CH1: Risky Business

She looks up and sees me. “Eh, hey? You got something for me?” I can see that she’s messing around with her bracelet. The thing is open and she is using toilet paper on her lap to play with the components. “T-that’s… isn’t that… you weren’t supposed to take that off…” I say unsure and when I last tried it, it doesn’t come off either. Wicky smiles and shows her wrist. There’s some kind of little wire going to her wrist which she is holding down with her pinky. It all looks very uncomfortable and unsafe. “I am trying to figure out how this thing works. I already figured out that there’s a needle going under your skin here… which will push in something under our skins if our health goes to zero. Kinda cool, huh? You can’t take it off, and it’s connected to some kind of ****. I would show you, but my hands are already kinda full.” She tries to joke, but I almost don’t even want to talk with her so she doesn’t mess it up. She seems to be walking on very thin ice.

“T-that’s dangerous…” I let out and she nods and sighs: “Well, somebody has to figure it out. See… I bet there’s a way to hack your bracelet. That’s my thing. I like hacking this kind of stuff. Here… look. Just there…” She shows and I look very carefully. I am no tech wizard but I think there’s a main circuit board with some ports from which one is empty. “What about that one. is there no wire for it?” I ask and she nods: “Yeah! That’s just it! It says it’s the prototype switch. I bet if we would connect that to the rest of the circuit, we might get somewhere. The thing is, I need an extra wire. This connection isn’t that hard to make. But I just need a freaking wire. I am afraid I can’t get up with this thing… There is a wire small enough. I had one on my headphones. But I kinda dropped them and…” I listen and notice what she’s going for: “A-are you saying I should go?”

She nods and smiles. I sigh and look at her wrist and remember her condition: “You know… I’m a friend of Grace’s. My name is Lilah. She has been talking about you.” Wicky gets a little excited and leans closer: “Oh! Yay!! Grace is totally my best friend! So, what has she been talking about me? How I always beat her ass on Valorant, huh? I can’t believe you are here! That’s so nice… I would give you a hug, but, you know.” She giggles and I feel awkward. “Uhh… well, we kind of thought that… maybe you would want to be our third?” Suddenly her face goes serious and she looks down: “It’s because of my condition, right? She told you, huh? Ok… you are very kind…” She sighs and I see her hand shake a little. It’s scary as she’s trying to hold the bracelet components still in place.

“S-so don’t worry! I’ll go get you the headphones. W-where did you drop them?” I try to comfort her and she looks up at me with red eyes and a little bit of snot on her nose: “I-in the cafeteria. We tried to go there b-but… those Recreationists found us… so we went here instead. I lost my headphones there… Have you seen them?” She asks and I think she might be referring to the group holed up at the rec room. I nod and she mutters: “I was fearing you were with them… they carry around guns and shoot you on sight… they just want to play the way the voice says.” She shrugs and I remember the pigtail girl from earlier who was shooting at me. She must’ve been with them.

“There’s also the Retreaters as we call them. They are keeping the gym under control. The backstage is completely inaccessible. They… well, they don’t want to play. But they also don’t want to lose. Weird, huh?” She smiles and I bet Kendall and the others are with them. That girl who had trouble fitting her ass in the suit earlier. “Thanks. I didn’t know there were factions already or anything. “Oh, you wouldn’t have seen Grace pass by here? Have you?” I ask carefully and she shakes her head. “N-no… now, it would mean a lot to me if you found me the components I need. It’s not that hard of a thing. I just need the wire is all.” I nod and smile at her. I want to get her out of here too, and if it means to help her get to the bottom of this hack she’s planning, then I’m going to do it.