11 - Lauren's Last Sprint

Alyssa was right, of course. Despite the confusion and panic, my turn in the game was a terrifically valuable opportunity. In the hours between now and my next one, Alyssa and Matt would have their own chance to twist the world to their will. And maybe someone else would get a chance.

The last I'd looked, I was ahead in points, but that hardly meant anything. Matt hadn't gotten to finish his turn. Alyssa was beating him already, and she hadn't even had a turn yet.

I didn't know what the winner of the game got, but it seemed obvious that it would be a big deal. I struggled to imagine what a fitting prize could be, when everything I could ever want seemed within reach in a single play of the game.

As the minutes counted down, I stared at the game screen and asked myself, What did I actually want?

I was already young and healthy and beautiful. I had a family who loved me, and a best friend who would now, thanks to the app, literally always be there for me.

What did I need? Money?

The clock ticked down another minute. I could feel the panic rising again. Fuck it. Why not?>

"I have more money than I will ever need."

~ Da-ding! ~

Nothing seemed to change. Three points to me. One to Alyssa. Did she use that bonus command this morning just to get extra points? Was that allowed? or was there something else at work. The penalty we'd earned for sharing meant I couldn't ask her. I was worried she'd tell me anyway.

I'd have to worry about that, and check my bank account, another time. I was in a hurry. I remembered Alyssa was still on the phone. Something came back to me, from the text messages I'd read, just before she blocked me, in a world before I'd made her my friend forever. A world that no longer existed. About 20 minutes ago.

"Hey, Alyssa," I asked, breaking the silence between us. "Do you really think I dress like a slut? "

She was silent for a moment.

"What?"

I stammered out an explanation. "From before! It was in the texts you sent me, you were really mad and we were fighting and I, well, you said-"

"Okay, okay." She interrupted me. "I get it. Yeah. I can see how I might have said something like that. Sorry."

"So you don't..."

"Oh, no, yeah. For sure. You dress like a total slut. I mean. Clearly."

Now it was my turn to be silent for a moment. I detected a note of surprise and apology in Alyssa's voice as she hurried to explain herself.

"Sorry, sorry. We've talked about this. I guess you don't remember. I mean. You're not a slut. Like, not really. Not more than me. We are in college. But, like, you like showing off, and you have a lot to show off, and we basically live on a beach, and, well, look at yourself." She paused for a second. "I mean, you were proud of it. I'm not complaining. Love you."

I looked at myself. I hadn't picked this bikini-top-and-daisy-dukes ensemble this morning, but a version of me had. I liked it. It felt freeing, and I loved feeling the sun on my skin. But I certainly wouldn't have picked it myself, at least in public. This world's version of me put this to go to school.

Yeah, okay. I was dressed like a slut.

I groaned. "Alright, alright. One second."

I really didn't need to. But I had a certain amount of pride, and I was worried about my reputation, and, really, I was in a hurry to get everything I could out of the last few minutes of my turn, and any minor problem that came to mind was an opportunity to do that.

"I generally dress in a way that is appropriate and respectable for a young woman."

~ Da-ding! ~

Eight points. Wow. That was the most yet, if I didn't count the couple of bonuses which were worth ten. And six for Alyssa - almost as much as me. The command which had changed this whole region of the continent into a tropical paradise was only worth four. Eight was huge.

So why was I still dressed exactly the same as before?

The same modified four-cup bikini top wrapped precariously around my chest, the same bikini bottoms rising above the waistband of the same scandalously tiny cutoff shorts. Even the same little flip-flop sandals.

That was the second command in a row that hadn't done anything I could see, but it had to have done something. Going by points, it should have done a lot. Weird.

Alyssa chimed in again, seeming disoriented. "Hey, sorry, what were we talking about?"

"Um, nothing babe, uh, don't worry about it." I was stunned for a moment when i realized I'd called her 'babe' without thinking about it. It had just felt natural.

Alyssa giggled. "okay, I get it. You don't want to trigger the stealing thing again. The terrible, evil curse that just makes us both hotter. Despair!" She chuckled at her own joke for a moment. "I won't press you if you don't want to tell me. I can tell you changed something, though. It made the sound."

"Um... Yeah. Thanks, I guess." I still couldn't believe how cavalier she was about all this.

"anyway, you've still got a couple minutes. Weren't you going to do something about Matt? Or did you already?"

"Oh, shoot. Yeah. Right. Matt."

I mentally slapped myself for forgetting. Matt. My dumb ass pervert dorm roommate who had gotten me involved in this messed-up game in the first place, and had been transformed into a magic dildo for the rest of my turn. Matt who always stared at me and played the TV too loud and had just discovered that every word he spoke to me was an inescapable obligation which overruled my will and commanded my actions. That Matt. Right.

In my defense, a lot had happened today. I typed quickly.

"I don't have to do what Matt tells me."

BZZZTT

Dammit. Okay. Fuck.

The phone buzzed sharply in my hand. It hurt a little, like I'd been slapped. The now-familiar command prompt screen had disappeared.

"COMMAND FAILED!

This command can't be completed right now. MATT gets a bonus command! Pay 50 points to attempt an override?"

The 'Yes' button was greyed out. A helpful tooltip told me I currently had 48 points. Two short. Of course.

Of course I'd be two points short, and of course Matt's bizarre supernatural power to command me was the one thing this app couldn't change without some sort of extra fee. Of course my instinctual obedience to him would be a more permanent and inescapable fact of the universe than even the laws of physics which governed the Earth's climate.

Just my luck.

After a few moments, an invisible **** guided my hand to the 'No' button. The screen disappeared, replaced by a dialogue with a little spinning 'loading' icon and the text 'Offering MATT a free command...'. The text bounced up and down gently as the last minute of my turn ticked down.

~ Da-ding! ~

It might have been ten seconds, but it felt like an hour. I was unceremoniously booted back to the command prompt screen. I was sweating. I hadn't gained any points just now, which suggested that whatever Matt had done hadn't changed me. Probably. And I still had 30 seconds.

I tried to think fast. If I couldn't keep from having to do what Matt told me, maybe I could change what he could tell me?

"I never receive offensive sexual advances or comments."

I stopped before adding "from Matt" to the end of the sentence. Maybe mentioning Matt was why my last attempt didn't go through. Maybe I couldn't affect another player directly? Anyway, It would be nice to have a break from catcalls and awkward, leering propositions. I reached for the 'enter' key.

Before I entered my command, I realized what I had done wrong. I hurried to make one last edit as the final seconds of my turn ticked down.

"Women never receive offensive sexual advances or comments."

Might as well do something nice, for once.

~ Da-ding! ~

Six points, and four for Alyssa. For some reason. Another decent haul. For the third time, nothing visible changed. But I expected that this time. The last seconds of my turn ticked away, and the command prompt turned grey.

The wind blew warm and humid and salty from the water. Palms rustled in the breeze as the sun lazily seared the white sand.

"Okay," I said at last, through the still-open phone line. "You're up."