Helping Hands

Jake didn’t get to see Ryan’s failure. The program could only follow the action when a gun was about to be used, and hers couldn’t be.

It was Julie he was hung up on. Loretta’s transformation was brilliantly executed (at least according to Leah), and her husband clearly deserving. Farra had done a great job exacting some justice on someone who’d deserve it. But Julie…that one he couldn’t get out of his head.

“What’s the matter?” Leah purred, drawing into him again.

He suddenly realized that he’d pulled away from her. He hadn’t meant to, but he suddenly found he wasn’t in a cuddling mood.

Jake regarded her for a moment. She sat up, leaving his side to tilt her head curiously.

“Julie,” He admitted with a sigh. “I dunno…that one felt different.”

The TV currently showed Farra talking to George. Leah turned it down so they could have a conversation of their own.

“What about it, love?” She asked. “Does it bother you?”

“Yes? I don’t know…” He said. “I guess it’s kind of hard for me to say what I’d do in the same situation, but it feels like…I dunno.”

“Well she didn’t erase them or anything,” Leah said. “They’re still the same people they were, just in happier circumstances.”

“Maybe but Julie…_that _Julie. The one she left them with…it’s a lie.”

Leah nodded, but didn’t seem as troubled by that as he was.

“Lies can be good. Even kind options, love.” She said gently. “You can’t tell me you’ve never told someone a lie that spared them from something painful.”

“Leah, there’s a big difference between a white lie and abandoning your family.”

“She didn’t!” Leah said. Jake was taken aback by the genuine indignance in her tone. “She left her family in good hands, better off than they were, and gave herself a new lease on life. As far as I’m concerned, she’s pulled off a master stroke.”

“I guess it just doesn’t sit well with me. Maybe I shouldn’t judge until I get a chance to talk to her.”

“You shouldn’t,” Leah agreed. “And you’ll get that chance soon enough, in any case. You’re going to be rotating bedmates starting tomorrow.”

Jake grimaced.

“Do we know the order?”

Leah shook her head.

“Randomized. Although for what it’s worth, I have it on good authority that Emily is going first.”

“Good authority, meaning you engineered it?” He scoffed.

To her credit, she didn’t flinch.

“I wanted to ease you in. Let you get some of your concerns out of your system. She seemed as good a place to start as any.”

He rolled his eyes.

“Yes. Giving me time alone with my girlfriend will definitely make me more inclined to cheat on her,” He said. “Good call.”

He’d expected one of those hot tempered flashes of hers. Instead, she surprised him with kindness.

“Maybe, I wanted to offer an olive branch.” She said. “It’s not all about antagonizing you, you know. Not even about seducing you.”

She lay a gentle hand on his thigh. His reaction to it was more stiff and immediate than he’d have liked.

“I want to be your partner in this, Jake. The show can’t succeed without you, and if the show doesn’t succeed, none of us do.”

He regarded her for a long moment. She seemed sincere, though that hardly meant anything. Still, this was a genuine gesture, and one that was a lot more likely to blow up in her face than she realized.

“Alright,” He said, relaxing. “I’m…sorry. I know you’re stuck in this too, so I’ll…try to be a good sport, even if I won’t do the things I know you want me to.”

“Fair enough,” She said. “I’ll take it.”

He stood up.

“I really do need to go see my sister, though.”

But she caught him by the wrist.

“A little longer?” She asked. “We don’t even have half the girls back yet.”

They locked eyes.

“Please?” She said, “I’m…not quite ready to go back to being the host yet.”

Jake sighed and took a seat.

“Alright. But only a couple more,” He said. “I really do need to go check on her.”

In their banter, they’d missed Farra’s talk with her husband. When the screen coalesced on someone again, it was centered on Exe, who was, oddly enough, in the huts they’d departed from that morning. And, speak of the devil, it was Megan there with her.

“Okay, so…I think I’ve about got this figured out,” Megan said on the screen. “You sure this is the person’s name?”

“If not, I’ll make due,” Exe said, standing on the platform that would transport her. “Thank you for your help on this.”

Megan smiled.

“Thank you for doing the right thing!”

Jake watched as she entered something into the machine, and Exe was whisked away to a cramped apartment in California.

*****

It hadn’t been Exe’s first time in the hut. She had been the second to last shepherded into one at the start of the round. And then she’d just…frozen.

She couldn’t think of where to go or what to do; how the audience would react to any of the choices she’d considered. After a few minutes of paralysis, she’d decided to drop back into her room and use the internal network she’d read about to watch the others. Maybe she could get some inspiration.

But even that had proven to be a mistake, as every decision by every other contestant made her doubt another route she could take. Payback on her deadbeat family? Loretta took that angle. Taking out some rival streamers? Well, if she wasn’t the villain now, she certainly would be after that approach. And what else did she have, really? It was increasingly looking like her own meek little roommate would be the one to beat, and how on earth could she compete with nuking a whole library?

At any rate, she was running out of time. She only had 4 hours to do something.

She was brooding over the problem when her bedroom opened and slammed shut, followed by heavy breathing.

“Oh god…oh god…oh god…” She heard Megan squeak.

Exe arched an eyebrow as she heard clicking sound make its way from their domed living room to the cramped bedroom they shared. Megan nose dived into her bed, kicking her heels off in an impressively fluid motion as before she buried her head in the pillow.

After a long, awkward silence, Exe finally spoke up.

“Are you o-”

“No….” Megan interrupted her, speaking through the pillow. “I ruined everything.”

“I saw,” Exe said, examining her nails. “I watched it on TV?”

Now her roommate let out a muffled, dismayed little cry.

“It was on TV?!”

Exe gave her a look.

“You…know we’re on a show, right?”

Silence for a moment.

“Yeah…I guess that makes sense.”

Finally, she pulled her head from the pillow, her glasses askew. She hadn’t been crying, but she looked absolutely mortified.

“All those people…” Megan said.

“It should play pretty well for the audience, if that’s any consolation.”

“It’s not,” Megan said, shrinking. “All those people…”

Exe reached out a hand, hesitated a moment, then put it on hers anyway.

“Look, you didn’t mean to. Don’t beat yourself up.”

It was a hollow thing to say, and Exe could tell she’d continue to do it anyway. But Megan still seemed less disconsolate.

“Thanks,” She said, adjusting her glasses. “And thank you for that thing you said about seducing the audience instead of Jake. Winning them over was why I tried to do something nice in the first place.”

“Uh…no problem. Don’t mention it,” She said, awkwardly.

“How about you? You’re back early.” Megan said. “What did you do?”

Exe diverted her gaze without thinking, and groped for some fill in answer. But Megan read the discomfort for what it was.

“Have you not done one?” Megan exclaimed. “Exe, you only have like an hour and a half!”

“I know, I know!” Exe said through her teeth, “I don’t know what to do, though!”

She ran her hands through her hair, and explained some of the thoughts she’d had. By the time she was done, she was more frustrated than ever. But when she looked back up, Megan was examining her thoughtfully.

“So you don’t wanna take out a rival, or mess with your family,” She said. “But what if you helped someone in your…Field, or whatever.”

Exe frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“Well…there’s gotta be some streamer out there struggling. Who’s got talent but is underappreciated. Why don’t you go help her? Give her whatever boost she needs.”

Exe blinked. It was such a simple solution that she was surprised she hadn’t seen it for herself. She probably wouldn’t even have to risk making a mistake like Megan did (which in her situation would inevitably get her called a copycat anyway).

“Megan, that’s a great idea!” She said, springing up from the bed.

She lay a quick peck on Megan’s cheek; typically showy stuff for her, but Megan made a “gyuuuh” sound and nearly fell over backward.

“I think I’ll do that. Pick up two or three people who have talent, but need a boost.” Exe said.

Megan, who had sat up and recovered herself, called after her.

“Can I come?” She asked. “Not to the…y’know, shooty stuff, but I can beam you back and forth.”

“That’s a great idea!” Exe said, now excited for the first time since the challenge began.

For the second time in as many days, she took Megan by the wrist and began to drag her out of their undersea hotel room.

*****

Debra Lipton, known online by her small clique of followers as xxDebulaxx, scanned through the cards available to her. It was a good deck. Not very offensively capable, but lots of potential.

“Oooh, I got two cats!” She announced, doing a little dance in her seat. “Leshy doesn’t know what’s about to hit him!”

Neither, for that matter, did she.

Deb wasn’t a typical streamer. There weren’t a lot of black women in this space in the first place, and she wasn’t a “hot” streamer. Not that one needed to be, of course, but she often, bitterly wondered about the extent to which that held her back. Making a career of this wasn’t her goal, necessarily, but she’d be lying if she said she wouldn’t take it if it came; that she didn’t daydream about it.

The game was about to hit that magical tipping point where all the pieces were in her favor and the motions would fall into place when the power went out. It was a brief outage, but just enough to knock out her internet and take her out of the game.

“Goddamnit!” She swore, tossing her headphones aside in frustration.

She hated this janky fucking building and its janky fucking power. Damnit, she’d been on such a roll!

That’s when her bedroom door opened, and a few oddities about the outage fell into place. The lights on the concrete walkway that ran along her apartment weren’t either, and she always lost them in a power outage. Her living room lights hadn’t turned off. Whatever had happened had been confined to her bedroom.

That light coming in under the door revealed something else; that someone was standing on the other side of it. Her breath caught. This was something she’d always feared; that some crazy fan would use her stream to track her down. Had that finally happened?

She didn’t have much time to contemplate it. She rolled her chair back and braced herself against the wall. But what was she going to do? She could maybe chuck an amiibo at them, but what good would that do?

“Get the hell out of here! Whoever you are!” She yelled, feebly.

Yet when the door did crack open, she found, to some relief, that it was a woman standing in the doorway. A radiantly pretty brunette in a midriff baring Nintendo shirt and jeans so tight that Deb was genuinely perplexed as to how she’d squeezed herself into them.

“You really gonna kick your fairy godmother out just like that?” The stranger asked.

Deb only gaped at her for a moment…until the gun came up.

“Oh my god!” She started to cry out, then the world went pink.

Briefly, at least. After that initial flash passed, and she blinked her vision clear to find that the gun was gone from the woman’s hand. And suddenly, she knew who the person was; ExeQT, one of the more prominent “hot girl” streamers in the country. A second ago, she didn’t know such a person had ever existed. Now Deb knew who she was and why she was here.

“What are you going to do to me?” She asked, shrinking a bit.

Exe sidled over to her desk before pulling herself up on it.

“I’m pretty good at what I do. Pretty popular,” She explained. “And I think it’s good for people in this business to keep an eye out for emerging competition.”

Deb screwed up her face.

“Competition? I’m not competing for your fans…”

“Of course we are! Everyone in this market is,” Exe said, crossly. “Assuming this whole ecosystem is even sustainable, we’re all competing for people’s time. Any fans watching me when I’m streaming are inherently not watching someone else, and vice versa.”

Deb scoffed. That was ridiculous on its face by her reckoning. There were plenty of viewers for everyone. But beyond even that, this woman seeing her as some sort of threat was silly in its own right.

“Ain’t like I got enough fans for you to be worried about anyway.”

Exe smiled at her.

“True. Which is part of why I’ve kept watching you for so long,” She said. “You’ve got real talent. You pick interesting games. You’re fun to watch. You tell good stories. I think you’ve got potential, but you’re just not catching on like I expected.”

Debs shrugged.

“I’m only doing it for fun,” She said. “I’m not really out here trying to be the next big thing.”

“But you could be,” Exe said. “Which is why I’m here to help.”

Now Deb's temper began to rise.

“So, what then? You here to turn me into some thirst trap streamer like…” She began, but stopped herself.

“Like me? No. Not unless you want me to be.” Exe said with a tired smile. “No, I think what’s really holding you back is your infrastructure, not your style. So I’ve used my first shot of my little toy here to give me carte blanche control of your life for a few minutes.”

Exe ran her fingers along the webcam Debs used; a cheap model that instantly rippled and changed from a cheap, bulbous webcam into a higher end model. Her eyes went wide.

“How did you do that?” Debs asked.

Exe seemed to consider that.

“I don’t know. Although figuring out how this thing works might be a good idea.”

Deb’s microphone changed next, into a model that looked like it cost about $250. It was attached to an arm that swung over her head, from a computer that was suddenly a top of the line PC model. Knowledge of how to use all this new equipment filled her head, including the library of new games she knew she’d enjoy.

She found herself at a rare loss for words.

“I…thank you…”

“Oh, I haven’t even gotten started yet,” Exe said, looking around. “This room? Way too tiny. And frankly your internet in this neighborhood kinda sucks.”

The world seemed to grow insubstantial around them. The rundown little apartment Debs had been living in the last two years faded around them, giving way to a different room. Not a bedroom, anymore; a dedicated gaming room with a full desk. Shelves filled with collectables from Debs’ favorite games, anime and movies lined the back walls. The hum of the window AC unit was gone now, but the room was cool and pleasant thanks to a central air vent in the corner.

“Where are we?” Debs asked, standing up alarmed.

“In your new apartment. You live in downtown Oakland now.”

“I can’t afford to live Downtown!” Debs objected.

“Sure you can,” Exe said. “You have $100,000 in your bank account. I think that should be enough to last you for six months.”

Deb’s knees felt weak. She’d been out on her own for four years now, and probably hadn’t even made $100,000 in that whole time. Now she just had it sitting in a bank account. Six months? Hell, she could live on that for the next five years.

“What happens in six months?” She asked cautiously.

“Either you’ll have made it, in which case you can go on living this new life I’ve given you, or you haven’t,” Exe explained. “In which case you go back to your old one.”

“And making it means…what, exactly?” Debs asked.

Exe only shrugged.

“Enough to pay for this lifestyle, but other than that? Whatever you want,” She said. “All I wanted to do is give you the tools. Now it’s up to you to succeed with them.”

As catches went, it wasn’t so bad. At least it left her in control.

“Thank you.” She said, sincerely. “I don’t know what I can do to pay you back, but thank you anyway.”

“You don’t have to,” Exe said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got another stop I need to make. And I’m almost out of time.”

She began fiddling with her watch. Debs moved in to give this strange new interloper a hug. But before she could, she vanished from the spot.

*****

“Woo!” Megan cheered as Exe reappeared in the little bungalow for the second time. “Two down, one to go, right?”

Exe smiled at her shy enthusiasm. After Debula, she’d gone to Toronto to help another struggling streamer, this one a pretty girl with multicolored hair who did want to enter her space of hot girl gamers.. Exe gave her a physical upgrade along with the exact same bargain she’d lent to Debs.

Logically, the move would be to find a third somewhere, but Exe had something else in mind.

“Punch in my home address, please,” She said. “I have a plan for my last stop.”

*****

Home hadn’t been where Exe expected. She had expected to end up in the nice house she’d purchased for her family in San Fernando Valley. Instead, she was standing outside the rundown house in San Bernardino where she was from.

She supposed it made sense. No ExeQT, no career to buy the house with. But as she passed the wire fence into her old front yard, past its overgrown lawn and plastic, yellowed chairs, a strange mixture of disgust, nostalgia and anger overtook her. This was the life they’d escaped from. That _she’d _brought them out of. And maintaining it was the reason she spent almost every waking moment on camera for strangers.

On reflection, she’d wished she’d saved the shots for her parents. One each to put them in her shoes while she was gone; make them see what it took to maintain the free ride they now so freely enjoyed. But that would be petty, and her last shot was far too important to use up so idly.

She approached the door and rang the bell. Her brother opened immediately.

Exe had gotten all the looks in the family. Where Exe was beautiful, James was plump and unkept. What was smooth, silky brown hair on him was greasy, and his pimples had never fully abated, even though the worst of his acne had been left behind in his teen years, enough of it lingered that he was still unfortunate to look at.

Still, he was her brother, and the only member of her family she felt anything but frustration for.

“Sabrina! I’m glad you’re alright,” He said, returning her hug.

He, along with their mother, had been her emergency contact.

“How are you?” Exe asked, following him inside. “I’m sorry you guys are back here again.”

The living room was as she remembered it; dingy, with old furniture and a matted shag carpet. The smell of cigarettes lingered on everything, even though both her parents had quit smoking when she was only a child. She took a seat on the multicolored couch.

“It’s okay,” James said. “I think Mom’s taking it harder than me and Dad.”

Exe scowled.

“There’s a fucking surprise.”

James gave her a look.

“You shouldn’t be so hard on her, Sabs,” He said. “You know she’s back to working two jobs so we can break even again.”

She did frown a little at that.

“How about you? Still in school.”

He shook his head.

“No money for it.”

“Fuck…” Exe muttered.

“How about you, though? How are you holding up?” He asked. “You look pretty much the same as always.”

“I’m doing alright. Definitely running ahead in the competition,” Exe said.

That wasn’t strictly true. She was about middling in terms of her popularity, and she’d been hopelessly torn how to approach the first challenge she had to face. But she neither wanted to worry him or look that in the face just now.

“Look, I’m actually here about the contest,” She said. “And I’m here to talk to you, on top of that.”

“Oh?” James asked, tilting his head. “What can I do to help?”

That was James, alright. The only one who was eager to help.

She explained the contest, the gun and what it was capable of, as well as what she’d done with it already. James listened, looking interested, though slightly incredulous.

“Well…I can’t say any of that makes a lot of sense to me,” He admitted. “But then again, the sudden turn of our lives here is obviously proof they aren’t bluffing. At least not completely.”

He nodded to the gun, which she now held in her hand.

“So what do you want to do with that thing?”

“I want to exchange favors,” Exe proposed. “I want to use it on you. To do something for you, and so you can do something for me.”

James looked nervous.

“Me?” He asked, pointing at himself. “What are you going to do to me?”

“For starters,” She said. “I want to put you back in school. I know you liked it there, and you shouldn’t have to miss out on it just because I’m going to be out of the picture for a while.”

“But how will we afford it?” He asked.

Exe shook her head.

“Money won’t be an issue. Don’t worry about that,” She said.

Deciding that further talk was unnecessary, she lifted her gun and fired it at her brother. Like the other two girls she’d gifted with money, she imagined him as inexplicably wealthy. As being fit, handsome and tall, with the confidence to speak to women and a boost in charisma to match her own. He was a student now; an engineer at UCLA. Then, on top of improving him, she made a few other changes that would suit her own objectives. She even wished they were in their nice house again; the one she’d purchased with her streaming money.

The young man that sat before her was barely recognizable as her brother; a tall guy with broad shoulders, a muscular tone, handsome features and thick, well groomed brown hair. If this is what she’d have looked like as a man, she’d have been hot.

She banished that rather troubling thought from her mind, and focused on James, who was staring down at himself in confusion.

“Oh my God…” He said. “I look incredible!”

Damn right, you do, Exe thought. He’s your brother, though. Get a hold of yourself.

“You’re welcome,” She said, instead.

She placed the gun between the two of them.

“Before I go, I have a favor I want in return.”

“Anything you want,” He said, running his hands along his firm new chest. “I kinda owe it to you after this.”

She nodded.

“I made you an electrical engineer on top of everything,” She said. “A really, really good one.”

James frowned.

“Not really my field before. What’d you do that for?”

God, even his voice sounded pretty.

“That gun,” She said, forcing herself to focus. “I want you to take it apart. Figure out how it works. And let me know anything you find out about that might be helpful.”

He looked the gun over, but seemed uncomfortable.

“It’s kinda the least I can do, but Sabs…” He said. “Are you sure we should be fucking with this? At a minimum, they’ll know how you used your last shot.”

“I tried using the power of the thing to hide what all I did with it. And this conversation,” Exe said. “I have no idea if it’ll work, but I gave it a shot.”

He thought it over, then nodded.

“Fuck it. If I can do anything to help, I will.”

She immediately felt guilty. Of course he’d offered to help. James always had. The only one who had. She had to fight back the sudden urge to fight the whole thing off. To cancel her plan altogether and protect him from any wrath of the showrunners.

But fight it off she did. She needed an ace in the hole. Maybe all the girls did. That last, at least, was what she told herself.

“I still can’t believe this is all real…” James said, standing to retrieve the gun. “Thank you so much for all this.”

Sabrina stood and gave him a hug. When was the last time she’d hugged James, anyway? She wasn’t sure.

“You need to get going now, huh?”

Exe took a step back and nodded.

“I only have about 40 minutes left,” She said. “And I want to get settled in before our next round of ceremonial bullshit gets underway.”

She squeezed his hand.

“Good luck. If any trouble with that research comes up, you let me know.”

He nodded.

“And keep in touch on this game you’re stuck in,” He said. “I wanna know how it goes for you.”

“I’ll do that,” Exe said, and meant it. She was surprised by how much she was touched by how much he genuinely seemed to care.

There was an awkward silence between the two, before he added.

“I doubt you’ll need it, but good luck out there.” He said.

The two exchanged a quick hug. Then Exe activated her watch and then disappeared.