Ramón quickly analyzes the situation. He doesn’t stick around. He and Apeck slink off looking for easier prey.
Jessica, hatless, stands above me, a cloud of blonde hair surrounding her angry face. Wisps fan out from a thick braid lying on her shoulder. It looks unfinished. Kind of like a thundercloud bursting with yellow lightning, just waiting to vent its rage at someone. Lucky me.
Jessica glares down at me. I’ve received a lot of those today. “You already owed me and everyone else for your stupid cat keeping us all up last night. Then your girlfriend went and did this to my hair!” Jessica points to her piled hair.
“It…looks good?” I try to appease her. I’m not lying either. The hairdo seems good to me. Driger growls at Jessica, but it looks like the rebellious creature is on its last legs.
Jessica sniffs in disgust at me. “Of course it looks good! It’s my hair! That’s not the point! The point is I had to skip breakfast. Now I’m going to collect your debt out of your hide, dweeb!” She points at me, “Hydralix, use Dew Blast!”
I try to roll away, but the rushing water is finally too much for my Rayment to handle. Motes of light dance in the air in front of me as my Rayment breaks, Jessica is blasted backwards with Hydralix. She manages to twist in midair and stick a three-point superhero landing, Hydralix coiled beside her. It would’ve been more impressive if she wasn’t still screaming in terror from the unexpected flight. I’m surprised she was able to land so well. Dad warned me superhero landings murder your joints, but the Rayment displays its weird ability to soften physics yet again.
I notice Driger disappearing mid-leap, wisps of red light are pulled back into its badge on my jacket. I stand up and brush myself off. “I guess it’s time to recharge.” I mildly dread seeing Pablo and the punks again. Jessica’s now paler face smirks at me. “Thanks for the essence, dweeb. It’s the least you could do.” She then mutters something about finding a safe farming spot I doubt I was supposed to overhear.
I ask her as she walks away, Hydralix slowly disappearing into her badge, “What are essence points?” Jessica turns around and chuckles at me.
“Mis-, ahem, dork, you really need to go through the orientation or talk to your nerdy little brother. Have fun in class.” I watch her as she quietly fades into the forest. She’s better than Ramón at stealth. Worrying.
Susie’s familiar voice makes me look back to the hotel’s normal-looking grassy back, “Matt! I was wondering where you were. Did you happen to see Jessica? I didn’t get a chance to finish her hair. She ran off when I was collecting hair clips for her. She won’t have to worry about snagging her hair on any of these branches if we get these put in.”
I walk to Susie and back to the hotel’s rear entrance, “I think Jessica will be fine. These tree branches aren’t real. I think Tara is making things easier for us. Or the Rayments are.”
“Speaking of Rayments, what do you think of mine?” Susie does a twirl to show off a loose pink vest with a white blouse and pink shorts. I note her badge shining on a black belt as she finishes her turn.
“It suits you.”
“What a professional assessment,” She teases me and smiles brightly.
“Susie, I spend most of my time training. I’m not a good judge of clothes without camouflage or lots of pockets. Lee got at least one thing right with this jacket. It has oodles of pockets.” I stick my hands in the front pockets to prove my point.
“Aren’t you too hot in that thing? I can’t imagine wearing leather all day in this sunny weather.”
I shake my head, “The Rayments aren’t quite…real.” It takes me a second to find the words and Susie waits while I think. “It’s like whatever it displays is just that, a display. It doesn’t actually have the physical properties you feel. The fabric, the texture, are all an illusion. It tricks your body into feeling them.”
“Probably some form of haptic projection like old VR machines and games were dreaming up,” Susie ponders, chewing her bottom lip. “I didn’t think anything today would have the capability. Outside of Sojourn anyway.”
I realize Susie is continuing to walk with me to the hotel. “Susie, don’t you want to join the competition?”
She waves the suggestion down. “I don’t care. I’m more concerned with everyone getting enough food, feeling safe, and figuring out how this whole Terra Tamers thing could help Sojourn and the locals. There are three major groups and they don’t really get along. It seems like the Caverna’s gangs are stirring up trouble with other foragers thanks to flooding destroying much of their stored food this year.”
I feel a pang of guilt. I hadn’t thought of Sojourn at all today. Or feeding people. Not to mention, will Tara even have time to write up the report for me today when she’s busy running this test? And tracking data? “I’m glad you’re staying on mission.”
“Are you impressed with my professionalism?” Her eyes sparkle down at me.
“Yes.”
“Well, I can’t do too much on my own. Let’s get you recharged and see what we can do for Sojourn.”
“How’d you know I needed to recharge?”
“Your Rayment isn’t glowing near mine. Your badge lost its shine. Plus, I know you, Matthew Wong,” Susie meets my eyes. “You don’t stop fighting, blazing ahead, until you’re forced to. Come on I know a shortcut!”
I follow Susie. She’s a fast walker. Her stride is longer than mine as we take a twisting path through the nearly empty hallways and newly cleaned rooms. We keep going until Susie throws up her arms and shows me what used to be a computer room according to the hotel map on the wall.
“Ta-dah! We’ve arrived safely at the Rayment Refresher.” A few eyes stare at Susie’s display. A few familiar faces choose to glare at me. “I’ll be helping the kids find supplies for themselves and their families, telling them what Sojourn can trade. Then I’ll be taking care of the smallest ones in the nursery I set up. You can find me when you’re done, or I suppose you’ll head back into the test. Maybe see you at dinner? Later, Matt!” Susie starts to walk off and turns around again, “Oh, and don’t start a fight in the hotel! Tara really hates it.”
Hostile stares greet me in the doorway.
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