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  “Yeah,” I said. “Speaking in tongues.”

  She froze and then sighed. “That’s why I couldn’t understand what anyone else was saying. Well, you were meowing.”

  “I remember.”

  Mary joined us. “What about me?”

  “Conducting the hedge in a concert,” I told her.

  “Oh, hell,” she said after a moment. “The piccolo was consistently late.”

  Tara and I laughed. And then the voice said, “Your visor will show you the way to join your friends.”

  “We owe you, Selena,” Mary said. “Meow.”

  Tara laughed. I scowled.

  * * * *

  We met up with everyone else. They were reliving the game a little. Nan bounced over to me. “How was jail?”

  “No comment,” I said. “Pretty cowardly to shoot me in the back.”

  “It was two of you to one of me,” she said. “I consider that bravery to the extreme. Hug?”

  “Sure.” We hugged, and I kissed her cheek. “Having fun?”

  “I got to shoot you, so my day is already half complete. We managed to pin Gail down, but we couldn’t get to her.”

  “Bummer, that.”

  Jack let us chat another minute, and then said, “All right. We have another ten people ready to play.” A door opened, and more people joined us. There were quick introductions. One guy, low twenties, had come alone. There were three more guys, who had come together, plus a young husband and wife, and two women, each with a teenage daughter.

  “The next game is capture the flag,” Jack explained.

  * * * *

  This time, my team included Nan, Evie, Maybell, one of the mothers with the opposite daughter, the young husband, and a few of the guys. Two of the guys tried to assume leadership. I shared one glance at Evie then asked, “Who elected you two leaders?”

  “But,” one sputtered.

  “Right,” Nan said. “Typical guys. I vote Selena leader.”

  “No,” I countered. “Evie has more experience than the rest of us.”

  “How do you know that?” asked Sputterer.

  “Where do you work?” I asked.

  “What has that to do with anything?”

  “Do you work for Laser Brains?”

  “No. Berman Motors.”

  “Raise your hand if you want Evie to be our leader?” I, along with all the other women, raised our hands. Nan made a point of counting anyway, and then we all turned to Evie. “What’s our strategy, Leader?”

  She smiled. “We get three points for sending someone to jail and one point for stunning someone.” I’ll explain that shortly. “But we get ten points for capturing their flag.”

  “And five points if we shoot their flag carrier,” said Sputterer.

  “True,” Evie said. “But including that in our strategy is riskier than just taking the three points for shooting him before he gets to the flag.”

  “I don’t know where our flag is,” I pointed out.

  “We won’t,” Evie said. “We can’t even see it until they grab it, and the spawn location changes every time it resets. We’re going to form into squads of three. Two squads will take separate routes to capture the flag. The squad of two will guard from the edge of neutral territory, but will move to help cover our flag bearer. The last squad will patrol our area. We should have communications, so keep your team apprised. Who wants to patrol back here?”

  I raised my hand, as did two of the guys. We stepped together, and they both smiled at me. I hoped they didn’t try to hit on me.

  “Who wants to go after the flag? You.” She said to Sputterer. “Lead one team.” He grabbed the husband and the last loose guy.

  “Maybell,” Evie said. “Lead the other team. I’ll stay in neutral territory. Grab your two team members.”

  “Sable,” she said, indicating the other teenager in our group. “And how about you, Nan?”

  “Sure,” Nan said, stepping to her side.

  “You’re with me, Rhea. If anyone gets tired of running around, move back and swap with someone.” Let’s go!

  * * * *

  Two games later found us on a space station. We were trying to infiltrate The Swarm and steal their plans. We had control of a portion of the station, but we needed to sneak well into their side of the station. But they were trying to steal a list with the identity of all our agents.

  This was to be a longer game lasting an hour. If I were sent to jail, I’d be there until I was freed, or until The Swarm had captured The List of Agents. At that point, I was freed.

  For the first ten minutes, it was quiet for my little squad. Instead, we paid attention to the others as they explained what was going on. The neutral area was a landing bay that was at the edge of the area we controlled. Jail was on the edge of the landing bay. I listened as Evie and Rhea picked defensive positions watching over the landing bay. And then the other two teams picked routes though the open space, hiding behind various crates, rolling carts, and several landers, tugs, and other hidey-places.

  They managed to make it to exits on the other side. It was another minute later when Rhea said, “Shit.”

  “What?” Evie asked. “Oh, hell. Rhea is taking fire. She’s exposed, and they’re keeping her stunned.

  I mention being stunned. We each had two weapons. We each had our guns, and we also had a hand stunner. Within our territory, we could take a prisoner either by shooting them or tapping them with the stunner. Within neutral territory, if you were shot, you were frozen for thirty seconds, but if you were touched with the hand stunner, you were a prisoner.

  In enemy territory, all you could do was stun an opponent with the hand stunner; they had some sort of neutralizer that disabled our guns.

  “There’s movement,” Evie said. Then I heard firing. “Right side.” A flag appeared on the mini-map my visor displayed, in the neutral zone about a third of the way from Swarm territory. “Selena, can you head them off? I’m taking suppressing fire.” Then I heard her shooting some more.

  “We’ll try to intercept. Come on.”

  We took off, running through the halls. Thirty seconds later, Evie said, “They took different routes. I’m going to try to help Rhea.”

  “Split up,” I directed.

  * * * *

  “Movement,” I whispered. I lowered myself to a knee and a foot, then sighted with my laser gun.

  And I got my first look at a member of The Swarm. She was short, slight, and I realized she was a young Swarm, her skin gold, and her antenna twitching in the air.

  I fired. “Got her!”

  The Swarmer stiffened with my shot and then said, “Prisoners go to jail.” She holstered her gun, lifted her hands into the air, and turned around, disappearing behind the corner.

  Carefully, I followed her. I peeked around the corner, got a glimpse of the Swarmer’s back, and then my vision faded into flashing lights, my body stiffening. I felt the touch of a stunner on my ankle.

  I couldn’t see. I couldn’t think. I could only feel. And I felt the stunner touch me again, this time my side. I felt an arm wrap over my shoulder, and the stunner hit me again. “Hello, Lover.”

  Joy’s voice. Joy was a Swarmer.

  “You can’t move,” said the Swarmer. “But I can move you.”

  I felt a hand on my wrist, and then my arm was forcibly lowered until I pushed my gun into my holster. The Swarmer stunned me again, and then she began nudging me forward. I realized she was using me as a shield.

  Well, later I realized it. I didn’t realize anything at the time.

  I couldn’t see anything but flashing lights. I don’t know where the Swarmer took me. I didn’t hear the voices in my head.

  But then I froze again before lifting my hands in the air. “Prisoners go to jail.”

  Joy had half-dragged me to neutral territory, and once there, she could make me into a prisoner.

  With my hands in the air, ignoring the firefight around me, I stepped into the jail, paused, and
then meowed.

  * * * *

  I looked around, confused. I was back in our territory. “What happened?”

  “Check the score,” Evie directed.

  Two to one. “They captured our list!”

  “They did, but we have some of their plans. Pull it together, Selena. We need you on offense. I need you to infiltrate Swarm territory and find their plans. Go.”

  “Right.”

  I moved carefully, shifting to the left side before advancing through neutral territory. I saw two Swarmers, just inside their territory, firing off to my right. “I see two,” I said. It was a long shot, but I lifted my gun and began firing. I got the first one after the third shot, but his body shielded the other one, and then that one disappeared.

  I found new cover and then slipped into Swarmer territory.

  “Shit,” said Evie. “They got Rhea. She’s walking to jail.” I moved deeper into Swarm territory, my visor giving me a direction to the next plans we needed to find. I was going to move to the back of their territory then shift right. A minute later, most of the other voices on my team went quiet. Evie paused and said, “Everyone sound off.”

  She began offering names. She got to mine. “Still working through their territory,” I replied.

  The swarm had caught half our team, however, most of them from their territory. Evie said, “They’re walking to jail.”

  “I can free them,” Sable said.

  “Negative,” Evie replied. “With that many prisoners, they’re going to be guarding the jail.”

  “I can do it,” Sable said.

  “Sable,” Evie replied. “No. I need you on defense.”

  I listened as the two argued, and then Sable stopped responding. “Shit,” said Evie. “She’s stunned, and she’s in the open.” I heard firing. “I’m trying to keep them off of her.”

  “Need me to come back?” I asked.

  “Go for the battle plans,” Evie ordered.

  “Working on it.”

  Evie pinned down one of the swarm members, but another managed to finish capturing Sable. Evie got that one, but a third pulled both the stunned Swarmers to new cover, and Evie swore. Thirty seconds later, she said, “I’m taking heavy fire. I have to retreat.”

  Ten seconds later, I rounded a corner, and directly in front of me: the prize.

  I grabbed the satchel and hoisted it into the air. “Got it! Now what?”

  “You need to get back here,” Evie said. “Retrace your route. Be careful, Selena.”

  I moved carefully. Twice I retreated from footsteps, but then I was in neutral territory. “I’m going to draw their attention,” Evie said. “Here we go.” I heard firing, and then she said, “Filthy Swarm!”

  I made a dash for it. They never saw me, and soon I was safe. The satchel disappeared, but we scored ten more points. Fifteen seconds later, Evie went quiet.

  I moved carefully back to neutral territory, arriving just in time to see Evie turning herself into jail.

  “Who else is free?”

  “Me,” said Maybell.

  I paused, but there were no more responses. “Well, eleven to two. It’s been an honor, Maybell. Where are you?”

  “Trying to make my way to jail?”

  “They’ll catch you,” I said. “Retreat towards the center. We’ll meet up and find a defensive location. Maybe we’ll catch a few and get a few points, but most likely is they’ll find The List, but that will free the rest of our team.” For now, we were ahead, but if the Swarm captured more intel, they’d be ahead.

  * * * *

  Maybell and I caught one more Swarmer, but then they found the intel. We tried to cut them off but ran into half the Swarmer team. I think I managed to shoot one or two, and I found it likely Maybell got one or two as well, but then the rest were on us, stunning us.

  “Hello again, Lover.” It was Joy.

  And then I felt as they picked me up.

  I came to greater awareness once I was in jail, meowing and meowing. And then I blanked out, coming to awareness back in our territory.

  * * * *

  I made my way for one more set of plans. I was barely inside Swarmer territory when I got shot. “I love catching you, Lover.” Joy, once more.

  I spent the rest of the game in jail.

  * * * *

  We played six games in all. I’m going to explain one more time in jail. I’d been there for a while, chasing a mechanical mouse that Joy was controlling, when a dog walked into the jail.

  I froze, staring at Maybell the dog, and then hissed. She saw me, gave a bark, and began running after me. I turned and ran away.

  Maybell the dog chased me all over the jail. I hissed and yowled while running from her, then hid behind Joy, who pulled me into her arms and said, “Bad doggy!”

  Maybell lowered her head. I hissed. She crept forward, and I tried to swat her on the nose.

  “Bad kitty!” Joy said, and then she paddled my bottom twice. I yowled, but I didn’t try swatting her.

  Then Maybell barked. I jumped away from Joy’s arms and ran.

  Maybell chased me around.

  * * * *

  Later, while holding a mug of tea in both hands, I remembered everything. Around me, people were laughing, talking about captures, or about time in jail. I was watching Maybell. She was watching me just as intently.

  Finally, I stepped over and sat down beside her.

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  I smiled. “It’s kind of funny.”

  “I was just playing,” she said. “I wanted to play with you.” She offered a tentative smile. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s fine, Maybell,” I said. “Been here before?”

  “Yeah. Mom or Dad bring me if I get all A’s.”

  “How about your brother?”

  “He does okay in school, but he always gets a few B’s. He gets the arcade if he has a 3.5 or better, but it takes a 4.0 to come here.”

  “Not for birthday?”

  “Primrose couldn’t come, so we did other things,” she explained.

  “Your parents sound cool.”

  “They’re not bad,” she replied. She made a face. “For parents.”

  “Strict?”

  “Yes, and no,” she said. “Yes, the rules are strict, but they’re good rules.”

  “And you admit that?”

  “Hello,” she said. “A-student. I have a brain, and I can recognize the difference between smart and stupid.”

  I laughed. “Good for you.”

  “All right,” Jack said, gathering attention. “Did everyone have fun?” Around us, people applauded. “Excellent,” he continued. “We have video of nearly everything. In a few days, you’ll receive an email with a link to your video. Some people love to relive the experience. You’ll get highlights of each game you played plus a long replay of your own experience. Now, it’s time to turn in your headsets in exchange for your tickets.”

  It took a few minutes, but soon I was clutching my supply of tickets, the same sort as you might get from some arcades. I turned to Maybell. “Are there good prizes?”

  “Yeah. I save mine and go for something really good when I have enough.”

  “Good plan,” I said. “I hope you had fun.”

  “I did. I always do.”

  “Excellent. It was fun meeting you.” I stood, looked around, and then crossed the room. “Birthday girl!” With a nudge from her mom, Primrose turned to me. So did a variety of other people. I closed the remaining distance and then said, “Happy birthday!” I offered her my collection of tickets.

  “Really?” she asked, her eyes lighting up.

  “Really,” I said.

  She took the tickets. “Thank you, Selena.” She grinned. “Will you meow once more?”

  “I hope not,” I replied. “What are you going to get?”

  “I’m going to save them until I have enough for one of the Teddy bears,” she said.

  But I started something. I wouldn’t say eve
ryone in the room gave their tickets to Primrose, but I wasn’t the only one, and later, as we were leaving, she ran up to me, clutching a pure white Teddy bear. “Thank you, Selena.”

  “You’re welcome, Primrose.” I gestured. “Most of us work for a place called RealSoft. It’s a software company.”

  “Cute name,” Athalia said, stepping up and setting a hand on her daughter’s shoulder.

  “If you’re ever the solo in a concert, or the lead in a musical, or anything like that,” I said, “Get in touch with us. I’d love to see a real performance.”

  “Really?” she asked.

  “Really,” I said.

  She looked over her shoulder at her mom, who nodded.

  “I will,” Primrose said. “RealSoft. I won’t forget.”

  “Excellent. Shall we, ladies?”

  * * * *

  We all went home, Evie and Joy following us. We ordered take out Thai on the way, and then we had a party of it. After dinner, we played cards until a bit after nine, when Tara declared it was time to head home. She left first, with everyone else a few minutes after her. They were gone for about a minute and a half before my phone rang. I picked it up and saw Tara’s face.

  “Did you forget something?” I answered.

  “I never forget anything,” she replied. “Selena-pet obeys her lady.”

  I immediately felt the compulsion and began to smile. “Until Monday morning.”

  The compulsion took over, and I was entirely hers. “I’m in my car around the corner, Selena-pet. You will pack an overnight bag with whatever you need for work on Monday, then change into your cutest sleepwear then open your front door.”

  “Yes, Lady Tara.”

  Ten minutes later, I opened the front door. Tara was waiting. “Step outside,” she ordered. I did, and then she blindfolded me and led me to her car.

  Detective Mary

  It was late Monday morning that Mary plopped down in my cube. “So.”

  “So,” I agreed. “Did you have fun on Saturday?”

  “I did,” she confirmed. “Selena, are we friends?”

  “We’re work friends,” I said. “Maybe a little more than that now. What are you asking?”

  “I have a story to tell you.” Her tone was low, just loud enough for me to hear.

  “Okay.”