A Crack in the Ice

Chapter 13

The next morning, I was awoken to find a cat on my chest.
"Oh, good morning, Moon," I said with a smile as I pet her head.
Moon let out a soft meow, indicating that she liked it. I then glanced over to my right and was somewhat surprised to see that Sarah was already out of bed. Glancing at the clock, I noted that the time was around eight in the morning.
I then slowly sat up, and Moon moved so she wouldn't fall.
"I should probably head downstairs and get some food," I mumbled before sliding out of bed and heading downstairs.

Once I got down, I went into the kitchen. "Morning," I said as I grabbed a box of cereal and a bowl.
"Morning Yurio," Sarah said from the other room. "How did you sleep?"
"Pretty good," I said with a sigh. "So, what do we have on the agenda for today?"
"Well," she said with a sigh, "I was thinking maybe we could take it easy, and go and play some laser tag. There's a really good place not too far from here. It has all these different game modes, as well as different weapons and classes, which is all regulated by a leveling up system."
"That sounds like a good idea," I said as I took a bite.
She nodded and walked into the kitchen. "In that case, can you be ready to go within an hour?"
I nodded. "I can do that."

===

About two hours later, I was sitting at a table at the laser tag place Sarah had taken us to. She didn't go into too much detail, but she did explain that she had to buy levels for me, and since she was already a level 43, she'd also bring me up to the same level, meaning I'd have access to all three classes; Rifleman, Close Quarter Combat, and Assassin. Personally, I think I'll be going for the Rifleman, as mid-range combat is my best, especially in video games.
Sarah then walked over to me and handed me a credit card-sized card. "Here's your card. It's loaded up just as I said it would be."
I nodded and took it from her. "Thanks. Oh, by the way, what would you say is the best weapon for a Rifleman is?"
Sarah bit her lip, obviously lost in thought. "Hm, if I had to pick one, I'd pick the Laser Spitfire. It has great range, shot speed, great magnification, decent clip size, and it gives you five extra clips."
I nodded. "Sounds good. So, what game mode are we going to play first?"
"I was thinking a bit of attrition," she said, fumbling with her own card. "I need to sharpen up my skilled with my Laser Sniper Rifle."
"So you go for the Assassin class?"
She nodded. "Mhm. It's great that once you get above level ten, you're able to customize your loadout, at least within certain restrictions. Anyways, let's get ready for our first match."
I nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

Ten minutes later, we were all suited up, ready to go.
Sarah looked at me. "So, we can communicate through the headset we have. It also displays information about the match on the visor HUD and all. It's top of the line technology."
I nodded. "I can tell that."
The doors in front of us then opened, and we rushed into the arena.
"Alright, follow me, Yurio," Sarah said, motioning for me to do so.
I nodded and followed her. "So what exactly happens if you get shot?"
"You'll have to exit at the nearest exit, and then you'll be lead through a series of halls that leads you to a random location in the room. It's pretty darn sick."
I nodded. "You can say that again."
Instead of responding, Sarah led me up to an isolated spot.
"So, I take it this is your sniping place?" I asked.
She nodded, setting her Laser Sniper on the edge of the wall, setting it up. "Indeed it is. Now, I'll need you to give me cover, as once the other team realizes they're being sniped, other players will surely start coming up here to try and kill me."
I nodded. "Got it," I said before turning around to guard the way up.

The first few minutes were pretty boring, and no one tried to come up here.
"....shit," Sarah suddenly mumbled.
"What's wrong?"
She grumbled as she picked her Sniper back up, and slung it over her shoulder. "Out of ammo. I'll have to switch to my secondary until I can find a reload point. Pistols suck, but it'll have to do," she said as she drew a smaller, pistol-like laser gun from a sheath on the suit. "Let's get going," she said with a sigh.
I nodded, and we began our climb down.
Once we got to the bottom, I had to jump to the side, as my visor HUD warned me that an enemy was about to attack me. I then bit my tongue. "It's probably best if we split up."
Sarah nodded. "That's actually a good idea."
With a nod, we went our separate ways.

The match continued on pretty smoothly. I only died three times, and I got fifteen player kills. However, we still lost the match.
Suddenly, a voice came on over my headset.
"Alright, Alpha Team. We lost this one. It's time to retreat. Get yourself out of here!"
Almost as soon as that voice was gone, it was replaced with Sarah's.
"I forgot to tell you about this," she sighed. "Now, if you look in your HUD, it'll show you how far you are from the evacuation point. You need to get there without being killed. If you're killed now, it's game over for you."
I nodded. "Alright. I got it. See you at the evac point."
With no other words exchanged, I began to make my way to the evac point.

I was almost there, with two minutes to spare. Quickly glancing around to make sure no enemies were around, and then went to press a button on my arm that would make me invisible long enough to get to the evac, when someone suddenly grabbed my arm, and pinned me to the wall, and based on the red color of their hit-zones, they were on the other team.
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you here and now, Russian," the man said with a grin.
"Who the hell are you," I growled.
"Just an enthusiastic fan of Sarah."
I bit my tongue. "I'll...um, give you an autograph and let you take a picture with us...?"
He sighed. "Fair enough," he said before letting go of me.

===

To say the least, Sarah and I had a lot of fun. We ended up spending the whole day there, and we had a lot of fun.