saying you're a horrible reporter with transparent and meaningless questions who works for a network that doesn't really matter. Wanna go out some time? I'm willing to bet you wouldn't feel very flattered. With that said, being a woman has exposed the bigotry in the industry, and it's not coming from most of the gamers, oddly enough."
"So you've never used the fact that you're a girl to get an advantage?"
Logan laughed from beside her, having heard the question. "I have to answer that. Pardon me."
He stepped away from the woman he'd been talking to and closer to Riley. "I invited QQ to Dallas after a pretty intense fight in Eternal Combat. I knew I was talking to a well ranked player, but we all thought QQ was just another guy. So, when I told 'him' to go to Dallas, I had no idea what was about to happen in the PLG. QQ's good, and we all knew it. What we didn't know is that QQ is quite nice to look at. I think the only thing she's ever asked of us is for respect. She earned that before she ever revealed her gender." He looked at Riley. "Figured you'd be a dorky guy. Sorry."
She shrugged. "Hate to disappoint. It was good to speak to you, Brian, Void."
With that, she retreated from the reporters and made her way back to her room. She made it all the way around the bar before she realized she wasn't alone. Spinning, she found herself facing a man in all black and gasped.
"Shit, Sorry, Q," Cynister said, lifting his hands and stepping back.
"Jesus!" she cried. "You're fucking not right sometimes, man."
"Most times. Look, I'm headed out, but I got something for you. I didn't want to leave a trail, so got you paper copies."
Riley shook her head. "What did you find?"
"The reason they're after you in the horse world." He paused, dropping those silvery green eyes to the ground for a moment. "The woman who bought that horse from you, Stone Something Farms?"
"Yeah. Cunt stopped paying." Riley ducked her head, trying to get a better view of his face.
Cyn nodded with his lips pressed tight. "Yeah. So her daughter is dating this guy. He's been hanging on 4chan with a group called Kings of Gaming. Didn't take much for the bastard to put you together with your game name. That made it easy to convince a few people to help out, and well..." He shrugged. "If you're too broke to hit the tournaments, then you're not a threat. Doesn't hurt that they needed the horse."
She huffed in shock. "A threat?"
"Yeah." He chuckled, almost to himself. "Not everyone likes girls fucking up their games. Google Destiny Pierce."
"Co-owner of Deviant Games?"
He nodded. "Yeah. I think you and she have a fan club in common. Be careful, ok? I'll keep my eyes open and find everything I can so Void can do his thing. If he knows, he can find it from the other side." He gestured to a stack of papers on the bar. "Which is what I was dropping off."
"Thanks, Cyn," she said, grabbing them.
He looked up at her and smiled. "Jason. Keep that between us?"
She nodded. "Yeah, will do."
He chuckled and tapped his cheek. "Put one there, and I'll tell you what else I did while you were screwing around last night."
She kissed his cheek with a giggle, then leaned back, not surprised to see him grinning.
"Cleaned up your credit a bit. Nothing big, just hid a few things that were old and pulled off some late payments for your student loans. Didn't realize you had a degree?"
Riley nodded. "Biology."
"Nice. Well, it's all legal, what I did, so you're good. Just figured that with what you're doing for Knock, that's just cool shit, right? Figured I'd help out."
"What the fuck do you do for a living, Jason?"
He shrugged, "I deliver pizza, Riley."
She almost believed him, until he winked and walked out of her room. Before the door closed behind him, he greeted someone in the hall, and she heard her door pushed open again. She looked up from the papers on the counter in time to see Logan walk around the corner.
"Cynister came by?" he asked.
"Yeah, he's some fucked up shit."
Logan nodded. "Yeah, good guy. Weird as shit, but yeah. What'd he want?"
She passed him the papers. "Information. He said if you knew, you could work backwards and get it on your own. He's not just some punk hacker, is he."
"No idea," Logan said. "He swears he delivers pizza. Thing is, none of us even know his name. He's listed in the member roster as X. No idea what state he lives in, nothing. Fuck!"
"What?"
"That's why he took my laptop. That bastard." Riley just shook her head, so he explained. "He pulled all that up on my machine, so if it's traced, it comes back looking legit. He probably used it to hack your site, too."
"Is that a problem?"
"Not unless you press charges."
"I have some crazy-ass friends," Riley said. "Damn. Ok, let's get packed and get out of here?"
She moved, knowing she'd just given away her position, and made it through three buildings as fast as she could, keeping her pattern irregular.
[VOID] Did not see that coming!
[QQ] Scared?
[VOID] I'm gonna make you beg before this is all done, baby.
[QQ] Kiss my ass, Void.
[MURDER] That's my job.
Now it was just her against the men at the table. Dreadknot liked to hole up. Void would be on the prowl. PsychoCut and Murder both varied between ambush and flanking. That meant watching all sides until a few more were down.
A dot showed up on her map, and she flanked around it. They all wanted to win, she wanted to take them out, and that dot would draw them all like moths to a flame. She spiraled out, away from it, listening for any sound or hint. Moving slowly across the bottom floor, she heard something. Someone was reloading, and he was just above her.
She scanned the area for the sensor dart, and saw it stuck against the far wall. Watching her flank, she waited, knowing it would only last a few seconds. It might not show her where the enemy was, but if she took another step, it'd light her up on his map. With a small glow, it faded from the world, expired, and she surged around the corner, checking every hole she could think of, her weapon at the ready. She turned up the stairwell and aimed for the opposite wall, throwing a grenade as far back as she could. Slowly, step by step, she moved up the stairs, counting in her mind. When it went off, she rushed forward, triggered a heal over time, then aimed.
The mine blew as she crossed the threshold, but her heal was already repairing it. With her gun scoped in, she found the player's body mass and tapped off five shots, pulling up to tag him in the head just as he finally had the chance to fire back. She took a shot in the body, but a notification at the bottom showed that Dreadknot was out of the running.
"Damn!" he gasped, glancing at her shocked.
She didn't slow down. Going up, making her way to the roof, then over the edge, she jumped just hard enough to hit the outer wall of the building beside it, sliding down until a decorative ridge stopped her midway. Slinking around the tiny ledge, she checked her back.
[VOID] Competition is going to be stiff.
[QQ] That's what the boys always say when I walk in the room.
[VOID] You have that effect.
[MURDER] Don't fucking piss her off!
[PSYCHOCUT] I'm about to be all over your ass, Q.
[QQ] Dream on, baby.
She caught a glimpse of movement on the far side and crouched, still perched on the tiny ledge. She was below the roof, above the door, and across from a window. It was a vantage that people rarely used, so it should take them at least a second to find her. She saw a flicker in the room across from her, and waited. Sure enough, he hit the roof and she scoped in. The crowd gasped as she lined up a head shot, compensated for his movement, and tapped her mouse three times. The second shot missed, but the third dropped him.
[QQ] Now it's just the pretty boys left.
[MURDER] You fuck as hard as you kiss?
[QQ] Yes.
[VOID] Damn it. She's pissed.
[MURDER] She's hot when she's pissed.
[VOID] You have to kick her ass to get the prize.
[MURDER] Shit.
She dropped off the ledge and went back into the building where Psyc had died, making for the second floor, crossing the room, and hopping through the window. She'd just drawn them all to her position but wasn't ready to lose her advantage. Finding a wall, she paused, standing in the open, and watched someone slip into the room she'd just left.
[QQ] Anyone else going to get a kill on this map?
[VOID] Wait for it, baby.
She lined up her shot and waited for her opponent to show himself again. Just as he passed into view, a pair of shots rang out and her target dropped, her own bullet flying harmlessly past.
She moved, not even bothering to check the kill feed. It was now just her and one other opponent, but she couldn't be sure which. There was a red dot on her map, and she was in line of sight. She had to move! A bullet hit the wall just behind her. Riley rounded the corner, and kept going.
[VOID] Nice ass.
[QQ] Just you and I now? I think we've done this before.
[VOID] Didn't work out so well for me last time. I plan to do better.
[QQ] Don't think because I have tits, I can't kick your ass.
[VOID] Not that fucking stupid. Your K/D is better than mine, but I've done this a few times. You're going down.
She saw him slip between buildings and knew which way he was headed. Riley shifted, moving beside the door. It wouldn't be long before he'd walk through. She had positioned herself right in his path.
[QQ] You just fucked up.
[VOID] Think so? Just because you upped your game, doesn't mean I can't match it.
[QQ] Now see, that was kinda sweet.
[VOID] I'm trying to impress you, QQ. Unlike the rest of these dumb asses, I know there's only one thing that will. Sorry about your loss.
Her screen flashed red, a hit indicator directly behind her, but she couldn't even turn before Logan got the second head shot off and she dropped. An overlay faded in, glaring in her face that she'd just been killed by Void with two shots to the head, from the back.
She stared at her monitor in shock. She'd been so sure she had him. When she looked up, he sat with his hands folded, his chin resting on them, watching her. He smiled, well aware that the cameras were still on.
"You owe me a drink," he said.
"Yeah, that isn't all I tossed into chat."
He shrugged, his head tilted just a bit to the side, a gentle smile on his lips. "What do you say we make that a date instead? Dinner, next week in Dallas? I'd prefer an hour of your time away from," he pointed to the monitor in front of him, "this."
"I'm not gaming to get a date." She was all too aware of how many eyes were on her.
"I think we all know that. You just wiped half the map on your own."
Riley laughed and smiled at him, no longer even trying to be a bitch. "Yeah, I kinda did. You're on, Void. Friday, and you're picking me up."
"Damned good fight, Q. Best fucking fight I've had in fourteen years."
She glanced down, feeling herself blushing. "Yeah. I think that's the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me."
Logan then turned to Murder and they shared a look before Murder shrugged. "I got owned twice in this game. Grats, bro." He held up a fist, and Logan thumped it with his own.
"There you have it!" the announcer began, and Riley just rolled her eyes.
They all smiled and made the expected responses until the cameras were off, but the reporters were starting to crowd the doors. Ok, there were only five, but each was trying to get a shot into the room. It was like being a celebrity, but on a small scale.
"Guys?" she said, catching the eye of everyone at the high table. "I'm buying you all one. Good fucking fight."
"Yeah, Q," Dread said. "Nice show. Your sister really coming to Las Vegas?"
She nodded. "Yeah. Want to get her more involved now that we can hire someone to watch the farm."
"I'll bring my wife. She's not great, but she has fun. You got someone to hang with her at the low tables?"
Riley nodded. "Yeah, man. We have three Paradox guys in Cali, at least one will be there. Why wasn't there a high table in Dallas anyway?"
"Start of the season," Void said. "Most Pros are preparing for the East Coast league and most sponsors haven't signed yet. That's why Dallas is a big event. We're all treated the same, and you never know who you'll end up sitting across from."
"Here I thought I was prepared. There's so much I have left to learn."
"You don't really get all the details till you've been on the treadmill a few years," Murder said. "Nice to see a new face breaking in."
"Yeah," Void agreed. "If they'd signed you as CareBear, you'd be a vet like the rest of us." He smiled deviously, then walked away to see the reporters.
Three heads turned to her. "Serious as shit?" Psyc asked.
"Yeah," Riley sighed. "That's why I don't want to come across as a flirt. Say the wrong thing, stand in the wrong place, and you're blackballed."
"Damn," Psyc said. "You kicked the shit out of me that year in Dallas. Took me two more to get signed. You don't even look the same."
She tugged at her dreads. "Nope. Decided the good girl look wasn't working, so gave up trying. Figured if you boys wanted to fight, then I'd come ready to kick your ass."
"You did," Dread said. "I never even saw you coming."
"No shit," Psyc agreed. "I hit the roof, thinking you were going to be between buildings, and dropped like a damned rock. Where were you?"
She winked, "Watch the stream and figure it out."
"Why'd you let him get the kill on me?" Murder asked.
Riley just shook her head. "Didn't. His reactions are faster than mine. We both had a line on you, just his bullet hit first. You'd already taken damage."
"Group tournament in Las Vegas is going to be sick," Murder bragged. "Dread, Psyc, we need a fourth."
"Dread's wife," Psyc said. "That's four. We're going to kick the shit out of you, Q."
She smiled at him. "Challenge accepted."
Chapter 39
Logan was smiling at the reporter when Riley pushed through the door. The woman, who looked like she'd never seen a computer in her life, was hanging on his every word. Standing to the side, Riley paused to listen.
"So, Void, or should we call you Logan Weiss now?"
"I prefer Void," he said. "It's like being a super hero, and Logan is my disguise."
The reporter forced a laugh. "So you want to tell us what all that banter was about at the end?"
He shrugged, somehow charming without looking arrogant. "That's easy. I was trying to get a date with the best gamer in the PLG. QQ's beautiful, smart, and has better aim than the rest of the guys in there. I'm faster, she's more accurate. Only way to impress someone like that is to keep up." He grinned. "No matter how many times you all try to say we've playing down to her level, it's just not true. Women tend to have better aim then men, but it takes them a bit longer to learn the reaction time and situational awareness. QQ's one of the few that managed not to be run off."
"What do you mean, 'run off'? Are you saying that male gamers don't want women online?"
"No," Logan said with a shake of his head. "But I happen to know Penelope is a guy." He looked in the camera and smiled. "Sorry, bro, but the default is that the person behind your crosshairs is a guy, and the banter is half the game. A lot of MMO players, or those new to FPSes don't understand that and think there's true vitriol behind it."
"Nothing you say in game is serious?" she asked.
"Not really. There's a trick to it. Respect is given for how scathing or humorous a comment is. Including a meme gets bonus points. The act of playing the game keeps our physical reactions up, the banter keeps our mental reactions quick."
"So do you think that this will bring more women to the PLG?"
Logan nodded. "I do. I also think the rest of the guys have a real reason to be scared. Most people who start today won't be ready to go pro for a few years, but yeah. Once the girls hit the tournaments, we'll see an extra level of difficulty. I think QQ's already proven that. Compare today's finals to last year's. I played in both. I didn't sweat last year."
That's when someone noticed her, and she was pulled to the side as a camera was shoved into her face.
"QQ, I'm Brian Westman of The Gamer Channel, how do you think you did today?"
"Not bad," Riley said honestly. "I made a mistake thinking Void would come at me head on and lost for it. He's good, but I can be better."
"Saw you took out Knock after teaming up with him in the last few rounds. Do you think his assistance is what got you to the finals?"
"No," she said coldly. "Pretty sure I proved that. Knock and I play together often enough in Eternal Combat that we'd be in the same place at the same time, so we might as well cover each other's back. Strange that no one said a thing about PsychoCut and Murder working together."
"Well," the reporter said, his smile turning suddenly very stiff, "that's a bit different, isn't it?"
"Why?" Riley asked. "Because they aren't in the same outfit? Because they're both men? Sorry, Brian. In there, it's all about the kill spam. When you're in a crowd of people who are out to get you, it only makes sense to look the other way and not ask when someone does the same for you. Strangely, only the reporters seem to care that I'm a girl gamer when we're in a match."
"So you're saying Void would have been just as easy for you if you were a man?"
"Yes. I play eight hours a day – well night – and I am always tracking my stats. I record my sessions, watch them looking for ways to improve, and stay in touch with the newest games in the industry. I have top of the line peripherals, all Corsair, and I take this serious. Half the guys I play with don't, and they don't have contracts. Every guy at the high table this weekend does the exact same. We're here to win."
"But wasn't Void trying to impress you?"
"Sure." Riley laughed. "He's been trying to do that for a while. He's not the only one. Thing is, throwing a match is not a good way to impress me. That's like me saying you're a horrible reporter with transparent and meaningless questions who works for a network that doesn't really matter. Wanna go out some time? I'm willing to bet you wouldn't feel very flattered. With that said, being a woman has exposed the bigotry in the industry, and it's not coming from most of the gamers, oddly enough."
"So you've never used the fact that you're a girl to get an advantage?"
Logan laughed from beside her, having heard the question. "I have to answer that. Pardon me."
He stepped away from the woman he'd been talking to and closer to Riley. "I invited QQ to Dallas after a pretty intense fight in Eternal Combat. I knew I was talking to a well ranked player, but we all thought QQ was just another guy. So, when I told 'him' to go to Dallas, I had no idea what was about to happen in the PLG. QQ's good, and we all knew it. What we didn't know is that QQ is quite nice to look at. I think the only thing she's ever asked of us is for respect. She earned that before she ever revealed her gender." He looked at Riley. "Figured you'd be a dorky guy. Sorry."
She shrugged. "Hate to disappoint. It was good to speak to you, Brian, Void."
With that, she retreated from the reporters and made her way back to her room. She made it all the way around the bar before she realized she wasn't alone. Spinning, she found herself facing a man in all black and gasped.
"Shit, Sorry, Q," Cynister said, lifting his hands and stepping back.
"Jesus!" she cried. "You're fucking not right sometimes, man."
"Most times. Look, I'm headed out, but I got something for you. I didn't want to leave a trail, so got you paper copies."
Riley shook her head. "What did you find?"
"The reason they're after you in the horse world." He paused, dropping those silvery green eyes to the ground for a moment. "The woman who bought that horse from you, Stone Something Farms?"
"Yeah. Cunt stopped paying." Riley ducked her head, trying to get a better view of his face.
Cyn nodded with his lips pressed tight. "Yeah. So her daughter is dating this guy. He's been hanging on 4chan with a group called Kings of Gaming. Didn't take much for the bastard to put you together with your game name. That made it easy to convince a few people to help out, and well..." He shrugged. "If you're too broke to hit the tournaments, then you're not a threat. Doesn't hurt that they needed the horse."
She huffed in shock. "A threat?"
"Yeah." He chuckled, almost to himself. "Not everyone likes girls fucking up their games. Google Destiny Pierce."
"Co-owner of Deviant Games?"
He nodded. "Yeah. I think you and she have a fan club in common. Be careful, ok? I'll keep my eyes open and find everything I can so Void can do his thing. If he knows, he can find it from the other side." He gestured to a stack of papers on the bar. "Which is what I was dropping off."
"Thanks, Cyn," she said, grabbing them.
He looked up at her and smiled. "Jason. Keep that between us?"
She nodded. "Yeah, will do."
He chuckled and tapped his cheek. "Put one there, and I'll tell you what else I did while you were screwing around last night."
She kissed his cheek with a giggle, then leaned back, not surprised to see him grinning.
"Cleaned up your credit a bit. Nothing big, just hid a few things that were old and pulled off some late payments for your student loans. Didn't realize you had a degree?"
Riley nodded. "Biology."
"Nice. Well, it's all legal, what I did, so you're good. Just figured that with what you're doing for Knock, that's just cool shit, right? Figured I'd help out."
"What the fuck do you do for a living, Jason?"
He shrugged, "I deliver pizza, Riley."
She almost believed him, until he winked and walked out of her room. Before the door closed behind him, he greeted someone in the hall, and she heard her door pushed open again. She looked up from the papers on the counter in time to see Logan walk around the corner.
"Cynister came by?" he asked.
"Yeah, he's some fucked up shit."
Logan nodded. "Yeah, good guy. Weird as shit, but yeah. What'd he want?"
She passed him the papers. "Information. He said if you knew, you could work backwards and get it on your own. He's not just some punk hacker, is he."
"No idea," Logan said. "He swears he delivers pizza. Thing is, none of us even know his name. He's listed in the member roster as X. No idea what state he lives in, nothing. Fuck!"
"What?"
"That's why he took my laptop. That bastard." Riley just shook her head, so he explained. "He pulled all that up on my machine, so if it's traced, it comes back looking legit. He probably used it to hack your site, too."
"Is that a problem?"
"Not unless you press charges."
"I have some crazy-ass friends," Riley said. "Damn. Ok, let's get packed and get out of here?"
