Harvest, page 12
She’d also shoved the bed from the center of the room to the corner, opening up a lot of space. She actually hadn’t realized that the room was probably the same size as her own, but there was no way they were going to uninstall her regular pod for a year. For one thing, where would they put it, and for another, it took professionals to get the thing in and out.
In any case, the spare room was as empty as it was going to get without removing the bed, so Zoey plopped down into the comfortable desk chair she’d just relocated. She opened her screen and looked at the document there. She had taken her dad’s word for it and just signed it, using three-factor authentication to prove that she was herself, and she hadn’t actually read it yet. Quickly, she skimmed through it, ignoring most of the legalese designating terms and conditions, until she got to a description of her actual prize.
One-year free access to Veritas Online, yay! Free upgrade to their home system to allow it to function with the new pod, okay. She wasn’t sure how her dad let that get by so easily, since he really did hate the house system being any more automated than it had to be, but he’d let Bridget get away with it once before, and apparently it was a slippery slope. Free net access for a year, or however long the pod was installed and in use, cool.
Ah ha! It looked like she was basically still in the beta test. She would have to do some baseline testing before using the pod, fill out a brief questionnaire after each use, and agree to go in to Veritas to do follow-up testing after the year was up. There was a note stating that since she had just completed the testing as part of her job, they would agree to use that data, and she didn’t have to go back to Veritas to do it all again, which was good, because she was actually just a little bit scared to go back.
She shook her head as she finished reading. There was no way Bridget had put all this together in the few seconds between the prize announcement and when she’d called Zoey. Sure, Bridget was a genius, but as far as Zoey knew, she hadn’t yet figured out how to manipulate time and space. Though, honestly, the idea wasn’t that far-fetched at this point.
No, Bridget had definitely manipulated the system so that Zoey would win the prize and continue to be able to use a full-immersion pod for the rest of the competition. The question was, why? Zoey’s pod wasn’t the latest and greatest, sure, but it was a good rig, and it would work just fine for what she needed to do. Presumably she was going to get the same setup Bree Stephenson and Harkness Landon were currently resting in like canned sardines.
Zoey giggled a little at the image of the stiff-faced Harkness swimming around with fins and great, gaping gills, and then shuddered. What if she had to use the actual deep immersion thing? Would she have to breathe in the blue goo and… go to sleep? Pass out? Enter a coma? What condition were Bree and Hank in right now? If Zoey had to actually suck that stuff into her lungs, could she do it? Did she want to?
No. No way. As much as she liked Bridget, and as deep as Zoey and her dad were in the other woman’s problems, there was no way Zoey was going to intentionally drown herself.
Her screen buzzed in her hand, and again, she only held onto it because of her fine-tuned reflexes. She looked down and saw that it was a message from Jace.
@JaceCo: Holy crap, Zoe. Someone just used that City Seed in VO, and you’re never going to believe who it was!
Zoey had to wait fourteen hours before she could log on again. Once Jace realized that, he refused to tell her what was going on, no matter how she begged or threatened. All he would say was ‘Payback’ with a laughing emoji, from which she assumed that while things had worked out with Fluff, he still wasn’t exactly happy about it. It was a total accident that she outed him as being a highschooler and even younger than Fluff herself. Honestly, if he was going to lie to his girlfriend (even by omission), it wasn’t her job to help him maintain his cover.
Moving on, she sent messages to Nina, Lily, and Amanda (which was Tessle’s real name), though she resisted messaging Fluff (who was clearly uncomfortable with real-life contact) and her dad (who was obviously busy). Lily was, of course, out of time (whoops), and Amanda said she had to work and then she had a date tonight with a nice guy she’d met who wasn’t a gamer, unlike her jerk ex. They chatted about that for a while, which was a nice distraction, but didn’t get Zoey any closer to figuring out what was going on.
When Nina got off work, she used one of the Veritas Corp rent-a-pods to log in and check things out. When she called Zoey, she was grinning like a fiend and insisted that this was news that could only be shared in person. Zoey hesitated only briefly before inviting her friend over for a dinner of reheated lasagna. Her dad had met Nina before, both in and out of the game, and besides, if Nina was a traitor, Zoey would eat her shoes.
While she waited for Nina to arrive, Zoey put Max outside and started browsing the game forums. Sure enough, there had been an announcement when the Seed was used, but the announcement hadn’t mentioned who used it or where the new city was. The only thing Zoey knew, then, was that someone both Jace and Tess knew had it, and putting two and two together (Aspen’s mysterious pouch and the Head Librarian’s shiftiness), she figured it had to be him.
She was a little peeved that Aspen was keeping secrets, but other than whatever benefits they got from using the Seed instead of building up from a Hamlet, she didn’t see what the big deal was. Obviously, if she’d known their side had a City Seed, she would have had her own ideas about what to do with it, but honestly, this was probably for the best. After all, it wasn’t like she was online all the time, or, y’know, really even qualified, and leaving a besieged city without a leader so she could go to the bathroom and take a nap didn’t seem like a great idea.
When her screen chimed to let her know someone was at the front door, she tapped the icon and pulled up an image of Nina, standing on the porch with Sam. The security guard was as out of uniform as Zoey had ever seen, and their short, curly blonde hair was surprisingly soft and fluffy now that it wasn’t under a hat. The kind blue eyes and round face were familiar, and they wore a simple, green, button-down shirt and khaki trousers.
Zoey threw open the door, grinning broadly at her friends. The scent of warm lasagna wafted out of the house and she saw both pairs of eyes widen as they sniffed appreciatively. Zoey stepped back, motioning for them to enter. As they did, she saw a small black car parked in front of the house. She knew Nina didn’t have a car, so it must be Sam’s.
Once everyone was seated around the dining room table, and a decent part of each serving of lasagna had been appreciated and ingested, Zoey set her fork down with a little click and fixed Nina with a look.
“Okay, now spill!”
Nina laughed and tapped her forehead. “Now what exactly was it you wanted to know? I forget.”
Zoey slapped the table. “The Seed! Who used the Seed! What happened? Did we just poof get a big city?” She mimed an explosion, and Nina and Sam both laughed. It was obvious from the expression on Sam’s face that Nina had already told them what was going on, and now Zoey was the only one out of the loop. Zoey pointed her finger from one of them to the other. “Tell me, or there will be no seconds!”
Sam laughed, and Nina clutched at her chest, big brown eyes wide behind her glasses, which were bright purple with pink and white polka-dots today. “You wouldn’t!”
Zoey lowered her brows and tried to look menacing. “I. Will.”
Nina waved a hand in surrender. “Okay, okay. It’s pretty awesome, actually. Here,” she pulled out her screen, and tapped it a few times, bringing up some screenshots. “Look,” she handed over the screen. “We got four community buildings, a transportation hub, and fifteen houses, along with bluestones for everything.
“That’s a temple,” she said, pointing to a gleaming white stone building with a tall statue of Gina standing by the door, arms spread wide in welcome. “Here’s an inn with a restaurant, which apparently counts as the hub.” This was a sturdy building with a large entry door and at least three windows, though Zoey was a little surprised it was only one story tall. “And a city hall.”
The third building was also only one story, but it was a long structure with impressive colonnades and some really snazzy gargoyles all around the edge of the roof.
Nina spun the image with a flick of her finger. “The houses are over here, off the town center. They’re all earth contact homes, and you can barely see them if you don’t know they’re there. The barracks is out past them, to the south, between the town and the mountain pass. And last but not least…” Another finger flick and a zoom revealed a brightly colored building with cheerful flowers and cartoon figures of people of all different races holding hands painted on the walls, “is the school!”
Zoey zoomed in and out of the image, spinning it so she could see the whole view. It looked like Nina had captured the image while standing in the middle of the town square, and when Zoey ‘looked’ down at her feet, she saw Wikiwi’s red leather boots standing on honest to goodness bluestones. She felt tears prickle her eyes, and sniffled a little, swiping at the moisture forming on her lashes.
Nina looked alarmed. “What’s wrong, Zoe? I thought you’d be happy!”
Zoey looked up and smiled a little shakily. “I am. I mean, I was glad when Jace told me, but I didn’t realize… how worried I was.” She hiccupped, and then laughed. “The way we were, no matter how awesome William’s tunnels are, we were going to be crushed the moment FannyHat and Apofis decided to come for us. I mean, they have thousands of trained soldiers, and that doesn’t even take into account all the players who’ve joined their side. We were screwed.”
Her friend puffed out a breath, nodding. “I… kind of wondered if you knew that. I mean, I was willing to give it a shot, but honestly, there was no way we were ever going to win if they came over the mountains. But you were so happy we just made it back to the farm, and I didn’t want to bring you down.”
Zoey looked down at her hands and shrugged. “I knew. I’d have to be stupid not to.” She looked back up and gave a lopsided smile, swiping at her eyes one more time. “This,” she tapped the screen, which had dimmed but now lit brightly again, “gives me hope. I know Aspen said Akuji had some way of getting around the bluestones, but with Aspen’s ability to see evil and stuff, I hope we can stop them from sneaking in, or at least be ready when they do.”
Nina leaned over and impulsively hugged Zoey. “Yeah. We can do it!” She touched the statue of Gina, pulling it up so it filled the screen. “After all, we have a goddess on our side, eh?”
Zoey laughed, hugging her friend back. “Yeah. Oh!” She leaned back, remembering something. “Do we have to call Aspen ‘Your Majesty’ or something now?”
Nina laughed, a surprised little bark. “Oh no, I haven’t told you the best bit yet. Guess who used the City Seed?”
“Not Aspen?” Zoey blinked.
“Uh uh. Your mate wanted none of it, I think. He came out with our majestic new ruler to help choose buildings and locations and stuff, but he made it very clear he was just an advisor.”
Zoey’s head was spinning. She vaguely remembered that there were a bunch of restrictions on who could use the Seed, though she hadn’t paid much attention, since it was incredibly unlikely she’d ever have to worry about it. She did know there was something in there about being super rich, super powerful, and super religious or highly ranked. Aspen ticked all the boxes, but no one else did, as far as she knew.
She clutched at Nina’s hand. “So, who is it?”
Nina pulled up a second screen capture. “Here. There’s one more building I didn’t show you. There’s a stinking castle. It’s half buried, like the rest of the town, but one tower pokes up, and that’s how you get in.”
Zoey was flabbergasted. “An underground castle? Who does that?”
Flicking open another image, Nina grinned. “A Goblin Queen, I guess. I mean, the whole city is at least half underground. The houses just sprang up out of the caves people settled into when they got here, and the first floor of the larger buildings is actually part cavern, while the roads have tunnels underneath them. You can cross the whole town without ever going outside.”
Staring back at Zoey from a painting that was probably larger than the little goblin herself, was Sarave. The harsh angles of her face were smoother, and her black hair was loose and curled around her shoulders, instead of in its usual thick braid, but the calm, thoughtful gaze and small smile were unmistakable. She wore a rich, emerald-green gown that perfectly set off her darker green skin, with slender ropes of polished stones intermingled with gems draping from bare shoulders to gathered satin and lace wristlets. A simple silver crown rested on her temples, and by her side, grinning broadly, was a similarly fabulously garbed Juniper.
Jaw dropping, Zoey reached out and touched the image, then looked up at Nina. “Can you give me a copy of this? All of this?”
Nina nodded and held up the screen. Zoey held up her own screen, and the two devices tapped lightly, copying the files. Zoey flicked through the images again, periodically zooming in as she noticed something she’d missed before, until the scrape of a fork on an empty plate brought her back to reality. Looking up, she saw that Nina and Sam had both finished their food, and Sam was looking a bit sad.
Zoey laughed. “Dad’s lasagna is amazing, right?”
Sam looked up and grinned. “Five stars for sure. Ah, you mentioned seconds?”
Nina giggled and leaned against Sam. “I thought you were worried about your waistline?” she teased.
Sam leaned back and smiled into her eyes. “I can worry about my waistline tomorrow.”
Zoey looked away, feeling a little awkward, and pushed back from the table. “Um, I’ll just, uh, go get more lasagna then.”
Nina looked up, cheeks flushing. “Oh! I’ll help with that!” She grabbed Sam’s and her own plate and followed Zoey into the kitchen.
As soon as they entered, Max, who was still outside, since Zoey didn’t want the big mooch schmoozing for treats during dinner, started to whine and paw at the dog door. Nina squealed. “Is that Max? He was outside last time I came by, too. He’s so cute! Look at those big brown eyes!”
Zoey sighed and bowed to the inevitable. “Is it okay for him to come in, then? You’re not allergic or anything? We usually keep him outside or up in the bedrooms when guests come over, just in case.”
Nina shook her head enthusiastically, then shoved her glasses back up her nose with a forefinger. “No! My parents have a standard poodle, and Sam has a rescue mutt. We love dogs!”
“Allie, you can let Max in now,” Zoey told the house system, then laughed as the big ball of joy and energy bounded through the flap and sat down directly on Nina’s toes, gazing up at her with adoration as his butt wiggled. Nina crouched down and flopped Max’s ears, receiving two joyous slurps for her efforts.
Sam poked their head in. “What’s going on in… Oh!”
Max, seeing yet another new-person-in-my-house, threw himself across the room, whirled twice in place as he resisted jumping up on his new friend, and then plopped down, tongue lolling out happily as he waited for the love he just knew was heading his way.
Both Nina and Sam began to pet the dog, as Zoey placed a second helping of lasagna on a fresh plate for Sam.
Patiently, Zoey waited until the introductory snuggles were over, and then held out the plate to Sam. “Be careful, or Max will steal it. We finally convinced him not to jump up on people, mostly, but he’ll still clean your plate faster than you can say, ‘down boy’.”
Sam laughed and accepted the plate. “My dog, Pistachio, is like that, too. I think it’s because he was a stray, and he just learned to grab whatever he could.”
Zoey fixed Max with a look. “Maybe. Max doesn’t have that excuse though. He was part of a litter a guy had in his car when he came to pick his daughter up from school. There were at least ten of these fat, roly-poly little pups, and I begged my dad to let us have one. Max has never gone hungry a day in his life.”
Sam laughed and took the plate back into the dining room, with a gleeful Max on their heels. Nina smiled fondly after them, and Zoey grinned.
“You’ve got it bad, huh?”
Nina laughed a little, though she looked really happy. “Yeah, I guess so. I’m pretty sure it’s mutual though, so it’s okay.” She grinned, taking a step toward the door. Quickly, Zoey grabbed her elbow.
“Nina. I wanted to ask you something. In private.”
Nina looked surprised, then intrigued. “What’s up, Zoe?”
Zoey cleared her throat. “Ah, this is a secret, though, okay? At least for now. Even from…” she tilted her head toward the dining room.
The older girl looked conflicted. “I don’t know, Zoey.”
“It’s about work, Nina. I really need you to check into something, but I don’t want to take any chances that it’ll get out. Since Sam is in security, it’s better if they just don’t know anything about it.” Zoey gave her friend the big-eyed look she’d learned from Max.
Nina sighed. “Okay, but only if it won’t affect Sam.”
Zoey shook her head. “No chance! Look,” she leaned in. “I heard that… someone may think that Jazmin is the leak in the Design Department.”
Nina looked shocked, then thoughtful. “I noticed she hasn’t been in, but I heard she was just sick and she’d be back soon. There’s no way Jazmin would do that. She’s about the most honest, upright person you can imagine. I mean, I’m not religious, but she takes it really seriously, and lying and stealing are pretty big no-nos.”
Nodding in agreement, Zoey said, “Exactly. If Jazmin did something underhanded, she had a good reason for it. She really liked – likes – her job, and I don’t think she’d do anything to risk it. I know you get around, so if you see or hear anything, would you let me know? If we can figure out what happened, maybe we can help prove she’s innocent, or at least keep her from being fired.”
